To set the scene, just minutes earlier, as Rhodes and Vashj were deep in conversation, a sentry from Honor Hold dashed over, his face pale with a mix of awe and terror.
"Grand Marshal! General Danath! A group of... creatures unlike anything we've ever seen is at the gates!" the soldier reported breathlessly. "They call themselves Draenei. Their leader requests an audience with you specifically, Grand Marshal Rhodes! He says he felt the 'calling of pure Holy Light'."
"Draenei?" Danath Trollbane frowned, looking toward Rhodes. Though they had survived in Outland for over a decade, their movements were largely restricted to Hellfire Peninsula; they had explored little of the wider world because it was simply too dangerous. Dealing with the local Fel Orcs and demons was already pushing them to their limits. "General Danath, have you ever heard of these Draenei?"
Rhodes felt a jolt of recognition. Draenei? Prophet Velen? He immediately thought of the survivors of Argus who had been fleeing for tens of thousands of years. Velen could sense the Light and even possessed a degree of foresight; it wasn't surprising that the massive fluctuations from Rhodes's earlier summoning had drawn him like a moth to a flame.
"My apologies, Grand Marshal, but I've never heard of such a race," Danath admitted. "We've seen Orcs, demons of the Legion, and strange local beasts, but 'Draenei' is a new one to me."
"It's understandable that you haven't," Rhodes nodded. After the war with the Orcs and their crushing defeat by the Old Horde, the Draenei had gone into deep hiding, avoiding all outside contact. Velen usually only traveled between hidden settlements to check on his people.
"Marshal, General... there's something else," the messenger added hesitantly. "I think they look strange. To be honest, they look an awful lot like some of the demons from the Burning Legion."
Rhodes let out a short, knowing laugh. When the Draenei first appeared in the original history of the Burning Crusade, many people had mistaken them for the Eredar of the Legion. In truth, they were Eredar—specifically, the ones who hadn't fallen to darkness or accepted Fel power.
They didn't just "look" like them; they were the same species. However, Fel-corrupted Eredar grew massive demonic horns, their skin often turned crimson, and their size increased dramatically—Archimonde, for instance, stood dozens of feet tall. By contrast, the Draenei were usually only around seven feet tall, much closer to human proportions.
"You say they look like demons, but do they carry the taint of Fel?" Danath asked sharply. If they were demons, there would be no reason to negotiate; they would have attacked.
"Sir, if they had even a shred of Fel energy, we would have opened fire already," the soldier explained. "In fact, we almost did anyway just based on their looks. But the strange thing is, these so-called Draenei are overflowing with pure Holy Light. That's why I came to report—it's incredibly contradictory."
Suddenly, a commotion erupted outside, accompanied by a surge of Arcane energy. Rhodes, Danath, and Vashj shared a look and hurried out toward the gates.
The scene was incredibly tense. Archmage Rhonin and a host of Dalaran mages had their staves raised, glaring venomously at the newcomers. "Lackeys of the Legion! You can't fool me!" one Dalaran mage snarled. "I remember your faces. Those octopus-like tentacles on your chins... I see them in my nightmares!"
Barely half a year ago, Arthas and Kel'Thuzad had used the Book of Medivh to summon the Legion into the ruins of Dalaran. The leading demon, Archimonde, looked almost identical to these visitors: blue skin, tentacled chins, and cloven hooves. That demon had cast a spell that leveled Dalaran in an instant, turning a jewel of humanity into a graveyard and killing 70% of its population.
Velen simply waved a hand, and a golden barrier shimmered into existence, effortlessly absorbing a few stray spells from the more hot-headed mages. "Do not misunderstand. We are not of the Legion. We come with goodwill. Feel the Light within us," the Prophet said with a weary sigh. He looked at the humans, wondering if the three "Naaru" he sensed were inside. These people had clearly met the Legion—perhaps even one of his fallen brothers.
"Pah! I know what you are!" a Blood Elf mage shouted. "What is your relationship to Archimonde? You are of the same race, there is no mistaking it! This 'Light' is likely just a disguise!"
Velen sighed again. These humans knew of Archimonde. It was a miracle their world had survived a visit from the Defiler. "I do not deny it. We were once Eredar. But now we are Draenei—'The Exiled Ones.' We are not like those who betrayed our traditions for Fel power. We follow the Light."
"See? They admitted it!" a Paladin shouted as a circle of knights, including Mograine and Dathrohan, surrounded the group. But when Mograine stepped forward with the Ashbringer, Velen gasped. He recognized the crystal embedded in the blade. It was a sacred relic his people had once received from the Naaru, stolen by the Orcs and turned into a void crystal, and now, somehow, purified back into a shard of pure Light.
"Wait! There is a misunderstanding here," Mograine said, holding up a hand to restrain his men. "I sense no Fel, no Shadow, and no Undeath from them. Only pure Light." As he looked at Velen, his sword thrummed with a strange resonance—or rather, the crystal did. Through the Ashbringer, Mograine had often seen visions of geometric, crystalline beings. He sensed that these newcomers were connected to those holy entities.
"We are all children of the Light," Velen said, his voice earnest. "I see that you have found the Light on your own. If you are willing to listen to a story thirty thousand years in the making, I will tell you everything. No secrets."
"The Light guided me here, and it tells me you are not an enemy," Rhodes said, stepping through the crowd. "I believe you, Prophet."
"But Lord Rhodes, they look exactly like—"
"We must at least give them a chance to speak," Rhodes interjected, his own body beginning to glow with an intense golden radiance. "The Light does not deceive, and it would not empower demons."
Seeing the staggering amount of Holy Light emanating from Rhodes, Velen's expression softened into one of profound respect. "Praise the Light. Our people, the Eredar, once had a highly advanced civilization. But thirty thousand years ago, we were found by the fallen Titan, Sargeras. He tempted our race with absolute power..."
Velen began the long, tragic tale of Argus, the betrayal of Kil'jaeden and Archimonde, and the long flight of the Draenei through the stars.