As swiftly as Fandral's mad cackling starts up, it comes to an abrupt end and the broken Archdruid attacks. Coiling, writhing shadows lash out from his person in all directions, and he snarls as he reaches for them with malicious intent. There's no question now that Xavius, Azeroth's First Satyr and the self-styled Nightmare Lord, has sunk his claws DEEP into Fandral Staghelm long before now.
Nature itself is twisted and perverted in the corrupted Archdruid's presence. Control of the roots that Rognak had used to halt Fandral's advance is abruptly usurped, with Fandral forcing them to do his bidding, coating them in inky darkness. Being a druid, utilizing nature's power… it's a give and take. It's as much about communing with nature as anything else.
Only with a particularly strong bond could you hope to use even a fraction of the abilities that Rognak remembered from the game in his second set of memories. Of course, for Rognak… it had always been all too easy. He knew now that he was born that way, born with the blessing of dozens of beings already intrinsically bound with Nature itself.
… By comparison, Fandral isn't communing with Nature. Nor does he have the blessing of any of its Ancient Guardians. No, the Corrupted Archdruid uses his shadowy gifts from the Nightmare Lord to DOMINATE Nature, to force it to do his bidding.
In an instant, the roots that he's taken control of have risen out of the ground entirely, forming into a plethora of twisted, darkened, shadowy treants. Corrupted and gnarled in appearance, the treants open their mouths in snarls, revealing gaping pits of darkness as they all begin moving forward… the vast majority heading straight for Rognak himself.
Gritting his teeth, the orc druid holds Wolfsong at the ready. In the end, it would appear that an orc would end up cutting down some Night Elf trees after all. Funny how the world worked sometimes.
As the first of the treants reaches him, he pulls back from its opening lunge and swings through it a moment later, cutting it limb from limb. But by the time he's done dismembering the first, three more have arrived behind it and he finds himself beset on all sides by the twisted, shadowy creatures. Still, Wolfsong glows with green light. It shines with Nature's Blessing, and every last one of Rognak's swings is true.
Which is good, because any time he reaches for his connection with the Nature around him, Rognak is forced to pull back. Darkness suffuses every element of the cavern. Their trap for Fandral has been turned around on them, becoming a trap for them instead. In this dark, dank place, Fandral calls upon more and more of the Nightmare Lord's power… and it's obvious that he's getting quite the answer from his Master.
"Yes! More! Give me the strength to end these fools! I swear, Lord Xavius, I won't let them stop us!"
Fortunately, someone like Broll Bearmantle's strength in the druidic arts lies inward instead of outward. While their ability to rely upon the Nature around them has been curtailed, that does not mean they cannot still fight. Indeed, the antlered Night Elf has transformed into a hulking bear and even now is trying to fight his way to Fandral, just as they all are.
Still, Broll is having the most luck of it. The twisted treants that Fandral has summoned to support him in this battle are battered away by Broll's massive form even faster than Rognak can swing Wolfsong into them. Meanwhile, Cenarius is still fully recovering. The Lord of the Forest has managed to take to his feet, and Malfurion's emerald form remains beside him, sheltering and shielding him from the remnants of whatever spell Fandral cast upon him. However, it's obvious from the grimace on Cenarius' face that Fandral's disruption of the Nature in this place is getting to the Demigod.
It makes sense. Cenarius is the most attuned to Nature of all four of them. Even Malfurion, who technically only exists in the Emerald Dream right now, can't hold a candle to what the Demigod is capable of. But the strength of that bond seems to be causing debilitating effects right now, with so much of what makes Cenarius who he is cut off and unavailable to the Forest Demigod.
Meanwhile, Fandral is preparing something. Something as dark and twisted as everything else he's done so far, if not more so. Above the Corrupted Archdruid's head, a cloud has begun to spiral into existence. Taking up the entire roof of the cavern, it grows blacker and darker by the moment, with purple and red sparks of malevolent-looking lightning coming off of it more and more.
Whatever that is, Rognak is sure that none of them want to find out. Fortunately, Broll is closing in on Fandral and might just be able to disrupt the other Night Elf's concentration. Unfortunately, Fandral has noticed this and sneers, proving that he can multitask quite easily with the Nightmare Lord's help. One of the Archdruid's arms, covered in roiling blackness, thrusts out towards Broll in his massive, hulking bear form.
Entangling Roots that put Rognak's earlier distraction to shame come bursting out of the ground beneath the enraged bear. Grasping at his limbs, they endeavor to hold him down. To his credit, Broll fights them with all his might, and even starts to break free, ripping himself out of their clutches. However, it's not fast enough. Fandral's other arm is still raised high in the air, his hand swirling around and making the massive pitch-black cloud over their heads swirl around as well.
The Corrupted Archdruid is creating a Hurricane, Rognak belatedly realizes. But with the added elements of Nightmare, the orc druid has no clue what form that will ultimately take.
In the end, he sees only one choice. He's still harassed on all sides by the corrupted treants that Fandral has summoned. Every one he cuts down, two more take its place. Cenarius and Malfurion's Shade are likewise boxed in, and Broll is slowed by the roots. Their options have dwindled and they need a Hail Mary. So… Rognak does what must be done.
With a roar, he shoulder checks a treant in his way and then, before another can take its place, he winds up… and throws. Depriving himself of his only weapon when his connection to Nature was currently VERY suspect might not be the smartest move, but it was still the only move he had to make. Wolfsong goes flying through the air, spinning rapidly… and then it makes contact and the glowing green blade of the large axe slices right through Fandral Staghelm's upraised arm.
The Dark Hurricane that the Corrupted Archdruid was summoning sputters and begins to fade, even as Wolfsong goes clattering into the distance and Fandral HOWLS in pain. Rognak only gets a moment to feel satisfaction at the Archdruid's maiming however, before he's beset once more by the twisted treants, this time without his axe to chop them to pieces. With a snarl, he takes on the form of a bear as well, fighting them back and swiping at them with his claws.
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It's not remotely as effective as an axe, but it's not nothing. They aren't going to be able to kill him like this, merely pin him down. Still, with Fandral so heavily damaged…
"MISBEGOTTEN WRETCH! WORTHLESS MORTAL SAVAGE! MY ARM! GRAAAAAH!"
As he rears back on his hind legs to stomp down on a treant, Rognak sees across the cavern as Fandral's missing arm is replaced by a grotesque limb of shadow and oily darkness. He looks absolutely pissed, but he's not nearly as hurt as Rognak would have preferred. The Nightmare Lord must be interfering even more than he would have imagined. Even with all of their precautions, it would seem that they've underestimated how much their enemies can bring to bear here…
Of course, just as Rognak is starting to get really worried… there's a sudden surge of power from Cenarius' direction. Abruptly, the darkness blocking their connection to Nature is blasted away, destroyed in a moment. The shadows that Rognak hadn't even realized were coiling around the cavern more and more, are suddenly pushed back all the way to their source… Fandral Staghelm himself.
This time, when Rognak kills a treant, another doesn't immediately rise from the floor to take its place. When Broll swipes away more roots that seek to entangle him, he actually makes progress, breaking free and pushing forward. And finally… finally, when Rognak looks over at Cenarius and Malfurion, its to see the Lord of the Forest truly standing tall now, the grimace from before gone. The Forest Demigod has broken through whatever Fandral and his Master had done, freeing this place of the corruption that the Emerald Nightmare had managed to place upon it.
Fandral, of course, is less than pleased by this development.
"NO!"
But his denial means nothing. With the connection to Nature restored, all four of them press forward. Of course, the Corrupted Archdruid doesn't stop fighting. And even as he struggles against them all, he has words for each of them. For Rognak, it's the same old song and dance.
"Savage beast! You will never achieve an ounce of what I have achieved! Your people are nothing and will forever BE nothing!"
For Broll Bearmantle, Fandral seems to take the opportunity to truly hit below the belt.
"You are a worthless father! Your own child had to save YOU from certain death! You failed her, just as you will fail here!"
For Cenarius, it is much as what he'd said before, colored with a clear deference to his Master.
"You have done nothing but hold us back for ten THOUSAND years, Forest Lord! Your time is done! It is time that the Night Elves were led by a Night Elf in truth and not just in name!"
And finally, to Malfurion…
"Pathetic reflection of a dead man! You meddle beyond your means, Stormrage! Even now, I see you fading away. Even now, my Master encroaches. The Dream is at an END, fool! Now is the time of the Nightmare!"
In response, much to Rognak's surprise, Malfurion actually glows BRIGHTER. The Archdruid's Shade shakes his head, even as he lifts a see-through hand and swallows up one of Fandral's latest attacks in his palm.
"No, Fandral. This? This is the end of you and your Master's Nightmare. Why do you think he's become so desperate? Why do you think he empowers you so? This is not your moment of triumph. This is Xavius' last gasp of breath before we destroy him forever."
Fandral's eyes widen at that, even as he's assailed on all sides. The Corrupted Archdruid might have been all spittle and rage at this point, insults and snarls… but it hasn't stopped them from slowly surrounding him, from hemming him in more and more. Rognak takes the time to circle around and pick up Wolfsong from where it landed across the cavern, and then he joins the others in putting an end to it.
Eventually, Fandral is forced back. The coiling shadows he calls upon are blasted away by Cenarius' magic even from Fandral himself. The cloak of Nightmarish Power that his Master granted him vanishes and the Archdruid falls back, sweat on his brow and his breath coming out in laboring breaths. One-armed and on the ground, he pants heavily as he glares up at them all, his eyes glassy but still filled with hatred and fury.
This was a broken man. This was a Night Elf who had lost his son a thousand years before and simply never recovered. A creature who had let darkness into his heart and decided the rest of the world deserved to feel all the pain he did. He might have even thought he was helping, that the world truly was wrong and the Nightmare was 'right'. But Rognak didn't think so. No, Fandral Staghelm just wanted to make everyone else hurt in the same way he hurt.
"It's over, Fandral. You and your Master have lost."
Lips pulled back in a half-sneer, half-snarl, Fandral pushes himself up with his one remaining arm and growls.
"It will never be over. Not so long as I still draw-urk!"
Which is when Rognak brings Wolfsong down upon Fandral's chest, the axe's blessed blade carving right through bone and heart alike. The blood splatter lands all across Rognak's face and chest, but he does not pull away from it. Instead, he looks down into Fandral's eyes, watching the Night Elf die. For a moment, Fandral just stares at him in disbelief, before spitting up a little bit of blood… and finally expiring.
Placing a foot on Fandral's shoulder, Rognak yanks Wolfsong back out of the Corrupted Archdruid's corpse and straightens up. When he looks around, the others are all giving him… looks. Not quite judgmental, and in fact Rognak thinks Cenarius might actually approve. But they're certainly surprised by his killing of a disarmed prisoner.
Shrugging, Rognak works his jaw for a moment before speaking.
"Sorry, did we want him alive? I'm just a savage beast. Can't control my own impulses."
Malfurion looks like he might have something to say in response to that, but before he can, Cenarius interjects.
"What's done is done. It is finished. Fandral's treachery has been met with justice. Malfurion… you will be needed back in the Dream. The Nightmare Lord must be dealt with, now that his machinations have been brought into the light."
The Emerald Shade of Malfurion Stormrage nods sharply at that.
"Indeed. I have no doubt that we will put an end to Xavius… especially with what information you and this young orc have managed to give us. But the corruption in the Dream, this so-called Emerald Nightmare… it runs deeper than just what Xavius has become. I expect I shall be quite busy in the months to come. We all will, those of us who call the Dream our home."
Malfurion's eyes move from Cenarius, to Rognak, and then to Broll. He nods to Rognak and Broll respectively, bowing his head as they bow their heads in return. Afterwards, he turns his attention back to Cenarius as his shade-like form starts to fade.
"Teacher. I feel the toll participating in this battle has taken on me. I believe the next time I manifest on Azeroth… it will be my last. Forgive me, but I will be of no further use to you outside of the Emerald Dream. My last manifestation… I would save it to say goodbye to my beloved."
Pain appears in Cenarius' eyes, but right alongside it is understanding. The Lord of the Forest bows his head in Malfurion's direction, choking out his response moments before the Archdruid disappears entirely.
"Of course, my student. I will let her know."
"Thank you, Cenarius."
And with that Malfurion is gone, back to the Dream to face Xavius and his Nightmare. Rognak wishes him the best of luck, knowing that while Malfurion won't return to Azeroth until it's time to say goodbye to Tyrande, Cenarius will most definitely be visiting the Dream many times in the coming days to help its denizens against the threat posed to it.
Rognak has done all he can on that front, however. Like Malfurion mentioned, he's given Cenarius and the others all the information that he possibly can on what Xavius' plans are and how deep the Nightmare truly runs. Xavius is, after all, merely a piece on the board. The Nightmare Lord has his own Masters, and even knowing that it is the Old Gods they truly face should hopefully help the denizens of the Emerald Dream fight off their corrupting influence a little bit better this time around compared to his second set of memories.
Meanwhile… it was long past time Rognak returned to his people. Not just the Warsong Clan, but the Horde as a whole. It was time for the Horde to settle, and for them to begin setting down roots here in Kalimdor. And Rognak would do everything he possibly could to make sure that druidism became one of the pillars of the New Horde going forward.