Warcraft: The Emerald Dream
Year 25, Day 5
Ysondre touched the frame around the portal and the turbulent swirl of emerald green energy that I’d previously studied through my magic sight slowly resolved into a smooth, almost translucent flat vortex. I could just barely make out a forest clearing on the opposite side of the portal, tiny shapes––birds, or perhaps large insects––fluttering around trees blooming with small pink and white flowers.
Ysondre stepped out of the way and used her free hand to gesture towards the portal. “Typically, only my kin and those trained in the druidic arts are able to venture physically into the Dream, but I am stabilizing the gateway. As long as we move quickly and you do not stray far from my side, we shall all be able to travel in safety and comfort.”
Though normally I would have preferred to use someone more expendable, like Mercury perhaps, to test an unknown magical gateway, Peach was the first to rush through the portal. The sheet of green energy pulsed as she stepped through, and I saw her stumble as she emerged in the hazy clearing, then step out of the way of the portal and fall to her knees to study something on the ground.
I mentally reached for her Blueprint and found it just as it had been a moment before. Peach was not dead and I could dispel her with a thought. Still the same plane and not an obvious trap, then.
I made a gesture and Cinder’s former minions hurried after Peach followed by the woman herself, and then Kent. I stopped in front of the portal, my fingers hovering a hair's breadth above its surface. The magic of the portal was different, but it shared the same general…coloration as the magic in Goldrinn’s fang.
I glanced over at Ysondre, and found her watching me, a placid smile on her lips. “It is tiring to hold the gateway open,” she remarked casually.
I frowned, took a deep breath, and stepped through the portal. The smooth stone I’d been walking on a moment earlier was suddenly replaced by soft, loamy soil and springy grass, and I stumbled just as Peach had. Cinder caught my shoulder and pulled me out of the way as the rest of our increasingly large party followed after me. A moment after the last person––Amber––had stepped through, Ysondre followed after them and the portal immediately went back to the same dark-green, chaotic and utterly opaque circles of roiling magic as it had been previously.
My frown deepened momentarily before I wiped it away beneath a polite mask. The location where we’d just been standing suddenly felt impossibly far away. I doubted my apparition, nor any portkey I could make, would be able to move us such an oddly-vast distance. Without my Planeswalking, I would be stuck here if anything happened to Ysondre or she simply decided to leave us behind.
“Welcome, friends, to the Emerald Dream,” Ysondre declared, extending her arms out to either side. “The everchanging realm of creation from which my Flight observes and protects the natural world. Few mortals have visited this realm in the flesh, and I encourage you all to take this opportunity to observe the natural wonders of Azeroth. Please however, do not venture out beyond my wingspan. The Dream is not like the material world, it shifts and flows. My presence stabilizes our surroundings, but if you venture too far, you may be swept far away and lost within the dream.”
There was a shift and two vast emerald shadows swept out from Ysondre’s shoulders, rising up to form a canopy above us and the surrounding clearing. “I shall give you all some moments to adjust to the Dream, and then we shall be off. I have been told the transition can be unsettling for some.”
Making sure to keep an eye on Ysondre so that I didn’t get too far away from the elf-shaped dragon, I looked around. The Emerald Dream certainly lived up to at least half of its name. It was very green. The trees, the grass, the sky, and even the air itself were all tinged with a shimmering green glow that left me feeling as though I was wearing glasses with green lenses. Particularly since, with my magic sight active, the entire world was tinged with the verdant green of what I was coming to recognize as this world’s nature magic.
I took a deep breath, the air as clear and fresh as I’d ever tasted. The clearing was alive with sounds. The buzz of insects, the rustle of trees, the songs of birds, and the pitter-patter of tiny feet filled the air, accompanied by the rich, earthy scent of nature. It rather reminded me of the peaceful edges of the forbidden forest where care of magical creatures classes took place and students could walk without fear of the dangers lurking in its depths. There was that same quiet, calm natural beauty. The trees were different, the animals were different, but the feelings remained the same.
My eyes landed on Peach, who looked like a small child that had convinced their parents to take them to Honeydukes. She was rushing around the clearing, moving from flower to flower, bush to bush, and tree to tree. Ysondre was watching her with what I hoped was amusement, her lips quirked into a small smile and her hands folded behind her back.
Kent and Amber both looked like they were enjoying themselves as well. Amber was kneeling in the grass, her staff discarded beside her and her hands moving back and forth around her as though she was stroking a fur rug. Kent meanwhile was leaning against a tree trunk, his eyes closed and his head tilted back. He looked peaceful and content in a way I’d rarely seen his original version be.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
Others among my party were less enthusiastic. Cinder, Mercury, and, to a lesser extent, Emerald looked slightly lost and like they’d rather be almost anywhere else. Meanwhile, Glynda was just standing there, her riding crop in her hand and her eyes roving the trees for hidden dangers.
I bit my lip and made a decision I’d been holding off on for a number of reasons. Someday, once I finally figured out how to transfer memories from my summoned copies to the originals, I’d want to share this place with the most special person in my life. I drew mana from my land bonds and a moment later, Zatanna stood beside me in her magician’s outfit. I wrapped an arm around her waist to steady her, and her eyes lit up in wonder as she looked around the clearing.
“Another of your companions, young Hydrys?” Ysondre asked.
Zatanna jolted, turning in surprise towards the dragon.
I nodded. “In a sense. This is Zatanna. My…future wife.”
Ysondre took a deep breath through her nose, regarding Zatanna through her blindfold. “I see. And the mother of your soon to be hatchlings?”
“Indeed.”
“Well met, Zatanna. Welcome to the Emerald Dream. Do not stray from your mate’s side, and all shall be well.”
“Uh…” Zatanna stammered, staring up at the armored dragon.
Oh, right. “Zatanna, I’d like to introduce Ysondre. She’s a dragon that we came across a few days ago, and Kent helped her deal with a curse she was suffering under. She offered to show us around the plane in return.”
Zatanna blinked, processing the rather abridged version of the story, then extended a hand towards the dragon. “Zatanna Zatara. It's a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Ysondre.”
Ysondre laughed and shook Zatanna’s hand. “I imagine we will be seeing much of each other in the future, Your mate is noble and has done me and mine a great service that my Flight will not soon forget.”
We spent another ten or so minutes in the clearing before Ysondre indicated that it was time to move on. Traveling through the Emerald Dream was rather odd. We walked together in the shadow of Ysondre’s wings, and the landscape around us changed with each passing footstep even as the path we were walking along barely shifted. One moment there was a mountain in the distance, the next moment it was on our left, and then another footstep and it fell away far behind us.
Before long, we arrived at another clearing, a great tree rising up before us with a portal swirling at its base. If not for the rather different array of plants growing around the clearing, I could have easily thought that we’d just walked in one big circle.
Ysondre turned to face our group. “Our first stop is the great forest of Val'Sharah, and the mighty world tree Shaladrassil that protects this land. This dreamway leads to a place the mortal druids know as Dreamgrove, perhaps the greatest gathering of such spellcasters on Azeroth, where I hope to introduce you to a number of potential nature wielders. I fear that Cenarius himself is not currently present, but there are others amongst their numbers who would likely be willing to join you on your travels. There is also a Temple of Elune nearby, where perhaps we may find a Priestess willing to join you. If not, Teldrassil, our next destination, is home to a far larger Temple, and a number of old friends.”
Ysondre was about to continue, when the dream around us shifted. The shadows of Ysondre’s wings were suddenly joined by another shadow, and there was a thunderous roar that shook the earth and spooked a number of the small animals perched in the trees around us.
Ysondre took a deep breath and looked up towards the sky. “Ah, it seems another comes to greet us. I had hoped to see her here, but feared she would be otherwise occupied.”
I watched with no small amount of trepidation as an emerald-green dragon only a fraction smaller than Ysondre’s colossal form swooped down towards us. She passed over the clearing, shaking the canopies of the trees, then rose back into the air and banked sharply, descending down to the forest floor in a wide, slow spiral.
A moment before she would have hit the ground, the dragon’s body warped and vanished, replaced by a slender human woman with long green hair, big green eyes, and wearing a rose-red dress with a matching ribbon woven through her hair. She landed lightly on the balls of her feet and scanned our group before her eyes landed on Ysondre and she visibly lit up with excitement.
“Ysondre!” she squealed in delight, and promptly threw herself at our guide.
Ysondre caught the other woman in her arms and the two shared a brief embrace before the new dragon pulled away. “It's been so long! You haven’t visited in like, a thousand years! Oh, this is so exciting, Shaladrassil has gotten so big and strong and healthy! You should visit more often, I bet my world tree is much more interesting than that little shrub grandma has you guarding!”
“It is wonderful to see you as well, Nythendra. It has been too long. I am glad to see you whole and in good spirits, but I fear our reunion must wait for now. I have guests I am escorting.”
The girl whirled around, seeming to notice the rest of us for the first time. “Whooa,” she exclaimed. “Humans? In the Dreaming? And you’re showing them around? Ohhhh, something exciting is going on! I can smell it!”
She sniffed the air, then her eyes locked onto Kent and she stared at him for several long seconds before turning to look at Ysondre again. “No way! You smell like that mortal man, aunty! I can’t believe you’d––”
Ysondre pressed a finger against Nythendra’s lips. “He merely assisted me in dealing with a dangerous curse. Something we will need to discuss later. Firstly, introductions. Everyone, I would like you to meet the daughter of one of my sisters, and guardian of this section of the Dream, Nythendra. Nythendra, these are Hydrys, Hydrys’ mate, Kent, and a number of their associates. They have aided me greatly, and may aid our flight further in the coming days. Be polite, little one.”
I looked between the two dragons. This Nythendra was clearly the younger and weaker of the two…but that sort of thing was relative. And adding another dragon to my eventual repertoire sounded fantastic.