The world dropped away slowly and the Druid was absorbed in trying to find the proverbial needle in a haystack, a soul. His spirit searched the confines of the physical and finding nothing until suddenly he found the arrow wound. Something said "exit" to him and he approached the tear in he side. Suddenly he saw a strange effect emanating out from his vantage point from inside the wound...a blue undulating corridor, seeming to have space and continuity blossomed out and into the distant aether.
Orious did not hesitate, and launched his consciousness into the breach and out into the construct. Sill groping for understanding the Druid called out to the only being he felt might help him in this state...he called upon Yessera, she of the Emerald Dream...and as he continued to fly along the corridor...the field of his vision began to become more green and gold eventually focusing and he found himself bodily in a great primordial forest of mighty trees, green and gold, with tangled roots so large he had to pick a path through them for they were like ravines and hills. He came to an open space where a brook flowed through the grove and saw a young woman standing there. For a moment he thought, but no it was not she. "Come closer night elf, let me look upon you." the young woman said. Orious came near to her, and she turned. Her face was dominated by the most marvelous green eyes. The woman spoke "You called me did you not?" she said with a small smile "Speak your heart druid, for we are not strangers" "I seek one that has passed beyond" he said. "She is not here, my child. She is not of Azeroth and each planet has its own paradise." "Then I should seek her in the paradise of Draenor, before its destruction?" "I know the one you seek, I think you must seek farther...for she is not of Draenor, she was born on Argus, and thought she was but a young child when she came to Draenor, she is Eredar, untainted, but still of the realm of Argus." indicated Yessera. Orious pondered this. "But Argus is now surely destroyed or overrun by the Burning Legion" "Perhaps", said the dragon-woman, “but if Azeroth were totally destroyed, it is possible that this realm would survive in some aspect. These worlds that might have been, these planetary paradises, they are not like other matter in the universe, they are constructed of non localized matter, and their existence is held in a different state, thus they are eternal, and unchanging and very difficult to assault. Very like souls themselves” This was a lot for the druid to take in, and so he filed this away for later conjecture and faced Yessera "I must find her wherever she is". "Are you sure Orious?" she asked "For beyond my realm I cannot help at all, all I can send you with is my blessing and my ward” With that statement she took his hand and laid her hand upon his forearm. His arm stung briefly and he looked upon the mark she had raised upon his skin. It was a green dragon shape in raised clouds with a single green eye above. "This is me," she said "and this is my calling card to any like me out there. At least the planetary scions of Argus or wherever will know you have formidable friends" Orious bowed and as he arose he saw the dream was fading but as it went out of focus he could see a great green eye and he heard "Be true Orious and be blessed for many go with you this day...I sense them and they sense me, I am sending them the energy of the Emerald Dream, and am sending others to give aid to them where they stand." she said, and peering into the druids eyes she continued, "May you find whom you seek, but there is still a choice for you to make...and inevitably the right choice for you may be the wrong choice for the world...but you will make the choice you must make...you will bring her back, but in gaining her you will lose your dream of peace because you were never destined for peace on Azeroth my dear druid. Perhaps your only peace lies out there...consider this when you make the decision to return".
Then all faded away and the blue corridor wove onward and Orious followed its twists and turns, suddenly there was the sense of incredible acceleration and momentarily he found himself in a woodland. It was an upland wood, oak and fir-like trees, the temperature was cool and bracing but not cold. A cold presence seemingly regarded him and spoke in his mind. "You are not one of my children. Why have you come.”?”I have come following the paladin that has ventured here of late. I have come to redeem her." "She has free will even here, and I shall not prevent you. You are a brave soul and I give you my mark, that none in this realm may assail you." Once again his arm burned and he saw a word had been raised upon his arm in an ancient language.
He walked in the direction of least resistance, down hill and presently came to a clearing on the edge of an escarpment. Looking out over the cliff was a young draenae woman. He did not call to her, she knew he was here...he simply came forward to stand beside her and took her hand. "If I were in a joking mood, I'd ask you what took you so long", she said "but as time seems meaningless here, the joke would be rather pointless, as I feel I have been here forever and yet I only just arrived the moment before you did. The important thing is that you are here, and that you came for me." The druid put his arm across her shoulder, something that he'd never done before. This felt right. Presently she said, "Let’s walk" and they followed a path along the escarpment. From his peripheral vision Orious saw mirror images of themselves walking here and there. He saw this only if he concentrated, he could see other beings too, people and animals in his side vision or if he concentrated, meaning in his thought that many realities in this realm overlapped and could be altered with ones conscious mind. Otherwise they were utterly alone in the alien forest. He stopped and turned her around to face him. "I came to bring you back, you know this." "Yes, I know", she said. "But why can you not stay here with me. We have fought our wars Orious; perhaps someone else should fight them now. It is pleasant here, is it not, and the company is wonderful” She said this and smiled. "Yes, too true", he said "But if we fail to come back, what may befall Azeroth, worse yet what will happen to our friends, will they be pulled into death with us if they are unsuccessful at bringing us back?" She looked at him "I am weary of fighting Orious, I am tired and broken...and yet you risk all to come and fetch me...why?" Orious turned and looked into her eyes "You know the answer to that question."
She looked into golden eyes that looked for all the world like a great lion's eye, not the golden hazed orbs of a night elf, but the uncovered pupils that Brian had seen. "O my" she said and placed her palms and forearms on his chest as she leaned into him. How long they gazed into each others eyes they did not know...but something passed between them and they understood each other better ever after. From that moment onward, even in the realm of the living they shared much without speaking. It was not quite telepathy but an understanding and compassion they bore from that time onward. In this place where no language was needed, they walked and walked until finally he stopped. "We must go...they are depending upon us...I believe it is our duty and destiny to defend our world, whether native or adopted." "You would call me from the borders of paradise?" asked the paladin. "I must" said the druid "for I cannot do this without you. But I cannot go back without you either, for I haven't the heart to leave you." "What if things never work out the way you dream, my dear druid?" "What if we fail, what if we never reach peace for our world or our own happiness? You know my situation there, somewhere my betrothed may yet live and I must find him if I may, and until I do, or find he has passed on, things will simply go on the way they have. Here all of that is meaningless." said Lovetails. Orious lowered his eyes. He thought of what Yessera had said and inwardly agonized but he looked at her and said "The next time I follow and we will not leave. We will have peace, be it in our world or the next, but it cannot be now, destiny is not done with us yet." She smiled at him and said "Let it be as you wish then. We will return." She felt then that she melted into a golden moment of joy and sadness equally joined, and he at that moment felt the world had fallen from beneath him and the sadness of the vast lonely universe had swallowed him up and he knew no more.
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