<...A few days later...>
The talbuk gracefully jumped the small river, continuing on towards the main road. The nearby basilisk snapped its' jaws at the mounted rider, but the speed proved to be too much, and it settled back near the bank.
Ahrk patted one of the horns of her white armored talbuk, smiling. "Nice one."
The beast grunted, sprinting
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The High Priestess? This was serious, he thought.
"The Caverns of Time. Some contacts of mine said there might be something there." Fox said, his mount now passing the large Dragons that guarded the entrance from hostile intruders.
"Fox.. That place is extremely dangerous! Plus, the Keepers of Time are extremely hostile unless they want something from you. Fox, don't go."
"I'm not a child and while you take care of Ahrk, I should be doing something." Feeling the lecture coming on from Twilight, he closed his mind off as he entered the Cave. He nodded to the large dragon at the entrance, who offered to give him a ride down to the depths of the Caverns.
~~~
Fox has forgotten his connections with the Keepers. It had been so long, and something about the Caverns messed with his whole being. It was an unnatural place, and he felt uneasy among the Timeless ones. After landing, he quickly made his way into the nearest portal.
~~~
He sat in his chair, swirling his drink and keeping an eye on the bartender. Fox put his hand up, signaling for his drink to be refilled. He sat sad in the Southshore Inn, slowly becoming more and more drunk. After interrogating Medivh hopelessly for a half hour and searching Old Hillsbrad for another hour, his journey through time seemed to come to a bogus end, not too much unlike those who had come before him.
"Excellent. This was a great idea. I'm gonna wring that scrawny Warloc-"
"By the Light! What is it?" a man behind Fox said.
"I have had this object in my possession for 10 years. Since Blackrock Spire ... I wrested it free from the remains of an orc lieutenant - a dark caster ... It is from their homeworld. Do not get too close. I laid a hand upon it once ... Only once and never again. The memories of that day still linger." Another man said, and at this point, Fox had turned around to eavesdrop.
"I surmise that this object is the living embodiment of shadows ... darkness ... It is a manifestation. It is a void."
"But Mograine! I do not see how this evil artifact is relevant to the undead. We must destroy it!" a smaller, spindly man said, with an obvious fear in his voice.
"No, old friend, it is very relevant. Let me ask you this, brothers and sisters: Can good exist without evil? Can there be light without dark? And if that answer is no, then could it be possible that because this artifact exists, its polar opposite must also exist? Could you imagine what the material manifestation of the Light could do against the undead?" Commander Mograine said, with much conviction. Fox had remembered this man from his history books; he was the only man whoever became the closest in equal to Uther the Lightbringer. His name was the Ashbringer, because legend told of his skirmishes against the Undead would end in the Scourge being vaporized and reduced to mere ashes by his might.
"Nonsense, Mograine! It must be destroyed!" The man said, raising his hands and commanding down holy strikes onto the crystal. At this point, many other of the more official looking people began to bombard it with Holy strikes as well.
Mograine gasped as he watched the dark crystal absorb the strikes. "It consumed the Light!"
"Impossible!" Another man said, more people gathering around the table at this point. Fox has left his drink and was one among the crowd.
"Is ... Is it getting lighter? Its coloration ... It is changing." said a man sitting next to Mograine, in awe of the phenomenon.
(continued)
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"I... It... It is beautiful. What I felt when I touched it... The Light coursed through me and I through it... It healed my spirit."
"Your hand! It is healed!" the man sitting next to Mograine said, Fox now identifying him as Fairbank, Mograine's companion and good friend.
Mograine put the crystal back into the box and hid it quickly. "Let us never again speak of this day. Our enemies are many. They need not know we hold such artifacts. I have seen it... From this blessed crystal we will forge a weapon. This weapon will hold inside it a piece of each of us... And when it is used against Undead, it shall cast them down. And in its wake, it will leave only ashes..."
"Ashbringer.." The half-drunken Warrior muttered in awe, quickly leaving the Inn as the patrons looked around for the one who had spoke. He ran out the Inn and up towards the Cave that lead back to his time, giving Kel'Thuzad a particularly mean glare as he did.
~~~
As Fox leave the Cave and entered back into the Tanaris desert, Twilight awaited him.
"Fox. I have something I need to tell you."
"What? What is it? Where's Ahrk?"
"She's with Whisperwind. Fox... she's... she's becoming a demon."
"WHAT? How is that possible!?" Fox said, throwing down his bag and looking up at Twilight as she sat upon her tiger.
"Her.. run in at the Black Temple.. Illidan.. He... I don't know. But that's the source of her problems. She's slowly becoming a demon. I trust you to tell no one. Only few know and I know that I can trust you."
Fox's mind searched. His combination of worry and fear had just went into overdrive. Beads of sweat traced down his face due to the heat and fear. His eyes moved back and forth frantically, searching for something... anything..
And after a minute of silence between the Human and Night-Elf, he had found it. He knew what he had to do. It all clicked in his head like some of fever dream.
"Okay." was all he said before he walked past Twilight into the desert.
"Where are you going? What are you going to do?" Twilight said, her eyes wincing from the sandstorm now brewing.
Fox grip on his bag tightened as he disappeared into the sandstorm.
"The Ashbringer.."
(Laurel!!! I <3 your writing so much!!!! AHHH!! Coolest story ever!! You inspire me!!)
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