World's End by Ashagga

[Keeper Of Lore]

"That's all, Yichi. Just go ask them one more time."

When the Tauren shaman turned around, the rogue was gone. She was already sneaking toward the Cavern that led to Hillsbrad, plan firmly set in mind. This was no ill-conceived half-notion. She had a real plan.

[Keeper Of Lore]

Yichimet walked through the cave mouth, down the long path that he once knew as a cave full of yeti, stinking and mewling and collecting the shiny coins that their prey carried on them. He could not see Ashagga anymore; either she was in the shadows behind him or she had turned. He trusted her judgment, though, and emerged from the cave yet again wearing pink skin and feeling slightly ill.

"I told you," Erozion said. "Nothing you or that orc can say will bring a turn in my mind."

Yichimet looked at him coldly. He was a dragon, much too powerful for Yichimet to handle. And he seemed to know more than Yichimet would have hoped: who was he referring to? Was "that orc" Ashagga?

"I do this for no one, Erozion, but right now I beg you," Yichimet said. "My sister could save herself and her family from so much..."

[Keeper Of Lore]

As Yichimet distracted the dragon, Ashagga moved past them both, deeper into the wilderness of Hillsbrad. She didn't honestly know whether the dragon didn't see her or simply didn't care. Either way, Erozion made no move to stop her. Either way, Ashagga continued with her plan.

If she'd done everything right... yes. She glanced over her shoulder and grinned. Next to Yichimet, she saw herself, literally. She'd already begun to do SOMETHING right. Time was a little more flexible here. That meant...

She looked up as the shadow crossed over her, stopped moving, stopped even the pretense of stealth. The massive bronze dragon landed with a snarling crash in front of her, its eyes wide with anger.

"You dare?! You have come here, tampering with the fabric of time, and you expect to be left free and alive?"

Ashagga grinned impudently. "You're early, dragon. I haven't done anything to tamper with time, yet."

The dragon gestured at her other self with a massive claw. "And yet, there lies proof that you WILL, if left unchecked."

"No, there lies proof that I will, period. If that copy of myself weren't there, then you'd have stopped me before I did anything." She glanced back, noted that neither herself nor Yichimet were moving. "We're in a pocket of time, aren't we?"

"Yes. Your allies cannot see or hear us. To them, we are but an eyeblink."

Ashagga nodded. "Right. So, how's this going to work? Aren't you bound to leave me be until I commit some infraction?" The dragon snorted, but did not reply. "And when I do, it's your duty to fix it, isn't it? Not prevent it, not this late into the game. The fact that I've got a temporal doppelganger kind of proves that you're too late. Or will be too late. Or something."

The dragon glared. "You are impertinent."

"I have to be. The Infinite Dragonflight's been giving you right hell, hasn't it? Hard to keep up with everything that's going on? I mean, even with your powers, you can't be everywhen at once. So, occasionally things slip through the cracks, like when you're talking to Yichimet and someone like me sneaks in." Ashagga grinned. "Don't worry. I don't plan to muck up the timestream."

"What you plan and what you do may be unrelated."

"Maybe, but I don't think so. I need a favor from you, and I know you can't grant it directly. I helped you when Thrall needed saving, and I helped you when Medivh needed protecting. Now, I need you to help me, and all you have to do in order to do so is to do your damned job."

The dragon roared in frustration. "You dare to demand a favor from us?!"

"Yes, I do. I demand payment for services rendered, and I'm picking the way it happens. So... are you going to help, or are you going to risk breaking time even more by stopping me before I do what I'm supposed to do?"

Between one moment and the next, the dragon was gone, and Ashagga could move freely. She glanced over her shoulder at the pair by the cave, sighing softly. She'd never be the same again. Shaking her head, she started sprinting toward Durnholdt.

She had little time. Every moment she was here weakened the fabric of time more and more, and her leverage only went so far. As she snuck into the Lordaeron keep, she pulled a long, cloth-wrapped package from her pack, grasping the hilt that jutted out. Sul'thraze. Just feeling it in her hand made her think twice about her course of action, but she forced herself to continue. This was too important to fail now.

She leapt down into the cavernous holding area for the orcs, lighting silently atop one of the buildings. She lowered herself to the ground behind the shack and snuck quietly into the building. There, she spotted the orc family, saw herself when she was so young... saw the other, saw the sickness in both of them.

She approached the father of the family, who stood looking defeated. They all did, utterly lethargic. He did not even look up as Ashagga, cloaked in human illusion, approached with a sword. None of them so much as batted an eye when she drew Sul'thraze.

"This is my gift to you, father. It's not Mannoroth, but it will have to do." She took the older orc's hand and wrapped the fingers gently around the sword's hilt.

Almost immediately, she could see the blade's effect on the orc. He straightened, his eyes blazing with a new fire. She saw, for an instant, Warneshi's hatred blaze in those eyes, and then the blade was hefted with a roar. She felt it cleave through her body, and then she felt only numbness.

[Keeper Of Lore]

Ashagga stepped through the portal from the Caverns proper to Old Hillsbrad, and smiled when she saw Yichimet talking to Erozion. She stepped up beside them, glancing past her shaman friend and noting herself disappearing into the distance. Good. She'd been put back right where she planned.

"Yichi... it's all right. Everything's taken care of." She smiled at him, giving him a knowing wink. She turned to Erozion, bowed deeply. The dragon scowled at her. "Thank you, Erozion. Thank you and your Keepers. Your debt has been fully paid, and, in fact, I feel I now owe you."

"That you do, Ashagga Wolfskin, but I doubt you will get the chance to repay it. You have caused much damage, and were it not for the link inside you and your actions in the Pale Between, you would be no more. As it stands, you are too dangerous to allow back into the Caverns of Time."

Ashagga bowed again, accepting her exile. She didn't care. She'd actually managed to get rid of everything, and she was, finally, herself again. The only voice in her head was her own. Even Mannoroth's curse had dimmed to a manageable degree.

She looked up to Yichimet and grinned impishly at the look of confusion on the Tauren's face. "We're done here. And you won't need to send those letters."

"Sister... I don't understand..."

"I'll explain more momentarily. Come on... I need to leave this place."

[Keeper Of Lore]

Ashagga felt the numbness spreading through her limbs, felt cold follow in its wake. She knew she was bleeding to death, but she smiled. She saw, as her vision began to blur, her mother shielding herself and her sister, and her father slashing Sul’thraze through guard after human guard.

Mid-swing, time froze, leaving her father locked in a gruesome tableau of bloody vengeance. She felt cold hands on her arms lifting her up until she was sitting, resting against a crouching figure. She looked up, managed to recognize Erozion.

What have you done?

She shook her head. “I fixed it.” She could taste the blood on her lips. “I saved my sister, saved myself.”

You have doomed us all, child. You have undone the work you did once for us. You have weakened this critical juncture in history, and you have let THEM come!

He pointed to a series of black dragons and dragonkin nestled on the edges of the tableau, watching with a hideous glee. One of them turned to look at Ashagga, and she shuddered, realizing Erozion’s power did not keep them imprisoned.

“I knew they’d come. I planned for it.” She lifted her arm to point at her father, surprised at how much effort it took. “Sul’thraze has him, now. Let him move. Free him, and leave the soldiers. He will deal with the Infinites.”

Erozion shook his head. He is not enough. Not even with the sword.

“Then stand and fight them yourself!”

I am not enough. We need help.

Ashagga sighed wearily. She looked up at the swirling maelstrom in the sky, felt its siren pull, but once more, she denied herself that rest. “Then heal me. Bring Yichimet here. We will fight them with you.”

Erozion looked to the dragonflight and nodded. So be it. But you will not remember.

Ashagga felt her wounds close, felt strength return to her body. She stood as her father began to move again, freed from Erozion’s spell. She felt Yichimet’s strong presence at her back, and she slid her weapons onto her forearms. She smiled.

It seemed as though it were the next breath, but she knew time had passed. Her father and Yichimet were nowhere to be seen, and she stood not in Durnholdt, but inside the Caverns of Time, just beyond the portal to Hillsbrad. Erozion stood at her side, timeless as ever.

You have done grievous harm, Ashagga Wolfskin. No matter that you then helped repair it. You created a rift in time, and Nozdormu is not forgiving of such.

“I understood that Nozdormu wasn’t around.”

Your impertinence may go too far. Erozion sighed. I cannot punish you.

“I know… I did the right thing, and that comes with its own rewards.”

No, I mean I literally cannot. You have unhinged yourself from time, and so I cannot touch you.

“Oh.”

Nevertheless, there will be consequences, and you will feel them keenly. You have changed history, and so you will find your history changed as well. You have saved your sister, but you will never come to truly know her, for you are forever apart from her now. You will find another living your life, your doppelganger, saved by your own hand. Her life will be different, but it will still be yours, and you must watch her live it.

Ashagga nodded, though she didn’t even begin to understand.

Finally, the Caverns of Time are barred to you. Never again may you enter here. The Keepers of Time will stand guard, and when you leave, there will be no coming back.

Ashagga pursed her lips, but nodded. That had been the LEAST of what she had expected. “What of Yichimet? What of my father and Sul’thraze?”

Yichimet will remember nothing of these events. He, too, will be forever distant from you, a price you will pay. Your father is dead, part of the change you wrought. Sul’thraze has been broken into its twin swords once more, and they will find their way back to Zul’Farrak, where you will not be able to touch them.

Ashagga nodded and turned to go to Yichimet in Old Hillsbrad, to take him away from here, to tell him that the job was done. Erozion lifted a hand to stop her.

We did owe you one boon, and it is granted. You came here to rid yourself of Sul’thraze and to save your sister. We have granted you more. The Banshee Queen rode your thoughts, but we could not allow her to see battle against the Infinite Dragonflight. When we erased your memories and those of your shaman friend, we erased her touch as well. Whatever else you may now be, Ashagga, you are your own woman once more.

Ashagga smiled as Erozion disappeared. Turning, she entered Old Hillsbrad to collect Yichimet.