Some say that World of Warcraft is an addiction, But I know that is a lie. I know that deep down World Of Warcraft is a way of life, it’s an ever-changing world much like our own, filled with real people and real experiences. I have met a lot of good people in World of Warcraft, some that I would definitely call a good friend. Others have found love through World Of Warcraft and have entered a relationship together, some even marrying one another. But enough of that, you all came here to hear an epic story. And that is just what I intend to give you.
Let us travel back in time, about two years ago. Back when the Dragon Soul raid was the current endgame content for World Of Warcraft. Before Garrosh stole the heart of Pandaria. Before us champions defeated the Thunder King and his endless army of soldiers. Before overcoming our greatest fears, doubts, and hatred towards one another. There was the terror of Deathwing and his minions.
One of Deathwing’s allies, Ragnaros the fire lord had invaded Mount Hyjal to destroy the world tree. But thanks to our valiant efforts and unwavering courage we not only defeated the fire lord, we saved Mount Hyjal as well.
And this, my friends is where my story begins:
*Queue dreamy flashback transition*
“Who are we going after next?” I asked, wiping away the blood of Shannox from my blade. I turned to the raid leader after a moment, to assure him that I indeed was talking to him, and not out loud to myself. I had joined an excellent group of raiders that I found on OpenRaid.org, a wonderfully helpful site for any World of Warcraft player looking for achievements and more.
“Let’s go for Alysrazor” the Raid Leader suggested. I knew he did not want to deal with Lord Rhyolith and his mechanics, and to be honest neither did I. Not at that moment.
Although I forget the specific make up of our group, I do know that there was two healers, two tanks and six damage dealers. Together we mounted up and charged forth, towards our impending doom. Two gigantic blazing firebirds and their masters stood between us and Majordomo Staghelm, the right hand man of Ragnaros. Staghelm had taken a handful of Hyjal druids as sacrifices for his master.
We stopped at the entrance of the cove and dismounted. The warrior tank quickly charged one of the masters of the firebirds, a pyromancer. Stunning him, he leaped over towards the other. Deflecting a fireball with his shield he landed before the dazed master and began to swing his sword frantically. An ice lance flew by me and slammed into one of the masters, then a chaos bolt and a volley of arrows. I looked to my left and saw the paladin climbing up the side of the firebird as it spewed giant fireballs from its mouth, on the right the hunter was doing the same.
I stood there amazed at the speed, power and precision of this group. I felt like a fish out of water, I was playing in the big leagues now.
“Watch out!” the mage shouted from behind me. I looked up to see not one but two fireballs heading my way. I quickly read a rune out loud and a green shield encompassed me. I huddled in fear, hoping that the shield would absorb most of the danger. The first fireball hit, and dispersed around the shield. The concussive blast rattled my teeth. The second fireball then hit, destroying the shield as it exploded. The shockwave threw me back towards the Warlock.
I coughed as I tried to breathe through the pain.
“Get your head in the game, Une!” The warlock shouted, as he outstretched his hand to help me up.
“Sorry, it won’t happen again.” I said as I dusted myself off.
“Make sure that it doesn’t!” The raid leader scowled at me.
I nodded and withdrew my swords, waiting for the barrage of fireballs to be aimed correctly at their targets; A pile of fresh firebird eggs, one of each side of the cove. When I knew the coast was clear I quickly ran in to help the Warrior, I summoned the howling winds of Northrend to chill my enemies to the bone and sliced through their health with my frost strikes.
As the masters of the firebirds perished, so did the batches of eggs. All that was left were the weakened firebirds that the mage and hunter finished off. We then rushed to the aid of the Hyjal Druids, hoping to catch Majordomo Staghelm by surprise. But he knew very well we were coming, and rooted us all in place.
A wave of laughter then echoed throughout the firelands.
“You…” Staghelm begins “You are all too late.” he says shooting a bolt of fire towards the Hyjal Druids, killing them all. He then bows to us and teleports away.
The ground begins to rumble and I look around at my allies concerned. They are all standing, ready to go at a moments notice, I realized that I should do the same. An explosion of molten fire and earth erupts before us as the once noble Alyrsa has now been reborn of flame, as Alyrsazor.
“I serve a new master now!” She laughs, soaring high above us.
She then swoops down in front of us as Staghelms root finally wears off. I run to the left with the Warrior, Priest healer, Warlock, and Hunter. We all know what to do, we have all experienced this fight before.
The warlock, hunter and myself quickly burn down the minions of Alysrazor as they try to destroy us. The warrior stands next to the freshly laid firebird eggs, and waits patiently for them to hatch. And the priest? Well, she knows what to do when it comes to being a healer.
We go through the mechanics, avoiding fire when we need to and burning down enemies when it is proper. We slowly but surely deplete Alyrsazor’s health. 95, 90, 85, 80. etc. Everything was going smoothly until the Warrior died. the firebird hatchling then quickly ran over to the priest and devoured her. The warlock and myself quickly ran away from the giant beast.
At this point, my adrenaline kicked in, and I had two options; stay there and die, or pick up a feather and finish this fight. Alysrazor only had 15% of her health remaining as she flew high above us. I quickly made my decision and grabbed a feather. A pair of magical wings sprouted from my back and lifted me high into the air. I looked down at the battlefield and saw that I was the only player left alive, the hatchlings had run rampant and killed everyone else.
“You can do it!” the raid leader shouted to me over his ventrillo server.
My hands began to shake as I flew towards Alysrazor, I had never been the one to fly in this battle before, but I learned how to do it thanks to a trial by fire. Flying through the fiery rings, my swings at Alysrazor’s flaming hide grew faster and faster, to the point that I looked like a whirlwind of frozen death.
My teammates looked on in awe as Alysrazor’s health quickly dropped.
10, 9, 8.
Each percentile that dropped made my heart rate spike. I don’t have the best of luck when it comes to epic things like this, but I knew I had to try my best. Bad luck and all.
7, 6, 5.
My runes were regenerating faster than I could spend them, I knew I had to keep flying through those rings. For a pair of hungry mouths awaited me down below. I could feel my heart pounding like a machine gun through my chest.
4, 3, 2, 1.
“Come on, come on, come on!” I said to myself. This was it, the entire fight was riding on my shoulders. I knew I couldn’t let my teammates down, I wanted so badly for them to think of me as an invaluable asset to their team.
Then, right before my eyes. I see Alysrazor fall out of the sky, she slams hard into the ground, motionless. And with her dying breath she said her last words. “The light…” she whispers “Mustn’t…Burn out.”
A roar of cheers blasts through the ventrillo servers as I fly back down towards the ground. “Oh my god, I can’t believe that just happened!” “If I wasn’t here I would have never believed it!” “Une, you are the best!” “How is that even possible!?”
I knew after that fight, that I had made a wise choice to pick up World of Warcraft all those years ago. I now know what it means to be couragous, to be brave. To look danger in the face and laugh. But most importantly of all, after that fight I learned to believe in myself.
Thanks for all the memories, Blizzard.
Published: Nov 4, 2014 08:13 am