A/N

The concept for this oneshot first popped into my mind after reading the Warhammer 40K novel Descent of Angels, though it was the announcement of Diablo III that sparked my memory and led me to return to the document. In the end though, I followed through with my original idea and made it a Warcraft oneshot. Go figure.

Disclaimer: Warcraft is the property of Blizzard Entertainment, or Activision Blizzard as it's now known. Seems like a good partnership IMO.

Descent of Demons

It began on Argus.

No, that is not quite true. The fires of hate and rage were kindled long before that fateful day, the moment when Sargeras became the Dark Titan and abandoned all that was true and good in existence. But how does one define a beginning? How does one know when something has ended? What of an event's legacy? What of an individual's progeny? Is this new substance, or merely continuation?

There's no answer to these questions. After all, life is more than a simple maths equation. Ask twelve individuals the same question and you'll get twelve different answers. That being said however, ask twelve draenei where and when our fall occurred and it is guaranteed that the words "Argus" and "twenty-five thousand years ago" will pop up in some form or another.

We knew so much, yet knew so little. The universe had fit into a nice corner of science, yet it was based on observation rather than experience. We knew nothing of the evils of the Twisting Nether, of the crusade of Sargeras throughout the Great Dark before his descent into madness. We lived in solitude, assuring ourselves of our superiority. We developed our world, our culture, our beliefs...

Of Argus itself, there is little left, or rather little of what it had once been. Even our culture was not immune from the coming of the Burning Legion, such is the extent of their flame. Of what we took with us from our home, much of it existed only in memory even less of that today. Many draenei alive today have no memory of Argus, having been brought into existence after we left the world. The old ways are slowly forgotten. It is inevitable.

In hindsight, we should have realized the Dark Titan's intentions. That not all of us became man'ari is testament to our ability to see the truth where others cannot, but that so many listened to his honeyed words and those of our leaders galls me. It is always the way with conquerors. They don't say they have come to destroy your traditions. They don't talk of their intent to banish the wisdom of your forefathers, turning your world upside down and replacing your beliefs with some strange new creed of their own. They never admit they intend to undermine your society, but rather claim that they are saving you from ignorance.

I suppose the analogy is appropriate in that sense, that it was the promise of knowledge just as much as power that convinced Archimonde and Kil'jaeden to side with Sargeras. In a sense, the Dark Titan did not lie, for what the bulk of our race became is testament to the power he gifted them with, though "cursed" would be a better term. But did he give them knowledge as well?

That I don't want to be granted such knowledge is a testament to how much times have changed.

We expected life on Argus to continue indefinitely. It's a shame that the universe had other plans for us. We were not an unsophisticated primitive people, but in regards to the flow of time, it was the same effect for all intents and purposes. Yet our society had not stagnated. We could adapt to change if it presented itself. However, adaptation is driven by necessity. Sargeras presented no ultimatum, but merely an offer. Had the Legion invaded, we would have adapted to the necessities of war in an instant.

Could we have stood against the demons? The Legion was young in those days, Sargeras' unholy crusade having yet to properly begin. It would not have been easy, but maybe, just maybe, we could have matched the feat made by Azeroth. We did not have the numbers of humanity, the brute strength of the orcs, the litheness of the night elves or the characteristics of all the other races who made their stand against the darkness, but we had unity. I am sure that, at the least, Argus could have blunted the Legion's assault on the material universe.

That Sargeras resorted to guile in order to conquer us invokes pride and shame for my people in equal measure.

Change can bring out the best and worst of us. Some look to the horizon and fear the future while others welcome what a new dawn will bring. When the Dark Titan came to our world, many saw only his radiance, not seeing the darkness behind his veil. He was a setting sun, not a rising one.

We should not mourn the past too much, for if too many tears are shed, drowning in them is set to occur. Our current lives were shaped long ago, though the stone of our future can still be carved. The schism long ago divided our people, but also united us. United us into the draenei, the "Exiled Ones". Our history lies behind us, though the death and destruction it entails still casts a shadow over our souls, a shadow cast by a flame both bright and dark. But we can still give voices to the dead and learn from their words. We can still search for knowledge. Sargeras brought the offer of knowledge to our world and regardless of what he told our fallen kin, he still gave us knowledge that was not tainted by his words. Knowledge that we seized for ourselves. Knowledge that we gained not from observation, but resolve.

Our people are Argus' hammer, our homes our anvil.

And on it, we forge our future.