Cycle of Hatred

"Like hell," Aegwy

It had been almost four years since she brought Medivh back. That had drained all her magic at the time, as she'd told Jaina—but the magic never went away forever. Two decades after she had escaped to Bladescar, she had built up enough magical power to bring back her son. While she hadn't regained anywhere near that much in the four years since, she might well have enough to do what was necessary. If not—well, she'd lived almost a full mille

Sweat was now pouring down Jaina's face. She was still kneeling, fists clenched and resting on her thighs. Aegwy

Down on one knee at Jaina's side, Aegwy

And then to Jaina.

Fatigue rather suddenly overwhelmed her. Her bones felt heavy in her skin, her muscles ached as if she had just run a race, and her breaths came in shallow gasps. Ignoring all of it, Aegwy

Jaina opened her eyes. Normally an icy blue, they were now a fiery red.

No!

Simultaneously, both Aegwy

You ca

Zmodlor's screams echoed—not only off the walls, but from the mouths of the warlocks, who felt sympathetic agony through the bond the demon had with them. Though Aegwy

A wind kicked up as the air itself was rent asunder by the spell Aegwy

Noooooooo! I won't let you trap me aga—

The demon's words were cut off by his head being sucked in.

But the screams continued from the warlocks, even as the ground shook under Aegwy

The tear closed—but the cavern was still shaking.

Showing a soldier's capacity for stating the obvious, Lorena said, "We've got to get out of here!"

But Aegwy

One of the stalactites ripped from the cave roof with a sharp crack and impaled the floor less than a hands—breadth from where Aegwy

Aegwy

Then she passed out.

Epilogue

Once again, Lady Jaina Proudmoore stood atop the butte on Razor Hill, gazing out over Durotar.

Soon, she heard the low, steady rumble that heralded the arrival of Thrall's airship. This time, the Warchief came with an honor guard, most of whom remained in the undercarriage while he climbed down the rope ladder to greet Jaina. One warrior, whom Jaina did not recognize, came down after him. When they alighted on the butte, the warrior stood three paces behind Thrall, holding his ax at the ready in front of him.

Smiling wryly, Jaina said, "Do you not trust me, Thrall?"

Thrall returned the smile. "My own closest advisor betrayed me, Jaina. I think it's best if I remain alert at all times—and with someone watching my back."

"A wise move."

"Is the threat truly ended?"

Jaina nodded. "It would appear to be. Zmodlor and the warlocks who performed his magicks have been banished to the Twisting Nether. Even the Burning Legion would be hard—pressed to liberate them—and so minor a demon would hardly be worth the effort."

"Well done. I only wish it could have been accomplished before blood was spilled u

Sighing, Jaina said, "We were very lucky, Thrall. Zmodlor may have been responsible for this, but he simply brought up hatreds that were already there. Look at how easily your people and mine took to killing each other at Northwatch."

"Indeed. It was far easier for our people to cooperate with the Burning Legion as a common enemy. Now…" His voice trailed off.

Silence hung in the air for a few moments before Jaina spoke again. "Before, I said that after this crisis was solved, we would speak of a treaty between our people."

"Yes. If this alliance is to outlive the two of us—and it must, if both humans and orcs are to survive—then we must formalize our alliance."

"I suggest we meet one week from today at Ratchet—it's a neutral port, and we can work out the specifics."

"Agreed. I shall bring Kalthar—he is the wisest of us."

Jaina couldn't help herself. "Wiser even than the Warchief?"

Thrall laughed. "Far far wiser than he. It will be done, Jaina."

"Excellent. Farewell, Thrall. I will see you in a week."

"Farewell, Jaina. May we come out of this crisis stronger than ever."

Nodding, Jaina cast the spell that would bring her back to her chambers.

Aegwy

Jaina had barely enough left in her to teleport the three of them to a spot a ways down on Dreadmist Peak, away from the mist. She could not take them any farther than that; somehow, she had dredged up enough to contact Theramore and have an airship come to fetch them.

Although Jaina was fairly ragged when the dirigible rescued them, Aegwy

Sure enough, she recovered fully. She now sat in the guest chair in Jaina's chambers. "About time you got back."

"I see you've recovered fully, Magna—your tongue included."

Aegwy

Jaina fell more than sat in her own chair, feeling rather tired. She wouldn't have minded a few days to recover from the ordeal herself, but had been unable to take the time. There was no chamberlain to fob off some of the work on to. Duree had handled as much as she could, but as useful as she was, she could not deal with any of the more complex aspects of ru

She regarded Aegwy