Into the Light

44 | THE TOMB OF SARGERAS

Malfurion stood up, slow, as reason returned, shaming him. Khadgar was right, what could he have done to help Tyrande without the aid of the others? Nothing. He rolled his shoulder, seeking to ease the pain from its blow against the wall. "I do understand," he admitted, bitter. "In your place, I would have done the same, but still, the thought is unbearable. Please, let us make haste. I must go to her before it is too late."

Khadgar nodded. A flicker of emotion crossed over his face, quickly concealed. Malfurion narrowed his eyes, recognising it. Dread. His heart clenched. The Archmage knew something, and still wasn't telling all. Khadgar continued.

"Xe'ra and Idira are the most powerful among us, they will deal with freeing and containing Illidan and Tyrande, the rest of us will do our best to manage Gul'dan until we can get away with the other two. It is not our prerogative to defeat Gul'dan today, all we are there to do is get the pair of them away and safe. Kalec you will portal us back to this room. It has been warded in preparation for their arrival. Are we agreed?"

Malfurion nodded along with Kalec. Xe'ra's quiet chimes joined in. Gul'dan could wait, all that mattered was getting Tyrande out of there. Idira stepped a little apart from them and swept her silver staff before her. She lifted it up, then brought it down against the stone floor.

Malfurion blinked, disoriented. That was the fastest teleport he had ever experienced. His thoughts hadn't even kept pace. They stood in a dripping, dank cavern, surrounded by the broken ruins of an ancient temple. Idira left them and moved to stand in front of the solid face of a stone wall. She pressed her hands against it, frost streaking away from her palms as she uttered several low incantations. Malfurion lifted his brow, incredulous. She was using demonic spells to open the way. He glanced at Khadgar, but the Archmage's attention was wholly fixed on Idira, worry and fear etching his features.

Demonic runes flared alight on the smooth surface of the stone wall, outlining the shape of an opening. The stone in between the runes vanished, opening the way into a dim tunnel, glowing with the faint light of fel. Idira touched the nearest rune and frost crackled away from her fingers, spreading around the opening's edges, freezing the runes. Malfurion was impressed. She had opened a demonic gateway, without taking on any of its taint, and then used her own magic to overcome it. Gul'dan would have sensed nothing from her actions, and, if all else failed and they couldn't portal out, they could always run out. Clever.

Idira did not look back, she entered the dripping, fel-infused tunnel. The light surrounding her staff glowed white, a star in the darkness. Khadgar followed close behind, his staff flaring to life, lighting the way ahead for those behind. Kalec went in next, Malfurion followed him. Xe'ra came last, drifting in their wake, her light cleansing the fel streaking the sides of the tunnel's walls.

They traversed the foul tunnel, leaking with corruption. Malfurion followed Kalec down the stone steps, descending into the deepest part of the tunnel under the sea's channel. Claustrophobia clawed at him, despite being able to spend years in the depths of a barrow den, this place, even after a few minutes, was intolerable. It reeked of evil, misery and death. Guilt gnawed at him as he thought of Tyrande trapped in such a dark and forbidding place. He had done everything he could, but it still didn't feel like enough. She should not have had to wait so long for help. He should have done more. He sensed the tunnel's surface beginning to incline. Momentary relief flooded him, soon their little party would reach the end of this accursed tunnel. The light from Idira's staff stopped moving, as did Khadgar's. Malfurion hastened to catch up.

Idira pressed her hands against the stone barrier blocking their way through, and murmured several dark incantations. Malfurion felt the hairs on the back of his neck rising, sensing the magic on the other side was very dark, paid for with the blood of innocents. The wall shimmered and Idira nodded at Khadgar. He muttered a low spell, and cloaked them all--even the glimmering Na'aru--with invisibility. The way ahead opened. Idira touched a rune on the wall, and once again, ice spread away from her fingers, encasing the edges of the opening in ice.

Khadgar took the lead, his form only visible by its faint blue outline. He edged out into the large corridor, the others moved in after him, quiet. They were so close now. Malfurion could feel his heart pounding. The corridor curved away from them foreshortening their view. He could hear a man screaming, his cries muted by the thick walls of the corridor. It sounded like Illidan. Malfurion's flesh crawled, the evil in this place was overwhelming, and his brother had been facing it, for all this time.

A sudden, unexpected surge of pride flowed through Malfurion. Illidan was still fighting, he hadn't given up. Ever since they were boys, Malfurion had known his brother was by far the strongest of the two of them. If only he had known it would come to this, he would have treated his brother better. Guilt replaced his pride as he realised all his life he had been wrong about Illidan. If his brother was truly evil, he would have succumbed long ago to Gul'dan, but still, Illidan fought on, determined to defeat the Legion no matter what the cost.