Over the past several thousand years, the Druids of the Cenarion Circle had protected this world in ways unknown to others. In the heart of the Silithus Desert, where the power of nature was exceedingly thin, they had built a fortress to watch over the Silithus Great Desert.
The finest Druids and Sentinels had been stationed here for a thousand years.
During the Battle of Mount Hyjal, they had been recalled to Mount Hyjal to fight. That was also when the Qiraji Empire had made its move, but by the time the Druids returned to Cenarion Hold, everything had already become irreversible.
In fact, a few days earlier, when nearly a hundred Aqir crystals had shot out from the Scarab Wall and vanished into the horizon, the Druids had done everything they could to intercept them. They had stopped at least a third; otherwise, the disaster facing the world would only have been worse.
The consequence of that interception was the Hives now scattered throughout Silithus, along with three Super Hives taking shape. The Druids had named them Ysh, Regor, and Zora, meaning "disaster," "madness," and "corruption" in Thalassian, respectively. Clearly, these three Hives had put the Druids under considerable pressure. At least, as Dick rode through the sky, he could see Druids and Sentinels driving back the swarming bugs.
The bugs had yet to launch an attack, so their efforts were going fairly smoothly. The Paladin had no intention of intervening either. As mentioned before, he had important business to attend to here.
Crystal Vale!
At the southernmost end of this great desert lay the only land not covered in yellow sand. Some mysterious elemental power protected it, and it produced a special kind of crystal that Azeroth's Mages prized as a treasure. Unfortunately, only the bravest miners dared