Chapter Text
Kael’thas Sunstrider, the last of his dynasty, the Phoenix Prince of the Sin’dorei, looked upon the broken and dying body of Illidan Stormrage. He had called the demon-hunter his master for nearly a year, but that had led to the eventual defeat they had now suffered at the hands of the corrupted Prince Arthas. Kael had had so much faith in Illidan, faith that he could aid Kael in leading his people to a new and brighter future, however, it seemed that that faith had been misplaced. His master had been defeated by the half dead Prince Arthas in single combat and was now dying in the snow and ice of Northrend.
The undead forces had retreated from the battle towards the Frozen Throne of the Lich King after Illidan was defeated, perhaps to regroup or perhaps to hold the ice fortress against the Illidari forces that still surrounded it. That is why Kael had rushed with his finest warriors and spellcasters to where he had seen Illidan fall and had been disappointed with what he had seen. A healer attempted to tend to Illidan’s wounds when Kael raised a hand and said in his beautiful baritone voice, “Leave him be, he has suffered for far too long and failed those that followed him one too many times, let him pass in peace.”
He looked upon the near dead body of his master and could hear Illidan’s beathing begin to shallow and slow. He was only interrupted from his vigil by the commotion of Naga soldiers making their way towards where he stood. He looked towards the sounds of the creature’s scales scraping along the ground and saw Lady Vashj and a contingent of Naga Royal Guard heading towards him and his troops. When she approached Kael and his troops surrounding Illidan’s body, she gasped in horror and attempted to rush to her master’s aid, but two of Kael’s Spellbreaker soldiers blocked her path.
“Order your soldiers to stand down Kael, we must attend to Lord Illidan’s wounds,” said Vashj, worry colouring her worlds.
Kael shifted his gaze to her and met her pleading eyes and shook his head in a negative gesture as he spoke, “Vashj, no he has suffered enough and we have all suffered enough for his lost cause.”
Vashj’s troops immediately had their tridents at the ready, waiting for orders from Lady Vashj. Kael’s troops readied their own weapons spells, willing to die for their prince. Vashj’s troops did not have to wait long for their mistress to speak, however, “Kael! Are you out of your mind!? He is our only chance at being free of our addiction to magic!”
Kael lowered his gaze to his hands and summoned up his magical power, pooling it in his palms as he ignited the his green orbs of flame, “He gave us nothing more than a temporary solution to a curse that will never truly abate until a new and permanent font of magic can be secured.” Kale sighed deeply then, “Illidan’s ambition was his downfall, all too willing to exchange that which he held precious for more power.”
He lifted his gaze to Vashj and said with a finality that shocked even him, “Eventually he would have traded away us in order to build himself even more power, and we were nothing more than a means to an end for him. I've come to realise that now and I think that deep down in your heart you know this to be true.”
Kael looked into Vashj’s beautiful, turquoise glowing eyes with his own and implored her silently to see reason; he did not have to wait long. Vashj, with tears now staining her cheeks turned to her soldiers and ordered, “Stand down!”
One of Vashj’s royal guard looked at her with disbelief clearly etched across his face, “Mistress, you cannot be serious?”
Vashj simply looked at her soldier and deadpanned, “That was my order, follow it.”
Her soldiers stood down then, and with a mere look at his soldiers Kael conveyed the order for his troops to stand down. It was then that Vashj slithered towards Kael and embraced him lightly.
“I do not wish for Illidan’s soul to be at the mercy of Kil’jaden for all eternity, we should find a way to give him true peace,” said Vashj to Kael, her face still being streaked with tears. Kael looked at her for a moment, nothing immediately coming to mind, but after a few long moments of a desperate silence, Kael’s green eyes shone with a brilliant plan. He conjured his staff from thin air and began to draw a transmutation circle around Illidan’s dying form. With the main circle drawn, Kael began to burn intricate runes along the edge of the circle, the runes were those of his people, then he began to borrow from the Kel’dorei books of magic he had studied in Dalaran, however, his transmutation circle was lacking something. It was then that he looked towards Vashj with imploring eyes and began to sing in the most beautiful and glorious tongue of the Sin’dorei, Thalassian.
The runes he had drawn began to glow with golden fire and Illidan was lifted into the air within the circle. It was then that Vashj used her lightning to carve Naga Runes into the circle and she began to sing in the ancient tongue of the Kel’dorei, Darnassian. Her runes glowed and sparked with electrical energy and eventually burst into azsure flames and mingled together with Kael’s golden fire. The two magic users began to harmonise their singing, mingling their voices and magical power together as one single orchestra of magic. The words they voiced were words of cleansing, immolation, destruction and kindness. Their flames erupted then and completely engulfed Illidan then burning away his flesh and destroying the corruption that had plagued Illidan for millennia. The flames only left behind the glowing blue energy that was once Illidan’s unspoilt and pure Kel’dorei soul.
The mood of their voices changed then as did the words they sang, their melody became far less intense and the words they used changed as well. The song spoke of binding, crystals, safeguarding and preservation. Their flames changed into a massive, many faceted crystal, the flames being bound into the crystal and surrounding Illidan’s soul. The flames changed colour within the crystal to match that of the pure blue of Illidan’s soul, however, in a last act of power and glory, Illidan let out a mighty torrent of arcane energy into the crystal that was now the vessel of his soul. The arcane torrent changed the entire ritual with a single and powerful word, “Rebirth.”
There was an explosion of bright red light and flames that engulfed the entire group of Illidari soldiers and as it was being pulled back into the crystal, the unmistakable voice of Illidan Stormrage boomed, “Let it be known that I gave my life to breathe new life into those that followed me…” And with those words, Kael and Vashj were gifted with a new hope for their peoples.