Chương 29: Chapter 28

"Arom, are you alright?" His friend Lilian asked, looking at him from above.

"Yes." He gasped in response.

"Just need a moment to gather myself." Eventually, he managed to gather enough of his faculties to sit up and take a better look at the battlefield. The Drust had been routed, but as usual, it had been a close thing. The Kul Tirans were a hardy people, but the Drust were larger and stronger, and their magic was not pleasant to experience. Good thing Light could counter many of the worst effects.

As he managed to stand up again, he could see their few priests going over the wounded, and too often they only shook their head, leaving another good Kul Tiran laying in the ground. Likely dead. They had pushed the enemy back, but it had once again cost them. Many of the dead Drust were also sporting the telltale feathered arrows of the elves, making it clear that the victory would've been much harder without their assistance.

He glanced towards the side where the Quel'dorei contingent stood, completely unblemished and unbothered by the situation. No losses among them, and their red and gold armor still looked pristine. Arom didn't quite know what to make of the elves. On one hand, their aid was invaluable and they were not stingy about providing said aid, for a reasonable price at that. When asked.

On the other hand, when they were not asked, the elves would quite happily watch them get killed, unless it looked like they'd actually lose the battle. He'd asked Thalorien, the elf leading the Quel'dorei forces, why. The Elven Commander had told him that Arom's people would never get better at fighting, if the elves did all the fighting for them. Thus, the elves were letting them learn.

Apparently, the elven warriors all had to go through a lot of hardship to earn their place, and to Thalorien it only made sense that the humans would want to go through similar hardship to get better. And all Arom and his fellows had to do was ask if they needed help. Just that the Kul Tirans tended to be too proud to ask unless they really had to. It wasn't like Arom hadn't noticed the improvement. His people had indeed grown better as the war progressed.

They'd figured out the Drust weaknesses against silver and onions, and the alchemical solution known as liquid fire. So Thalorien was right. He just wished that skill and knowledge didn't come at the cost of so many Kul Tiran lives. And at least the elves were helping, unlike the other humans. They'd asked for assistance from the empire and had gotten none. He wasn't too shocked, as Strom was too busy dealing with its internal issues. He had hoped for some Gilnean aid, but no such luck.

The elves may be helping in a weird way, but at least they were helping. The war had lasted for years now, and they were slowly pushing the Drust back. Some of the Drust had even joined their side. The druids known as Thornspeakers under Sef Iwen didn't support the war waged by the Drust king Gorak Tul and had joined the human side instead. That had helped turn the tide as well. Slowly but surely the Drust were being pushed back, and they were losing numbers.

Already their forces had more undead than living soldiers, and they'd destroyed more than a few stone constructs created by the Drust king. Arom had to admit the elves had been rather critical on that front. They seemed to hate the constructs with a particular passion, and whenever the constructs appeared was one of the only times the elves needed no prompting to participate. They hunted the constructs with rather passionate anger. It made him curious.

Arom walked towards Thalorien and the elven squad, who were debating something in the Thalassian language.

"Lord Waycrest." Thalorien greeted as soon as he got close. He'd told the elf he was no lord, but the man seemed to enjoy his discomfort at the term.

"Commander Thalorien." He shot back.

"I have a question. Your people seem to have a particular hatred towards the constructs. I was wondering why." Thalorien nodded, clearly having expected the question.

"The Drust constructs are a particularly vile form of Death magic, and an abomination towards the teachings of the Saint." Arom had heard mention of this Saint before.

"The Drust king binds the souls of his people into these abominations. They are basically the same as the undead they send towards us, only more refined. They never tire and will hunt their prey for all eternity, trapped in a prison of stone. We do not think these souls are taken willingly, and they are ritually bound to the cores that hold these abominations together. For all we know, not all the souls even come from the Drust, so setting them free is a priority." Arom's eyebrow shot up.

"They might have human or elven souls?"

"Well, human souls. We have not lost our soldiers during the war in a situation where their souls could've been captured. As mentioned, the magic they employ is foul, and can twist the souls of your people to serve their purposes. Or at least could in theory. We can't be certain whether it has happened or not. Either way, we try to set all those souls free." Thalorien explained.

"Fair enough. That would get me angry as well. None of our priests have mentioned anything like this though." Arom suggested.

"Alas, your priests are not quite as experienced in such matters. I'm sure one of ours could explain it to them, so that they too could see it, but this is not in my skillset." The elven warrior shrugged. Arom had seen the man in battle. His skillset was considerable, but he had not used the Light, that was true.

"I suppose we are coming towards the end of this war." Arom speculated.

"That seems likely, but I'm afraid the biggest risk is still ahead. Their king is considerably powerful, and many of these recent battles have been only to delay you. I expect he is preparing something rather nasty for your final approach." The elven soldier warned.

"Uh, that would've been nice to know sooner." He pointed out.

"We were waiting for you to figure it out yourselves. Now you asked, so we told you about our thoughts on the matter." Thalorien stated, as if that explained everything. It sort of did.

"We really need to work on our communication." Arom pointed out, by which he meant the elves needed to work on theirs.

"We did not want to deprive you of the satisfaction of figuring it out and potentially outsmarting your enemy. Sometimes we can't see everything. And I could be wrong." Thalorien said modestly.

"You haven't been so far." Arom grumbled and turned around to prepare what was left of his forces. This was going to be a pain in the ass.

Sapphiron could see the panic arising among the inhabitants of Dalaran. As the numerically smallest of the newly forming human city states, the city wasn't large yet, though he could already see the ways it would likely grow, assuming it survived. Now, the roughly twenty thousand inhabitants were looking on in fear as three times their number of elven soldiers spread out to surround the city.

Part of that fear would likely be the result of the fact that not a single human patrol had detected their approach before it was too late. Dalaran had asked for their help, but they had likely expected a dozen magisters, not an army that could easily wipe them off the face of the map. Once again, his daughter was not playing around. The presence of demons among the human mages necessitated a response, and they could either go for subtle, or for an iron fist that reinforced their point.

Sapphiron and Anasterian had both voted for the latter and Selessa had been all too happy to oblige. The elven forces moved to envelop the city entirely. Sapphiron rode along a large contingent of golden-armored paladins and Selessa herself as they approached the city gate, guarded by standard human footmen wearing the purple livery of Dalaran. The inhabitants noticed their approach, and a handful of older mages were awaiting them at the gate by the time they reached it.

The oldest looking human wiped his forehead nervously.

"Esteemed Quel'dorei. Could I inquire for the meaning of this aggression?"

"Aggression?" Selessa asked with a tone that was filled with faked innocence.

"You asked for us. We came. You have a demon problem. We are here to solve it."

"With respect, Lady paladin. We expected some magisters, not an invasion." The mage's words echoed Sapphiron's assumptions.

"Yeah, that's where you erred. We take the presence of demons seriously." Selessa's voice grew harder.

"We do not intend to let any of them, nor anyone who consorts with them, escape. You are all under quarantine until we deal with the demons currently hiding amongst you. After which, we'll take measures to make sure we do not have to repeat this exercise."

"And how are you going to do all this? The demons are capable of hiding amongst the populace." The mage asked, his voice a combination of hope and concern. Sapphiron stepped forward.

"The Knights of Retribution have developed magic that affects only the profane. Demons, creatures of the Void, and presumably the undead. Anyone infected with the energies of any of these three powers will be burnt by the power of the Light." There was a bit of a commotion as one of the mages pushed to the front.

"Apologies, but I have an interjection."

"Not now, Meryl!" The leading mage tried to wave the man back.

"Let the man speak." Selessa ordered, her voice alone enough to quell the disorder. The man bowed.

"Apologies again. I'm Meryl Felstorm. I need to present myself before my presence causes issues. I would be caught in that spell if your words are correct, though I have nothing to do with demons." Selessa nodded, and Sapphiron knew she could see the same thing he did. The man was completely steeped in death magic.

"You are undead, are you not?" She asked, quietly enough that only a handful heard.

"I am." Meryl admitted.

"Have been since the Troll War. One of the original One Hundred Autarch. Ended up like this in the battle at the Alterac fortress as we rushed out." Selessa nodded in approval.

"You will be questioned the normal way. We theoretically have no quarrel with the realm of Death, but our exorcism spell cannot differentiate you from demons and the Voidspawn. That said, we do not appreciate delving into the arts of Death either. As proven by the Drust in Kul Tiras, theirs is a power easily used for ill."

"All power can be used for evil." Meryl pointed out, and Sapphiron noted some of the Paladins tightened their grip on the reins of their hawkstriders, even if that was their only reaction.

"True, but not all powers are equally corruptive by their nature. This is not the place for debating dogma, unless you'd like to earn the ire of the paladins responsible for hunting the demons?" She asked with some amusement.

"They have some strong opinions on what you just said." Meryl cleared his throat.

"Perhaps another time."

"Indeed." Selessa raised her voice again.

"Everyone wanting to leave and arrive in the city will be checked. Anyone caught sneaking out will be killed, no questions asked. Our forces will go through the city a block at a time, setting up checkpoints at all crossroads. For anyone thinking about sneaking around with invisibility or stealth, I would recommend against it. We have measures against such and again won't bother asking questions considering you've already been officially warned.

The speed at which we'll go though the city will start slowly and gain speed as we gain experience and more paladins versed in the spell. It's relatively new after all. After we've gone through the city, we'll bring in our magisters to advise you on how to wield the Arcane without calling for demons. The more you cooperate, the quicker we'll be done." The Quel'dorei began setting up camp, and almost as soon as her command tent was up, one of the eldest human mages approached them.

"Princess Sunstrider. We have to address Meryl Felstorm, and a few matters of jurisdiction this brings up." The man stated without pre-amble.

"Do we?" Selessa asked sarcastically, and Sapphiron recognized the tone. She had very little patience for any bullshit currently.

"We do. We asked for your help. You've provided, which is fair enough and we're grateful. You provided that help in a manner of your choosing. Fair enough again. But this is still the Arathorian Empire, and the city of Dalaran. We recognize you have plenty of leeway to deal with demons and those associated with them, but Meryl is not one of them, and he has broken none of our laws. If you harm him, it will be considered an unlawful act, potentially murder if you kill him.

He is also a strategic asset to us as one of our strongest mages, and his death will not be dealt with lightly. He is as important to us, as one of your paladin commanders is to you." The man declared. Selessa looked straight at the man.

"I have no plans of harming the man, but let's get one thing straight. That is not due to any threats of potential repercussions from your part. Your people are incompetent enough to summon demons. Demons that put our entire world in danger. You do not get to complain about our methods, especially after you invited us. If I decide that to remove the threat we have to kill half of the population of your city, then that's what's going to happen.

And if you think your half-broken empire has any jurisdiction over us, you're sadly mistaken. We can be diplomatic, but the more you bluster, the less inclined I'll feel to take anything you say into consideration. You could've asked, and I would've given. Now you made demands, and I'm tempted to kill the man just to spite you. Be happy that I'm not that petty. Now get the fuck out of my tent before I change my mind." The man made a hasty bow and exit as his expression was locked in a grimace.

"That was remarkably undiplomatic of you. Even considering your dislike of humans." Sapphiron pointed out. Selessa chuckled.

"Good. That was the point. We're going to have to make some calls they're not going to like. It's better that they expect it, so they won't be arguing with us in the moment. I'd rather have this fight now than when one of their favorite family members turns out to be a demon in disguise. I also want them to understand that trying to hide collaborators and demons will not end up well. They'll try anyway, and we'll need to make examples, but if we can reduce that number, we really should.

They are supposed to be our allies after all." She shook her head.

"We can't have them thinking that calling for a judgement from Strom would be any aid for them either. That would only tie our hands in red tape and in the worst case get all of the mages killed if the current rulers is particularly stupid. There's no way we're going to come out of this with them loving and thanking us. Maybe in a hundred years when the bad blood has had enough time to calm down, but not in the short term.

Or, if it turns out they've fumbled badly enough and there's some Greater Daemon ripping through their city, and we have to save them. That might do the trick as well. So we should aim for efficiency and results, not to soothe ruffled feathers."

"Greater Daemon?" Sapphiron asked, noting the specific wording.

"Don't mind it. A turn of the phrase." She waved it away, and Sapphiron let it go, though not without noting it.

"Well, I'll go out and start setting the Truesight wards." He declared. The Light wasn't great at dealing with invisibility, while Arcane was better.

The first week of the sweep proceeded well. They discovered several lesser demons, and executed a few collaborators, whose guilt was not in any question, proven by the Fel energies that got ignited by the Exorcism spell. The issues started with the people whose guilt wasn't quite as obvious. Lesser level mages that had helped in the rituals. People with knowledge of summoning but had not directly participated.

People who had been implicated by the obviously guilty ones upon interrogation, but had no direct evidence of involvement. The interrogators provided by the Queen they'd brought along managed to either clear or establish the guilt of some of them, but they still had quite a few individuals whose guilt they couldn't prove either way.

The humans demanded for their immediate release, mostly because they were concerned they'd be executed on principle, while Selessa took a moderate approach and kept them imprisoned for now, until they could better be dealt with. It was a difference in philosophy. The humans considered it horrid if an innocent was inconvenienced, while the Quel'dorei would rather that no guilty were to walk free. It was one of the tenets of the Light. Mercy to the guilty was cruelty to the innocent.

In general principle, Selessa might've agreed that suffering of the innocents was to be avoided, but not when it came to demons. The world was not so black and white that you could blindly stick to strict principles. She recognized she wasn't the most objective person to make the decision, due to her previous life, so she didn't. She was planning on leaving the sorting of the difficult cases to Anasterian, while in the meantime keeping them confined.

Those innocents might be inconvenienced, but they were alive and unhurt. That was her compromise, and she considered it more than enough. The humans didn't agree, but she didn't ask. Another problem came from the fact that they were enforcing strict controls in movement, so that those they had not yet checked didn't slip into the areas they had gone through. That caused rumblings.

Another problem was that they had started from the poorer sections of the city and were moving towards the more affluent and powerful areas, and the number of demons was only increasing. That did not sit well with the humans, even if that result was obvious. It was the powerful mages that most attracted demons, so of course there would be more in their vicinity. Their whining was usually quickly silenced when one of their favorite servants turned out to be a succubus in disguise.

Or it increased, because who didn't like a succubus? Selessa instituted a policy to stamp down on some of the whining. She allowed representatives of the cleared mages to sit in on the planning and the checks, so they'd know why something was done, and they could stand witness to her methods. Not exactly oversight as they didn't have any input, but witnesses. It turned out to be a good decision as those mages passed the information along.

In a slight fit of irony, Meryl Felstorm ended up as a frequent witness, as he was trusted by the Mon'keigh, and he was cleared of being involved with the demons. He frequently accompanied her when they went out to clear out sectors of the city.

"I'm simply trying to figure out why you have a hatred for Death in particular. All the cosmic forces have the ability to be misused." Meryl argued as the group they were in walked along one of the main streets of the rich area where many powerful mages lived.

"And you would be correct in that assumption. All power can be misused, magical or otherwise. I have nothing against Death in particular as you stated. At least in theory. Death is a necessary part of universe. Everybody dies eventually. The passing of souls is a necessary part of the circle of life. In many ways, Death is preferable to Fel and Void, at least on a theoretical level. The issue is practice. As with all of the fundamental forces, we do not channel them in their purest form.

In the case of Light, our spells are in fact the manifestation of the Holy aspect of Light. Arcane is simply a manifestation of Order. The issue with Death, is that the manifestation most often used is Necromancy. And there are very little practical benefits to allowing the practice of Necromancy to exist, and certainly not to promulgate. We do not need power hungry necromancers raising the dead to work as their servants and army.

There is very little positive you can achieve with the power of Necromancy, and even if there are some, most of the users would not be employing it for that purpose. You know that. I know that. That is why we remove any practitioners just like with Fel and the Void." Selessa argued her perspective. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

"It allows me to continue to exist and fight for my people." Meryl countered.

"Granted, I practice both Arcane and Death magic."

"And here we reach the question of whether that's a good thing." Selessa pointed out.

"I have nothing against you personally…"

"I would argue that point. You really do not seem fond of me." Meryl interrupted.

"Ah, now you're confusing my general dislike of your entire species for personal dislike. I do not dislike you in particular. I dislike all of your people. Not to a point that I would do anything about it, but I make no secret of it." She countered.

"Why? Why dislike humans?" Meryl asked with a frown. It was a fair question, especially considering he was talking to one of the most influential people on the continent.

"That is a story longer than this entire operation, and one I'm not inclined to share. As I said, I try not to allow it to influence my decision making too much. Any more than any of your people might dislike ours after this operation, despite us saving you." She pointed out. Meryl was about to argue further, but the wall they were next to suddenly exploded outwards, sending chunks of bricks and mortar flying directly at them.

To Selessa, the timing was too coincidental, and had to have been planned, especially as the largest chunk flew directly at her. Her armored fist, infused with the Light, shattered the incoming projectile, allowing her to witness several people being tossed through the sudden hole in the wall, including Sister Ophelia who crashed into a nearby fountain. Just the fact that one of the most powerful paladins had just been thrown around like a rag sharpened the level of danger in Selessa's mind.

A large demon, roughly humanoid shaped but much taller and with bat-like wings on its back and horns on its head, dashed out from the hole. Its long black claws, glowing with Fel energy, were going directly towards her throat with an alarming speed. It reminded her a bit of the particular brand of Astartes called Night Lords. The glowing effect of Radiant Defense surrounded her and those around her, and her own arm came up to grab the approaching demon's wrist.

Despite grabbing the arm mid-motion, her protective spell still cracked under the claws, although quickly fixing itself. She only noticed the long fangs of the being as they went directly towards her jugular, only stopped by her performing a picture perfect throw over her shoulder, turning the demon's power and speed against it. The teeth still grazed her gorget, leaving a groove in the usually sturdy metal.

The stone of the street cracked and caved under the demon from the power of the throw, causing it to bounce off the stone as she let go of the wrist, allowing her enemy to be thrown further away. Despite the powerful impact, the demon quickly righted itself, seemingly uninjured. The paladins around Selessa were already reacting, with Ophelia getting up from the remains of the fountain, clearly not in perfect condition.

Selessa could feel several blessings and buffs reinforcing her and the others, but she couldn't afford to take her eyes off the demon, a creature much more dangerous than she'd originally assumed. How in the blazes had the Mon'keigh managed to summon something like this already! This whole place ought to be burnt to the ground! The demon did not wait and instead threw out a wave of necrotic energy. A powerful wave. She could sense lives behind her snuffed out.

Fortunately, the paladins could largely resist the effects. She figured out it was some kind of disease-based attack, to which they were all but immune. She countered by pointing at the demon and calling out: "Judgement!" Five glowing weapons fell from the sky, shooting out golden chains that wrapped around the demon to hold it in place, before the true effect of the spell started. There was a reason this single spell was a perk, and an important one at that.

The pillar of glowing energy that struck down with the power and weight of Light was the strongest singular strike she could perform. Before the beam vanished completely, another one came down, and a third, a fourth, and finally a fifth, each stronger than the one before. The last one struck with enough power that the street collapsed just from the shockwave of the spell, even if the Light itself didn't affect anything except her target. The demon was badly hurt, but not dead.

It spat out something in a language that she didn't recognize, and suddenly a sickening aura radiated out from the demon, and the life force of every civilian within 50 meters was sucked out and flew towards the demon. Selessa realized that this would heal the creature, something she could not allow. She slammed down the Anti-Magic Zone right on top of the demon, suddenly disrupting the aura, and allowing the life force to dissipate. The civilians were still dead, but the demon had not healed.

The demon growled in frustration, sending a bolt of shadowy energy her way, punching right through her admittedly limited Spellbreaker abilities. She called out the Wraithbone shield she'd used before to suck in hostile magic, while the other paladins utilized the opportunity to attack the creature. They were not crazy enough to melee the demon, instead opting to using the new anti-demon spell they'd learned, Exorcism. Golden flames surrounded the demon, causing it to start crumbling.

A single paladin might not have been able to hurt it, but a dozen paladins, including Ophelia, using the same spell? That hurt even a demon of this level. Selessa could sense the creature was planning something dangerous and potentially suicidal, and decided not to allow it. She channeled the Judgement again, through the Wraithbone bracelet, using it to enhance her spell further.

This time the spell shot down a sixth beam of Light stronger than three of the first ones combined, and with an agonized scream, the demon finally disintegrated. [You've gained 25000 EXP!] [You've leveled up from lvl 13 to lvl 15! You've gained 2 base points and an advanced point. You currently have 1000/15000 EXP!] [Congratulations! You have achieved a Feat of Strength! Body attribute increased by one! Perk point earned.] [We had a bit of trouble attributing this one, as defeating an opponent of that level was definitely an achievement. We decided on Body, because of the way you managed to overpower the demon's first strike, though others were considered.]"Bloody hell." One of the paladins nearby muttered, clearly just as exhausted as she felt. Resisting the effects of the demon's magic had not been easy on them either. Had the fight lasted longer, not all of them would've been able to continue resisting.

"See to the wounded. Find if there are any survivors." She ordered.

"Ophelia, report!" The silver-armored paladin gave herself a heal before gingerly moving over, testing that everything was in working order.

"Saint! We were conducting a check on the manor of a high-ranking mage part of the ruling council of Dalaran. As usual, we cast the exorcism spell on them, and while the mage was clear, his closest advisor was not. You pretty much saw the rest. I'm afraid two of our own are dead, slain in a single strike by the demon. I was able to defend myself, which caused me to be tossed through the wall."

"What in the blazes was that?" Meryl climbed out of the remains of some street vendor's cart, the owner now tragically dead." That, was a Nathrezim, or Dreadlord according to the records we have of the war against the Legion. They're supposed to be the Legion's infiltration specialists." She winced in her mind at the idea.

"If that's an infiltration specialist, I'm not sure I want to fight their warrior or mage specialists." Meryl vocalized what quite a few of them were thinking, mirroring her own thoughts. Selessa gave a mirthless chuckle.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, they were rumored to be powerful in combat as well, and we should assume they also have a range of power, some stronger and some weaker." She turned as the Quel'dorei, already used to the procedure, brought over the dead elves for her to attempt to resurrect.

"Bring as many of the civilians as you can find. I might as well attempt to bring them back as well. And make sure to maintain the quarantine and separation. We don't want to ruin our progress by letting people slip around during the chaos." She started casting the resurrection spell, and it quickly became obvious that many would not be coming back. The two paladins were the obvious loss, and she suspected that something in the process of being killed by the demon prevented resurrection, as there was no reaction.

Those further away, ten Sin'dorei, fared better, half coming back. Still losses that stung, but at least much less than they could've been if she hadn't been there. It had seemed like the attack had been aimed at her, but at the same time her presence had saved thousands of people, and not just Mon'keigh. It was doubtful Ophelia would be alive if she hadn't been here. The Mon'keigh looked on in wonder as she brought some of them back. Only a fraction of the whole, maybe one in ten, succeeded.

Still, that was a dozen alive, where before they'd been dead. The process took the entire evening and most of the night. Finally, she was too spent to continue. The Mon'keigh had questions of course. Questions she had no intention of answering. She retreated back to her command tent, and Meryl was practically radiating curiosity the whole way.

"Ok, you get three questions. Make them count. I will not answer any more."

"Can you bring anyone back?" He asked the obvious one.

"No. There's a time limit that's a bit unclear. And surely you noticed that not all that I cast the spell on came back. There are multiple factors that go into it." She replied curtly.

"How many can you return, should there be a steady supply of relatively intact bodies, and is that the same for all paladins?" He asked.

"That's multiple questions, but I'll allow it, this time. I can do few hundred at best. Under optimal conditions. Usually, I'm tired from fighting whatever caused the deaths in the first place, so I've never tested my full limit from a fresh condition. Paladins generally can't do it at all, or someone like Ophelia might manage one or two. High Priestesses might be able to do a dozen, at best. Though as they all improve, things may change." She answered.

"Do they come back fully as they were before dying?" He finally asked something she had not expected.

"Good question. So far, yes. I think there's a risk of personality changes with damage to the head, but the body adjusts to the soul somewhat. We don't have a statistically large enough sample to say for certain in either case. I firmly believe yes, but I'm not certain. I do know it is the same soul that is brought back, so there's no risk of accidentally bringing in a demon into someone else's body." She replied after a moment of consideration.

"And that's your three. No, I'm not going to try to bring back more. I'm exhausted, and I need to save some power in case that demon wasn't alone."

Eventually, the combing of the city gave way to lessons on prevention. The isolation was not lifted until the mages of the city had absorbed the lessons, installed some wards around their city to prevent further demonic incursions, and had even founded an order of their own to both monitor against demonic presences, as well as hunt them down when they appeared.

The so-called Council of Tirisfal was supposed to be a secret organization, to allow them to better monitor Dalaran, though the efficacy of that secrecy remained to be seen. The Council wisely inducted a Quel'dorei magister as one of the members, so that they had an advisor with some actual experience. The aftermath of the whole event was interesting.

The Magocrats of Dalaran had originally invited the elves to help because they were desperate, and because they wanted to keep the presence of demons a secret from the superstitious civilians of the empire. The fact that hundreds of civilians were dead and the elves had quarantined the entire city shot that plan to hell, but the quarantine did manage to keep the news from reaching Strom. And ironically, the street-to-street quarantine had obfuscated some of the facts from even the civilians of Dalaran.

It was only a matter of time before word got out, but the fact that they'd asked Quel'thalas for help worked to their advantage. The Quel'dorei marched their troops home, dispelling any fears that they had come as conquerors, leaving the burgeoning Magocracy to their own devices. Some elven magisters remained to keep an eye on things, and the human mages largely welcomed them after the previous fiasco, even if they weren't warmly welcomed.

Meryl's testimony, as well as many others also helped stave off ill will towards the elves, even if not everyone was happy about how things had gone. Some of the captured people still needed judgement, but that would be trouble for the future.

Thalorien had to admit the humans were fighting hard. They were putting their all into this final push at Gol Osirigr, the Drust final stronghold, where the Drust leader Gorak Tul was making his desperate last stand. Had the Quel'dorei not interfered and caused the war to accelerate, the humans might've had a harder time. The Drust leader would've had time to create more of his macabre constructs, and more of the humans would've passed during the fighting.

Still, even with their help, the people of Kul Tiras were putting in an effort worthy of recognition. Survival and a new homeland were worth protecting for the humans, and they were laying down their lives to secure a better future. He could respect that. The Quel'dorei had done the same to get rid of the Amani, and had profited greatly. It was somewhat ironic that there were no living Drust defending the stronghold aside from Gorak Tul himself.

All of them had either defected to the Kul Tiran side, or they'd been turned into the constructs. The Spellbreakers were brutally effective at getting rid of the constructs, as were the Sin'dorei now that they knew how. Thalorien himself could easily face a dozen of such constructs without worrying.

They were making more of an effort now that it was time for the final push, to save a bit more human lives, but they were still letting Arom Waycrest and his Drustvar Militia to strike the last blow, to give the humans their own opportunity to forge legends and become heroes. To become greater than they had been before. Even if their actions would eventually fade to the annals of history, especially considering the brief lives of humans, it mattered that they felled the enemy with their own hands.

It would give them a national and racial identity. And the humans didn't disappoint. Thalorien stayed close to make sure Arom survived, but his services were ultimately unnecessary. Arom personally drove his sword into the heart of Gorak Tul, felling the large humanoid being, which caused all the remaining constructs to collapse.

"Victory!" The Kul Tiran turned to raise his sword high and cheer to the surviving human soldiers.

"For Kul Tiras and Drustvar!" Thalorien was aware that this action almost certainly would cement Arom and his family, the Waycrest, as the rulers of Drustvar. Right of Conquest was strong among the humans after all. Kul Tiras was a new polity, but already the lines of power were beginning to take shape. The area known as Kul Tiras was made up of three large regions. The area known as Tiragarde Sound held the capital city of Boralus and was falling under the command of House Proudmoore.

To the north was Stormsong Valley, the area named after House Stormsong that led the way to Kul Tiras from Gilneas with their Tidesages. The area was also the breadbasket of the islands. That just left Drustvar, the most western region, that would now fall under the control of Arom and House Waycrest. Thalorien had mostly led the Sin'dorei here for training, but they were being paid for their efforts. Mostly in lumber, which they requested for several reasons.

Firstly, the newly growing Quel'thalas required quite a lot of lumber. Secondly, the Convocation could see that Kul Tiras had the potential to develop into a real maritime powerhouse, which made them great potential allies and trade partners. They were the human polity most distant from Strom, and thus the most easily swayed. They also had a big independent streak.

Asking for lumber as payment would force the humans to invest in their lumber production, and shipping it to Quel'thalas would make them invest in ship production, two fields that the new island polity would need in the coming centuries, especially if they developed along the lines the Quel'dorei wished. Thalorien could see the thinking, and it once again reinforced the fact that the Convocation thought further ahead than one might think at first glance.

"What's this about?" Anasterian asked Sapphiron as the Convocation gathered for another meeting. This time called by the Blue Dragon. Anasterian was lounging on his seat in a rather bored fashion.

"I beg of you to wait just a bit more. Your questions will be answered shortly. We're simply waiting for something to happen first." Sapphiron explained, maintaining a mysterious smile.

"Can you give us a hint at least?" Ron'vith asked, drumming the table with his fingers impatiently.

"You will soon see." Sapphiron didn't yield to any probing though. They didn't have to wait long. Suddenly a pulse of magic went through the entire kingdom, and if they weren't mistaken, the entire world. They didn't know what had caused the pulse, and nothing seemed to have changed.

"What was that?" Anasterian asked, suddenly very much paying attention. Before anyone could say anything further, they could all see and hear as Selessa got an emergency communique.

"Autarch. Reporting from the portal hub. The portal to Kalimdor is just gone. We didn't notice anything until the pulse, which I'm sure you noticed as well. Then the portal just vanished." Other similar reports came in from Luminarion and from Kalimdor as well.

"Be at peace. This is not an attack." Sapphiron reassured them before anyone could panic.

"Lord Malygos has taken the first action against the Naga. He is finding it difficult to strike at them directly without causing issues with the Maelstrom, so he sought alternative methods. This is the first one. As the Aspect of Magic, he redirected all the ley-lines flowing towards Maelstrom and thus the Naga. He is also setting up Nexus points to draw power away from the area. He can't remove the power entirely, as the Maelstrom is a fount of mana in itself, but he can redirect most of it.

Knowing that the Naga used to be Highborne, and Queen Azshara was who she was, depriving them of most of their power should neuter them for a time at least. He will be taking other steps, but this was the first." Considering the location and importance of the Maelstrom, redirecting all the ley lines in the area was not a small endeavor. It might also have rather major repercussions.

"We're going to have to find another way to connect with Kalimdor then." Ron'vith realized.

"Where were the ley lines redirected?"

"Mostly towards Northrend. I would advise that all traffic be redirected that way. Use a colony in Northrend as an intermediary stop, and you should end up with a much safer portal system. Less risk of the Naga trying to hijack one of the portals that way." Sapphiron presented an idea.

"We do have plans for Northrend anyway. That place is a rather untapped resource." Selessa speculated. They already had a smaller outpost there.

"We'll have to muddle through with ships until we can make any new plans into a reality though."

"We'll manage, though I do have to say we'd appreciate an advance warning next time." Anasterian stated with a less than pleased tone.

"What if we had people going through the portal when this happened? It's not like we would've stopped you even if we could've if you had given us like a day's worth of advance warning. More and more you're showing your lack of allegiance to Quel'thalas. I get that you're one of the Blues, and your loyalty is to them, but the blatant lack of consideration on things like this is not acceptable." Anasterian frowned in displeasure.

"In fact, we might as well get this done now. You are officially stripped of your position as the Grand Magister. You can maintain your advisory position, but this has been coming for a while now."

"As you will." Sapphiron gave a curt bow of acceptance. He couldn't say Anasterian was wrong.

"Ron'vith Salonar. You are now formally named the Grand Magister of Quel'thalas. May your time leading our magical institutions be fruitful." Anasterian turned to the representative of the Salonar family, and his old friend.

"Yes, my King." Ron'vith gave a much deeper bow.

"We are done for the day. Go out and make sure there are no lasting damage from this ley-line shift." Anasterian waved with a dismissing gesture. Sapphiron and Selessa walked out together.

"Well, that took longer than I expected." Sapphiron finally admitted after they'd walked for a while in silence.

"You did mostly bring it on yourself. Anasterian was right. It wouldn't have required much to warn a couple of us a day before, even if Malygos forbade it. Even if you can't serve two masters, you could at least make an effort." She pointed out.

"I know. I just…it's something you get used to eventually, but such mortal considerations just fall away as insignificant as you grow older." Sapphiron pondered. Selessa had to struggle to keep her face straight. She kept forgetting Sapphiron didn't know about her previous life. The Aspects suspected something, but Sapphiron specifically didn't know.

"That's a choice. You can allow yourself to be detached. It makes some things easier. Making big decisions weighs less on your soul if you detach yourself from the everyday costs, but the downsides are also obvious. What will you do?"

"I will still be around on occasion, but I think it's time I returned to our flight to help them. I've stayed longer than I should. You and your brother are adults, and you'll keep an eye on the Quel'dorei even if I don't ask you to. You won't let them do something stupid. I believe my dalliance with your mother has also reached its end." The dragon in disguise pondered his options.

"I'll also need to do my part to revive the flight now that you're helping our eggs hatch." She smirked.

"So, I might end up with new draconic siblings, eh?"

"You already have them. You just aren't aware." Sapphiron laughed.

Selessa watched over the fortress that was gaining the finishing touches on the island on Darrowmere Lake. They'd named the fortress Anar'alah, the Fortress of Light, partially because it was the focal point of the defenses of Alah'thalas.

The fortress itself had gleaming white walls of thick stone with heavy fortifications, multiple magical towers and siege weapon emplacements, large facilities for housing a large portion of the Quel'thalassian army, while the insides had specifically been designed as training facilities for all the different subdivisions of the Sin'dorei.

The rangers, the warriors, the paladins, the Spellbreakers, the war magisters, and even the marines that became part of the new warrior caste of the kingdom all had their own quarters and training facilities. There was enough space to add new subdivisions as they came up. The fortress naturally had a lot of space for supplies, and vast armories to arm small armies in a hurry. The harbor was well protected from all sides with curtain walls and water gates that could be opened and closed when necessary.

The harbor was not huge, as it was designed to hold smaller river ships that could quickly patrol the rivers of the continent, and to help facilitate trade. They didn't bother constructing dedicated shipyards, as they already built their naval vessels elsewhere, and the fortress was not the best place for that anyway. Instead, they had drydocks for quickly repairing and refitting vessels when necessary.

It wasn't uncommon for ships to load up on goods at Golden Crossing, before being escorted towards the human lands along the rivers, as they picked up protectors at the fortress before sailing to riskier waters. The fortress itself was shut off for any humans or any other races besides the elves, and any visitors were gently but firmly guided towards Golden Crossing instead. They didn't intend to allow the slightest possibility of saboteurs entering the fortress, and it also helped keep their numbers a secret.

Glowing magical bridges from the island could be created on moment's notice in case they needed to move forces faster than their ships allowed.

Selessa made a slow turn at the central fountain of the fortress, allowing her eyes to move from the tall tower of the war magisters, to the temple of the paladins, to the barracks of the warriors, to the sanctum of the Spellbreakers, to the lodge of the rangers, to the headquarters that doubled as a tavern where they all mixed and mingled for better bonds of friendship and shared duty.

The blacksmith's, leatherworker's, and tailor's shops were there mainly to repair equipment instead of creating new ones, as those were mostly shipped in from either Luminarion or Emberforge, and the armory next to the shops was filled to bursting with magical and enchanted equipment. The interesting thing about the fortress and the island was that the whole thing was designed for training. Everybody participated in regular physical training.

Even the war magisters were expected to keep up their physical standards and be able to hold their own in melee combat. On the other hand, the others were often lectured by the mages on the different combat spells and how to best deal with them. Combat arenas were in constant use as everyone sparred and trained, the agility courses were complex mazes of obstacles combined with balance training high-beams and poles. The tag races were still a constant, and a game everyone participated in.

The headquarters were not just a social gathering place and a hub during operations. It was where officers were taught, where they wargamed various situations, and the place where they could maintain contact with the world outside the island, as it was also the communications hub of the island. They maintained constant contact with the regular army and the navy, and read the reports of the rangers and magisters managing the kingdom's towns and cities for anything alarming, collating and comparing information.

It was also where several of Queen Elessine's intelligence operatives worked. Some of them were receiving training among the Sin'dorei as well. Aside from magical communications, the island was somewhat isolated from the rest of their society, though that was by design. New recruits were isolated on purpose, and they often entered the Hinterlands for long wilderness training missions.

Full members knew they would be able to visit family whenever they wished, and they were often deployed in various places around the kingdom anyway. Golden Crossing and Luminarion were both just a boat ride away, and they were sending constant patrols ships both ways several times a day, so hitching a ride only required asking. That said, entry to the fortress was carefully managed, to limit outgoing information from reaching hostile ears.

"Good enough?" Thalorien asked with a small smile of his own. He'd only recently returned from Kul Tiras. He'd risen to become the second in command of the warrior side of the Sin'dorei.

"It'll do. We can make adjustments when necessary." She retorted.

"Ok, I'll bite. What's missing? Or what will we need to add in the future?" He asked.

"Well, I got an idea from the palace in Luminarion. Sooner or later I'll have enough time and focus to work on a longer-term project to create airships. We'll need proper docking facilities for those." She grinned at the man.

"Airships? As in, ships that can fly?" He asked, not finding the idea as shocking as it perhaps should've been.

"Yes. Mostly for quickly transporting and deploying troops, though I suppose we could add some firepower to them eventually. I'm more interested in the troop carrying capacity though. Not sure how widely we'd use them, but if we got into a war with, say the Mon'keigh, it would be easier to drop a few regiments behind their lines to harass their forces if we had something like an airship." She explained her vision.

"Ok, so what's stopping us from making them currently?" Thalorien asked. He knew they had floating islands as vanity projects.

"Mostly the engineering. I have countless ideas but not the expertise to put them into reality. There's no experience among the Quel'thalas' engineers either. The Gnomes might be useful in that regard, but they haven't developed far enough. So, I have no one to teach me, so if I wanted to learn, I'd have to build the whole field from scratch, mostly through trial and error." She pursed her lips in distaste.

"It's not that I can't do it, just that it will take time and effort. Luckily, while I have a lot to do, I have plenty of both in the coming centuries. I'll need to find the right people to help me as well."

"Hmm. I might know someone. I have a friend. Lana'thel. She's wicked smart, the most intelligent person I know aside from you, and very fervent believer in the Light. I think she would've become a paladin if she had talent in its use, but so far she hasn't displayed any. She has a very strategic and sharp mind though." She nodded.

"Send her my way. We'll figure out something." The idea of such a project did intrigue her.

STATUS: Level: 15 1000/15000 EXP 14 Base Points/3 Advanced Points/1 Mastery Points Mandatory Perks: Beauty Over Brawn Body: 12/15 (5 Unspent Perk Points) Athletics 10 Iron Lungs Strength of a Dragon Body of Eternal Dawn Unbreaking Stride Eternal Sunstrider Heavy Weapons 10 Cleaving Strikes Blade of the Rising Sun Unyielding Vigil Fury of the Chosen Bladestorm Durability 10 Immovable object Dragon's Fortitude Unageing Regeneration Healing Factor Dragon's Might 1 Reflexes: 10/15 (4 Unspent Perk Point) Light Weapons 10 (4 Unspent Perk Points) Swift Strikes Nervous System 10 Keen Eyes Keen Eye for Hidden Dragon's Perception Sentinel's Eye Danger Sense Dawn's Reflex Subtlety 5 (1 Unspent Perk Point) Arcane Shots Charisma: 18/18 (1 Unspent Perk Point) Politics 17 Competent Underlings Superior Subordinates Shared Vision Intelligent Improvisation Unleased Potential Unlimited Potential Above and Beyond Inspiring Loyalty Improved Resources Rare Resources Treasure Trove Fertile Land Esprit de Corps Conflux Endless Plenty Hardy Stock Social 5 (2 Unspent Perk Points) Pleasure 1 Crafting: 10/12 (2 Unspent Perk Point) Magical Crafting 10 (1 Unspent Perk Point) Master of Disassembly Superior Runework Talented Enchanter Master of Efficiency Creation 1 Nature 2 Eye for Errors Eye for Improvement Bonesinging 10 (1 Unspent Perk Point) Difference of Kind Amalgamation Amplification Grand Amplification Great Works Regeneration Stronger Than You Think Discipline: 7/12 (1 Unspent Perk Point) Commander 7 (1 Unspent Perk Point) Battlefield Awareness Ambush Expert Cavalry Tactics Squad Leader 5 (1 Unspent Perk Point) Sensei Soldier 6 (2 Unspent Perk Points) One With Your Steed One With Your Steed II Aureate Dragonflight Magic: 12/16 (3 Unspent Perk Points) Light 12 Severe healing Baptism of Light I Baptism of Light II Draconic Magic: Light Judgement Radiant Defense Power to the Masses Lasting Boons Efficiency of the Light Arcane 8 (1 Unspent Perk Point) Massive Spells Master Conjurer Arcane Subtlety Spellbreaker 5 Magic Sight Anti-Magic Zone Projected AMZ