This Thing Don't Look So Tough

[Illidan Stormrage]

The earth flowed like water beneath him. Green light tinged the corners of his vision as he skated through the air, winding and writhing like a serpent. A dull beating shook the green light edging his sight, weak but alien. It thudded with a peculiar beat, as if irregular, or multiple beats overlapping each other. His vantage point skimmed the dirt and the beating grew stronger. It slipped through solid ground and into a tunnel burrowed through solid rock and soil and soared along it, twisting and turning with each bend.
 
Lord Illidan...
 
Despite the light unable to penetrate the earth, he could see perfectly fine. Through the jagged rent under the ground he flew, until light indeed poured down over his viewpoint. He ascended and looked down at the devastation. The tunnel led right into a huge upheaval of earth and soil, leaving behind a massive, asymmetrical tear in the ground. The light at his vision’s edge thudded fast and bright – his quarry had been here before.
 
Lord Illidan...
 
Floating higher, he scoured the land in sight. The beating slowed.
 
Lord Illidan.
 
The night elf opened his eyes. His consciousness whisked back into his body, passing through the new fel crystal hovering high above the fortress spires. The throne room surrounded him. Illidan uncrossed his legs and dangled them over his stone throne. A werewolf knelt before him.
 
Illidan breathed audibly out of his nostrils. “Yes Clawfang, what is it? I hope this is important enough for me to leave my meditative trance.”
 
“The werebat scouts have returned, my lord,” Clawfang said, his eyes on the ground. “They bring news of the creature.”
 
“Indeed?” Illidan said.
 
“The monster has vanished from sight, but there is a large chasm in the ground thought to have been made by it.”
 
Illidan rose from his throne. Clawfang took a hurried step backwards. “Yes. I have just seen it myself. Clawfang, see that Torandril meets me at the castle gates.”
 
“Yes, my lord.” The werewolf stood, bowed deeply, and retreated. The night elf gave him a few moments before cracking his neck and following after.
 
Torandril stood at the gates with hands clasped behind his back. His cowl rested over his eyes, shadowing everything above the bridge of his nose except the two ram horns that curled out of his forehead. “Lord Illidan. Clawfang informed me of your summons.”
 
A tall, purple skinned woman walked past, her eyes made of yellow fire. Her six arms swung as she walked. She gave a curt nod of her head to Illidan and continued on her way.
 
“How goes the Shivarra reassimilation into the Illidari?” Illidan asked, watching the svelte she-demon saunter into the courtyard.
 
“Without issue,” Torandril said. “It has been a great boon to have Mother Malevolence and her ilk rejoin our forces. They relish the chance to serve again.”
 
“They always were the most cunning of the Legion’s forces,” Illidan said, folding his arms. “Their assistance to our cause will be of immense benefit.” The kaldorei looked to his second-in-command. “And what of Azzinoth?”
 
“Still chained in the deepest dungeon of Poenari Castle, my lord. His rage know no bounds, but our spellwork keeps him and his powers contained until you see fit to deal with him.”
 
“Good.” For once, it felt like everything was under control. Regis and Dracula’s cronies, except for those that remained loyal to Clawfang, had been expelled from the castle grounds or executed along with their master. The demon hunters and naga still worked faithfully for his vision, and with the addition of the Shivarri and the Broken draenei, the net loss to his army was minimal. Not to mention that he trusted those who had joined or stayed on.
 
But now, there was a new problem. One that didn’t just threaten Poenari Castle, but the whole verse.
 
“So, what did you need me for, my lord?” Torandril asked.
 
“There is a creature... I don’t know what sort or what it looks like. I don’t know how big it is or whether it is one of Dracula’s machinations. But it is a threat to us.”
 
Torandril nodded. “There have been rumours of a monstrous beast that swims through rock and soil like a shark through water. I have felt the ground tremble for no reason.”
 
“Indeed,” Illidan said. “My meditation, enhanced by the fel crystal, has taken my sight beyond this area and to an unnatural system of tunnels carved beneath the ground. I could still feel its presence, though weak. I don’t know where it is now, but I may find a clue about the beast if I travel to the path it has left behind it.”
 
Torandril anticipated his lord’s reasoning for the summons. “You are leaving to investigate.”
 
“As sharp as ever,” Illidan said. A curtain of black smoke enveloped him. When it dissipated, the terrifying demon form of Stormrage stood in his place. “You are to take command while I am absent. Ensure repairs to the fortress continue and that the Broken and Shivarra integrate without any problems. I will return.”
 
Torandril bowed as Illidan flared his wings and shot into the sky.