The trees around Shiawase seemed familiar, but there was something off about them. He could not place it. Their branches had been stripped bare and stark, and the winter sky seemed to cast a melancholy blue glow down onto the frozen earth. The fallen leaves under his foot crinkled and a crow called out forlornly. Another dream, Shia told himself. Would this one be a nightmare too?
The Druid sat down on the frozen earth. Running around trying to avoid whatever would be coming would do no good, he knew. And there was no use in going about things normally. If he acted as he would in the Emerald Dream he would find himself somewhere dark and upsetting, or worse yet, swallowed up by that vortex of screaming madness again. That meant there was only one path left. Whatever it was that was doing this to him, Shiawase would find it and obliterate it.
There was a crunch of old leaves to Shia's right. The Druid jerked his head around and saw through the dead trees the figure of a Son of Cenarius. The image of the -something- that had eaten him in a previous nightmare flashed in to Shia's mind and the his breath caught in his throat for a moment, but he had felt no chill wind, and could smell no putrid stink. The air remained blessedly devoid of tortured screaming.
Whatever it was over there, Shiawase wasn't going to let it get away. If it was some perverted piece of his nightmare he was going to rip it to shreds, if it wasn't maybe it would give him answers. Shia slipped into cat form and went dashing towards the figure.
He was far away when the Son of Cenarius looked the Druid's way. It didn't matter, it was too late. With a roar Shia leapt into the air and landed in front of the intruder of his dreams.
Keeper Albagorm was standing in front of him, eyes opened wide in shock. Shia stared back. There was nothing strange about the person standing in front of him. He smelled right, his skin and fur was healthy and lively, his hair was thick and flowing down his back in a green mane, and there wasn't a maggoty hole or diseased blemish on him.
"Brother Shiawase! What are you doing here?"
Shia shifted into his Elven form and bowed. He didn't know what else he should do. "I'm afraid I should be saying the same thing, brother Keeper. You were the last person I was expecting here."
"Have you been trapped by the dream to?"
Shia raised an eyebrow. "Trapped? I'm merely sleeping for the night."
"Then you need to leave, immediately."
"Why? What's going on? Has something happened in the Dream?"
The keeper nodded gravely. "Yes, something has happened. There's an intruder in this land. Something powerful is walking the Dream and corrupting all that it touches, and we fear it aims to break through to Azeroth itself. You have to leave. It isn't safe here right now."
"And you brother? Are you safe?"
"I'll be fine. Cenarius himself has moved towards fixing the matter. There's nothing you can do here right now Druid. Please, return to Azeroth."
The trees began to shake and a low whistle passed through the branches. The hair on Shia's neck rose with the coming of the chill wind, and he grit his teeth against the violent shiver that shot though his body.
“Druid.” The whisper bubbled into Shia’s mind, and he shook his head as if to rattle out water.
"You have to go, now." Keeper Albagorm placed his hands on Shia's ears. "If you see Stormrage, tell him he'll be guarding Stonetalon Peak for quite a while." A wave of heat seemed to drip down Shia's body from the point on his head where Keeper Albagorm had placed his hands. The scenery around him began to meld as his hold on his dream was severed and his conscious was forced back into the waking world.
"Be safe brother," Shia said. The hazy image of Albagorm smiled and nodded. "You as well young Shiawase. Stay safe."
Shia jolted awake. He was inside Whitemoon's hut. A flurry of snow was drifting about the window outside, and he and Rimar's group had holed up there to wait out the storm. He rubbed his forehead. What had Albagorm meant about and intruder? Who could possibly invade a place like the Emerald Dream? It was unheard of, impossible!
The winter days came and went. Shia sent a letter to the Retribution telling them that important developments required that he stay in Kalimdor for an indefinite period of time, that he was fine, and that he would return at the first opportunity. His patrolling was relaxed with the help of his friends, and he used his spare time to keep an eye on Faldoras. The other elf for his part made no more moves to gather a force and attack the Orc camp.
Shiawase was helping Whitemoon smoke venison for the last few months of winter when Cirrimor approached him. Every breath the other Druid took seemed like a deep sigh. Shia had not seen Cirrimor for almost two months, and the sudden appearance of his superior, along with his exhausted composure, told him something was amiss.
"Can I talk with you brother?"
"Of course."
"Alone?"
Shiawase and Whitmoon glanced at each other. Whitemoon nodded solemnly, and with a bow to Cirrimor left. Cirrimor walked over to an old tree stump and sat down slowly, using his arms as support, as if he didn't trust the strength of his legs to sit gently. Shia remained standing.
"What can I do for you brother?"
"I was wondering if you've seen Andhol lately."
Shiawase considered. "I've hardly seen anything of either of you."
"We've been fighting in the Gulch. The Horde are trying to press for an advantage during winter when support from the Eastern Kingdoms is slower in coming. About a week ago Andhol disappeared and I've been looking for him since."
"I'm sure wherever he is he has some reason for being there."
"No, he's..." Cirrimor rubbed at his brow and sighed again. "Have you heard much news from the Druids in Darnassus?"
"None at all. I only know what the villagers tell me."
"Then you aren't aware of the sickness spreading within our ranks?"
"Sickness?"
Cirrmor nodded. "A madness has been spreading amongst the Druids. A number of us have lost their senses and become a danger to everything around them, and others have slipped into a coma like trance in which every effort to revive them has failed. Andhol had been showing signs of this illness, but the defense of the Gulch was our first priority, his symptoms weren't severe, and I must admit that both of us were overconfident in our ability to overcome whatever it was that was affecting him. A while ago he woke up from a nightmare, and from that point on his personality changed completely. He became unpredictable in battle, impossible to talk to, and then he disappeared. If he's fallen to the illness and is out there somewhere prowling around, he'll be more of a threat than any backwater lumber operation."
"Do you think he's near Astranaar?"
"I have that suspicion. He may have gone mad but he's still a Druid, and tracking him is extremely difficult. But if the behavior of the others is any indication, he’ll be showing up in the settlement sooner or later. So I’m waiting for when he does. And,” Cirrimor paused and gave Shia a meaningful look. “I’ve returned to look after you.”
Shia balked. "What do you mean?"
"How have your dreams been brother?"
"Like I said before, they remain unsettling."
"Have you had any genuine nightmares?"
Shia thought back to that night at the Crimson Jewel, and the monstrous, fetid form of a Cenarion emerging from the screaming bodies flurrying about in the abyss. "Yes, I have."
"Did these nightmares occur within the Emerald Dream?"
"I suppose, although I wouldn't call anything that occurred in it a possibility in the Dream."
"Did this nightmare have in it the element of corruption?"
Shiawase nodded.
"Then you are being affected. Then next step is when you begin to seem the images in your dreams in your waking hours."
"Oh, wonderful."
Cirrimor grinned. "Yes, it's certainly something to look forward to. If you wake up and find yourself somewhere besides where you went to sleep, I would take note as well. At that point you should make your way to Darnassus and seek help, or you'll become a danger. Until then, I'll need your help to flush Andhol out from wherever he's hid himself and get him under control."
"I'll do anything you ask of me."
"Then I have to ask you to serve as bait."
