Chương 406: Doom Sayin'

Inside the temporary safe haven, Umnii and Lyham all but flop onto some nearby furniture, both absolutely exhausted. Their clothes were ripped and torn, and their pale blue skin was covered in scratches, bite marks, and burns.

The atmosphere is pretty depressing, most of the group was certain that they weren't going to live through this. Almost the entirety of the planet had been corrupted or destroyed by the demons already, and the Draenei doubted that even their auspicious leaders could do anything to fix it now.

"W-we're doomed. No one can save us now... O-our world is ruined..." Lyham despairingly says with his forehead resting on his palm. No one immediately rejects his words either as they too are in the depths of uncertainty concerning their survival...

"W-we must be strong, for our families... The ones we lost." Umnii starts but Lyham interjects.

"Why? Why should we continue when everyone else has left us? Maybe... Maybe it would be better to end ourselves now, to join their spirits in death."

Irarus scowls at the despairing man, "Seeking death in cowardice, you are a disgrace to everyone who has fallen. Have you forgotten that you have an obligation to your kin? To continue your lineage where they can not?... Of course not, you forgot and wish for the easy way out." he states, causing Lyham to shrink further into himself.

Michael just watches all of this with folded arms, finding it peculiar just how similar the Draenei were to all other humanoid races he'd met thus far. It might be because these universes were originally thought up by humans, but they all still held the base components of humanity, the positive and negative... Sure, the Altmer tended to be more arrogant, the orcs more barbaric, and the Nords more combative, but those were just slight differences all things considered.

These Draenei were completely alien in appearance, yet they squabbled and despaired like regular joe's. Despite the fact that they lived on an entirely different planet that their race dominated, like the humans in his original world... Well, dominated until now that is.

His thoughts drift to the magic the girl was using, wondering if he could, as they say, 'Get 'im summa that'. It was markedly different to the magic his Spirits and the College of Winterhold had been teaching him, so he was interested to see where its limits lie.

"What do we do them, 'oh great leader!?', we are surrounded on all sides, and even after exhausting ourselves fighting we are no closer to our goal!" Lyham exclaims, making sure to keep his voice low to prevent the demons from realising their location.

Irarus sneers and tightly clasps his large fists, "We fight, and keep fighting until we either reach our goal, or perish. That is the Eredar way." he gestures contemptibly at Lyham, "Not this, pathetic weakness. Even this stranger, 'Michae', has shown more courage than you, even with his weak and frail physique. An Eredar's heart!"

...

Michael tentatively coughs into his fist, "Er, just so you guys know. I'm not an 'Eredar'." he remarks, wondering why they were calling themselves 'Eredar' as opposed to 'Draenei'.

...

The room goes silent as they all look over at him, each gripping their respective weapons as if preparing for a fight.

Michael lets out a sigh, slowly reaching for the Dragon Priest Mask and pulling it off, "I'm not a demon either though, so get that right." he says as the Eredar people gape at him as if he was an alien... Huh, he was an alien to them though, wasn't he?

"W-what are you then? If you are not one of those invaders outside?" Irarus glowers, looking as if he wanted to crush his head with his war hammer.

Michael shrugs, "I'm a human, not from this planet... I'm here to hunt demons, believe it or not." he says, his words not technically false.

...

"Is that so...? Then, you would know more of these invaders than we." Umnii asks.

He nods, "I do... If I remember my lore right." he whispers the last part, "The Burning Legion, ruled by... Sargaras? Sargarick? Sargeras...? Yeah, that sounds correct. Anyway, from what I know he brings his armies from world to world in an attempt to wipe out all life from the universe. So yeah, your planet ain't the first, and certainly ain't gonna be the last." he pauses, allowing the group to absorb the information he'd dumped on them.

"But there's good news too! I have the ability to transport you away from this place, to safety. It'd take a while but I could do it." he says.

"And the cost?" Irarus asks, knowing that such a thing would come with a price. "What would you ask of us in return?"

Michael smiles, "Well, to start, how about we stop the demons from stealing your magical knowledge? Your libraries would be better in my hands than theirs, right?"

...

"The Great Library was overrun when this started. I barely escaped while the others were being slaughtered." Umnii solemnly says, her glowing blue eyes dimming with emotion. "There might be survivors in the higher restricted zones but, I doubt they will have lasted this long."

"This 'Great Library' must be nearby if you managed to reach it." Michael remarks, slipping his mask back onto his face due to how everything was analysing him as if he were an almost extinct animal.

Umnii nods, "It's a mile south of here, you must have seen it before you crashed into the building earlier... It's the largest structure in this part of Eredath."

"A-are we really going to listen to this foreigner though?" Lyham suddenly chimes in, "Are we to trust him over the Triumvirate?"

...

Michael shrugs, "Well, you can choose to go looking for your quiet and missing leaders in hopes of them actually doing something... Or you can bet on me, who promises to take you away from this burning world in exchange for your help."

Umnii stands and clutches her staff to her chest, "I'm going with him. We might even be able to save other survivors..." she says.

Irarus slowly nods at that, "I agree. We've not heard a word from our leaders, so it's safe to say they are either dead, indisposed, or have already abandoned us. We must seek our own fortunes." he decides, convincing the rest of the group to go along with Michael's plans.