Once again the party returned to Shattrath and once again they took the time to rest from their recent battles.
Kael’thas Sunstrider was a powerful foe. There were times where they thought they might not survive their encounter with him but his arrogance proved his undoing when he sent those weapons after them, only for them to be used against him.
Speaking of the weapons, they appeared to have faded from existence the moment they stepped through Stella’s portal to leave Tempest Keep. It was unfortunate, but they still had their own weapons to fall back on.
With his thirst for revenge quenched, Archmage Vargath, who returned to Shattrath with the party, spent some time talking with Khadgar before he returned to Dalaran.
Once they passed on the news of the prince’s demise, A’dal was grateful for their assistance and would send a few units of Sha’tari warriors to secure Tempest Keep.
As he announced the defeat of the prince, however, a burning image of a rising phoenix appeared in the chamber, followed by the image of the emaciated blood elf prince. Strangely, he had a green crystal lodged in his chest.
“Your monkeys failed to finish the job, naaru,” Kael’thas said. “I may have lost Tempest Keep, but that was only a minor setback. The preparations have already begun. Soon the master will make his return and there is nothing you or that fool, Illidan, can do to stop me!” He laughed maniacally. “Lay down your arms and succumb to the might of Kil’jaeden!”
Once the image faded, A’dal turned his attention to the others. “Do not concern yourselves with his threat for the time being. We shall deal with him when the time comes. For now, preparations must be made. I have assigned Xi’ri to gather a strike force to assault the Black Temple. He is rallying the Aldor vindicators and Scryers magisters as we speak.
“Get some rest, Akama has more to ask of you and you must be ready for your next task.” The party dispersed and returned to their respective inns for the night.
After a night of rest, Mena and Bella spent time helping around Shattrath while Stella went with Flutashe and Raida to see Akama. The broken was pleased to know that Kael’thas had been defeated, though the message he left for A’dal spoke of ill things to come.
Maiev mumbled something about justice being served to the blood elf for selling her out to Malfurion back when she was pursuing Illidan in Lordaeron. It seemed that when she had nothing better to do in her cell, the warden decided to be petty.
“We are nearly ready to execute the next part of the plan,” Akama said. “With the Illidari power bases in Zangarmarsh and Netherstorm fallen, only the Black Temple poses a threat to the denizens of Outland. We are certain that A’dal will send a force to attack the Black Temple soon, but I require one more thing before we may commence with the assault.”
“What would that be?” Raida asked.
“In order to reclaim my soul from Illidan, I need a vessel. I had a vision of a phylactery that belonged to a lich named Rage Winterchill that should suit our purposes.”
“Rage Winterchill?!” Raida exclaimed. “He was part of Archimonde’s forces during the Battle of Mount Hyjal. I heard that his phylactery was never found after the battle. How…could…we…” she trailed off as realization came to her face. She facepalmed as she realized the reason that was so obvious now.
Flutashe giggled, “It seems that the time has come for us to become our future selves.”
“I assume that you know of the means by which you can obtain the phylactery, then I wish you good luck as you reenact that event,” Akama said.
With that, the two left Warden’s Cage and returned to Shattrath with Stella. Once they relayed the plan to Bella and Mena, and later to Lokosh’s group, they made their preparations and sought out Zephyr who sent them to the Caverns of Time once again.
Once they reached the central chamber, Stella gave young Andormu the two vials containing water from the Well of Eternity that they recovered from Lady Vashj and Kael’thas.
“Excellent! With this, and with the prerequisite people, we can now close the causal loop originating from that point in time,” Andormu said.
“Before we send you in there, we need to tell you a few things,” Nozari informed. “At least most of you will need disguises, especially Raida and Flutashe. Since the Forsaken was not formed yet at this time, Talia will need to be disguised, lest she becomes mistaken for a Scourge soldier. Feloma will need some minor alterations to appear as a high elf. She will also need to pretend to be a member of the Alliance. Raida will also need a glamour to conceal her demonic abilities as she fights with them. Groun will need a glamour as well since tauren druids are still unheard of at this time and that can’t be explained away as easily as a gnome priest. A glamour for Stella as well to make it seem like she is a high elf with strange magics. It won’t be perfect, but it will do.”
The explanation made sense to Raida and Flutashe since, now that they thought about it, they did recall seeing a gnome priest and a human paladin at the battle who looked just like Bella and Mena. They simply didn’t connect the dots until now.
Andormu cast the spell on the intended party members. At first the spell didn’t seem to do anything, but the whelp told them that the spell would take effect once they entered the timeline.
“What about Sophia and Thanatas?” Raida asked.
“I will be in the Scourge camp blending in and keeping an eye on the enemy. Sophia can use a human form to avoid suspicion. She will relay my words to you,” Thanatas offered.
With the party as prepared as they were going to be, Nozari and Andormu approached the partially collapsed section of the cavern and channeled their temporal magics into the vials which caused the tunnel to open properly. Trees of a species familiar to Raida and Flutashe burst from the tunnel floor and abandoned night elf siege weapons lay on the ground. Time-frozen wisps glowed around the trees. They could also see a moonwell in the tunnel.
As they traveled through the passageway, they soon came across a small chamber with three more passages. To their right was a passage that was decorated with Horde structures and the tunnel was barricaded by wooden logs. To their left was an open passage that had a tower and a ship around it that looked to have been built by Alliance craftsmen. The back passage was blocked by a portcullis and had buildings built in the style favored by the night elves.
“So, I guess we take the left passage?” Lokosh asked.
Flutashe nodded, “When the battle started, Archimonde’s forces had set up their base in the grove in the southwestern part of the region. Jaina Proudmoore set up her base just north of that which is where we will make our first stand.”
“Thrall set up a base in the Verdant Thicket up the road from Jaina’s base,” Raida added. “They were the second line of defense. Tyrande mustered all of the forces that she could around Nordrassil.”
“One question: Ya mentioned dis Archimonde, who is he?” Farra’jin asked. The members of the Alliance stared at the troll in complete disbelief. “What?”
Raida regained her words and responded, “Sorry, Archimonde is pretty common knowledge at this point so it’s pretty rare to find someone who doesn’t know. Archimonde is the second in command of the Burning Legion, second only to the Dark Titan Sargeras himself. He is the one in charge of leading the demonic armies across countless worlds. The only one equal to him in position in the Legion is Kil’jaeden. They make up the left and right hands of Sargeras.”
“And we’re supposed to be fighting him here?” Talia asked. “That might be a bit much, even for us.”
“Our objective isn’t to kill Archimonde, it’s to keep his attention away from Nordrassil long enough for Shan’do Stormrage to spring his trap,” Flutashe said.
“Speaking of Archimonde, I can’t have you claiming his soul, or the souls of the other three demon leaders this time,” Thanatas said. “There will be another opportunity, you can make your move then.”
“And why can’t I take them this time?” Raida asked.
“Because you need to be stronger so that you can handle such a powerful soul without it overpowering you. I know that your body hasn’t fully conquered Magtheridon’s soul yet. You may have a strong resilience toward the fel, but that doesn’t mean that you can take in so many powerful souls at once without consequences. I advise you to wait until you have fully integrated his soul before you collect more.”
That was one reason, though Thanatas also didn’t want Raida taking in the souls of their upcoming enemies because it would risk messing up future events.
Raida sighed in defeat and acquiesced to the death knight’s advice. Once they were ready, they proceeded through the tunnel and exited into an outside area that appeared to be sloping downward toward an encampment of Alliance soldiers. Numerous farmhouses along with a blacksmith and stables were present. In the center of the base was a mage tower. Wandering the base were the peasants who were harvesting what resources they needed to craft and equip the soldiers for the imminent battle. There were also footmen, knights, dwarven riflemen, and high elven priests and sorceresses ready for battle.
Standing near the mage tower were three figures that they knew all too well. Warchief Thrall stood next to Malfurion Stormrage and Tyrande Whisperwind in silence. The battle would begin soon after the fourth defender showed up to this meeting.
Silently, the party moved into position. Thrall saw them and was curious about why some members of the Horde were moving alongside members of the Alliance, but he paid them no mind since there were more important matters to tend to.
Thanatas disappeared from the area to proceed with her part of the plan while Sophia took a pair of daggers and a rifle from the armory while doing her best to look inconspicuous. Sure, she could use her Shadow Walk and turn invisible, but where was the fun in that?
The soldiers were confused by the party’s presence, but focused on the enemy nearby.
The party heard the sound of a teleport spell which told them that Jaina had arrived. They overheard the conversation. “I’m sorry I’m late. It’s…it’s just as we feared. Archimonde and his doom guard are making their way toward the summit! They’ll be here any minute.”
“Ten thousand years ago, we night elves defeated the Burning Legion,” Malfurion said. “Though the rest of the world was shattered, we were left free to live out our immortal lives in peace, bound to the World Tree. We are its protectors, and through it we were granted immortality and power over nature. Now, at long last, it is time we gave that power back.”
“You realize that we will age as these morals do,” Tyrande reminded. “Our powers over nature will wane in time.”
“If pride gives us pause, my love, then perhaps we have lived long enough already. I will proceed to the summit and prepare our defenses there. Whatever comes, my love, remember…our bond is eternal.” Malfurion then hurried up the path toward the summit.
A few minutes later, a deep, booming voice rang through the hills, malevolent and leaving all who heard it shuddering, “Hear me, night elves, the time for reckoning has come!”
Jaina quickly looked to Tyrande, “If you can spare any of your warriors, that would really help. Thrall and I can only delay Archimonde for so long.
“Your plan is a bold one, girl,” Tyrande said, giving a small smile. “Perhaps I have misjudged you outlanders. May Elune shine upon you!” Tyrande then proceeded up the mountain path toward her camp while Thrall returned to his camp to rally his forces.
Now alone, Jaina shouts to her troops, “Get ready everyone, they will come soon!”
“I hope you guys are ready on your end,” Thanatas telepathically said to Sophia. “I just saw a group of ghouls leave the base; the battle is starting.”
Sophia whispered to the party that the enemy was coming. The party responded by pulling out their weapons. The soldiers, suspecting that they knew something they didn’t, decided to respond in kind in case it really was the enemy.
A few moments later, the soldiers’ suspicions were confirmed as a large group of ghouls, zombie-like undead with sharp teeth and claws who raced toward their prey with reckless abandon, ran up the hill toward their base.
Once they were within range, the riflemen began opening fire on the slavering undead who hungered for their flesh. A few shots landed on the small horde and a few bones shattered, but the dead persisted. A few fire spells from Stella set the undead on fire and three of them collapsed, their rotted forms quickly turning to ash.. The rest of them engaged the footmen who fought hard against their foes. Elven priests made sure that any damage the ghouls dealt was temporary. Mena assisted in the healing.
Raida decapitated five of the horde in one quick strike. What the soldiers saw was a rogue who seemed to wield daggers with precision and power. They also saw something they never imagined, an orc warrior saving a footman by grabbing the ghoul, throwing it on the ground and crushing its head underfoot. The last two ghouls broke away from the footmen to attack Lokosh but had their heads destroyed by a couple of arrows before they reached him.
The soldiers breathed a sigh of relief as they had just survived the first wave without casualties. They knew that they wouldn’t be so lucky next time since they only just contended with the enemy’s weakest type of soldiers and they would send stronger minions next time.
Thanatas reached out to Sophia again, “Here comes the next wave, this time there are undead nerubians accompanying the ghouls. They are more commonly referred to as crypt fiends though.”
Not long after that the next group was spotted. This was another horde of ghouls accompanied by a pair of crypt fiends, resembling a centaur form of a spider walking on six legs with another pair of limbs acting as arms with two-clawed hands. Parts of their bodies were wrapped in bandages and their bodies were very pale. Flutashe mentally compared them to the form Priestess Mar’li took when she fought her as a spider.
Once again Stella set fire to the ghouls to weaken them while Talia made fire rain on them. Five ghouls were incinerated with three more soon after Farra’jin set his fire totem to unleash a wave of fire. The last two ghouls were impaled on holy swords and burned in holy energy.
The crypt fiends didn’t engage in melee combat, unlike the ghouls. They attacked from a distance by sending swarms of tiny spiders which crawled on a pair of footmen and caused them to panic as the critters entered their armor and feasted on their flesh. There wasn’t much the party could do to save the unfortunate soldiers as the tiny spiders began to eat openings into their bodies, prompting Stella to put them out of their misery by burning them to death.
Farra’jin set his totem to emit bursts of fire which worked to keep any more tiny spiders from getting closer to them. Lokosh then leaped on the of the crypt fiends and chopped off its arms before cleaving its skull with his ax. A Disintegration Beam from Stella to the other nerubian’s head put an end to this wave of undead.
Since the waves seemed to come whenever one fell, the defenders figured that they had a couple of minutes before the next wave arrived. They returned to their positions and braced themselves.
The next wave was an equal mix of ghouls and crypt fiends. The zombie-like dead were easier to deal with while the fire magic users kept the spiders at bay. Surprise dismembered a crypt fiend with her Shadow Blades while Groun called vines to crush another, the latter looking to the soldiers like a shaman calling on water spirits to crush it in aquatic tentacles.
Once the wave was defeated, the party took a moment to rest as they waited for the next wave. Thanatas warned Sophia of a new enemy type, “There’s going to be necromancers with this group. If anyone on your side is dead, they will try to raise them.”
“We lost two so far, but we burned those corpses so there shouldn’t be anything left,” Sophia responded.
Once the party was warned about the necromancers, they prepared to counter their efforts. The next wave arrived in the form of six ghouls, four crypt fiends and two necromancers. The ghouls were easy to defeat at this point, though a pair of dwarven riflemen were not so fortunate as some spiders managed to sneak around the fires and crawl on them. They struggled to swat them off but a pair of Shadow Bolts from the necromancers ended their struggle.
The necromancers then ripped the bones from the dwarves’ flesh and animated them. The skeletal dwarves raised their rifles against the defenders but Talia quickly turned one to ash while Stella obliterated another in spellfire. She then turned to the necromancers and countered any further casts from them until Feloma shot both of them between their eyes. Farra’jin made sure to burn the dark spellcasters in case future necromancers could reanimate them.
By the time this wave was defeated, reinforcements from the night elves arrived to aid the defenders. The party paid particular attention to the night elf with rainbow-colored hair and a cocky smirk on her face in standard Sentinel gear as well as the pink-haired night elf in green robes that a druid in training would wear. She had a very nervous look on her face and seemed to be standing a little too close to the rainbow-haired elf, pretty much clinging to her.
“Looks like they’re here,” Raida whispered. “Remember, we can’t give any hints to them that we recognize them. The Bronze Dragonflight will be furious if our younger selves find out who we are.” The others nodded in agreement.
Meanwhile, at the enemy camp, Thanatas was keeping herself hidden under the guise of a simple cultist while she listened in on a conversation between the five targets.
One was a floating skeleton who appeared to have no legs, just a torso, arms and a head. He wore a purple robe that appeared as numerous floating strips with gemstones at the ends along with a golden mantle. A length of chain wrapped around his body but never touched him. Rage Winterchill was the only non-demon of the group.
The second was a nathrezim in ornate black armor. There wasn’t much that made him stand out from other members of his species since his massive wings, horns and hooves were all standard for a dreadlord. Anetheron was called in when news of Tichondrius’ demise at the hands of Illidan Stormrage was made known.
The third was a particularly strong-looking ered’ruin doom lord with dark yellow skin and massive wings. He carried a massive sword that seemed bigger than he was. Kaz’rogal could be comparable to the likes of Kazzak or Kruul, but Thanatas was not sure where to put these doom lords on the power scale.
The fourth was a pit lord with no real distinguishing features that set him apart from other annihilan. Azgalor was likely called in when the Legion found out that Mannoroth was done in by his own pet orcs. Thanatas could only smirk at the thought that the master pit lord was never going to live down the fact that his own minions were his downfall.
Finally, there was the leader of the entire invasion. Archimonde was a massive eredar who wore dark gold armor as a mantle, armbands and leggings. The armbands had a demonic face on them while the mantle looked like a ram’s head on each shoulder.
“What is taking so long?” Archimonde demanded. “These pathetic undead can’t even break through their front line.”
“Apologies, Lord Archimonde,” Anetheron said. “We will begin sending our heavy assault units to begin breaking their defenses. The human base will fall shortly.”
“See to it then, My patience grows thin.”
Back at the Alliance base, the party had to contend with another wave of ghouls, crypt fiends and necromancers. This wave was heavier on the crypt fiends and had more necromancers while only a couple of ghouls accompanied this one. Stella kept the necromancers under control by turning them into sheep while the others ended the undead nerubians before she turned the necromancers into roasted mutton.
“The enemy is starting to get serious,” Thanatas warned. “They are sending out their heavy assault units. They will come in the form of golems made of many corpses stitched together, commonly called abominations. They reek of disease so don’t be near them for too long or you might get sick.”
“I’m pretty sure I could evolve an immunity to the disease,” Sophia replied. “The others should have a way to handle the infection.”
The smell came before they were spotted. The foul, unearthly stench reminded the Horde party of their walk through the Undercity a while back. They saw the stitched horrors patrolling the city. They appeared as if a fair number of humans were dismembered and their organs harvested. Those body parts were all stitched together haphazardly to create a single monstrosity that was unlike anything they could have imagined. Only the sickest, most depraved minds in the world could ever conceive such a horrifying mass of flesh. Abomination seemed to be the appropriate word to use to describe them. These monstrosities were equipped with cleavers and hooks while their guts had a massive gaping hole through which their entrails threatened to spill out, barely held by metal plating. Nothing anyone could imagine would smell worse than an abomination who reeked of rot and pestilence.
A lookout soon spotted the next wave coming. This wave was composed of six ghouls and six abominations.
The party was thankful that the abominations were highly susceptible to fire, perhaps a little too susceptible since the rot and embalming fluid in their bodies were highly flammable. This served to turn the undead wave into giant balls of fire barreling toward them. The ghouls caught fire and fell before they got too close to the defenders but the abominations endured the blaze. One abomination crashed against Farra’jin’s earth elemental and exploded, taking the elemental with it.
Unfortunately, the remaining five abominations endured long enough to slam themselves against the stone walls protecting their base, toppling a pair of lookout towers and killing a few footmen and riflemen.
With the defensive line weakening, the knights mounted their horses and took to fortifying the line.
The next wave featured an even number of ghouls, necromancers and abominations. The necromancers attempted to raise the fallen soldiers but Stella kept them under control by turning them into sheep. With how the fire strategy went last time, they had to use different tactics to deal with the abominations. Raida was able to tear through the stitches of one of the horrors and caused it to fall apart, holding her breath to avoid breathing in the rancid odor. One abomination tried to bring its cleaver down on Raida but a Black Eye Beam struck it in its opening before she breathed felfire on the resulting crystals, causing it to explode violently and scattering the ghouls. Raida was blown back as well but she recovered using her wings.
For anyone not part of the party, it looked like she tossed a powerful bomb into the abomination’s opening while her reflexes allowed her to recover quickly.
The knights managed to cut down the remaining abominations while Groun crushed the wooly necromancers with vines. The ghouls died in a fire.
The next wave featured a little of everything, mostly ghouls and crypt fiends with a pair of necromancers and a pair of abominations. Raida pulled the same stunt on one of the abominations as the last one she blew up which disrupted the enemy formation. Stella quickly dispatched the necromancers before she froze and shattered the ghouls struggling to get back on their feet. Surprise dismembered a couple of crypt fiends while Feloma planted an arrow in the heads of the last two. The knights cut down the remaining abomination.
In the enemy camp, Archimonde was getting fed up with the corpses not even getting past the front line. It was time for a power play. “Winterchill, get in there and break up that defensive line!”
“It will be done, Lord Archimonde,” Rage said with a raspy voice.
“One of the main targets is inbound!” Thanatas warned. “Rage Winterchill has some powerful icy attacks but his worst ability is to make areas rot and decay, killing any living thing within the zone in seconds.”
Sophia nodded, “Looks like Archimonde unleashed his pet lich on us. Watch out for any areas that are rapidly decaying.”
A few moments later, a large lich appeared in the distance and closed in on the camp. He was just outside their attack range before he made his declaration, “The Legion’s final conquest has begun! Once again the subjugation of this world is within our grasp. Let none survive!”
The party fell back behind the walls just in time for Rage to unleash a barrage of icy bolts that instantly froze the footmen, riflemen and knights guarding the entrance. He then launched several icicles that shattered the unfortunate defenders.
Rage then floated into the Alliance base where he was met with many riflement shooting at him while footmen and knights charged to attack him with their swords. Sorceresses threw fireballs at him while the priests stood at the ready to provide support.
“Useless!” Rage taunted before he prepared another wave of ice to freeze them with. However Lokosh leaped up and slammed his shield into his ribcage, disrupting his casting. Rage fired a large bolt of frost magic at the offending warrior but was deflected when a Chaos Bolt collided with it, looking like someone threw a bomb at a spell bolt. The ice bolt hit the ground next to Lokosh and created a patch of ice.
The defenders rallied against Rage with Jaina and the night elf reinforcements moving in to attack. Seeing so many in one area gave Rage the opportunity to kill many enemies at once. Sophia knew what was coming and she didn’t have time to warn everyone to back away. Instead, she called down a bolt of low-voltage psionic lightning which electrocuted the area around Rage which did hit some of the defenders, including young Raida, but also drove them to back away.
“Everyone, stay spread out so we can minimize casualties!” Sophia shouted. Jaina wasn’t sure why she said that but her intuition told her to listen. By the mage’s orders, the riflemen and spellcasters moved into a spread formation while a few footmen and knights moved in to attack with their swords. Others fired at the lich with their crossbows.
Angry that the effectiveness of his spell had been reduced, Rage decided to use it against those slashing at his robes. His skeletal hands glowed black while the area around him darkened. The plant life around him began to blacken and the fighters in the area began to burn from the inside out as dark energy rotted away their insides.
Lokosh, Bella and Raida escaped the area but the footmen and knights were not so lucky as their bodies withered away into husks.
Jaina bombarded the lich with several frost bolts which annoyed Rage into firing one of his icebolts at her and froze her. Jaina managed to blink out of the ice block and resumed her assault.
Raida delivered a flurry of slashes with her warglaives which ripped the lich’s robes while Flutashe shifted into her bear form to jump up and pounce on Rage, distracting him while Bella and Mena unleashed the wrath of the Light on him, purifying the rotted ground and burning his unholy bones. Flutashe jumped out of the way just as a sword of light impaled the lich through his ribcage and scattered his bones.
The chilling blue aura began to fade from Rage Winterchill but he made one last retort about how they had not won the war. His body then collapsed into a black sphere.
A green urn with a purple lid and strange markings fell to the ground nearby. Stella quickly picked it up and placed it in a dimensional pocket. The final piece that Akama needed for his attack on Illidan was acquired.
With the lich defeated, Archimonde’s forces had suffered a setback that would delay his approach to Nordrassil, but they would need a lot more time for Malfurion’s trap to be ready. The attacks so far had taxed Jaina’s forces but they were still ready for more. To help them hold the line, Jaina summoned whatever troops she had in reserve. The night elf reinforcements moved to the front, prepared for whatever Archimonde sent at them. The party and troops ate whatever rations they had on them to help them regain their strength.
Their break lasted fifteen minutes, likely the time it took for Archimonde to realize that Rage Winterchill had fallen. Thanatas alerted Sophia that Archimonde was sending more waves of undead, likely believing that Winterchill had weakened them enough to defeat them.
Sophia had a sense of deja vu when she spotted a group of ten ghouls as the newest wave, the same setup as the first wave. Given how they were able to deal with the ghouls easily at this point, this almost seemed like an insult.
After the ghouls were ruthlessly incinerated, the next wave came in the form of more ghouls accompanied by four abominations. Raida blew one up with her combination attack to disrupt the enemy formation while Feloma attached her own bomb to an arrow and let it fly into another construct’s opening. By this point the ghouls were burning. The remaining two abominations fell soon after.
The next wave was less intense than the last one since it lacked abominations. Instead, they came in the form of an equal number of ghouls, crypt fiends and necromancers. With Stella’s polymorph the necromancers were no threat and the other two enemy types were easily handled.
“New enemy type incoming,” Thanatas warned. “Be on the lookout for elven spirits called banshees. This type has a spell that blocks all incoming spells and can curse your accuracy.”
Sophia warned the others of the new enemy type but they already knew what to do about them. The next wave was four necromancers, six crypt fiends and two banshees. Stella handled the necromancers while the other spellcasters focused on the crypt fiends. Raida, Flutashe, Lokosh and Feloma attacked the banshees. Since their shields couldn’t block physical attacks or arrows, they had no defense against them. They were even more vulnerable when their spells were being disrupted and their curses were being purged by the supporting members.
The wave went down quickly which prompted the next wave to approach in the form of six ghouls, two necromancers and four banshees. The party was getting bored at this point.
The next three waves were combinations of ghouls, crypt fiends, necromancers, abominations and banshees with the last being a combination of all five types that they had encountered so far.
Back in the enemy camp, Archimonde’s frustration grew. “That worthless lich was the best Ner’zhul could spare?” he growled. “When this is over, I’m going to do much worse to him than what Kil’jaeden did.”
He really didn’t want to do this at this stage in the siege. He had hoped that Rage Winterchill would have done more damage to the enemy base than he did, but the lich was useless in the end. “Anetheron, unleash your wrath upon the vermin!”
Thanatas was glad that the party was holding on, though she knew the pattern. The Alliance forces were going to sustain heavy losses against Anetheron.
“It will be done, Lord Archimonde,” the nathrezim replied. He then ran out of the camp, making his declaration to his enemies, “You are defenders of a doomed world! Flee here, and perhaps you will prolong your pathetic lives.”
“You guys have a nathrezim coming your way,” Thanatas warned telepathically. “His kind knows how to control the battlefield. Beware of his sleep spell and the infernals he can summon.”
Anetheron arrived at the base a minute later. The riflemen began firing on him but he swiped his hand and a shadowy wave of dark energy and bats was sent at the defenders. The cloud of dark bats swarmed the dwarves and quickly devoured their flesh.
As he entered the base, many footmen and knights charged in and delivered a few slashes to his legs before he placed them into a deep sleep, Anetheron moved aside and summoned an infernal on them, the impact crushing or burning them in felfire.
It was at this time that the party charged in with the night elves. Jaina fired several frost bolts at the nathrezim which only served to annoy him. As he began taking damage, the nathrezim grabbed a nearby elven priest and forcibly stole his life essence, healing his injuries.
Raida was knowledgeable about nathrezim and their vampiric capabilities. She also learned a technique that could seal that ability for a time. She moved behind the demon and around his massive wings before she jumped onto his back. Anetheron noticed the extra weight and tried to grab the attacker but she drove her warglaives into his shoulders, causing him to yelp in pain, before she went to work inscribing a sigil into the back of his neck. Once finished, she pulled out her warglaives and jumped off.
Anetheron attempted to heal himself by stealing from a nearby elven sorceress, but found that his ability wasn’t working. He crushed the elf in his hand instead.
“What did you do to me?” Anetheron demanded. However, he received no answer as his attackers continued to slash and blast him.
Anetheron then summoned several more infernals which crashed into the blacksmith, the stables and a farmhouse. The towering golems set fire to the buildings as they joined the fight. Stella blasted one infernal with ice magic while Jaina did the same with another. Those two collapsed into rocks. Sophia secretly struck the third with psionic lightning while nobody was looking.
Young Raida and young Flutashe ended up receiving a blast of carrion from the nathrezim but were protected from the worst of it by a pair of night elven archers who ended up as skeletons. Healing the Lunarwind sisters was a little more difficult since there was a lingering effect that blocked healing temporarily.
Lokosh, Talia, Feloma, and Bella were suddenly unable to stay awake and fell asleep standing up, leaving them vulnerable for a time. Anetheron attempted to summon another infernal on them but a sharp pain on his head halted that process as he instinctively raised a hand to his forehead to find that one of his horns was cut off. “Argh! Who did that?” he demanded. He looked around but couldn’t spot anyone with a weapon that could slice off a thick horn.
Another sharp pain was made known from his back. He soon realized that someone had cut his left wing off, as evidenced by the huge wing on the ground. His wide claw swipes offered him no reward and was unable to stop his right wing from following his left in dismemberment.
His eyes finally locked onto Raida who gave a deathly stare at the demon. He spotted her daggers but knew that they wouldn’t be enough to cut off his horn. He then decided to use some of his power to try to find the truth. That was when he spotted something he had never seen before: a fel-infused elf. Those large blades that she was carrying looked sharp enough to do some real damage to him. He had no idea what he was looking at, but she looked like she was ready to hunt down demons using their own power.
His distraction cost him dearly as a beam of blue energy pierced his armor and his chest. He knew that this was it for him. It would take him some time to return from the nether, but he would bring this information to his brothers when he reformed.
Anetheron’s body dissipated into a cloud of bats and scattered, leaving his armor behind.
The party took the time to recover from the latest battle, consuming more of their supplies. The base looked pretty damaged after Anetheron’s attack and things were only going to get worse since the troops looked like they were on their last legs.
Jaina approached the party with a neutral expression on her face. “Anetheron’s defeat at your hands has delayed Archimonde from his objective, and brought us that much closer to victory. However I am afraid that my troops are at their limits and will not be able to hold the line any longer. We are abandoning this base and I suggest you do so as well.”
“But we can’t just give up ground to Archimonde, if we abandon this place he will be closer to his objective!” young Raida protested.
“You need to learn about tactical retreats, kid,” Raida lectured. “Each line is a battle of attrition and this line has had it. We need to retreat to Thrall’s base and make our next stand there. As long as Malfurion can get his trap ready in time, that’s all that matters.”
“I suggest you listen to her,” Jaina offered. “We have bought valuable time, but now I must pull back my forces. Archimonde lost two of his lieutenants and considerable resources to us. Now it is Thrall’s turn. Make your way up the path to reach it.”
With that, Jaina began channeling a powerful teleportation spell while a large glyph formed around her feet. The soldiers and peasants gathered around her in preparation to be teleported from the battle.
“Get out of there, now!” Thanatas nearly shouted through the link. “Archimonde is pissed and now he's sending everything at the base. If you don’t run now, you will get overrun.”
Sophia’s eyes widened in horror as she heard that. “Everyone! RUN! NOW!” she shouted. She then proceeded up the path at a hurried pace without using her super speed. This caused the party to panic and chase after the templar.
Jaina smiled as she saw the party flee. The hopes of the world were in their hands. She finished her mass teleportation spell and the remainder of the Alliance army vanished in an instant.
Moments later, a vast number of ghouls, crypt fiends, necromancers, banshees and abominations entered the base and began smashing structures, though finding nobody to fight, to their dismay.
Archimonde entered the Alliance base with Kaz’rogal and Azgalor. While he was somewhat pleased to see a number of dead soldiers on the ground, he found no sign of their leader. He growled at the disappointment. He had hoped to find the ones who challenged his forces here, but they appeared to have fled.
“Stormrage, show yourself!” Archimonde shouted. “Or do you intend to have others do all your fighting for you?”