Chapter Summaries

Duan Ming died of a terminal illness and, as his spirit drifted from Earth, collided with an emerald light. In Mardum, Tyranna gave Soul Eater a fragment of the Sargerite Keystone to repair, and Soul Eater became intrigued by an unusual soul.

• Doctors failed to revive Duan Ming, and his spirit watched as his body was covered with a sheet.
• Duan Ming released the final thread connecting him to his body and rose into space, reflecting on his lonely life.
• An emerald light struck Duan Ming's spirit and devoured him.
• Tyranna received the recovered Sargerite Keystone fragment from Belash and praised its Fel power.
• Tyranna ordered Soul Eater to repair the Keystone fragment and warned her not to steal Sargeras's power.
• Soul Eater accepted the fragment and noticed an interesting soul.

After awakening inside a Sargerite Keystone fragment, Duan Ming was tortured by Vihana, a Soul Eater who sought to steal its power. He merged with the fragment, killed and devoured Vihana, and realized he still needed to escape.

• Vihana detected Duan Ming's soul within the Keystone fragment and woke him, then learned from his memories that he came from another world.
• Vihana attacked Duan Ming with soul energy, intending to use him to claim the Keystone's power and advance her standing with Lord Sargeras.
• Duan Ming endured the torture until he reached for the fragment and merged it with his soul, erupting in emerald Fel flames.
• Duan Ming seized Vihana, punched through her body with the fragment, and let Fel consume her.
• Duan Ming devoured Vihana's shattered soul and absorbed her memories and knowledge, then recognized that he was still in danger.

Duan Ming used the Sargerite Keystone to plan his escape from Mardum to Azeroth, but Belash attacked him aboard the starship. Duan Ming defeated Belash by unleashing Vihana’s soul-bound treasures and absorbing his power, then struggled to contain the energy surging through him.

• After killing Vihana, Duan Ming found the Sargerite Keystone and resolved to reach Azeroth so he could change its fate.
• Belash confronted Duan Ming, recognized the Keystone, and attacked him with Shadow magic.
• Belash trapped Duan Ming with Shadow tentacles and raised his Blazing Longsword to finish him.
• Duan Ming summoned the souls stored in Vihana’s collection, but Belash fought them off and formed a Shadow vortex to consume them.
• Duan Ming struck Belash from behind with Fel power, destroying him as green light engulfed the room.
• Duan Ming absorbed Belash’s power, but the chaotic energy overwhelmed his spirit and erupted outward.

Duan Ming transformed into a powerful demon after consuming Belash, then fought the Legion forces sent against him. Cornered by Tyranna and a demon army, he used the Sargerite Keystone to escape to another world, leaving Tyranna vowing to hunt him down.

• Duan Ming absorbed Belash's soul and power, transformed into a Doomguard-like demon, and killed the Eredar demon and several Felguards.
• A Fel Cannon from the Fel Hammer destroyed Vihana's room and buried Duan Ming in the wreckage.
• Tyranna arrived with a horde of demons and demanded that Duan Ming surrender the Sargerite Keystone, which he revealed he had absorbed.
• As an Infernal attacked, Duan Ming channeled energy into the Keystone and unleashed a storm that stripped the demons of Fel and destroyed them.
• Duan Ming vanished with the Keystone, and Tyranna vowed to find and kill him.

Lanlos, a High Elf resurrected after being killed by Forest Trolls, limped back to Golden Branch Village and reflected on his new life and the power he had brought to Azeroth. He helped Ilana deal with a disobedient child before heading home, leaving her flustered with a teasing remark about Sores.

• Lanlos left Golden Beach before nightfall, hiding the Keystone’s power while considering how to grow stronger and protect himself from demons.
• Sores and Ilana met Lanlos on his way back, and Sores sent Ilana to escort him to the village while he continued patrol.
• Lanlos and Ilana entered Golden Branch Village, where Ilana tried to send Jain home after catching him playing outside at night.
• Jain insulted Ilana and tried to run off, but Lanlos frightened him into going home.
• Lanlos teased Ilana about her and Sores before continuing toward his home, leaving her embarrassed and angry.

Fergus gave Lanlos an invitation to become an assistant instructor at Fastherin Academy, hoping the opportunity would advance his studies and help heal his injured leg. Lanlos accepted the invitation and prepared to leave, but the chapter ended with him waking from a nightmare about the horrors of Mardum.

• Lanlos returned to Fergus's home and learned that Silvermoon City had sent a notice amid increased Forest Troll attacks.
• Fergus revealed an invitation for Lanlos to become an assistant instructor at Fastherin Academy and urged him not to refuse.
• Fergus explained that the academy could educate Lanlos in magic and might have Priests who could treat his injured leg.
• Fergus told Lanlos that a cargo ship would leave Sunsail Harbor for Sunstrider Isle in four days, and Lanlos accepted the invitation.
• Lanlos woke at dawn from a nightmare about the Soul Eater, demons, and the Spider Queen on Mardum.

Lanlos practiced magic and carefully avoided the Fel-tainted techniques in Belash’s memories. He successfully completed a first-circle spell model and conjured a fireball, though the spell had erupted in an unstable burst of heat.

• Lanlos spotted dozens of Murlocs unusually far along the beach and decided to alert the village Militia.
• Lanlos dried the grass with a simple magical trick and reflected on Azeroth’s spell schools, magical limits, and the danger of Fel.
• Lanlos studied a spellcasting primer and began forming a first-circle spell model.
• Lanlos activated the spell nodes, triggering a burst of crimson energy and scorching air.
• Lanlos completed the spell and watched a fist-sized fireball float in the air.

Lanlos tested and practiced Fireball near Golden Beach, unaware that trolls and demons were planning an attack on Golden Branch Village. After witnessing a Murloc Shaman cast Lightning Bolt, he headed back to warn Fergus and the Militia.

• Lanlos cast Fireball into a maple tree and practiced until he reduced its casting time to three seconds, then rested after exhausting himself.
• Tregra confronted Kergash over the heavy losses suffered by the Amani warriors, while Sayaad intervened and Kergash showed them an image of Golden Branch Village as a target.
• Lanlos hid when more than a dozen Murlocs appeared on the shore and watched a Murloc Shaman cast Lightning Bolt in two seconds.
• Lanlos realized the Murloc Shaman outmatched him and returned toward the village to warn Fergus and the Militia.

Lanlos reported a large Murloc force led by a Shaman, prompting Fergus to send Dika to Sunsail Harbor for reinforcements. After learning that Sores was missing and Ilana had rushed out to find him, Lanlos rode Hadro’s Strider after her.

• Lanlos returned to Golden Branch Village and told Fergus that nearly a hundred Murlocs and a Shaman were at Golden Beach.
• Fergus wrote an urgent letter, and Dika rode his Strider toward Sunsail Harbor to deliver it.
• Lanlos learned that Ilana had left the village after the militia found Sores’s signal and discovered he was missing.
• Lanlos took Hadro’s Strider and rode off to pursue Ilana.

Tregra’s group spotted Lanlos but held back to avoid alerting the elves, while Sores and Ilana faced a Murloc attack on Golden Beach. Lanlos rescued Ilana from the Murloc Shaman’s Lightning Bolt and fled with her, leaving Sores behind amid the chaos.

• Tregra prepared to attack Lanlos, but Alisa stopped him to avoid warning the elves about the Betrayer’s location.
• Sores treated his Lightning Bolt wound and spotted Ilana hiding in a badly disguised bush as the Murlocs gathered around her.
• Ilana revealed herself and attacked the Murlocs, but their Shaman fired a Lightning Bolt at her.
• Lanlos intercepted the spell with a Fireball and stopped Ilana from rushing toward Sores while the Murlocs surrounded them.
• A Murloc hurled a fish-bone spear, and Lanlos pulled Ilana onto the Strider as the Murlocs charged.
• Lanlos blocked another Lightning Bolt with his cane, then escaped with Ilana on the Strider while Sores remained behind.

Lanlos, Sores, and Ilana returned toward Golden Branch Village, unaware that Kergash and the Forest Trolls had launched a massacre there. As the village burned, Kergash searched for his master's target while Fergus was captured and attacked by a Felhound.

• Lanlos spotted Sores approaching in disguise, and Sores reunited with Ilana while questioning Lanlos about becoming a mage.
• Kergash and Tregra led the Forest Trolls in an assault on Golden Branch Village, slaughtering its militia as Alisa manipulated Nicole into attacking his own people.
• Lanlos, Sores, and Ilana saw a crimson glow on the horizon as the Strider cried out and stopped.
• Kergash summoned a Felhound to search for his master's target, but the imp identified captured Fergus as the wrong person.
• Kergash left Fergus to the Felhound, which attacked the wounded old man.

Lanlos watched Fergus, Ilana, and Sores die as the attack on his village destroyed his hope, then accepted the Sargerite Keystone’s power and transformed into a Fel-fueled force of vengeance. He turned toward the surviving Trolls as Tregra realized he needed to flee.

• Lanlos blasted a Felhound away from Fergus, but found the old man dead and broke down over his body.
• Lanlos saw Ilana killed and Sores struck down by a Troll Warlock’s Curse of Weakness while Alisa taunted Sores and accused Lanlos of betraying the Burning Legion.
• Sores demanded the truth from Lanlos, then killed himself rather than submit and urged Lanlos to remember that the Quel'dorei would rather die than surrender.
• Lanlos accepted the Sargerite Keystone’s power, and Fel flames consumed Sores’s body to fuel his transformation.
• Lanlos faced the Trolls with blazing eyes and unleashed a surge of Fel energy as Tregra watched Kergash retreat and felt compelled to run.

Lanlos unleashed the Fel Fire to slaughter the Amani Trolls, then swore to avenge Sores and Fergus against Alisa and Kergash. After the battle, his borrowed body gave out, and he collapsed in grief despite having won.

• Alisa told Kergash that the master’s plan was unfolding, then vanished as Kergash led the Darkpine Trolls away from the battlefield.
• Lanlos used Fel Fire to kill Sores and devastate the Amani Trolls, while Tregra resisted until Lanlos burned him to death.
• Tregra called Lanlos a demon, and Lanlos acknowledged the words before blasting the remaining Trolls with Fel Fire.
• Lanlos knelt before Fergus and Sores’s memorials and swore by the sun to seek blood for blood against Alisa and Kergash.
• Lanlos’s Fel Fire went out, and the pain of his borrowed body overwhelmed him until he broke down sobbing and crying out.

Alleria Windrunner’s rangers found Lanlos alive among the ruins of Golden Branch Village, and he recounted the attack while hiding his connection to Fel. After the villagers were buried, Lanlos confronted a voice in his mind that claimed to be another version of him and urged him to join the Burning Legion, leaving him facing a tempting offer from the Void.

• Alleria Windrunner arrived at Golden Branch Village with her rangers and found Lanlos as its sole survivor.
• Lanlos told Alleria how Trolls, the Amani, the Darkpine Tribe, and demons had attacked, while concealing his own involvement with Fel.
• Alleria comforted Lanlos, promised to pursue the Trolls, and ordered Sarell to escort him to Sunsail Harbor and discreetly watch over him.
• Lanlos helped bury the villagers and marked their graves, including Sores’s, whose body had not been found.
• As Lanlos mourned Sores, a voice calling itself another Lanlos appeared in his mind, and the two argued about demons, redemption, and loneliness.
• The voice revealed its allegiance to the Burning Legion and offered Lanlos control of his fate as a vast hand drew near and his vision went dark.

Lanlos rejected the idea that fate controlled his choices and awakened the Sargerite Keystone, a Titan-forged system hidden in his soul. After its driver program drained nearly all his mana, Alleria helped him recover and sent him to rest aboard the ship.

• Lanlos recalled Sargeras’s turn to destruction and declared that he would make choices he could live with, even if that meant defying fate.
• Lanlos raised his middle finger at the reaching hand, and a surge of power awakened the Sargerite Keystone while cracking Sores’s gravestone.
• The Keystone explained that it had been Mardum’s auxiliary management system and that a broken fragment had carried Lanlos to the Shattered Abyss.
• Lanlos agreed to let the Keystone upload a driver program, which drained his mana and displayed his lifeform data to him.
• Alleria caught Lanlos when he collapsed, arranged food and water, and had a Farstrider escort him to rest aboard the ship.
• Alleria noticed Lanlos’s handprint and the fine cracks on Sores’s gravestone, then signaled Sarell to keep watch over him.

Sathael arrived in Mardum with Ulthalesh and confronted Tyranna, then revealed her connection to Vihana and her intent to punish the Demon Hunters. In Sunsail Harbor, Lanlos boarded Captain Kaelisendra’s ship for Fastherin and watched Quel'Thalas disappear behind him, leaving the shore empty.

• Sathael used Ulthalesh to wound Alisa, then checked Tyranna when she ordered her to stop.
• Sathael crushed a soul fragment and revealed Vihana, her younger sister, before declaring her intent to punish the Demon Hunters.
• Lanlos arrived in Sunsail Harbor with Sarell and learned that he would soon sail for Fastherin.
• Lanlos met Captain Kaelisendra, who told him to call her Kelly, and boarded her cargo ship, the Sun-Strider Hero.
• Lanlos watched the ship leave Sunsail Harbor and saw no one waiting on shore to say goodbye.

Lanlos arrived at Sunstrider Isle, where guards admitted him to Fastherin Academy after he showed his invitation. Instructor Alona demonstrated her power with an instant Pyroblast and took him on as her teaching assistant, leaving him to follow her around the academy.

• On the ship, Lanlos confronted Sarell about following him, and they watched Silvermoon City and the Sunwell approach.
• Lanlos arrived on Sunstrider Isle, and guards initially tried to turn him away until he showed his Fastherin Academy invitation.
• Sarell walked past the guards and entered the island freely because she taught trainee Rangers there.
• Alona met Lanlos and told him that she would be both his instructor and his supervisor as a teaching assistant.
• Alona cast an instant Pyroblast to intimidate Lanlos, then led him toward the academy as he hurried after her.

Vereesa reunited with Sarell, who gave her a surveillance assignment involving a new assistant instructor named Lanlos. Meanwhile, Lanlos toured Fastherin Academy with Alona and learned about its Sun Tower and headmaster, Magister Solanar.

• Vereesa hit the archery target’s bull’s-eye, and Sarell praised her skill when they met at the range.
• Sarell led Vereesa away from the others to discuss an important assignment.
• Alona showed Lanlos Fastherin Academy’s central area and explained its classrooms, library, and instructor meeting platform.
• Lanlos asked about the Sun Tower, and Alona explained that Magister Solanar’s tower served as a research center connected to the Sunwell.
• Sarell told Vereesa to watch an assistant instructor named Lanlos, and Vereesa eagerly accepted the assignment.

Lanlos began his teaching-assistant work at Fastherin while grieving Fergus and determined to prove he could become useful. After his questions about Alona’s magic handout impressed her and challenged Lansan’s teaching habits, Alona decided to use the upcoming class to explore whether her apprentices shared those questions.

• Alona explained that Lanlos had been assigned a dormitory in the student area because others objected to his appointment, then asked about Fergus and learned that something had happened in Golden Branch Village.
• Lanlos reflected on Fergus’s help and his guilt over the village’s victims, then studied the course materials Alona had given him.
• Lanlos arrived early for class and met Lansan Paileron, who criticized him for being unqualified and having the wrong attitude toward teaching.
• Lanlos argued that education meant awakening curiosity, then showed Lansan his densely annotated handout filled with questions about magic.
• Alona revealed that she had been listening invisibly, praised Lanlos’s questions, and decided to begin class with the basics so the apprentices could discuss whether they had similar questions.

Lanlos explored the Silent Library, used the Keystone to memorize spell analyses, and learned that its functions needed more energy than his limited mana could provide. After successfully casting Mage Hand, he looked toward the Sunwell as a possible power source.

• Lanlos visited the Silent Library, where Teliralun explained its silence barrier and how spellcasters borrowed books with their magic.
• Lanlos studied spell models and used the Keystone to record analyses of spells from the first through third circles, while reflecting on the limits of his magic and the Keystone’s energy supply.
• Lanlos used the Keystone to project and correct the Mage Hand spell model, then cast the spell successfully.
• Lanlos discovered that constructing the spell model had drained most of his mana and left the Keystone’s assistant system dormant.
• Lanlos spotted the Sunwell’s golden beam and imagined using its energy to replenish the Keystone.