Illidan's Pet {A Mature-Rated Illidan x Maiev Fanfiction}

Chapter 24

Once more the couple arrived in Stormwind, approaching the Keep and gaining entry appropriately via the guards. Anduin was standing behind his planning table, a map thrown over it that seemed to emphasize the ashes of Teldrassil. He looked up, spotting the night elves, a spark of concern in his eyes. "Ah, excellent. You have made it. I was greatly concerned about you both after hearing of the battles. I'm glad to see it was a success. But I fear we have much more on our plates now." He motioned to the map, staring down upon it with a sigh. "Many of the refugees from the War of Thorns have tried to go back for... unknown reasons. At this point, we have had to literally restrain quite a few. Tyrande is trying to console them and calm their need to go there. I trust you above all to go discover what is going on. Well, Maiev. Illidan and his tactics are..." he stared the demon hunter down a moment, raising an eyebrow. "...nontraditional, but I trust that the warden will keep them in check."

Illidan's reply was a mere snort, and Maiev snickered. "I will keep him under control, your highness. This does sound serious. I have other wardens on the way right now. We will disembark immediately. Is there anything further to know?" she asked.

Anduin shook his head, glancing back down to his map. "No. There have been reports of other major void activities, however I have teams sent out to handle it. Thank you both," he finished.

With that, the night elves exited the Keep, anticipating the arrival of the other warden team. Maiev quickly explained the situation to Marin, and off they flew to the docks, boarding a ship enhanced magically to get to their destination much faster than usual travel time. Maiev wanted to avoid portals, because though they had time to recover, she was still admittedly worried about the arcane damage her mate could take so soon after the incident in the Vault.

All was silent when they arrived at the burned site. Scorch marks remained to this day, and no flora had regrown on the island at all. A cold wind blew every so often, disturbing piles of ash that even years later remained, surely by magic. This place was corrupted, a tragedy that should have never happened. Maiev winced, the memories of watching her fallen kin dance in agony while set ablaze tormenting her. She hadn't been able to save them all... she shuddered, tears pooling in her eyes from beneath her helmet. A hand fell upon her shoulder--Illidan could sense her melancholy and sought to comfort her. This worked, and the warden calmed down enough to focus on the task at hand. There was too much on the line to let those burning memories slow her down.

The group flew up and around the center of the fallen tree, looking for anything odd. Charred land was all that seemed to remain, what could be the cause of that odd behavior? On the ground, something stirred. Maiev pointed, wordlessly giving the signal. The group circled over it a moment before landing, and things came into focus...

There were many elven-shaped bodies walking around in a circular fashion. They staggered along, their forms blackened entirely, as if everything was burned away and they were only made of ash. In fact, that might very well be the case. Sometimes they dissolved after a few steps, only to reform again after several seconds. The bodies turned toward Maiev and crew, suddenly seeming to notice them. Their faces split open unnaturally, widening as if their jaws were being ripped off by some invisible force. From there, they emitted an ear-splitting scream, rushing at the wardens and demon hunter with unnatural speed.

Maiev burst into action immediately, vanishing and sending magical copies of her weapons flying, forcing many to dissolve and reform again immediately after. Illidan focused his eye beam upon them, managing to disintegrate a few but running into similar issues as the warden. Soon enough the ashen zombies were close enough and began to rip at them with claws of void energy. Oh dear.

Still, the group fought on, managing to actually destroy a great many of them before a flaming arrow burst through and ripped through the rest. Maiev turned, staring down the newcomer. Her eyes widened. It couldn't be. Sylvanas?!

The ex-warchief laughed, dodging the instant attempts of the wardens to slice some glaives into her. She commented, "Well, aren't you all happy to see me. I am not the one you should be after, however. The vision was right--the corrupted tree is calling upon its minions. It is a good thing I set it aflame, otherwise the results would be much, much worse."

Enraged, Maiev snarled and rushed at her, trying to sink her glaive into the banshee's stomach to no avail. "YOU MONSTER! YOU KILLED THOSE INNOCENT PEOPLE, MY PEOPLE!" she screamed. Illidan observed, for now. Perhaps this undead monstrosity would reveal some secrets. All hell would be unleashed if she attacked Maiev, however.

"Indeed, I did. How their bodies burned, delightfully...and now they are back. Much less powerful. Pity that most "innocents" living in Teldrassil were corrupted by the void taint within the tree. Your goddess can only protect so many, it appears. The war fed one of the entities that will lead us to our salvation. It was a price we had to pay, put simply, otherwise all would perish," Sylvanas replied, laughing as she dodged the wardens' attempts to rip her apart.

The center of the burned tree seemed to rumble dangerously, and tendrils of void began to spring up all around them. Now, the wardens fought while still trying to pursue the Banshee Queen.

"All of this carnage, the burning to death of my people, was because some were corrupted?! And you needed to feed whatever heinous entity you claim gains power?! You are no better than the rest!" screamed Maiev. In all of her fury, she lunged at the banshee and managed to cut right into her stomach, her glaive sinking in. Sylvanas snarled in response, baring her fangs and dissolving into her banshee state, screaming out before appearing out of range and shouting to them.

"You should be thanking me, wardens! I destroyed them before they could try to destroy you. The remnants of this tree are still tainted with the void, but contained--the ash here will drown it all out, aside from visitors like yourself. I ensure it! My powers ensure it. Sacrifices need to be made in this world. It would do you well to understand that," the ex-warchief snarled, vanishing in a puff of black smoke.

Maiev slammed her foot upon the ground, but there was no time to delay. She signaled for leave, hastily taking off with her wardens and Illidan in tow. This was not good. The Banshee Queen has vanished two years ago, at the end of the war, chased out by her own faction that she'd been using as a tool.

Apparently her reasoning for the burning wasn't to destroy hope, but to destroy the corruption. This sounded quite like Arthas--except, she was turning worse. She used that war to gather up power for whatever it was that put her in the seat of the warchief in the first place. To combat the void, was it? Not much better if a vicious entity required war and sacrifice to grow. Fighting one evil force with another was not a viable solution, in her eyes.

She glanced to Illidan, of whom had done some heinous acts, but not nearly as bad as the Banshee Queen. The demon hunter was silent, a scowl upon his face. Noticing her look, he turned his head to stare her down.

"We will not let her arrogance win, Maiev. However, she is the least of our worries. We must focus on the true threat right now. Without a faction to control, she is without much power," he told her.

"I thought the San'layn joined the Horde through her? Could they be a link?" she questioned, but Illidan shook his head.

"No. They joined in the resistance to her--heavily angered by her denial of free will to a few of her subjects. They fought against her, driving her out, earning their place in the Horde and showing themselves as not mindless. They made their own decisions, and somehow managed to remain hidden from the likes of you and the rest of the Alliance," he replied. "Now, they will emerge, full force, and be a major player on the Horde. I do wonder what their reaction will be to our discovery today."