Chapter Summaries

Aaron faced the white flames protecting the gate to Ygrim and Truthguard, discovering that they attacked souls and could even harm Xal'atath through her projection. He endured the flames himself, but the gate's trial overwhelmed his body and mind as it demanded to know why he wanted Truthguard.

• Aaron and his companions found Thyr unconscious and uninjured before the gate, and Aaron suspected the gate had defeated him.
• Xal'atath touched the gate, was engulfed by white flames, and warned Aaron that the flames had damaged her soul.
• Aaron realized the flames had likely burned Thyr's soul, then touched the gate despite losing Xal'atath's help.
• White flames covered Aaron and caused intense pain that Holy Light could not ease.
• A voice asked Aaron why he wanted Truthguard, and its assault left him unable to control his body.

Aaron underwent a trial that showed him futures where his repeated flight from overwhelming threats led to Azeroth's destruction. Confronted with the consequences of seeking Truthguard only to protect himself, he struggled to answer why he wanted it.

• A mysterious voice repeatedly asked Aaron why he wanted Truthguard, and he first answered that he wanted love and peace before admitting he wanted to protect himself.
• Aaron experienced a vision of Arthas attacking Quel'Danas, where Vereesa refused to flee with him and he watched the Scourge destroy the island and defile the Sunwell.
• Aaron witnessed other futures in which he fled from powerful enemies while others suffered because of his involvement.
• Aaron's final vision showed Sargeras and the corrupted Titans destroying Azeroth, while a demon shattered Truthguard and Aaron failed to escape.
• The voice told Aaron that the visions were the future, and Aaron recognized that his actions had worsened the world's fate and changed Vereesa's destiny.
• The voice asked Aaron again why he wanted Truthguard, but the faces of those he had seen left him unable to answer.

Aaron passed the fiery trial and learned that Xal'atath had carried it out on behalf of an unknown mastermind, prompting him to resolve to do more than merely survive. After Thyr injured him while rushing through the opened doors, Aaron recovered enough to discover that Thyr was fighting Ygrim inside.

• Aaron questioned Xal'atath about the vision, and she admitted that the unknown mastermind had arranged the trial.
• Aaron concluded that he should pursue a greater purpose in Azeroth, though he remained uncertain whether the mastermind was connected to Nozdormu or Aman'Thul.
• Aaron returned to his body in pain, and Vereesa explained that Thyr had pretended to be unconscious and trampled him while running through the opened doors.
• Aaron healed himself with the Holy Light and reassured Vereesa that he could continue after resting briefly.
• Stellagosa heard fighting inside the chamber and identified Thyr's opponent as a metal giant, whom Aaron recognized as Ygrim.

Ygrim rejected Thyr as Truthguard’s successor after recognizing that fear had consumed him, and killed him when he tried to stab Ygrim with a poisoned dagger. Aaron, Vereesa, and Stellagosa entered afterward, and Ygrim began Aaron’s trial for the shield.

• Ygrim easily blocked Thyr’s attacks and refused to entrust him with Truthguard, saying he lacked the conviction to inherit it.
• Thyr told Ygrim that winged monsters had killed his family and raised the dead to attack the living.
• Thyr suddenly tried to stab Ygrim with a green-glowing dagger, but the blade bounced off Ygrim’s skin, and Ygrim killed him.
• Ygrim placed Thyr’s body in a stone coffin and called Aaron, Vereesa, and Stellagosa into the chamber.
• Ygrim recognized Stellagosa as a dragon, confirmed Aaron had come for Truthguard, and prepared to face him.

Aaron challenged Ygrim but was outmatched by the ancient Vrykul’s superior combat experience. Xal'atath reminded him of a heightened reaction state he had once entered, and Aaron decided to try using it to improve his chances.

• Ygrim shrank to Aaron’s size and easily blocked his Holy Light attack and every subsequent strike.
• Ygrim told Aaron his fighting skills were too rudimentary and advised him to train before challenging him again.
• Aaron consulted Xal'atath, who refused to help defeat Ygrim because she was still recovering and warned Aaron not to depend on her.
• Xal'atath reminded Aaron of the heightened reaction state he had entered while dodging the Naga’s fishing nets.
• Aaron opened his eyes and decided to try entering that state against Ygrim.

Aaron fought Ygrim again and gradually entered the Keen Perception state, proving himself worthy of Truthguard. After the shield attuned to Aaron and changed to suit him, Ygrim handed it over, while keeping Oathseeker for himself.

• Aaron asked Ygrim to attack him so he could better understand his shortcomings, and Ygrim agreed to fight without holding back.
• As Ygrim attacked, Aaron began reading his movements and gradually gained control of the Keen Perception state, allowing him to resist and counterattack.
• Ygrim ended the fight, declared Aaron worthy to inherit Truthguard, and told him to use it to protect the world.
• When Aaron found the shield too large, Ygrim explained that it would adapt to its wielder, and it shrank when Aaron touched it.
• Aaron infused Truthguard with Holy Light, triggering a flash of radiance and causing the shield to transform into a thinner, more aggressive form.
• Aaron asked for Ygrim's sword, Oathseeker, but Ygrim refused, saying Aaron already had a sword of comparable quality.

Aaron tested Truthguard and confirmed its defensive and Holy Light abilities, then spoke with Ygrim about humanity and the state of Tyr's tomb. Ygrim asked Aaron to take him back to the Eastern Kingdoms so he could resume guarding the tomb.

• Aaron tested Truthguard against Vereesa's arrows and Stellagosa's spells, confirming that it weakened attacks and could release a blinding radiance when infused with Holy Light.
• Ygrim told Aaron about the Vrykul who had challenged him over the centuries and asked for news about humanity and Tyr's tomb.
• Aaron described humanity's growth and victories, and Ygrim explained his affection for humans and his history as a follower of Tyr.
• After Aaron said he was returning to the Eastern Kingdoms, Ygrim asked to accompany him and resume his unfinished duty guarding Tyr's tomb.
• Aaron agreed to take Ygrim aboard the Dreadwake.

Aaron and his companions explored the tomb and found Volund’s burial chamber, where they planned to retrieve the Titan artifact Titans’ Strike. The chapter left them entering the chamber after Stellagosa removed its defenses.

• Aaron noticed Truthguard glowing and forcing nearby Vrykul spirits to keep their distance, and Ygrim explained that the shield reacted to profane forces.
• Aaron realized Truthguard detected shadow, Fel, and death energies, then suggested Vereesa replace her weapon with another artifact.
• Aaron identified Volund’s tomb and explained that the Vrykul had stolen Titans’ Strike from Thorim before becoming obsessed with artifacts.
• Ygrim condemned Volund as a thief, and Aaron asked Stellagosa to disable the defenses guarding the burial chamber.
• Stellagosa dispelled the protective magic and opened the stone doors, revealing a chamber filled with strange objects.

Ygrim and the others discovered a dormant Mechagnome in Volund's burial chamber, who contacted Mimiron and revealed the location of Titans' Strike. Vereesa defeated Volund's spirit and claimed the weapon, which transformed from a rifle into a mechanical longbow in her hands.

• Ygrim found a dormant Mechagnome whose power cell had been removed and restored power so it could reboot.
• Mechanical constructs attacked Aaron and the others, and Ygrim smashed them.
• The Mechagnome projected Mimiron, who summoned Titans' Strike from beneath the ground, causing Volund's spirit to appear.
• Vereesa fought Volund's spirit with traps and arrows, keeping him at a distance until he fell.
• Vereesa picked up Titans' Strike, which transformed from a rifle into a mechanical longbow.

Aaron explained how artifacts changed to suit their wielders as Vereesa tested Titans' Strike and discovered its lightning-powered bow form. The group prepared to leave the Tomb of Kings, while Aaron considered the risks of claiming another artifact and the usefulness of the fallen Titan-forged.

• Vereesa asked Aaron why Truthguard and Titans' Strike had changed form, and Aaron explained that artifacts adapted to their users.
• Vereesa nocked an arrow into Titans' Strike, which formed a lightning bowstring and fired both an empowered arrow and a bolt of lightning.
• Vereesa tested the bow and noted that its flashes and thunder made it difficult to use stealthily.
• Stellagosa asked Aaron whether there were other artifacts, and he considered the danger of taking the Scale of the Earth-Warder because it was tied to Deathwing.
• Vereesa finished testing Titans' Strike, and Aaron agreed that they should leave while noticing the destroyed Titan-forged bodies might prove useful.

Aaron and his companions left Volund’s treasury with Titan-forged machines and a damaged Mechagnome, planning to bring them to the gnomes for study and possible repairs. On the voyage back, they reached Skold-Aishir safely, where Aaron displayed Truthguard while Ygrim kept out of sight to avoid Odyn’s Val’kyr.

• Aaron asked Ygrim to help carry the broken machines and explained that he wanted the gnomes to study the Titan technology and try to repair the Mechagnome.
• Ygrim asked about the Earthen refugees, and Aaron told him that their descendants were now called dwarves.
• Aaron brought the machines, the Mechagnome, and Thyr’s food supplies aboard the Dreadwake, then raised a stone memorial beside Thyr’s boat.
• Aaron and Ygrim sailed away from Shield’s Rest and reached Skold-Aishir after passing only a few lone Kvaldir.
• The Vrykul of Skold-Aishir congratulated Aaron on obtaining Truthguard, and he defeated those who challenged him.
• Ygrim stayed aboard rather than meet his kin because he did not want Odyn’s Val’kyr to see him.

Aaron guided the Dreadwake through Suramar's ruins toward Azsuna and stopped with his companions for the night. When a group of Fal'dorei detected them, Aaron and the others faced an imminent discovery.

• Aaron discovered that the Dreadwake could fly, though it moved slowly and was difficult to steer through Suramar's ruins.
• After several days of cautious travel, Aaron landed the Dreadwake in a clearing and settled with his companions in an abandoned stone building.
• Ygrim stayed behind to guard the ship while Aaron and the others slept.
• Vereesa woke Aaron when she and Stellagosa spotted strange spider-like creatures moving through the woods.
• Aaron identified the creatures as Fal'dorei, and one of them sensed strangers and led the group toward the building.

Aaron, Vereesa, and Stellagosa fled the spider-like elves but were driven toward a guarded stone building. Inside, they found a seed protected by a magical barrier, and Aaron realized the elves had deliberately led them there.

• Vereesa spotted the spider-like elves closing in, and Aaron led the group toward the Dreadwake.
• The group was surrounded, and they fought an elite Fal'dorei before more spider-like elves trapped them with webs.
• Vereesa found a gap in the encirclement, and Aaron chose to follow it toward a powerful source of magic.
• The group reached a stone building while the pursuing elves shouted for them not to enter or reach the object inside.
• Vereesa discovered a seed on a pedestal protected by a barrier, and Stellagosa identified the surrounding pillars as power conduits.
• Aaron recognized the object as a seed and realized the spider-like elves had deliberately led them to it.

Aaron and his companions saw through the spider-transformed elves’ attempt to make them take the seed, then tried to escape by air. An invisible attacker interrupted Stellagosa’s transformation, and Aaron revealed that it was the Night Elf Druid Farodin.

• Aaron stopped Stellagosa from taking the seed and explained that the spider-transformed elves had lured them into the Temple of the Moon.
• The spider-transformed elves sent spiders and then spun webs around the building, but Aaron and his companions held their ground.
• Aaron decided that Stellagosa should transform and carry them out of the encirclement.
• An unseen attacker knocked Stellagosa down and then seemed to target Vereesa, while the companions could not locate it.
• Aaron called out to Farodin and used the light from his shield to reveal a purple cheetah, who transformed into a wary Night Elf Druid.

Aaron, Stellagosa, and Vereesa met Farodin in the Temple of the Moon's Shadow after fleeing the Fal'dorei, and they cleared up the misunderstanding behind his attack. Farodin explained how Arcan'dor once transformed Nightborne exiles into Fal'dorei, leaving him to guard the seed from those who hoped it would lift their curse.

• Farodin attacked Stellagosa and nearly struck Vereesa, but Aaron's flash forced him out of his cheetah form before anyone was seriously hurt.
• Aaron explained that the group had fled the Fal'dorei, and Farodin apologized after learning their presence was a misunderstanding.
• Aaron diverted Farodin's questions about how he knew him by asking about the Seed of Arcan'dor, and Farodin warned that it became dangerous as it grew.
• Farodin recounted how ancient Night Elf druids and mages created Arcan'dor to balance arcane and natural energies and cure dependence on magic.
• Farodin told how Arcan'dor's growth caused an explosion that destroyed Falanaar and transformed surviving Nightborne exiles into Fal'dorei.
• Farodin continued guarding the seed while the Fal'dorei surrounded the temple, hoping to obtain it and end their curse.

Aaron and his companions escaped the Fal'dorei surrounding the Temple of the Moon, while Farodin stayed behind to guard the Seed of Arcan'dor. On the Dreadwake, Vereesa wondered whether Aaron could see the future, and Aaron went to sleep without telling her what he knew.

• Aaron asked Farodin to leave with them, but Farodin explained that the Seed of Arcan'dor would sprout and become dangerous if it left its barrier, so he stayed behind.
• Aaron promised to return and help solve the seed's problem, then rode Stellagosa out of the temple with Vereesa.
• Stellagosa breathed on the Fal'dorei below, turning several into blue-violet crystals, before flying toward the Dreadwake.
• Vereesa asked Aaron whether he had seen her future and feared that she might suffer magic addiction, but Aaron denied knowing what she meant.
• Aaron, Vereesa, and Stellagosa reached the Dreadwake, where Ygrim asked about the spiders; Aaron told him to keep watch and went to sleep.

Aaron returned to Azsuna, visited Senegos in the Azurewing Whelplands, and heard the old dragon recall the history of Truthguard. He then obtained a nautical chart and compass from the Kul Tirans and set the Dreadwake east toward the Eastern Kingdoms.

• Aaron flew the Dreadwake from the Temple of the Moon to the Azurewing Whelplands, where Senegos explained that blue dragonkin were patrolling the Ruins of Zarkhenar against the Withered.
• Senegos examined Truthguard and recounted how the Dragonflights had fought the Vrykul during Loken’s betrayal of the Keepers, then urged Aaron to honor the shield.
• Aaron said farewell to Senegos and Stellagosa and chose not to visit Prince Farondis because he feared trouble with the Undead Nightwatchers of Nar’thalas.
• At the Kul Tiran camp, Ygrim mistook a large Kul Tiran for someone of mixed Vrykul and human descent, and Aaron explained that the Drust were his ancestors.
• The Kul Tirans inspected the Dreadwake and gave Aaron a detailed nautical chart and a compass in exchange for his request.
• After replenishing supplies, Aaron piloted the Dreadwake east toward the Eastern Kingdoms.

Aaron guided the Dreadwake toward Gilneas on the way to Dalaran and Tyr’s Fall, carrying Orbis’s construct core and bringing the weary Ygrim home. Near the Gilnean coast, Aaron and Vereesa spotted a huge construction project that appeared to be a wall.

• Aaron told Vereesa they would detour to Dalaran before continuing to Gnomeregan, since the construct core’s constant arcane fluctuations disturbed her, and they also needed to return Ygrim to Tyr’s Fall.
• Aaron recalled that Senegos had given him Orbis’s core after the blue dragons dismantled the giant construct, and worried that Ygrim’s worsening condition might be caused by the Curse of Flesh.
• After several days at sea, Vereesa spotted land, and Aaron identified the coast as northern Gilneas near Silverpine Forest.
• Aaron and Vereesa saw a vast construction site filled with workers and building supplies, and Aaron suspected the Gilneans were building a wall around their kingdom.

Aaron and Vereesa met Liam Greymane and his younger sister Tess at a Gilnean construction site, where workers were building a wall around the kingdom. Liam revealed that King Genn intended to isolate Gilneas from outsiders, leaving him worried and unable to change his father’s mind.

• Aaron stopped the Dreadwake near the construction site, and Liam Greymane arrived with knights and his younger sister, Tess.
• Vereesa identified herself as a Farstrider from Quel'Thalas, while Aaron introduced himself as a paladin and the ship’s owner.
• Tess recognized Aaron and Vereesa from stories about their deeds against the orcs and eagerly spoke with Vereesa.
• Aaron explained that he had come from the Broken Isles and was trying to reach Dalaran, and Liam noted that he had missed Gilneas’s port at Keel Harbor.
• Tess said she had come to watch the construction of a wall intended to surround the whole kingdom and keep outsiders away.
• Liam admitted that King Genn was determined to isolate Gilneas and that he could not persuade his father otherwise.

Liam explained why Genn had ordered the Greymane Wall built and shared his worries about Gilneas withdrawing from the Alliance. He invited Aaron and his companion to travel with him to persuade Baron Silverlaine to relocate, and Aaron revealed that the Dreadwake could fly.

• Liam told Aaron that Genn had decided to build the Greymane Wall and withdraw Gilneas from the Alliance, despite Liam's objections.
• Liam explained that he was traveling north to persuade the stubborn Baron Silverlaine and other holdouts to move inside the wall.
• Liam invited Aaron and his companion to travel with him toward Dalaran and the lands beyond the wall.
• Aaron accepted Liam's invitation and summoned the Dreadwake to rise from the sea, astonishing the people onshore.