Daughter of Azeroth

83 | AND SO THE RECKONING IS COME

Khadgar cast a teleport to Dalaran and stepped through it into a sumptuous room. Straight ahead, a beautiful being made of the purest light floated in the air. Idira caught her breath. The Na'aru Xe'ra. Her head and torso were formless, featureless, nothing more than dense clusters of pure white light. Above her light-driven core, an elaborate crystal filigree of a crown hovered. Around her torso, the Na'aru's crystal wings rotated, fragile and thin. Her light pulsed, soft, each pulse accompanied by ephemeral chimes resonating with quiet, ancient power.

Idira stepped through the teleport's residue. Two others waited with the Na'aru. Archmage Kalec, and another, Archdruid Malfurion, she presumed. She glanced at him, then away. She had read once about him, how he had become so attuned to the power of nature, he had begun to manifest the aspects of the druid in bodily form: the wings of a stormcrow; the paws of a bear; the feet of a cat; the antlers of a stag. He eyed her, a towering being, far taller than Khadgar, his look approving.

Khadgar nodded at the group. 'Idira Northshire, may I present Archmage Kalec, Archdruid Malfurion, and Xe'ra, Na'aru of light.'

Kalec tilted his head to her in quiet acknowledgement. He glanced at Khadgar, his expression unreadable.

Malfurion bowed low. 'My Lady,' he said, in a warm voice, seasoned with age and wisdom.

Xe'ra's wings spun faster, her light brightening. Soft chimes tinkled as the Na'aru's gentle voice pierced Idira's mind. And so the reckoning is come.

Khadgar blinked, taken aback. He eyed the Na'aru, waiting, as though expecting her to say more. When she remained silent, he looked at Idira, uncertain. She met his look, steady. He swallowed, his jaw tensing, a touch of dread passing behind his eyes. A slight shake of his head. His thoughts coming to her as he used the spell from the font. Don't do it, whatever it is.

She didn't have time to answer. Kalec cleared his throat. Khadgar turned, his demeanour shifting imperceptibly, once more commanding, the Leader of the Kirin Tor.

'Xe'ra and Idira are the most powerful among us,' Khadgar said, crisp, meeting the eyes of the other men, 'they will deal with freeing Illidan and Tyrande. Our task will be to occupy Gul'dan until we can get away. It is not our prerogative to defeat him today, our sole objective is to get the others away. Kalec you will portal us back to this room. It has been warded in preparation for their arrival. Are we agreed?'

The men murmured their assent. Khadgar nodded at Idira, a terse look of warning sparking in his eyes, reminding her of his earlier words. 'Then let us begin, and may the Light protect us. Idira, if you would teleport us to Hope's End.'

Idira visualised the cavern with the ancient temple ruins. Her Light thrummed, responding to her call as she swept her staff up and brought it down against the tiled floor. Within a heartbeat they stood in the dripping, dank cavern of Hope's End. Kalec and Malfurion turned full circle, defensive, eyeing the broken ruins of the ancient temple.

Against the solid face of the stone wall, the residue of the tunnel's opening beckoned to her. She pressed her hands against the damp rock face, frost streaking away from her palms as she worked to sense the current pattern. There. The fifth pattern. Calling to her Light she uttered the dark incantations, all seven, in the correct order.

Demonic runes flared alight on the smooth surface of the stone wall, outlining the tunnel's opening. The stone vanished, opening the way into a dim tunnel, glowing with the faint light of fel. Idira touched the nearest rune. Frost crackled away from her fingers, spreading around the opening's edges, freezing the runes, holding the way open for the others.

Her Light prodding her, urging her on. She stepped into the dripping, fel-infused tunnel, its depths reeking of evil, misery, and death, and descended the stone steps into the tunnel's bowels, the light surrounding her staff flaring. A star. At the bottom of the steps, she turned. Khadgar followed close behind, his staff alight, pulsing with latent power, responding to the tunnel's fel taint. Kalec and Malfurion came after, cautious, wary, Xe'ra drifting in their wake, her light sliding over the fouled rock, cleansing the fel. Khadgar touched her arm as he passed her, taking the lead. Stay back, it's dangerous, he warned. She fell back, grateful to have his powerful bulk between her and the dark Citadel, sensing the bleakness within its grim walls, the despair, the desolation. The last place on Azeroth she would ever see.