//------------------------------//
// Shore: A New Assault 
// Story: World of Warcraft: The Ties that Bind 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
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Dalaran became a place of activity once Khadgar issued the order for the various champions to call forth their Order Halls, essentially their individual armies, and assemble the other champions on Krasus' Landing, where he intended to launch the assault on the Broken Shore. Trixie, Lyra, and Illidan stood nearby, as two of them were expected to head into the fire the moment the invasion was ready to go, while one of them was merely itching to get back in the action, especially since he had spent years being nothing more than a soul. Trixie was still shocked to discover that Kil'jaeden was launching his assault already, so soon after the Nighthold and the Eye of Aman'thul were taken from the Legion, but she simply watched the troops move and hoped that this time they were ready for everything the Legion threw at them. Lyra, however, smiled as she watched the warriors from the twelve Order Halls prepare themselves, because it was high time they united into a single unit and claimed the Broken Shore... though secretly a part of her wished that they could go to Argus, but that would only put Azeroth at risk as well.

Lyra knew that the Alliance and the Horde had been beaten when they tried to act alone, and that cost them some of their leaders and heroes in the process, but now, with them separated into the twelve orders and combined into the Armies of Legionsfall, they stood a better chance of beating their terrible foe... and, unlike the last time they invaded the Broken Shore, the Illidari and their master were here to lend them some assistance.

"Champions," Khadgar stated, referring to the large number of heroes, those who wielded the powerful artifact weapons that had toppled Gul'dan and recovered the Pillars of Creation, that were standing around him, "Thanks to your leadership, the twelve orders have grown even mightier than I had dared hope.... we now have a fighting force that's capable of driving the Burning Legion from our world. It's time to end this invasion! Using the Pillars of Creation, we will dissipate the Felstorm and seal the Tomb of Sargeras."

"I've been itching to get back to the Broken Shore since our defeat," Kurost said, though at the same time the other heroes either nodded or spoke their agreement to his words, to which he turned towards Khadgar, "So, whose leading the second invasion on the Broken Shore?"

"I would ask that Lyra Heartstrings, her mentor Illidan Stormrage, and Trixie Lulamoon start the assault," Khadgar replied, to which several of the heroes turned towards the Equestrians, though they weren't upset over the decision, because they had seen what Lyra was capable of when she was backed into a corner and knew that Trixie was powerful in her own right, "Once the three of them land on the Broken Shore I, and the other mages, will begin teleporting troops into the battlefield around them, along with some of you to start with. The majority of you won't be near the beginning of the assault, rather you will be working on another part of our enemy's forces, weakening them or outright annihilating them before their force catches up with you."

"And what of the Wardens?" Illidan asked, because he was curious as to whether Maiev was sneaking around somewhere or if she outright hated him and preferred to stay away from him, "Am I right in assuming that Maiev and the other Wardens will be joining us in our invasion?"

"Yes, the Wardens have agreed to help us in this battle," Khadgar answered, though he couldn't fault Illidan for asking, as he was sure that Maiev was a sore subject for him, since the head Warden had been responsible for the heroes breaking into the Black Temple and eventually toppling him like they did, "Kurost, you will ride one of the spellwings to the front lines with a few of the other heroes, showing Trixie the way to the area we want to start the assault in, before you join them in the initial assault."

Lyra had to resist the urge to chuckle as she saw a grin appear on Kurost's face, as she knew that the orc hated demons  and had been eager to attack them, though now he was getting his wish to be in the first wave of the attack. She also realized that Khadgar never said what sort of creature she and her mentor would be riding to the Broken Shore, but she could guess she knew the answer before she even bothered to ask the question. Trixie grinned as she released the spell that had bound her to her hybrid form, to which her body shifted and cracked as the bones changed and her form gave way for her blue dragon form. The heroes that hadn't seen this transformation before backed away for a few seconds, giving her room to complete the change, before Trixie's claws touched the landing around her and she stood at her full height in this form... before loosing a small gout of flames into the air.

"So, this is the form you have been blessed with," Illidan commented, though he smiled for a moment as he touched one of Trixie's legs for a few seconds, feeling that this wasn't some illusion that she was playing around with, "I would think that the Legion would fear someone like you, and if they do not then they will learn to do so soon enough."

"Thank you," Trixie said, as she realized that this was about as close as she was going to get to a compliment from Lyra's master, though at the same time she was thankful that he was so calm about this, which made sense when she remembered what Malfurion looked like, before she looked at her own mentor, "Shall we get the party started, or do we need to wait for something else to happen before we start the assault?"

"I had hoped that all of you would have been given enough time to rest before this happened, but I can see that I was wrong in that regard," Khadgar replied, to which he chuckled for a moment, because there were times where the Legion outmaneuvered him and times where he did the same with their enemies, before he looked at the heroes, "Now is the time for action. Trixie, you will follow Kurost to the destination we have picked out for our invasion, while at the same time carrying both Lyra and Illidan down to the Broken Shore. From there you will fight your way through the demons guarding the path to Deliverance Point, where we intend to sent up our permanent base of operations on the Broken Shore. You will likely encounter resistance, maybe even a few of the Legion's commanders, but I know that you will overcome whatever they throw at you... and I have a surprise that they won't even seen coming."

Trixie nodded her head, something that a lot of people didn't get to see happen since she was in her dragon form at the moment, before turning towards the large missing chunk of the wall that was behind her, where she waited for both Lyra and Illidan to climb onto her back. Lyra, knowing that was coming, jumped onto her friend's back and sat in the area where she usually sat, where she once again wondered if she might convince Trixie to get a magical saddle for this form at some point in the future, before turning towards her master. Illidan, despite his blindness and his reliance on feeling the energies around him, carefully climbed up and sat behind Lyra, who nodded to Khadgar as they prepared themselves to depart from Dalaran. A moment later Khadgar called for Kurost to mount up, where the orc warrior climbed up onto what appeared to be a large hawk that was made out of arcane energy, before he and some of the other heroes took off on their borrowed mounts... to which they flew over Trixie's head and headed towards the Broken Shore.

Not a few seconds later Trixie, seeing Kurost and the others creating the path for her to take, spread her wings and took off, where she followed after them as they headed down to the Broken Shore, though as they departed from the city the group heard Khadgar opening new portals for the others to take... indicating that the battle was already underway.

When they landed on the area that Khadgar wanted them to start at, which was the same area that the first assault had started on thanks to Trixie telling Lyra and Illidan about the area, they found several demons already wandering the area, though they were also being attacked by druids, warriors, mages, and other troops from the Order Halls. Once Lyra and Illidan climbed off Trixie's back, and pulled out their warglaives, Trixie reverted back to her hybrid form and started walking forward, where she started throwing spells at the distracted demons. The two demon hunters said nothing as they joined her, their weapons causing greater wounds to their opponents in the process, while they all noticed that there was a large number of demons between them and the ramp like path that would take them to the ruins that Khadgar had called Deliverance Point.

Lyra found that simply killing demons again, without running through someplace like the Emerald Nightmare or the Nighthold, was much better than fighting people like Xavius and Gul'dan, but she planned on enjoying the time that she had in this state before they had to march on the Tomb itself... though that didn't stop her from smiling as her master hacked an unfortunate demon apart and continued moving, revealing that his abilities hadn't dulled over the last seven years. She also found out that the Legion was definitely trying to stop them from claiming a foothold on the Broken Shore, as she and the others fought overlords, eredar, wrathguards, and several smaller demons, like imps, felhunters, and the demonic bats that the Illidari used as mounts when they flew from one place to another. With each demon they toppled the troops that had been fighting them cheered before turning their attention to their next target, before a large group of troops, lead by Kurost, started cutting down the demons that stood between them and the path they were heading towards.

Eventually the group of troops grew so large that Lyra, Trixie, and Illidan stopped fighting and watched the battle unfold in front of their eyes, where Trixie took a moment to explain to Illidan that Kurost was known for slaying a thousand demons across multiple lands and planets... though they were distracted when one of the Legion ships suddenly exploded, but Trixie knew that her mentor was using the magical power inside Dalaran to obliterate the majority of the ships that their foe had summoned to the Broken Shore.

Once the light died down the trio followed after the troops and Kurost, where they walked up the path that they had set their eyes on the entire time they had been fighting, before they came to a stop near what appeared to be a small well of arcane energy... where a large eredar, one of the 'lords' as Lyra recalled, stood in their way.

"You think a few mortals with some gaudy weapons can stop us?" the eredar asked, though at the same time he turned around and faced the group that had come to a stop in front of him, while also pulling out his own weapons, a pair of sinister looking blades, "Such arrogance. You shall pay dearly for the trouble you have caused to the Legion."

"It's not arrogance if we know that our weapons can turn the tide against you," Lyra said, though at the same time she and Illidan held their warglaives out as Trixie tapped her staff against the ground, while Kurost and the troops behind him cheered, indicating that they were all ready for a fight, "but come then, eredar, and we'll show you just how wrong you are."

"Foolish mortal, I am Lord Kalgorath!" the eredar shouted, revealing that he was annoyed what Lyra thought that she and the others could take him on, to which he charged at the group as they charged at him.

Lyra remembered the last few eredar lords she had taken out over the years, as all of them seemed to think highly of themselves and believed that they were the true masters of the Legion, since a vast majority of the demons listened to their every order without any questions. As the fight started Illidan dominated Kalgorath's attention while Trixie stayed at the back and fired spells at the demon's chest, though Lyra, on the other hand, danced around her target and cut into him while he was focused on someone else. After a few seconds Kalgorath got annoyed and started summoning a large number of dark energy blades from the sky, which rained down on the group in selected spots that were painfully easy for everyone to avoid, meaning that he ended up missing all of them. Unfortunately it appeared that the rain of dark energy blades was Kalgorath's only good move that he could use against them, once more confirming to Lyra that the lesser eredar were full of themselves since Archimonde and Kil'jaeden were Sargeras' right and left hands... and she simply sighed as she and the others took him down as well.

With the way clear the large group made their way up the stone stairs and entered the ruins that would become the base of operations for the Armies of Legionsfall, the place called Deliverance Point, but instead of stopping they continued down the path on the opposite side of the one they climbed up and descended into the next part of the Broken Shore.

"The Wardens are with you, Lyra Heartstrings," a familiar voice said, to which Lyra and Illidan turned to their left for a moment and found Maiev, with some of her Wardens, standing ready in front of the area that Trixie had called the 'Black City' back during the first invasion, though it was void of whatever had earned it that name.

"Maiev," Lyra said, though she couldn't stop the hate from filling her voice, as she still hated this one Warden with every fiber of her being, even though she was supposed to be an ally, but she decided to be civil this time around, "I appreciate you even offering us the aid of your Wardens."

"Just know that when this is over I am chaining you and Illidan like the beasts you are," Maiev replied, though with that said she turned towards the enemies that were in front of her and charged forward, to which her Wardens and Kurost's group followed after her.

"Charming." Illidan remarked, though at the same time he chuckled for a moment, because he remembered how Maiev had acted back when she was aiding the heroes that fought him all those years ago, "I see that she hasn't changed since she and her chosen heroes toppled me seven years ago, at the summit of the Black Temple."

"I hate her and she hates me," Lyra stated, as that pretty much summed up her relationship with the leader of the Wardens, where she wondered, once again, why Khadgar even put up with her like he did, as she would have gotten rid of her if she and the others didn't need the Wardens to help them keep the Broken Isles safe from the Legion, "Come on, let's follow her and make sure she doesn't steal all the fun."

With that said Lyra and Illidan followed the Wardens and Kurost's group into the area in front of them, leaving Trixie to chuckle about how quickly her friend had forgotten her anger towards Maiev for the moment, thanks to her mentor being there, before following after them. This time around the group found that the demons were constantly summoning in more reinforcements, whether it was from the Legion ship that was still hanging over the Broken Shore or from another Legion world none of them knew the answer to, but that didn't stop the group of assembled heroes from separating into smaller groups to tackle their foes before they called in the big guns. Since there were portals resting around the area Lyra told the others to take out the portals, something that they clearly knew given their vast experience in dealing with the Legion, but she felt like reminding them anyway... something that they thanked her for before they truly separated into smaller groups that headed for the various portals.

Lyra really had no idea why the heroes of the Alliance and Horde trusted her so completely, even if she took into account how she ruined Xavius, though she decided not to look the gift horse in the mouth and followed her master to the portal of his choosing.

Over the next few minutes the only sounds that could be heard, over the sounds of the battle that was raging at the moment, was the sounds of portals forcefully being closed and the sounds of demons breathing their last before they collapsed on the ground. When the last demon was dead, and the last portal had been closed, the Legion ship shimmered for a second before a large doomguard, no doubt the commander of the ground forces, warped into the area with a group of large infernals following him into battle. Arganoth, as the demon called himself, was slightly more powerful than Kalgorath, as he rained felfire down upon his enemies and summoned more infernals when one was taken out, while at the same time he found that both Illidan and Maiev wanted the pleasure of taking him out.

Despite how Lyra felt about Maiev, even she had to admit that it was funny to see her master and the person who jailed his corpse fighting over the same demon, who apparently was having a bad time trying to combat the two fighters that literally brought him to his knees before finishing him off... causing the others to cheer for yet another victory. That was promptly followed by Khadgar calling Trixie, via his crystal ball technique, that the command ship was the only thing left and, if they didn't hurry, the defenses that he was powering would be drained. Fortunately the warlocks of the Black Harvest had created a gateway up to the command ship, how Lyra wasn't about to ask, and revealed that they could sneak aboard and blow the entire thing apart... with some special mana bombs that Khadgar had given them, in case they found something to use them on.

Trixie took the seven mana bombs from the warlocks and used the gateway to travel up to the ship, where Lyra and Illidan followed after her, though as they landed on the ship a demon told them that he could use the entertainment, where they heard Velen name the demon Mephistroth.

Lyra and Illidan spearheaded the attack on the command ship by attacking the Inquisitor that was guarding the portal to the upper deck, giving Trixie time to plant the mana bombs in the locations that she new would tear the entire place apart once they were all activated. Once the demon was taken care of the two demon hunters marched into the portal and started attacking the demons that were on the other side, clearing the way for Trixie whenever she came through the portal, though their foes were unhappy to see that they were being invaded. With them working ahead of Trixie it didn't take her long to put all seven of the mana bombs in places that would blow the command ship to pieces, though once the last one was in place a portal opened up on the highest level of the ship as Mephistroth stepped out of it.

"You wish to challenge me?!" Mephistroth said, though he sounded like he was about ready to laugh, to which the trio simply stared at him for a few seconds before he turned serious, "My time is wasted here. With the power from the tomb, I will destroy all of you!"

As Mephistroth teleported out of the command ship, heading who knew where, Khadgar informed them that he was pulling them out of the ship, to which the three of them were surrounded by a mana sphere, large enough to fix their individual bodies, before they were teleported off the ship. As they landed in Deliverance Point, however, they got to see the command ship tear itself apart as Khadgar activated the mana bombs, before a beam of energy was loosed from the tallest tower of Dalaran. The beam soared towards the Tomb of Sargeras and blew open the door, which had apparently been blocked by someone, thus allowing them to enter the Tomb when they were ready... which would be after they claimed the entirety of the Broken Shore.

"Good work, all of you," Khadgar said, after teleporting into the area near the heroes, who had all gathered in Deliverance Point after the trio went into the command ship, "Mephistroth is on the run, and we have a foothold that will allow us to counter the Legion's next move. A good start, I'd say, though we still have much to do."

"Indeed, there is more work to be done," Illidan stated, though at the same time his eyes remained on the Tomb, where the Pillars of Creation would be used to save this world from their enemy, "Kil'jaeden will not wait long before putting his plan into action, so we must move quickly before he completes whatever he is planning."

Lyra and Trixie nodded, because now that they had their foothold they could rest for a few minutes before they figured out what the next stage of their assault was, though sooner or later they were going to have to head inside the Tomb and deal with whatever was inside it while they sealed the portal... and Lyra hoped that they could fight Kil'jaeden before he fled back to Argus with his tail between his legs.