FSE

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Chapter 6

(About 7 years later)

Liki hummed to himself while he was making his way through Stormwinds busy market place. The Worgen waved lightly at someone nearby, who smiled slightly at first, weary of him.

Liki didn't let this reaction phase him, people had only recently started to even get used to Worgen not being seen as beastly creatures. When Gilneas finally did join the Alliance and brought with it their cursed Gilneans, the Worgen had been met with disgust and derision.

However, most of the cursed Worgen, the men mostly, ended up being soldiers out on the front lines, Liki and his new group 'The Searchers' included. Alongside these fierce warriors, and with Drailsin, Tenebrae, and Kat'ern at his side, the Worgen easily showed their prowess and how valuable a Worgen was to have on your side. Now, at least one Worgen was always assigned to nearly every group of five soldiers that went out onto the front lines, helping their allies to take down targets that may otherwise not be possible. Liki's full team of Worgen however, so far only 4, were taking down targets and completing their missions at nearly five times the speed of any other, propelling the Alliance forward in their war efforts against Deathwing.

This earned them the respect of other soldiers quickly, and elevated them to levels of command they otherwise would not have reached, and helped Greymane secure his people a firm place in the Alliance. Despite that, some civilians just didn't recognize Liki or the others as war heroes. That was fine though, Liki believed, he liked being able to just take a nice quiet stroll through Stormwinds trade markets, looking for the food he liked, some delicious lemons and other fruits and meats...

Raw meat with some lemon gently squeezed over it was the most heavenly thing...

Liki sucked up the drool that had been forming from his muzzle and shook his head clear. Time for actually drooling over his food would come later! Once he found lemons and steak...

Kat'ern never understood why Liki insisted on this ritual every few weeks, where the rogue would leave the safety of The Tower to hunt down fruits and slabs of meat he could just summon right into his room with a single thought. Of course, it was to get out and actually see the world a bit though! Kat'ern spent nearly all his time in The Tower, and sure there was a good reason he had.

"I have to master all magic I possibly can and record my findings so that future generations can learn from it!" Kat'ern once proclaimed to Liki when Kat'ern absolutely refused to join Liki on his walks sometimes. If leaving The Tower was not necessary, the mage definitely did not want to be made to leave. He only left when Liki issued it as a mission or if Drailsin asked it. Whatever power the Warlock seemed to hold over the Mage Liki was still not sure on...

"But with the speed at which time flows in The Tower, by the time you're dead nearly 400 years may have passed!" Liki had then giggled back at the mage.

"ALL THE MORE TIME TO DO ALL THE RESEARCH POSSIBLE! STOP LAUGHING!!!" The Worgen nearly howled, his blush beet red under his lighter white fur. "AWAY WITH YOU!" Kat'ern had barked, waved his hand, and forcefully teleported Liki into his own room within The Tower, leaving the rogue grinning and nearly rolling on the floor in laughter.

So it was by walking through the city that Liki got some outside world time and reconnected with the current issues going on in the outside world. It had been seven years since Liki had joined 'The Searchers', but Liki was only 24 instead of being nearly 29...this was also due to The Tower.

Liki spent so much time in Kat'ern's creation. A large majority of his free time was spent there. With an hour inside The Tower only being ten minutes in the outside world, he had plenty of time to plan, train, and hone his skills. Of the last seven years that past for him, Liki believed he spent six of them within The Tower, and one year actually out on the field fighting battles across Azeroth. This was why the Worgen seemed to become much buffer and more clever so quickly and earned him the respect he had in Azeroth now.

In short: Though seven years had passed for him, he had really only aged two years but gained the experience and temperance that seven years would give a warrior. Liki sometimes found it difficult to even understand it as possible...

The 'training regime' The Searchers used was like a rumor among the men of the Alliance army. What was their regime? Why wouldn't they share it with the rest of the Alliance? Was it really that difficult a regime that only the most elite could even think to attempt it?

The strange members of The Searchers were known to everyone in the army, but maybe not so much in the public eye. But while the existence of The Searchers was known by nearly everyone in the army, the truth of its members was held in mere whisper and rumour. There was Liki, the clever and quick Rogue whose stealth magic was nearly impenetrable, his will power so strong that he could even shield his companions from sight for short moments if needed. He was a master with his twin blades, Unbreakable and Unshattered. Like his unshakable willpower, Unbreakable and Unshattered were indestructible swords that if broken would slowly mend themselves back to their keen sharpness, just in time for Liki to jump back into the fray after he himself was healed or otherwise returned to the frontlines!

And the one healing him was the Master Druid Tenebrae, usually seen wearing a set of heavy looking leather armor covered in vines of leaves and heavy strands of his own thick fur. While the armor was undoubtedly leather, the Worgen Druid's connection to nature nearly made it look like armor was being absorbed into Worgen's body, as if it was fused to him as his own thick and leathery wolf skin. He used a green, wooden staff as his casting mechanism. It channeled the Druid's connection to nature, and with 10,000+ years of experience to work on, Tenebrae continued to impress his fellow soldiers, and members of the neutral Cenarion Circle. The Worgen had saved many lives, including those of his own enemies, in matters that seemed to have nearly been certain death.

With so many years of experience people found it incredible that the other three could even keep up with him. There was always debate on who may be the strongest of the four of them, and for some reason, Kat'ern seemed to have a lot of fans who rooted for him. The Mage's shows of magic on the field of battle was unsurpassed in nearly all but Liki's ability to remain hidden from sight no matter how hard you looked for him. Kat'ern could turn invisible, but he could not hide his footfalls, his noises, his breathing, anything like Liki could. Becoming a literal ghost was beyond him. Still, Kat'ern was believed the strongest of them all just by his magical skills. As so far the only Worgen mage in existence, Kat'ern was able to call upon the large amount of energy within the Worgen body to perform savage attacks, evade capture, and otherwise cause something to explode, usually laughing like mad while he did. Teleporting around the battlefield, a brief flash of light, a snapping of the fingers, a small arcane explosion right in front of the enemies face to bring them down. That was all Kat'ern needed, an opening...

And then there was the most mysterious of them all, known as Drailsin the Warlock, whose purple eyes struck awe and reverence in any weak minded enemies, and sometimes, even allies. The portals the warlock was known for using became a famous tactic several mages and warlocks still tried to duplicate...but for mages, opening actual portals took time and concentration. Drailsin would open this portals with just the slightest nudge of his muzzle, no chanting or incantation needed. And it wasn't a portal which teleported someone, it was a real portal, one through which projectiles, spells, and allies could jump through and instantly be on the other side. A normal portal teleported people, reconstituting their bodies at the destination that could take nearly a minute to finish. It was rare for a commander to buy enough time to pull off these tactics. A minute to create the portal, a minute for reinforcements to get through the portal, and by that time you may be overrun. Warlocks tried to forgo the portal and instead try to summon all their contracte demons at once, but no single Warlock had the will of Drailsin though. Drailsin became truly famous for being able to just wave his paw and open nearly ten portals, through which poured thousands of demons of all kinds, all bound to his will. Imps, Destroyers, Voids, Succubi, even a few powerful Demon Lords that once had been known to serve Illidan...It was well known that Drailsin had some kind of special control over demonkind that people believed extended to actual people too, and it was whispered to be a spell he cast by looking into the eyes of his victims.

There was something more hidden in those eyes, the whispers would say...those purple eyes whose gaze were able to charm anyone into doing the warlock's bidding, no matter how nefarious or dangerous. It was a saying that if a Horde goon ever accidentally let slip their plans or caused a depo or hideout to explode, it was because they had fallen under 'Drailsin's Gaze' and hypnotized into doing the action that caused the accident.

Of course, Liki knew the truth of these rumours. He wasn't nearly that powerful. If an enemy was aware enough and if he got too close, he would still be seen, though he did do his best to avoid it. While he was skilled and fierce, he sometimes bit off more than he could chew, but he would have the others there to pick him up and push him forward. They were really his willpower. He learned everything he knew now from his companions.

Tenebrae was just a student wanting to surpass and please his Master, Malfurion, by doing his best to help nature itself survive the many battlegrounds, some of which he believed were a foolish waste of life and for this very reason he refused to kill Horde Soldiers unless absolutely necessary. While this earned Tenebrae a noble look among the soldiers he sometimes led, it infuriated the higher command of the Alliance to no end. There was nothing they could do about it though...

The Druid hated the conflict between the Alliance and Horde. He would commonly go on rants about how idiotic it was for the races of Azeroth to be fighting among each other.

"These kinds of conflicts are what tore Azeroth apart so many centuries, no...thousands of years ago! Why do we refuse to learn from our history!? We should be working on continuously making sure the planet itself is healthy! Azeroth used to be a jewel that everyone looked upon with awe!" Liki remembered one very spirited rant once when out on the fields of the Twilight Highlands, trying to help the dwarves there fightback Deathwing's agents while fighting off Horde assaults as well.

"We should not be attacking each other when there are more important threats to our lives then our petty squabbles over our races! This is a disgrace to the druid teachings and here I am involved in it! What would my master think?!" He clenched his firsts and raged to the skies, growling deeply.

That was when some wetfoot soldier decided to pipe up, and things got fun. The human has spoken up, all confident and disapproving that a member of 'The Searchers' was an apparent Horde lover, that the Cenerion Circle was who was in charge of 'healing the planet' and that he was there to make sure they would stay alive, not to heal the grass when it was burned by fire.

The entire company had gasped as suddenly that soldier found themselves wrapped up and bound in thick, green, thorny vines that emerged from the ground. The soldier was instantly terrified, Liki was sure they may have pissed themselves as the Worgen Druid bared down on him, his paw held put and glowing green while he squeezed the vine around him.

"Let me inform you of something...rather, I'll ask a question first." He had growled deeply, a fierce emerald glow in his eyes. "Of all the druids in Cenerion Circle, of which I am also a member...how many of them do you think are currently on the front lines of warzones right now?"

When the soldier failed to answer with anything but a small squeak of fear as the vine tightened around him more, Tenebrae snarled. "There's probably only maybe five percent of the whole organization at Moonglade right now...the rest are stuck out here." He made a motion with his paw across the hills, which were filled with Alliance soldiers and Horde soldiers. "Making sure that there isn't anymore loss of precious life than there needs to be. Nothing ever comes without consequence or cost, tell me...why should I save you if you were dying...? It's a waste of my energy that I may need to save my own life." Tenebrae snarled and stomped his foot, the thick footpaw causing a few flowers to pop up where he stood, growing inside stone bricks...Nature was starting to bloom...

"We don't help and heal you out of a since of 'Alliance duty' we help and heal you out of a duty to protect all life." He growled lowly, his lips curly in contempt as the soldier continued to cower.

With that, the druid's paw stopped glowing and the soldier fell over from the suddenness of it as they scrambled away from Tenebrae, who growled after him, "You're lucky I value even the lives of fools like you or you'd be fertilizer for the next tree I plant..."

The entire platoon was frozen. Liki and Kat'ern had both looked at their companion in shock and a little bit of their own fear, while Drailsin was stroking his chin happily with a grin on his muzzle, clearly proud of his teammate for really sticking his point home to the surrounding soldiers.

Tenebrae had made that point further as he then strode up to the edge of the fort's wall, and began slowly turning into his feral cat form - with many wolfish qualities. Flowers continued to sprout up wherever he walked. "I don't know about all of you, but I'm going out there now and ending this pointless fight and saving all I can, so that we can work together to focus on the real threats to our livelihood." With this, he launched himself over the walls and began to dash into battle, with Liki and the others behind him, and after they recovered and fully took in the druid's message, the rest of the fort's forces.

Their surprise rush onto the battlefield forced the attacking Horde to retreat, but they took many Horde prisoner that day. Following Tenebrae's lead and humbled by his lesson, the soldiers healed and released the soldiers back to their own camp, with the message that Deathwing was the most important threat right now and that the Alliance and Horde should be working together to protect everyone from utter destruction, not against each other. That had been about a year and a half ago from today...and while the Horde backed off their assaults and so did the Alliance, there had been no real olive branch extended.

Tenebrae taught Liki an important lesson that day. Liki had hated the Horde for what they had done to Gilneas, hated the death and carnage and hated Sylvanas for killing Liam that day. Even though to him it was seven years ago it still stung...but...that wasn't all there was to it was there? There had been few Orc, Tauren, Trolls and Blood Elves in that attack, he knew that. It had mostly been spearheaded by Sylvanas, and she went against direct orders to not wipe out the Gilneans and just claim the land. It was her that was to blame for it. Was he right to hate the rest of their races just because of a few that had wronged him? No...he realized. He wasn't right, they were not the same ones who had attacked them and their lives were important too. Hell, perhaps the Forsaken citizens didn't deserve his hate, they had nothing to do with their Queen's destruction of his country.

This changed outlook helped Liki give trust to members of the Horde species where he normally would have given none when it was necessary. Tenebrae picked up on Liki's new openness to those considered enemies by others and was willing to follow Liki into any battle. He knew the rogue wouldn't take life necessarily, in fact letting Horde soldiers live and run instead of killing them. Even though this sometimes came back to bite them in the butts, Tenebrae's mercy towards the backstabbing scum was zero. He had no tolerance for someone who did not know the value of life.

Tenebrae had then worked with Liki for the next several years on creating a potent concoction Liki had dubbed a 'Crimson Vial', a vial of regenerating red fluid that would heal a good portion of the rogue's wounds in just a few seconds should he find himself in a jam without immediate help. It took the potion about fifteen minutes to regenerate itself back to full capacity, depending on how much of the healing fluid he drank anyway. The more he drank the more he would heal, but the longer it would take for the potion to regen itself. Just one drop remaining in the nature enchanted glass was all that was needed, and the power of nature would bring about more. Of course, Kat'ern had a bit of hand in enchanting the glass as well, and even though it was the smallest of contributions, the mage claimed if it wasn't for his help, Tenebrae's and Liki's achievement in creating the Crimson Vial would never have happened.

Kat'ern loved the notoriety, attention, and rumors surrounding him and his power, but he was a shut in who became so excited when showing off his abilities to others that he would become nervous of disappointing them, so he would avoid most interaction at any cost, less he make a fool of himself and ruin his reputation and wound his pride. When he trusted someone enough and believed they would not judge him, Kat'ern would willingly let them into his inner thoughts, bouncing ideas and theories off of them. Liki was perhaps the most interaction with another person the Mage had gotten in his entire life, since Liki did spend most of his time in The Tower training or otherwise while Drailsin and Tenebrae usually gathered intel. Kat'ern had become comfortable enough around Liki that he began to also let the rogue call him 'Kat' like Drailsin did.

It had seemed that Drailsin had begun calling the mage that name as a term of endearment, which at first, Kat'ern was furious about. He recalled the story to Liki about the first time Drailsin had called him 'Kat' when the Warlock had sought Kat'ern out as he had felt the spikes in magical power the then human mage was capable of. He has visited at his lab in Stormwind by the Warlock.

"'Come with me, and I can help you gain even more power to do what you'd previously thought impossible!' he had told me that day..." Kat'ern had giggled to Liki, a little tipsy from a glass of Moonlight Rum, a new brand made by surviving Gineans that he had taken a liking to as it was a clever name in Kat'ern's opinion with the emergence of the Worgen as a new, sentient race, even though people still referred to sane Worgen as Gilneans.That and it wasn't too bad tasting for an alcoholic beverage.

"What did you do?" Liki asked back then with a grin, watching the mage wistfully remembering the moment his entire life had evolved into something more.

"I snapped my fingers and shot an Arcane Missle at him."

"You what?!" Liki asked, his grin turning to shock, but Kat'ern only shrugged.

"I felt insulted. He was a stranger who had somehow gotten into my house and was telling me he could get me more power? I was already mighty powerful!" Kat'ern shook his head with a giggle, then continued, "But boy was I wrong."

The Worgen had reached up behind himself and gave himself a whack against the back of his shoulder. "Next thing I know, he steps to the side of where I shot the missile to dodge it, and I would have just redirected it to chase him, but at the same time a green colored portal appeared right where he had been standing, showing me my own back and himself in an infinite repeating loop. Then all I felt was a brief pain as my own missile buried itself into my right shoulder and left my right arm useless as it destroyed the nerve endings of my own somatic nervous system..." He paused, looking at Liki who had given him a dumbfounded look. "That's the name for the part of your nervous system which controls voluntary muscle movement, by the way. That's what Arcane magic does, make stop moving until they are dead or might as well be."

Liki made an 'ah' sound and nodded sagely as if he had just figured it out himself when he actually hadn't had a clue and just sipped from his glass of rum. Kat'ern respected him enough to not try and rub in his lack of knowledge about the workings of biology.

The eccentric Worgen actually slid down onto his knees from his chair while clutching his right shoulder with his right paw as if the attack had just happened to him while he kept on going, "I fell to my knees in front of him while clutching my arm, as blood from the wound on my back dripped down onto my floor. I couldn't move my arm, and although I could see it still connected to my body, I couldn't move it, couldn't feel it. It was...harrowing...the first time I'd ever been injured in my life, and by my own spell! It was so humiliating! I hissed silently while cursing myself for my stupidity before he spoke again."

"'As you can see, there is some magic even you could not hope to produce on even your best day...' he had said to me sternly. He waved his hand and made a green stone with an eerie light. He came up close and held the stone by my self inflicted wound and I watched and felt in amazement as it slowly lost its glow and my wound healed. He simply crushed the rock into dust afterwards and I just was just...stunned..."

Kat'ern looked at his paw as if he was really reliving that day. "There was no more blood, no more pain. He had healed me in seconds. That was impossible, I thought, but I couldn't deny my eyes. I looked up to him and asked him what exactly was it he was offering me and what exactly would I have to do? He grinned and said 'Just come with me Kat, I'll answer the questions that need to be answered, but nothing more than you need to know.' and he held his hand out to me to take while opening a portal somewhere in front of him."

The mage's eyes were misted and his words full of reverence. "That portal, looking at it and realizing what it was, an actual honest to gods portal...something beyond my wildest thoughts. That convinced me. I took his hand but tried to save face by saying, 'I'll follow you, but it's Kat'ern, that's the name that will be known throughout all of Azeroth for my discoveries and you'll use it too.' He just grinned at me widely, those purple eyes twinkling in amusement and waved me through the portal while he snickered at me, 'Whatever you say Kat.'" Kat'ern chuckled merrily. "I would never try to attack him again, and he knew it, so he keeps calling me Kat to this day. It's kind of stuck. You're welcome to call me it too." He shrugged while looking happily at Liki, then got up and leaned back into his chair.

"He offered me chances to do things I never thought possible, I created life with my own hands, arcane entities bent to my whim, and when he was satisfied I could handle what he was offering, he took me with him to Gilneas, that same day we helped you sneak in, and then he told me his plan for me to gain even more power."

"And that was to let a Worgen bite you?" Liki asked, and the mage nodded.

"I thought it was crazy myself at first." Kat'ern chuckled. "But then he showed me it was possible. He let himself get bitten, turned, and he held onto his mind, so I just knew I could too. I had too...I wasn't gonna let him keep out doing me like that! I wrestled the mind of the beast into submission and locked it away. I want to be the lightning before the thunder, ya know? The one who discovers something several years before someone else comes in and thinks they can take credit, then I swoop in and say 'uh no actually I made that first see?'" He reached up and tapped his head, grinning widely. "My superior intellect is what lets me keep control."

'Yeah superior intellect. You tell yourself that.' Liki thought. 'Just a few days ago you were saying you'd announce the existence of The Tower to the whole world if it wasn't for Drailsin threatening to kill you if you even mention it to anyone...'

"What about Tenebrae?" Liki had asked instead. "He keeps telling you you're slowly becoming more and more unstable, that you need to make peace with yourself before it's too late."

"Pfft. Tenebrae's powerful, but he's stuck in the thinking that trying to master the arcane magics is a part of what led his people to ruin 10,000 years ago."

"Yeah. Because it was. We saw as much in Vashj'ir. It was written all over the walls." Liki answered, raising an eyebrow, but that only made the mage wave his paw all the more, now significantly buzzed that logic was actually starting to leave him.

"I'm not as foolish as those magicians that used their gifts to pan handle to Ashzara, I'm not gonna cause a second Sundering. It would be nice to be looked up to at the same time though..." The mage seemed to think hard, pinching at the air with his fingers and making little pops in the air with some Arcane magic.

"Hmm..." He hummed briefly, then shook his head and perked up while looking at Liki suddenly with a grin. "I need to be naked..."

Liki jumped in surprise as suddenly the Worgen disrobed in front of him, making him blush heavily and he quickly excused himself, getting up from his chair and running to his own room in The Tower and locking it to hide from the drunken mage calling after him. From that day one Liki didn't drink with Kat'ern without Drailsin around to help reel him in if he reached that level again.

As for the Warlock, Liki was still a little hazy on who that particular companion was. The Worgen hid his secrets and thoughts well. Often, perhaps once every three months or so, Drailsin would call upon Liki for his opinions on something. For some reason, this would often lead to spontanous sex between them, feverish and wanting. Liki had no idea why the Warlock had a thing for him, but he liked the relationship himself. It was...something he didn't have to worry about being hurt in...Outside of The Tower, out on the battlefields and even in the streets of Stormwind where he was now, there was always a risk of attack that had Liki subconsciously on edge.

But those few hours he could spend with Drailsin, where only twenty real world minutes would pass and no one could intrude on the space they were in...cut off from the rest of the worlds problems for a time...those were some of his most calming memories. Holding him in his arms after a heated moment of tying the Warlock and filling him with his seed. Sometimes the Warlock did other things to him besides just sex, but always somehow took his potent Alpha Worgen essence into his body, never wasting a bit of it. Liki found it sexy, and sometimes he felt like the male Worgen warlock acted a little more the opposite of his sex, as if he could actually get pregnant from him or something.

Each time, each sleepy haze after those passionate moments and each memory gave Liki a small piece of a puzzle as to who Drailsin really was. It happened in little details. A telling shift where Drailsin's body warmed slightly before returning to his normal, chiller temperature. The rips in his bedsheets just a little bit bigger than what the Warlock's claws should leave. The Worgen seemed able to ignore his predator instinct and choose to eat easy to chew things like fruits over meat. It'd been seen eating meat, if it was his only option at the moment, but would get a sour mood when fruits or other options weren't available.

As Liki finally located and purchased a pack of lemons and then a good sized piece of meat, he thought that perhaps it would be a nice thing to offer the Warlock a few of his lemons before making his dinner that night.

Liki reached into his pocket once he had his food and pulled out the Hearthstone Kat'ern had given him. He focused on it and he vanished from where he was in the middle of the street, and the rest of Stormwind and its people continued about their business.

__________________________

Liki appeared at the top of the stairs that led into Kat'ern's laboratory. The room had steadily grown larger and larger as it filled with artifacts and knick knacks in the group's travels through Azeroth. Gifts from denizens of the towns and cities, trinkets, both useful and just junk. Kat'ern hoarded it all. "Any amount of scrap can be useful at some point!" He had pointed out.

"Kat! I'm here." Liki announced while he pocketed his Hearthstone again.

"Oh!" The mage's voice called back from somewhere in the massive room, echoed to Liki by magical quality. No matter where they were in the room their voices would speak to each other as if they were right in front of each other, easing communication while they were inside the room. This also worked at some distance outside of The Tower, but the further away they were from each other then made it more difficult to hear the other, the limit was about 100 yards before they just couldn't hear the other at all.

"Good, you were gone for quite some time...everything all right?"

"I was gone for an hour." Liki rolled his eyes, knowing exactly what response he was about to get.

"Yeah and that's six hours in here ya know!"

"I was fine." Liki chuckled and smiled. He waved his paw and summoned the door to his own room, and it materialized in front of him.

"Yeah sure." The mage growled back playfully. "Anyway, Drailsin's looking for you, just give him a shout when you're ready."

"Ready?" Liki asked while he opened the door to his room and stepped in. Liki Kat'ern's space, his own room had steady swelled with more and more items and interesting trinkets of its own. Liki didn't hoarde his stuff though, it was more carefully selected. Expert crafting stations for his potions, storage for the herbs used in said potions, and then treasures and other powerful artifacts he'd found alongside the others and was decided it needed to be better protected.

If anyone unauthorized got into The Tower, their hideout would be at risk. No one had ever discovered The Towers location yet, it was still situated at the south end of Gilneas, where nary an eye could see it. Should it ever be discovered though, all their treasures would be at risk, so treasures deemed of much greater value then normal were kept in Liki's room as an added security. Only Liki could summon and open the door to his room and let someone inside it, the same way that only Drailsin could open his room and let someone inside it. Since Tenebrae normally spent his time outside The Tower, he did not have a room in it and instead would stay with either Liki or Kat'ern when he did stay in it which wasn't long and usually it was Liki he stayed with.

"Yeah...it's been about five months now..." Kat'ern's voice said back then.

Liki paused in his room as he set down his lemons, a slight grin crossing his muzzle that he was thankful Kat'ern couldn't see.

Drailsin calling on him meant two things. One, the warlock had come about some important information and wished to discuss it with him. As the leader of 'The Searchers' it was Liki's decision on if they went somewhere and pursue leads that Drailsin would find regarding either the Spark or fighting against Deathwing's attempts to destroy their planet.

The situation about Deathwing seemed to be escalating rapidly, and in the entire seven years of being with the group, they had only gotten one good hint on the power behind the Spark, but nothing about where it was. Liki learned much in that investigation about why Drailsin wanted to find the Spark.

The Spark was the spark. The big bang. The force that brought about the existence of their entire world, their entire universe...It had the ability to bend and shape reality at its weilder's will, no matter what you wanted it to be. ANYTHING your imagination could think of...it was there to have just a thoughts notice...

The four of them kept this information to themselves. They knew if the leaders of the worlds factions found out about this kind of power the resulting flurry of war to be the last side standing to ensure ownership of that power would never end...

Liki started to put his lemons away, keeping hold of a few of them to offer Drailsin, and then also stored his meat. He stood back up.

Five months...that was a longer amount of time it took Drailsin to get leads. Usually it was just two or three. And that brought Liki to the second reason for Drailsin calling him and why he was happy to shout out the Worgen's name.

"Drailsin! I'm home!" He said out loud with a grin.

A portal instantly opened up in front of the rogue, revealing on the other side Drailsin's own laboratory, still as dark and smelling of heavy essence and burning candles as the first day he'd been in there.

Liki stepped through the portal, still holding two lemons in his paws as he stepped in and he looked around for the Worgen. He wasn't there it seemed yet, and then a door along the wall of Drailsin's space opened and showed a shadow on it as the warlock approached.

Liki blinked at first as he saw the shadow. It was...different than normal. He couldn't sworn he saw horns jutting out of Drailsin's head and was a little differently shaped, but after he blinked they vanished it looked normal again. He shrugged it off as probably something that Warlocks did but didn't do in front of others.

He'd never seen Drailsin call upon a demon form like he'd seen other Warlocks do to increase his demonic energy, he instead summoned his massive armies of demons to defeat his enemies when his own spells didn't seem to be doing the job. It seemed he just didn't need to go that far, perhaps it was his last trump card. If so, Liki was thankful because he was almost always fighting his hardest just to keep up with the warlock and he sometimes felt like Drailsin had to hold back for his companions sake. It was pleasant to know the powerful warlock trusted him and the others that much to let them in on his search for this powerful artifact.

Drailsin stepped out from around the doorway and leaned against it a moment.

"Evening Liki." He said cooly while folding his arms in his dark purple robes.

Liki blinked. "Is it evening? It was just about two in Stormwind..."

"Oh...I lose track in this place, Kat'ern's creation hehe." The warlock shrugged and entered the room fully, starting to work on some tables as he continued, "It's evening somewhere though, which is where I just got back from."

"What have you found out?" Liki asked, setting the two lemons down on a nearby table.

Drailsin paused and looked at the lemons a moment before lifting an eyebrow and looking at the rogue questioningly. Liki smiled and he rubbed the back of his head. "I got lemons for food and got a few extra then I may have needed, so I brought you two of them."

"Ah, I see. A little on the sour side of my tastes. I'd prefer berries because there isn't any peeling involved, but...still thank you." Drailsin said softly and did a little bow.

Liki tilted his head with a smile as a way of saying 'you're welcome' and Drailsin waved his paw once. Two portals opened under the lemons and gravity made them fall into wherever it was Drailsin sent them.

"I called you in because I've been reached out to by the Bronze Dragonflight. Chromie and Nozdormu believe they have found the solution to our problem with Deathwing."

"Oh? With the Bronze Dragonflight involved...does this mean we're about to see some more time Travel?" Liki asked. "We just recently helped Nozdormu kill his insane future self, did they find a further solution to Deathwing there?" That had been a confusing revelation for Liki, but then again, most things had been the last 7 years, he was slowly getting used to it.

Drailsin nodded. He waved his hand and created a new portal, this one was a one way view portal, which was shown by the blue color instead of it being green. It showed a scene of a large round pool, in the middle of which floated a shining golden medal several meters in the sky above the pool, its golden shine being channeled into the pool. The waters of the pool swirled with a sickly green color, as demons flew through the sky in numerous numbers. Around the pool, Night Elf magicians were channeling and muttering incantations. In the background were ancient looking buildings of Night Elf design.

"Do you know what's happening here?" Drailsin asked Liki gently.

Liki shook his head, he didn't, and he knew Drailsin didn't entirely expect him to. The Worgen warlock nodded at the portal. "This scene is just a few hours before The Sundering..."

Liki's eyes widened at that, and he looked at the scene more closely. A great Night Elf Empire...demons filing the sky to the point that it might as well just be made of demons...then that pool...

"So that's the original Well of Eternity..." Liki said in awe.

"Yes." Drailsin confirmed and he shuffled around the portal while he continued to explain to Liki. "This is the moment when Queen Azshara would bring about the worst recorded moment in Azeroth's time...the tragedy that nearly brought all of Azeroth to ruin 10,000 years ago." He flicked his paw and there was a brief time jump. Liki watched in astonishment as he watched a Night Elf fling themselves from the balcony. Their hands were outstretched to take hold of the golden beacon above the waters now surging up to begin swallowing the world whole. The Night Elf's hands took hold of the beacon, just as the explosion of water crashed up and swallowed him and the rest of the Night Elf Empire in moments...

Drailsin waved his paw and made the scene vanish. The Worgen seemed very focused on something, something that had him so deep in thought that Liki was standing in silence for nearly five minutes before he coughed. "So..."

Drailsin jumped and his head snapped up to Liki as if just now seeing him there again. He coughed himself and a light blush appeared on his cheeks, but he quickly recovered. "Sorry, just very...concerned about the implications behind the Bronze Dragonflight's request of us."

"Request?"

Drailsin chewed on his bottom lip. He seemed very perturbed and nervous. His eyes were darting along the floor as if chasing something fast that Liki couldn't see himself. He was starting to feel concerned. He'd never seen his companion like this before.

"Drailsin?" He prodded, snapping the Worgen again from his thoughts.

"Sorry..." He said again, taking a deep breath and steadying himself against one of his tables. Again, something that Liki was worried about, Drailsin had never looked this worried or...exhausted...before.

The dark grey furred Worgen let the deep breath go as he relaxed and then opened his eyes, turning his gaze to Liki, his focus on the matter at hand back. "As you just saw in that image, the beacon that had caused the Well to shatter was that golden medallion."

Liki nodded. "Yes."

Drailsin waved his paw, bringing the image back up, this time a still frame of time, and zoomed in on the gold shine. "This is called the Dragon Soul. It was a powerful artifact created by Deathwing himself back when he was still Neltharion. It contains the collective powers of all the Great Dragonflights, it is perhaps the most powerful item in the world."

"Except for perhaps the Spark."

Drailsin stared at the picture of the gold sparkle on the screen. "What if it is the Spark?"

Liki blinked. "What?"

"Think about it. An artifact with the power to bend and forge reality, history itself...the five dragonflights were filled with the power of the Titans, the gods themselves. That power was regathered and collapsed into a physical form through ages of work set on by Neltharion. The power of the gods...the creators of all that is in our universe...all of it contained in one small...gold...shiny medal..."

Liki stared at the Worgen. "Drailsin...?"

The warlock had leaned closer to the image, nearly so close he would phase through it, in fact his muzzle was partly through the portal, as it seemed like the Warlock was trying to get his eye as close as possible to the small sparkly light.

Drailsin blinked a few times and he blushed once more. "I'm sorry...I...hmm..." He frowned, catching himself on his words. "Sorry..." He just repeated.

"It's all right..." Liki said carefully. "It's a big deal...it was the absolute worst disaster in Azeroth's time and-"

"And it's not even common knowledge for many!" Drailsin snarled suddenly. "Those who know the story behind the Sundering are rare, and many of them will deny it even happened. Common opinion is that the Sundering is just a myth that the Night Elfs who lived back then telling us younger species to scare us away from trying to go after higher magics that they deemed we 'weren't ready for'. Hell even the aliens confirm that it's true, with evidence, and the FUCKING MORONS STILL SAY ITS FAKE!!!"

The Worgen warlock was suddenly panting heavily, and his purple eyes glowed as he slammed the desk he had stomped over during his fit of rage and his fits slammed right through the wood. His fists shook in rage and he continued to breath heavier and heavier.

Liki was no on the other side of the room, ears folded back and actually shivering. He was afraid...afraid of Drailsin...

Drailsin's head snapped towards him and he snarled and lifted his paw. "You're like them...in your own way..."

Liki shook his head quickly and he whimpered, "N-no, I wouldn't do that Drailsin...I'm Liki, remember?"

"Liki? I know only one Liki and you're not him." Drailsin's eyes glowed brightly and he lifted his paw further, a purple glow appeared on it.

Liki howled out for help. "Kat'ern! Tene!" but of course, here they couldn't hear him, but he was too panicked to remember that.

"How do you know them?!" Drailsin snarled and he stomped closer to Liki.

Terrified, Liki shivered before the warlock, on whose forehead horns began to grow.

"HOW DO YOU KNOW THEM!?" The warlock roared in a, deep, booming voice that didn't belong to him.

Liki howled the only thing he could instinctually think. "Drailsin it's me! I am Liki! Damn it I was falling in love with you! Please don't do this!" He sobbed, tears falling from his face.

The warlock finally paused, regarding the quivering mass of Worgen in front of him, and he seemed to shrink back, his ears pinned back and his eyes clearing.

"Wait...Liki...Aren't you actually...?" The Warlock gripped his head and shuddered, giving a single sharp intake of breath before he gasped and fell back against the tape he had just shattered earlier, now far on the other side of Liki himself, the rogue still shivering in the corner.

When Drailsin vanished from sight, and Liki heard the Worgen start to cry. "I'm sorry...I'm sorry...I didn't mean that...it was just...them...those FAKERS..."

Liki listened and he started to slowly get up. Was it over? "Drailsin? Are you okay...?" He started to make his way across the lab towards the shivering Warlock.

"I'm sorry I'm sorry..." Drailsin mumbled loudly as he held his head and shook it. "I didn't mean anything by it...they were all just so fake I thought you were too..."

"What was fake...?" Liki asked carefully, .

Drailsin froze and he stopped shaking. His eyes blinked a few more times and he slowly recovered, his eyes locked onto Liki's then became relaxed. "I'm sorry...I think you should go without me for this mission." He suddenly said, his voice suddenly back to normal.

This made Liki forget most of his fear and he instantly protested. "What?! No! Why would we leave you behind!?"

"As you have just seen, the Sundering is a very sensitive subject to me...I do not think it would be wise for me to be involved..." Drailsin said softly, looking down at the floor and then starting to stand up, brushing himself off.

Liki stood up with him, waving his paws in front of Drailsin. "Well no wait but I agree with you! It was a terrible and horrible decision that moronic, bigheaded people made. We should learn from their mistakes and just...live life without trying to make it so complicated!"

"Heh...you forgot to mention something about the 'Fakers'" Drailisin grinned softly.

Liki rubbed his cheek a moment in thought, ears pinned back. "The Fakers were the demons who disguised themselves and tainted the Night Elf people, saying they offered the ultimate power when really it was right there with them...The Dragon Soul."

Drailsin looked at him in surprise. "How did you know that?"

"That's what makes sense." Liki shrugged. "They're the demons who pretend to be Night Elves. Fakers. They offered the Night Elves an 'ultimate power' but the real one was already there, just created. The Dragon Soul."

The Worgen continued to stare a moment, then a grin spread over his muzzle and he reached out and hugged Liki tightly. "I knew it..." He began to cry again. "I knew it. I'm waking up, I feel it my bones..."

Liki blinked in surprise and he slowly reached down and tapped the back of the Worgen's mane. "Yeah...knew what?" He asked in confusion and Drailsin chuckled and sniffled. The Worgen let go and he smiled brightly. "I knew that someone on this damn planet would figure it out with just a little bit of help..."

Liki smiled and he nodded happily. "Of course." He still had very little clue what Drailsin was trying to tell him. What was this strange behaviour? Drailsin had never acted like this before. It was more...loose feeling, careful but trusting. This was the most information he had ever gotten about Drailsin's origins and it was a very, very, very complicated puzzle.

Drailsin chuckled and he shook his head, wiping away the tears and Liki stood in front of him. A moment of silence hung before them before Drailsin laughed lightly. "Heh, I still can't go with you."

"Why? What reason do you have? If we're really going to the Sundering to try and steal the Dragon Soul why would you stay here? We may need your demons!"

Dralisin shook his head. "My power will not be as powerful there. The Burning Legion would sweep even my army away like particles of dust. You and the others are better off alone." He began to walk way.

"Drailsin..." Liki said and he gripped the Worgen's arm with his paw. This would be the first time Liki ever had grabbed Drailsin. He stared worriedly at Drailsin's eyes and he just let the words fall from his muzzle. "Drailsin...we need you there, you're really our ringmaster, not me." He shook his head. If even Drailsin's army would be swept away, what chance would Liki, Kat'ern, and Tenebrae have alone against the Burning Legion? The only reason The Bronze Dragonflight had approached him with the offer was because 'The Searchers' had the best chance of success and survival. If they missed their moment, the Bronze Dragonflight was ready to pull them back before death could claim them, and they could try again after more careful planning. But those chances depended on all members of the group being present, needed the warlock with them.

Drailsin relented...he couldn't leave Liki and his friends to that kind of fate, they would never succeed and Deathwing would destroy the world...

"You realize what has to happen right?" Drailsin spoke carefully. "We can't change time in anyway." He made cutting motions with his hands. "We can't interact with anyone! We are there specifically to catch this moment. Drailsin pointed to the portal that was still open, the last visible frame of the Dragon Soul showing the Night Elf reaching out to grasp it in a desperate attempt to stop the impending doom, but then only to be swallowed up by the waters that raged from the Well of Eternity.

Drailsin began getting eager and he started clearing his tables as plans and thoughts filled his head rapidly. How were they going to pull this off? An impossible theft of the most powerful artifact that wasn't even caught by the wardens of time themselves? Then it hit him, there was a moment in which Time could not see. He looked at the portal again, his eyes wide and excited. It was possible...The Dragon Soul's glow still shone for a few seconds after the waters burst forth before fading away.

It had been believed that perhaps the moment of the light vanishing had been when the Dragon Soul had been destroyed. The Dragonflight was looking to snatch the Dragon Soul from this Night Elf just before it was destroyed, so that it wouldn't be something that the world noticed, and there by people would just think it was destroyed. But... what if it was already stolen?

However... Drailsin had a different idea in mind than that. If the Dragon Soul was really the Spark...

Drailsin pointed at the portal, at the moment when the light vanished from the waters.

"We need to catch that very moment, that moment right there! Whoever that Night Elf is, they have the Spark of Beginnings!"