Remember the Sunwell

Tyd and others found the magical theories subjects one of the most boring, but it was essential. Unlike the other classes with tutors and a small number of students, larger numbers were with lecturers. His lecturer was a tall, old, and an unassuming Human. He sat at one of the rear rows in the lecture hall, preparing to take notes.

The old lecturer moved his hands to get a chalk to write on the board. “Okay, class.” He announced. “Today’s magical theory lesson would be on the Sunwell.”

The class went silent to listen.

The lecturer walked to the centre of the hall. “The Sunwell was the source of magic for the Quel’dorei and later the Sin’dorei.” He explained. “Both civilisations centred themselves on the magic from the Sunwell.”

Tyd saw how seriously his classmates took the lesson. Non-Elves, were fidgeting, while Elves like Ari industriously took notes.

“...This power, much like the Well of Eternity attracted the attention of those that wanted to use it’s power. But the Quel’dorei remembered the preceding Kal’dorei and placed runestones to prevent the energy from reaching the Twisting Nether…”

It was the next part that stopped note scribbling.

“...Arthas Menethil sought to use the Sunwell for his own ends. His army of the undead Scourge invaded Quel’thalas…”

Motion from all Elves in the room stopped. Many here were alive during the time. It brought some to relapse.

“...Most of the population were wiped out. The lack of the Sunwell brought serious shifts in Quel’dorei culture, leading to the Sin’dorei by majority of the survivors…”

The Elves in the room reacted negatively to the lecture. Much of them were stoic and left abruptly. Some, with memories of the past left with their emotions. Tyd also joined the ones that chose to leave, visibly angry with the careless handling of the lecturer.

He heard the varying reactions as he walked past.

“Some Nether of a lecturer.”

“It could’ve been handled better.”

“Always claiming the moral high ground.”

He himself was also disgusted. It was a surprise that Dalaran found just the worst person to do the job.

There was a Goblin that eyed at the leaving students strangely. It looked like he enjoyed the sight.

Tyd got as angry with the Goblin as much as he is with the lecturer. “Look, don’t you have time to do something better than lurking here?” He asked.

The tiny stranger smiled. “You look like you have free time?” he brought out a hand. “Name is Minutus, I’m asking if you have time.”

The Half-Elf stared skeptically. “What if I do?” He asked.

Minutus smiled. “This will be worth your day!” He promised. “What if I can say I can take you to Quel’thalas with the Sunwell before it went… POW!”

Tyd looked as if he was with Werner after weed again. “You’re just exploiting us.” He hissed.

The Goblin brought a stopwatch. “Hey look at this!” He grabbed his attention.

Tyd saw for a minute, but the watch was used to knock him to the ground. He felt dizzy...

***

Tyd has found himself awake not at his quarter as he would expect from falling unconscious, but somewhere he remembers. The breeze hit his body, now in a blue robe he doesn’t recall having. There was a river nearby, he went to see the reflection to have a better view, but his ears was as long as his mother’s, his green contacts gone, and shining blue like a High Elf. He wondered if it was a dream, but touching the water felt too convincing to be reality. The Goblin actually did it?

He was suddenly brought up by an Elf archer. Her eyes were blue as gems, hair blonde as dawn hidden under an azure hood. “What are you doing Mage?!” She berated him. “The Scourge has breached the first Elfgate! You are to assist in the defence!”

Before he can say anything, she disappeared quick. The Scourge? A High Elf? He saw a dragonhawk fly in the distance. It was Quel’thalas. He was somehow brought back to the past. If he can die in this place, he has no time to just stand.

Rumbling sounds came from the other side of the river. He saw them, mindless undeads, the repulsive ghouls, the revolting meat wagons and the despicable necromancers. There were screeches of dragonhawks coming from the other side, flying over him and carrying magi garbed in gold and blue. From above they casted spells to stop the undead advance, and it looked like they were winning. Soon, the Half-Elf’s hopes were pinned when webs from the newly arrived cryptfiends tangled the wings of the flying creatures. They fell and became helpless victims.

Tyd ran, sweating his fears. He had to find others and regroup. He swore that he will not die here and accidentally end up in history books. He saw a village close to him, which might have a garrison defending it. He sped to it with Blink, but soon saw zeppelins. Treacherous Goblins (with apologies to a good friend) sold the zeppelins to the Scourge, allowing them to cross. Ghouls plunged down to the roofs, and the settlement was clearly gone before he could help. Tyd had to find another village.

With further runs and Blinks, there was a new village. He ran to it, and found other defenders gathering to it. There was the Elf ranger again, hiding her anger on the shortcomings of the defence. He walked to her as she was instructing a squad of rangers. “Mage!” She roared at him. “What were you doing when the Key of the Three Moons are being assembled by the Scourge?! You were meant to defend each piece with your life! Nevermind, here stands the last piece! They must not get it, or they will open the last Elfgate!”

Tyd could only nod, knowing the importance if an Elf had to scold him to his ears. “Yes, ma’am.” He mumbled.

Shortly, they saw the undead, crudely marching in. The Elven defenders prepared their weapons. “Fire at will!” The Elf ordered. Soon, arrows rained onto the enemy. Tyd joined the defence, casting flamestrike at concentrations of undead, seeing their flesh and bones burned by flames. He focused on dense mobs to fight them off in larger numbers.

Despite high casualties, they got closer closer. Warriors prepared their blades, and the Half-Elf drew the Kusanagi. The undead reached the grounds of the village, and skirmishes with hands began. Tyd once again seeked the larger concentration to hold them back. He channeled his fire to the wind created by his sword, creating a tornado that spread fire to the blobs of rot. As he held the line, ranges moved inwards.

Observing how they can’t win at this rate, the female Elf whistled. “Withdrawl!” She ordered.

Her troops, though some wanting to protest reluctantly agreed to leave.

As Tyd was joining the retreat, he saw a ranger attacked by a ghoul. He quickly cast a pyroblast to scorch it. The ranger’s hood fell, showing her dark hair and more visible cerulean eyes. “I owe you one.” She whispered, before joining the retreat.

The Elves regrouped close to the Elfgate. Each defence by them saw the fall in numbers. Priests did their best to heal the injured as quick. Tyd was covered in sweat, and placed his sword back into the scabbard. He saw the Elf again, sweating as much as him, but hiding expressions of tiredness. Before he could speak to her, she was met by another ranger. “Ranger General, we found the Goblins that sold the Zeppelins.” He reported.

The woman frowned. “War profiteers.” She hissed. “Did you acquire the zeppelins as ordered?” She asked.

The ranger nodded. “Yes.” He answered. “The dragonhawk riders that were requested as reinforcements arrived as well.”

She covered her mouth in thought. “We will make a swift attack while the Scourge are licking their wounds.” She declared. “With the gunship, we will decimate them, and prevent them from opening the Elfgate.”

Tyd heard the plan. He remembers history now. Even this plan won’t stop the Scourge.

While deep in his thoughts to remember the era, the Ranger General walked to him. “You have proven yourself to be a capable mage.” She commended, though not as brightly as expected in peace. “We will require another mage to take a dragonhawk.”

The Half-Elf nodded. “It will be my honour.” He accepted, though knowing it still won’t stop the Scourge.

He walked to a field which he saw crude zeppelins, and the noble dragonhawks. He saw the creatures with dawn-coloured plumes and grabbed one in the reins. The flying machine soon departed loudly, with the dragonhawk riders following.

The riders flew until the Scourge encampment was found. Below them was the Ranger General, scouting from the ground. The dragonhawks swooped down to launch the attack, and Tyd followed. Barrage of magic hit the attackers and their buildings. The flamestrikes he casted once more charred the hated husks.

It looked like their numbers were decreasing but it was false hope once again. Tyd caught the sight of flying webs, and skillfully dodged them. Others started to fall. Below the ground, there were more of the undead, lunging into the fallen riders. The zeppelin fell victim as well, the wings stopping the propellers and make it crash. Caught off-guard, a web snarled his own dragonhawk, making him fall. He rolled as he hit with some scratches, but he had to retreat now. He saw the Ranger General ordering another retreat. He and the survivors followed.

At the Elfgate again. The survivors saw the raid party returning in decimated shape. The Ranger General hid her frustration once again. “The raid has failed.” She announced with honesty. “But this will not be our end. The Scourge is coming here, and we will not let them into Silvermoon! We, the Quel’dorei will stop them here!”

The soldiers, though tired rallied. They were determined to protect Quel’thalas. They are a proud people that will defend their lands until they bleed dry. Tyd began to feel crushed. It was another false hope as he saw. He knows the Ranger General had not much hope as well.

Some of the rangers climbed to the wall. The remaining ranger stood by the gates with the warriors. The Half-Elf was pointed to the wall also to perform ranged strikes.

The Scourge arrived like a flood of corpses. The rangers shot their arrows again, but it looked like nothing can truly stop them. Even when Tyd’s flamestrike did damage, more filled it’s place.

Soon, none of the defenders on the ground were left. A man in black armour walked to the gate as he shrugged off attacked. The Half-Elf saw him and when he did, he suddenly felt a chill. The man, pales in skin and hair glared back, coldly gloating the victory as the Key of the Three Moons were brought to the gates. They slammed open, leaving it open for Death to enter.

The Ranger General gritted her teeth as she watched. “Retreat!” She ordered. “Our fight is not over yet! The Quel’dorei will not die to the undead!”

Tyd watched as she withdrew to the woods surrounding Silvermoon. Others followed. Tyd watched, but the dark-haired ranger nodded for him to join as well. He left with her to regroup with the rest. At this moment, he remembered the Ranger General is none other than Sylvanas Windrunner.

***

Multiple attempts were made to stop the advance, but it only wore down numbers. Sylvanas tried to call for help, but Silvermoon was quiet. They had their base opposite to the Scourge, divided by a river and connected only by a single bridge.

Tyd was in horror as he was brought to the start of the darkest hour of his people. While his people would be the Genji, he was nonetheless an Elf and always considered them his people as well. It was some prank to bring him to the past, make him watch helplessly as history took it’s course. The ranger earlier saw him, but she had her own worries too.

The Ranger General took notice of him. “Rest for now.” She instructed. “You and others fought as well against the undead. More mages like you are needed here.”

He nodded. “Thank you, Ranger General.” He replied.

She turned to find another wave of the Scourge coming. “We will talk later after the Scourge is finished.”

Tyd and the unnamed ranger prepared for the fight. It was the same results as before as the undead outnumbered them, routing out the Elves with no sign of wear. His flamestrikes were useless now but continued to fight on, behind him was the ranger, firing her arrows. Although his sword kept the ghouls away, he became tired. They decided to find the Ranger General to join her in the last stand.

Sylvanas continued to fight alone as he saw. They ran to her, joining the fray by cutting down the approaching undead with his sword. She saw him. “You did too well.” She commented on his arrival. “If we had more of you, it could have turned the tide of the battle.” With no hesitation she passed him a token of blue and gold, with the mark of the Windrunner. “With Ranger Captain Laeara, bring this to Silvermoon. Warn the others.”

He took it and had a look. He knew that she realised that she can’t survive another day. He would be the last attempt to warn Silvermoon. He and the ranger ran out of the collapsing base, blinking through the Scourge to safety. He stopped to find a brief duel between the black-armoured man and the Ranger General. Though she resisted to the end, the man bested her. He grabbed her by the neck with one arm, and the other went to the chest. A banshee was being made out of the Elf, and Tyd had to let fate happen. He fled to Silvermoon with only the token meaning bleak news.

***

Tyd saw the gates of Silvermoon. It was coloured with blue, than red as he always remembered. He ran a long distance, further tired. The ranger was as tired.

Before they can reach, some magic paused her from moving. The Half-Elf turned to see necromancers before they shed their guise to AZUI agents. “You know you are being misled here, don’t you?” One of them addressed him.

Tyd looked in disbelief. “What do you mean?” He asked.

The agent sighed. “The Infinite dragonflight, is using you to change history.” He explained. “You’re trying to save Silvermoon, which would stop the Scourge from using the Sunwell to bring back Kel’thuzad, stop the Burning Legion before they get to Mount Hyjal, Kael’thas won’t go on his quest to avenge his people, and in the end, prevent the Union from forming all together. You have been played.”

He tried to digest what was being said to him.

The agent saw how utterly confused he was with the risks of time travel. “You’re stopping the Blood Elves from existing along with changing many major events in Azerothian history.” He said as he looked over to another agent. “No Union, they won’t form CDC with your father. He won’t meet your mother. Wham, and now have become somewhat of a grandfather paradox… Like that Phil from Roswell. Phil, front and center, what’s changed in the universe?” To add to the point, the other man ran up.

The man pulled out a PDA. “Effects have been profound. Several states on Earth have been in a state of war for several years. NCR has fallen to the Enclave, making them somewhat of a galactic threat.” He looked through the data. “Wait, wait, Equestria has been consumed by something. This is not good. Not good at all.”

The leader walked up and looked at the pad. “Well, fuck, it’s-”

Tyd looked dumbstruck, and looked at himself as the disguise magic faded. He found himself close to disappearing.

The leader pointed to the man named Phil. “Phil, he’s destabilizing!”

Phil quickly ran over, pointing a funny looking machine at him. It fired a beam at him, he no longer felt as if he was going to disappear.

The leader gave a sigh of relief. “Temporal destabilization, you’ll be good for the next half an hour, after that, every single one of your molecules will start tearing themselves apart.” He sighed “You can still save yourself and everyone you love though.” He state. “You have to right all your wrongs. The Infinite would realise their plan didn’t work, and see that they’ll have to get their hands dirty. Just hold them off and distract them. We’ll do the rest.”

The Half-Elf turned to the suspended ranger.

The agent looked at her. “Oh, her. I’m sorry, but she’s meant to die today before she could reach the city. We’ll keep her like this until you kill her, it’s much easier this way.”

Tyd shook his head. “Her too?” He asked with shock.

He nodded. “Yeah.” He replied as he threw a strange device to the Half-Elf. “She’ll alert the city, giving them enough time to mount a proper defence..” Seeing the device working as it casted a holographic image around him, he sighed. “You’re a Death Knight, Tyd. You have to do it.”

Tyd saw the new disguise created, now in night-coloured armour. “I’m a what?” He asked but found them all gone. All that was in the way was the ranger. He reluctantly drew his sword, and lunged it to her heart.

As the suspending magic faded, she fell to the floor. Gasping for her life, she felt the wound that was made. “B-Bel…” she muttered as the light in her eyes faded. It sounded like she tried to say a name. Perhaps she was a mother.

Tyd, while tired now had to suppress the regret to his decision. He carried the cold corpse away from the road, hid it behind a wide tree, and sealed her eyes. He whispered last rites in Old Genji, hoping that her spirit would be in peace. With the first paradox fixed he ran away from the city, leaving Fate to run her mercy.

***

From afar, he saw the Scourge get closer. The battles started again. This time, he sighted the first banshees. He saw the defences falling, as how it should be.

There was something coming out of the walls. It seemed to be cracks coming out of them. They were the infinite dragonflight that the AZUI warned him about. As they entered, no High Elf remained at the gate to see them, and they attacked the Scourge wave.

Tyd jumped to the gates to fight the dragons. Though they were tougher opponents than the ghouls, his divine sword made short work of them. He was still tired, but he felt he can hold on.

A larger scar-like rift appear to reveal a Chrono Lord. With one swipe from his halberd, the Scourge wave was destroyed. “We thought you would be smarter than this, you are condemning thousands to die, we are trying to save them!.” It proclaimed.

The Half-Elf attempted to attack, but the large dragon blocked it. “Minutum.” He recognised the dragon, who was previously disguised as the shady goblin earlier.

The Chrono Lord laughed. “And you’re right.” It gloated, swinging it’s halberd towards him but avoided easily.

Tyd looked at his surroundings. “I was a fool to believe changing history had little consequences.” He remarked bitterly. He jumped to a tree to give him the height to strike at the dragon’s head.

Minutum used it’s off-hand to smack him to the city wall. “And a fool to oppose such a change. You shall die with your kin” It mocked. With it’s unwitting prey on the ground, it prepared to plunge it’s weapon into the skull of the Half-Elf.

The sound of a high calibre rifle was heard and a bright light lanced towards the dragon. He couldn’t react as the round ripped right through him.

The Dragon roared as he exploded into a bright light.

Tyd saw Minutum was no more. What was left of it were ashes. He turned to see the AZUI agents. “I guess we’re safe now.” He concluded.

The agent nodded. “We are.” He answered. ”The timeline is correcting itself.” There were sounds of rumbling again. “And we should get out of here.” Another agent teleported them away from the gates.

They appeared at a hill where Silvermoon was visible. Tyd watched on as the city burned, it’s people being massacred. “So it’s done.”

The agent nodded. “It’s never easy.” He agreed. “Only a rare kind of person can have what it takes to be a Temporal Agent.”

The Half-Elf’s disguise faded. He was back in his normal clothes, and more visible with no risk of disappearing. In his pocket was the Ranger General’s commendation. “I think I want to leave this place.” He requested.

The agent saw him. “The Temporal Agency, wishes to remind you not to attempt to alter the timeline in any further ways..” He concluded. “This was a rather big event you tried to alter, but any small event you try to change can have far reaching consequences. Phil, send us back.” He ordered Phil to set up a small machine that returned them to the present… right into the Caverns of time. The leader looked back at him. “I hope you like doing paperwork, because after what you’ve did… well, you’ve got an assload of forms to sign and reports to write.”

***

Tyd tried to collected his thoughts on the other day. It hit him worse than that lecturer. The last time he heard about the lecturer, he “slipped on a peel with a gunshot to the groin”. The Elves were glad to see him gone, and Dalaran placed a Hozen until a better substitute can be found.

He spent much of the day avoiding contact with others, trying to find some solace alone in the corner of the Filthy Animal. The only thing to remember the ordeal was Windrunner’s Commendation, continuing to look at it and ignore the battered fish and chips before him.

Ari was there again. He got used to her approaching him silently. “You’re… Upset about yesterday too?” She asked quiety.

Tyd placed the medal away. “Oh, Ari?” He react to her presence. “Yeah. I was angry. I felt such sensitive subject should’ve been taken care of better.”

She nodded slowly. “I know... my sister would’ve been mad.” She agreed.

He understood what she meant. “You did hear about what happened to the teacher?” He asked her.

She meekly nodded again. “Some accident.” The High Elf answered. “It doesn’t look like anyone would miss him too much. There are rumours that he was… a spy?”

The mention of spies prompted him to change the subject. “Sorry, I’m going to a question I had in mind for a while.” He apologised. “If you had the power to change the past, would you?”

Ari just looked at him and sighed. “I'm probably not the best person to ask. My brain says, no but… my heart says yes. Who wouldn’t want to save their loved ones. Even if it did destroy the timeline causing chaos… I’m not the best person to ask.” She admitted.

He nodded at the answer nonetheless. “I guess so.” He agreed. He looked around to see others around. Greizzlik and Jea’zeal were at their checkers again. The strange Night Elf with the cards was there too, looking like she’s trying to foresee the stoned Troll’s future. Maybe it helped bring those people here ultimately. Convinced that he made a better choice in the end, he picked up a salty ridge-cut chip and ate it. Feeling it got cool, he must’ve been staring at the memento too long.

After his lunch, he was at a local church. He saw the unusually high congregation today, sitting at the rows of pews. He went to the sides where candles were there, picking up an unused candle from a tray. Lighting it with his fingers, he placed it on a stand with other lit candles. He silently prayed.