Bolvar Fordragon, the name meant absolutely nothing to Harry.
Unsurprising, given that he was neither an interesting magical curiosity, the owner of some powerful magical item or a hot fantasy girl.
"How will this spell of yours work?" Fordragon asked.
"It's quite simple really." Harry began to explain, pulling a knife and glass out of hammerspace. "Anduin will use this dagger to spill some of his blood and then give it to me, after which I will be able to use it to locate any immediate family members. Since you say that his father is the only immediate family he has left, it will unerringly point to him – provided that he isn't hidden behind anti-scrying wards."
"That does not sound like magic sanctioned by the Kirin Tor." The paladin said dubiously.
"Well I'm not part of the Kirin Tor and never have been, nor will I ever let other people tell me what kind of magic I'm 'allowed' to study." Harry retorted.
"It's a type of blood magic." Luna chimed in helpfully.
"Like what the trolls use?" Bolvar asked even more dubiously.
"I don't know what kind the trolls use, but I suspect the answer is no." Harry's retort was very dry. "Now are we doing this or not?"
"Bolvar, if this will help find my father, then I am willing to take the risk." Anduin spoke up. "Besides, I trust Lady Luna."
Bolvar lost most of his starch at the words of his young ward. "Very well."
Anduin gave the man a grateful nod and took the offered knife from Harry. "How much blood do you need?"
"Not much, just enough to cover the bottom of the glass." Harry said, indicating said container. "Also, a warning for the future; be more suspicious of wizards asking for your blood. Wanting to save your father is all well and good, but you don't even want to know what kind of things I could do to you with willingly given blood."
Anduin suddenly looked a lot less certain of himself and Fordragon nearly went for his sword on pure instinct.
"Perhaps I should ask Jaina Proudmoore to be here for this." The paladin stated warily.
"Ooh, Jaina!" Luna exclaimed enthusiastically, turning to Harry with shiny eyes. "Isn't she the one mmph!"
"Shhh." Harry shushed gently, holding his wife's lips shut. "Jaina Proudmoore is a powerful archmage and a woman with her head screwed on properly as far as I know. Someone I would like to have as an ally in the future."
Definitely not someone who he wanted learning that they had used her likeness to play games like 'Detention in Dalaran', 'Studying with a Succubus', 'Dark Lady's Domination', 'Lust of the Lifebinder' and 'Elune's Secret Rituals', among others.
While not likely to murder them for it the way Sylvanas Windrunner would be, he would much rather Jaina Proudmoore not learn about those. Not ever if possible, but with Luna's loose lips more realistically at least not as a first impression.
Luna slapped his hand away and pouted at him. "Okay, I won't say anything. And Elune is laughing at us again, by the way."
"Of course she is." Harry rolled his eyes and looked at the bewildered paladin. "How long will it take to get her here?"
Fordragon got his wits about him at the question. "Unless she is dealing with some kind of crisis in Theramore, she should be here within the hour."
Huh, either they had magical messaging or they could use mages as messenger boys. Either way, it was good to hear that it wouldn't take weeks or months to get anywhere.
XXXXX
Jaina did indeed make it to Stormwind within the hour. Teleportation was convenient like that.
The young archmage was a beautiful woman in her late twenties with blonde hair and crystal blue eyes, standing at about 5'8''. She didn't have the exotic beauty of a night elf, but she was still a top tier babe by any measure, with a slender waist, wide hips and a shapely pair of respectably-sized breasts.
And she knew it, too, because Harry could not imagine that she would be wearing those tight white pants/purple half-robe combination for below the waist and that midriff-exposing white vest that was clearly also doing the job of a push-up bra if she was at all self-conscious about her appearance.
Completing her look was a crystal-topped staff and a hooded purple mantle stitched with runes of protection. In short, she looked pretty much exactly the way he remembered her being portrayed.
Somewhat surprising, as the outfit could not possibly be practical. Still, allowances had to be made for the circumstances. Maybe Jaina liked feeling sexy when she wasn't expecting to go into battle? It was a rare woman that didn't enjoy feeling beautiful and the powerful ones tended to be confident enough to flaunt their looks to one degree or another. Even Luna. oddball that she was, did it from time to time.
But he was prepared to take personal offense if she went into a fight dressed like that.
"Bolvar." The young archmage greeted when she arrived. "Prince Anduin."
"Jaina." The paladin returned warmly. First name basis, huh? She was well-connected.
"Lady Proudmoore." Anduin said more formally, but still comfortably.
"Hi, I'm Luna." Luna butted in eagerly. "I love your outfit, it really brings out your breasts."
Speaking of breasts, Harry had yet to see a single pair in Azeroth that was anything short of spectacular. Not a single flat chest, an unusually high concentration of big titties and every single one of them excellently shaped.
Clearly, the magical density of Azeroth was accommodating women's (and men's, but that was less important to him for obvious reasons) conscious and subconscious desires for physical beauty.
Harry loved this world and would protect it with all his might.
Jaina was taken aback by Luna's compliment and responded awkwardly. "…Thank you?"
Being experienced with his wife's antics, Harry smoothly interjected his own introduction to move past the awkward. "And I'm Harry, a pleasure to meet you."
"Harry?" Jaina repeated in surprise. "Are you that archmage that killed off all the Warsong orcs in Ashenvale and sent their tusks to Thrall?"
"That was me." Harry smiled proudly, amused by the way Fordragon startled at that bit of information.
"Huh, small world. Thrall asked me if I knew you, but I couldn't tell him anything."
"Well of course you couldn't, Luna and I only came to Azeroth via dimensional portal just over a month ago."
"Dimensional portal?" Jaina repeated, the emphasis in her words clearly asking for more information.
"Yes, dimensional. Luna and I are from a different subset of the multiverse."
The young archmage's blue eyes almost glowed with interest. "I would love to talk to you about that in more depth."
"You can join us for dinner!" Luna immediately offered, never one to miss an opportunity to make a friend.
"Or we could be your guests in Theramore if you prefer." Harry offered. He might know that Jaina was trustworthy, but she didn't know anything about them and blindly walking into another archmage's territory was foolhardy.
"No, I would love to see your tower." Despite her words, she gave him a subtle nod of acknowledgement to show that she appreciated the gesture. "I would also be interested in hearing how a human became a priestess of Elune."
"Big Sis Elune asked if I wanted to be one as soon as we arrived in this world. She seemed nice so I said yes." Luna explained.
"Big Sis Elune?" Jaine asked incredulously.
"Luna was a moon goddess in the last world we were in." Harry explained briefly.
"What?" Jaina asked, eyes going wide in surprise.
"What!?" Bolvar blurted out in shock.
Luna waved at them with a dreamy smile.
"Long story." Harry chuckled. "If you want, we can tell it to you over dinner. We should probably focus on finding the missing king for now."
"Right, of course." The young archmage nodded slowly, turning to Bolvar. "You said you needed me here as a trustworthy magic user?"
The paladin straightened, visibly putting what he'd just heard aside. "Indeed. Harry intends to use blood magic to track King Varian, with Anduin's blood, something that he himself admits can be horribly abused. While I do trust Lady Luna's assurances, I would feel better if you were here to supervise."
"I see." Jaina said musingly. "I've never used blood magic myself, so I don't know how much help I'll be, but I can certainly watch." She then turned back to Harry. "Will you walk me through the process?"
"Sure." Harry nodded, inwardly pleased by her lack of immediate negative reaction. To become one of the most powerful spellcasters alive at her young age, she would have had to open-minded and willing to learn. He would have been incredibly disappointed if she had immediately gone 'eww, dark magic! "We begin with willingly given blood. Such a thing is a sign of trust and allows the caster to use several of its innate properties that would otherwise be untouchable."
"So blood forcibly taken resists use?" Jaina asked for clarification.
"It depends on the situation, but in general, yes." He nodded. "Any kind of blood magic done with unwilling blood tends to be volatile, imprecise and usually fatal for the donor."
"Whereas willingly given blood won't fight you." She concluded, before narrowing her eyes at him slightly. "But if it is a sign of trust, then the donor's defenses would be lowered. You could magically enslave anyone who gave it to you."
"You catch on quick." Harry was genuinely impressed. Sure, she probably had enough knowledge on the workings of other magic to suss out that much without much difficulty, but that still meant that she had an actual understanding of it instead of just tossing around fireballs. Or ice balls in her case. "And I could only do it theoretically. Practically speaking, I am incapable of placing anyone under any kind of enchantment that would curtail their free will."
"That seems like a strangely specific disability." Jaina furrowed her brows in confusion, clearly catching the emphasis in his words.
"It's part of that long story we promised to tell you." Harry shrugged. "Anyway, moving on. Blood links family members together, especially close family. With willingly given blood, I would be able to exploit that link to create a tracking spell that will lead us to the boy's father."
"That all seems above board." She nodded. "I have to admit that my own scrying hasn't turned up any results and blood magic is very powerful."
"Alright." Bolvar agreed, handing the knife he'd confiscated earlier back to Anduin.
"Don't worry, I'll heal you right up as soon as it's over." Luna reassured the boy.
"Alright." Anduin echoed his regent, taking a deep breath to steady himself. "For my father's return."
The young prince slashed open his palm with a hiss of pain and then quickly squeezed his fist over the glass. In seconds, enough blood for Harry's purposes had trickled in and Luna healed his wound.
"This will do, now to see where daddy is hiding…" He muttered to himself, absently noting Bolvar's scandalized expression and Jaina's aborted giggle.
The blood turned into a red mist, which then drifted over to his head and seemed to absorb itself into his skin.
Harry blinked as a new sense appeared in his mind, one that was giving off a very confusing bit of information.
"Well, that's peculiar." He said, puzzled, and turned to Bolvar. "Are you sure the boy's mother is dead?"
"Of course I am sure!" Bolvar said indignantly. "I was there when Queen Tiffin was buried."
"Well then, either your queen has somehow managed to fake her death and escape to Kalimdor, she wasn't really the boy's mother or we have something much stranger going on."
While Anduin looked as outraged as a ten-year-old can, Fordragon looked like he was about start shouting at the 'insults' to the dead queen.
"What are you saying, exactly?" Jaina cut off the impending explosion.
"I'm getting two parent readings, both in Kalimdor." Harry summarized.
"Huh, that is strange." The younger archmage admitted pensively. "Time travel?"
"A possibility, or maybe an alternate version from a parallel dimension." He concurred. "Then again, it could also be something completely different."
"Right, we won't know for sure until we check." Jaina nodded firmly. "Which we should do as soon as possible. How long will that tracking spell of yours last?"
"Long enough. We can teleport over to my tower to get a better idea of distance and direction. Who all is coming along?"
Bolvar had calmed down from his earlier indignation and now looked uncertain. "I cannot leave Anduin unprotected."
"I could come as well." The boy in question was quick to offer.
"We have no idea how dangerous this is going to be." Jaina shot him down. "It would be better if just the three of us went. If we can't retrieve Varian, one or both of them, outright then we can at least survey the situation."
"I…very well." Anduin sighed. "Please return my father home safely."
"Of course we will!" Luna declared, picking the boy up and cuddling him into her breasts, much to his embarrassment.
"Do you need to do anything to prepare?" Harry asked, looking at Jaina.
"No, I'm ready.
"…Are you sure? You don't want to…change clothes or anything?"
"No, why would I?"
"Harry doesn't think you should ever go into a potential combat situation without armor." Luna chimed, letting go of the flustered prince.
"Well, he isn't wrong." Bolvar scratched at his goatee, pointedly looking at her exposed belly. "You are as good as inviting someone to stab you wearing that."
"Not all of us need to be wrapped up in steel to protect ourselves, Bolvar." Jaina retorted indignantly. "My magic has always sufficed."
Harry made a silent vow.
I am going to get you wearing full plate if it's the last thing I do.
XXXXX
"Isn't this a bit much?" Luna asked, more curious than complaining.
"This whole thing started with you getting mauled by a dragon." Harry rebutted, tightening the straps of her greaves before letting the segmented plates over the back of her shins fall down to cover them.
"I have to side with Luna on this, it just looks like you're overreacting." Jaina commented, staring at the priestess with a skeptical eye.
Or more accurately, at her armor. It was a suit of heavy arcanite platemail, carved with runes of power and forged with a method she had never seen before. It covered everything below the neck, made so intricately that even the joints were barely ever exposed, and even when they were there was another suit of adamantine chainmail beneath and then a gambeson beneath that.
It was an absurdly bulky thing for a priestess to wear and the quality of its craftmanship was fit for a king. Even a dwarven master smith would be hard pressed to match it.
"Woman, your outfit might make me want to probe your bellybutton with my tongue, but it is not fit for combat." Harry retorted sternly, encased in his own suit of nearly identical armor.
"W-what are you saying?!" Jaina demanded, flustered by the unexpected remark.
"It makes me want to do that, too." Luna admitted.
Jaina's face was baking and she covered her exposed midriff with her hands as if to protect it from a sudden wet violation. Harry made note of the fact that, despite her bold choice of outfits, the young archmage was apparently a complete newbie at flirting.
Made sense. While he didn't recall exactly which social class she had been born into, he was pretty sure that it was a high one, a step below royalty or something like that. That meant that her interaction with men would have been heavily wrapped up in protocol. Add on the fact that she had become apprenticed to the leader of the Kirin Tor, Archmage Antonidas, at a young age and became one of Azeroth's greatest heroes by leading the humans at the Battle of Mount Hyjal before she was even twenty-five…
Well, she had probably never actually been flirted with properly. Few men would have had the balls and those who did would have been fellow nobles who had been taught the stiff-necked ways of the aristocracy.
Jaina might have the confidence to flaunt her body in that sexy outfit and ignore the inevitable leers from those beneath her power and station, but it took an entirely different sort of confidence to deal with sexual innuendo from someone that wasn't, on some level, afraid of her.
That promised to be fun in the future, but for now he would show mercy.
"In any case, this here suit of spellforged arcanite platemail has magic weaved into it to work with the material's natural springiness and flexibility. Even regular arcanite armor is excellent at turning aside blows, but with my enchantments worked into it, the amount of effort that would take to get through it is insane. Its only imperfection is the fact that Luna's tits are too big for a normal breastplate, so I had to make her a boob plate."
"But I like the boob plate." Luna pouted, jumping a bit to see if she could get any jiggle going.
She could not, which made her sad.
"I'm sure you do, but you wouldn't like the way it directs the force of any blows you took right into your breastbone. It's a minor issue when magic is involved, but I don't like half-assing my work like that."
"How did you even get your hands on this much arcanite so quickly?" Jaina asked with a frown, recovered from the embarrassment. "As far as I know, the only alchemist skilled enough to transmute it is a goblin named Pestlezugg that lives down in Gadgetzan. I know you claimed to be an alchemist yourself, but he would never have shared the secret of arcanite transmutation with you."
No goblin would ever do anything that could get in the way of making profit, and Pestlezugg was able to charge ruinous prices for his services.
"As if some stinking goblin could ever be better than me." Harry growled, but quickly calmed down when Luna took his hand. "And I certainly don't need his help to figure out the technique."
Jaina was privately very impressed by the skill implied in that statement and already making mental notes to come to him if she ever needed an alchemist, but something else was at the forefront of her mind right now. "You don't like goblins much, do you?"
"Hate the little bastards." Harry confirmed immediately. "We had goblins back on our homeworld, too. Less green, but just as short, just as hook-nosed and just as greedy. They'd screw you over for a handful of coppers and only kept their word for as long as it suited them or as long as they were threatened to. I declared the day that we wiped them out a national holiday."
Jaina's eyebrows shot up her forehead in surprise. While the thought of wiping out an entire race was horrifying, she had to admit that his description of goblins was unfortunately accurate. It was very easy to imagine that his goblins had done something he could not forgive and she could guess from context that he had been a king of his people prior to leaving his world. A war could have resulted from such a transgression that led to the extinction of the goblin race.
Given that the histories of Kul Tiras said that the early humans that settled it fought the native Drust to extinction, Jaina didn't feel like she had any room to judge, especially without knowing the full story.
"You know, I thought you were just boasting when Thrall showed me the letter you sent him." She said instead. "Why would an archmage want to learn so many trades?"
"If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself." Harry smirked in response.
"I want to change this gambeson." Luna interjected with a frown, shifting around to get a feel for it. "Big Sis Elune told me about something called mooncloth that I could make at a moonwell."
"Is it durable?" Harry asked.
"Very. I'll make another one for you. Oh, and I want a cloak like Jaina's, and maybe a tabard. Dull grey is not my color."
"We can see about painting the armor later if it bothers you that much." Harry shrugged, not really caring himself. "Usually I would say no to cloaks since they can be grabbed, but Jaina's mantle is basically the only bit of armor she's wearing, so I'll allow it."
"If you're done criticizing what I wear, can we get a move on?" The archmage in question grumbled.
"Ohohoho, I'm not even close to done." Harry laughed mockingly. "Seeing someone as smart as you going into potential danger wearing the Sultry Sorceress Seduction kit hurts me right in the soul. I won't rest until I have you decked out in some proper armor."
"Hmph, good luck with that." She snorted, despite the resurgent blush on her cheeks at what he called her outfit. "I couldn't even move properly wearing something like that."
"It's pretty light, actually." Luna proved her point by doing a cartwheel. "Harry always enchants our armor so that it doesn't get in the way."
Jaina ground her teeth together briefly as her primary objection was undercut. "Look, I appreciate your concern for my safety, but I don't want to clank around in a suit of platemail. It's not like I'm going to be getting into swordfights with anyone."
"Alright, I'll drop it for now." Harry conceded, but a devious smirk twisted his lips immediately after. "Would be a shame if something happened to that sexy belly of yours, though."
"It really would." Luna agreed earnestly.
"…Let's just get going." The once more flustered archmage growled. "Where is your tracking spell pointing?"
"Right here in Ashenvale, strangely enough." He replied. "The other one seems to be somewhere on the eastern coast. If my sense of direction is on point, then it should actually be pretty close to Theramore."
"What?!" Jaina exclaimed in shock. "You're telling me I had the king of Stormwind practically right under my nose this whole time?"
"Seems like it."
XXXXX
They hadn't been sure what to expect when they left the tower on the Nimbus Cloud, but they still ended up being surprised at what they found just outside the territory of the Thistlefur furbolgs, some more than others.
"Broll?" Jaina asked in disbelief, recognizing the antlered night elf druid. "Broll Bearmantle?"
"Jaina Proudmoore." He returned the greeting.
"You know her?" A red-clad female blood elf brandishing two daggers made of eerie green metal, long enough to classify as short swords, asked tensely.
"We fought against the Burning Legion together at the Battle of Mount Hyjal." Broll replied before turning his attention back to Jaina. "Lady Proudmoore, these are my companions, Valeera Sanguinar and Lo'gosh. Why did you seek us out?"
Jaina looked at him oddly at the way he introduced what was unmistakably Stormwind's missing king, albeit dressed as a gladiator for some strange reason. Worryingly, the man showed no signs of recognizing her.
"These are Harry, a powerful archmage, and his wife Luna, the first human priestess of Elune." She introduced, causing three pairs of eyebrows to shoot up in shock, either at Luna's station or the fact that both of them were spellcasters despite wearing heavy plate armor. "We were commissioned by Prince Anduin Wrynn and Highlord Bolvar Fordragon to find the prince's missing father."
Neither Jaina, Harry nor Luna missed the way Lo'gosh frowned at those names. Some kind of familiarity was obviously being sparked.
Jaina stared deeply into the man's eyes as she continued. "It is good to see that you're alright, Your Majesty."
"Your Majesty?" Valeera repeated in surprise, turning to look at her companion. "You're a king?!"
"I…" Lo'gosh was just as shocked as her. "I…can't remember."
Harry hadn't taken his eyes off the man the entire time. It was definitely Anduin's father, the Kinfinder did not lie, but now that he was so close he could clearly sense what was wrong with the man. His soul wasn't whole. It wasn't the same kind of soul mutilation that creation of a horcrux caused, but it couldn't be healthy.
"He's not even close to alright." He said, cutting through the conversation. "Some kind of soul magic was worked on him to split him into halves. That's why he has memory problems and probably also why you weren't able to scry for him normally."
Jaina turned to look at him in surprise. "How can you tell?"
"I've had some experience with soul magic before." Harry smiled thinly at his own understatement.
"Right, so we have to find the other Varian before we can fix them." Luna nodded firmly.
"Now hold on just a moment!" Lo'gosh interrupted, apparently fed up with being talked about. "I would like to hear more about this, but before that we need to go to Darnassus."
XXXXX
The amnesiac king turned out to be incredibly stubborn and wouldn't hear a word about retrieving his other half before going to Darnassus. Harry needed to talk to Tyrande again anyway, so he didn't fight him too hard on it.
While Lo'gosh and Broll went to have their private audience with Tyrande and Luna was chatting with Jaina, Harry siddled up to Valeera, who had naturally skulked into the nearest shadowy corner and almost vanished into it (some kind of instinctual magic?) despite her painfully bright outfit.
Said outfit was painful to look at in more than just coloration. A thin, bright red breastplate that looked like a mix between corset and leotard and left her upper chest exposed, knee-high red boots that left her thighs exposed., unnecessarily spiky shoulder pads, red gauntlets that left her upper arms exposed and a crimson hood that had an extremely long blonde topknot sticking out from the top, with the whole get-up dotted with emeralds. It was obviously a heavily enchanted armor, but all that exposed skin and that easily grabbable hair…
Then again, she had apparently been a gladiator slave alongside Broll and Varian until very recently, so it would figure that it would be designed for flashiness.
Side note: learning that orcs used slaves in gladiator fights had not improved his opinion on the species.
The blood elf looked at him with fel-tainted green eyes from under her crimson hood as soon as he approached, raising a blonde eyebrow. "Yes?"
"You're suffering the withdrawal symptoms of magic addiction, right?" Harry asked bluntly.
One of the major events relatively recent in Azeroth's history was the destruction of the high elves' Sunwell, a massive font of arcane power that their entire race had been connected to, by the Undead Scourge.
Without it – since then renamed into the blood elves – were suffering withdrawal.
She seemed a little taken aback by his directness and subconsciously slipped into combat readiness, prepared to draw her daggers at a moment's notice. "What of it?"
"I was hoping you would consent to experimentation." He said politely, ignoring her blatant wariness. "Researching your people's condition and potentially finding a solution is on my to-do list."
"The only solution is to find a new source of magic." Valeera scoffed. "And if you try to experiment on me I'll gut you."
"It wouldn't be anything invasive, I just want to test how much magical energy you need to sustain yourself and if the type matters." Harry assured. "You might be right, though. From what I've observed you elves are all extremely magic sensitive. It's entirely possible that you need a connection to at least one powerful mystical force in order to live. But even if that's the case, finding something other than fel would be worthwhile."
And who knows, it might also serve to get them away from the Horde as well, since he knew that they ended up joining in the games. While he didn't think the orcs were strictly speaking 'evil', they sure did cause a lot of problems.
"And you think you could do that, find an easily accessible source of magic other than fel, when all of our people's magisters failed?" Valeera's eyebrow was up again, this time in a deeply skeptical expression.
"Well, I like to think myself pretty clever." Harry grinned. "I'm sure I could figure something out, given enough time."
She scoffed again, this time more amused than derisive. "If you can manage that then I'll have to concede that you really are pretty clever."
He noticed Broll and Lo'gosh coming down to the temple's ground floor and nodded at the blood elf rogue. "Ah, it looks like your friends are done with their audience. Excuse me, I have to talk to Tyrande myself."
Valeera didn't respond aside from a small nod.
XXXXX
"I am beginning to notice a pattern with you two." Tyrande commented after being told who exactly the human warrior in Broll's company was and how the two of them even ended up searching for him, not sure if she should be amused or exasperated.
"What pattern?" Luna asked curiously.
"Every time you come talk to me, you seem to have done something significant." The High Priestess explained, pointedly raising an eyebrow at their armor. "And is that arcanite? Pray tell, how did you manage to get so much of it, and find a smith skilled enough to forge such intricate platemail from it?"
"Made it myself and did it myself." Harry replied with a smirk. "I never did like relying on other people for anything."
"Impressive." Tyrande didn't let her surprise show. "Was there something you needed from me?"
"Yes. Information on the qiraji and the state of the war effort against them." Harry nodded.
"Have you decided to participate in the war?" She asked hopefully.
"I was asked, more like." Harry decided to extend a little more trust to her. "Due to centuries of practice and certain events in the previous world we were on, I developed the ability to listen to a planet's world soul. Usually, a world soul is just the amalgamation of everything on the planet, but Azeroth's is something…more. She showed me a vision of something grievous dark stirring in Ahn'Qiraj and she was terrified. I may not owe anything to this world, but I couldn't let such a magnificent soul be threatened, so yes, we are joining the war."
For the first time that Harry had seen her, Tyrande looked genuinely shocked. "You were able to commune with the world itself?"
"That's what I said." Harry nodded.
The High Priestess composed herself quickly. "I honestly had not imagined such a thing was possible. And you say that Azeroth itself is alive, in the sense of it being a single being?"
"Yes, and she feels female." He confirmed.
"How fascinating." Tyrande murmured to herself. "I wonder if the Aspects know about this?
"We could ask Big Sis Elune." Luna suggested.
"Perhaps." The night elf agreed, although she was privately doubtful that her goddess would reveal anything to them if she had not spoken of it in the past ten thousand years. "But we should focus on the task at hand. You wanted to know about the qiraji?"
"Yes. Strengths, weaknesses, behavior patterns, level of intelligence, types and subtypes, known abilities and so on."
"That could take some time to get through and you are on an important quest, but I could have a report written out for you." Tyrande offered. "We have already sent such information to the commanders in Silithus anyway."
"That would be appreciated." Harry nodded, although he was privately also intending to take a few live specimens for experimentation.
"Your decision to join the war is likewise appreciated." Tyrande returned, knowing that an archmage and priestess of their power lending their might to the battle would mean more of her people coming back alive. "Truthfully, I wish I could go as well."
"Why can't you?" Luna asked, puzzled.
"Politics." Harry replied in her place, snorting. "Because she's the leader of the night elves, her station is too high to allow herself to be seen taking orders from anyone, but she can't just usurp command without insulting both the Horde and the rest of the Alliance."
"Indeed." Tyrande confirmed. "The humans, dwarves and gnomes might begrudgingly tolerate me taking command after everything was organized, but the Horde is carrying a greater part of the burden in this war and overall command over the Might of Kalimdor was given to High Overlord Varok Saurfang, one of Thrall's most trusted subordinates. If I tried to usurp his command on the eve of battle, there would be mass desertions from the orcs and the overall strength of the offensive would fall more than it would rise due to my presence. There is an unspoken agreement between us racial leaders that none of us will personally participate in any joint ventures to avoid exactly these kinds of problems."
"Oh." Luna said with a small frown. It didn't make any sense to her to be worrying about that kind of thing when there was a bigger problem right in front of everyone, but she had never been much of a politician.
"The greatest advantage the enemy has is their lack of politics." Harry drolled. "I don't suppose you have any knowledge about what's lurking in Ahn'Qiraj that Azeroth is so afraid of?"
Tyrande pursed her lips in thought. Yes, she knew what lurked in the depths of Ahn'Qiraj, but she had decided to keep the specifics of that knowledge to herself so as not to demoralize those going to war. However, Luna could simply ask Elune for guidance and she doubted that the Moon Goddess would withhold information. Besides, Harry already knew that there was a great evil there.
"It is one of the Old Gods, twisted parasites spawned from the Void who corrupt everything they touch." She said.
"Ah, one of those." Harry nodded, not terribly surprised. "That makes sense."
"I liked the Old Gods on our last world better." Luna pouted. "They were a lot nicer."
The ancient night elf had to raise an eyebrow at the nonchalant reaction. "I am glad to see that you are not losing any heart at hearing what kind of foe you are going up against."
"Well, I already knew about the existence of the Old Gods and that Yogg-Saron was somewhere in Northrend." Harry admitted. "I figured that I'd end up fighting it and its friends eventually. What can you tell me about them? Were you being literal when you said 'spawned from the Void'?"
"Yes, I was being literal. They are powerful beings, gigantic masses of Void made flesh, but they can be beaten. The Might of Kalimdor was mustered as quickly as it was because we hope to destroy it before it can fully awaken."
"I see." Harry nodded slowly, already thinking. "This is good information. I'll have to bring some holy hand grenades along with the bug spray."
"What?" Tyrande asked in confusion.
He just smiled. "I'm a firm believer in bringing the right tools for the right job. You say I'm going up against an eldritch Void abomination? I'll bring weapons of searing Light."
"But you are not a priest or a paladin." She pointed out, then paused uncertainly. "…are you?"
"No, but I am an alchemist, a blacksmith, an enchanter and a bit of an engineer."
XXXXX
With their business in Darnassus done, the six of them hopped on the Nimbus Cloud and flew towards Dustwallow Marsh, where the Kinfinder was pointing them. As he had guessed earlier, their destination was relatively close to Theramore, which still annoyed Jaina.
"The only thing in this direction is Alcaz Island." The young archmage said with a furrowed brow.
Harry's lips twisted into a wry expression at the name. That sounded rather similar to Alcatraz Island and a man was being held prisoner there. The multiverse had a sense of humor, apparently.
"A prison island?" He guessed.
She looked at him quizzically. "No, why would you think that? It's an independent and isolated human settlement."
"He thinks that because we had a prison island called Alcatraz back home." Luna provided helpfully.
"I'll bet you a kiss that hostile forces have overtaken the island and are using it as a prison." Harry grinned.
"I think I'll pass on that bet." Jaina replied, turning her face away so that her hood would hide the blush on her cheeks.
"I'll take it!" Luna chimed in. "I bet that the other Varian washed up here with no memory and went native. If I win you have to rub my feet while we soak in the moonwell."
"Agreed."
The silent Lo'gosh, Broll and Valeera exchanged bemused looks, wondering what was going on between the other three.
It wasn't long after that that the island came into view. Deciding to err on the side of caution, Harry took them high up into the air and used a spyglass to scout it out.
"Naga." He proclaimed, spotting the serpentine forms slithering over the island. "It's been taken over by naga."
"Aww." Luna pouted. "I really wanted that footrub."
"Don't worry, I'll give it to you anyway." Harry assured before collecting his win.
"I…" Lo'gosh spoke with a deep frown, ignoring the kissing. "I..remember a ship. We were attacked by naga…I jumped into the sea to escape them."
"And eventually washed up in Durotar without your memory." Valeera said with a nod, putting the pieces together. "Your other half must not have gotten away."
"Jumping into the sea to escape from sea creatures seems like a terrible idea." Harry commented after disengaging from the kiss with Luna. "Your luck is ridiculous."
Lo'gosh could only shrug helplessly. He had no explanation for that one either.
"How many naga are there?" He asked instead.
"Hard to say for certain. There only seem to be a few dozen and a handful of their pet hydras roaming around the surface of the island, but there's no telling how many more are in the surrounding waters."
"Not enough to withstand us." The halved human king decided boldly.
"Probably not, but I'm more concerned that they'll try to use your other self as a human shield." Harry countered. "I hate dealing with hostage situations."
"I have to agree with Harry on this one." Jaina added her own two cents. "While we probably could overwhelm the naga with brute force, there is too much of a risk that they would kill your other half just to spite us."
Lo'gosh didn't look pleased by that, but Valeera spoke up before him.
"I could sneak in." The blood elf offered. "If nothing else, I might be able to find where they're keeping the other Varian."
"In that bright red outfit?" Harry asked skeptically.
"Yes, in this bright red outfit." Valeera retorted tersely.
"I could give you a couple of blessings to help with that." Luna piped up.
"That's not necessary." The blood elf refused. "I don't need divine blessings to do this."
Broll decided to speak up. "Elune will not spurn you, Valeera, have no fear."
"That is not what this is about!" She hissed like an angry cat.
"Just take the damn blessings." Harry rolled his eyes, not really caring what her problem was. "An advantage shouldn't be turned down. Speaking of which, I'm going to need to hop back to the tower so I can make a few trinkets."
"The sun is going to be coming up in a few hours." Lo'gosh pointed out while Valeera scowled.
Harry, Luna and Jaina had set out on their quest early in the morning, Stormwind time, which was the middle of the night in Kalimdor.
"Don't worry, I'll be back before you know it." Harry smirked.
XXXXX
With Harry gone, Jaina decided to take the opportunity to talk to Luna about what was up with the flirting. Getting the priestess alone was easier than expected, but starting the conversation she wanted to have, that was hard.
"Sooo, what did you want to talk about?" Luna prompted when Jaina spent a little too long contemplating her approach.
Jaina reminded herself that she was a Proudmoore of Kul Tiras, a powerful archmage, the second highest ranking member of the Kirin Tor and all around not somebody who balked at difficult conversations…even if history had shown that she made better friends than love interests.
"Doesn't it bother you that your husband is flirting with me?" She finally asked.
"Not at all." Luna replied instantly. "You seem like a really nice person and Harry respects you as an equal. It's been centuries since that's happened and I would be happy to have you as a sister wife."
"Sister wife?!" Jaine squawked in shock.
"Uh huh." Luna nodded and stepped into the smaller woman's personal space, reaching out to wrap her in a hug. "We could be happy together."
Jaina skittered back like a startled deer, eyes wide. "What are you talking about marriage for?! We've barely met! And I'm not even interested in other women!"
Luna's serene smile took a slightly salacious edge. "I'm sure I could bring you around if you gave me a chance."
Jaina felt her face bake again, but the other woman continued before she could reply.
"And if not, then we could work out a schedule to share Harry."
Jaina had been ready to protest that she would never be any man's second wife or mistress or anything else similarly demeaning, but this sounded like something a little more equal than that. Being just one of a single man's multiple wives was still beneath her, but between her friendships with Thrall and Tyrande she had enough experience puzzling out cultural differences to see that she wasn't being insulted.
"Why are you so willing to share your husband anyway?" She asked, trying to understand. "We've only just met and you want to split his attention between yourself and another woman."
"When you get to our age, you have yourself pretty well figured out and don't need long to act on what you want. We both like you, so our marriage can only be made better by including you in it. It's alright if you aren't interested in us that way, but you shouldn't let fear make your choices for you."
Jaina wasn't sure what to say to that. Prince Kael'thas Sunstrider of the high elves had once been enamored with her, but she had been an inexperienced seventeen-year-old girl at the time whereas he was already centuries old, so things had been very awkward. Her later relationship with Prince Arthas Menethil had progressed to the point that everyone, even her, had believed that marriage was imminent, but things had not happened that way.
Kael'thas had joined up with Illidan Stormrage and was even now somewhere in Outland doing who knows what. The less said about Arthas the better.
And now this, some dimension-hopping couple was inviting her into their marriage – for all intents and purposes proposing to her – within a day of meeting her. It was just too much for her to deal with.
"I would prefer it if we stayed friends." She deflected, not even really considering the offer.
"Alright." Luna said and stepped forward to hug her again, this time catching the archmage before she could escape. "But I still want to have you over for dinner and a sleepover."
Jaina stopped trying to escape the hug when she realized that it was just a gesture of affection and nothing more. "As long as you swear that you won't try to seduce me."
"I won't try to seduce you." Luna promised.
"And neither will your husband?"
"Neither will Harry."
"In that case, I accept…" Because despite how embarrassing this whole situation was, she found herself genuinely liking Luna and Harry. Also, from a more pragmatic perspective, they were too useful as allies to alienate.
"But we're still going to flirt, because your blushing is adorable."
Jaina felt her ears burning again when Luna pressed her head in between her breasts.
Whyyyy?! I am a mature, experienced woman, not some fresh virgin! Why is this so embarrassing? She lamented in the privacy of her own mind.
XXXXX
The strange armored archmage had not been joking when he said that he would return quickly. In fact, he returned so quickly that Valeera simply could not understand how he had had time to make so many magical trinkets.
"First, this amulet." Harry said, handing her a golden amulet that seemed to be framing a large drop of blood. "I transferred the Kinfinder into it. This Varian Wrynn has been excluded from it, so it will tug you only in the other one's direction."
Valeera had barely put it over her neck before he was already handing her another item.
"You'll be protected from sight and I assume you can move quietly, but some serpents hunt by body heat or by tracking vibrations in the air. That bracelet is designed to hide both just in case the naga or the hydras can do one or both." He said, snapping the bracelet into place around her bicep.
"Seems a little paranoid." The blood elf rogue muttered.
"It's not paranoia if they really are out to get you." He countered and handed her yet another item, this time a small glass ball that he placed in a thick leather bag with wool-lined insides. "Signal beacon. If you need us to start a distraction, crush the glass and we'll mount a frontal assault. Don't worry about noise, the bag will block it."
"Could be useful." Valeera allowed.
"Last thing from me, a Portkey keyed to my tower." Harry continued, giving her a length of rope. "An emergency escape if you find yourself in a tight spot. If the other Varian is already with you, then have him grab it as well and then speak the name of the human capital city. Don't say it right now, or you'll be yanked to my tower and we'll have to teleport over there to get you back."
Valeera closed her mouth, having indeed been about to ask if he meant Stormwind. "So it's like a Hearthstone?"
"Same principle, different execution. One last warning. Given how surly, combative and generally testy this Varian is, the other one will probably have a more pleasant disposition but be more of a wimp." He said, ignoring the glare Lo'gosh gave him for it.
She had to give him credit for courage, at least, as he was clearly not afraid to poke fun at the powerful human warrior, despite knowing him to be a king.
"Right." Valeera drawled, smirking slightly at Lo'gosh.
"My turn!" Luna beamed and stepped in front of her.
Valeera automatically tensed. Despite what Broll thought, she wasn't afraid that Elune would spurn her – she didn't worship the Moon Goddess, after all. It was just that it left a bad taste in her mouth to rely on or accept anything from her now when Elune hadn't done anything when the Undead Scourge ravaged their lands.
It was irrational, as the high elves had long ago separated themselves from their night elven origins, which included worship of Elune, but she was feeling just a tad bitter about her people being driven to the edge of extinction.
Gentle hands cupped her face and Luna smiled down at her, the moonlight glow in her eyes becoming more intense. "Let the shadows of the night embrace you as one of their own, and shroud you in darkness beyond the sight of those that would seek to do you harm."
Valeera felt something change. Like any good rogue, she had always felt more comfortable in dark corners than out in the open, but now it really did feel like the shadows were reaching out to wrap around her on their own.
Before she could even properly get used to the sensation and give an awkward thanks to the priestess, she felt another blessing being bestowed and the dark night suddenly seemed a great deal brighter, every bit of moonlight and starlight magnified a hundredfold.
That would be very useful.
With the preparations complete, Broll urged her to be careful and Lo'gosh just offered a stoic nod that nonetheless conveyed both his trust in her abilities and his assurance that he would be waiting to charge into the fray for her if she needed it.
That was something she'd always liked about him.
"Good luck!" The overly cheery human priestess of the moon said in a loud whisper as she jumped off the strange cloud mount and onto the soil of the island.
Valeera didn't bother to reply. She made her own luck.
It had been necessary to drop her off at a more isolated part of the island to maintain secrecy, so it took Valeera a good ten minutes of silent jogging to make it to the outskirts of the naga-occupied village. The lack of human bodies and somewhat dilapidated buildings was a clear indication that the naga had moved in quite some time ago.
With Elune's blessing enhancing her already formidable skill in stealth, it was almost too easy to slip past the inattentive naga. The Kinfinder amulet was tugging her downwards, making it clear that her quarry was somewhere underground. Some kind of hidden dungeon, perhaps? The question was, where was the entrance?
Valeera spent another twenty minutes just observing the movement patterns of the naga before realizing that a particular section of seemingly open ground at the outskirts of the village was at the center of their numbers, rather than the actual village center.
No matter the species, all guards who had suffered months of endless boredom on duty showed the same lack of alertness and these naga were no different. Their placement, however, spiraled out from that one spot in a distinctive pattern. Valeera had no doubt that she would find the entrance to whatever underground dungeon this village hid there, and quite possibly the naga's leader as well.
Had the naga been fresh to their job, the place would no doubt have been guarded more vigilantly and even she couldn't have been able to sneak inside literally under their noses. As it was, there was only a few of them slithering about aimlessly in the general area. Slipping past them was child's play and lo and behold, she found a hidden door leading below ground.
Or it would have been hidden, if the naga had bothered to cover it up as it was undoubtedly supposed to be covered, but they had apparently left it open for the mildly greater convenience, which allowed her to dart inside without having to risk alerting them
As easy as getting this far had been, the underground dungeon was slightly more problematic. There were naga down there as well and much of it was flooded by water that ranged in depth from ankle to shin deep. There were still plenty of shadows to use as the lighting was minimal, but she had to be careful not to disturb the water too much when she moved.
Still, she managed to get by without raising any alarms, following the tug of the Kinfinder amulet and ignoring the multiple empty cells she passed. The passages were fairly narrow, but her stealth was such that several naga passed literally within arm's reach of her and suspected nothing. Unfortunately, a significantly bigger obstacle presented itself.
Judging by the strength of the amulet's pull, Valeera knew that she must be very close to the other Varian by now, but a completely flooded passage barred the way. She had no idea how long the underwater section was, or if there were any naga lurking in it. Maintaining stealth while holding her breath was asking to drown and fighting a naga underwater was just plain stupid.
She could either go back and report what she'd learned so far to the group, risk the submerged passage or crush the signal beacon Harry had given her to trigger a distraction.
Going back would probably be the smart thing to do. One of the two archmages, the priestess or even Broll with his druidic powers would probably have a way to safely scout and bypass this obstacle. But Valeera was also stubborn and prideful; she wanted to finish the mission on her own.
It was risky, but she decided to take a quick dip below to water. Her decision would hinge on what she could see. The water in the submerged tunnel was frigidly cold and dark, had it not been for Elune's blessing, she would be unable to see anything at all. As it was, her eyes easily picked up on the faint light shining in from the other end.
Deliberating no further, Valeera swam ahead and slowly breached the water on the other side, taking care to keep her breaths quiet. There were several naga nearby, mostly myrmidons, but the female that was obviously in charge was unmistakably a siren. The powerful magical trident in her hands gave her away.
Valeera's eyes followed the trident like a starving man's eyes would follow a steak. It had been some time since she had fed on magic. Too long a time.
There were too many naga present to just rush into battle and the amulet's pull was drawing her unerringly towards the cell she could faintly see at the very end of the tunnel. A distraction was needed. How fortunate that she had been provided with one.
Valeera crawled out of the water, slow and silent, then hunkered down into an out-of-the-way dark corner before gripping the leather bag tied to her waist and squeezing it. She couldn't hear anything, as promised, but she felt the glass ball inside shatter.
Less than ten seconds later, the walls shuddered, shaking dust from the ceiling. The naga began speaking in their hissing language and the siren was obviously giving orders.
Valeera waited patiently for her chance as the seconds ticked by. A minute after the start of the assault, a naga burst from the submerged tunnel and began urgently hissing out his report, causing the siren to angrily hiss out a new set of orders. All the myrmidons rushed to reinforce their fellows outside, while the siren slithered towards the cell holding Varian.
Valeera followed her discretely and was soon able to make out what the siren was saying to her captive.
"…was going to ransom you back to Stormwind, but now I am going to need to trade you in return for my life." The siren hissed, obviously displeased.
Beyond her, inside the cell, was a thoroughly miserable looking Varian. Valeera barely recognized him, despite him having the same face as Lo'gosh. The man that she had spent the past several months travelling with always looked as fierce as the wolf demigod after whom he had been named. This one, while not the 'wimp' Harry had expected him to be, lacked that same ferocious energy.
Either way, Valeera was not overly interested in listening to the naga siren's whining and drove her daggers into the serpentine woman's back, making sure that one of them pierced the heart.
"I'll be taking him off your hands." She took the time to taunt, snatching the trident from the dying siren's hands before it could clatter to the ground.
Unable to hold her hunger back now that it was in her hands, Valeera consumed the trident's magic, almost shuddering with relief as the power filled the ever-gnawing emptiness inside her.
"Who are you?" The imprisoned king demanded, although once again lacking the ferocity she was used to.
"Your rescue." Valeera smirked, looting the siren's body for a key.
XXXXX
Seeing as they were not in a hurry, it was decided that the recently freed Varian could do with a bath, a good meal and some new clothes. They still made it back to Stormwind about six hours after leaving, much to Bolvar Fordragon's bafflement at how quickly they had found his missing liege lord.
"We have good news and bad news." Harry declared after he and Jaina examined the bizarre 'split soul, split body' situation. "Which would you like first?"
"The good/the good/the bad." Bolvar, Discount Varian and Lo'gosh said at the same time.
"The goods have it." Luna declared, clapping her hands with the air of a judge bringing down the gavel.
"The good news is that your soul, although split, is completely intact." Harry said, Jaina letting him have the lead since he was far more learned in soul magic than her. "A restoration should be relatively simple."
"Thank the Light." Bolvar sighed in relief, Anduin smiling brightly alongside him. "How can it be done?"
"That's the bad news, part of it at least." Jaina grimaced. "We suspect that splitting Varian apart wasn't the goal of whatever ritual did this."
"We are agreed that it was most likely Onyxia that did this, right?" Harry asked.
"Indeed, the thought of there being two separate conspiracies against Stormwind happening at the same time seems a little farfetched." Bolvar nodded. "While you were off searching for King Varian, Lady Adrastia offered her help in tracking Onyxia's influence in the kingdom. We reviewed her dealings with both the Stonemasons and the House of Nobles in light of her true nature and deduced that she was most likely the one responsible for their truculent attitudes with each other. Lady Adrastia suggested that the dragon had been using the king's depression in the wake of Queen Tiffin's death to control him, either magically or otherwise."
"Father was getting better, though." Anduin interjected.
The two Varians just looked lost, remembering nothing.
"That's probably why she resorted to whatever ritual she used." Harry replied to the boy. "If your old man was getting his spirit back, then controlling him would get increasingly difficult. My guess is that her ritual was intended to attack his soul and crush his will, leaving him a perfect puppet for her to control."
"Despicable." Bolvar muttered, clenching his fists.
"But a soul isn't easily damaged, especially a strong one." Harry ignored the paladin. "She must have botched it or been interrupted, resulting in…this." He waved at the one king in two bodies.
"Why does this prevent us from being merged?" Lo'gosh demanded.
"Alright, first off, there is no 'us' and there is no 'merging'." Harry said. "I know that you're secretly worrying about what will happen to each half of you if you become whole again, but that's not how this works. I'm sure that you must be experiencing a sense of incompleteness by now, especially when standing close together?"
They nodded at his prompt, Lo'gosh more reluctantly because he was just that contrary.
"Well that's because each of you is only half a man, quite literally. Unification will fix the gaps in your memory as well as round out your personality. Anyway, the reason that Onyxia's shoddy spellwork is a problem is because splitting you apart was not the intention. If it was, I'm fairly sure that I could cook up a counter ritual to undo her work. As it was, her magic is acting as a buffer to keep you apart and trying to mash you back together without getting rid of it could be…explosively messy."
"The spells that go wrong are always harder to fix than the ones that go right." Jaina shook her head in agreement, reminiscing about her days as an apprentice.
"Would such unstable magic not fade after its caster dies?" Broll asked.
"Give the druid a cookie!" Harry said, pointing at the night elf.
"Here you go." Luna gave him a cookie.
"Thank you?" The bemused druid took it, while Valeera just snickered at his bamboozled expression.
"Yes, we have to murder the shit out of Onyxia if we want to safely put Varian back together." Harry continued. "Which is convenient, because I still owe her a murdering for trying to kill my wife."
"Well then, what are we waiting for?" Lo'gosh demanded.
"We don't know where her lair is." Jaina deadpanned, quickly puncturing his enthusiasm. "But it shouldn't take too long to find. Onyxia is the broodmother of the Black Dragonflight, so black dragonspawn should soon begin appearing wherever she is. We just need to keep our eyes open, and maybe offer rewards for any information."
"I recall you mentioning once that the Black Dragonflight has a strong presence in the southern portions of Dustwallow Marsh." Bolvar said.
"They do." Jaina nodded. "The Dragonmurk, they Wyrmbog and the Stonemaul Ruins are completely overrun with black dragonspawn. There have even been sightings of a black drake in the area."
"It seems almost too obvious." Harry commented, catching on to what she was thinking. "I suppose it would make sense if she's completely assured of her own power, but would she really be that arrogant?"
"She very well might be." Broll weighed in. "Deathwing's brood has long been dismissive of mortals."
"I'll send some scouts to discretely check the area. "Jaina decided. "We should have an answer one way or another in a few days."
That would give Harry enough time to make some anti-dragon ordnance. Perfect.
XXXXX
"I am strangely disappointed." Harry declared, crossing his arms over his armored chest.
Three days had passed since both halves of Varian Wrynn had been found and here they were, standing in front of Onyxia's lair in southern Dustwallow Marsh.
"Why?" Jaina asked, puzzled.
"Because the same cunning, ancient woman that nearly brought a kingdom to ruin with her manipulations decided to hide in the most obvious place in the world." He replied with a sigh. "Honestly, even if you're a giant fire-breathing lizard, you should know better than that. It's not like us squishy mortals haven't killed dragons before."
"I'd take an overconfident enemy over a cautious one any day." Valeera snorted.
"So would Harry, he just doesn't approve of stupidity." Luna explained, playing with the hem of her new mooncloth cloak. It was dyed a pale blue and glowed faintly in the darkness of the night. The cloak was heavily enchanted and stitched with runes and bore the device of a horizontal crescent moon with its points facing upwards, the same symbol that Luna had on her forehead.
"Enough dawdling," Lo'gosh growled, gripping his new night elven sword. "Let's go in and kill her."
The other Varian nodded in agreement, gripping his own night elven sword.
Jaina had gifted the split king with Ellemayne and Shalla'tor before they came here, thinking that they would be able to use the twinned blades well. Harry didn't necessarily disagree, although he wouldn't have been quite so generous with the obviously powerful and ancient magical blades.
"Before we go, I just want to ask…" Harry paused to look at Jaina. "Are you sure I can't convince you to put on some armor?"
"This again?" The noble-born archmage didn't quite roll her eyes, but it was close. "No, you can't convince me to put on a suit of clunky platemail."
"My armor pieces are not clunky." Harry's indignation was mostly exaggerated. "Just look at Luna, she still looks great in hers."
Luna obligingly made several sexy poses before winking at Jaina. "I would be happy to help you put it on and take it off."
"I think Varian has the right of it, we should do what we came here to do." Jaina was quick to say, turning her gaze towards the cave entrance in a futile effort to hide the slight flush on her cheeks.
Harry and Luna exchanged grins, amused by her reactions. Still, they got serious as they approached the cave entrance that led to Onyxia's lair.
It was sealed by magic, but the spellwork was shoddy. Powerful, but shoddy. Any decently skilled magic user would have been able to unravel it with little difficulty. For Harry and Jaina it was the work of moments.
"Valeera, can you scout ahead?" Lo'gosh asked.
"Need you even ask?" The blood elf rogue smirked confidently, then briefly hesitated and looked towards Luna. "Those blessings you gave me, how come they haven't worn off yet? It's been three days."
"Do you not like them?" Luna asked with the tiniest of pouts. "I thought you would, so I made them permanent, but I can remove them if they bother you."
"That isn't possible." It was the usually stoic Broll that was the most shocked by that. "Only Elune herself can bestow permanent blessings."
Harry just snickered to himself. The night vision blessing she had given him on the day of their arrival to Azeroth had also yet to fade. He doubted it ever would.
"Why?" Luna asked with honest curiosity, tilting her head sideways.
"Because…because she is a goddess." The druid spluttered in the face of having his long-held beliefs challenged.
"I used to be a goddess." Luna chirped as if that explained everything.
"She's not serious…" Valeera asked uncertainly into the ensuing silence. "...is she?"
"Why don't we just pretend that nothing unusual was said and get on with our lives?" Harry suggested, not really interested in explaining the situation to yet another group of people that they would likely have only minimal contact with in the future.
"Agreed." Both Varians nodded.
"…Alright." Valeera conceded reluctantly. "I'll just go scout ahead, then."
"Good luck!" Luna wished her.
"Like I told you the last time, I don't need luck." The blood elf retorted, although it was good natured.
She faded into the darkness of the night and Harry would have never known she was there if not for the shadow of her intent that he could still sense. That was some pretty scary stealth, much better than an invisibility spell.
Less than ten minutes after she left, Valeera returned, fading into view next to the Varians.
"The cave is pretty short and Onyxia is sleeping inside a huge chamber that she must have created herself." She said to the split king. "There are four powerful dragonspawn guarding her, though. I could sneak past them, but I doubt you would be able to."
"They would just attack us from behind later if we did, anyway." The less assertive Varian noted.
"We kill them all." Lo'gosh Varian growled.
"What a hothead." Harry muttered, getting a small giggle out of Luna.
Still, he couldn't say he disagreed with the sentiment. While he might not have showed it, he was extremely pissed off at Onyxia for trying to kill his wife. His anger had been tucked away, hidden inside the labyrinthine depths of his mind so that it didn't spill over to those that didn't deserve it.
They entered and it became immediately obvious that the cave formation wasn't natural. The walls were far too smooth and uniform. It was a lava tube, most likely of Onyxia's own making. Made sense, as the Black Dragonflight had been given dominion and guardianship over the earth. While he didn't recall reading about it, he could extrapolate that it was exactly that which led to their corruption, seeing as the Old Gods were imprisoned in the earth.
A troublesome situation.
It didn't take them long to reach the dragonspawn Valeera mentioned. Instead of standing at attention as the entrance to Onyxia's chamber like Harry had expected, they were wandering somewhat haphazardly across the final stretch of the lava tube. That was convenient.
"We split them up and take them in twos." Harry started giving directions. "Jaina, Broll and I will hamper the ones in the back, while the Varians charge the ones in the front. Luna stays on defense and Valeera waits in the shadows until she can score a critical hit."
Lo'gosh shot him a glare, but grunted his assent all the same. The other Varian wasn't as visibly annoyed, but he still didn't look happy. Broll and Valeera took their cues from Lo'gosh and only nodded once he indicated that this was, in fact, the plan.
Only Luna and Jaina accepted his word on the matter without objection, although the vastly younger of the two women did take a moment to think it over first.
It took Harry a moment to puzzle that out, at which point he almost facepalmed at himself. He had become so used to being the absolute authority that he had assumed command without even thinking about it. But Azeroth was full of people that weren't going to just obey him, something that he would have to keep in mind.
That little hiccup aside, the plan of attack went off flawlessly.
Valeera faded into the shadows and the Varians charged forward mere moments after. They moved so fast that Harry nearly lost his grip on the spell he was constructing from the surprise. It was almost as if they'd been magically propelled.
Which, he realized, might as well be true. He had observed that both halves of Stormwind's king had an extraordinarily powerful magical presence despite the fact that he was a pure warrior.
I see, so that's how it is. Your power is turned inward. Note to self, do not engage Azeroth's warriors in melee.
His momentary shock could have cost them, but fortunately, Broll and Jaina were not surprised and did their part well. Roots burst from the rock to entangle the two rearmost dragonspawn, followed by a wall of ice.
These dragonspawn were far more powerful than their brethren outside. Standing at over twelve feet tall, with a humanoid torso attached to a heavy, four-legged reptilian body, all of with practically bursting with muscle. They were also armored and totting massive polearms. Formidable adversaries even at a glance.
They immediately began hacking at the roots and then simply bulldozed through the ice wall. That was just as planned, though, because the ice wall had blinded them to Harry's contribution. His spell destabilized the molecular bonds of the rocky ground and turned it into a deep pit of fine sand. An addition of water turned it into a thick mud.
The dragonspawn might have been strong enough to plow through even that, but their legs were short and low to the ground. They lacked leverage. He briefly considered re-solidifying it, but didn't want to give them anything to push against. With how strong those things looked, he wouldn't have been surprised if they could pull themselves out of the rock with brute force.
"That's an interesting spell." Jaina complimented, already turning her attention to the frontal dragonspawn.
"I can teach it to you later." Harry offered, choosing to observe rather than help.
"I'd like that."
The two Varians were, in complete defiance of logic, somehow matching the dragonspawn blow for blow. It shouldn't have been physically possible for the split king to be strong enough to do that, but he was.
Sure, Luna was handing out blessings that increased strength and fortitude, but this was simply too much. Lo'gosh actually got into a bladelock with his opponent, looking completely ridiculous as he forced back a dragonspawn that was literally twice his size.
Of course it didn't last long, because that position left the dragonspawn unable to do anything when Valeera appeared at his flank and stabbed her daggers into the gaps in his armor.
The dragonspawn flinched and reflexively tried to attack the one that had dealt him such a grievous injury, only to get cut down by Ellemayne.
The other one fared little better, as being pelted by Jaina's frost spells proved to be more than distracting enough for the other Varian to kill it.
The remaining two dragonspawn were still stuck in the mud couldn't do really do anything. Harry took the opportunity to test their magic resistance. The rest of the party looked on for a few seconds as he threw spell after spell at them, to seemingly no effect, before Lo'gosh rather predictably got impatient.
"Enough of this, finish them!" He ordered.
Broll quickly summoned up another swarm of roots and this time the dragonspawn couldn't get free, so they ended up strangled in short order.
"I was still using those." Harry said mildly, not truly upset. He had gotten most of what he wanted.
Basic testing said that dragonspawn magic resistance was in the extreme ranges, and if they were this bad then Onyxia was probably as good as immune to anything overly sophisticated.
It was a good thing he had expected that and prepared accordingly.
"For what? Amusement? Your spells weren't doing anything to them." The other Varian asked, less surly than the first.
"Was that what it looked like? Well, I guess I can't expect a warrior to understand."
"He's being condescending again." Luna sighed to Jaina.
"Does that happen often?" The younger woman asked, bemused and ready to step in if it looked like a fight was going to break out.
"Not too often, but he just can't seem to help himself whenever people he considers to be 'meatheads' question his reasons for doing things."
"Enough!" Lo'gosh's voice cut through the building argument. A vein was throbbing on his forehead. "Onyxia's guards are dead and the path to her lair is open. Let's finish this."
XXXXX
Onyxia was laid out towards the back of a massive cavern, seemingly asleep. She wasn't as big as Grigori had grown to be, but was still at least three or four times the size of even the largest dragons on Earth. And according to Jaina, the broodmother of the Black Dragonflight was actually on the small side for her species.
Everyone was tense, knowing that they would soon be locked in a life and death struggle against one of Azeroth's most ancient and powerful beings.
"Good morning, Onyxia!"
Except Luna. Luna was…Luna.
The black dragon opened eyes that glowed like pools of molten magma and ponderously raised herself up on her legs.
"You…" She growled. "Are you mocking me?"
"Mockery will be the least of your concerns, Onyxia!" Lo'gosh interjected angrily. The split king hadn't stopped glaring since they entered the chamber. Three days of close proximity between the two halves and some magical aid had served to partially recover his memory. Enough of it for him to feel a genuine, rather than an abstract, animosity towards the black dragon.
"Quite, we're here to kill you." Harry added, frowning slightly at the other man's obvious attempt's to take the lead. Hopefully Varian Wrynn would be less irritating to deal with once he was made whole.
"The only ones dying here today will be you." Onyxia growled, taking a decidedly hostile posture.
"I don't suppose we could all just calm down and be friends?" Luna asked hopefully.
Lo'gosh responded by roaring a battlecry and charging forward, his other half right on his heels. A blast of fire came from the dragon, forcing them to jump apart to avoid it, but avoid it they did.
Before Onyxia could try again, massive roots sprung from the ground, wrapping around her body and pulling her down. Instead pelting the powerful dragon with damaging spells, Jaina also elected for crowd control, encasing one huge leg after another into glaciers.
Far from defeated, Onyxia resorted to magic of her own and cast a spell of fear, drowning the entire chamber in supernatural terror.
Harry felt it settle on him, trying to induce panic, but centuries of mental discipline would not allow him to lose control of his emotions like that. Luna had been less diligent in her training with the Mind Arts, but also shook it off quickly.
The others were not so fortunate. Broll's roots let up without his will to control them and Jaina also started running towards the exit in sudden panic. The Varians had been right next to her and had it the worst, fleeing at top speed.
Luna was quick to react after shaking off the effect and cast a counterspell. The suffocating aura of terror vanished as suddenly as it had arrived.
"You are an irritating bunch of gnats, I will give you that." The broodmother snarled, having taken the brief reprieve to shatter the ice crawling up her feet. "But it will not save you! Come my children, feast on their flesh!"
Upon saying that, she buffeted her wings and took to the air, out of reach of the magical blades seeking her life. Behind her was the nest and from it spilled forth a small swarm of black dragon whelps and juvenile dragonspawn. Not very threatening on their own, but there were many.
"You can't escape!" Lo'gosh roared. "Mages, bring her down! Broll, Valeera, take care of the whelps!"
Harry shot the man a Look at his temerity to give him orders. Unfortunately, this was not the time to be snarky about it and he had been preparing for exactly this scenario anyway. He had always known that Onyxia's ability to fly was going to be the biggest hurdle.
Conspicuously, Harry had not been casting any spells since the fight began. Instead, he had wandered off to the side in search of a sturdy bit of ground. That was harder than it initially seemed, as the floor was cracked everywhere from wide-scale earth manipulation.
Only the ground right next to the walls was whole enough for his purposes.
Jaina started trying to freeze Onyxia's wings, but the broodmother was a powerful sorceress in her own right and easily countered it. She even managed to occasionally breathe fire at the Varians below while she did it.
"I could use some help here, Harry!" Jaina shouted, struggling to overcome the dragon. Onyxia's wings were much bigger than what she usually froze solid, which would have been problematic in and of itself without the counterspells.
"Ask and ye shall receive." Harry chuckled, bringing a device out of hammerspace and wedging it into the wall.
Someone from Earth might think it was the bastard offspring between the harpoon gun of a whaling ship and an oil drill. Once he had found a sturdy enough patch of ground, Harry had set it up and the drill bit shot an adamantine spear deep into the earth. Unseen, the spear then unfolded into a grappling hook, ensuring that it would not be easily pulled out.
His weapon now anchored, Harry took aim and fired an identical spear at the flying dragon. Onyxia hadn't been paying him much mind and even if she had, she was too big to evade the spear at the speed which it had been fired. As had happened with the stone floor, the spear easily penetrated Onyxia's scales and sank deep into her flank before deploying its hooks. Behind it trailed an adamantine cable, which quickly went taut.
Harry had quickly discovered a peculiar quality of adamantine. Much like obsidian, it was naturally inclined to take an extremely sharp edge. Unlike obsidian, it was also extremely hard. Perfect for piercing armor.
It was also a pretty good conductor.
Harry conjured up some lightning as Onyxia roared in pain at the sudden wound, hurting herself further in her attempts to back off. The cruel hooks stuck in her flesh would not let go, not without tearing a huge hole into her flank.
The lightning flowed into the adamantine cable, much of its power discharged into the ground, but plenty also flowed into the dragon's body. Enough to mess up her nerves and disrupt her ability to control her wings, so she crashed into the ground.
Harry was satisfied. Only the desperate and the foolish attacked a castle wall with a pickaxe, which is what Onyxia's massive constitution and magic resistance was. Much better to bring siege equipment.
"NOOO!" The broodmother roared with a tinge of desperation, using the birthright of the Black Dragonflight to upheave the earth. An orange glow began to shine between the cracks in the ground, before magma erupted from it.
Harry and Luna took to the air. They made for Jaina, but the young archmage created a thick platform of ice for herself, cooling the magma around her.
Broll and Valeera had been carving their way through the whelps and dragonspawn, with any wounds they received being quickly healed by a watchful Luna. When the ground erupted, The druid took the form of a giant raven and carried his rogue companion into the air, away from the lava.
The Varians had no ability to fly, nor allies nearby to help them, but they were aggressive to the point of insanity. Instead of retreating, both of them used the heaving earth as a jump point to launch themselves at Onyxia, much to the dragon's horrified shock. The last thing she saw was a pair of elven blades swinging towards her head.
Magic resistance was useless against physical assault and even her thick, hard cranium wasn't proof against the ancient night elven blades. Onyxia died almost instantly, her brain pierced.
The earth quickly calmed, but the whelps and dragonspawn went berserk at the death of their mother, throwing themselves at the interlopers to their nest.
A flash of light briefly distracted everyone and by the time they blinked the spots out of their eyes, the two Varians had become one. As expected, Onyxia's death had caused the lingering magic of her botched spell to dissipate and the soul was naturally made whole.
Oddly enough, Varian was now wearing an entirely different set of armor, probably the very same one he had been in when he was split apart. More bizarrely, the two night elven swords were now one night elven sword, which was simply bullshit on multiple levels.
The restored king took a moment to reorient himself before charging in to help his friends with the rest of the dragonspawn.
"So, how about a celebratory dinner tonight at our place?" Harry proposed to Jaina with a smirk.
He was expecting Luna to back him up on this, but she said nothing.
"I already agreed when Luna asked me." Jaina replied with a hint of exasperation before he could check on her.
Once again, Harry expected some kind of response from his wife, but once again there was nothing. Feeling a frisson of concern, he looked over at her.
Luna was staring at the slaughter of the whelps and juvenile dragonspawn, biting her lip so hard it bled.
Oh, of course.
"Only one last thing to do here." Broll declared once the last whelp fell, turning his attention to the unhatched eggs at the very back of the nest.
"NO!" Luna shouted, jumping forward and getting in the druid's way.
"What?" Broll blinked in surprise, lowering his staff.
"I understand why the whelps had to die, but we are not killing innocent unborn children." Luna said sternly.
"Innocent?!" Multiple voices exclaimed in protest.
"The Black Dragonflight is evil!" Broll insisted. "They must be destroyed before they can do further harm."
"No." Luna remained immovable.
Broll wanted to argue further, but his respect for Elune's priesthood, especially those the Moon Goddess favored, got in the way, leaving him clutching his staff in awkward silence.
Varian had no such restraint. "And what else do you propose to do? Leave them to hatch so that we can kill them later with a slightly cleaner conscience?!"
"Distract Varian for me, will you?" Harry muttered to Jaina, already seeing where this was going.
"Wait, what?" She asked, but he was already striding towards the confrontation.
"I will take the eggs." Luna declared. "I'll raise them better."
The announcement was received with disbelieving shock. Black dragons were evil, everyone knew that.
"She's crazy." Valeera muttered just loud enough to be heard.
"Priestess, the Black Dragonflight was corrupted long ago, it is not a matter of raising them right." Broll implored.
Harry put one hand on each of the druid's and rogue's shoulders to get their attention. "Don't worry about it. If this goes sideways I'll kill the whelps myself."
Luna apparently considered that to be the end of the conversation, because she spun around and made for the eggs. Harry followed behind, bringing a chest out of hammerspace.
A chest designed to hold a large number of large eggs. Dragon eggs, in particular.
Luna's compassion aside, Harry had always been intending to take the eggs.
The task was done in silence, to the backdrop of Varian arguing with Jaina about something. Apparently she was trying to get the king to meet with Thrall in Theramore, which was the very mission he had been on when he went missing.
They were still arguing about it by the time that Harry and Luna packed up the last of the eggs and started walking towards the exist.
Luna briefly stopped to lay a hand on Onyxia's massive head
"Don't worry about your children, I'll take good care of them." She quietly assured the dead dragon.
Harry was already looking forward to Tyrande's expression when she heard about this one. In fact, he was going to use the pending demon extermination expedition in Ashenvale as an excuse to tell her about it.
"My friends, you have been loyal and steadfast companions though many dangers." Varian spoke to Broll and Valeera. "Allow me now to formally offer you a place at my side in Stormwind."
While the druid and rogue responded to that, Harry was busy plotting out teleportation coordinates for the huge dragon carcass. It would be a bit of a tight fit in his tower's underground cold storage. Would it be better to partially dissect her right here?
"Lady Proudmoore," Here the newly restored king hesitated for a moment, apparently unsure of how to address them. "Lady Priestess, Lord Archmage, you have done me and my kingdom a great service."
"I was glad to have helped." Jaina said politely, but sincerely.
"Me too." Luna chimed in.
"It only makes sense to work together when our goals align." Harry's response was diplomatic and perhaps a touch hypocritical given his usual preferences, but nobody needed to know that.
At least the man was more balanced now. Lo'gosh had been entirely too abrasive and combative, whiile the other half of Varian had almost faded into the background.
"Be that as it may, I would still repay you. Perhaps we could discuss it after the festivities celebrating my return?" As was the case with many strong-willed kings, the offer felt almost like an order.
"We'll be there." Harry nodded. As much as he didn't feel like wasting time with parties and politics, this was too good an opportunity to make connections to pass up.
"Good." Varian nodded firmly and drew his sword, turning towards Onyxia's body.
"Whoa, wait a minute!" Harry called out in slight alarm at seeing his materials being threatened. "What do you think you're doing?"
"I am cutting off Onyxia's head so I can mount it over Stormwind's gates as proof of our victory?" Varian sounded both confused and annoyed at the interruption.
"Didn't anyone ever tell you that it's rude to just take some of the spoils without consulting the rest of the party?"
"Spoils? It's a corpse!"
"A dragon corpse. Do you have any idea what I could do with this many dragon parts?"
Varian sighed in sheer aggravation. "Very well then, I want the head as my share of the spoils."
Taking a dragon head as a trophy was a heinous waste of resources, but what else could you expect from a warrior? Harry got the distinct feeling that the man wasn't willing to budge on the matter and the bargaining power was slightly in his favor, so he nodded. "Alright. Jaina, Broll, Valeera, do any of you want any of the body?"
"No." Broll and Valeera declined.
"I'll pass." Jaina also declined to take a share.
As expected. None of them were craftsmen. Still, this was better than pushing the issue and having them side with Varian.
"I'll take everything below the neck, then."
Varian grunted and swung down his fused sword, cleaving deep into Onyxia's thick neck.
Harry felt his soul crying out at the amateurish treatment of valuable materials and couldn't stop himself from speaking out. "I could perform a taxidermy on that head for you."
"A what?" Varian asked, frowning in confusion.
"Preserving the head for use as a trophy or wall mount or whatever." He explained.
That it would coincidentally let him take of the head for himself while replacing some valuable parts with convincing fakes went unsaid.
"You know a strange variety of skills, sorcerer." The king commented, looking at him strangely. Then he glared at the dead dragon. "But no, I want to see her head rotting over the gates of my city."
I am never partying with this guy again.
XXXXX
OMAKE – The Armor Tyrant
Jaina woke up disoriented and a little cold, so her first impulse was to reach for the blankets and cover herself. This, however, did not go as intended, mostly because she was restrained around the wrists and ankles and stretched out across a padded table like a trout.
Eyes flying widen open in panic, she tried to call upon her magic, only to get nothing.
"Don't bother, there's an anti-magic field around you." Harry's voice came from somewhere behind her.
"What is this?" She demanded, hiding her fear at the unaccustomed feeling of helplessness.
"I tried to do things the proper way." Harry continued, walking around so that he was standing over her. His expression was mostly neutral, perhaps tinged with a hint of regret. "I used rational arguments, I asked politely, I showed you how good it was, but you wouldn't go for it, now I'm forced to take drastic measures."
Jaina abruptly realized that she was dressed in nothing but the skimpy silk sleepwear that Luna had given her for the sleepover she had finally consented to.
Dread pooled in her gut. She shouldn't have lowered her guard around them, no matter how helpful or charming they had been. Hadn't she learned by now to be suspicious of anyone that showed romantic interest in her?
The last man she had been with had become the Lich King for pity's sake!
"What are you going to do to me?" She asked, keeping her voice even through pure willpower. If she learned what exactly it was he wanted, then maybe she could try talking her way out of this mess.
"You're too stubborn and willful to ever come around to my way of thinking the easy way, so I must break you." Harry declared grimly and reached somewhere outside of her sight to grasp a…
…feather?
XXXXX
"STOOOOP! PLEASE STOP!" Jaina howled, tears running down her face.
She squirmed on the table like a pinned earthworm, desperately trying to escape the torture. Her lungs burned from lack of air and her sides ached just from the force of her own muscle contractions.
"You know, you have very nice feet." Harry said evenly, briefly stopping. "If I had a foot fetish, your feet would definitely make me hard. Of course, I'm hard anyway, because tormenting helpless restrained women is a fetish of mine even if feet aren't."
"You sick pervert, just let me go already." Jaina sobbed in relief at the reprieve.
"I just figured you should know what you'd be getting into if you ever decide to act on your attraction to me."
"I am NOT attracted to you!" She yelled angrily.
"Oh? So that wet spot on your panties is a little pee that got away?"
Jaina's face boiled from embarrassment. There was simply no good answer to that. "Look, just let me go and we can forget you ever pulled this absolutely insane stunt. Because if you don't, I'm going to freeze you into a glacier and dump you into the ocean!"
"I can't do that, this is for your own good." Harry shook his head and started tickling her feet with the feather again. "Besides, ice floats. Luna would get me out."
Jaina couldn't reply, on account of laughing so hard she cried. She couldn't even distract herself with pain, because the restraints and table were all heavily padded and lined with smooth fabric to prevent chafing. Very comfortable, actually.
"Just give in already, I'll keep this up for as long as I have to." Harry said, but all she did was glare at him defiantly through her tears. "Do you really want me to start getting creative? Because believe me, I can do worse than tickle the soles of your feet with a feather."
The tickling continued for another fifteen or so seconds before she was allowed another breather. Jaina glared at his back as he stood there in a thoughtful pose.
"Hmm, I'm sure the feather would break her eventually, but it's taking a lot longer than expected." He started talking, obviously intending for her to hear his musings. "I wonder if getting a couple of succubi to lick her armpits would work?"
Jaina's eyes widened in horror. After waking up strapped to a table and tickle tortured for the past two hours, she was willing to believe that he would, in fact, be crazy enough to do that.
"FINE!" She shouted in pure, exasperated rage. "I'll wear the stupid armor! Are you happy now?!"
He turned around and grinned. "Do you promise, on your name as a Proudmoore of Kul Tiras?"
Jaina glowered for a few seconds before grounding out her response. "I promise on my family's name and title that I will wear the stupid, clunky armor you made for me."
Harry made an exaggerated sigh of relief. "You have no idea how glad I am to hear that. Now, before I let you go, I just want you to remember that I did all this because I want your guts to stay inside your sexy belly, instead of steaming on the floor in a messy pile."
"If you don't let me go this instant, it's going to be your guts steaming on the floor in a messy pile!"
"Kinky. I haven't had a woman glaring at me so murderously during foreplay in centuries."
"This was not foreplay!"
"It was for me. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go find Luna and fuck her so deeply into the bed she's going to need climbing gear to get out."
Cleverly, Harry had only unbound her hands, which forced her to do her feet by herself. By the time she did that and caught up to the bastard, he would already be in the middle of…doing what he said, and Jaina wasn't quite angry enough to barge into that to take her revenge.
Partially because she was sure that Luna would try to pull her into it.