Episode 28: Hyjal Reclaimed

I flew for what felt like an eternity before I set down at the giant Night Elf portal, known as the Gate of Sothann. It was here that I was to bring Jarod and wait for the portals to activate, opening a connection point from all across Hyjal. Thanks to my help in the previous weeks, the Alliance now controlled all the portals and would be able to use them to move forces quickly and easily across the mountain.

The portal burst open shortly after my arrival and Ysera stepped through it.

“Sionis!” she shouted. “It is good to see you. I must finish stabilizing the portal from this side. The Twilight Hammer is coming to attack. You must slow them down. Take your dragon and hold them off as long as you can.”

“As always,” I said, letting Jarod off my ride before I took flight and headed back toward where the Twilight Hammer was organizing their counter attack. I caught them off guard, mostly because they were comprised of new recruits, and many of them fell to my dragon’s powerful flames. As I fought though, I realized that the Twilight dragons were passing right by me, heading straight for the gate. He pulled on the dragon’s reins and flew back toward the gate as fast as I could. For a moment I was concerned I wouldn’t make it, but then I saw that the portal had already been secured. The dragons flew right into a volley of flaming arrows and arrows so sharp that they pierced their scales and sent them plummeting to the ground.

I landed near the gate and saw Jarod with Ysera and General Cenarius.

“Sionis,” Ysera said as I walked up. “This is Cenarius. I’m sure you two have heard a lot about one another.”

“I have,” Sionis replied. “It’s an honor to meet you.”

“The same goes to you,” Cenarius said. “If you will help me Sionis, I wish to put an end to this conflict and reclaim Mount Hyjal.”

“I would like to see that as well.”

“Then let us put an end to this.”

Within minutes the military forces of Mount Hyjal had gathered together and were pushing deep into the final holds of enemy territory. A flaming spire where Ragnaros secured his foothold was now our final target. When we breached the gate we found the spiraling vortex of heat and smoke as it stood over us, and I was taken by surprise at the monster’s size.

“Welcome,” said Ragnaros. “Welcome to your doom.”

General Cenarius only grinned. “The night elf magi will need your help Sionis. We will bring this flame down with ice and water.”

Sionis nodded. “Yes sir.”

What happened next was a swirl of chaos and complete control. There were moments where I knew exactly what I had to do and exactly how to do it. Then, a moment later, I would be in the air and uncertain of how to recover from that last blast. Through it all though, I was able to return to the fight, even when my robes were singed and smoking.

Thankfully, our combined efforts paid off, and Ragnaros was finally crushed. He slipped back into the molten pool at the base of the flaming spire and the magi cooled the magma down so that he could not return to the surface, covering it over with black lava rock.

“Victory is ours today,” Cenarius said as he stepped up to Sionis and extended his hand. “Your help was instrumental in securing our victory. Ysera has only good things to say about you and Jarod owes you his life.”

“General, it’s been an honor,” I replied.

“Is there any way I can repay you?” Cenarius asked.

For a moment I did not have a response. “I must get back to Stormwind and put a few things in order. If you could send word to Auberdine that I am alive and well, that is all I can ask.”

“Auberdine?” Cenarius asked. “Have you not heard the news?”

“I’m sorry?”

The General lowered his head. “Sionis, Auberdine was destroyed by the Cataclysm. Our line of contact with Darnassus was almost entirely shattered.”

“When did the cataclysm occur?”

“Weeks ago,” the General replied.”

“Not more than a week before your arrival,” Ysera added.

I felt a terrible twisting in my gut. “I must go there.”

“Of course,” Cenarius said. “I can send you there.”

“Oh, and one more thing,” Ysera said as Sionis moved closer to the portal. “I want you to keep that dragon.”

“Me?”

“Yes, you two have made some kind of connection and that’s a great thing. It has been a difficult beast for us and that’s one of many reasons we had you using it. So please, keep it safe.”

I nodded. “I will.”

“Sionis, stay safe. This world is not what it was two years ago.”

“I’ll take that into consideration,” I replied. “Thanks.”

Stepping away from everyone, I watched as Cenarius focused an energy beam on me and then blasted me with its green light. I heard a fizzle similar to the noise I heard when teleporting myself, but I did not see the nether. Instead, I simply moved, from there to here, from here to there. Instantly, I was standing in a different place.

It was powerful magic.

“Hello?” a woman asked.

I turned to her and smiled. “Hello, my name is.”

“Sionis!” she exclaimed, stepping over and hugging me. “My goodness what an adventure you’ve been on. How did you get your clothes so burned? What are you doing in cloth robes? Did your magic return to you?”

“Wait, what are you talking about?” I asked.

“It’s me, it’s Tallendra!”

“I don’t think I’ve ever met you?”

“Yes, of course, just recently.”

“Lady, I’ve been defending Mount Hyjal for weeks. I just came here to check on Auberdine.”

“Uh oh,” she said, waving magic over my head. “Did you get a bump on your head? You were just here a few weeks ago.”

“I can assure you I wasn’t.”

“You told me you couldn’t use your magic. You were using the name Salonis.”

“Are you telling me someone was here, in Auberdine, pretending to be me?”

“This isn’t Auberdine, that place was destroyed. Why don’t you remember this? You went looking for Keaira? Your magical horse was here.”

“Surfal?” I asked, surprised to hear that my horse was alive and well. “You saw Surfal?”

“I saw YOU,” she said angrily. “Why are you acting like this?”

“Someone was pretending to be me,” I said. “They must have been. I haven’t been here, I promise you. I don’t know who you are.”

“Well that just wouldn’t make any sense.”

“Where did he go?” I asked.

“What?”

“The one who was here, saying he was me. Where did he go?”

“South to Astranaar.”

“Good,” I said. “I’m going to hunt him down.”

“Oh, well you could do that if you wanted, or you might like to know that we have heard from Keaira. She is alive and well.”

“She is?” I asked, all the thoughts of the doppelganger drifting from my mind. “Where is she?”

“The Southern Barrens. She’s cut off by a large volcanic rift. She sent word that she would come here as soon as she was able.”

I was happy to hear that Keaira was well. I thought for a moment of waiting for her, but the thought of someone running around the world, pretending to be me, that was disturbing. I should probably go after him and figure out…

A flash of white light interrupted my thoughts.

“Finally!” a woman’s voice said loudly.

I turned and saw Evanor looking me over with a girlish grin. “I knew it. I knew you weren’t gone.”

She was on me then, wrapping me up in a tight hug that nearly cracked my ribs.

“How did you find me?” I asked.

“I just kept looking. Your exploits in Hyjal caught a lot of attention. As soon as I heard your name I was there in an instant. They said you’d just left by the time I arrived. You fought with Cenarius?”

“I did,” I replied with a lopsided grin. “No big.”

“Sionis, I’m so glad I found you, but I wish the circumstances could be better.”

“What do you mean?”

“Something awful has happened near Stormwind. We need your help!”

“Horde?”

“Horde,” she confirmed. “They’re planning to attack the city.”

I hesitated. The doppelganger was out there, someone using my name to get what they wanted in life. Could I just let that go?

“Please, Sionis. Come back with me,” Evanor begged. “We need you.”

I let out a long sigh. “Well, I can’t turn my back on Stormwind,” I said, grinning once more. “Lead me home, Evanor and we’ll save Stormwind once more.”

She took my hand, and I stopped her short. “You know what? Maybe I’ll do the teleport this time.”

“Oh come on,” she said sarcastically, that was two years ago.”

We both laughed. Then I added. “Seriously.”

She let me teleport.

TO BE CONTINUED!