Wow Andy, I really want to read your comic now. A really cool elaboration on one of the best moments of WC3. I love it!

As for grammer and spelling errors, I saw a couple and I'm sure there's more, but I'll let DarkAngel handle that. He's much better at that stuff than I am.

Other than that, I want more

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If I may do my thing on this...

If you're giving his thoughts in a "quotation" style, wouldn't it be more likely Illidan would say "they will see that I was right?"
How about just "jerked back into the waking world?"

Who is the focus character for this passage? If you're going to describe someone's inner feelings, you have to stay on the same person. We start with Illidan, then suddenly move to Tyrande, then to Furion at the very end. Who's perspective are we seeing this from? Granted, your whole reason for writing was to show internal workings not availible in the comic, but perspective switches are best denoted with section breaks. That's what I do, at least.

Um...what eyes?

Maiev? I'd always heard that she was conveniently away at the time of Tyrande's invasion. Could just be fanon, though.

There's more than a few brushes with the past tense rule, here:

• Elune and druidism could not compete with the might of the Legion.
• The Burning Legion would return, of this he was sure, and Azeroth would not be prepared.
• feeling of shame washed over her
• The glowing green orbs he now saw with
• magical energies that flowed in and around it.
• the energy that shaped their bodies
• I have what I came here for," said Tyrande
• Illidan shook the surprise from his mind
• the contempt his brother shared for him
• Tyrande placed herself between the feuding brothers.
• Malfurion tried to look back
• he greeted Tyrande's pleading gaze
• Malfurion motioned to one of his students

Other assorted problems:

• That voice, her voice; it was
• a sickly, old man. "Tyrande
• their presence; and they called
• beaten and bloodied, but still
• Tyrande, while attempting to drown out
• one of the sons of Cenarius, and many
• students behind him. "Fandral

As an overview, it went well. The true inner conflict can't be portrayed in a viusal medium like comics or the game itself, so "novelizations" like this provide critical insight. Somehow, the characters feel kind of...bland. That's probably because your plot was written for you, I'll concede. Keep more coming.

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"How do you deter and contain monsters? Simple: you use the only languages they understand, force and fear. How do you strike fear into the heart of a monster? Even simpler: create a worse monster and send it after them."

Your help is very much appreciated Dark Angel. I am learning a lot from you. I made all of the corrections except I am not sure how to approach the character focus dilemma yet without having to rewrite it all.

I hope that the change of font and size is alright with everyone. Maybe it's just me, but I have trouble reading the default font on any of the backgrounds of this forum.

It's so funny, I kept doing that. I made several corrections relating to Illidan's eyes. That one just slipped through I suppose.

I thought it might have been said somewhere but I couldn't recall. I don't like all the convenience in Warcraft anyway. The whole point of having someone there that wasn't killed was to show that Tyrande didn't kill when she wasn't forced to. These are her people, and she was just doing what she believed was necessary. She isn't a monster.

Thanks. Most of the dialogue is directly from Warcraft 3, although I have altered and switched around some of it like it was done in the Arthas book.

Thank you, Cromat.

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Whew! I entirely rewrote this part three times. It mostly had to do with how I wanted to portray Fandral's character who is part of the larger picture in forming Illidan's state of mind. In the first scrapped version, Fandral was entirely on Illidan's side, with Illidan sort of leaving an imprint on Fandral's personality, but I think it was kind of cliche and not true to his character. In the other version, he was in battle for the first time since the Shifting Sands and clearly wasn't ready. He was suffering from PTSD and was making terrible decisions. Illidan wound up wresting control of the army from him. I think that version would have been great had I been writing a story about Fandral, but this is about Illidan, and the depiction of him that I went with is going to work best as this and the next part play out.

As always, I welcome and ask for your questions, criticism and corrections.

Upon arriving at the surface, Illidan caught the scent of sulfur and death upon his nose. It was all too familiar. With his enhanced vision, he identified the flow of ley lines being redirected to a particular location. He quickly surmised that whatever was responsible for corrupting the forests was located there, and he wished to not waste any time and march their forces to the location immediately. Fandral disagreed with him. "To attack the Burning Legion head on would be foolhardy," Illidan recalled him saying. "The village of Constellas is nearby here. Although it is crawling with demons and there are unlikely to be any survivors, it would be a wise area to retake and begin constructing a new base." Though Illidan wished to end the corruption in Felwood as soon as possible, he could see that Fandral's plan had merit. But the druid continued: "I am counting on the Legion foreseeing this as soon as we make our presence known in the area. The demons will find a small force defending Constellas, and they will not be expecting the rest of us taking the longer path through the mountains to attack the source of the corruption."

Fandral's divide and conquer strategy had impressed Illidan. The other druids only reminded him of his brother, but Fandral was very different. Illidan deduced that Fandral was one who liked to get his hands dirty. Here was a man who was not as held down by his conscience as Malfurion Stormrage. Here was a man who would do what needed to be done. Here, perhaps, was a man who would understand the sacrifices that Illidan had made.

Illidan Stormrage led Fandral Staghelm, the army of sentinels, and recently awakened druids to battle in a Night Elven village that had been taken over by demonic forces. His enchanted glaives sliced through demons, whereas, the inferior weaponry of the sentinels would leave only superficial wounds. As the demons rushed to surround him, flames erupted from out of his own body, igniting anyone who came near him. His knowledge of the Legion's capabilities and tactics proved invaluable, and his martial prowess was indisputable. Once the battle had ended, Illidan would assist in rebuilding the village and establishing a base.



The village of Constellas had been taken by the Legion many days before Illidan and his party had arrived. Illidan had expected to see Doomguards, the insidious Felhounds, and possibly an Eredar or two in the battle, but they encountered only Satyrs. These savage, twisted beings were once powerful Highborne sorcerers, but now only their knack for spell-casting and thirst for more power remained in resemblance. They were loyal to the Burning Legion, but they are more akin to dogs than soldiers in the service of Sargeras. "Satyrs," Illidan said. "They should have been eradicated long ago!"

"On that, we are in agreement," replied Fandral, who was scanning the Satyrs on the ground for any signs of life.

"They willingly gave themselves to Sargeras. The sacrifices I made were for my own people and for the future of Kalimdor," Illidan said. "Do you condemn me like my brother does?"

"No, I would not have imprisoned you," Fandral replied, without removing his eyes from the bodies that lay before him. "I would have executed you."
Illidan was disappointed, and felt that perhaps he had read the druid wrong. Evidently, he wasn't different: he was cast from the same mold as Furion. Since he was freed, only Tyrande had been kind to him. All others wished him dead or returned to his hell deep within the Barrow Deeps. Without Tyrande, he had no one.

"We've got a live one over here!" yelled a sentinel off in the distance. She was standing above a burned and bloodied Satyr who had regained consciousness. Fandral and Illidan quickly rushed over to her position. Illidan presumed that Fandral intended to interrogate the Satyr for any information on who or what was responsible for corrupting these lands.

"I am a druid who values honesty, so here is the truth: Your comrades are all dead, and you are going to die too. I can make your transition to the afterlife quick and painless if you will give me the information I want to know," Fandral said.

The Satyr smiled maniacally, revealing his bestial fangs and offering no hint of fear in his eyes. "I will give you the truth, druid. You're all gonna die!" He cackled insanely until it erupted into heavy coughing. A thorny tendril emerged from the ground and pierced through into a wound in the back of the Satyr, widening it and causing an excruciating amount of pain. The Satyr screamed briefly, but then began to laugh hysterically as though the pain was of no consequence.

Fandral was not amused. He would get the information he wanted one way or another. "You beasts are drawn to any sort of demonic power; you must know what is causing this land to shrivel and die! Tell me, or these thorns will reach every inch of your body!"

"My master watches over me and he will reward my silence! Kill me and he will bring me back more powerful than ever before! Ahh-" the Satyr blurted out before the tendril inside his body grew and spread.

Illidan protested, "You will kill him!"

"He's not giving me anything useful. There's no point in keeping him alive."

"You have not tried everything," Illidan said. "There are worse things than death, druid, I should know."

The Satyr sighed in relief as Fandral withdrew the tendril that had pierced his body and threatened to rip it open. Illidan took his place kneeling above the suffering abomination. The Satyr began to look nervous as Illidan's left hand became engulfed in a green demonic flame. The hand stabbed through the chest of the terrified Satyr with ease, leaving no visible damage. The demon did not scream, but his eyes revealed the horror that he felt inside. After only a few seconds, Illidan removed his hand, leaving no sign of blood or entry point. The Satyr did not so much as breathe before he disclosed everything they wished to know. "A skull... a skull! Powerful skull! Powerful enough to open portals! I know nothing more! Please..."

The Satyr begged Illidan for mercy with his eyes. Illidan was satisfied in that information he got, and with confidence that the Satyr had no more useful information, he promptly ended the demon's life with his glaive.

Illidan didn't have sight, but he didn't need it to feel the eyes all around him gawking, horrified at the magic they have just witnessed. "The Legion can tear your soul from your body," he explained. "It's a pain beyond that of any mortal wound. He only needed to know that I could do it."

"You are a monster," Fandral said. "No different than they are."

"I am what I need to be in order to save this world," said Illidan. "I'm not the villain that my brother says I am! My powers will destroy the Legion! He will see that the demons have no hold over me!"

"Are you certain of that, Demon Hunter? Are you positive that your will is your own?" A voice in the distance alerted Illidan and the army behind him. They had not expected the Burning Legion to have appeared so soon. Illidan readied his weapons as he heard a single rider approach. The aura of this rider was tainted, but was not reminiscent of the Satyrs they had slain today. The form of this being resembled a spell-caster that Illidan had known long ago.

"You reek of death, human," Illidan said, noting the overwhelming stench of decaying corpses that accompanied the rider. This human appeared to be alone, which struck Illidan as highly suspicious. The thought occurred to him that this man may be the leader of the demons in the area. As unusual as it sounded, he couldn't ignore it as a possibility. Illidan's focus was drawn to the weapon the rider held in his right hand. It emanated a power that Illidan had never felt before. It was both alluring and intimidating, a powerful demonic blade that he would expect only a loyal lieutenant of Sargeras to wield. He must have it. "You'll regret approaching me!"

The Human dismounted from his decaying steed and readied to meet Illidan in battle, somehow confident that the other Night Elves would not interfere. "Come then, you will see that we are evenly matched!"

The two warriors rushed into battle, both confident of their own abilities. Illidan's warglaives were lighter than the Human's runeblade, but every attack was swiftly parried by impossible strength. Illidan attempted to scorch the Human's flesh with his demonic flames, but they were canceled out by the rider's chilling aura. He was toying with Illidan, but neither had the demon hunter put much effort into his attacks. He knew that this rider must had come alone for a reason.

"This is pointless," Illidan said as backed away from his foe. "We could go on fighting like this forever. Who are you? What is it that you truly want?"

"I am Arthas Menethil of Lordaeron. I was once a Prince of the most powerful Human kingdom in all of Azeroth, but I found that a greater destiny awaited me." The Human stabbed his runeblade into the ground. "In the frozen lands of Northrend, I discovered this runeblade, Frostmourne, as well as a new master who will make me powerful enough to see all of my enemies fall before me."

"I want nothing to do with you or your master," replied Illidan, "but I would be glad to take that runeblade away from you!"

"You misunderstand. Your destiny is not with us or with Frostmourne! The demon who commands the Legion's forces here is a Dreadlord named Tichondrius. He controls a powerful warlock artifact called the Skull of Gul'dan. It is responsible for corrupting these forests. Whoever controls this skull could become very powerful."

"And you wish for me to steal it, why?"

"Let's just say that I have no love for Tichondrius, and the lord I serve would... benefit from the Legion's downfall."

"Why should I believe anything you say, human?"

"My master sees all, and he knows that you've sought power your whole life. Your destiny lies within your grasp, Demon Hunter. Seize it, and your enemies will be undone!"

Arthas Menethil mounted his skeletal warhorse and rode off into the distance, not wanting to linger around the forests any longer. Illidan returned to Fandral Staghelm, who had monitored the exchange closely. He now eyed Illidan with suspicion. "He could have stolen the artifact for himself, yet he did not. This could be a trap."

"Not likely. I believe he was forced into the service of the Burning Legion, and now wants his freedom. He is unable to oppose his masters directly," Illidan replied. In his studies, he had uncovered many cases where the demon lord Sargeras had forcefully employed entire races under his command.

Fandral raised an eyebrow. "And you are thinking of taking this artifact for your own selfish desires, aren't you?"

"Selfish? If it saves all of Kalimdor, how could you call that selfish? The Burning Legion must be destroyed at all costs; I would gladly make any sacrifice if it meant saving everything that I hold dear in my life."

The druid commander surveyed the damage around him. Selfless druids tended to the dying wildlife while heroic sentinels returned to their construction on a base that would serve as a decoy to distract the enemy. Buried underneath the rubble of a collapsed building they discovered a survivor. The female was relieved to see fellow Kaldorei and not the twisted Satyr as she opened her eyes. Once her fear subsided, she surveyed the soldiers, looking for any other survivors. Her search ended at a row of bodies that the Satyrs had impaled on a wooden spear at the entrance of the village. The soldiers had not had time to put the bodies to rest. The woman was drawn to one body. It was a child's body. Fandral was taken aback.

"Valstann..." he whispered. Illidan looked on as the druid seemed to have lost himself within his own mind. For a long pause, Fandral did not move or speak, then he turned to address his soldiers. "Brothers, Sisters... the Burning Legion is the most terrifying foe we have ever faced. If we do not stop them, there will be no future for any of us. If we all fail, then I do not want the last living child of Elune to stand before the end of civilization and wonder why we were unwilling to cross the line in order to save our world. At any cost, even if we must give up our very souls, we must destroy the Burning Legion!"

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This has the word "AWESOME" written all over it. I'm gonna save it and read it later when I'm off Internet, and post the feedback once I'm on again .

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Metzen: They are one of the ancient races of Northrend that we haven't spoken of before... because we hadn't made them up before. (laughter)

~Main: Expansion theorycrafting, Expansions list, The Age of Nightmare, Empire of the Tides (coming soon)~
~Fan ficton: Anachronos Journey: The Timeless Heir~ ~Geography of continents series: Old Kalimdor (original), Pandaria~
~Locations as zones series: Azjol-Nerub, Barrow Deeps, Zul'Aman, Demon Hunter zone, Caverns of Time~

Don't feel bad. According to legend, John Steinbeck wrote the full length of The Grapes of Wrath, threw it out, and started over SIX times!

Ah, I always wondered how Illidan got a loyal army so fast. Good explanation.

Once again, watch those verbs! The story is in the past. Keep it there.

• Illidan Stormrage led Fandral Staghelm, the army of sentinels, and recently-awakened druids OR Illidan Stormrage led Fandral Staghelm and the army of sentinels and recently-awakened druids
• proved invaluable, and his martial prowess
• His enchanted glaives sliced through demons, whereas, the inferior weaponry 'Whereas' is a lot like 'however.'

As in "Arthas must have the skull," or "Illidan had to have the blade?"

• Doomguards, the insidious Felhounds, and possibly an Eredar or two
• loyal to the Burning Legion, but they
• imprisoned you," Fandral replied, without removing
• Illidan was disappointed, and felt that
• Evidently, he wasn't different: he was cut from
• he was cut from the same cloth as Furion. OR he was cast from the same mold as Furion. I think you're combining some idioms there.
• a burned and bloodied Satyr The injury is different for some reason.
• The Satyr screamed briefly, but then began
• any sort of demonic power; you must know
• Tell me, or these thorns
• Ahh-" the Satyr blurted out before the tendril inside his body grew and spread.
• After only a few seconds, Illidan
• The Satyr did not so much as breathe before
• with confidence that the Satyr had no more useful information, he promptly
• the Satyrs they had slain
• death, human," Illidan said
• each confident of his own abilities. OR both confident of their own abilities.
• a greater destiny awaited me."
• The Human stabbed his runeblade
• "In the frozen lands of Northrend, I discovered
• master," replied Illidan, "but I would
• oppose his masters directly," Illidan replied.
• be destroyed at all costs; I would gladly
• they discovered a survivor.
• For a long pause, Fandral
• move or speak, then he turned
• the end of our civilization Or, is Fandral really thay much of a bigot?

You did well at holding my interest. It's those little 'human touches' on the characters that make the story seem real. The part at the end where the dead child sets Fandral off gives a visceral, fully understandable motive for what happens next. Let's see if you can keep this up.

What's Thrall so confused about?

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"How do you deter and contain monsters? Simple: you use the only languages they understand, force and fear. How do you strike fear into the heart of a monster? Even simpler: create a worse monster and send it after them."

Thank you as always, DA! I corrected the errors.

I thought it was weird that he had druids with him, or that he would be trusted with any soldiers OR that any soldiers would be willing to follow him. That's why Fandral is there, Furion trusts him to watch over Illidan. I also considered Broll Bearmantle for the role, but I thought there was more potential to be had with Fandral. At this point in the story, they are following Fandral and not Illidan.

Bad habit.

Is that part really confusing? The paragraph was talking about the runeblade. Do you think that sentence needs clarification?

Yes! I wasn't sure whether to put "all civilization" or not. The Night Elves had just discovered humans and orcs, but until then I think they would have thought they were on top of the world. Definitely Fandral would think that way. I see his personality as similar to Lord Ravencrest from the War of the Ancients.

I think it looks more like a shrug, saying "Meh, that's the way things are, what can you do?"

Thanks!


The next part is planned to cover the battle to take the skull of Gul'dan and the battle against Tichondrius, which ends Illidan's story in Reign of Chaos, and I move on to cover The Frozen Throne.

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Damn awesome... Waiting for new updates on this and your comic.

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Fojar So technically he doesn't feed them to the shark, he accidentally drops them when the Horde player attacks them.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Porimlys Fojar, it's been proven time and time again that presenting evidence to you is an exercise in futility.

Thanks! The comic is updated every monday and friday, and I plan to have the next part of this story done by the end of the week. It will wrap up Illidan's story in "Reign of Chaos" and I can move into "The Frozen Throne".

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This story has been told 10,000 times but seeing the little additions you are making is enough to make me wonder "what is going to happen next" due to adding things like Fandral's insight.

I already told before but I'll repeat it here that I look forward to your continuing creativity~

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Official Prince Kael'thas Sunstrider Harem member #42

You may call me G.P.A, Great Programmer Alice

Thanks again, Valkrysa! I love your Flonne avatar!

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Disgaea is so addicting, I've spent way too long lying in bed leveling up my characters rather than going to sleep ><

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Official Prince Kael'thas Sunstrider Harem member #42

You may call me G.P.A, Great Programmer Alice

Same here, dood! I loved my army of Majins. I have only played the first two games because I don't own a playstation 3.

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This was meant to cover both battles. I've never thought of myself as being very good at describing battle scenes, so I didn't plan for the battles themselves to be very descriptive. But I gave it a shot and I guess it turned out alright. So this one only covers the battle to acquire the Skull of Gul'dan. Next part is the fight with Tichondrius. I wasn't sure how to write Gul'dan's whispers since only Illidan could hear them, but I just did it the same way it was handled in "Beyond the Dark Portal".

Illidan and Fandral hate shirts.

Less than a third of the sentinels, druids and other soldiers that had accompanied Fandral and Illidan to Felwood remained behind in the decoy base at Constellas. The number of soldiers left to defend it were required in order to successfully fool the demons. Only about half of them had been volunteers, and Illidan couldn't decide whether they had been the bravest or the most foolish of Night Elves. He knew what he had assumed was plainly obvious to everyone: the decoy army was going to be obliterated. It was unfortunate that they could not all have been volunteers, many of those men and women had been hand-picked by Fandral to stay behind. Illidan knew from experience that war was never very just.

Illidan could not help but feel pride in his belief that he had gotten through to the druid. Staghelm understood what the demon hunter knew all along: war requires sacrifice. Fandral had already been prepared to sacrifice his men, but now he was ready to give his own soul to defeat the Burning Legion. He knew that in time, all Kaldorei would learn that you can't hold anything back against pure evil.

The route that Fandral had selected was lengthy and required navigating more difficult terrain, but it proved to not be a very significant challenge for the muscular night sabers that the soldiers rode upon. As they came upon the Legion's encampment, it was evident that the strategy had paid off; The base was only lightly guarded, and the Night Elves felt renewed confidence in their chances of winning the battle.

"Illidan, suggestions?" Fandral asked.

"The winged beasts are known as doom guards. They're strong and sturdy, but awfully slow. Keep them grounded and a group of sentinels should be able to take them down. The large fiery constructs are known as infernals. Their armor is nigh impenetrable, save for one weakness: a small exhaust pocket beneath the chest leaves their core unprotected. Attack it and you will bring them down. As for the felhounds," Illidan added, "They should not be underestimated. They feed on magical energy, so I will be their prime target. However, they are not above having a taste for druid magic should they be hungry enough."

"Very well," Fandral said as he turned to face his soldiers. "Archers, target the felhounds, do not let them anywhere near our position. Druids, root those flying beasts to the ground; and Sentinels, proceed after the volley and route those winged abominations. Illidan, you and I will deal with those infernals. If there are any Satyrs lurking about, engage at will once the other targets are down. Understood?"

The Night Elves raised their weapons above their head and softly spoke an ancient war cry: "Andu-falah-dor!"

As the archers moved into position, Illidan watched the felhounds closely. The demons trusted their loyal hounds to alert them, so the demonic dogs would be the first indication that their surprise attack had been discovered. It was better than he hoped, Illidan expected the hounds to detect that something was amiss, but they were only interested in each other. The felhounds played and wrestled with one another, seemingly oblivious to the battle that was about to rain down upon them. Perhaps they had just fed.

"Fire!"

The volley blanketed the outside of the stronghold with arrows. Most felhounds lay dead or dying, while the rest charged forth at the detected invaders. The archers compensated for the speed of the incoming hounds by adjusting their aim and readied for another attack.

"Fire!"

Another volley was launched, but the few surviving hounds had increased their pace, putting themselves ahead of the arrows that pierced the ground behind them. The hounds were too close now, and Fandral nodded to the sentinels. The mounted huntresses sped forth, their saber cats pouncing on the smaller hounds, pinning them to the ground so that their riders can deliver the fatal blows. A stray felhound had avoided the attack and charged at Illidan. A large thorny root suddenly protruded from the ground, impaling the hound through the throat. Illidan looked over to Fandral, who nodded at him.

The felhounds had all been disposed of, but the doom guards had taken flight and were approaching the Night Elves. Fandral pointed them out to his druids, "Ground those beasts, now!"

As the druids began to call upon the spirits of nature, Illidan jerked his head to the east, alerted by footsteps coming from within the trees. "Satyrs," he said.

"How many?" Fandral asked, before realizing that Illidan had already sped off on his own towards the direction that he had detected movement. Fandral cast a spell, and a handful of the trees sprang to life, revealing the Satyrs while choking and immobilizing them with thorny roots.

As Illidan reached the location, he launched himself from his night saber and landed in front of the tree line. As he chanted something foreign to Night Elven ears, his hands began to light up with a brightly lit green flame. As he extended his arms towards the trees, the flames sprang forth, igniting the woods and all Satyrs within ablaze. The treants that Fandral had summoned fell to the flames as well. Illidan turned around, relieved that he had stopped an ambush that could have cost his army the battle. Though Illidan could not see Fandral's face, he could hear him growl from a distance. A discussion of ethics would have to wait until the battle was ended.

The doom guards proved more difficult to contain than the druids had thought. They fought back against their thorny shackles with impossible strength, but the druids hadn't needed to hold them for very long as Fandral and the unit of sentinels stormed the base, delivering the killing blows on all of the winged demons. Only four infernals remained.

The infernals pounded the ground, causing an earthquake that disoriented the night sabers and caused them to panic. Some huntresses were accidentally thrown from their mounts, while other cats lost their balance and stumbled into each other. Fandral's druids of the claw transformed their likeness into bears and rushed to their aid. The druids in their bear forms attempted to bring down the colossal infernals, but they were like gnats on a boulder. The infernals shrugged off the bears, while they brought down their mighty fists down to squish the bears into an unrecognizable puddle of bones and blood. The archers opened fire, but none were skilled enough to hit the internal cores of the rock demons at which they had aimed. The arrows flimsily bounced off of the infernal's rocky exterior.

"Save your arrows, you fools!" Illidan said as he sped past the archers on foot and into the direction of the battle.

Illidan dodged a powerful swing from an infernal by rolling forward on the ground, and followed by stabbing his right warglaive into the infernal's core with precision. The leviathan stumbled backwards momentarily before crumbling into rubble. Another infernal charged at Illidan, who uttered a phrase in Eredun before inhaling the demonic energies that animated the construct, causing this infernal to collapse into a pile of boulders as well. The orbs that were once Illidan's eyes glowed a bright emerald green underneath his blindfold. In a single motion, Illidan unleashed all the energy towards a third infernal. The force of the attack swept the infernal off of its feet and into a demonic obelisk, crushing the stone into pieces in spite of the durable material used in its construction. Fandral was there before Illidan, delivering the final blow to the downed demon.

"We must obtain the skull and close the Legion's portal before the rest of their forces return," Illidan said to Fandral.

Illidan received a nod from the druid as the two moved towards the Skull of Gul'dan, encased within a fel stone at the center of the base. Illidan observes the skull with intrigue. "Interesting, I had not considered the "Skull of Gul'dan" to be literal. This "Gul'dan" must have been a powerful being with great knowledge in order for the Legion to be using his essence to open portals to their worlds," Illidan said as he placed his hand to the stone, feeling the power that resided within. "No matter: his fate is of no consequence, with his power I can become stronger than any of Archimonde's lieutenants."

"Hold, Illidan!" Fandral said, earning his attention. "This power was not meant to be yours, I would never trust you with it."

Illidan was furious. "This power can ONLY be mine! You wouldn't know what to do with such power in your grasp! I'll not let you stand between me and my destiny!"

Illidan had raised his weapons, giving Fandral more than enough justification to use his druidic magic to root him in place. "Malfurion ordered me to do what must be done if you were to try anything," Fandral said, "And I have been waiting for you to give me a reason to kill you, betrayer!"

Fandral Staghelm raised his wooden staff that pulsated with nature's magic and pointed it towards Illidan, who did not cower under the threat. Suddenly, the druid found himself rooted and restrained as he had done to Illidan, preventing him from following through with his death blow. Fandral could turn only slightly to see the handful of druids that had cast the spell upon him, while most others were busy tending to the wounded. "Altruis... Loramus... what is the meaning of this?" He demanded.

"I'm sorry, Shan'do," one of them said, "but Illidan is correct."

Two sentinels moved forward to cut Illidan free from his shackles. They kneeled before him. "Lord Stormrage, I am Sentinel Alandien," said the one to his right. "We have seen your true power and understand that the salvation of the Kaldorei - and all of Kalimdor - lies with you."

Illidan was pleased: things had finally worked out in his favor. He had, at last, found individuals that understood him and the sacrifices he had made. Now was his time. He walked past the sentinels and to the altar that held the Skull of Gul'dan. "For my people, I would gladly pay any price or bear any burden." Illidan shattered the fel stone with his glaives and took the skull in his hands. "This power... yes, it SHOULD be mine! With this power... I will destroy the Burning Legion!"

We will see them kneel before you, it whispered back to him.

The power entered into Illidan, and he was transformed. Fel energy flowed through him as though it replaced the blood in his veins. His muscles throbbed with strength beyond strength, nearly doubling his size over his Night Elven brethren. His mind, too, expanded as knowledge from within the skull flooded his brain with information on the legion that far surpassed his own, as well as the knowledge of a new world - Draenor - that this "Gul'dan" had come from. Curiously though, the skull withheld personal information about the being to whom it originally belonged, which Illidan found quite suspect.

"Now you even look the part!" said Fandral as he spat on the ground before Illidan. "Your brother will have you executed for sure this time!"

Your brother doesn't have to know, the skull whispered to him.

Illidan forced the voice into suppression; he would not allow this being to influence him. However, Illidan had to admit that Gul'dan had a point. If his brother would not execute him for this, surely he'd be returned to his prison deep beneath the ground. Illidan lifted his hand towards Fandral, intent on silencing him.

"I was wrong," said Fandral. "There IS a line that we must never cross. You have become one of them, Illidan. We must never become what we have sworn to defend our world against, we must never become like you, demon!"

The word twisted itself around Illidan's mind, the label hurt worse than "betrayer". He wanted to end Fandral more than ever at this point, but it would have accomplished nothing. Illidan knew at that moment that Malfurion had to be there to see what Illidan can do first-hand. He wanted his brother there to see him destroy Tichondrius. It would surely erase all doubt anyone had about his capabilities.

"Go to him," Illidan said as he lowered his hand. "Find your shan'do and bring him here to see me crush Tichondrius."

Fandral was released, and he called to his mount. "Never did I think that I would see the day when my druids would betray me to Illidan Stormrage," he said. Fandral raised his voice, addressing every Night Elf in the vicinity. "He speaks of his love for us, but his only love is power. I have seen his kind many times before. He will betray all of you. I only hope that when the time comes, you are not too blind as to notice."

Staghelm left the battle zone on his own, but he was soon followed by more than half of the army, all who still supported him. Illidan was left with only a fraction of the force that won the battle for Gul'dan's skull. Even with his new powers, Illidan and his small group of soldiers now had little hope of defeating Tichondrius.

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Wow, I just finished reading this and I just loved how you put Illidan's demon hunters in there, Altruis all the more so.

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Official Prince Kael'thas Sunstrider Harem member #42

You may call me G.P.A, Great Programmer Alice

Illidan faces the classic Trafalgar dilemma, and arrives at the pragmatic conclusion.

Um, what's the point of a battlecry if you say it quietly? Wouldn't they just save it for when they jumped out of hiding?

Compensated how? "leading"

NOTE: Regardless of what SpellCheck might tell you, certain words (eg: 'treeline') should be one word. It most certainly won't like made-up compound words like 'nightsaber.'

Be careful. As a general rule, you can only do one tack-on per sentence.

Isn't that Arthas' line?

• the bravest or the most foolish of Night Elves.
• to the ground; and Sentinels, proceed
• charged at Illidan, who uttered
• causing this infernal to collapse
• No matter: his fate is
• Illidan was pleased: things had
• entered into Illidan, and he was
• look the part!" said Fandral
• into suppression; he would not allow

You're getting better at this. My suggestions are steadily veering out of grammar and punctuation and into storytelling and wording. I get the impression you have a very good grasp of what makes the characters tick, but still have difficulty expressing their inner workings. Heck, I do too! This is starting to be one of the stories that I look forward to the next update. Keep at it! Until next time: "Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori."

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"How do you deter and contain monsters? Simple: you use the only languages they understand, force and fear. How do you strike fear into the heart of a monster? Even simpler: create a worse monster and send it after them."

Thanks again, I'm glad my grammar is improving.

It was just something I added for them to acknowledge their orders. I realized they had to say it quietly because they were trying to hide!

Almost! It was intentional, I wanted Illidan to nearly echo his line at this point.

Prince Arthas says: I would gladly bear any curse to save my homeland.

Prince Arthas says: Now, I call out to the spirits of this place. I will give anything or pay any price, if only you will help me save my people.

Thank you! They'll all have more of a role to play as the story moves forward.

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This is the fourth installment of my 475-part short story, "Better know an Illidan". This brings "Reign of Chaos" to a close as Illidan defeats Tichondrius the Darkener, leader of the Nathrezim. I also introduce a new character for reasons I will mention afterwards. That's Furion, Fandral and Tyrande in front of Illidan in the picture by the way. I would have used Malfurion's cataclysm model but I couldn't get rid of the wings nicely. Maybe there is a way to delete the wings from the skin and then upload it as a new skin in WoW model viewer? I'll figure something out.

So with this part I needed to find a way to reconcile how Illidan would have been able to defeat Tichondrius' army, since he really should not have had too many followers at this point. I decided that it was the perfect time to bring in the Satyrs that appear both in the Frozen Throne and in Shadowmoon Valley under his banner. They're in Felwood too, after all. In WoW, there are only two named Shadowhoof Satyrs in SMV, Zandras over the Warden's Cage and possibly Ambassador Jerrikar, a rare Satyr in the zone, who I used initially for the role. Instead, I created Axxavia, a female Satyr who protects her clan with something of a motherly instinct. Here in this part above, she sees Illidan as providing the only true future for her clan. Illidan in this story goes from hating the Satyrs to realizing that they aren't really all that different than he is, and is beginning to see himself as no longer simply a Night Elf. Gul'dan is also slowly creeping forth into the foreground of Illidan's consciousness.

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I've been a bit slow getting around to this, but there are higher priorities in life.

A female Satyr? I suppose they have to exist...

We have another big incident of present-tense here. Watch carefully.

• Illidan thought very little of Satyrs: they were despicable
• to the Nathrezim, and we will slay him
• But master," Axxavia said as she turns away
• Night Elves who were watching her,
• Illidan furiously griped
• and pinned her to the ground.
• Illidan picked Axxavia back up
• and threw her face-first into the ground.
• outside of battle! Is this understood?"
• The Satyrs cowered away
• Axxavia rose back to her knees.
• She tried to speak, but she could only cough.
• She looked at Illidan and nodded apologetically.
• Illidan walked over to Axxavia, who was
• that he had seen in no other demon: fear.
• The Satyrs protested

Illidan must have some kind of plan if he thinks his new servators will come back.

Again, past tense.

• held by the dreadlord Tichondrius, with which
• demonic magic, and like Illidan,
• they had held onto
• to believe: they would never be able
• the Night Elves would never change
• "I'm listening," she replied coldly
• as she pried his hand from
• one more solution: we return
• The idea was tempting, and much safer than following Illidan's orders,

Don't Dreadlords have hooves, not feet?

Interesting. I was under the impression that demons tend to flee when their strongest falls. Still, they were surrounded.

• across the face, and her body
• by her long, red hair
• inflict agonizing pain: the cretin did not deserve to die so readily.
• a little secret: your kind mean nothing
• locals with a bit of power, and they
• As his foot tired of kicking,
• the dreadlord reeled back his arm
• His arm did not respond.
• severed arm lay at his feet.
• None saw Illidan move: his speed
• no explanation. Illidan had only
• curiosity: did this demon
• Tyrande Whisperwind approached him, and her presence
• not see what he had done?

Would even the Sentinel fanatics follow him after Furion's pronouncment? It would mean that they accepted exile too.

• to be known as "Felwood."
• His methods were deplorable, but Fandral "Deplorable" is not usually used to describe a person.

Good work, overall. You continue to show an instinct for pacing and characterization, but what is it with those present-tense verbs? Are you trying to approximate something that doesn't exist in English?

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"How do you deter and contain monsters? Simple: you use the only languages they understand, force and fear. How do you strike fear into the heart of a monster? Even simpler: create a worse monster and send it after them."

I made corrections. I didn't give this part a thorough proofread so I apologize to you. I rushed to complete it because I needed to do some work with the comic so that I wouldn't fall behind. Now that I have a comfortable lead on it, I have about a week to write the next part in this story.

I still appreciate it very much. I am learning more from you than any teachers I've had.

I blame every English class I've ever attended for never correcting me on that. Seriously, I have never failed an English assignment in my life. I am trying hard to break the present-tense habit, and I really should have proof-read this particular part more than once.

Stay tuned for the next exciting episode of Illidan Z!

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Much love to you for your continuing gift of fan-material for us AndyJP. Makes me want to pull out my machinima tools again try to put this to video, but as a text fiction it works well enough.

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Official Prince Kael'thas Sunstrider Harem member #42

You may call me G.P.A, Great Programmer Alice

Great story, AndyJP! I like it very much.

Though I think you could have added more bits with Illidan's thoughts when Furion exiled him. Illidan seemed to accept the exile too easy in game, and given that you use his interactions with Gul'dan as a plot point, you could have played it as Illidan being, at first, unaccepting, but after the Skull "cheers" for him to disobey and strike down his brother, Illidan snaps out and quickly agrees with Furion, not wanting to be used by the corrupted artifact.

Thank you! If I had machinima skills, I would be making them myself! Although, with the experience I have taken from the comic, I understand just how hard it is to get these models to show what you want them to due to their limitations. I guess it's kind of like working with Nicholas Cage!

Thank you! That is a really good idea, maybe I will write something extra for this part when I put it up on my comic site. In my mind, Illidan has developed feelings of inferiority with his brother, much like the opposite in WOTA when Malfurion felt inferior to Illidan and couldn't understand why Tyrande would choose him. Now Illidan has seen that Furion is the one that is beloved and cherished by his people, and he is the one who won the heart of Tyrande, who they both love. What he wants is Tyrande and to win his brother's approval. I think it fits in perfectly with his depiction in "The Frozen Throne" where he no longer displays bitterness and asks for peace between them.

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I corrected several uses of present-tense so I hope I got all of them this time. This part would have been done earlier, but I hit a snag trying to reconcile why my Illidan wouldn't have joined the battle of Mount Hyjal regardless of his banishment, but I think I came up with a nicely fitting explanation there.

Illidan has some 'splaining to do in the next part. Gul'dan will think of something.

The reason I kept him in Ashenvale is because the meeting with Kil'jaedan appeared to take place in Ashenvale and he is also chased by Maiev in Ashenvale, so why not just stay in Ashenvale? All of the Night Elves went north to Hyjal, so there's not currently a reason for him to be concerned about breaking his banishment.

I also want to clarify that not all of the Night Elves or Satyr were judged worthy of demon hunter training, but the ones who did not train are still there with him.

Gul'dan upgraded to quotes because he is now in ghost form too instead of just a voice.

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