The next few days passed without incident. The group encountered no further demonic ambushes and arrived safely at their destination.
In the distance, a mountain range loomed under the moonlight, shrouded in a serene and sacred aura—this was the site of the Temple of the Moon.
"Great Elune blesses us. Ahead lies the Temple of the Moon. Lord Rhodes, you may take some time to rest today. Tonight, you will proceed to the temple to be summoned privately by the Goddess," said the High Priestess.
"I am in your hands, High Priestess," Rhodes replied with a smile.
It seemed the Moon Goddess Elune was in quite a hurry, not even granting him a full day to recuperate before arranging a meeting for that very night. He was curious: how exactly would Elune meet him? In the official history of World of Warcraft, Elune was incredibly mysterious. The only time her voice was ever truly heard was when she possessed Tyrande's body. Was she going to use a vessel to communicate with him now?
And if so, whose body? The current Tyrande was not yet the Great High Priestess of the future; she was merely an ordinary initiate.
With a bow to Rhodes, the High Priestess turned and headed back into the temple. She had much to attend to—notifying the Sisterhood of the demon attack and preparing the ritual for the Goddess's descent.
Rhodes was escorted to a guest room overlooking the mountains and forests. The War Unicorn, "Radiance," followed Tyrande like a shadow, having essentially become her exclusive mount. Rhodes found the situation both annoying and amusing, but he let it be.
The Temple of the Moon sat atop a peak that pierced the clouds. The entire structure looked as if it were carved from moonlight and white jade, echoing the "White Lady" hanging in the sky. Soft, eternal moonlight bathed every corner, and the air was thick with a sense of peace, solemnity, and vitality—a sharp contrast to the surging arcane energies of Zin-Azshari.
One had to admit, the temple's appearance ten thousand years ago wasn't much different from its future state; it was still deeply rooted in nature. Conversely, the Highborne areas already resembled the style of the future Blood Elves.
Finally, night fell completely. The twin moons, the White Lady and the Blue Child, hung high, casting their pale light over the world. Guided by a High Priestess, Rhodes passed through layers of corridors toward the innermost sanctuary—the Hall of Elune.
Along the way, he saw many devout priestesses praying, their ethereal hymns seemingly capable of washing the soul. Rhodes could feel it: the closer he got to the sanctuary, the clearer that cold, vast will became.
Finally, he stepped into a circular hall. It had no ceiling, offering a direct view of the brilliant stars and the twin moons. In the center lay a shimmering pool of water. Beside it stood a massive statue of Elune, carved from an unknown silver metal and moonstone. Her face was compassionate, yet her eyes seemed to perceive all things. Interestingly, the facial features were those of a Night Elf.
It appeared that no matter the race, mortals subconsciously sculpted their deities in their own image—or perhaps the Moon Goddess preferred to manifest in the form of Azeroth's Night Elves.
"Please wait here, Lord Rhodes," the guiding priestess said with a bow before withdrawing. Rhodes was left alone in the vast sanctuary.
A moment later, the distant, solemn sound of a horn (perhaps a magical Night Elf instrument) drifted in from outside, breaking the silence. Then, led by the High Priestess, seven high-ranking priestesses slowly filed into the hall. Each carried a holy relic: a moon crystal, a silver chalice, a crescent sigil, a star-studded veil...
They stood around the central Moonwell, forming a profound geometric array. The High Priestess stepped directly in front of the statue, facing Rhodes. She opened her arms and began to chant a prayer in an ancient, beautiful dialect of Darnassian that Rhodes had never heard before.
The other six priestesses joined in. Their voices resonated with the chanting of hundreds of priestesses outside the hall. The entire Hall of Elune felt like a lake into which a stone had been tossed; the air began to ripple with visible silver waves.
The seven priestesses rose and began a strange dance, while the High Priestess remained kneeling in the center, chanting and swaying rhythmically.
"In the name of the twin moons, with the stars as our guide, using the prayers of thousands as a bridge..."
Seeing this, Rhodes's lip twitched. To him, it looked suspiciously like a group of shamans performing a seance. It was inadvertently hilarious. As a professional, he usually wouldn't laugh—unless he couldn't help it.
The High Priestess's chant grew louder, and the moon crystal in her hand erupted in blinding silver light. Simultaneously, the "White Lady" above seemed to answer. A massive, solid pillar of moonlight crashed down, precisely enveloping the High Priestess!
Vrrrrm—!
The entire hall let out a low hum. The air vibrated. The High Priestess's body floated slightly within the light, her hair and robes billowing. Her expression became a mix of pain and piety, touched by a sense of transcendence.
Upon seeing this, the seven assisting priestesses immediately knelt, shouted praises to Elune, and respectfully withdrew from the hall, locking the doors behind them.
Rhodes could clearly feel an indescribable, gargantuan will descending along that pillar of moonlight, crossing the endless void!
The High Priestess's eyes snapped open. Her pupils were gone, replaced by two miniature moons burning with silver fire! She radiated a divine brilliance that was impossible to look at directly. Her eyes no longer glowed with the standard Night Elf blue, but with a shimmering lunar radiance that Rhodes lacked the words to describe.
"I offer you my highest greetings, Great Moon Goddess," Rhodes said, bowing low. At this moment, the person standing before him was no longer the High Priestess—it was Elune.
She (or rather, It) descended slowly, her feet lightly touching the floor.
"Traveler from a foreign realm... Weaver of time, variable of fate... I, Elune, am here. Do you know why I have summoned you?" Elune asked.
"I suspect, Moon Goddess, it is because I do not belong to this timeline, or perhaps because I come from another world," Rhodes replied.
With Elune possessing her, the priestess's features seemed to shift. She appeared taller, bathed in silver light, and her face became even more beautiful and holy.
"Those are not the reasons I summoned you. Your praises of Azshara in her palace—I heard them clearly. Even the poetry you wrote for her—I heard every word."
Elune's expression became visibly displeased. Rhodes's mind reeled. Are you serious? Even as a Goddess, she can't escape the tropes of being a woman?
His thoughts raced. He had completely misread the situation. This true deity had crossed the void and staged this massive ritual, only to pivot from "cosmic business" to this?
So, even the Moon Goddess, who presided over holiness, life, and reincarnation, couldn't avoid a "who is the fairest" contest? The myth of the three Greek goddesses fighting over the Golden Apple flashed through his mind. He felt a sense of historical absurdity. Truly, the gods of the "West" had desires even more intense than humans; no wonder the Jailer managed to pull off so much. It seemed "gods" were just powerful lifeforms with the same flaws as mortals.
"That was wonder at the beauty manifest before my eyes, not a disparagement of You—the eternal presence who commands the moonlight, life, and serenity," Rhodes said, quickly shifting into "Rainbow Fart" (flattery) mode.
"Just as a mortal might praise the blooming of a single Night-Blooming Cereus, they do not thereby question the Spring that shaped ten thousand flowers. My verses were limited by a mortal's vision and vocabulary. If I have offended Your radiance, I am deeply sorry. After all, how can mortal language truly depict even a ten-thousandth of a god's face or dance?"
Rhodes skillfully blamed the "limitations of human language" and "fleeting sensory perception," neither fully retracting his praise for Azshara (which would seem fake) nor failing to elevate Elune to the higher dimension of "The Creator" and "The Spring."
"Smooth-tongued mortal... Tell me, now that I inhabit the High Priestess, how does this visage compare to Azshara? This form is but a fraction of my true self."
"Azshara may be a Queen of the world, but she is merely a candle in the dark. How can a candle hope to compete with the brilliance of the full moon?" Rhodes answered.
"That is more like it. At least you admit the limitations of mortal eyes... and the unfathomable nature of the divine realm," Elune said, a satisfied smile appearing on her face.
Rhodes smiled and nodded.
"Enough. That was a private matter between us," Elune said, her tone shifting. "Now, to business. Great Azeroth wishes to see you. I shall take you to the Emerald Dream and use a special method to let you meet Azeroth herself."