“ Over here, ye ugly bastard! “
The giant looked his way, and charged towards the big fat dwarf, who was covered in a blooded set of plate armor. Behind him were a Draenei, 2 humans and a gnome, who all seemed ready to help out their loud mouthed companion.
“ You pissed him off, Algar! “ Shouted the Draenei, as the giant took a wide swing against the dwarf. The dwarf raised his shield, and parried the swing without much effort.
“ Just heal me, and quit whining! What are ye others doing, just standing there? Charge! “
The giant inhaled, taking in a lot of air, and the air around the group started to have traces of ash. The giants mouth gave off a bright orange glow, and suddenly it spewed out boiling magma. Algar stood still, as the rest of the group jumped out of the way of the magma spray, engulfing Algar in a bath of steam and smoke.
As the smoke started to slowly clear, the outline of a dwarf could be made out. The draenei took a quick move, watery bubbles started moving around her hands, and as the spell came together, it seemed as if she had conjured a ball of water.
She threw the ball of water in the general direction of the dwarf, and not 2 seconds later, the dwarf started moving again.
“ Took ye a while didn’t it?! “
“ Sorry, knock-down effect! “
The giant took another swing at Algar, who merely raised his shield, as the draenei started channeling another spell. One of the two humans, whom was wearing a full plate armor and was equipped with a pair of double edged axes, charged the giant, and started hitting it, as if it was just a simple training dummy.
Not many seconds after, the other human suddenly appeared behind the back of the giant, and started stabbing the giant with her two daggers. The gnome, who just got to his feet, started channeling a spell. This particular spell however, had a completely different charisma. Shadows started engulfing the gnomes hands, and small orb of shadowy magic had started to form in his hands. He threw the bolt at the giant, and hit it square in the eyes.
The giant started to inhale, for another molten spew, but the warrior human cleaved the giants head into pieces, making it collapse to the floor.
The dust settled, and Algar spoke again.
“ Next time, when i shout at an enemy, you better charge against it immediately, otherwise we might end up dead. “
“ Calm down Algar, it died didn’t it? Besides, you should give us a warning before you decide to attack such a big monstrosity. “
The shaman looked kindly on the dwarf, who before sighed at the response he got.
“ Well, if you two are done with ‘discussing’, i believe we have a dungeon we must finish. “
It was the first time the rogue had spoken for the entirety of the dungeon. In fact, the rest of the group looked at her with a bit of shock in their eyes. The rogue sheathed her blades, and started walking down the hall, which now had a magma giant lying in the middle. She gently climbed over the giant, and moved towards a big room of a sort.
This wasn’t the first time the group was together at all, but the rogue had seemed very quiet this day, and the rest of them were not sure why that was. She wasn’t really the kind of person to talk a lot, but not talking for the first hour of a dungeon just seemed... off.
“ Well... Are you coming? “
The Human warrior shook his head.
“ Right! Let’s finish this baby up, so i can get back to Stormwind and get a few beers! “
The gnome giggled at the remark. He had the previous night been witness to the warriors many attempts at speaking with some of the local ladies, and had seen him failing miserably. Obviously, he had decided not to drink, for it was a known fact that drinking kills ones brain cells, and since he was a master of the demonic arts, he would need every braincell his body could give him, just so that he might be able to squeeze out a tiny bit more of chaos to empower his abilities further.
Obviously the warrior had no such boundries, when it came to drinking, and had dumbly agreed to a drinking wager. If he drinks once every time a new person walks into the bar, the gnome would conjure him a succubus to spend the night with him. The warrior had not thought about the fact that he would have to drink 72 times, in an hour, only to pass out, and be brought to the cathedral to be cured by the priests of Stormwind.
The gnome shook his head a couple of times, looking around to verify his suspicion; the others had indeed moved on, and left him behind to his thoughts. In the distance he could hear the warrior, once again, shout at another unfortunate enemy. He quickly made his way to catch up with the group again.
“ This is the 70th of these bloody of these things we’ve killed! Where is their leader?! “ The warrior sounded incredibly frustrated, but was calmed when the shaman spoke to him.
“ We most be close, there can’t be that many beings left in this dungeon. And, if you look on the bright side, you get to hit things with an axe, whereas i just have to stand here and heal you guys. “
The shaman was right. For the entirety of the dungeon, all she had done was throwing water balls at the group. Not that it was a bad job at all, but the fact that she had only thrown 30 of them in total was amazing. The warrior just didn’t seem to take any damage at all. Either that, or the creatures just died in a few seconds.
For the first time, the group looked around the hall. It was magnificently crafted, much like the halls of Ulduar. Merely the size of the hall was incredible, Stormwind could be built in here, and there would still be room for a small forest.
The edges of the room ( At least, the ones that they could see from where they stood... ) was covered in pillars. Gold plated pillars, shaped like some of the titans. However every now and then, some humans and night elves would show up, and none any of them knew. Even the Warlock gnome could not place a name on the pillars, not even the titans.
It was common ( For most gnomes, mages, shamans and other intelligent races and/or classes ) knowledge now that the titans existed, and they even knew a few of their names. The incredible amount of knowledge Brann had managed to get out of the files in Ulduar was mind blowing.
Apparently the world was created by the Titans, and they had left behind stone dwarves to look after their castles and secrets. However the Old Gods created the curse of flesh, which turned some of the stone dwarves into the dwarves we know today.
“ It’s so quiet... Somethings not right here, there dosen’t seem to be any other passages than the one we came from, and that’s just a simple hallway. Either there is some sort of platform, that will take us to a higher level of this citadel, or else we have just entered a dungeon that has no bosses. “
“ Awww man! I was looking forward to cleaving the face of some awesome huge monster! “
The warriors face turned a bit sad, and he shed a little tear. All that however was quickly changed by a enormous crash. The group looked up.
“ Did everyone hear that? “
“ Eeeyup “
“ Uhuh “
“ Indeed.... “
The rogue scanned the room. Something seemed off... As if... A pillar was missing? Apparently the pillar had not fallen in towards the room, it had fallen outwards. The Dwarf was the first to react to their new-found knowledge. He started to run towards where the pillar had fallen, and started climbing on top of the pillar stand.
“ Guys! Ye have to come see this! “
Algars eyes lit up, as he looked through the hole the pillar had left in the wall. He could see a GIANT of a robot next to some sort of moving ground. It was unlike anything the dwarf had ever seen. The robot spitted out another tiny robot onto the moving ground, and the robot moved into another room.
Suddenly alarms went off, red lights started blinking and a voice sounded “ Intruder Alert! Intruder Alert! Intruder Alert! “ The dwarf charged the little robot, who kept shouting up about his presence, however what he did not notice was, that the giant robot had moved, and started to take a swing at him.
He failed to react in time, and was flinged across the room, into another pillar. The pillar crashed into the hall, revealing the rest of the group. The dwarf coughed blood, but was hit by a watery ball. He immediately stopped coughing, and charged towards the giant robot. This time, however, the human warrior made his way to robot first, and was met by a giant foot, kicking him towards the shaman.
The shaman jumped up and catched him, quickly conjuring a small rain of water around them. A roar caught the shaman off guard, and fell over, to realise that the warlock had just conjured forth a demon guard. And that was not all, he had metamorphised himself into a shadowy demon thing. Horns sticking out of his head, and about the same size as the shaman herself. The metamorphised gnomed laughed maniacially as he threw shadowbolt after shadowbolt at the giant robot.
The robot however, would not take any of it, and dropped a series of small little bomb robots, and other small types of robots. They were dealt with swiftly, as the rogue unleashed a fan of blades around her, leaving not a single of the smaller robots standing. Not long after, she jumped up, and ran across the robots back, stabbing it as many times as she could, doing a backflip when she lost momentum, and started falling back down. She landed on the knees, only to see the arm swinging at her too late, she knocked towards the gnome, and was caught in friendly fire, as she took 2 shadowbolts for the robot.
It did not, however, take long before she rose again, slightly wet from the amount of water that had been sprayed over her from the shaman, who seemed to be concentrated on the Dwarf, who took hit after hit, however still standing in the exact same spot as he was, just 2 minutes ago, when they started the fight.
The rogue ran back towards the robot, her face steeled with determination, her daggers ready to land explosions of hits and stabs in the robot. She ran past the Warrior Human, who had just finished off the newly spawned wave of robots, with a swift cleave with his axes, with a look of fury in his eyes. He continueusly hit the robot in it’s leg, and when he had the chance, jumped up the foot of it, just so that he would be thrown into the air, and started hacking into the robots back.
The dwarf suddenly froze with fear, as he felt a strike, and did not get hit by another water splash.
“ What’s wrong?! “ He shouted backwards.
“ I’m... Just... Too tired... I can’t... Conjure anymore... water.... “ The shaman replied, with a look of exhaustion on her face.
The amount of healing the fight had required, was simply too much for her to handle, and if it lasted much longer, she would not be able to keep all of them alive.
“ Guys, you need to finish it off! Now! “ The dwarf shouted in desperation, as he dodged another swing from the robot.
“ On it! “ Replied the 3 damage dealers in return, quickening their pace, as they tried to finish their jobs with even more speed, than they knew they were capable off.
“ Heroism’s.... up... “ The shaman managed to pant out, in-between her heavy breathing.
The robot started to give out electrical discharges, finally shouted out “ System... Failure... “, and shortly after, fell over. The group all let out a cheer, as the robots lights went from bright blue, to black. The shaman fell down to her knees not many moments after the fight. The gnome threw the shaman a skin of, what she could only assume was water, and she quickly took a swig of it. She coughed, and quickly spat out the drink as she realised, what the warlock had thrown her.
“ Pupazzo! You know i don’t drink alcohol! “
“ Oh come on sweety! Even one as pure as you, has to at least try to drink once! “ The Warlock had transformed back into his gnome form again, and had a big grin on his face.
“ Besides, you just had a major victory, keeping the entire group alive against a foe, no one else has ever even met or seen! “
It was true... The dungeon had just been discovered, that day that they had been requested to explore it. They were, in fact, the first ones actually inside of the dungeon. When they found the doors, they did not even dare set foot in here, after their experiences with Ulduar.
“ Next time, at least warn me, you little evil gnome! “ The Shaman yelled back, however with a small smile on her lips.
The warrior laughed at the two, supposedly “intelligent” of the group.
“ Is there more to explore today, or shall we return to Stormwind? Because i could really use a beer, first round is on me! “
The dwarf cheered, as a sound of agreement. The others had become used to how the dwarf decided to reply to the others, either with weird noises, or with a lot of swear words.
They heard another massive crash behind them, coming from the giant hall they had just left, to battle the robot. The smiles on everyones faces disappeared instantly. They had looked forward to actually taking a rest for a while, it did however not seem like the dungeon felt the same way. It would appear that the robot was not the final boss of the instance.
“ Does that mean... “ The Warrior was interrupted by the rogue.
“ Yup... That means we are not done yet, and you cannot get drunk yet. We still have to clear the dungeon before any of us gets a rest. Neizana, you best collect you strength fast, because you will have to heal us through the next boss as well! “
She was, of course, referring to the shaman sitting down on her knees. Neizana simply nodded, took out a skin and started drinking from it. The water must have been enchanted, because she started to look much more refreshed after a couple of swigs from the skin. Either that, or she has some pretty hardcore alcohol in that skin.
“ Okay, let’s go and fight that boss! “
The group cheered in unison, and ran towards the conveniently close ‘entrance’ to the hall. As they climbed over the pillar, one by one, they realised that the room had somehow gotten smaller. They looked in the direction of the great doors, of where they had entered the hall in the first place, and in front of them, they could see a silhouette of a man.
He appeared to have some sort of staff on his back, he was not much larger than the human warrior, and seemed to wear some loose armour.
The group walked towards him, and they could hear him start laughing. The silhouette however, never came closer. They could see nothing more than the outline, and he always seemed as if he never moved, but always managed to keep his distance.
“ You should never have come here, this is a place of secrets, and we can’t have you run off with them. Even though you have killed my re-creation device, i will let you live. However, living does not mean being healthy, or in a good state. It does not even mean you get to stay with your ‘friends’. It just means that i will keep you alive. I have many ideas as to what i will do with you, but for now... I will split you apart. “
There was a bright white flash, and Neizana woke up in a enclosed room.There was nothing but silence and darkness. When Neizana tried to open her eyes, it burnt her eyes. It took a few tries, but after some time, she managed to open her eyes.
There seemed only to be walls. No signs of doors, elevators. Not even pillars to knock over. And she was all alone. It was at this moment she understood just what kind of a dungeon they had ventured into; an active vault of the Titans. And if there was something they had learnt from Ulduar, it was that the Titans does NOT like it, when you interfere with something that isn’t done.
That Silhouette had just been a small avatar from the Titans. Like Algalon, however this time, they did it more subtle, and WAY more controlled.The Titans are not cruel and evil, they do not like killing their own creations. However they’re not really the nicest race of all times.
The silence was broken, when the voice of the silhouette spoke again.
“ Hello, and welcome back to the conscious world. You are currently in a suspended prison area, until we decide which world to send you to. As you are a shaman, we will likely send you off to a world with a lot of nature. That is, if you co-operate. Otherwise, we could send you off to one of the more... Demonic... worlds. It’s all in your hands, if you do as we ask, you might get sent off to a nicer world. “
Silence engulfed the room once again.
Zeelain teleported back to Sovngarde. It had been a long time since he had been home. He was standing in what was a simple room, decorated with a couple of ancient banners, a bed and a bookcase. The bookcase was however, filled with discs as opposed to books. These discs were, much like books, filled with all sorts of information. Discs were the titans way of organising their paperwork and it was how they wrote down their history and facts.
He walked out of his room, and immediately he was greeted by a familiar voice. Before him was standing a large celestial Titan, wearing a simple robe. With a patient expression on his face, one wouldn’t think that this particular titan wielded much power. His entire body was slightly transparent, with stars aligning with his vital body parts. Before him stood the messenger of the Titans, Algalon the Observer.
“ I see you’ve returned Zeelain, I trust you bring news? “
His voice was loud, but kind. Algalon was his master, mentor and, sometimes, “father”. Zeelain however, actually had a purpose for his return. For 1000 years he had been guarding and concealing his vault. And now he had to tell his master that he had failed his objective, this was not a happy day for Zeelain.
“ Master, i bring grave news. The Vault of Robotics has been found and breached. The intruders has been set in the Arcane Prison. I had no instructions on how to deal with intruders, should they come, so i returned here to ask for your guidance. “
“ Hmmm... These Azerothians really have grown to be quite the explorers... Did you know Uldum, Ulduar and their secrets has been discovered as well? Nevermind, that dosen’t matter. You said you had imprisoned the intruders? Punishment is not within my jurisdiction, you must go to see my master, he will know what to do. “
Algalon handed Zeelain a data disc. “ This will lead you to my master, see him as soon as you can. He does not like information being kept from him. “
Zeelain simply nodded, and Algalon teleported away without another word. Zeelain quickly scanned the disc for all the details, and left towards his new destination.
Zeelain had never met Algalons master before, nor did he know that he even had one. Algalon himself was aweinspiringly powerful, being able to travel the void at his leisure, without even straining his vast amounts of magic ability.
As he approached a massive tower, looking much like the tower the titans crafted for the dragon aspects, back when they were still building Azeroth. This tower, however, was not very open in the least. There were few, if any, windows, the only place Zeelain could see anything to allow air to flow through the tower, was atop of the a giant spire, where there seemingly was a terrace, probably used for stargazing.
Leading up to the tower was a bridge, whose only supports were some glowing orbs. The orbs were commonly used by every titan on the planet, so seemingly Algalons master wasn’t one for showcasing his might and ability. This was quite odd to Zeelain, since many of the more powerful titans, namely those who were in the council, loved showing they’re infinite amounts of power off in their massive homes.
Crossing the bridge, Zeelain approached a massive marble gate, engraved with many strange runes. There didn’t seem to be any knocking mechanic, but as Zeelain was about to knock on the gate, the runes activated, playing a tune. Not long after, the gates opened, and he entered the tower.
The room he entered was lined with bookcases all along the walls, tucked away in the corner was a simple desk, with a couple of discs lying spread on top of it. In the middle were a series of runes, shaped in a large circle.
He heard a loud booming voice “ Welcome Zeelain, proceed up to the second floor, I’ve been awaiting your arrival for quite some time now. “
Zeelain followed his orders quickly, and stepped onto the circle of runes, and it moved upwards, stopping at the second floor. This room was very much unlike the first floor. It was decorated with a few banners, and had couches, divans and comfortable chairs. What struck Zeelain the most however, was the titan standing in it.
Standing before him was a 10 meters tall, wearing a midnight blue robe, covering him from head to toe, titan. More specifically, Norgannnon, The keeper of Lore and Master of Magic. Zeelain stood speechless in front of Algalons master, completely unable to act.
Norgannon laughed heartily, his voice far more quiet than it was upon Zeelains entrance.
“ What? Are you surprised I’m Algalons master? I created him after all, so it would only makes sense that i was his master. I can’t travel the void myself all the times, so i needed someone to do it for me. Obviously he couldn’t be everywhere at once, so i granted him some more magic, and he decided to create, among others, you. “
“...”
“Anyways... I believe Algalon sent you with a purpose, other than me getting a good laugh...” Norgannon hinted at Zeelains hand, which still carried the discs he had been given by Algalon.
“ Oh.. Yes... Of course... ”
Zeelain fumbled with the disc. “ This has all the data i have accumulated over the past centuries, anything older than 400 years is irrelevant to this issue. We have been revealed Master. The Azerothians has found the last of our fortresses. “
“ I trust you have captured those who ventured inside? Considering you dare to show yourself here after failing to keep up the veil keeping the fortress out of sight. “
“ Oh, of course Master. That’s why I’ve come here, to discuss their punishment. There are 5 adventurers, each isolated from their companions. They’re in the fortress, as i had no chance to move them off Azeroth without provoking the rest of the planet. “
Norgannon nodded tiredly. “ Yes, i suppose that makes sense... Punishment you say? Punish them for being curios as to what created their world? I could hardly blame them... Anyways, I suppose that is in order. “
Zeelains face lit up. Maybe his stream of thoughts were not so horrible in the first place. He still felt a bit bad for imprisoning the adventurers away from each other, however it had been necessary because they might have otherwise found a way out.
“ I was thinking maybe a banishment of sorts... For a century or two perhaps...? “ Zeelain was as nervous as he could get. Was this too harsh? Too light? Maybe a series of punishments were in order, he thought.
Norgannon broke Zeelains train of thought with a chuckle. “ Hmmm, yes. A banishment, that wouldn’t hurt too much, tho i think giving them a timed banishment might be too harsh, afterall, they might learn their lesson faster than we might think. I think a banishment to another dimension would do... Hmm.. Yes, that sounds good. And i shall engrave an exit, which can only be opened once they learn the lesson they should... ”
Norgannons face was unreable, as he thought and rethought the punishment over and over, while in the background, a disc was being engraved with runes. Several discs actually, Zeelain noticed. That was a tad odd wasn’t it?
Once again, Zeelains train of thought was broken by Norgannon.
“ Which kind of adventurers were they again Zeelain? “
“ Uhm... I think... Yes, there was 1 warrior, a dwarf to be specific, then there was a rouge, a human, and another warrior, human as well. Then there was a warlock, a gnome, with a devilish grin i might add, and lastly... “ Zeelains mind went blank for a moment. Had he forgotten who the last member of the adventurers was? His face looked pensive for a few moments.
Norgannon noticed his absense of mind, and decided on the punishment.
“ Mmmh, yes. I think.. I shall send them to... Hyboria... No, too violent, that wont teach them a lesson at all... Perhaps... Oh, yes, that is perfect. Serves the purpose, will teach them manners and best of all, it might even improve their skills and cooperation in the future...
“ Zeelain? “ Zeelains eyes fixated on Norgannon at the mentioning of his name “ Ah yes, the last one was... A shaman, a draenei. “
“ Excellent! That makes my choice perfect, one who has mind, and hearth, enough to survive in this dimension. “ Norgannons magic finished up engraving the discs.
“ I have decided to send your... Adventurers... To the dimension of... Equestria. “
“ … What... Which... Dimension is ‘Equestria’ exactly? “ Norgannon smiled lightly at his response.
“ Oh, you shouldn’t worry too much about that, let me worry about their punishment. All you have to do, is carry it out. Offer then these discs. “ Norgannon said as he floated the 5 newly engraved discs towards Zeelain.
“ As you wish, Master Norgannon “
*KLONK*
Neizana woke up at the odd noise, having been used to complete and utter silence, any noise at all could’ve woken up the sleeping Shaman. She rolled the her side, and looked in the direction the sound came from. She moaned slightly, pulling her hand to her head. It felt as if her head was being squished by a giant ogre.
*KLONK*
There was that noise again, and this time, a small bit of the wall seemed to be moving. Neizana started to get up, and prepared herself for whatever that might burst through the wall. Lava and earth started swirling around the her hands in anticipation. Her eyes were on fire - literally - as she took on a pose to hold the spell.
*CRASH*
The little piece of wall cracked spectacularly, covering most of the room in dust, only the area around Neizana seemed to still have a different colour than grey dust. Neizana finally released the spell in the direction of the cracked wall, and heard, with great pleasure, that her spell had hit something straight on, as the room gave back a loud “ UGH! *. Shortly after, she asked the element of air to clear all the dust, so she could see what she had hit, deciding that either whatever she hit was extremely weak, and that it should definitely get some help. In the end, it had no clue what was awaiting it in the room.
The elements of air did their work quick and efficient, and the dust settled within seconds after the request had been voiced. This revealed a rather small silhouette of a dwarf. Neizana broke into a fast paced run, rushing to the aid of her companion.
The dwarf grinned brightly, as Neizana approached him.
“ Told ya I’d neva leave ma healer behind! “
Neizana let out a small giggle, her friend didn’t look injured at all, and luckily, it had not been her little gnome. THAT would’ve been hard to explain to the rest.
“ I know, you made that promise a few years back. Tho, i have to ask, how in the world did you manage to get through that wall? It has to be at least 10 meters wide! “
“ Ah, no trouble at all! I have stoneskin after all, somthin’ ah havn’t had ta use since we were back in The Molten Core! And, ma shield has spikes, which sped the process up a little! “ The dwarf went silent for a bit, his skin turning back to normal. It was at that point all the pain returned to the dwarf, and he let out a scream of anguish and pain.
“ Lass, if.. You wouldn’t mind.. Could... Ya please help out a friend in need? Ugh.. I seemed to have forgotten how my stoneskin ability works... “ Algar pressed out through his gritted teeth, as he writhed in pain on the ground.
Neizana giggled a little bit again, how could she have doubted Algar in finding a way to her? She was the only one he trusted enough to heal him, and she had done so for years now. She starting forming water around her hands, readying herself to give him some well deserved healing, but perhaps he would also need some rest, breaking down that wall must’ve taken him weeks!
“ So... Algar... How long did it take you even put a DENT in that wall? It’s clearly made by the titans, so it couldn’t have been an easy feat. I mean.. None of the others have either made an effort at trying it, or have failed doing so. “
She splashed Algar with the water she had been conjuring from thin air, splashing him with it. His writhing stopped immedialty, and he started to relax a bit.
“ Jeez, did ya have ta make it so cold lass? I mean, i know ya haven’t been using your spells for weeks, but come on! “
*giggle* “ Sorry, Algar, just a little bit rusty “
“ Ah, I’ll live i guess... It took me about 2 weeks ta get halfway through, but by then... The walls got softer. The walls must’ve only been reinforced on the outside! “ Algar paused for a minute as he took his time to look around the room he had just bashed his way into.
“ Yer saying that none of the others have tried getting to ya yet? That surprises me a great deal, considering you're the one most of us stick around fer! “
A small blush could be seen on Neizanas face as she let out a soft sigh. She was just getting used to being alone, but being around Algar always got her a bit... Lighthearted. If it had been any of the others, such a comment would’ve gotten them a slap, or worse.
“ Your too kind, Algar. No, none of the others have tried to do anything of your sort, tho they might be doing it right now. I could only hear your attempt as you were getting through... I wonder if the others are okay... “
Her question was answered when a purple portal opened a few meters away from the 2 adventurers. Algar got to his feet within a few seconds, stepping in the way of the portal and Neizana, ready to protect her at all costs, no matter what stepped through that portal. Neizana prepared another round of lava and earth. They were not ready to give up on their life, just because they were imprisoned!
The world stood still for a couple of seconds, tho it seemed like minutes for the pair. First, a demons horn could be sighted coming out of the portal. Then a whip. Then... A hat?! Out stepped Pupazzo, the one and only thing that could’ve scared them more, was if Sargaras himself had stepped out.
Neizana playfully shot her lava burst at Pupazzo, managing to get a spectacular scream as the gnome hit the deck. Algar laughed heartily as he charged the gnome, obviously in an attempt to scare the little gnome to death.
“ AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! “ Screamed the gnome as he started to run away from Algar, who decided to overhear his scream, only fueling his will to charge him around.
“ Neizzy! Make him stop! AAHHH! He’ll hurt me! I swear! I’ll soulstone you, for the rest of your life! Please! Just! Make him stop! “
This was the first time in months that Neizana had genuinely laughed, having laughed several times over how terrible her situation was. But here were her best friends, sharing a moment of silliness, despite their hopeless situation.
“ Fine, fine. Algar, let him off this time. He might still be of use to us, after all, he haven’t thought me his little summoning spell yet, and i doubt he will ever. “
Algar stopped at the sound of Neizanas voice. “ As you wish, m’lady. Tho i do think he owes us an apology. He scared ye half to death! “ He said jokingly.
“ I swear Nezzy, you’ve got Algar wrapped around your little finger... “ Pupazzo remarked out loud, quickly regretting doing so, as he got a hard bash from Algar. “ HEY! “
“ Oh don’t worry, Algar has his own free mind, I’m sure he only does what i ask, because deep down he wants to! “ Algar had a light blush on his face.
“ Anyways! Have you seen or heard from the others? Algar just recently broke through this wall... To my amusement... “
Pupazzo quickly eyed the dwarf as he grinned brightly.
“Ahem... Er. No, i haven’t, but we are three people now, so we should be able to summon them. If... There isn’t any spell-blocking aura in between the rooms, which i assume there isn’t, since i just made a portal here. I wonder... “ The gnome went off into one of his day dreams, and Neizana rolled her eyes.
Pupazzo’s day dreaming were however, interrupted by, what sounded like, a giant explosion. Shortly after it sounded like and avalanche had started inside the room. Neizana slowly turned around, to witness the entire back wall was now debris. In the shadows stood an outline of a human carrying another in her arms; It was not until the outline collapsed that Neizana took action, she sprinted her way over to the two bodies that were now lying on the debris.
“ H.. *cough* He.. B-broke... Thr.. Through.. T-the wall, and... “ The rouge let out a small sob before gaining a bit more composure and carried on. “ He... He landed on one of my blades... W-whi... Which were poisoned! “ The rouge broke completely down, crying uncontrollably. She tried to continue talking, but none of them could understand a word.
The rouge and warrior had been the newest addition to the group, and had joined them not long after Ulduar had been discovered. This did, however, not mean they knew much of the two. They had not been much up for discussing their past or talking about some of their private lives, so none of them really knew much about them, other than the obviousness of the two having known each other for quite a while. To be honest, they didn’t even know their names, they had insisted on being called ‘Rouge’ and ‘Warrior’.
“ D-don’t worry.. I can cleanse his wound, just... Just show me where your blade struck him. He’ll be alright, i promise.. Just... Just let me heal him... “ Neizana said with a reassuring smile, tho she did not believe it herself too much. The rouge nodded weakly, and moved her hand from the wound. It looked sickly green, and smelled of death already. But she could still fix it... Right?
She started conjuring up some water in her hands, this looking a bit less clear than the kind she had used to heal Algar. “ This might sting... A littl... No wait.. A lot... “ she said as she poured the water on the wound. The warriors eyes popped open with a scream loud enough to scare Neizana into falling, luckily Algar was there to catch her, and give her a gentle push in the direction of the warrior on the ground. Neizana offered Algar a smile, and then looked at the wound.
The wound was now less green than before, and smelt considerably less of death than just moments ago. The wound was however still very much a flesh wound, which had luckily missed any vital organ. ‘This should be easy to heal’ Neizana thought, grateful to the elements for the powers they bestowed upon her. Once again, she started conjuring up some water, this time it was crystal clear.
Splashing the wound with the conjured water, life sprung back into the pained eyes of the warrior, and after a wheezing breath, he started to stabilize himself. Even though the water had healed the wound, returning from such a state was something healing could not accelerate.
“ T-Thank… You… “ Said the rouge with a weak voice, a tear falling off her face, and onto the warriors newly found scar.
“ You should thank the elements, not me. You never told us your names… Since we’re trapped here, it would be nicer if we could at least tell the world who we escaped with, without having to tell the tale of our escape, without crediting all the present adventurers! “ Neizana let out, slightly more confident in herself.
“ Yes… I suppose introductions are in order… I am Ilaka, of SI:7, and he… Is Grand Marshal Ymir. “ The rouge said, still in a weak, faint voice.
The rouge was interrupted by a loud thunder bolt, splitting the group apart. Everyone looked around confused, and filled with fear. Algar got to his feet quickly, and started to run towards Neizana, but was quickly thrown to the ground by a powerful wind blast, seemingly coming from nowhere. It was then, that the silhouette of the Titan appeared.
“ Your actions has been weighed. Your actions has been measured. The Master of Magic has decided on your fate. Your punishment. You shall follow his command, and take these discs. “ The silhouette levitated a disc in front of each adventurer. “ You shall be granted passage way back to this world, once the Master believes that you have learned your lesson, but beware, for if you should return, and prove you have not learned your lesson. Actions. Will. Be taken. “
The tone in the voice changed to a slightly less threatening one, and the silhouette continued. “ The Master has decided to send you off to a different dimension. He believes it possible for you to learn something there. Say your goodbyes, for it may very well be your last time together. Touch the discs once you’re ready to go, staying here will only serve as a slow death. “
The silhouette turned to walk away, and started to glow of pure arcane energy. Then it all stopped, the energies seemed to come to a halt, as if he just cancelled what he just did. It turned back to face the adventurers. “ Travelling between dimensions can hurt your eyes quite a bit. It might be best to have something cover them up… “ It floated 5 blindfolds towards the group of 5, and then again the energies started to build up, encasing the silhouette, and then disappearing with a loud thunderous crash.
Neizana looked around at her party members, overwhelmed with confusion, sadness and… Excitement? Yes, she might never see her friends again, but she had never been to another dimension, only to other planets. There was after all a reason she had become an adventurer, and it was not because of the pay, the loot or the fame, she already had all of that. No, being and adventurer was always about finding, or discovering new places. Being the first one to exploring them to their fullest, it was always the most exciting being the first in a new place.
The only one she would truly miss was Algar, they had been together through so much. Their first raid in Molten Core, the invasion of the ancient temples of C’Thun, reclaiming The Black Temple from Illidan, everything had led up to this very day. And now, because of a stupid mistake, and for being too curious, it had all fallen apart. Now they had to part their ways, after so many years of each other’s company, their ways finally had to part.
Teary eyed, she met the gazes of all the others, everyone nodding in agreement. This wasn’t a time for words, and they couldn’t wait much longer. Slowly, everyone started to pick up the blindfolds, still hovering in the air in front of them. Giving her companions one last look; she took her own blindfold on, apparently as the only one. She could feel 4 pairs of arms around her, and returned the gesture. After what seemed like hours, they finally let go of each other. Feeling ready, she touched her disc, and everything around her started to buzz. Then everything went completely white.
She drifted into the world of the unconscious, the last thing she heard was “ I’m gonna find ya lass, ye know I will! “
Birds. Birds were the first thing she noticed; their beautiful singing and their wings flapping. She could feel a mild breeze. That was odd… There aren’t supposed to be breezes inside a giant hall… Maybe it’s the work of the titans? Yes… definitely… That was her explanation.
She wasn’t sure how long she just lay there, but eventually she could feel something else. The pain; she could feel a brutal pain in her head. Well, mostly in her head; the rest of her body was aching as well, but the thing that stood out the most, was her head. It felt as if her head had become a drum for 2 ogres during Brewfest. This reminded her of Algar… Fond memories of last year’s Brewfest had been great fun, although she still didn’t drink, Algar however, drank for both of them, emptying keg after keg.
She giggled a bit, until she remembered her pain. She wanted to move; she really did, but her body seemed not to want to cooperate with her at all. She tried moving her legs, but they did not obey. Her arms… She couldn’t feel her arms… She still had her tail, her legs felt the same, but her arms felt strange… There couldn’t be anything wrong with her arms, it was probably just the headache, albeit a very strange headache. She couldn’t remember how she got it…
Roll… She rolled around the grass. It had taken hours of practice, but she could finally distribute her weight around her body. Her arms still felt strange and nonexistent, but she would figure that mystery out once she could open her eyes. Something told her that opening her eyes were not the best thing to do right now, so she just rolled around the grass. It felt nice, the soft grass, the mild breeze, the birds singing. She had never felt so serene since her test of water. Taming the element of water required patience and 100% serenity, and it was her favorite element, having mastered it very quickly.
Odd… She couldn’t feel the elements here… Actually, she couldn’t feel any form of energy current at all. She could always feel Pupazzo’s energy flow whenever he was close, even though it was chaotic. But now she couldn’t feel any at all. It didn’t matter; all that mattered was that she was rolling around in the soft, soft grass.
Now she felt it was time to open her eyes. Her eyelids obeyed her command, and opened straight away, this changed nothing though, as all she could see was black. She could feel sunrays on her body, so it wasn’t night, and she weren’t in the void… But it was all black, and that should have an explanation, so she tried finding one. Maybe she was in the shadow of a big tree? No… Then she wouldn’t feel sunrays… Wait, why could she feel sunrays? Sunrays didn’t feel nice at all on Azeroth; or Outland for that matter… So why could she feel them? They made her feel all nice and fuzzy inside, so she wouldn’t give it too much thought.
She still needed to find out why she couldn’t see anything, so she started to try and remember what had happened the day before. She didn’t stop rolling though; the grass was too soft to stop rolling. Maybe she could cast a spell that would make her see? Far sight? It had been a long time since she had last needed to cast that spell, and she could hardly remember how to cast it. And her arms felt strange… Why did her arms feel strange? It would be hard to cast a spell without her arms to direct the flow of energy. And could she cast it without being able to feel the elements?
She would try. She concluded that after minutes of thought. Yes, she would try to cast far seeing, so that she could see why she couldn’t see. She giggled again, that was a funny thought. She still couldn’t remember what brought her here… How did she get on this soft grass? She felt like she could never stop rolling, so she didn’t. The grass was too nice. She looked inside her mind, to access the spell that would allow her to see. And then she tried focusing her energies towards her hands; but they wouldn’t obey. She couldn’t focus her energies towards her hands..? Now her arms definitely felt strange…
Now she could feel an energy flow, but it came from the strangest of places. Her head… Why did she feel and energy flow in her head? No, how could she feel an energy flow in her head… There weren’t anything that could cause an energy flow in her head, unless her head had been engraved with runes! Oh no! Now she really needed to see what had happened to her! And why was the grass so soft?
Focusing her energies once again; this time towards her head; she tried to cast far seeing. Her head started to feel fuzzy, and she could feel her energy flowing. But her far seeing didn’t work. Had she casted an entirely different spell? In that case, what had she casted?! Had she released a fire elemental?! That would definitely burn the soft, soft grass… Then she couldn’t roll in it anymore, and she wouldn’t ever want to stop rolling in the soft grass…
Maybe the runes had her spell locked? She had cast a spell, she was sure of that; but maybe the runes had caught her spell before it could work? If she couldn’t cast spells, she would have to try to remember what had happened. What happened yesterday...? It was all so blurry, and she could hardly make anything out; honestly this grass was too soft, and too distracting…
Slowly, but surely everything started to come back to her; she was overwhelmed with memories. How they had entered a forbidden vault, defeated a robot; met an avatar of the titans. How they had been imprisoned; how Algar had burst into her prison cell. She giggled at that part of her memory; Algar would always find a way back to her. The discs… There was something after the silhouette had given them the discs… She felt it was somehow important, but she couldn’t remember it. Had the avatar engraved runes onto her face? No; it was something else.
Her mind finally remembered the elephant standing in the middle of her memory; the blindfolds. Why didn’t she remember before? It was obvious… She started to move her arms towards her face. Now she realized why her arms felt strange; they had no hands, or fingers… Why was she missing her hands?! Had the inter-dimensional teleport forgotten her hands?! Why was this grass so soft?!?
Okay… She had to keep her focus, how could she get her blindfold off her head; without her hands… Okay, that answer was simple, just push the blindfold off; duh. She closed her eyes, and pushed off the blindfold; now she could feel the sunrays on her face as well. It felt… Nice? She had never felt this way about the sun before; so why did she now?
She opened her eyes; too bright! She closed them quickly again. Her eyes adjusted after a few times of opening and closing them. She finally stopped rolling; now that her eyes were open, she could investigate some of the mysteries. First mystery to solve: Why were her arms feeling so strange?! Looking down on her body, she saw something she had never seen before… Her arms were now… Hoofs? But...She looked over her body, taking a moment to note every change her body had went through.
Apparently, now she had fur. This was the second thing she noticed. She was covered in a deep midnight blue coat. Except for her flank; that had a special ‘mark’ on her flank. Okay, that definitely wasn’t there before that inter-dimensional travel. It looked like the 4 elements; represented by orbs of their respective element. 1 water orb, 1 earth orb, 1 orb of air and 1 orb of fire, all arranged in a sort of diamond shaped crown…thingy.
Okay, this was just getting weirder and weirder. There were only 2 mysteries left, that Neizana still couldn’t answer; not without someone else at least. Why could she feel an energy flow in her head and why was this grass so soft?!
Looking around, she could determine she was in sort of clearing, surrounded by trees; she could only assume that she was in a forest. The birds were singing, and the sky was clear; not a single cloud could be seen. The sun was shining brightly, but somehow, it wasn’t too hot, even with all this new fur. Seriously, how could any animal deal with fur? It felt nice and soft though, so she wouldn’t question it too bad. She was still unsure why she had transformed, but could only assume this as a side-effect of inter-dimensional travel.
She was lying on a patch of green grass, and nearby there was a small pond of water; crystal clear water, it would seem. Neizana realized just now, that she hadn’t had the opportunity to drink proper water in many days. Could she trust her legs… and arms(?)… to carry her? She would at least give it a shot. Carefully, she slowly but surely rose from the patch of grass, a bit wobbly, but she stood none-the-less. Neizana let out a cheer, putting her front hooves into the air, face-planting the ground before her. She was not used to not being able to cheer with her arms in the air.
Groaning as she lifted herself up again, less wobbly than before. Okay, she could stand… Could she walk? She took a few unsteady steps, before getting used to not having 2 hooves, but 4, but she quickly picked up on how to walk.
Approaching the pond of water, she could see some-ones reflection in the water. It was a midnight blue… unicorn? Even in Azeroth, there were not many creatures with a horn in their head, and she had only heard of unicorns in fairytales when she was a small child.
She stared at the reflection for a long time, finally realizing that it was herself. Taking one front hoof up to touch the horn, she finally pieced the last mystery together. The energy flow came from the horn on her head. She lowered her head down to the water, and drank some water. It was ice cold, and completely pure.
She finished drinking, and gave the clearing a look again; it was then she noticed which spell she had cast instead of far seeing. She had been completely oblivious to a knocked over tree. Ripped from the grounds, roots, trunk and everything, was lying at the edge of the little clearing. Mouth agape, she just stared at the tree. She had never before been able to throw stuff around; clearly she wasn’t aware of how this world worked, and how it affected her magic.
Taking some moments to let everything new seep in, she started thinking about how she would get home. The avatar had mentioned a lesson that needed to be learnt, yet had not left any clues as to which lesson or how one could accomplish it. So she started to think of the possible lessons that she might have to learn; and the consequences of them. Maybe it was about her curiosity; that would make sense, considering the titans did not take too kindly on intruders. It was just too simple; it had to be something else. But her mind went blank; she could not process anything else.
Not being able to think of anything else, she started to analyze her situation. She was in a clearing, in what seemed like a forest. The grass here was very soft, and she was apparently some sort of equine. She had travelled to some other dimension, probably nothing like Azeroth. The sunrays made her happy; bizarre as that was. There had to be some sort of civilization nearby, although that sounded unlikely considering how serene these woods were. Maybe the local race was like the night elves; tree huggers at heart.
She took a decision; she would find civilization, and ask for shelter. Hopefully the locals would be friendly, since she had no clue how to control her magic, and was a weakling in melee combat. She started trotting out of the little clearing, with only one thing in mind; she would find her way back home.
The road she walked on was narrow, infested with all sorts of roots. The sides of the road were covered in bushes and branches that looked very hostile, giving the appearance of a possible attacker or a wild beast. The forest had quickly turned dark, even though when she left the clearing, the sun had only been halfway through its cycle. Maybe time worked differently in this dimension? Maybe she had walked for longer than she thought? Had she lost track of time already? Maybe she wer….
*SMACK*
Her thoughts were rudely interrupted when her face met the hard dirt. She lied in the middle of the road, head first, front hooves (arms..? I don’t know anymore…) stuck on a particularly large root. She just lied there for a while, moaning in pain. Maybe she should heal herself? Did she dare… She couldn’t even control her far seeing spell. Her face hurt; a lot. Maybe she had broken her chin…? No… That didn’t feel like her chin... Then maybe her muzzle; how would that feel; breaking your muzzle? Could you even break a muzzle?
She carefully rolled onto her back, trying to stay on the road. Failing miserably, she rolled off the road, right into a big patch of flowers; purple flowers to be more exact. These were even softer than the grass she rolled in at the clearing! She started joyously rolling around in the field of flowers, completely forgetting her very recent meeting with the dirt road. Giggling like a little girl would’ve done if she had been tickled by the tickle monster.
Taking a deep breath, and exhaling loudly, she calmed herself, settling down again. Taking a moment to search her feelings, the pain in the area of her muzzle hurt less now, however she also found that exhaustion was getting close, and she couldn’t possibly travel much farther that day. She wasn’t quite sure if she dared to sleep in the forest, or if she should go on a search for shelter; the forest hadn’t seemed incredibly dangerous the short time she had spent in it, but as it got darker and darker, the forest seemed to change. The trees had changed their shape, bushes started to grow leaves, and, clearly, roots had started to grow in the roads. Because overseeing them was unheard of, and was simply impossible.
She was lying on a comfortable patch of flowers… And she would be able to fend off most creatures of the wild in Azeroth at least. This couldn’t be much more dangerous. Could it? She wasn’t sure of her capabilities as a fighter in this state, form and universe, and she hadn’t quite gotten control over her magic just yet. But… Her energy reserves were running low, and she wasn’t sure how long she would have to look- or if there even was any shelter in this forest. Even if she did find shelter, it might belong to some forest creature, of which she wasn’t sure she could best, or was willing to share with her.
Before making her decision, she looked at her surroundings, just to make sure she hadn’t missed anything, and in the case of her sleeping here, had an idea of how her defensive possibilities were. Glancing around she found herself surrounded by thorny bushes and scary looking trees. Behind her was the steep hill she had rolled off of, the road hidden by branches and leaves; except for one spot, which had a hole, the shape of pony, in it.
How she had not noticed her fall, she did not know; maybe she was getting sleepy? She decided to, at the very least, take a nap. She couldn’t continue her travels before sleeping a bit. That was impossible. Clearly.
