Teldrassil Docks, Teldrassil, Sunset

Kinndy Sparkshine, Jaina Proudmoore's apprentice

"You are trying to hold the water back again Kinndy, remember what I taught you about the nature of our water spells." The flush on Kinndy's face, because diverting a tidal wave was not an easy thing, darkened at the mostly relaxed rebuke from her mentor.

Lady Jaina made it look so easy by comparison, the water of the visible wave flowing up a giant blue shield that the pair (mostl… almost entirely Lady Jaina if Kinndy was being honest) had formed in a hemisphere in front of the island of Teldrassil almost 2 leagues across and stretching at least half that height up.

"Sorry Lady Jaina… There's just… so much!" The two of them were at the forefront of almost 50 mages from Theramore, effectively cutting a wedge in the very centre of the waves emanating from the meteorite's impact and doing their best to negate the water's momentum.

"Lady Proudmoore, the meteorite's impact has been handled by Ghost Potter… this should be the last waves we have to deal with." Doing her best to ignore the sweat pouring from her brow, Kinndy was glad for the momentary distraction of the Terran Mage who was in charge of their transport.

The idea of being suspended almost 100 feet in the air by a carpet was a concept she still wasn't entirely comfortable with, but given some of the stories her mentor had shared with her about the Burning Legion Invasion, this really wasn't that spectacular.

"Very well, given Harry's concerns about what is on that… object, it is probably best that we move to assist your forces as soon as possible. If you could release for a second Kinndy…"

Despite her desire to protest, her rapidly depleting Mana reserves and dizzy feeling meant that Kinndy followed her Master's instruction without a word, falling to the remarkably comfortable 'floor' of the carpet a moment later.

Despite the wave of tiredness that came over her, as the adrenaline rush that nearly all magic users encountered when using large amounts of magic at once began to fade, Kinndy's eyes were fixed on the form of Lady Jaina as she raised her staff in a single, unhurried, motion. Lady Jaina's body began to glow, and began to move her in complicated gestures and to a rhythm that only the Leader of Theramore could hear, her voice barely raised above a murmur as she spoke in the arcane tongue.

The 'hum' of mana build up could be heard in the air, and even the Terran was in awe of the magical display that was occurring in front of her, the water that they had been carefully 'stockpiling' on the face of their shield forming into a wave of its own and descending slowly down the shield. This was easily twice the size of the last wave the meteor's impact had sent towards Teldrassil, and with a final flick of her hand, Lady Jaina unleashed the water.

It crashed down into the ocean just before the other wave hit their shield, the two forces meeting with a crash that had Kinndy wincing at the volume. Though the wave from the meteor was much wider than Lady Jaina's, her master's attack completely negated the centre of it's force, and as Kinndy watched the area around the clash began to lessen in size and strength. By the time the wave reached Teldrassil itself, the majority of it's force should have been spent, making it easier for the Night Elves to deal with.

"Incredible Master!" Kinndy was doing her best to hold back her questions, and she had thousands of them!

How had her master managed to control the size and the flow of the wave back down the shield so precisely? How did she know that taking out the centre of the wave would be sufficient? Her natural inquisitiveness had her back on her feet and almost bouncing from one foot to another, but she managed to hold it back… just.

Most people would not notice the strain in Lady Jaina's features, the slight hunching in her shoulders and the forced edge to her calm expression, but Kinndy had spent most of the last 5 years helping her master with many stressful situations. This was certainly one of those situations, but Kinndy thought that the weight on her master's shoulders was only in part due to the exertion of their spell-casting.

At least part of her mental stress was the Terrans and the forewarning they had been able to provide for this event. Such prophetic capability, as Kinndy couldn't think of any reason why the Terran's would lie about such a powerful ability, was the sort of thing that appeared only sporadically amongst the races of Azeroth.

And each of those people had become incredibly powerful, either in combat or politically, shaping the future of Azeroth… for good or evil. Kinndy was too young to remember the Burning Legion Invasion, beyond fuzzy memories of ship travel and then cowering amongst refugees of all races as the final battle reached its climax.

But stories of The Prophet, and the fact that he had been able to bring both humans and Orcs to work together after predicting the fall of Lordareon, had been commonplace in Theramore since.

Lady Jaina did not seem to have the same awe and wonder that many of the people of Theramore had for the elusive and mysterious man who had guided them to their new homeland, though Kinndy was basing such an assumption on the fact that Jaina evaded talking about the man whenever he was brought up in conversation.

Given Lady Jaina was one of the few survivors of the Invasion that had personally interacted with The Prophet, Kinndy assumed there was more to the man than being their mysterious saviour, but the young Gnome had not felt comfortable with asking about it.

"Thank you Kinndy, I shall discuss the intricacies of the spell, and its applications, later. Mage Patil, please take us to the crash zone, preferably to Lord Potter's location. There is much about this situation that I wish for… answers about." The warmth in Lady Jaina's tone was tinged with a little terseness, something that Kinndy hoped the Terran attributed to the exertion of their magework.

There was enough tension on Kalimdor, without Theramore finding themselves with another 'cold war' situation...

Northern Hills, Azuremyst Isle, Sunset

Jacques de Gauche, Phantom Group Leader

"Scout teams, report." Standing at the head of a group of almost 40 mages and other combat team members, Jacques kept his expression neutral as the ground around them finished shaking.

The winds of the meteoric impact rustled the long black robes that he, and his somewhat ragtag strike team, wore over a motley array of different armour and equipment.

At one stage, before the Legion's onslaught, an elite team such as this would have been bedecked in Dragonhide armour from head to toe. But with limited resources available, many of the 'spare' dragonhide armour sets had been cannibalised to repair existing armour sets that had become damaged. Or, he thought sardonically as he idly brushed some of the earthen dust from the gauntlet inscribed with a large number of 8 digit codes, the armour was lost altogether when their wearers fell in battle.

So many of the men and women around him wore enchanted chain or scale mail armour, forged by the Dwarves and Goblins to provide similar, if reduced, protection compared to dragonhide. It wasn't ideal, but it was better than anything the normal units were able to scrounge up.

"Scout teams 3 and 7 have reported combat to the South of the main impact, where one of the larger sections of the meteor broke off and impacted prior to the main impact. Other teams are moving to cover their assigned locations, though Team 12 have yet to report in." The report came from the newest member of their strike team, a young Italian wizard that was still in his teens.

Given the virtual annihilation of Earth's population, with the mundane and magical militaries suffering the worst for the most part, even elite outfits like the Phantoms required new blood to keep their numbers up. Where possible these replacements were placed in positions that were not in the thick of the fighting, such as the coordination and reporting role he currently had young Fornel, but there was no such thing as a non-combat role in the Phantoms.

The voice of Ella Burd, his partner if he was feeling generous and method of transport if they were 'agreeing to disagree', snorted at the report of the missing team.

"Gurnisson and Jaeger, probably managed to find a Pit Lord whilst waiting at their posts…" The dwarf and human pair were amongst the most capable Scout teams to have made it through to Azeroth so far, but they had a bad habit of ending up in the thickest of the fighting.

If Jacques didn't know better, he would have thought Gurnission had a Death wish of some kind, the Dwarf refusing to wear armour as he believed it slowed him down too much. But the mad dwarf had survived everything the Legion could throw at him so far, so obviously the pair were doing something right.

Then, as the air continued to swirl around the assembled Terrans like a Saharan Dust Storm, Jacques caught the scent he had been looking for since they arrived, the metallic tang of fresh blood on the wind.

"Spectres, move to ready positions with your teams." The four cloaked figures nearest to him stiffened slightly, but otherwise there was no other outward reaction before they disappeared with a series of pops, the majority of the 80 odd Phantoms following them several seconds later.

"Sir, should I order the Scout teams to retreat if they encounter hostiles?" It was a good question, and one that Jacques didn't immediately know the answer to.

The Higher ups had not been able to provide much information about the nature of what they would encounter, and automatically assuming all contacts were hostile could be an issue for the paper pushers when things settled down.

"Might as well go and find out… All teams to hold position until I give the command." Doing a few basic stretches, because charging into combat stiff was always a bad plan, Jacques checked his armaments one last time.

Twin shortswords were strapped to his back, enchanted with enhanced durability, sharpness and self cleansing elements, which were his main preference for close quarters engagements. A series of vials and daggers were strapped across his chest, each with their own unique role or enchantments to surprise an enemy or deal with a difficult situation.

"Stormfire, are you ready to provide some air support? If you have some way of clearing some of this dust, it would be much appreciated…" Trying to get their new allies, which had arrived using Portkeys in an affronted manner that made it clear that Master Potter needed to create a portal between their nest to the Terran HQ soon, to use their communication devices was… challenging.

"We are ready Terran-walker, Stormfire is currently leading a small group of our sisters to investigate some of the secondary impact points. If you prepare a shield, I will clear the air…" Instead of the energetic voice of young Stormfire, who many of the Phantoms had started to view as a staple to life in the former Thunder Axe Fortress, Jacques was instead treated to the far more aloof and authoritative leader of their Harpy allies.

It wasn't that Jacques had anything against Windfury, but it was clear that she and the other Harpies were not used to working with others, or obeying orders...

The creation of a batch of Language Lozenges, using Master Potter's understanding of the main Azerothian tongue, was the only thing that made such a coordinated response possible. And even then, it felt more like Jacques was trying to wield a lit firework barehanded, nervous it was going to go off at any moment.

"All Teams, shields up!" The order was relayed almost instantly, Ella's Protego snapping into place around them with a series of crackles, the magic of the shield repelling some of the settling dust that tried to pass through as it was forming.

Barely five seconds later, the wind in the area picked up, and then moved to hurricane level winds within a matter of moments. Jacques estimations of the Harpies capabilities rose several steps, as the small tornado almost 100 metres from him began to suck in all the dust from the air and fling it up into the air.

"Commander, we need to move!" Ella's shout was barely distinguishable above the roar of the winds, but Jacques could understand her concern, the swirling vortex of air turning the dust and debris into the gaseous equivalent of sandpaper.

Grabbing her arm, the two of them waited until Fornel apparated away, and then the feeling of being pulled through a tube that was too small swept over Jacques. The three of them had moved barely half a mile, back up the small hill they had been stood on to near the summit, but it was much clearer.

Jacques spared a glance skyward, at least two dozen Harpies that had accompanied them circling in several ascending helixes around the tornado, working to pull all the dust and debris from the air below and launching it high enough to disperse it harmlessly. But it was what was visible in the clearing air at ground level that had Jacques' attention.

In addition to the city sized meteor of Crystal and metal that was resting against the Western Hills of the Isles, and was partially buried into them, there were at least three shards about the size of Thunder Axe Fortress that had obviously broken off during the meteor's arrival, spread around the inner 'valley' the mountains formed at the edge of the Island.

Around each of these smaller shards, Jacques could see things moving, though the distance was such that he couldn't make out more details than that, especially with the dusty air still clearing.

"Here sir." Jacques had to give Fornel credit, the youth ready with some omnioculars almost thrust into Jacques' hands, whilst Ella summoned her own pair from… somewhere on her person.

"Seems the Blood Elves have some explaining to do… Though with that name, I am not sure why I am surprised in the first place." With the ability to zoom, and to slow down the speed of the figures running, fighting and dying at the nearest shard, Jacques could easily make out the forms of the Elves similar to Master Potter's assassin companion (Jacques was a big believer in calling people as he saw them).

However, unlike the admittedly voluptuous and golden skinned beauty that followed Potter around like a stray puppy, these… Elves were far paler and more gaunt in appearance, their eyes glowing with a burning green that made Jacques' hackles rise.

The Elves were all dressed for combat and armed to the teeth, which could not be said for some of the tall blue skinned goat people they were attacking, some of whom were dressed in normal clothing and seemed to be armed with nothing more than basic clubs and staves.

"Should we step in? We can try and stop both sides fighting, but that might mean both sides attack us." Ella's question/comment was answered for them, as Jacques Omnioculars caught the wall of the shard exploding outwards, a Doomguard striding from the wreckage a moment later, the Elves cheering as it cut a plate armoured goat person in twain before reaching for the cowering seemingly civilians that he had been defending.

"Ella. There, now." Jacques didn't even have to wait for Ella to find where he was looking, the feather light touch of her legilimency probe catching the image he had pushed to the forefront of his mind in a moment, and then the two of them were shifting once more.

One moment they were on the hill, the next he was in the thick of the fighting with the Doomguard looking down on the pair of them with slight surprise, followed by anger and rage as two of Jacques' blades were flung at it's face in quick succession.

"First the Draenei, and now Terrans. Die in the name of Kil'jaeden!" But before it could sweep it's falchion with it's right hand, Jacques and Ella were already moving.

Jacques was careful not to look up at the demon whilst he charged for it's legs, something that proved to be a very good idea a moment later as a bright flash illuminated the entire area and the Doomguard reeled, shrieking in shock and pain. It seemed that Ella was following their battle plan for once, though Jacques knew that their… unco-ordination couldn't solely be laid to rest with his partner.

Whilst Doomguard were tough, and strong enough to kill any of them in a single blow, they were both arrogant in their abilities and slow to the point that Jacques was fairly certain he could solo one by just dodging and bleeding it with a thousand cuts.

The falchion came swinging around wildly, but Jacques was already inside the thing's guard, and the popping sound revealed that Ella had dodged magically by apparation. Reaching back and gripping his sword hilts, Jacques unleashed four heavy slices upon the Doomguard's lower legs as he moved around it, making sure to kick off the Doomguard's shin into a leaping backflip to gain some distance. This wasn't the first Doomguard he had faced after all.

The Doomguard slammed it's foot into the ground a moment later, cracking the Earth in a considerable distance around the Doomguard. Even with his attempt to dodge, Jacques struggled with his footing for a moment as the ground shifted under him, and as he recovered he was unable to dodge the flailing backhand of the Doomguard.

He managed to mitigate some of the blow by jumping backwards, but the force of the blow would have been enough to kill a normal human easily. Luckily, as Jacques flipped in the air and landed on the ground with a wince, he wasn't 'normal' anymore.

Baring his fangs in a predatory smirk, Jacques dissolved into the rapidly growing shadows of dusk, even as the Doomguard regained enough sight to cast a dark flame spell in his direction. Ella returned to the fray at this point, unleashing a wave of physically damaging spells such as piercing and cutting charms of various forms, before disappearing in another apparition as one of the nearby Elves attempted to attack her with some kind of large greatsword.

The Doomguard was distracted for several moments as several of the Goat people began to attack it with spells and beams of golden light, which seemed remarkably effective against one of the demons that many Terrans assumed was nearly immune to magical attacks. This distraction gave Jacques enough time to assess the situation fully, perched inside the shadow of one of the crystal outcrops sticking out of the top of the shard.

Whatever intel Master Potter had gathered about the Blood Elves was clearly wrong, or at least very limited in its scope, as the Doomguard was not the only Burning Legion Demon fighting alongside the scattered and clearly unorganised melee, everything from Imps to Felguard moving through the fray. The Elves and their Demon allies were outnumbered at least four or five to one, but as Jacques had first suspected most of the Goat people were not fighters, many of them fleeing or trying to treat their wounded rather than fighting.

On top of that, many of them were trying to access parts of the crystal which seemed to be pods of some kind at the same time as fighting off the attacking Elves, making the combat even more one sided.

"Where are you Terran? Don't tell me that is all the fight you had in you! I can still smell your stink nearby…"

Jacques doubted the Elves would actually win, unless they continued to summon Demonic allies, but it would be a bloody and costly battle either way.

That possibility ended now.

"Fornel, all units to engage and eliminate Blood Elf threat. Blue Skinned creatures are not to be engaged unless they attack first, units are to withdraw if possible. Demon threat confirmed, lethal force, authorised." As Jacques finished speaking, the sun finished dipping over the horizon and disappeared, causing him to smile before he moved.

Even as left the shadow of the crystal he removed the gauntlet that had been on his left hand, his body beginning to morph and change the moment it broke contact with him. The flesh of his shell cracked and tore as he began growing into a figure almost three times his original size, the enchantments on his clothes struggling to keep up with the rate of change he was experiencing.

Muggleborn and their ilk tended to only believe in the 'light' sides of the Magical world on Earth, many of them thinking that the protections and enchantments placed on pretty much every magical home were for protection against enemy wizards… They never thought that the other stories and myths of the world could be true, lurking in the darkness that not even Dark Wizards dared to tread.

Having been 'alive' for almost four centuries now, turned by Grando Alilovic ten years after his progeninator's official 'death', Jacques was well aware of the darkest parts of the world. A creature of blood and death, he had fought and killed creatures of Myth and Legend for 250 of those years, after the hunting and killing of humans had grown to bore him.

The size of his blades changed with his body, though given the ten inch talons that were ripping their way from the skin of his fingers he almost didn't need them, as he slammed into the Doomguard with a snarl.

To the Doomguard's credit, it managed to turn and deflect one of his blades with it's falchion, the other blade biting deep into it's armour and flesh. Even as it roared in pain, the Doomguard's fist slammed into Jacques chest, sending him skidding a few feet backwards and causing him to lose his grip on the blade embedded in the Doomguard's shoulder.

Readying his remaining blade, Jacques smirked before charging forward, blade meeting falchion in a blistering rush of attacks and counterattacks. The two now giant combatants shook the field of battle as they performed the lumbering dance of combat and blood around one another. The presence of the Goat people, and the fact that he had to keep the Doomguard from utilising one of his more powerful area effect spells if given a moment's respite, kept Jacques from being able to finish the fight quickly.

"Foul Creature… You think that you can stop me by yourself?" Whether it was arrogance or an attempt at intimidation, their blades locked against each other in a contest of strength for a moment, Jacques wasn't entirely sure.

He could have taunted back, or pointed out the obvious, but instead Jacques merely gave a toothed grin before the sound of popping filled the air around the two of them, spells almost immediately slamming into the Doomguards' armour and flesh to drive it off balance. Swiping with his talons at the Doomguard's eyes, Jacques had the chance to break the deadlock, forcing the demon backwards and opening up it's guard.

Despite it's arrogance the Doomguard wasn't a complete rookie, managing to catch the blade on it's free forearm bracer, though it was unable to prevent Jacques from grasping the hilt of his other blade and wrenching it free with a roar of exertion.

"Still feeling so confident Demon?" He knew he shouldn't talk with the enemy, but in this case Jacques wasn't actually looking to kill the Doomguard, as much as he wanted to.

But Master Potter had made it clear that saving people came first with the Phantoms, and that was one of the few people that Jacques didn't want to fight again anytime soon. Even ignoring the instinctive reaction the Mage evoked simply by being in the same building as Jacques, fighting someone who could turn the floor into a weapon against you just wasn't Jacques' idea of a good time

"Wretched beast, you will pay for this… in time." On cue, The Doomguard summoned a ring of dark flames around it, forcing Jacques to back away with a snarl.

With several muttered syllables of the dark tongue all demons used, a dark portal opened behind the Doomguard and it stepped through, batting the last few spells cast by the goat people aside with it's blade as it did so.

"Heh, coward…" With the prospect of the only good fight in the area having left, Jacques' previous 'good' mood evaporated, replaced only with… the hunger as he stabbed his blades into the floor.

Shifting back was a far less… smooth transition, and it was something that Jacques had never gotten used to, his bones snapping and reforming several times in less than a moment as he returned to his human 'shell'. The pain was bearable, the feeling of weakness that came with the form far more… frustrating.

So when one of the Blood Elves nearby tried to blindside him with a stab to the back of the neck, Jacques took the opportunity to take his frustrations of his restraint out in a productive manner. Throwing himself backwards, the blade of the dagger clipped his cheek rather than burying itself into his neck, Jacques grabbing the Elf's wrist firmly in one hand as he turned.

Now that he was quite literally face to face with one of these Blood Elves, Jacques could barely resist the urge to snap the thing's neck, such was the stench of demonic corruption that hung in the air around them. She would probably have been classed as pretty once, but the pallid and pale flesh and hungry expression only reminded Jacques of his lesser kin, the blood carrion that many thought of as 'true Vampires'.

The elf tried to get away, but Jacques had no intention of letting her do so, a harsh twist snapping her wrist like a bottle-top, the elf crying in pain for the moment she had before his follow up blow to her solar plexus dropped her like a stone. Looking at the deadweight he was now holding up in his left hand, Jacques considered taking the opportunity to feed.

But considering the smell of fel corruption the elf reeked of, her blood was probably contaminated to a level that even he wouldn't be able to stomach, and he didn't want to miss such a good fight with an adverse reaction. Besides, Master Potter would want some survivors to 'talk to' when he returned to the battlefield.

So Jacques' turned his attention to the half a dozen Elves that were stood ready for combat nearby, the others doing their best to hold back the goat people, who had clearly taken heart from the Doomguard's retreat.

"So." Jacques drew out the word with his best bloodthirsty grin, casting his 'acquisition' aside to the floor before brushing some dust off the shoulders of his robes.

"Are you feeling lucky, punks?"

!"£$%^&*()_+

Near 'The Meteorite', Azuremyst Isle, 3 hours after impact

Harry Potter, Phantom of Earth

"I now see why you wanted to limit the impact of this… ship Lord Potter. Given the number of these Draenei that have already emerged from this thing, there must be thousands more of them waiting in there." Jaina's comment dragged all of them from their slightly awed inspection of the crystalline structure that towered in front of them.

By the time Harry awoke from his forced power nap, the majority of the initial battle was already over bar the reckoning. The Blood Elves that had been attacking the blue goat people were nowhere near dealt with, as many of them had withdrawn when the Phantoms had begun to engage, and the retreat was hastened by the arrival of the first waves of Night Elf reinforcements.

This had lead to a somewhat standoffish first meeting with these Draenei, who whilst clearly grateful for the assistance in dealing with their attackers, were clearly not comfortable trusting a bunch of soldiers that looked like the Blood Elves' blue skinned cousins.

"Try a least a hundred thousand Lady Jaina. Given how much their features remind me of some of the Burning Legion, it is only the fact that they can use the Light that has assuaged my immediate concerns. Besides, with King Wynn currently unaccounted for, I am not sure the Grand Marshall would want me to divert resources from the search efforts at this time." At the moment, they were all stood at the camp the Night Elves had set up on the Eastern shore of the Isle, next to the new inlet the meteor had created during its landed.

The comment had come from the Human representative to Teldrassil, whose name Harry hadn't been able to remember and he couldn't quite work out how to ask for it again politely. All of the Alliance Ambassadors to the Night Elves had been ferried to the Isles at some point, no doubt the Alliance wanted the chance to make a good impression on these Draenei and to try and draw them into the cold war with the Horde.

"Once we are certain that the Draenei will not prove to be hostile, I will personally lead the search for Varian Lord Pryor, using all the resources I can bring to bear. But given the magnitude of this event, I think it is best that we ensure the first official meeting with these people goes well." Jaina cast a glance over in Harry's direction at this point, but thankfully did not say anything about he or the other Terrans joining in this hunt.

If everything went according to plan, he would be able to assist in another couple of days. But first, he needed answers, and not just from the Draenei. The fact that these Blood Elves were working with the Burning Legion had been an… unpleasant surprise, and Harry had only stopped himself from portalling over to Quel'thalas by the fact the Elves were more like the Fallen he had encountered in Quel'thalas, or that Magister Rommath Harry remembered seeing at the Council meetings.

But he wouldn't receive any answers by sitting around, and perhaps these Draenei were waiting for them, rather than the other way around. Standing from the chair he had transfigured for himself, Harry's actions were interrupted by the sound of a new voice coming from in front of them.

"Just as impatient as the visions implied, though I suppose that actions have always served you better than mere words Harry Potter." It was with something between annoyance and horror that filled Harry's mind as he looked over the obviously ancient Draenei that almost bounded into the Night Elf camp, several well armed Draenei almost running behind him in an attempt to catch up with him.

"You and your people have caused quite the stir in the timeline with your arrival here, most of it for the better from what I can see… Don't give me that look, I know you've had bad experiences with Seers on your world but…" Suddenly the Draenei paused mid-sentence and stared at Harry's lack of expression, something Harry thought he was doing a marvellous job of maintaining given the circumstances, before the Draenei laughed uproariously for several moments.

"My apologies, I got too far ahead in the wrong conversation and now everything is changing again… This is so exciting!" It reminded Harry of the times Dumbledore truly got excited about the wonders of magic when they had been 1st and 2nd years at Hogwarts, the Draenei bouncing from one foot to another with the enthusiasm of a kid on a sugar rush.

Given the Draenei's age, as well as the wounds and injuries that Harry could see on his face and arms, such exuberance would be something that he would regret later. Before the Draenei could continue to confuse everyone, with part sentences and flashes of conversations that haven't happened yet, another Draenei forced her way through the still panting guards and levelled her large mace in the direction of the ancient Draenei.

Whether it was a threat or not Harry couldn't tell, and judging by the nervous glances one or two of the guards she had pushed out of the way, they weren't entirely sure either.

"Prophet, please stop running off when I haven't finished healing… you." The female Draenei trailed off as she seemed to realise that she wasn't admonishing her leader in private, but to her credit the confusion and uncertainty only lasted a moment before a wave of light energy rolled out from her weapon and washed over the ancient Draenei.

"But if I did that, you wouldn't have gotten the chance to meet… Opps, spoilers!" The newly titled Prophet, at least Harry hoped it was a title rather than the most pretentious name given to a baby ever, chuckled heartily to himself whilst the female Draenei sighed to herself and turned to the rest of them.

"Apologies for the actions of our leader, I assume you are of the Terrans who aided us earlier? My name is Tral'laehri Mistsinger, and this is the leader of the Draenei, Prophet Velen. Whilst the Prophet no doubt knows your names and allegiances, as well as where we are and what is going on, he has yet to make any of that clear to us." This comment was supported by an unimpressed look in her leader's direction, who either missed it entirely or ignored it with a practice that must have been developed over decades.

Given he seemed to be a Seer, and a far more active one than Luna or any of the other surviving Seers on Earth, Harry doubted it was the former. Tral'laehri continued before any of them had a chance to reply.

"There have been numerous reports of your kind fighting the Sin'dorei and their Demonic allies, and without your assistance things would have been far worse for my kin and I, so you have our deepest thanks."

It happened so quickly, that if Harry hadn't been watching Velen's face as Tral'laehri spoke he would have missed it, the slightest of pained expressions breaking through the Draenei's serene expression as she spoke of them saving her and her kin. Having watched Luna enough times after they had come back from missions having lost friends and comrades, he knew that expression meant that Velen had not expected Tral'laehri to survive their arrival to Azeroth.

It was one of the reasons that Harry was glad he had not even the slightest trace of Seer capability as part of his magical arsenal, as knowing the future tended to mean you had no control over it's events, something that Luna had revealed shortly before the end of their 6th year. Seers were usually restricted to revealing the future through prophecies and omens, other attempts to reveal or change the future had terrible consequences for the bearers of such a fate.

For Velen to have revealed even the little pieces of knowledge meant that he had was tip-toeing back and forth over that line with some panache, so either the magical laws related to controlling knowledge of the future were much more lax here, or the Draenei was considerably more ballsy than Harry had first anticipated.

"Honestly, the Blood Elves and their Demon allies were mostly unexpected. After trying to reduce the damage of your ship landing, we were mostly prepared for first contact and perhaps search and rescue, not a full out ground war." Well, that was the story he was sticking to. But according to Susan even his future self hadn't told them that they would be facing a small army, merely implying that some combat may occur.

Perhaps it was for the best, as Harry would probably have tried to conserve some of his energy for a fight instead of focussing it all on grounding the meteorite safely if he had been told about the Burning Legion presence.

"Speaking of the Sin'dorei, or Blood Elves as you call them, what are your intentions with those you have captured. Whilst the Light does not support vengeance as a creed, there are many of our kind who would not… take looking after prisoners well." Harry could tell Tral'laehri was struggling with her own emotions on this matter, and given his encounters with several of the Blood Elf Light users, Harry knew that this Light power was nowhere near as picky as some of it's users seemed to believe.

Vengeance and violence seemed to work perfectly fine for some of the Blood Elf light users, predominantly amongst the Blood Knights that Lady Liadrin had assumed control over during the last parts of his stay in Quel'thalas.

"Well first I think we need to have a chat with Harry Potter's companion, who will be able to enlighten us on several matters, once she finishes hiding behind him of course. Then we can make an official meeting ceremony to greet all of those who provided assistance in our landing, either on land or at sea." Velen gave a pointed look at Jaina and Kinndy at this point, before his smiling face turned into a frown that seemed to encapsulate every one of his no doubt dozens of years.

"And then I think Lord Potter can make us a portal to the Blood Elf Capital, there are several Draenei we need to pick up there who survived the crash. Besides, I think Harry Potter wants to have words of his own with the Sin'dorei." For the first time since meeting Prophet Velen, Harry actually saw what was probably the true face of the Draenei leader, the happy and carefree expression replaced with something that could probably have been carved from stone.

Given Harry had Nash'ala, Storri and Kelanas all stood with him, it took him a moment to work out that Velen meant the only member of his current 'team' that his future self had told them to keep in Desolace. Obviously Harry would have to have more words about listening to his orders, even as he stamped his foot into the ground, following the tremors to the fourth figure that was already removing her stealth technique about 3 feet behind him.

"Sin'dorei Assassin!" Even as Tral'laehri brought her mace round, to block the instinctive attack of one of the Guards at the sight of Coria standing there smiling in what she obviously thought was an innocent manner, Harry was barely resisting the urge to physically sigh in frustration.

Why couldn't anything ever go according to plan?

!"£$%^&*()_+

30 Miles North of the Ruins of An'Owyn, Quel'thalas, 4:13 in the Afternoon (5 hours after Exodar impact)

Sylvanas Windrunner, Banshee Queen and Leader of the Forsaken

The Infiltration of Deathholme had gone remarkably smoothly, all things considerably. With the death of the traitor and the destruction of the army attacking Quel'thalas, there seemed to be something of a power struggle going on between several of the remaining high ranking Necromancer's in the City.

The infighting made it easy for the three strike teams to stealthily infiltrate the city and look for locations the captive Blood Elf children were being held in, only one team coming under attack before they chose to attack the targets they identified, and even then the number of attackers were significantly less than they had originally feared. No doubt the flaming Meteor had distracted some of the Necromancer presence, though given the strength of the earthquake that occurred after it's passing over them, it was too far away for Sylvanas and the others to worry about.

It horrified Sylvanas that there were literally hundreds of these Blood Elves imprisoned around Deathholme, not just from the fall of Quel'thalas but captives from much more recently, showing that they had been correct that the Fallen in the Western districts of the city had been working for the Traitor in trying to 'propagate' their numbers.

Where those Fallen had disappeared to now was merely one of the numerous questions filling Sylvanas' mind, but it was currently in the back of her mind rather than at the forefront, given the staggered retreat they had been transported back into when Magister Rommath and his Mages had finished transporting the captives to Quel'thalas.

"Lady Sylvanas, please take your Rangers to the right flank, the Scourge are attempting to flank us again! Magisters, wide effect spells in front of the Shield wall on my mark." Despite the fact his injuries limited his ability in combat, there were few that would question Lor'themar's strategic mind, and Sylvanas definitely saw the merits of the role she and her small group of Dark Rangers were filling in this rather patchwork defence.

King Muradin and his Dwarves were still fulfilling the central role of the battlefield, a literal line of metal and hardened flesh repelling wave after wave of the Scourge with shield and hammer, which moved a step backwards every five seconds to avoid being buried in Scourge bodies. The Dwarven King and his captains protecting the flanks of the thin shield wall with their more… offensive armaments and acting as the link between the Alliance and Horde forces.

Even as she mounted the chesnut coloured horse she had been provisioned with and moved away at a fast canter, Sylvanas could see that link was tenuous at best. Where the Dwarves were like rocks weathering the sea of undead, Warchief Thrall and his Kor'kall were rocks being thrown to break the momentum of the wave.

Lightning and earth based spells erupted from dozens of totems placed almost thirty metres from the Horde lines, slamming into the hordes of undead that were swarming forwards. Dozens fell and others were knocked to the ground, leaving less than half that number to continue into the path of the dozen or so Tauren, each of whom generated an area of death with their various two handed weapons, leaving the undead to filter between them and onto the blades of the other Kor'koll.

But even such elite warriors were clearly beginning to flag under the weight of the enemies, as an abomination barrelled into one of the Tauren, ignoring the heavy gash it's two handed blade opened in it's side as it used its weight to bear it to the ground.

"Rangers!" Even as Sylvanas stood in her saddle, bow drawn and dark arrow readied, the roar of some officer behind her made it clear that the Blood Elves weren't being idle either.

A literal cloud of arrows passed over her head, even as her Dark arrow caught the Abomination in the side of one of it's heads, arrows from two of her other Dark Rangers impacting into its body moments later. The arrow storm bought a few moments of respite for the Horde as hundreds of undead were mown down in front of the totem defences, two of the other Tauren bulling over to their downed brother with roars that would have terrified any living opponent.

But Sylvanas couldn't afford to remain and support the line, so she spurred her horse on towards the outer edge of the small force, where the Blood Elf forces were doing their best to maintain an outer perimeter. But with the majority of their mages supporting the centre, and their archers supporting the Horde, the Guardians were struggling against the larger creatures the Scourge were attempting to use to flank them. Skeletal constructs almost 5 metres tall were crushing all those that stood in their way with two handed bone maces, whilst abominations simply tanked attacks to allow ghouls and other Scourge forces to overwhelm the defenders.

No words were needed as Sylvanas vaulted off her horse, two arrows loosed from her bow by the time she landed on the ground. With a dozen sprinted bounds, she was near the fracturing Blood Elf line, leaping into the air as she readied her magic.

Her banshee scream was one of the most potent abilities in her arsenal, as much as it stuck in her craw that Arthas' 'present' had been responsible, but it was something of a double edged blade if she wasn't careful with her allies.

Landing atop the nearest abomination, her elvish long blade buried in it's skull using the momentum of her leap, and she used her new perch to unleash her scream on the attacking Scourge. Since seeing the effectiveness of Harry's spells during the defence of Quel'thalas, Sylvanas had been practicing with her Rangers every day, something that made it clear she had relaxed into her role as glorified bureaucrat a little too much since freeing the Forsaken.

Whilst it had only been a week since, Sylvanas was appeased by the damage she unleashed, the inherent magical dissonance of her scream annihilating the bonds that animated hundreds of the Scourge in front of her, causing them to collapse like stringless puppets and giving the beleaguered Elves a moment's respite.

Even as her 'viewing platform' collapsed to the floor beneath her, Sylvanas was pulling on her magic to animate the now dead Scourge around and in front of her, restoring them to 'life' and repairing what wounds she could. It was challenging to use her scream and then raise the dead in such quick succession, but she was not going to let a small thing such as exertion prevent her from saving more of her kin.

"It's Lady Sylvanas!" There was a cheer from the Blood Elf lines behind her, and Sylvanas couldn't help but smile slightly at the warm feeling the cry evoked in her chest, even as dozens of the dead began to rise from the ground and turn on the Scourge with blade and bone.

It probably wouldn't be enough to prevent the Scourge from eventually breaking though, there were just too many of them still darkening the land in front of them, but it would allow them to maintain something of an orderly retreat until more reinforcements arrived from Quel'thalas.

The next five minutes or so were a flurry of frantic Dark Arrow volleys, spoiling sallies by her and the half a dozen Paladins that were still combat functional on this flank, and two more screams to disrupt the heaviest Scourge assaults.

Sylvanas had decided to stay perched on the now revived abomination she had killed, as it provided a suitable platform for her to snipe the Necromancers and Nerubians that were probably the biggest threat to their line right now given their lack of general ranged support.

It wasn't a critical moment when things changed, the Scourge weren't about to fell the last of the Guardians forming the rudimentary shield wall she had corralled into existence, such coincidences were the stuff of fairy tale.

Instead it was just after she cut down the last ghoul, that had climbed her 'mount' during one of her spoiling attacks, that hail twice or even three times the size of her fist began to fall from the sky over the encroaching horde. Then the very mist out of the air began to coalesce in front of their line, Water elementals the size of her abomination appearing with cracks of arcane power, before silently beginning their onslaught on the still attacking Scourge.

There were only two or three factions that used water magic to this extent still, and given the timing of their arrival, Sylvanas could count out most of them immediately. That left…

"Lady Sylvanas." Harry's voice from below and behind her cleared things up fairly quickly, though as she turned around she was somewhat surprised to see him stood with an old looking blue man and a dozen other blue people with horns and goat feet?

She decided to focus on the new arrival she did know, as the blue men were clearly ready to start a fight with anything that came near them.

"Lord Potter, I assume you are to thank for the sky currently falling on our enemies?" Whilst their last chat had cleared up some of the uncertainty between them, Sylvanas couldn't help but be slightly concerned at the cold and more than slightly hostile stance the Terran lord was currently taking.

Before he had a chance to reply though, one of the blue skinned people, a man dressed in plate armour and carrying a sword and shield interjected with clear anger in his voice.

"First you expect us to aid the Sin'dorei against this undead filth, and now you speak with one of them rather than cutting them down as the Light requires!" Sylvanas didn't even react as the blue man levelled his sword in her direction, that was the reaction of most Light worshippers whenever they met an undead, whether Scourge or Forsaken.

"We can discuss the realities of this new world when we are not in the midst of a pitched battle Luahen. Do not let your emotions get in the way of logic." When the old blue man spoke, his gravelly tone carried remarkably well over the mayhem going on around them, stepping forwards with remarkable vigour as most the remaining Blue men moved to protect him.

"Now, Lord Potter, if you could provide something to protect your… unliving acquaintances." Sylvanas was about to object, she had no need to be protected like a weak civilian, when the old blue man waved his staff in the direction of a group of ghouls charging towards him.

The crescent of light energy that erupted from the end of the staff was so bright Sylvanas jerked backwards, almost falling off her mount before she managed to catch herself, and despite being several metres away she could feel the 'heat' of the spell upon her skin. The strength of the spell turned the ghouls to ash before the main body of the wave could even impact them, leaving it to burn a hole deep into the Scourge lines before it impacted a small rise almost 100 metres from them

"Of course. I can use the opportunity to introduce her to Tral'laehri, as well as get the Horde's view on what her former brethren have been doing…" Given the defensive stances the blue men were still taking against the Blood Elves stood somewhat confusedly around them, Sylvanas had to assume that the two points were related, and that did not give her the impression this conversation was going to be one she enjoyed.

Guiding her abomination back, as an Earthen rampart began to rise from the ground between her and the old blue man, Sylvanas shooed the Blood Elves nearby away with an authority that was implied rather than officially given.

"Treat the wounded, recover the dead and prepare for a counter attack. I would prefer you not make our new allies more uncomfortable than they already are." Given that even her approach had caused the earlier blue man speaker to snarl in her direction, it clearly wouldn't take much to cause them to react violently.

"O-of course Lady Sylvanas, as you say." The hostility they were receiving, both from the blue men and the 'Saviour of Quel'thalas' was clearly impacting the Blood Elves' resurgent morale, but as her Dark Rangers finished joining her behind the Earthen wall Harry had constructed, she could feel the magic of the spell the old blue man was preparing.

If he was anywhere near as capable with magic as Harry or even Sylvanas when she truly let loose, then Sylvanas was pretty sure the Blood Elves wouldn't be required as front line combatants any longer.

"In answer to your earlier question Lady Sylvanas, yes I am the reason Lady Proudmoore is here. We didn't anticipate having to deal with the Scourge when we arrived however, I have some of my people explaining to Lady Tyrande and Archdruid Staghelm about the delay to their forces arrival." The casual way in which Har- Lord Potter named dropped three of the most powerful people on Azeroth was only emphasised a moment later, a bright light erupted from the other side of the Earthen shield strong enough to make Sylvanas cover her eyes and several of her Dark Rangers cry out in pain. After several moments the spots in her eyes had cleared enough for Sylvanas to be able to peer around the barricade, though she managed to only have a quick glance around their cover before she was forced to withdraw once more.

"That's quite the powerful group to assemble Lord Potter, especially if you weren't expecting to fight the Scourge." Though she managed to maintain her voice in a level tone and manner, Sylvanas felt she was understating things more than a little, as her mind processed what she had been able to see during her glance.

The almost constant dark clouds that covered the majority of the Southern Quel'thalas had disappeared for almost half a league to the South of them, and the intensity of the sunlight that was pouring through that gap had burnt the attacking Scourge to the point that the smell of burnt flesh was already filling the air. The larger Scourge were still alive for the most part, but the Ghouls and other weaker Scourge were dealt with in a manner that most Necromancers wouldn't be able to repair on this battlefield.

So that begged the question Sylvanas thought, as she looked back at the grimly smiling Terran, who she knew could easily do the same level of damage if needed.

If they hadn't brought so many powerful individuals to fight the Scourge, what had they brought them here for...

!"£$%^&*()_+

Undercity Throne Room, Late afternoon the next day

Varimathras , Dreadlord and Visier of the Forsaken

It was quite raucous in the Throne Room of 'his' Queen at the moment, given the unexpected return of the two Dark Rangers from the Queen's bodyguard, asking for Forsaken forces to be sent to aid the Blood Elves in their attempts to retake the city and to help Sylvanas in her attempts to combat the Scourge there.

Given the 'tireless' work that he had put into ensuring the defences of the Undercity since the Rise of the Forsaken, Varimathras had ensured that the city was secure enough that a considerable amount of the Undercity's fighting strength could be spared to follow their Queen's orders, particularly the Dark Rangers and other former High Elves who held fond memories of their homeland still.

As the last of the gathered leaders and warriors left the room, many of them going to prepare their men and gather their equipment, Varimathras allowed himself to finally move from where he had been stood to lounge in the large throne with a truly demonic expression on his face.

What none of these fools would realise is that the two Dark Rangers had been in his thrall almost from the first minute they had arrived by Portkey, in the side chamber from the throne room Sylvanas and her guards used for hearthstone transportation. It was a power he had deliberately underplayed since Sylvanas had 'recruited' him at arrow point, and was the reason he had several 'advocates' amongst the Forsaken hierarchy that he wouldn't have had otherwise.

It had been a little bit of a risk, especially if the Banshee Queen had followed shortly afterwards, but Varimathras had always been a bit of a risk taker. He had therefore had almost the whole day to plot and plan, revealing the arrival of the two Rangers only when he knew exactly what he wanted to do. The stupid fools had lapped up the 'truths' that they had been fed, and as such Varimathras now had an… opportunity available to him.

"To ask me to come to this… City personally is quite the risk brother, especially as your Queen thinks that you personally killed me…" Varimathras snorted in amusement at the disgust in Balnazzar's voice, as the 'deceased' Dreadlord strode from the Hearthstone point in his disguise as Grand Crusader Dathrohan.

Personally, Varimathras thought that Balnazzar's current disguise was more likely to get them killed if they were found. Given the actions of the Scarlet Crusade against the Forsaken over the last few years, the fact that there was a second Dreadlord in the Undercity would probably be explainable in comparison.

"Well Balnazzar, I am sure that your agents in the Undercity have told you that Sylvanas isn't here right now, otherwise you wouldn't have turned up in the first place. Now, as much as I am sure you want to spend some time reminiscing about the past, I have a proposition for you that may allow us to cripple the Horde and reclaim the Plaguelands from these insignificant pests…"

Varimathras could tell he had Balnazzar's attention, his brother had always been remarkably easy to read, at least from his perspective. So, leaning forward on 'his' chair, Varimathras continued.

"Of course, with my Queen in so much trouble in Quel'thalas against that cretin Dar'Khan, I couldn't help but send a sizable force of her most loyal warriors to aid her. Of course, such a large force would have to travel through the Plaguelands to reach her, and there are so many unfortunate events that can occur to such a force as it travels through there." Such as a Scarlet Crusade ambush, or perhaps even walking into a swarm of 'Scourge' that their third brother had been secretly been gathering over the years for just an occasion like this.

"Which of course means that your followers here are suddenly in control for when Sylvanas returns… Though I don't understand how even her death will cripple the Horde in the way you are describing." Balnazzar's comment told Varimathras that he had the other Dreadlord on board, but as his newest pet brought a bottle of aged Lordaeron wine from Sylvanas' personal stores, Varimathras decided to dangle the carrot fully in front of his former leader.

"Well, according to Allera here, Sylvanas is wanting to bring all of the Horde leaders here for a meeting about the Blood Elves and their potential admission to the Horde…" It took a moment, and then Balnazzar began to chuckle, becoming a full laugh seconds later.

Yes, Varimathras thought as he joined in for a moment before taking a sip of the wine Allera had just poured for him.

Things were going according to plan…

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A/N: And there we go!

Sorry for the long delay here everyone, this chapter took a lot of work to work out where I wanted it to go and which bits to show and which bits to imply.

I hope the longer than average length makes up for this somewhat, but I cannot offer more than that right now.

Plot development on both continents, trouble brewing between the Blood Elves and the Draenei (But in a much more IN YOUR FACE manner than happened in 'canon'), and some awkward questions for Lor'themar and the other Blood Elves in the near future.

Also I have revealed that not all the changes caused by Harry's arrival have been positive, hopefully that answers some of the questions about why I wanted Harry to visit the Undercity…

I have put up a poll on my profile, about rewriting the earlier sections of the story, as has been brought up by reviews. Please check it out and let me know what your preferences are.

As always, review and let me know what you think guys!

Defias Out.