For you gamers out there, I'm sure you've heard of World of Warcraft. This is dedicated to my awesometastic guild (and its special warrior) who recently killed Sha of Fear, the final boss of this tier, realm first.
If you don't get it, it's an inside joke.
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SOS vs SHA OF FEAR
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In the Terrace of Eternal spring, Andro struck the final blow to Lei Shi.
The elemental guardian's face cleared and her hands flew to her chest. The water keeping her afloat in the air calmed, and she sank closer to the ground.
"I... ah... oh!"
Kiarae raised her fist, signalling for the attack to stop. None of them wanted to kill the guardians if it could be avoided. They weren't evil.
"How are you feeling?" asked Kiarae. "Do you know where you are?"
Lei Shi blinked, the huge orbs dimming for a moment. "Did I...? Was I...? It was... so...cloudy."
The heroes kept their weapons raised as Kiarae stepped forward. Panic was unpredictable.
"You were, but no longer. The Sha's influence over you has been lifted."
Lei Shi took the news better than Rainbow expected. She nodded once, raising her head to meet Kiarae's eyes. She clasped her hands together, the water moulding and sealing them together. "I have the make the water not cloudy now, will you help?"
"Of course."
Rainbow breathed a sigh of relief and let her hands fall to her sides. Her mana was running low, and she hadn't been sure it'd last the fight. Looking around, everyone else was the same. Lei Shi had looked like she'd never break, with all her running and hiding. As tired as she was, when Kiarae waved the Guild over to the steps, she followed behind the rest of them.
When the Alliance had first arrived in Pandaria seeking Prince Anduin's lost vessel, they'd never, ever expected this. A land that would not tolerate violence without fighting back seemed absurd. And yet, the Sha had appeared and slowly begun to sap the life from its people.
The Dread Wastes were proof that the land could be corrupted. The darkened sky and the trees that seeped wispy poison into the ground and mutated the animals were the consequences. Rainbow's druidic power writhed within her whenever she set foot upon the land. They had brought defilement upon Pandaria once more, and they would be the ones to fix it.
Sometimes, there were just more important things than the Horde at your doorstep.
The Guild had hunted the Sha of Fear in the Heart of the Klaxxi and expelled it from the Empress with her death, but it hadn't been enough. It retreated to the Terrace and possessed its guardians. The protectors fell first, then Lei Shi, with Tsulong succumbing before their eyes.
One by one, the Guild fought to purge the fear from the guardians. The protectors had to be put down, the fear too deep to be purged by Rainbow's nature, Akira's spirits or Holy's light. Shihiro's shields could do little for the fear already trapped inside. Tsulong had fought against the Sha bitterly, the sun eclipsing in his struggle, and together the healers had coaxed him from it while the rest fought off the physical manifestations of terror as it spawned.
Lei Shi hadn't fought so much as cowered in terror at their approach. She all but refused to engage them herself, summoning elementals and a foggy mist to shield herself from sight. Their perseverance had paid off, and now, they ascended the steps to the highest platform of the shrine.
