c12

It was a couple of days after Naxxramas had been conquered and blown up that Harry and Luna paid another visit to Tyrande. This was not only to collect the moonlight dragon eggs that had been left in her keeping, but also to inform her of all the unliving foot traffic their tower would be seeing.

Harry had expected some exasperation on the part of the High Priestess when she heard about that, but to his surprise, they were greeted by exasperation before they even got a word out.

"Harry, Luna." Tyrande greeted with a tone of flat exhaustion.

All around the temple, junior priestesses and acolytes chased after about two dozen playful dragon whelps. Or perhaps ran away from them.

"OOooh! The eggs hatched!" Luna squealed in excitement, bounding over to the nearest whelp.

It was about the size of her torso, with silvery scales the exact shade of the White Lady and glowing eyes the exact shade of the Blue Child. A pair of small, sharp white horns grew from its head and it flew on wings that were far too small to realistically carry its chubby body.

The whelp made a sound somewhere between a squawk and a chirp as Luna reached out to cuddle it. The whelp didn't resist the hug, choosing instead to sniffle curiously at her hair like an overeager puppy.

"Ooh, you're so adorable, oh yes you are!" Luna gushed, drawing the attention of some of the other whelps and was soon buried under a pile of dragon.

"Please do not babytalk the dragons." Tyrande said with a pained expression. "Even whelps can be highly intelligent, enough to match an adult mortal."

"That's the case for the established Dragonflights, but is it the case for a new one?" Harry asked pointedly. He had heard about the innate intellect of the dragons, but suspected that there was some form of genetic memory involved. Perhaps the parents left a magical imprint of themselves on their offspring, allowing the whelps to skip through most of the mental development phase?

Tyrande paused, clearly thinking that one over. This new Moonlight Dragonflight, for all that it had been made from of Onyxia's eggs, did not share any connection to the Black Dragonflight. Luna and Elune had seen to that. They were, for all intents and purposes, a completely new subspecies.

"It would certainly explain why they are being so… difficult." Tyrande conceded tightly.

"I notice that your dress is looking a little… chewed up." Harry noted amusedly. "Teething problems?"

The look he got in response told him that it was not funny, although he begged to disagree.

"I assume that you are here because Naxxramas has fallen and you are taking them back to your tower." She said more than asked.

"Yes!" Luna piped up from the dragon pile she was buried in. There was a loud ripping sound as one particularly industrious whelp tore up her skirt. Another was gnawing on her boots with markedly less success. "I bet the dryads will love them, heehee."

Yes, they probably will. The deer-girls did like their playtime, so having a bunch of playful dragon whelps chasing after them through the forest would probably be right up their alley. Free babysitting, as far as Harry was concerned.

"Quite." He drolled and turned back to Tyrande. "In any case, yes, Kel'Thuzad's butt has been thoroughly kicked and Naxxramas blown up somewhere over the mountains north of the Plaguelands after it started flying back to Northrend. I also liberated a few hundred death knights, so I would appreciate it if you could send word to the Sentinels in the area to not panic if they see a bunch of undead moving around my tower."

"Just how many undead are we talking about?" Tyrande asked cautiously.

"Hard to say." He admitted. "For the sake of convenience, they decided to stick with the Forsaken for the moment while Sylvanas slowly pulls all of her forces back to the Tirisfal Glades. But there will still be quite a bit of undead moving to and from my tower as I work to restore them."

The High Priestess nodded thoughtfully before replying. "Very well, I will send word to Astranaar. Do you have any other ventures planned in the immediate future?"

Harry appreciated that she asked with a tone of polite curiosity, implicitly conveying her understanding that he didn't have to tell her anything about his plans. If it was Varian Wrynn he was talking to, there was little doubt that the warrior king would have forgotten or ignored that little factoid.

Not that Harry didn't understand… Lordaeron had helped Stormwind rebuild after the devastation caused by the orcs in the First War, so he would be eager to return the favor now that he knew that the undead occupying the ruined kingdom would slowly be brought back to life. Still, Harry knew himself well enough to know that he would respond to Wrynn's brashness with abrasiveness and there was nothing to be gained from the two of them butting heads.

"Nothing particularly dramatic." He said lightly. "I'm going to be busy brewing Restoration Serum for the foreseeable future and most of my remaining targets are in Northrend, so I can't just pop in there until the Horde and Alliance are ready to launch an invasion."

Indeed, it would be idiotic to try going to the frozen continent alone, no matter how powerful he was. That place was held tightly in the Lich King's grip and all manner of nasty surprises were no doubt waiting to be sprung on the unwary.

"The only other thing I'm thinking of doing right now is offering a bounty on the scalps of Venture Company employees in the Stonetalon Mountains." He continued, drawing a raised eyebrow from the ancient night elf. "It would be a good place to build a fortress that can be used by any combined Horde-Alliance forces when running joint operations. My time dilation chamber was very popular with the commanders during that scuffle with the qiraji, so I imagine it would serve as a good incentive to work together if their soldiers could portal back to a safe haven and get plenty of rest when they aren't fighting. A few druids to fix the place up and Windshear Crag could become a restful place for soldiers during their downtime."

"Hmm, an intriguing idea, and it would serve to keep the greedy paws of the goblins away from that place in the future." Tyrande hummed. "It will not make you popular with the Venture Company, but I suspect they would have hated you for being unwilling to sign an exclusivity contract for your alchemy with them anyway."

He hadn't explicitly told Tyrande that he would categorically refuse any agreement a goblin proposed before even hearing it, but she was a smart woman and his hatred of the perniciously greedy race hadn't been well hidden. The fact that his presence one-upped the goblin master alchemist Pestlezugg was something he took a great deal of petty satisfaction in.

"So, I should come talk to you once the Windshear Crag has been cleared of pests?" He smirked.

"Please do." She said generously. "There are many druids that would be happy to go heal the damage done to it."

"It's a deal." He nodded and turned to Luna. "Oi, are you done playing around?"

"What?" Luna asked. Her hair was all over the place and there was dragon slobber on her face. One whelp had her panties stuck in its teeth while a bunch of others tried to bite on her arms, being kept at bay by minor blessings of protection. The only things she still had on were her boots. "Oh, yeah, we're ready to go home. Do you want to raise a few whelps, Tyrande?"

"That's quite alright." The High Priestess said tightly. "You were the one who made them, I wouldn't want to deprive you of the pleasure."

Somebody wasn't good with kids. Dragon kids at least.

XXXXX

Colette knew that sulking was beneath her, but that was exactly what she was doing. Sulking and drinking.

The Four Horsemen had been returned to life not long ago and, quite unlike her expectations, had immediately scattered.

Sir Zeliek had been wracked with guilt over the things he had been forced to do as a death knight and gone on a self-imposed quest for redemption. Any arguments that he wasn't responsible for the actions of his body while it had been under the Lich King's control fell on deaf ears.

Thane Korth'azz decided to return to his family in Ironforge, sparing them one final fond dwarven insult and letting Harry know that a debt was owed before leaving.

Alexandros had revealed that it had been his oldest son, Renault, who had betrayed him and delivered him to Kel'Thuzad in the first place. After the Ashbringer was purified – not a difficult task with a priestess like Luna present – the former leader of the Horsemen had taken Darion and left for the Scarlet Monastery in the Tirisfal Glades, intent on having a little 'talk' with his treacherous offspring. After that he would probably go on a crusade to purge Lordaeron of the Undead Scourge in preparation for the kingdom's resurgence.

None of the three had any interest at all in remaining the Four Horsemen.

That left Colette as the only one who had no idea what to do with herself. The Silver Hand was in shambles and the Light no longer answered her call anyway, so going back to her old life was out of the question. She was a Shadow priestess now, for better or for worse.

One thing that she didn't reveal to anyone was that she hadn't actually minded being part of the Horsemen. Indeed, she had found the camaraderie enjoyable. Being forced to serve the Scourge was something she resented, yes, but not being part of the Four Horsemen.

As the High Priestess of the Silver Hand and as a regular priestess before, she had felt constantly pressured to behave in a certain way. Being raised into undeath had been paradoxically liberating. She could act however she pleased and being part of a group like the Four Horsemen made it less lonely, even if she had to serve a monster like Kel'Thuzad. It had seemed like the right thing to do while under the Lich King's sway, so she hadn't even been bitter about it until after Harry freed her from his influence.

Now she was alive again, with nothing to do and nobody to do it with.

At least she could enjoy food and drink again, the latter of which she was doing in excess right now. She had never gotten properly drunk before, so this was as good a chance as any to expand her horizons. The guest room she had been given at the tower had a balcony with a beautiful view of the tree tops and the two moons.

"Oh, hey there." Came an unexpected voice from above.

Colette craned her head upwards and saw Jessir looking down at her from the balcony of what was no doubt the tower's master bedroom. The huntress didn't look like she was wearing anything and had probably just crawled out of bed given the state of her silver hair.

"Good evening." Colette was fortunately not sloshed enough to be slurring. Yet.

"Mind if I join you?" Jessir asked with a smile.

"Not at all." Given that she was drinking because she was feeling a little lonely and abandoned, the company would be welcome.

"Great, just give me a second…"

Jessir disappeared from the balcony for a moment and reappeared clad in a silky silver robe. She was briefly confused as to why, before the night elf stared down with a look of focus and suddenly blinked forward, reappearing on Colette's balcony.

"I didn't take you for a mage." The former death knight hid her surprise.

"I'm not." Jessir admitted ruefully, sitting down at the small table. "But Harry is pretty insistent on having me practice Blink as much as possible. Said he wants me jumping around the battlefield like a 'warp spider', whatever that is."

Colette abruptly realized that there was only one wine glass on the table and flushed at her own inadvertent rudeness. Being able to feel shame and embarrassment again was a mixed blessing.

"My apologies, I invited you to join me and forgot to bring you a glass to drink from." She apologized.

"It's alright, I probably shouldn't be drinking this early in the night anyway." Jessir waved off, although she eyed the bottle of wine covetously.

"A glass or two won't do any harm." Colette insisted, not wanting to drink alone or lose the company.

The huntress proved that she actually wanted to drink by putting up no further protest and eagerly taking a sip as soon as her glass was filled.

"Mmm, that's good wine." Jessir hummed and licked her lips. Her loosely fastened robe threatened to come apart at any moment.

Colette got the feeling that it had been put on for the sake of her human sensibilities rather than because the night elf cared to cover up.

"I was rather surprised to find the room so stocked." She said agreeably. Guests generally were not provided with a personal bar in their rooms. At least not in her experience.

"The rooms on this floor are meant for more important guests." Jessir explained, her lips twitching with humor. "I think Harry and Luna are hoping to one day drive Jaina Proudmoore to drinking so they can take advantage of her."

Colette snorted in amusement. She had seen the two of them flirting with the powerful young archmage in Naxxramas and afterwards. The whole situation was frankly hilarious to her.

"Does that not bother you?" She asked curiously.

"Not really." Jessir shrugged. "It's not like Harry and Luna are being subtle about what they want and if Jaina decides to drink around them, then whatever happens afterwards is on her."

"Not what I meant." Colette chuckled. "I mean, are you alright with them adding more women to your 'battle harem'?"

"Don't call us that!" Jessir complained with an embarrassed groan, drawing another laugh from the former death knight. "How do they expect anyone to take us seriously if we call ourselves a battle harem?"

"Just imagine how embarrassing it would be for everyone else if you became the most famous and powerful adventuring party on Azeroth, though." Colette pointed out with a grin, imagining the absurdity of having 'Harry and his battle harem' known as Azeroth's greatest champions.

Jessir snorted at that. "That actually does sound like something Harry would do. Luna probably just thinks it's cute."

Cute, yes. The unusual priestess of Elune had a very strange conception of cute, like those silver dragon whelps. The little monsters were causing havoc everywhere.

"You never answered my question." Colette pointed out. "Doesn't it bother you?"

Jessir went pensive for a while, just sipping at her wine.

"I guess I should be bothered, but I'm just… not." She eventually said with a small shrug. "Harry and Luna have had this kind of marriage for centuries and they didn't hide it. Arko and I went into it with eyes wide open, so it would be pretty hypocritical to start complaining now." A bemused smile then grew on her face. "And I think Arko might actually be looking forward to getting new people to play with. There's a perverted streak in her that I never noticed before, but which Harry and Luna are all too happily nurturing."

"Then you wouldn't mind if I applied for membership, so to speak?" Colette asked with a saucy grin that would have been considered very unlike her before her stint as a death knight.

"What?" Jessir was startled, blinking in surprise. "You want to join in?"

"Hummm." Colette hummed thoughtfully, having not really been serious when she said that, but now that it had been said… maybe it was just the wine doing her thinking for her, but it was sounding more appealing by the moment.

Sure, she wasn't attracted to women, but that was a minor issue. Her preference was with men; big, burly, bearded, manly men. Preferably in heavy plate armor. Harry didn't have a beard and she thought he would look more distinguished with a few grey streaks in his black hair, but he certainly was big and muscular and wore a fine suit of armor. Three quarters of perfect was a solid pass. And maybe he could be convinced to grow a beard in the future. Then he would be exactly the way she liked them.

Not that she had ever really gotten to indulge… Training as a priestess, being attached to the newly formed Order of the Silver Hand, the Second War against the orcs and then the arrival of the Scourge had taken up all of her time. All of her life.

Being killed and raised into undeath allowed one a truly unique relationship with the emotion of regret. Any girlish dreams of a perfect romance had long since passed out of hope and even desire. A handsome man that appealed to her would be more than enough, even if she had to share him. And if she was expected to cavort with all the other women attached to him… well, they were hardly repulsive, so it would be at the very least tolerable.

And it wasn't as if they were just a group of hedonistic perverts where her talents would be going to waste. They were a powerful adventuring party that was doing great things for Azeroth.

Colette knew that she could contribute. The Silver Hand was a military order and she had picked up quite a few things from the paladins even if she had never been quite acknowledged as one herself. She had participated in many battles against the Old Horde and its warlocks. Her powers with the Light were gone, but the abilities with Shadow magic that she had learned after becoming a death knight were quite formidable if she did say so herself and she had gained quite a bit of experience in melee combat with the Horsemen. With their group having so many combatants who preferred to stay at range, she could easily take a spot as a front line fighter alongside Arko.

Yes, joining the battle harem was sounding very appealing indeed. She would get a place to belong where the dark powers she now wielded would be accepted and she would be getting plowed by a big, handsome man like she'd fantasized about on so many lonely nights.

Being surrounded by all those strapping, armored paladins that were all too virtuous to think of sneaking into her quarters or tent at night had been a particular form of torture. Especially Uther. By the Light and Shadow, what that man had been doing to her without even knowing it. And, of course, she had been too terrified of the possible rejection or scandal to make the first move herself.

The flirting and innuendo she'd taken to as a death knight had been just another way of expressing her regrets, doing what she wished she had the courage to do back when there was still a point to it.

Well, now she was unexpectedly alive again and wasn't going to let the opportunity pass her by, especially as it was probably her very last one. It was assuredly the best one. Yes, she was going to get into this harem and she was going to get all the fucking that she'd been missing out on! And protecting Azeroth in the process, of course.

"What's with that expression?" Jessir interrupted her thoughts, a faint alarmed inflection in her tone. "You're looking really intense."

Colette stood up abruptly and immediately regretted it as the combination of wine and blood rushing to her head made the world spin. Stupid mortal body. Fortunately, Jessir was quick to offer a supporting hand before she could have an embarrassing pratfall.

"I need to speak to the whole battle harem." She declared over the night elf's concerned questions.

"Don't call us a battle harem." Jessir complained, but Colette honestly found the name far too amusing to heed that request. A few years spent as a pompous lich's undead slave had a way of stripping you of any pointless pride.

"I want in on it and I'm willing to do whatever it takes to prove myself worthy." She said before turning a smoldering gaze to the night elf supporting her. "Whatever it takes!"

Hesitation and indecision had rewarded her with loneliness and a whole lot of sexual frustration, time to see if boldness and a leap of faith would have better rewards. If she had to learn how to enjoy having sex with other women in the process, then she would consider it a fine bargain.

And didn't Harry mention something about a sex dungeon back in Naxxramas? That sounded interesting.

XXXXX

"Well, I have to admit that I'm a little bit surprised." Harry said, steepling his hands on the table. "I didn't think we would be getting requests from women to join for a little while yet."

"You mean you were expecting women to request to join this…" Arko trailed off.

"Battle harem!" Luna provided happily.

"… thing we have?" The paladin of Elune pointedly ignored the suggestion.

"Of course." Harry raised a sardonic eyebrow. "Even if the women of this world are on average far more powerful and independent than what I'm used to, there's bound to still be plenty of them willing to spread their legs to gain an advantage."

"Oh my, are you implying that I am a prostitute?" Colette's words were teasing, but there was a threat hidden behind them.

"Not at all." He assured. "You are clearly a woman of power in your own right… which means that your request is likely for reasons other than ambition."

"Perceptive, I like that in a man." She flirted, then abruptly dropped the playful persona. "The truth is that I have nowhere to go. My family is dead and I've lost faith in the Light."

"That's terrible." Luna said sympathetically and scooted closer so that she could hold the former death knight's hand. "But I don't think you're asking to join us just because of that."

"Another perceptive one, hmm?" Colette smiled wanly and decided to go with complete honesty. "I've been lonely for a long time, so much so that I actually enjoyed being part of the Four Horsemen. I would like to be part of something again."

"And you want to have lots of sex with Harry." Luna added knowingly.

"And I want to have lots of sex with Harry." The former death knight nodded firmly despite the flush growing on her cheeks. "I've spent decades seeing to the spiritual needs of handsome, burly paladins. I think it's about time I had my needs seen to."

Colette stared at the wizard expectantly, awkwardly thrusting out her chest as if to display 'the goods'. She knew that, having celebrated her fiftieth birthday some time before being killed and raised, she was hardly a spring chicken, but her body was still in excellent shape and she had only the slightest hint of crow's feet around her eyes. The grey streaks in her black hair were the only reason that anyone would not mistake her for a woman in her late twenties at most.

"I was going to try putting the moves on you if you stuck around for much longer anyway." Harry admitted, taking in the view that was being offered. "You're beautiful, powerful and still have potential to grow. An excellent addition."

The tension bled out of her and she smiled with relief, quickly covering it up with a flirtatious grin. "Flattery will get you everywhere."

"And everywhere is where I plan to get." Harry smirked back. "But first, I need you to answer me some questions."

"By all means, ask away."

"First, how do you feel about eternal youth? If you're to become part of our lives, then I would prefer you didn't die in a few decades."

"I have had some time to get used to the idea of living forever while I was a death knight. If I'm being honest, it wasn't disagreeable."

"Excellent. Next question, how you feel about children?"

"Children?" Colette blinked.

"We're going to have lots of babies once Azeroth is a bit safer and our adventuring slows down." Luna interjected enthusiastically, wiggling in place with delight at the thought.

Jessir and Arko were notably more embarrassed and nervous, never having been parents before, but they nodded along. Harry had already told them that he didn't bother with contraceptive spells and if they didn't want to get pregnant as soon as their cycle came around, they should employ whatever means of preventing it night elves had.

"As Luna said, if you're going to be one of my girls, then you can expect to eventually bear my children." He clarified. "Is that going to be a problem?"

"I am a little old to be bearing children." Colette chuckled.

She was past the age of menopause… for what that was worth on Azeroth. Harry would not be even slightly surprised if it turned out that women could spontaneously force their ovaries to create new eggs through the power of wishful thinking.

And he could detect a hint of sadness in that chuckle. Nothing unusual, women who never had children often regretted it when they got older.

"That can be fixed with a body upgrade." Harry said.

"You mean like what you did to yourself?" She asked. "Luna mentioned something about you switching bodies when I asked about your ears."

"There's plenty of benefits to it." He started his sales pitch. "Indestructible bones, denser muscles, more efficient organs, age regression, a weaker version of troll regeneration…"

"… A toggle switch for your menstrual cycle, extra sensitive fun parts, boobies in whichever size you want, lactation on command." Luna took over.

"Can you make me taller?" Colette asked. "The extra reach would be quite handy in a fight."

She was a respectable 5'9'' right now, but that was rather short compared to the seven foot height of everyone else. She didn't want to feel like a midget and idly wondered how gnomes could stand being so short.

"Of course." Harry nodded. "Luna here used to be 5'2''."

"And both my boobies and my bum were super small." The priestess of Elune volunteered.

Colette hummed in thought. Once upon a time she would never have considered such a thing, but aside from the obvious benefits, there was also the allure of having a truly fresh start. Even if Harry's serum had fully cleansed and restored her body, there was a part of her mind that would forever see it as tainted. And then there was the question of children.

She'd long since abandoned any such notions, but now that it was being offered so neatly…

"I have just one question." She said calmly.

"Ask away."

"Would you still take me to bed even if I refuse this offer?"

"Just try and stop me."

"Now why would I do a silly thing like that?"

XXXXX

Harry had been most impressed with Colette's pragmatic attitude. She had assessed her situation, determined what she wanted and then went for it. No attempts to 'negotiate', no illusions about the situation and no cold feet at the last second. If only more people were like her.

He led her in the direction of the master bedroom as soon as the discussion was concluded, intent on properly 'initiating' her into the battle harem.

"Well, you certainly don't lose any time." Colette chuckled teasingly once she saw where things were going, not resisting at all. In fact, there was just a hint of eagerness leaking through her otherwise controlled gait.

"A man doesn't get anywhere by standing still." Harry replied sagely, sliding his hand down to give her but a squeeze. Mm, nice and firm.

"True, very true." She nodded, glancing around with a sly gaze. "Do you mean to have all four of us at once, then?"

"Do you want all four of us at once?" He turned the question back on her. He hadn't pegged her as bisexual, but there was always the chance that he was wrong.

"Well, no." Colette admitted. "I prefer men, but I would not be opposed to… experimenting."

"We can do that some other time." Luna interjected enthusiastically. "We just want watch this time."

"Don't lump me together with you two perverts." Jessir huffed, amused more than anything.

"Why are you coming with us, then?" Arko asked sarcastically, only a small hint of embarrassment on her face. Such progress she'd made.

"Because friends indulge each other's interests, even if they don't share them." The huntress retorted.

"An audience, hmm? I'm afraid I've never been much of a performer." Colette chuckled nervously to the backdrop of the two night elves' playful bickering. She clearly hadn't considered the possibility.

"You won't have time to worry about our audience." Harry promised/threatened in a low tone.

"Oh my, how ominous." She purred, blatantly trying to get into it in spite of herself.

They arrived at the master bedroom and filed inside.

"That is a large bed." Colette noted with amazement. "How many women are you planning to acquire?"

It really was. Easily big enough to allow a dozen people – large people – to spread out side by side, and just as long. Basically a big square that took up more space that most people's entire bedrooms.

"It would be crass to plan something like that out in advance." Harry quipped, reaching out to put his hands on her waist.

"Of course." She chuckled, turning around and uncertainly placing her own hands against his chest. Her gaze flickered over to the other three women, who had already sat down together on a large couch.

"Don't look at them, look at me." Harry directed.

"Well then, why don't you give me something to look at?" She asked flirtily, tugging up his shirt.

He never did like buttons, so she had to pull it over his head. Once that was done she went back to exploring his chest, but there was the faintest hint of a disappointed pout on her lips.

"See something you don't like?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I was hoping you would have some hair on your chest." Colette admitted, although she didn't stop fondling his muscles.

"I used to, but the requirements of my armor forced me to get rid of it." Harry explained, placing his hands on her waist.

"I suppose this is fine, too… even if your skin feels like that of a woman."

Oh, she was going to try provoking him, was she? Well, far be it from him to not play along.

Harry took two fistfuls of her shirt and abruptly tore it off, drawing a yelp of surprise from her. Before she could say anything, he bent down to capture her lips in an aggressive kiss, all but tackling her onto the bed.

She put up a token resistance, but was clearly enjoying the assertiveness. That dovetailed with the hints he'd caught about what kind of sexual disposition she had – even her comments about his lack of chest hair pointed towards a woman that liked her men big and forceful.

Harry was big and could definitely do forceful.

His hands roughly mauled her breasts while he pushed her higher up the bed, never letting up on the kiss. Spells were cast to pinpoint her erogenous zones and heighten their sensitivity. A very weak disintegration spell frayed her pants, allowing him to simply tear the garment off. Another spell made her boots fly off her feet, leaving her in just the sexy thong which was the only underwear they had provided for her.

Colette squirmed and moaned under him, fingers digging into whatever skin she could reach, but definitely not trying to escape.

Harry let go of her breasts and gripped her leg just under the knee, gripped it hard. Not hard enough to really hurt, but hard enough that it might bruise. He slowly slid it up her leg, never really loosing the strength of his grip. As he'd expected, the show of strength only further turned her on.

Soon enough he reached her thong and tore it off without fanfare. Her breath stuttered and she tensed as his fingers began probing at her entrance.

Colette instinctively hoisted herself further up the bed, using his body as leverage, and he allowed it, at last breaking off the aggressive kiss. She gasped for air in a mixture of arousal and genuine need for more oxygen, while he used their new position to latch on to her nipple with his mouth.

The former death knight gave off a loud moan as the extra sensitive nub of flesh was stimulated. He had vast experience stimulating nipples and was cheating besides – spells to create links of sympathetic magic between multiple erogenous zones were a trivial thing for him.

His hand once again probed at her entrance and this time she didn't try to escape. Another weak sympathetic link was created between her clitoris and her nipples, then his middle and ring fingers slipped inside her while his thumb continued teasing at her pleasure buzzer.

Colette arched her back with a choked cry of pleasure, gripping at his hair and holding him to her breast. With how pent up she had been for who knows how long, orgasm was quickly approaching, but that would be too quick, so he eased up.

Colette thrust her hips at him needily and made a sound of frustration in her throat, which made him smile around the nipple in his mouth.

"Yes? Did you want something?" Harry asked calmly, gently tugging at the nipple with his teeth. He knew that his even tone would frustrate her further.

"Fuck me already!" She demanded, trying to pull him up.

"Can't, I still have my pants on." He retorted with a taunting smirk, pulling his fingers out of her.

Colette growled and pushed him over on to his back, impatiently pulling off his boots and then moving on to his pants. He saw her glance over to the couch and their audience and followed her gaze.

Luna was watching with her usual happy, unembarrassed smile while she touched herself. She even gave them a wave. Arko, meanwhile, was somewhat less blasé, her cheeks flushed dark purple at being 'caught'. Although that could also be because she had Jessir's head trapped between her legs… the paladin had been getting steadily more confident with her wants, but she had a way to go before she could be called shameless.

Colette got visibly flustered and went back to focusing on his pants, quickly tugging them off and freeing his manhood. It sprung up and nearly clipped her chin on its rise.

"Oh…" The former death knight nervously licked her lips. "… that's a bit bigger than I was expecting."

Harry smirked at her, amused. "Really? Even after I told you that I made this body myself?"

"Well, when you put it like that… " She conceded, reaching out to grab him by the base. Her fingers just barely managed to wrap around his girth. "I'm not sure if this monster going to fit."

She put on a good front, but he could tell that she was nervous. Inexperienced, even. Not a virgin, she wasn't acting like a woman who had never seen a cock before, but definitely not someone with a lot of notches on her bedpost either.

Made sense. She had been sending clear signals of preferring the man to take the initiative, yet had been part of a religious military order that probably wasn't full of men eager to take advantage of the prestige the title of 'paladin' would give them.

Must have been frustrating.

"Then you'd best get it good and slippery." He said and reached out to tangle his fingers in her hair.

Nervousness flashed in her deep blue eyes, but she didn't resist as he pulled her head down. Her mouth opened hesitantly, tongue flicking out to lick at his tip, testing the waters more than trying to please.

"I've never…" Colette admitted what he had already suspected.

Harry pushed himself up with his free hand, using the one still tangled in her hair to pull her into a brief kiss.

"You will now." He told her in no uncertain terms, holding back a smirk at the shiver that raced through her frame. Definitely liked assertive men, then.

Harry pushed her head back down, this time not letting up until his tip was pushing at her lips. "Open wide."

She obeyed and he slowly slipped inside her inexperienced mouth. As expected, she couldn't take him very far and her technique was terrible, but she had the sense to not bite and quickly began showing enough enthusiasm to be deemed teachable. He always did find it fun to teach women how to properly suck his cock.

He spotted her other hand wandering between her legs and tightened his grip on her hair in warning. "No touching yourself. You don't cum until I say you can cum."

Colette shuddered and let out a little whimper around the cock in her mouth, but her hand came back up to brace against his thigh. Her oral efforts picked up speed, clearly trying to bribe him into giving her some relief.

Harry let her keep at it for a minute longer before he pulled her off him and up towards his face.

"Not bad, for a first timer." He murmured and pecked her gently on the lips.

She rolled her eyes lightly in amusement and gave him a smirk. "Do I get a reward for effort?"

Time to obliterate that confident attitude.

"Oh yes, you certainly do." Harry promised ominously and pushed her so that she rolled onto her back.

He gripped her ankles hard and slid his hands up her legs, making sure that she could feel the power in his grip, just like he had done at the start. This time, however, there was no slow build up or teasing. As soon as his hands reached her upper thighs, he dove forward and planted his mouth over her sopping womanhood.

Colette inhaled sharply in surprise and bucked her hips at him instinctively, but his hands continued sliding upwards until they reached her breasts. He wrapped his lips around her clitoris and firmly pinched both nipples, then metaphorically grabbed the previously very low level sympathetic link between them and dialed it up to eleven.

She might not be a mage, but she definitely sensed that he had done something magical just now. It didn't do her any good, though, distracted as she was by the sudden extreme spike in sensation.

Knowing that there wasn't much time before she would climax with this level of foreplay, Harry quickly cast another spell to seal her orgasm, keying the release to his own. It was a spell so familiar that he could do it in his sleep.

Although he was amused to note that even the average Azerothian had enough magic resistance to throw it off… as long as they didn't have their defenses lowered, as happened during sex.

Colette was certainly in no state to appreciate the irony. With the spells he'd just cast, she was getting triple the stimulation on both her clit and her nipples and would have long since been pushed over the edge if not for her orgasm being sealed.

The former death knight was tossing her head back and forth wildly, choked screams and gasps for air escaping her throat under the pleasurable assault. Her hands clawed at the bed, dug into his scalp and any of his skin she could reach in a futile attempt to find release. Her legs were likewise kicking out wildly and trying to crush him, but were blocked by his arms.

"P-p-please…!" She managed to choke out hoarsely.

Harry just chuckled into her crotch, continuing to flick his tongue at her swollen, throbbing clitoris mercilessly and ignoring whatever pain she was managing to cause him in her desperation. With someone like Jaina, he would be leery of doing this due to the risk of her magic going out of control. Too bad for Colette that Void magic resonated with heavier emotions like despair, grief and regret. Lust only served to block it.

Jessir and Arko had been too skittish at the start for him to go at them this hard. They had needed to be wooed slowly and eased into it. Colette had stopped just shy of begging to be allowed to join, so there was no need to hold back.

Another cry of pleasure filtered through his ears, but this one was different. The voice that issued it was slightly higher pitched, more youthful and more distant.

Heh, looks like Arko got a bit too excited.

That did give him an idea, though.

Harry lifted his head and stopped his pinching assault on Colette's nipples, quirking a small smile at the confused sob of relief/cry of frustration she made at the sudden lack of stimulation, and stared the night elf paladin into the eye.

She was breathing hard and shaking slightly, silver eyes wide as she took in what he had done to the former death knight. There was a light in them that spoke of more than just recent orgasm, it was the fascinated gaze of someone that had just seen something they wanted to try themselves.

Jessir was already extracting herself from between her friend's legs and Harry jerked his head at Arko beckoningly.

Luna immediately guessed his intention and grabbed Jessir herself, settling the huntress into her lap so that they could both watch the show. Even if Jessir didn't have the same voyeur kink, she was more than turned on enough to compensate, especially once Luna started stroking her.

Arko made her way over, only slightly shaky from her recent orgasm, eye clearly asking what she was to do.

"You're going to sit on her face and pin her arms with your legs." Harry directed, shuffling forward on his knees so that the tip of his member was prodding at Colette's entrance. "We're going to test the aspirant's commitment to the battle harem."

Colette was in no state to point out that she had been told that the other girls would only be watching for her first time. Her hair was all over the place, her eyes were unfocused, she was breathing hard and her body glowed with a sheen of sweat.

She didn't resist as her hands were pinned or as Arko's swung a leg over her head so that her crotch hovered over the former death knight's face. In fact, her only movement was to try shuffling downwards so as to impale herself on his cock. Her needy hole was weeping fluids constantly and her muscles were constantly flexing in her attempts to bring him inside.

"How are we going to do that?" Arko asked, doing a poor job of hiding her eagerness. Notably, she was too excited at the prospect of what was to come to protest him calling them a battle harem.

"I'm going to fuck her, and she's going to lick you." Harry explained, teasingly rubbing his shaft along Colette's slit and engorged clitoris. "And you're going to tell me if she's done a good enough job to deserve having her hungry hole stuffed full of my cum."

Colette shuddered under them, the dirty talk obviously not putting her off at all. She turned deep blue eyes on him, silently pleading with him for release.

"Do you understand me, Colette?" He demanded, grinding his shaft more firmly into her slit. "Are you ready to prove yourself?"

"Y-yes." She rasped hoarsely, again trying to maneuver him inside. "Please, I need…"

"What if she doesn't do a good enough job?" Arko interrupted the begging, her silver eyes gleaming with eagerness and renewed lust.

She was going to make an excellent lieutenant for the battle harem once she was fully trained, someone to help him maintain order and carry out punishments for catfights.

You'd think Luna would have that job, given her seniority, but Luna was terrible at keeping discipline. She was the one you went to for encouragement and cuddles.

"Well, I guess we're just going to have to keep at it until she does." Harry smirked.

Arko smirked back and lowered her crotch over Colette's face, giving a single word order with relish. "Lick."

To her credit, Colette immediately obeyed and Harry nodded in satisfaction, angling his member at her sopping entrance and slowly pushing in.

It was a tight fit, even though she was about as wet as a lake. He had given himself a length and girth on the extreme upper end of humanly viable after all, and thus couldn't just pound into her without causing some serious damage. That was a problem that would go away once she had her new body, complete with vagina custom tailored for him.

Colette groaned deep in her throat as he split her apart, squirming in an attempt to take him deeper, but he held her firmly in place. A wrecked cervix wouldn't be fun for anybody.

As he suspected, he reached the entrance to her womb while still having a couple of inches left over. That almost always happened with naturally-sized human girls. Few of them were roomy enough to take him all the way.

"Don't stop licking!" Arko said sharply and reached down to pinch Colette's nipples.

The former death knight squealed in pain and visibly restarted her efforts.

Harry winced slightly. That had probably fallen decisively into the 'unpleasant' category of pain play.

"Take it a bit easier on her nipples." He advised. "I've put a spell on her that links them to her clitoris and another to seal her orgasm. She's not getting any relief until I allow it."

Guilt briefly flashed across Arko's face, but she nodded in acknowledgement and began gently massaging Colette's nipples in a sort of apology. Given the way it caused the former death knight to squirm, that might be just another form of torture.

"Harder!" The progressively more pervy paladin panted, giving a slightly harder pinch.

Colette made inarticulate noises into Arko's crotch while Harry slowly and methodically plowed her. His own orgasm was building, the earlier foreplay having gotten him riled up just as much, but he had been practicing sex magic for centuries. Withholding release was a fairly basic application of tantric magic, although it was usually done so that the magical power inherent in orgasm could be directed towards a ritual of some sort.

"How is she doing?" Harry asked, keeping a steady pace. A small sheen of sweat was visibly on him now as well.

"Not that great." Arko caught on to his game quickly. "She keeps forgetting that she has to please me if she wants her reward."

"Or maybe she's doing a poor job of it deliberately?" Harry theorized, stopping for a moment at maximum depth and pulsing his member in a simulation of orgasm, smirking when Colette almost convulsed in response. No doubt she had for a second thought that her ordeal would finally be over. "Maybe she enjoys being played with like this?"

A wail of denial/frustration/need came from the pinned woman and she tried to heave them off her, but she lacked the strength. Her fists clenched uselessly under Arko's legs.

"No?" Harry asked, resuming his thrusting. "Well then you'd better start putting in some more effort. I'm not giving you what you want until Arko says you've earned it."

"And you haven't earned it yet." Arko chimed in, grinding her crotch down harder. "Put that tongue to work!"

A noise of what might have been acknowledgement came from Colette and they continued.

"Don't you think you're being a little hard on her?" Luna asked, apparently having had her fill of watching. She sat down on the bed next to Colette and gently stroked her sweaty, muscular abs. "It's only her first time with us."

"This is for her own good." Arko panted lustily, really getting into it now. "Nobody likes a lazy lover."

Jessir had come with Luna and pressed herself up against Harry's back. One hand drifted down to fondle his balls while she spoke into his ear. "Look at what you did to my friend, Harry. She wasn't this much of a pervert before we met you."

Harry turned his head towards her and smirked. "A repressed pervert is still a pervert." He said and kissed her, running his tongue across her pointy teeth.

"You're almost there, Colette." Luna decided to become a sexual cheerleader for the poor Shadow priestess. "Find the base of her clitoris, stick the tip of your tongue at it and wiggle, Arko likes that and you're in a perfect position for it."

A moment later Arko jerked with a small gasp and reflexively squeezed Colette's breast a bit harder. "Oh, that's better. Yes, keep that up Harry will be filling you up in no time!"

The promise of release apparently lit a fire under the pinned priestess and Arko's eyes drifted shut in pleasure at her efforts.

Harry disengaged from his kiss with Jessir and intensified his thrusting in preparation. He kept his gaze fixed on the paladin, waiting for her to give the word even though his balls felt like a pressure cooker. Arko would never properly develop her dominant tendencies if she wasn't given some measure of control.

Her breathing became ragged and she began to shudder from the approaching climax. Her silver eyes opened, shining slightly brighter than normal as she inadvertently pulled on Elune's power. It made him wonder if the Moon Goddess was hitching a ride and experiencing a little of the fun herself.

How he would love to see Tyrande's face when she heard about it if that was actually the case.

"Almost… almost!" Arko panted, now pretty much bracing herself against Colette's chest and mauling her breasts, while at the same time grinding her crotch against her face. "Now! Fill her up!"

Harry firmly gripped the Shadow priestess' legs and thrust in as deep as was safe, then let go of the iron control he'd been exerting over his release with a groan that was all pleasure and relief. His scrotum contracted in Jessir's hand and a flood of semen rushed into Colette, undoing the seal on her orgasm.

The long denied release went off like a bomb, compounded by the fact that his semen was designed to immediately overload a woman's pleasure centers.

Arko cried out in release, but it was nothing compared to Colette's reaction. The former death knight convulsed and screamed into the night elf paladin's crotch as if she was being tortured. Harry kept her lower half in place to keep her from hurting herself while he pumped her full of his cum, but her vaginal muscles clenched over his shaft with such strength that he wouldn't be at all surprised if she was sore from that alone.

They had gotten her so worked up and frustrated that the orgasm continued for a good half minute, after which Colette just sort of collapsed, her body shivering and twitching.

Arko 'dismounted', revealing a face so dazed and out of it that she looked drugged. Her pupils were dilated wide and staring into space, hair and face both soaked in a mix of sweat and sexual juices. In other words, she looked thoroughly fucked.

Harry sighed and gave one last clench to his pelvic muscles before pulling out, allowing a flood of thick semen to pour out of the former death knight's abused hole.

"Wow, I'm kind of jealous." Jessir said eventually, after properly taking in their newest member's state. "I don't think you ever left me that messed up."

Harry grinned at her and gave her a light peck on the lips. "I was taking it easy on you because I didn't know what hidden quirks you night elves had, but the night is still young…"

"Mmm." The huntress hummed thoughtfully, then started laying a trail of kisses down his body. Soon she made it to his member, slathered in a mix of his and Colette's release and already recovering. After a moment's hesitation, ran her tongue over the length of it.

"Apples this time?" She asked amusedly.

"I had one earlier." Harry justified with a shrug. He could already see Jessir's arousal rising after ingesting his semen, because of course he had made it into an aphrodisiac. Why wouldn't he?

"Colette? Are you okay?" Luna asked, a little concerned at how long it was taking the Shadow priestess to recover.

Colette blinked and seemed to come back to herself, taking a shuddering breath. Her body still looked like a sweaty, violated mess, but the satisfied grin that bloomed on her face fit it so perfectly that the entire effect was almost artistic.

"Yes, I think I am going to be juuust fine."

XXXXX

Archbishop Benedictus found it hard to go anywhere without drawing a great deal of attention, but that was just the way of things for people in high positions, be they lords, kings or religious leaders.

Which was why he had snuck out of the Church of Holy Light in the dead of night. It was silly, but he didn't want to turn this trip into something official. Word would inevitably get out about it, but as long as it was over before anyone could make a big deal out of it, it would be fine.

His destination was Stormwind's Old Town and the newly built Temple of Elune that stood there. He had heard that Luna, the human(or possibly half-elven?) priestess in whose honor the temple had been built was there and he wanted to talk to her.

Several of his bishops and lower ranked priests had wanted to lodge a protest with the king about the construction of the temple, but Benedictus had talked them down, told them that they had no conflict with the followers of Elune and that they shouldn't act like it.

All of it true, but Benedictus had kept the true reason for his lack of protest to himself. It would, after all, be devastating if it got out that the Archbishop of the Church of Holy Light was finding his faith wavering.

Without the ostentatious robes of his office and covered in a simple brown cloak, Benedictus was just another old man and drew no attention. He made it to the temple without issue and had to admit that it was a beautiful construction. It rather clashed with its surroundings, though.

The doors were open in welcome and he stepped in, immediately seeing the difference from his own temple. Soft, grassy ground instead of hard marble and vines crawling up the walls and pillars instead of being kept meticulously clean. It was a much more earthy sort of place. The supernatural sense of comfort suffusing the place was familiar enough, though.

The priestess he had come to see was there, speaking to a man dressed in poor quality clothing with what appeared to be a great deal of enthusiasm and gesticulation. She wasn't wearing any sort of formal robe, but just a shirt, trousers and hard-wearing boots. There were no pews to sit on and it did not look like any sermons were held, which correlated with what Benedictus had heard. Still, he wondered how a religion could function without sermons held for the masses, even with the night elven acolytes to help. Was this just a temporary measure since the temple received relatively few visitors or did the followers of Elune not hold sermons at all? What few people were present in the temple right now mostly seemed to be homeless that were using it as a place to sleep.

For the moment, the disguised archbishop moved past the priestess he had come to speak to and stood in front of the moonwell with the statue of Elune in the middle. He looked past it at the ceiling that reflected the starry sky and the two moons and wondered.

Would Elune have looked after her followers with more care than the Light did? Would she have allowed Lordaeron to fall if they had worshiped her instead?

Questions like these had plagued him ever since he had first heard of the proposal to build a temple to the Moon Goddess in Stormwind, but her stony visage offered no answers.

"Hello, I'm Luna." The pleasant greeting brought him out of his thoughts and he look up into the glowing silver eyes of the priestess he had come to see. "Can I help you with something?"

"I had some questions about your religion and your goddess, if I may?" Benedictus asked politely. There was no reason to be rude, although it was admittedly already a bit rude to not offer his own name.

"Fire away." She replied cheerfully.

"Thank you." He nodded. "How did you come to be in Elune's service?"

Elune was a night elven goddess, after all. It was odd for someone of a different race to take her for their own, even odder to rise so high.

"Oh, Big Sis Elune asked me if I wanted to be her priestess as soon as we arrived on Azeroth."

Benedictus blinked. That statement created a great many questions. Big Sis Elune? Arrived on Azeroth?

"Elune personally asked you to be her priestess?" He settled on the one most relevant to his own troubles.

"Mhm." Luna nodded, bouncing playfully on her toes.

Benedictus wasn't sure how he felt about that. There were men and women out there that had a natural affinity for the Light, but he had never heard of it reaching out to anyone.

"Does she often act in the mortal world like that?" he pressed further.

Luna tilted her head at him in puzzlement. "Of course not. She's a goddess, so she can't act directly on the physical plane. All she can do is help the people who reach out to her."

"But she spoke to you." He argued, not understanding.

"She spoke to me because I know how to listen, most people don't."

Benedictus was silent for a while, digesting this information. Would the Light have helped more if people knew how to listen? What did it even mean to know how to listen?

"Would you say that Elune is stronger than the Holy Light?" He questioned. Perhaps a foolish question, as any true believer would always say that the thing they believed in was the strongest.

But Luna just shrugged carelessly. "I don't know."

Benedictus blinked in surprise at the response and decided to prod further. "I have heard rumors of your prowess in Ahn'Qiraj, Naxxramas and against Onyxia, and Tyrande Whisperwind is known as one of the most powerful people on Azeroth."

"What does that have to do with how strong Elune is?" She asked, seeming to be honestly confused.

"Does your power not come from her?" Benedictus was also confused.

"I guess, but also, not really?" Luna frowned in confusion. "Harry is much better at explaining this than me… you can't just draw on a source of power like a goddess or the Light and expect to become super strong without putting in any work. It takes more than a weapon to make a warrior and more than talent to make a mage. Only great souls can wield great power."

"Then you are saying that Lordaeron fell because Prince Arthas and its other defenders were too weak?" Benedictus wasn't sure if he should be angry or not. He had been wondering why the Light had seemingly abandoned the noble paladins of the Silver Hand in their darkest hour, but not once had he thought of them as being too weak.

"No, The Lich King and the Burning Legion were just stronger and better prepared." Luna shook her head. "It sucks, but greatness isn't limited to good people."

That was certainly true, but it didn't do much to make Benedictus feel better.

"The people of Lordaeron deserved better." He said sadly. It was a thought he had often.

"If bad things only happened to bad people, then there would be no bad people in the first place."

The simplistic, almost childish, statement made him snort with involuntary amusement. It was true, and contained more wisdom than one would expect, but it still sounded like something one would tell a five-year-old.

"I hear that your husband has perfected a means to restore the undead to true life." Benedictus prompted, somewhat changing the subject.

The king had been very pleased by the news, and had already begun making tentative plans for the rebuilding of Stormwind's sister kingdom.

The Archbishop of the Holy Light, on the other hand, had been deeply troubled. Not because he did not want the Forsaken to be restored or see Lordaeron restored, but because he had been the one to urge the king to slay the diplomatic envoys Sylvanas Windrunner sent years ago. Because he had been preaching for years that all undead, including the Forsaken, were to be pitied and given mercy killings to release their souls.

Had he been wrong to do so? That was no doubt a large part of the reason for why the Forsaken had joined the Horde, which made the political ramifications of restoring Lordaeron… potentially problematic, and he didn't think that King Varian fully appreciated the situation.

The Forsaken had every right to be furious at having their diplomatic envoys slain without provocation. The thought of seriously entertaining any kind of diplomacy from undead after what the Scourge had done to Lordaeron had seemed ludicrous, but they were forced into it after the Forsaken joined the Horde. How the situation would evolve and if the restored Forsaken would hold a grudge at Stormwind's bellicose attitude when they were in desperate need of allies was up in the air.

Was it any wonder that Benedictus doubted his faith with such thoughts weighing on his mind?

"He has!" Luna beamed proudly. "It's going to take him a while to make enough for all the Forsaken, but he's working hard."

"And it purges the taint completely?" Benedictus asked, because he had trouble believing it could be so convenient.

"It doesn't erase their suffering or the damage done to their minds." Luna admitted with a small downward curl of her lips. "Sylvanas assured us that all the Forsaken are strong-willed, but Harry is still estimating that at least one in ten won't be able to handle it."

"Everything comes at a price." He nodded, having entirely too much experience with the cost of every victory. "But if the undead can be restored, then perhaps the Light has not abandoned us after all."

"The Light doesn't care about people." Luna said so bluntly that Benedictus recoiled in shock. "It can't think or feel, so it can't care. People have to care about each other."

That was… true. The Holy Light was not a deity. It may be a divine power, but it was not a god.

"What of your goddess, then?" Benedictus challenged, more cross than he expected to be. "Would she have protected Lordaeron from the Undead Scourge and the Burning Legion?"

"How could she do that?" Luna asked, puzzled. "Without priests to channel her power through their souls, she can't do anything."

"But would she, if she could?" He pressed, needing to know.

"Of course." Luna nodded. "But if she could do whatever she wanted on the material plane, then Kalimdor would still be in one piece and the night elves would still have their empire."

Benedictus had not considered that, which was rather foolish in hindsight. Why would Elune not want her followers to rule Azeroth? What would have become of humanity in that case? Perhaps… some tragedies were necessary? Was that it?

"I find it best not to think too hard." Luna broke into his thoughts with her interjection. "Just be a good person and do your best and you can't go wrong."

"Just… do my best?" Benedictus repeated. It was so… simplistic.

"You can do it, I believe in you!" Luna cheered.

"You have given me a great deal to think about, Priestess." He said, preparing to leave. "Thank you for your time."

"Feel free to come back if you want to talk some more!"

Benedictus was deep in thought as he walked out of the temple, hiding his face in his hood as he spotted a familiar dark-skinned woman in expensive robes walk past him. He had no idea what Lady Adrastia was doing in the Temple of Elune and had far too much on his mind to find out.

He had a lot of thinking to do.

XXXXX

"Was that Archbishop Benedictus?" Adrastia asked bemusedly. She had made it a point to identify every big player and person of interest in Stormwind and the leader of the Church of Holy Light was definitely in that category.

"Dunno." Luna shrugged nonchalantly. "He did feel pretty strong though, so maybe?"

"What did he want?"

"He seemed like he had a lot on his mind." Luna replied pensively. "I guess when you're the head priest people come to confide in you, but you don't have anyone to confide in yourself."

Adrastia hummed in agreement. She had met more than a few cardinals, bishops, septons and even one pope that were such delightful snarls of uncertainty. 'Holy' men made for interesting toys to play with. "Show me what you talked about?"

"Okay." Luna agreed easily and stared into her eyes, moonlight eyes glowing with power.

Adrastia really disliked forming mental links with Harry and Luna ever since their forays into godhood. Their minds just didn't work right anymore. Their physical shells might be mortal, but as the saying went, 'everyone was a god inside their own mind'. That was especially true for Harry and Luna.

Their mental presence was overwhelming in vastness, seeming to be everywhere at once, looking everywhere at once. A mortal mind wasn't capable of spreading itself out in that manner and Adrastia always felt so frighteningly tiny in comparison. Forming a mental link with one of them was like living in a house on the bottom of the ocean, knowing that opening the door meant that the sea would rush in and fill up every bit of space inside.

Fortunately, Luna was a master of the Mind Arts and sufficiently disciplined to not allow herself to overwhelm whoever she was linking with.

Adrastia received the recent memories and rapidly dissected the implications and motivations behind Benedictus' visit and his questions.

"Interesting…" She drawled, easily recognizing a man troubled by doubts.

"What is?" Luna asked guilelessly. The blonde could be remarkably insightful at times, but generally preferred to take people at face value.

"The good archbishop appears to be going through a crisis of faith." Adrastia mused. "If you were so inclined, it wouldn't be too difficult to lure him to worshiping Elune instead of the Light."

Luna had, in fact, already accidentally started the process. Benedictus was – probably unknowingly – desperate for some kind of sign that would reaffirm his faith and she had pretty much told him that the Light would not – could not – provide one. The devoutly religious could not live without something to believe in, so the only options open to Benedictus was to regain his faith or replace it with something else.

Luna found herself perfectly positioned to help him with the former or provide the latter.

"Big Sis Elune will be happy to have him if that's what he wants." She said cheerily, making no indication that she was going to make use of the opportunity.

Adrastia, as an apex social predator, sometimes wanted to tear her hair out in frustration. How can you have vulnerable prey right in front of you and have no urge to pounce?!

"Did you want to talk about something?" Luna asked.

"I mostly just came to ask if you've had any trouble from the locals." She answered, pushing away her exasperation.

"Not really." Luna tapped her chin thoughtfully. "There were a few thieves that thought they might find something valuable on the upper floors, but most of them were just doing it because they were poor, so I gave them some gold to tide them over and told them I'd get Harry to find some work for them."

Adrastia kept the amused smirk off her face. Poverty could ruin a kingdom, so it was always a good idea to keep an eye on the slums to see what the problems were. Some people were simply lazy or incompetent, so the existence of a slum was pretty much inevitable in any large enough city, but slums had a nasty habit of sucking in otherwise productive and hard-working people if the ruler put no effort into quarantining the rot.

But Harry wasn't a king anymore and Stormwind wasn't his responsibility, Luna had just defaulted to the standard modus operandi out of habit. That, added to his wealth and power, was almost guaranteed to have people flocking to him in search of a leader eventually.

He was going to be so annoyed. Adrastia couldn't wait to see it.

"I think one of them was part of SI:7 and the others were just regular thieves looking for an easy score after they heard about me giving money to the others." Luna continued.

"What did you do to those?" Adrastia asked, expecting it to be good. While Luna was too much of a softy to punish criminals the way the law would, that didn't mean that her punishments were easily disregarded.

"I gave them a good spanking and a stern talking to." Luna said proudly.

Adrastia's lips twitched in amusement. She had been right, it was good. "And you did this in the main hall? In full view of anyone that might have been there…?"

"Of course."

Those thieves' reputations would never recover being treated like naughty children, to say nothing of that unfortunate Stormwind Intelligence agent. It might have been more merciful to call the guards and haul them off to prison.

"Well done." Adrastia cleared her throat and smothered her amusement. "Anyway, the reason I ask is because the Twilight's Hammer seems to be getting more active. I don't know if they are planning something or if they are just upset at what you're doing here, but be on guard either way."

Unfortunately, she still hadn't gotten her hooks into any of the higher ranked cultists, so her information remained spotty.

"Do you think they know about the Dark Portal reopening soon?" Luna wondered. "Harry wasn't sure when exactly that was supposed to happen, except that it was around the time when the blood elves join the Horde and the Dranei show up on Azeroth."

Ah yes, the blood elves… that was a topic that genuinely annoyed her. Harry had tasked her with convincing Varian Wrynn to bring them into the Alliance, not wanting the Horde – and more specifically the orcs – to have any magical expertise.

Harry was expecting trouble from them in the future. They made for fine allies against the greater evils plaguing Azeroth, but neither he nor Adrastia had any faith in their ability to peacefully coexist with the other races once the situation calmed down. Keeping them magically hamstrung was just the first step in a decades-long plan to drive the orcs to extinction.

Unfortunately, King Varian and his advisors were less far-sighted. The blood elves' new habit of draining fel energies to sustain themselves after the destruction of the Sunwell was a deal-breaker as far as they were concerned. Many of them seemed to think that an alliance with the blood elves would be like willingly adding poison to their soup, so they were more than happy to let the orcs do it. Varian Wrynn's admirably potent resentment against the orcs probably helped.

Which left Thrall and the Horde as 'the only game in town' for the blood elves. With the Undead Scourge having slaughtered over 90% of their population as it rampaged through Quel'thalas, they were in desperate need of allies. Even the bad blood the elves had with the orcs – not as severe as the humans, but still present – was put aside in favor of survival.

Given more time, Harry could have offered an alliance himself or perhaps even somehow maneuvered the blood elves to rejoin their night elf cousins, but it was too soon. More than anything, what the blood elves needed right now was manpower. Armies to hide behind while they recovered.

And Thrall was more than happy to have them. Of course, there were some stern conditions regarding the use of fel magic, but the Warchief wasn't blind to how magically inept his faction was outside of the Forsaken, which he might lose. He needed the elves and their mages and was willing to saddle himself with the task of keeping a close eye on their addiction to get them. He was probably also aware that if the blood elves got any more desperate, some of them might start to get ideas about fully throwing their lot in with the Burning Legion, and nobody wanted that.

"It is a possibility." Adrastia finally replied. "We know that both the Light and Void allow for divination and the Twilight's Hammer practically worships the Void." Unfortunately, nobody in Harry's group or their adjacent social circle had a lick of talent for that kind of divination.

"We should talk to Jaina about this." Luna mused. "Ooh, I'll invite her for dinner!"

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