AN: The included image is the current map of Azeroth, Kaldrun's home planet. We'll be seeing more of it as the story progresses.

November 1st, 2017

3:00 AM

Kaldrun and Bellendore stalked through the woods, keeping their distance from each other.. The hate between them was palpable. It soon became apparent that the walk was much further than either had remembered, and both were hungry. Kaldrun could go longer without eating, but he knew Bellendore was old, and clearly already starved to an extent. The old man was insanely thin compared to his usual toned body. Toned for his ancient age, at least.

Kaldrun considered much over the course of their small trek, his hate for Bellendore and the organization he was apart of being among those considerations. The Dark Coven was a group of warlocks, necromancers, and basically any other practitioner of dark magics. Bellendore was their Grand Master currently, and was out in the field more often than any other before him. Kaldrun had seen the Dark Coven's beginnings, several thousand years prior, and noted its potential. Almost a decade ago, Kaldrun joined the Dark Coven in an interest to learn more about the Old Gods and their void magics, and to further his knowledge in the dark arts in general. He had not been part of their small group for long before the Burning Legion's second invasion of Azeroth. Realizing his duty to his people, Kaldrun abandoned the Coven and sought out Illidan Stormrage, the first demon hunter. Kaldrun had heard from colleagues in the Coven that Stormrage was taking in disciples, and teaching them the ways of Fel magic combined with physical combat. We will return to Kaldrun's story later, but in short, Kaldrun became one of Illidan's trainees and was imprisoned after along with his master when the Wardens - a group of night elves dedicated to capturing demons and demon hunters - caught up with them. After being freed, Kaldrun returned to the Coven, only to learn that the previous Grand Master had been slain in a duel with Bellendore Smythe, who then rose to replace him. Kaldrun caught Bellendore's eye, and they became friends in a short time. They had many adventures together and rose in power steadily, both becoming all but omnipotent in dark magic. The pair had a falling out, however, when the Coven began meddling in night elven politics and even breaking into storehouses to steal relics from the War of The Ancients, the Legion's first invasion of Azeroth. This enraged Kaldrun, who was inspired and highly protective of his people. Kaldrun stole a rare and powerful Void Stone from Bellendore and then once more abandoned the Coven. Bellendore had been hunting Kaldrun ever since.

Now that the warlock found him, Kaldrun was wondering why the former hadn't tried to assassinate him yet. He supposed it was something best left unconsidered, and so did not consider it.

But Kaldrun was not the kind of man to leave threats unconsidered, and so spoke up from behind Bellendore, "You've finally found me, old man. Why have you not yet attempted to kill me?"

Bellendore called back, but did not stop walking, "As much as it pains me to admit it, I need you. If I kill you, I won't ever be able to locate my Void Stone, and probably never be able to get out of here, either."

Both were silent as Kaldrun considered this, and eventually deemed it reasonable, nodding his approval.

Eventually the pair passed the safe house, giving it almost no thought since neither noticed it at first. In fact, Kaldrun was the first to notice it, detecting the energy contained within the massive mossy rock in front of him.

Kaldrun called for Bellendore to stop, and pointed at the rock, which was of course the safe house in disguise. Kaldrun stepped forward and focused, letting his spectral vision pass through the rock in order to see what was inside. He can only see lifeforms and energy sources through solid obstructions, but that was enough in this case. The demon hunter saw Erin, and found himself beyond baffled at the situation. He knocked gently on the outside of the rock and Erin stood and opened it.

Wait, what?

Kaldrun stood back as a panel on the rock came loose and slid to the side, revealing the safe house.

Both he and Bellendore simply shrugged and said nothing of it.

Once all were back in and the door - if it could be called that - was closed and sealed, Bellendore offered refreshments.

Erin's brow furrowed and she asked, "You guys went out and got food?"

Bellendore replied in the negative and reached out his hand. Where there was once empty space, a small glass table materialized, floating in mid air with three glasses of ice water and two whole, steaming apple pies, "Breakfast - or dinner, I suppose."

Erin searched her bag for a knife, but found only a combat knife that she refused to use. When she looked back, there was a large kitchen knife, forks, and plates for everyone on the table. She just laughed somewhat insanely and cut herself a slice. Bellendore followed suit, sans laughter. After some hesitation, Kaldrun also did the same, but offered no gratitude.

Once they all ate fully and chased it down with the cold water, the plates, forks, table, and glasses all faded into nonexistence.

Weird, was all Erin thought.

She said something different, however, sitting on her cot, "So... what do we do from here?"

Kaldrun sighed and ran his clawed fingers through his matted silver hair, pulling apart many knots in the process. He grimaced slightly, then said, "We need reinforcements if we are to do anything. Do you have any access to a news board here?"

Erin blinked, "I have a radio that tunes to a news station."

Kaldrun shrugged, "That's fine. We just need to know what is happening at all times. The Old One is likely busy right now trying to, one, get a new body, and two, gather up the power to summon his kin into this world. His power seems somewhat dulled in this world, and we can use that to our advantage. However, his ability to create massive armies and huge warriors is in no way dampened. I do not doubt that he has already began erecting towers and walls and monuments to solidify his presence in Seattle. I wouldn't be surprised, honestly, if he already conquered more than Seattle at this point."

Erin looked incredulously at Kaldrun, then at Bellendore. The latter nodded gravely in affirmation to the former's claims.

This time it was her turn to run her hands through her hair, "Well, alright then. I'll set up the radio," she turned to a duffel bag and pulled out a radio that looked old and worn, "How are we going to get reinforcements?"

Kaldrun and Bellendore glanced at each other, and then Bellendore said to Erin, "We will need to get to Azeroth. There is no threat to us on the direct other side of the rift into Azeroth, so we will only need to connect to the planet's ley lines to be able to create a portal on our side."

Kaldrun's brow furrowed, "Bellendore, is there not a dragon on the other side of the rift?"

Bellendore shook his head, "No. Why would there be a dragon at the base of a mountain infested with Storm Giants?"

Kaldrun became even more confused, "The rift isn't at the base of a mountain. It sits at the peak, swallowing the upper half."

Bellendore looked incredulously at Kaldrun, "Does this mean there is more than one?"

Kaldrun sighed, "I believe so. We'll need to be careful. If Yogg'Saron can tear open multiple rifts even from his prison deep underground, then he must be gathering a massive amount of power."

"We can worry about that later. Right now we must focus on getting allies from our world to combat the Old Gods."

Erin stopped tuning the radio and turned to Kaldrun, "Prison deep underground? Haven't we seen him before? His actual form, I mean. When we were trying to retrieve your glaives."

Kaldrun shook his head gravely, "What you have seen was only his mind possessing the bodies of humans. That emaciated form we saw was a vessel that was being sucked dry by the Old One's raw power."

Bellendore elaborated, "Kaldrun's body remained intact throughout the possession because he has developed the inner strength to endure such power in his being. If Yogg'Saron was truly here and free, our best chance would be to return to Azeroth and close the rifts to prevent him from leaving. Your planet, sadly, would be forfeit."

Erin was grim, silent, and turned back to continue tuning the radio. Kaldrun could tell they had scared her, and he was somewhat sorry for it. He remained firm in his belief, however, that she deserved the full truth.

Bellendore cleared his throat roughly and said, "Well, there's no point in brooding. We all need rest." He turned to Kaldrun and said, with more fascination that true concern, "I can only imagine the vertigo in your bones after containing the power of the Old One in you."

Kaldrun nodded silently. It was true. As the minutes passed, he felt more and more tired, and at this point struggled to keep his eyes open.

Erin finished tuning to the proper station, and then turned the volume down. She turned to the others, "There's only one cot, but you can take it, Kal. I'll sleep on the floor."

Kaldrun smiled halfheartedly and all but collapsed onto the cot. He was asleep before he hit the mat.

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November 1st, 2017.

12:00 PM

Kaldrun groaned and sat up, his eyes "opening" - since his eyelids were burned away, the emerald flame simply reignited. The sound of the radio's  filled the small room. The scent of smoked bacon touched his nostrils, and his mouth began to water copiously. He looked around and saw another floating table, with two empty plates. There was another plate that still hat steaming poached eggs and bacon on it.

Bellendore glanced up from the Necronomicon he was reading, "Breakfast."

Erin was carving out a little figurine from a chunk of wood, and looked up as well, a grin spreading across her graceful features, "Somebody was tired."

Kaldrun stood and stretched, yawning, his lips parting to reveal sharp teeth. His muscles flexed powerfully and his horns scratched the ceiling of the safe house. He breathed out and sat back down, reaching for the magically created meal. He wolfed it down and tossed the plate back onto the table, both of which dematerialized.

Kaldrun glanced at the two, who had returned to their individual activities. A pile of wood shavings had formed at Erin's side, and she had carved the lower half of some highly realistic humanoid form.

Bellendore was flipping back and forth between seemingly random pages in the Necronomicon. The old man glanced up again, meeting Kaldrun's gaze.

"Yes?"

Kaldrun said, "Should we not be doing something right now?"

Bellendore closed his tome, "You are ready?"

Kaldrun nodded.

"Do you have a Hearthstone?"

Kaldrun reached into a small pouch at his waist and pulled out a white, palm-sized stone with a coral-like texture, a blue swirl gracing each the stone's faces. A crack ran through the middle of it.

"Yes," the elf replied, "But it was damaged as I came through the rift."

Bellendore brushed this off, "It matters not. Give it to me."

When he said this, Erin started to watch closely. She anticipated a feat of magic. The old man's power fascinated her. She wondered if he was superior to Kaldrun in magical power.

Bellendore took the stone from Kaldrun's hand and squeezed it. The crack filled with warm, healthy green light and sealed itself, in a process of a few seconds. The sight of magic had begun to send a chill down Erin's spine.

Magic fascinated her.

Kaldrun took the Hearthstone back, flipping it over in his hand, examining its perfectly renewed structure. He nodded his approval and then looked back up to Bellendore, "I suppose this means we can go back home."

Bellendore stood with a groan, "I believe  so." He turned to Erin, reaching out his gnarled fingers, "Take my hand, Erin."

Erin stood, pocketed her combat knife and the small wooden figurine, and took the old warlock's hand. Kaldrun wrapped his clawed purple hand around the other two, his Hearthstone in his other hand.

The elf looked at the other two. Bellendore made a rushing motion with his free hand, "Let's get on with it."

Kaldrun gripped the stone, and the blue swirl began to glow, wispy blue energy flowing from the design like smoke. After a second, the blue energy turned the same warm green as before, and enveloped Kaldrun's hand, then his torso, then his entire body was covered thickly in the healthy green glow.

Then, his body began to disintegrate. It seemed to turn to dust, dust that was still glowing the same green, dust that blew away and vanished. The green glow began to cover Erin and Bellendore. Erin tried to pull away, but Bellendore gripped her hand and shook his head. Suddenly, Erin's whole world was green, and her body began to feel cold.

Before her eyes, Erin's world dematerialized.

Everything was black and cold, and she could see nothing, despite feeling the others' hands on her own. She felt like she was floating, and her clothes were light on her.

Suddenly, she heard a rush of wind, and she felt her feet alight on soft sand as new surroundings filled themselves in.

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November 1st, 2017

12:30 PM

Erin looked around at her new surroundings as Bellendore and Kaldrun's hands fell back to their sides. They were in a mammoth cavern that she imagined would dwarf even a dragon. The walls and ceiling were a sandy brown color. Where wall met ceiling, a strange phenomenon occurred. She could see a river of time, eons passing as the river flowed through the cavern. Kingdoms rose and fell, stars exploded and formed, planets cracked and shattered and galaxies collided and fused.

She looked around and found that there were six other massive tunnels through the cave, and each tunnel was filled with a different scene. She saw one tunnel led into a medieval town, homes and taverns with blue-shingled roofs and oak fences. She saw people, actual humans in conversations and guards patrolling.

But. No. No, they weren't.

Everything was frozen in place. Mid-conversation, mid-laughter. Nothing was moving. Not even the bushes in the breeze.

Erin turned around, facing a different tunnel, and saw a forest filled with dark evergreen trees. Trees that were ablaze with a frozen fire. The angry orange inferno was moving in slow motion. Super slow motion. A squirrel was frozen mid-scamper, its tail caught on fire.

Erin turned back to Kaldrun who was gazing around with a nostalgic wonder, "What is this place?"

Kaldrun was pulled from his reminiscing, and he said, "These are the Caverns of Time. This is my home away from home."

They both glanced around again, and this time Erin noticed a plateau in the center of the room. The beast slumbering upon the plateau sent Erin staggering backward in shock.

A gargantuan dragon with shimmering bronze scales lay atop the plateau of sandy stone, its huge belly expanding with each calm breath. Huge fangs poked out behind lips that flapped with each breath. Perhaps as magnificent as the dragon itself was the structure floating above it.

Hovering about twelve meters above the plateau was a grand hourglass filled with golden-bronze sand and framed with fantastic golden designs. The upper section of the hourglass was slowly trickling into the bottom section, but both were equally full, filled exactly halfway.

Kaldrun followed Erin's gaze and spotted the dragon, "A Steward of Time. They guard this cavern and its timelines. Achranormu!"

The leviathan opened its tired eyes and raised its head. It looked around before spotting the small party, "Ah! Kaldrun! What a welcome surprise! How goes the mission?"

Kaldrun waved politely, "Not great so far. That is why we have come. Has Maldanormu reported back in the past fortnight?"

Achranormu thought for a moment, then shook his giant head, the skin between his chin and neck shaking back and forth, "Not since he departed to find you, fahdon."

Kaldrun nodded thoughtfully, "Can we contact him?"

At this, the bronze leviathan nodded, the reptilian equivalent of a smile stretching across his leathery features, "Aye. Just a moment."

Then the dragon closed his eyes. After a moment of silence, a rush of wind caused the three humanoids to turn their gaze to where a tall, fair-skinned, long-eared, blonde elf began materializing in a cloud of bronze dust.

Once the elf became fully apparent, Erin noticed he was wearing a thick travel cloak covered in snow. The elf shook off his cloak and opened his arms, grinning. His cunning, slanted eyes locked on Kaldrun, who grinned and closed the gap between he and the elf. They embraced in a brotherly fashion and pounded each others' backs, laughing.

After a moment, the new elf backed up and put his hands on Kaldrun's shoulders. He spoke in a gruff, wise voice, "Kaldrun, my dear friend. You survived!"

Kaldrun nodded, "Yes, brother. But not without obstacles."

Both became a bit more solemn, and Maldanormu said, "I suppose you have a tale to share?"

Kaldrun nodded graciously, but requested, "Perhaps it would be best if we did this in the Manor?"

A knowing smile stretched across Maldanormu's face as he said, "Ah, yes. A great idea."

The dragon-elf then took out a small pocket watch and tossed it to the ground. The watch popped open and a stable, door-shaped portal sprouted from its face. Through the portal was a huge foyer leading into... well, a mansion. A mansion adorned with purple and green banners, golden carpets, and mixtures of bronze, emerald, and amethyst - both the colors and the precious materials.

Maldanormu stretched his arm out in a welcoming gesture.

Kaldrun strode through the portal confidently, almost eagerly, with Bellendore following suit right after. To follow, Erin. Except Erin hesitated a moment, before Maldanormu nodded encouragingly. Then, she stepped through the portal.

Once they were all standing on the carpet of the magnificent manor, Maldanormu reached out his hand and the watch closed and hopped up into his palm.

Pocketing the watch, he announced, "Welcome to The Manor. The unofficial headquarters of Kaldrun and myself."

This made Erin smile inwardly, Kal and Mal.

Erin glanced at Kaldrun, who was gazing around at the manor nostalgically.

She then looked around, assessing the foyer. Directly in front of her, behind Maldanormu, about ten meters ahead, the carpet they stood on led towards and up a flight of grand stairs. The carpet was relatively thin, and didn't cover the entire room. Where there was not carpet, there was perfectly polished hardwood floors made of beautiful mahogany. On each side of the stairwell were bookshelves, filled with books. Hundreds, it seemed. The stairs led to a landing, which then split off at a right angle, so Erin couldn't see was was up the stairs.

Each wall adjacent to her had a set of closed French doors, one presumably leading to a kitchen, based on the smell of roast beef in the air.

Maldanormu led the group to a curved sofa that sat each of them perfectly. Close enough for comfort, but nobody made unwanted physical contact. Kaldrun sat across from Maldanormu. Erin and Bellendore sat on either side of Kaldrun.

Maldanormu locked eyes with Kaldrun and said, "I am eager for you to recount your tale, but first..."

The dragon-elf reached into a pocket and pulled out a strip of ancient purple cloth, frayed at the ends and singed in places, "As you were pulled through the rift, this was torn from your face. Perhaps you'd like it back."

Kaldrun touched the cloth with reverence, and then grabbed each end with both hands. Pulling it up to his face, he reached behind his head, and tied the blindfold. The flame burning in his eyes receded to a soft glow from behind the cloth.

Nodding appreciatively, Kaldrun spoke in a hoarse whisper, "Thank you."

Then, the night elf launched into the story of the past week-ish. Bellendore and Erin helped fill in the parts in which Kaldrun was possessed by Yogg'Saron. Maldanormu listened intently the whole time, and upon the end of the tale, Maldanormu exhaled a long, stressful breath.

In a voice that made the dragon-elf sound much older, he said, "So it is worse that we thought. The Old Gods have likely already spread their influence far past Seattle. We must act fast."

Kaldrun nodded, "I agree. But before we do anything, we need reinforcements."

Maldanormu cocked his head slightly, his brows furrowing, "Yes, I concur, but who could we ask that would join us?"

At this, Bellendore spoke up for seemingly the first time since they had arrived. As he spoke, Erin noticed he looked significantly reinvigorated, "My Dark Coven will come to the aid of the cause. We worship and practice dark magics, but we have no wish to see the Hour of Twilight come to fruition."

Erin looked at Bellendore, confused, " 'Hour of Twilight'?"

The warlock nodded, "Aye. The Old Gods and their worshipers work toward the end of all life on Azeroth and the return of the Black Empire. But in this case, the Hour of Twilight threatens your own home world."

Erin nodded in grim understanding, but said nothing.

Kaldrun nodded gratefully to Bellendore and then turned to Maldanormu, "The Dark Coven in itself could help greatly, along with the armies of Erin's home planet," Kaldrun turned to Erin, "I don't think I ever caught its name."

Erin tried to speak, but no words came out. She cleared her throat and said, in a near whisper, "Earth. It's called Earth."

Kaldrun nodded and said, with an underlying cynicism, "A fitting name."

Erin nodded and said nothing, a bit confused.

Kaldrun continued, to Maldanormu, "So yes, the Dark Coven's ranks could help greatly, and the Kirin Tor may help, as well. There are many organizations and factions that could lend their aid. The Ebon Blade would likely join us, along with your own Bronze Dragonflight and the other Dragonflights."

Maldanormu nodded agreeably at this last, but said, "While all of this is true... From what you've said thus far, Yogg'Saron's armies run rampant. I doubt that all these mortal factions - excepting the Dragonflights - would put a dent in the Old One's forces."

Kaldrun nodded and sighed, looking down at his hands for a moment. Then he returned his gaze to the dragon-elf, "I hesitated to say this originally, but..."

Maldanormu's expression shifted to that of explicit resistance, "No."

Kaldrun said, not without some defensiveness, "We need her, and you know it! The only way we can hope to defeat the Old Gods is with the power of the Titans! Her connection to them is paramount."

Bellendore nodded in agreement to Kaldrun. Erin's brows furrowed and she asked, "Who are we talking about?"

Maldanormu looked at Erin in exhaustion, "An old friend of Kaldrun's." To Kaldrun, he says, "She brings destruction everywhere she goes."

Kaldrun argued, "We are pressed on time, Maldanormu, and she is the most immediate solution."

Maldanormu snapped, "Immediacy does not equate to a proper solution!"

He took a deep breath and said, firmly, "We can collect the Artifacts. You and Bellendore each have something; you, the Twinblades of the Deceiver; he, Ulthalesh, the Deadwind Harvester."

Kaldrun shook his head, "We would need significantly more than just us two. It would just take much too long to gather every other warrior that wields an artifact."

"That is true, but we shouldn't rule it out completely."

Bellendore spoke up, "Each of my Lieutenants wields an Artifact."

Kaldrun and Maldanormu nodded, and all were silent in thought.

Erin spoke up and inquired, "What's an Artifact?"

Bellendore sighed, exasperated, "An Artifact is a powerful weapon containing massive amounts of power. My own weapon, a scythe, contains the soul of an extremely powerful warlock, along with the souls of every foe slain by me, the original wielder of the weapon, and everyone in between. The scythe is not only a powerfully bladed weapon, but also a catalyst for my own power."

Kaldrun spoke of his own glaives, "My own glaives, the Twinblades, work similarly. Most Artifact weapons are really just catalysts for the wielder's power. My glaives help me control Fel magic and amplify it in more spectacular and devastating ways than I could with any other weapon."

Erin nodded in understanding, "Okay... Cool."

Kaldrun forced a chuckle, "Indeed."

Erin asked again, "So, again... Who is this 'old friend' of yours?"

Kaldrun sighed, "Her name is Redrumei." (@lovisdelumine) "She is human, like yourself and Bellendore, but her father...," he trailed off, shaking his head, "She has the power of the Titans within her. The Titans are planet-sized, metallic-skinned beings that are born from the formation of planets. Most are altruistic, some are evil, all are gods. They are the ones that imprisoned the Old Gods."

"Are the Titans actual, physical beings? Like, are they a religious thing, or...?"

Kaldrun shook his head, "No. They are very real. As real as you or me."

Erin sat back and exhaled, "Wow."

Maldanormu nodded, " 'Wow', indeed."

Erin looked back and forth between the two, "But how do we find her?"

Kaldrun looked expectantly at the dragon-elf across from him.

Maldanormu reached through the neck of his shirt, pulling out a silver amulet adorned with sapphires, cobalt, and amethysts, with a large garnet situated in the center. He held the amulet out and spoke, "This amulet connects with Redrumei's magical signature, and displays her position in a sort of... holographic map."

Erin nodded in understanding.

Maldanormu stood and unclasped the amulet from his neck. He held it out and a bright light shined from the gems. A shape began to coalesce in the light, a planet. The planet got larger, zooming into one specific continent. The continent was long in the north-south plane, and a bit thinner in the east-west plane. On the mid-west coast of the continent, a region glowed.

Maldanormu spoke, still gripping the amulet tightly, "She is in Westfall, unsurprisingly."

He zoomed in further. The region was full of vast, yellow plains, a few structures here and there, and a couple small towns. In the center of the map was a large crater with some kind of magical tempest in the center of the crater.

Kaldrun cursed under his breath.

Maldanormu pocketed the amulet, casting away the map. He turned to Kaldrun. They exchanged meaningful looks.

Kaldrun turned to Erin and Bellendore, "It seems we have a problem."