The ocean harboured many horrors.
Beyond the bounds of the bronze and gold platforms, forged by titan hand, swam creatures of old. Behemoths that fed on the depths, on each other and the magic of the god that guided them. They circled beyond the forcefield projected by the titan construction. Ethereal chains stretched endlessly into the abyss, connected to busts of black and gold.
Eyir stepped up to the broad console that moderated the complicated arcane mechanisms that slumbered underneath the metal. Gear-like segments laid inside the floor, connected to one another by blue lines that pulsed softly with energy. The titan construct placed a hand on the operating matrix and a light pulsed through.
In the eternity, a deep, malignant voice rumbled. "Ah, I see, so this was your gambit, Azshara."
Tendrils of the darkness rose from the rest, surrounded by a veil of red. They scratched against the barrier, creating screeching sounds of arcane. The queen grit her teeth, resisting the pull of the old gods might on her flesh. Swiftly, she wove an arcane ward to protect herself from the influence. "We have both waited for so long," she spoke elegantly afterwards. "Does it frustrate you? To remain bound still? Powerless as you witness what I do best?"
"You exchange one master for another," N'zoth whispered. "He offers you servitude. I offer you conquests beyond this star."
Azshara saw the vision before her mind's eye. Not just one empire worshipping her, but a billion worlds, all united in chaos and love, devoted to her and N'zoth. The vision clouded her mind for a moment, then she beheld Anduin's concerned face and it was wiped away. "The love you offer is false, ancient one, I see that now."
"No, you see nothing now. Your eyes are closed." An involuntarily excited shiver went through the darkness, when the ancient defence mechanisms powered up. The diminishing power of the mechanism was draining into the activation. The chains flickered.
"Master, as heir of the true Prime Designate, I require your command," Eyir stated.
"Release the chains," Anduin ordered.
"Xal'atath," N'zoth's whispers changed their target. "You have been unleashed but not unbound. The blade of my Black Empire still binds you. Why serve when you could lead? We existed in war before, but we could carve this galaxy up between us. I would always respect where you keep your enslaved king."
"Do not dare suggest I would rise above my station, Corruptor," Xal'atath hissed. With a softer tone, she rubbed her belly, where her child was growing ever so slowly. "I have found the true path, the true joy. Power beyond what we possessed and purpose beyond unmaking."
The ethereal chains rattled, the first of them breaking apart and falling into the infinite Abyss. "Anduin," the whispers targeted the heart of this entire operation. "Your desire for peace is noble. True peace exists through me, through unity in one empire. All flesh connected, all eyes open."
"You are correct that peace can only exist through the unity of one realm. However, the connection of flesh you suggest is a perversion of the purity of mutual desire. True peace will be when all will be capable of loving one another, when man and women can make their choice to submit, to lead, or to love simply without the burdens of tyranny and coercion." Anduin put his arms around Xal'atath and Azshara. The former smiled, the later blushed, still not used to such affections. "Nothing you can offer me will change my path."
The final chain broke and a gargantuan eye opened before them. Glowing red, its pupil a slit taller than the greatest of Stormwind's towers, it beheld them. Two lesser ones opened besides it. All three stared down at Anduin.
Everyone was ready for combat, Eyir hastened to re-engage the mechanism. They had the power to place the chains once more upon the old god. They had the arcane might, the talent, even various kinds of powers at their disposal. Once placed, the chains would be stronger than ever. Even by herself, Xal'atath could take out the long chained Corruptor.
They knew that and so did the old god, who stayed inert.
"Let us negotiate," N'zoth requested.
'Make sure he doesn't send pieces of himself elsewhere,' Anduin mentally instructed his harem. Then, he raised a hand, and Eyir stopped in her actions. "What do you wish to discuss, Corruptor?"
"Seldomly are paths reduced to such a finite number," N'zoth's baritone echoed through the ocean. "I shall speak only plain truths. I lack the pawns to challenge your queens. You lack the means to destroy me. With Xal'atath by your side such will not remain eternal a fact. Thus, to struggle here means my death."
Anduin nodded, that was his planned long game. Even if killing an old god meant grievous harm to Azeroth, to slowly chip away at it could be sustained, until the malignant force was ultimately removed.
"I am left with two choices. I shall submit to your designs, Anduin. I shall become a part of your world. After that, either it will subsume more or I will drive it mad."
"You are asking of me to let you live, to spread your influence, in the hope that you will open your eyes to my truth?" Anduin requested.
"I see reason, you shall give me this second chance. You have spared others, does your mercy stop at that which you do not lust for?" N'zoth's inquisitive gaze requested an answer.
"No, you are right that my mercy extends beyond that. However, you are no ordinary creature. As you say, to spare you runs the risk of your undermining all that I have striven to build." Anduin rubbed his chin and held swift mental council with K'ara and Xal'atath. 'What do you think our risk is?'
'N'zoth is sly, Master,' Xal'atath was first to answer. 'However, I believe we can leash him enough that he will surrender to your superiority before he can change it notably. His resources are many. Unlike me, he will not bind himself to a single corporeal form. The resources of the Void remain at his call in their entirety.'
'I believe your path to be true. No coercion will pull it aside, Master,' K'ara responded.
"On certain conditions, I accept," Anduin stated, which began the true negotiation. Because the High King held over N'zoth the fate of his existence, his demands were swiftly met. In short, N'zoth would have to accept a piece of the Light inside him, to cut his connection to the Void Lords. This, he accepted eagerly, eager to be released from the bondage that tied him to his creators. All else, he only accepted because he had to.
His whispers would be restrained, used only to communicate, not to make offers to join his side. All current pacts he had made would be released, leaving only those creatures born from his flesh to serve him. They, in turn, would be changed to operate seamlessly within Stormwind's society. This meant they would either be reduced to golems of voidspawned flesh or given the same free will as other beings. N'zoth's core body would be moved to Stormwind, where Anduin could always sense his ongoings. Finally, Nyalotha, the old gods empire removed from space and time, would be fully accessible by the Alliance through portals.
In return, N'zoth was free to follow his machinations in these confines. He could exert his might as an old god, as long as that might did not come to the detriment of those that lived currently. A detriment that Anduin was the judge for, to prevent any weaselling.
The pact was sealed and it truly only left two options. Either the multitude of energies that swirled through the elements in Stormwind would alter N'zoth over the years or he would find an opportunity to exert his might beyond the boundaries of the contract. With Church of Twilight keeping an eye on him, Anduin was not too worried about any of this.
"As we agreed, then," N'zoth stated and Azshara suddenly took a breath. The pact she had made so long ago was lifted in its entirety. The form she currently assumed was now a mere suggestion, one she could craft away with the power of the Void that she had learned to control. She retained this current form, knowing it pleased the one holding her.