Into the Light

11 | INTO THE NETHER

Her throat so tight she could hardly breathe, Tyrande could only nod. She turned, and faced the portal. Illidan watched her, desperate with hope. She looked above the portal, into the Light, and nodded.

"Then it is time," Elune said."To journey with me, you must leave your shell behind. While you are in the Nether, your body will sleep, deep in trance. You can only awaken when your soul rejoins your body."

Tyrande pressed her lips together, to stop their trembling. Tendrils extended outwards, snaking down and around her, weaving a complex web, criss-crossing until she found herself enclosed within a sphere of blue light.There was no going back now.

The sphere lifted, taking her with it. She drew a breath, astonished. This was different than levitation. She was completely weightless, she could feel nothing. She looked down at Malfurion, but he was not looking at her, he was kneeling and scooping up a body, limp, from the snowy crust lacing the Altar. She watched, horrified, as he rose up with her in his arms, sheltering her. A strong wind whipped his cloak, making it snap in the tumultuous air. He looked up. She pounded on the side of the sphere, panic taking hold of her.

"Malfurion! I am here!" But he could not see her. He stared at the sphere, unseeing, anguished. Another gust of wind sent his cloak streaming past him. He tightened his hold on her body, and kissed her brow, tender. Tyrande screamed, desperate.

"Can you not hear me? That is not me, I am me. I am right-"

A shock shot through her chest, making every part of her tingle. She looked down. A tether of blue connected her to the sphere. Another jolt, stronger this time. She juddered, watching wide-eyed as the Light of the Goddess surged around the sphere and down the tether into her. So this was how it was to be done.

She hung, suspended within the sphere as Elune's Light trickled into her, slow at first, increasing little by little until it poured into her, a torrent, filling her until she could hold no more. Glowing with Light, she gasped, her eyes burning, filled with new vision.

She could see . . . everything. She cried out, exhilarated. This was more, so much more than anything she could ever have imagined. Her fear was fast becoming a distant memory. She longed to begin. The sphere floated level with the portal. Tyrande looked one last time at Malfurion, still clutching her body against his. Tears stained his face. She pressed her hand against the sphere willing him to see her. He could not.

"It is time, Daughter. The transition may be difficult."

A scream. Elune's. Or was it her own? Darkness. Spirals of light, chaos. All the dreams she had ever had merging into one, repeating over and over. She ran down a corridor. Malfurion chased her. He turned into a demon, and threw her into a pit. The pit became a garden. Her garden, filled with climbing roses. Iasar ran up to her, filled with joy. She caught the kitten and kissed her head. The kitten became limp in her arms, bloodied, her back legs crushed, shuddering in her death throes. She watched the light fade from her eyes. She cried out in denial, trying to heal her, but she had no magic left in her, she was extinguished, hollow, a shell.

Her garden disappeared, she stood atop a great citadel. Suramar. All around her suffering, devastation, death, destruction. Another demon, massive, his torso burning with fire approached. He picked her up, and held her suspended before his molten eyes. Iasar fell from her arms and tumbled to ground to die, alone. He smiled, dark, and stroked her face with a bloody talon. The tender act dissonant against the violence surrounding them. She trembled, terrified.

I have you now. Ah Elune. It has been a long wait. And now you are mine, bound to me, for eternity.

Within Tyrande's soul, the Goddess screamed. Tyrande pressed her hands to her ears, but the scream tore at her, until every part of her ached. She wept. Sargeras let them go, and they hurtled down, falling into infinity, as worlds and time passed them by, endless. Elune fell silent. Tyrande curled into herself, and knew nothing.