Maldanormu floated on his back in soft darkness and silence, turning the green shard over in his hands. He traced his fingers over its corners and felt its perfections, and its imperfections. A crack here, a warp there. He wasn't sure what they meant, but they were there and he was sure they meant something.

It was cold, and lifeless, and emitted no light.

He lay on his back, considering his actions against Bellendore the day before. He had had a discussion with some of the Alliance magi that Kaldrun and Shaw lead to this battlefield, and they had agreed with his decision, albeit some reluctantly. No doubt, he was as menacing on the battlefield as Kaldrun or their very own Mary and Anne, his spells rending body, soul, and mind to nothingness in terrifying displays of power.

But still, while his prowess was undeniable, he cared little for collateral damage, often injuring or killing soldiers on the front line with his destructive spells.

And he did not follow orders. He was no commander among the Terran Liberation Front, even to the magi, but the way he treated the militiamen was like he was a veteran captain, a legend among men.

Likely, he believed he was.

Maldanormu turned and straightened himself, feeling around in the void with his foot. It made contact, and the huge manor in this little pocket dimension materialized before him. He was in the foyer, the very same couches from nearly a year ago just to his right, where he sat with Kaldrun, Erin, and Bellendore, and they discussed recruiting Redrumei to the cause.

Which reminded him... what had even been occurred that day? Somehow, the entire scenario of rescuing her and watching them both be vaporized was gone from his mind, as easily forgotten as a stubbed toe. Why was she there? Had he ever found the answer?

He mulled this over, tossed the gem up and caught it. He placed it gingerly on the glass coffee table and flicked a corner. It spun, spun, spun... slowed... stopped, all the while casting a shimmering green reflection over the glass surface upon which it oscillated.

Maldanormu stared into the stone, and suddenly a strange idea popped into his head. He took the stone, hefted it, and threw it against a wall.

It shattered, sending tiny glittering green javelins across the room which fell and skidded across the ground, filling the huge silent room with echoing clinkling. Green mist was released from the shards, which returned to their quartzy grey color, dull and lifeless.

The haze did not coalesce, instead vanishing into the air like smoke, while the rest of the glass-like shards dissolved into rapidly-dispersing colorless vapor.

Maldanormu sighed, his chest filling dramatically and deflating in sadness.

How could he have been so foolish? He was a moron to have ever even remotely trusted the warlock. He had never been anything but an adversary, and should never have been treated as anything but.

Kaldrun was not safe in that stone.

Bellendore had killed him.

Maldanormu knew he was alone, but still felt ashamed when his eyes closed and a tear trailed over his elven cheekbones, down his face, and fell to the floor from his chin.

He wiped the tear from his face and opened his eyes, then opened them again.

He was in a tower, deep in Liberationist territory, built for the magi by the magi, assisted by Terran engineers. It was not unlike the Bastion of Twilight, but its rooms were physical and accessible through staircases, hallways, and elevators. At the base was being constructed a frame for a portal to Azeroth, but work was slow. The various magical wards around the area to protect from the Old Gods, and the magic of the eldritch beings themselves made it difficult to focus the magic across universes.

In the same fashion that the Twisting Nether connects planes of existence and different worlds and dimensions in Maldanormu's native universe, there is another ethereal space that exists between the universes themselves. Maldanormu would often study this alongside Raynor, and sometimes Bellendore or Kaldrun. He divvied out certain projects to the mages he trusted, and they would also aid in research.

Still, little was known about this universal ether, and the unstable magic currents made connections through it even more difficult.

At the very peak of the tower was Maldanormu's chambers, which connected to the roof, where a gargantuan platform allowed space to fit his leviathan form, as well as perform complex divination rituals and other spells that required large incantation circles or an outdoor space.

He stood from his mat on the floor in his chambers where he meditated. In his left hand was the green gem. Of course, he had not actually broken it, but in his magical trance he was able to mentally manifest its properties. He was certain that, were he to attempt the same stunt right now, it would shatter just the same.

Still, though... he kept it. Just in case. He stood and tucked the jewel away in an inner pocket of his robes.

He stretched and walked toward the staircase that led to the platform above.

He needed to assess his priorities.

                                                      ⇋

Raynor went through the motions, blasting through armor with his Iron and melting flesh with Justice, shouting commands to subordinates and trying to keep himself alive.

Suddenly and inexplicably, the tide of cultists (who had begun to make up the majority of the army in this area, thus making a N'raqi a much scarier sight) began to let up, and gave the militiamen a moment of rest.

This was not a good thing.

He had seen war before, and there was nothing to give the army reason to stop pushing and even allow themselves to be pushed back, but they did.

And just as they did, the ground began to rumble.

Raynor backed up and took in the view. In the distance, towering over the sea of Black Terrans, was a giant robot, like a mech.

He was baffled. Surely these primitive, sword-wielding aliens couldn't make such complex technology.

He ran to the small camps set up behind the front line and located a scout.

"Let me see those!" Raynor commanded, taking the scout's binoculars.

His jaw dropped.

At first, it looked definitely like a robot, but upon further inspection he found it was, in fact, a giant bug.

It had thick limbs like an elephant, and giant crab hands, and towered twenty feet into the sky. Its several beady eyes scanned the battlefield.

Call it paranoia, but it seemed to be staring at Raynor.

At first, Raynor had assumed it was the movement of the creature that caused the rumbling, but it was only standing, and still the ground shook.

The source was revealed a moment later as the ground burst forth all around and tore the militiamen to shreds.