Save him first, for he is not bound by any of the Nightmare’s spells as I am, she commanded of Malfurion, indicating the human. Although he had been able to enter the golden dome, it seemed that now Lucan was too exhausted to make use of his odd abilities. His rescue was the least of problems for Malfurion, who was able to bring the cartographer back to Azeroth and near where Hamuul stood.
Ysera pressed harder. The barrier weakened. Malfurion could feel it straining…
No…not quite! Lethon, manipulating the powers of his master, nearly crushed the efforts of the pair.
Malfurion’s mind became awash in fear-stirring images of all his actions creating greater disaster for those he sought to protect. The archdruid knew that they were nightmares raised up by the darkness, but it took tremendous effort to not only deny them but still maintain the assault on the Aspect’s cell.
Lethon abruptly cried out. Through his own thoughts, Malfurion caught images of a very scarred, halfdistorted Eranikus gripping his corrupted counterpart through both claw and magic. Eranikus had clearly been much ravaged by the other, but sheer determination for the moment swayed the fight to his direction.
But that could surely not last long. Reluctantly, Malfurion started to abandon the efforts to free Ysera.
NO!! Eranikus thundered in his head. She must be saved! I will finish with Lethon!
Lethon apparently caught this, for the tainted behemoth laughed at such hubris. The power of the Nightmare filled him. He was now larger than the consort.
It is you who are finished, Eranikus! Give in to the Nightmare! Let it embrace you! The walls between Azeroth and here are also weakening! Soon, I and the others like me will be able to fly Azeroth’s skies unimpeded…
Azeroth’s skies… Eranikus repeated.
A glow suddenly surrounded Ysera’s mate. The dragon’s face bore a grim aspect. At the same time, Lethon’s expression grew uncertain.
What do you do? he demanded of Eranikus.
But the other dragon said nothing. Instead, Malfurion sensed him drawing upon other energies. Only then did the archdruid understand Eranikus’s ploy.
And as both titanic figures began to fade, so, too, did Lethon understand…but much too late. You can’t! Do this and you’ll destroy yourself, too! I swear! The instability will take you with me!
So be it, then, Malfurion heard Eranikus reply.
My mate! Ysera called…but too late.
The Nightmare sought to make both this realm and Azeroth one. Then the power of this realm would be impossible to overcome.
But that shift had not yet completed…and here, in the vicinity of the Eye, a nexus of the Emerald Dream, Malfurion saw that the shredding boundaries between the two realms were so unstable that to be at the center was to invite annihilation.
Eranikus refused to release the corrupted creature. The pair crossed into the instability suddenly existing between the two realms.
As Lethon had warned and Malfurion and Ysera feared, the desperate villain drew the power of his master into himself in a futile attempt to avoid the inevitable, but it was too late.
The monster howled as he was torn asunder. The fearsome forces that he in turn had been summoning were unleashed.
A fiery maelstrom erupted where Lethon had been. That maelstrom swallowed up Eranikus, who made no move to escape it.
The wild forces struck out everywhere. Malfurion felt Ysera urge him to do something to contain them. Not certain what she expected of him, the archdruid nevertheless tried.
A desperate plan came to him. He managed to steer those energies to a chosen spot.
They struck Ysera’s prison, reducing the center of the Eye to nothing but vapor…and freeing at last Ysera.
Roaring her relief at her release, the mistress of the Emerald Dream rose above what remained of the place of her confinement. An emerald aura surrounded her, an aura that briefly brightened the entire Eye.
But mists began converging on her, seeking to recapture. Ysera let out another roar and the aura trebled in scope. Whatever it touched suddenly returned to the full, lush life and beauty for which the Emerald Dream was known. The mists immediately retreated —
And in that precious moment, the Aspect vanished.
Malfurion no longer sensed her in the other realm. Instead, Ysera had retreated to Azeroth. Aware more than any how the bonds between the two places worked, she materialized near the druids fighting out of Darnassus.
Thank you…Malfurion Stormrage… she said with much sadness. You…and Eranikus…
He did what he had to, the archdruid replied quickly, honoring the male dragon’s sacrifice but aware of so many other sacrifices taking place even now. Still, his hopes were high, now that the mistress of the Emerald Dream was free, Xavius had no powerful captive. With Ysera’s power to guide them —
No — Malfurion — I fear — I fear that there is little I can offer you…the effort to keep the Nightmare from utterly using me has drained me more than — I — imagined…
The words so stunned Malfurion that he almost lost his link to the others. He had waited for this hope! What power was greater than hers when it came to the Emerald Dream and the taint spreading through it? The only reason that she had not been able to vanquish the Nightmare before had been due to his own foolish capture.
If not for Xavius being able to draw upon his meager abilities, none of this chaos would have happened —
Un-untrue, Malfurion! It was clearly an effort for Ysera to stay conscious. You know the forces at work here and how long that they have been in play!
But what does it matter? he retorted. If even you are not able to put an end to this, we are lost!
The Aspect was losing consciousness. It was all she could do simply to protect herself. There is hope…I am
…I am of the Emerald Dream…but you…you are of the Emerald Dream…and Azeroth! In that…there is a chance —
What do you —
She broke contact. The Aspect had failed in her battle to remain conscious. The strain had been too much.
And as her thoughts vanished, the Nightmare Lord’s laugh seemed to echo in Malfurion’s head.
Ysera had left the fate of both realms to Malfurion…who had no idea what he could do.
28
BEFORE THE TREE
Broll Bearmantle struggled to keep Thura from racing ahead of him.
The orc insisted that she had to push on, even though they were in possibly one of the worst places of all.
The night elf was here because Malfurion needed him here.
Malfurion had not said exactly why, but Broll trusted in his shan’do.
Still, he wished he knew why the orc was also desired. Thura had no useful weapon and her headstrong ways were going to get her taken by the Nightmare.
“It’s this way!” she snarled, not for the first time. “This way!”
They had not been impeded other than by the cloying tendency of the mists. Broll did not think that good fortune. The Nightmare likely did not believe them much of a threat by themselves, and the druid was inclined to share that opinion.
What are you planning, Malfurion? Broll wanted to know. What?
Ahead, the mist suddenly did a new and disturbing thing. It receded. Not all of it, but a fairly wide path more than sufficient for the pair to move side by side.
And Thura, of course, headed right into it.
“Hold back!” the druid called.
But she ignored him, instead picking up her pace. “There it is!”