"Ennura?" Umnii asks again, her voice cracking slightly as she stumbles over and wraps the woman into a hug. "I thought you were dead..."
"There, there. I'm perfectly fine... I'm happy that you managed to make it through all of that."
Umnii shakes her head, "If you hadn't sent out the Vigilants, we wouldn't have survived."
Ennura smiles and grips the girl's shoulders, "But you're alive, and that's all that matters..." she says but her expression falters slightly, "Even if we likely won't survive for much longer."
"What do you mean?" Irarus asks.
"I mean, the invaders will destroy the Vigilants eventually, once they fully breach the Great Library, they'll stop the magic protecting it and burn it to the ground." she states, causing Khaam to almost drop to his knees in despair. Lyham had already been torn apart, and Khaam had been right there, watching it up close and personal... He'd hoped that Ennura could help them join with whatever survivors were left, but it seems that Michael was their only chance for survival.
"Er, sorry but why don't you just make more Vigilants? They're robots or magical constructs, right? Surely you have more hidden in a bunker somewhere? Maybe even a factory?" Michael asks, not really knowing the state of the Draenei military.
"You're not from around here, are you stranger?" Ennura remarks while pulling away from Umnii, "Otherwise you'd know that each Vigilant holds the soul of a fallen Eredar warrior... It's far more ceremonial than practical, the fact that we have any Vigilants guarding the Great Library at all is a miracle."
"Ah... So like, they give permission to have their souls shoved into armour? Or do you just do it regardless?" Michael asks as this was sounding more and more like soul trapping and necromancy than anything.
Irarus shakes his head, "Permission is not required, it's an honour to be tasked with protecting our people even after death." states absolutely.
'That's pretty fucked up' Michael inwardly remarks, thinking on how he'd feel if such a thing happened to him.
Regardless, there were other matters that required imminent attention, "So, Ennura... How about you show me the Library?" he asks, causing everyone from his original group to freeze. Was it impolite to immediately get to the point or...?
...
"That depends... Why would you need access to them while a catastrophe is occurring? As the Chief Librarian and the one overseeing this entire place, it is my job to protect what knowledge remains..." she looks to Irarus, "Who is this?"
Irarus wets his lips, "He's a being not from this world who's come to fight the invading demons, supposedly. He offers us sanctuary away from this world, which we intend to accept unless you have word of our leaders?"
Ennura crooks a brow in curiosity but shakes her head at his question, "I have word, whether or not you wish to hear it is another matter entirely." she ominously says.
Irarus, Umnii, and Khaam look at one another before coming to a consensus and nodding, "I think any news is beneficial right now, even bad news."
Ennura lets out a sigh and runs a hand along one of her horns, being it down to trace it through the tentacles hanging from under her ear, gold jewellery adorning each individual one. "The Prophet Velen has been gathering survivors to a random location, but it's too far to even think about reaching... Especially with the timer he'd given us to get there... We'd have to travel thirty miles in thirty minutes through the mass of demons..."
Irarus nods, "An impossible venture... But what about the other two, Kil'jaeden and Archimonde? Surely they'd be with the protectors fending off the invaders?"
...
Ennura looks up from the ground, her glowing eyes dim with sadness and betrayal, "Kil'jaeden and Archimone have joined the enemy."
...
"W-what...? No... You must be mistaken!" Irarus instantly retorts once he'd processed the information, "They are the very best of the Eredar! They wouldn't betray their own kin like this!" he exclaims, voice sounding more erratic the longer he spoke.
Ennura shakes her head, "It's true... Kil'jaeden and Archimonde allowed the invaders to target our military structures and personally conduct surprise attacks on any that hadn't immediately surrendered or fallen. I-it's not just that. They've been... Corrupted. I saw it on the Scuring Gems... Kil'jaeden, his skin is crimson, and both of their eyes glow green with that sickly magic... Our leaders have abandoned us."
Irarus almost drops to the ground in despair were it not for his war hammer that he was resting all of his weight on. His eyes were tightly closed, but that didn't prevent the sorrowful tears from pouring out, dripping down his face and off of his chin to the floor.
Khaam and Umnii had been affected similarly, the latter hugging Ennura tightly as if the woman was the last source of warmth left in the world.
...
"So..... About that Library?" Michael awkwardly asks, his voice sounding like nails on a chalkboard as it echoes throughout the room. He receives a glare from Irarus and Khaam but it quickly fades as Ennura steps forwards.
"Allow me to guess. Our knowledge for sanctuary?"
Michael nods, "Exactly. Plus, I only want to look at it, you can take care of the books once we're out of this hell hole."
...
Ennura thinks for a long moment before reluctantly agreeing, "I am tasked with protecting the knowledge of this place, not the Great Library itself. I suspect what you're suggesting wouldn't breach that-... Too much..."
"Come, I'll show you to what's left of the library and the other survivors." she says while gesturing for them to follow as she steps into a narrow hallway that was just big enough for a Vigilant to fit through sideways...
Hope you bois liked the chap, if I missed anything please let me know. Thanks!
Also, thanks to my patrons for their support :
ShinAmazake
Kingsprovince
Faruk Ereng
Michael and the others are led through the hallways and into a massive circular room with books lining the walls, each stone shelf standing around 15ft each. Stairs circled around the room which allowed people access to books without having to scale the bookshelves like a rock climber.
In the middle of all of this were many stone chairs and tables set up with Draenei survivors gloomily sitting around. There were men, women, and children present, though, everyone seemed to be civilians or Library staff as opposed to actual warriors. Michael was sure most adults were able to perform magic since it seemed somewhat integral to Draenei society, considering all the magic shit around the place.
Ennura gestures around the huge room, "This is it, all that's left of the Great Library. We had a cataloguing system but it was destroyed when the gems on the first floor were shattered by the invaders... So, you'll have to pick through the place to find what you wish to take." she says, not noticing the steadily growing grin on Michael's face.
"You won't mind if I get started now then?" he asks while holding his hand out and catching the Book of Legends as it materialises in the air.
...
"Yes..." Ennura says, already aware that her expectations had been wrong judging by the stranger's face alone. She holds out a hand which causes a book to fly into it from a nearby bookshelf, "The shelves are enchanted to hand the books to you-"
*WHOOOSH!*
All of a sudden, Michael holds the Book of Legends open and books from the shelves start flying into it before disappearing as if entering a black hole or something. "Hahahahaha! This is really damn cool!" he cackles while slowing turning, sucking up tens of thousands of books. The survivors in the middle of the room have to duck their heads to avoid the book projectiles, while one man actually flies off of his feet as a book slams into his leg... A woman who'd been reading a book gets dragged along and almost crashes into Michael had he not jumped over her at the last moment.
Everyone present watches with shock and some amount of anger as Michael lowers the Book of Legends, he chuckles while blowing at it as if it were a smoking gun. "Well, that was way easier than I'd been expecting..."
...
Ennura lets out a sigh, "All that's left now is for you to keep your end of the bargain. Knowledge for sanctuary."
Michael nods, "And I'll follow through on it, but wouldn't you want to look for survivors first before you leave?" he asks, not really wanting to leave so soon. There was still a lot of EXP to collect.
Ennura shakes her head, along with many of the survivors who were observing their conversation. "No. We need to leave now before the invaders turn their complete attention to wiping out and capturing what's left of the Eredar."
*Ruuuuumble*
A tremor goes through the, causing the Great Library to vibrate and drop dust from the ceiling and now empty stone bookshelves.
"I think we should check that out first then, it takes a while to set up the portal... And getting interrupted at the wrong moment can be... Explosive." he remarks and the Draenei nods.
"Come, we'll check on the balcony." she says, quickly making her way up the stairs as Michael and Irarus follow.
They soon reach the balcony, the blue barrier of the Great Library preventing any flying demons from entering. Another rumble echoes out, and the trio look towards the disturbance, only to find... A building... A building that was literally flying into the sky like a rocket attempting to leave orbit. Or at least, it was trying to. It was meeting massive resistance from a literal wall of demons that were so numerous that they'd blot out the sun in the sky, were it not already obscured.
A red-figure darts through the wall and strikes the building, causing an explosion to ring out as green fire almost blinds the trio momentarily. Them, a second, bigger explosion occurs, unleashing a multitude of colours matching a rainbow in a fantastical display.
"What the fuck is going on..." Michael mutters, confused by all everything he was seeing.
"That must be Velen... It seems he had his own plans for expecting the planet. Plans that they invaders know of." Ennura says, leaning on the rail of the balcony while anxiously watching all of this go down.
*KOOOOOSH!*
Suddenly, a blinding white light illuminates the world, tearing apart the green clouds in the sky and causing all the demons to go still for a moment. This allows the flying building to shoot into the sky, actually managing to escape the hellscape.
"T-they made it..." Irarus utters, shocked and conflicted. The fact that he and the others had just been abandoned by the last of their race weighed on him as if he had the burden of the entire planet on his back. The only thing that kept him from complete despair was Michael and his offer.
*Whiiiiiiistle*
"What's that sound?" Michael asks, glancing around to see what it is.
"Might just be some rubble from the explosion earlier finally reaching us..." Ennura mutters as the group lock onto a few pieces of rock that was crashing against the Great Libary's walls, the rubble not being blocked by the barrier due to what they were made out of...
"What's that yellow thi-Guuggaaahk!" Michael yelps as something smacks into his forehead, throwing him backwards and causing him to flip twice before finally settling. "Ugh..."
"Michael! Are you alright!? Stand up! You can't die until you've opened the portal!" Irarus exclaims, pulling Michael up and brushing the dust from his clothes. "Uh... You've got something on your face." Irarus says, pointing at the thing embedded in Michael's Dragon Priest Mask.
Hope you bois liked the chap, if I missed anything please let me know. Thanks!
If you like my content or want to read ahead please go to : https://www.p.atreon.com/Nagross, I'd appreciate it.
Also, thanks to my patrons for their support :
ShinAmazake
Kingsprovince
Faruk Ereng
ความคิดเห็นย่อย
คุณลักษณะความคิดเห็นย่อหน้าอยู่ในขณะนี้บนเว็บ! เลื่อนเมาส์ไปที่ย่อหน้าใดก็ได้แล้วคลิกไอคอนเพื่อเพิ่มความคิดเห็นของคุณ
นอกจากนี้คุณสามารถปิด / เปิดได้ตลอดเวลาในการตั้งค่า
เข้าใจแล้ว