Chapter 14

(POV Therazane "The Stony Mother", Elemental Mistress of the Earth)

"I fought and thanks to the training I had done, I was mastering my body a bit. As time went on my combat skills increased. Things started to get a little easier. But the fire was still there, I couldn't put it out. Since I only knew how to fight, that's what I did, I fought, I got better, and in the end I learned even more. Now I knew how to hit, where to hit, how hard and above all "when" to hit. Everything was going well, until I changed to another type of elemental. I converted when I saw that I couldn't stop the fire from entering my house, so I threw myself into it. I managed to contain it using my body. And I survived daily tormented by its heat."

What an interesting story.

*Sigh* "Eventually the pain went away and my body got used to it. From what was once just dirt and stone, it was now lava and rock. My body had changed beyond repair, but I became stronger, tougher, more capable! Now the fire would not enter my house, for I now consumed it. With my house safe and my power increased, I began to help my earthly brothers more. Sometimes I succeeded, sometimes I could not. My new power was great but not invincible, other fiery rock beings like me could do me much harm. So I continued to press their fire with mine. I would not succumb, I would protect, and that for me was enough... at least at first."

He looked me in the face again. I wondered, what was he thinking, why doesn't he finish....

"WHAT'S THE MATTER, FORGE EARTH. WHY DON'T YOU GO ON?"

"I was just seeing if I was boring you, Mother Pétrea. I don't want to trouble you with my story."

That's clever. You won't fool me that easy. Don't lie to me though, I know there's more to it. But it's entertaining and there's nothing wrong with listening to it. And from what I see, everyone else seems interested in the story.

"YOU MUST NOT WORRY AND GO ON, FORGE EARTH".

Nodding to me, he continued.

"As time went on I discovered that I had a unique power, one that I didn't quite understand but that allowed me to alter my body. I would also like to know if that is normal, Mother Petrea.

Mmm it's not that common to have unique abilities, but I don't see the weirdness of him altering his body.

"I'LL RESPOND AFTER YOU FINISH YOUR STORY, FORGE EARTH."

"Thank you, Mother Stony. Eventually I realized that I could use my power to increase my size and with it my power. But the more I grew, the more power I desired. Still, I knew it wasn't good. Something deep inside me told me that I needed to get better and not just bigger. I didn't know how to do it so I kept fighting the fire with my own, watching, learning from my enemy. After many years I learned that my enemies sometimes had very hard stones falling from their bodies. If they had them I had to have them too, but I also realized that there were very few of them. So I began to defeat my peers to increase the amount I had in me. I succeeded, but they were not hard enough, so, in my lust for more power, I gave myself a task. The task, to create a stronger stone from what my enemies dropped. To achieve this I thought to burn it and crush it with great force..."

Watch entertaining.

"But my body could not bear such heat, and the pain of melting was distressing. So I abandoned it and used a mountain as my new body. Now my inner flame was the fire to make it. I succeeded, but it was short-lived. My attempt to improve did not bear fruit, so I had to start all over again. Much later, and after mixing many earths and stones, I was able to find the stone I was looking for. Then I set about the task of making more, and with it I formed my new body".

He said, stretching to demonstrate his accomplishment. His voice sounded pleased, but the price?

"Once again I went out to defend my home from the flame, more powerful than ever. I was now able to easily tear apart those who resembled my old self. For my new body I made following what I felt inside me, what I felt I was meant to be. But I had changed even more, now my fire was more powerful than the enemy flame, and then I realized that now I burned my house, the one I put so much effort into defending, for now, I was the flame! ".

I understand.

"SO, WHAT'S YOUR REQUEST? FORGE EARTH."

"My inner fire consumes me, Mother Stone. Please help me. Give me your blessing so that I may quell it. That is my request, Mother Petrea."

"WHY SHOULD I BLESS YOU, FORGE EARTH. YOU HAVE CAUSED HARM TO THE LAND YOU PROTECT, YOU ARE NO DIFFERENT FROM THE FLAME YOU FOUGHT. YOU SAID IT YOURSELF, "YOU ARE THE FLAME!"

"I... I can only ask for your help, Mother Pétrea. I know I have hurt my home. But I want to return to it, I must return to it. For now my body does not respond to me as I wish, my flame consumes me little by little and I fear, fear for what will happen when I do."

He's sincere, but there's more to it than that.

"YOU'RE NOT TELLING ME EVERYTHING, FORGE EARTH. YOU'RE NOT BEING HONEST."

"Mother Stony, my second request is that you allow me to continue in my task of improving my power."

I saw in the eyes of my children a look of disbelief and contempt. I can understand them, for I feel the pain of the land he has consumed.

"YOU WANT MY BLESSING JUST TO KEEP CONSUMING YOUR HOUSE, MY HOUSE! YOU ARE EITHER VERY FOOLISH OR VERY BRAVE TO COME TO ME AND SAY THIS, FORGE EARTH."

It made me angry, but I felt his fear and also, his resolve. So I will ask before deciding to crush him under the same weight of the mountain he consumed.

"WHY, IF YOU KNOW THAT YOU HARM YOUR HOUSE YOU WANT TO CONTINUE, HAS THE FIRE FINISHED CONSUMING THE STONE IN YOU, HAVE YOU COME BEFORE ME ONLY TO FALL IN THE END, TELL ME, FORGE EARTH!!!, WHY?!!!!!"

When I finished asking, I could feel his peace and confidence. I didn't understand what motivated him to continue even though he knew he would die. I have lived as long as the world, but I don't know. So I just watched, waiting for his answer.

"Because my house needs my power."

"HOW DESTROYING YOUR HOUSE WILL HELP KEEP IT FROM BEING DESTROYED, FORGE EARTH, YOU'D BETTER TALK FAST BEFORE MY PATIENCE WEARS THIN!"

He looked me in the eyes and said.

"For my home is not just your territory, Mother Petter, it is the world. I have seen what will come from the sky. It will subjugate us and we will end up enslaved to its desires. All of you will be the property of others and your will will will be subjugated. I know, Mother Petrea, I have seen it.

His answer hit me like the fall of a mountain. I felt his sincerity, I felt it in his stone. He was telling the truth. But from the sky? Al'Akir is not so powerful. Is it something else...?

"FORGE EARTH, DO NOT TRY TO DECEIVE ME. AL'AKIR, THE ELEMENTAL LORD OF THE AIR, DOES NOT HAVE THE POWER TO ENSLAVE ME. IF HE DID, I WOULD NOT BE HERE."

"It is not of whom you speak, of whom I speak, Mother Pétrea. It is not another elemental lord that will enslave you all. It is a threat that comes from higher than the air and the heavens. Beyond the light. They are beings of absolute darkness, whose appearance is grotesque and amorphous. They come to our home. They come to Azeroth to corrupt it, to destroy it, to enslave it to their dark desires. And I will fight with all my being to destroy them. I WILL PROTECT MY HOME, I WILL PROTECT OUR HOME! I WILL BE THE FLAME THAT WILL CONSUME THE DARKNESS!!! FOR AZEROTH!!!!! ".

I saw it in his stone, I saw his fire. He wasn't lying, he was sure of it. I felt his confidence and I saw how his stone was stronger now. I don't know how he did it, but now he found his land.

"But I can't do it alone, I can't protect our home by myself. That is why I propose to use me as your stone, as your fire, Mother Stony. Help me to protect our home, to protect Azeroth from the coming darkness. I can only swear and promise that I will give my all for it. Please believe me, Mother Stony, as I believe that you must be the one I follow.

I just watched the flaming eyes of his strange head and decided to give my trust... For the time being.

"Very well then, forge lands. I will give you my trust and my blessing. But you will have to prove to me that both are not wasted on you."

"Of course, Mother Stone. I swear it shall be so.

I hope I'm not wrong about this.

"Then I will grant you my blessing and with it my permission, Earthforge."

With a wave of my hand I granted him my blessing. Now his stone was stronger, so I would ensure that his fire would never consume what he was sworn to protect. But now it was time to take the fight seriously... Azeroth, what will it mean?

(Point of view a bit manipulative)

An incredible feeling swept through my body and flooded it with power. Therazane's blessing has made me stronger, but it is a power foreign to me. I must absorb it and make it truly mine. Getting his blessing was difficult, but now I will be tougher and it will be easier for me to work in the forge. Although it almost resulted in my death, I didn't expect to suddenly receive a mission from that god...

Now I must receive the blessing of all the elemental lords... somehow. And fight against all the elemental lords. Of course, I must do all this and survive... Although there are no negative repercussions if I don't get the blessings, but there is a reward if I do. 1 coupon where I can choose the amount of materials, whatever it is, to make 1 forge.

*sigh*

No matter, everything turned out fine and I can keep improving myself. I have to find a way to convince the Stony Mother to fight more proactively against the other elemental lords, and also figure out how to ally with them before the "Old Gods" arrive. If we can attack them as soon as they arrive maybe we can eradicate them... though it would change the entire history of Azeroth if I did. Without them there is no history, it is because of their curse that Azeroth will have the heroes that will fight for the world, but at the same time it is also because of the curse that many evils will befall it... I, for one, am not as strong as Sargeras and his Legion, at least not yet. I need more power and powerful allies... Before I change the history of Azeroth in an irreversible way, I will have to wait.

"Forge Earth, when will the darkness you speak of come?"

Mother Stony's question brought me out of my previous thought, but there really is no date that specifies when they arrive. The historical facts before the arrival of the "Titans" are practically non-existent and not much is said, not even by the elemental lords who survived the event.

"I don't know, Mother Pétrea. It may be today or long after. I saw only the fall of a great darkness over all of Azeroth and then hideous giants of various shapes, but all with many arms, eyes, spines, and mouths. Parts of their gigantic, misshapen bodies fell off and fell to the ground, where smaller creatures were born. Those beings built great houses around the grotesque giants, using the stone of the mountains and the earth, corrupting everything they touched. From these smaller creatures many more were born, flooding the air with them until they became a cloud that covered the sun over the whole place".

"Then we will have to get ready now. We will talk to the others and make them listen, even if we have to beat them with all the fury of the earth and the mountains. WE WILL MAKE THEM LISTEN! ".

Well, I'm glad I don't have to convince her that we should unite. I might be able to change the relationship between the Elemental Lords... Perhaps.

Author's Note: What do you think of this chapter, yesterday I was very curious and inspired about what would happen next, so I kept writing and almost finished this chapter. I think it turned out amazing.

By the way, the cover image is not exactly the main character's appearance. I don't know if you believe in coincidences, but, when I released the chapter about the main character's appearance long after that, I started looking at some images on Pinterest and I found the actual cover image. It seemed pretty close to the look I had described so I decided to use it... I don't believe in coincidences, I don't know about you XD. I say that in case you think I was inspired by that image to get the current appearance of the main character, but I'm not. Hahaha.

I invite you to comment, because every comment motivates me to continue writing. If 15 people comment I might release another chapter today. I wish you a great day or a good night. ^^.