1,554Chapter 12: Volume 1: Chapter 10
Lost Lion
Disclaimer! I don't own warcraft, it is the property of blizzard.
Volume 1: Chapter 10
***Elwynn Forest – Stormwind Keep***
Taria Wrynn, Queen of the Kingdom of Stormwind, sat regally on the throne as she was handed the latest missive by her spymaster. Even though she was not holding court these past few days, she was still dressed as if she were. She was in a deep royal blue dress with her shoulders purposefully bared to entice all those who gazed upon her. Her black hair was braided and bound by a diamond-laced escoffion to show off the wealth of the kingdom. And finally, a face that was considered a beauty in all seven kingdoms with piercing violet eyes. Those same eyes were reading disturbing reports from Brightwood about the latest orcish incursions.
"This is accurate?" Taria looked to the spymaster for confirmation.
Next to the Queen's throne was a stack of parchment from the other territories, all of whom were asking for help against the orcs raiders. Despite that, she held her queen's scepter tightly with resolve. While her husband was gone, the duty for the defense of the kingdom now fell upon her.
"Is it possible to have the remaining court conjurers contact my husband somehow? The King needs to know about–" She trailed off as there, in front of her, was a large arcane circle.
"Protect the Queen!" The Spymaster ordered even as dozens of royal guardsmen flooded the throne room, their weapons at the ready. A wall of her guardsmen stood in front of Taria, obstructing her vision. Despite that, there was a bright flash of blue that stung her eyes, making her close them involuntarily.
"My King?" She heard the spymaster ask.
Taria forcefully pushed past the royal guardsman's bodies and in the center of the room was her husband. He was not alone as standing next to him were his king's guards, the Guardian, his young apprentice, and a…female orc?
"My husband, you are back."
"My wife..." the King sounded pained. Taria rushed to her husband's side and saw him drink in her sight hungrily. "I have failed my people, my wife."
Taria was puzzled before she put a hand over her mouth and stared at her husband. She realized there were no more flashes of arcane portals. Lothar should have been here with her husband. Did he fall?
"Lord Lothar and the others…?"
"I left them to die!" Llane balled his fists in anger. "I am unworthy of my father's crown."
Taria looked to the Guardian whose jaw was clenched. She then turned her gaze upon his apprentice who quailed under her stare.
"Explain," she demanded. And the young boy known as Khadgar did. It wasn't long before what happened to their expedition was revealed. By the time he was finished, however, she felt weak in the knees.
"Light preserves us," the normally unflappable Spymaster muttered to himself. She could not fault him for the outburst.
'Five hundred thousand!' Taria thought. The number beggared belief. How were they supposed to fight such a...a Horde? They already incurred a stinging defeat with the loss of their men and Lothar's sacrifice.
No one bothered the King as he was on his knees in the throne room. Eventually, however, resolve filled him after he allowed himself a moment of weakness. He stood up, the burden of his nation heavy on his shoulders. The crown never weighed as much as it did on his head.
"Spymasters, call the nobles and generals. We must evacuate those that we can and create a new line of defense." Llane gazed out to the window in their throne room with anger at an unseen enemy.
"Yes, your majesty!" The spymaster bowed and walked out of the throne room in a hurry.
"My love," Taria called to her husband who turned to her. "We must bring his son here, to safety."
Her husband's eyes widened as if the thought never occurred to him before he turned to Medivh.
"Guardian, make your way to the Redridge Mountains and save Lothar's son. You must succeed, no matter the cost," King Llane said. It was the least he could do for his friend.
"I will leave at once." Medivh bowed and motioned for Khadgar to follow him with the female orc.
"Wait." Llane stopped the Guardian. "Lady Garona shall remain here, she may yet provide more insights against our enemies."
Medivh looked surprised but understood the logic and with a bow, he left with his apprentice in tow.
Llane then turned in the direction of the Black Morass where he left his people. 'I'm sorry, my friend. This is all I can do for you.'
With that, he made his way to the war room inside his keep, his wife following dutifully. He would need her counsel in the days to come too.
*** Redridge Mountains – Callan's Garrison***
Movies back on Earth made sieges seem glorious and exciting. I know now that it was horrifying and shit all around. First, there was the screaming, both from the orcs and my forces. They were disturbing for one to listen to, though when I was fighting gnolls, it never got this bad. Second was the sound of metal clanging everywhere loudly, weapon on weapon reverberating like a never-ending symphony of agony and death. Finally, the third was the press of people against one another and the precarious position you had to stand in to defend the wall or take it.
As if to prove my thoughts, I was aware of the badly swung axe before I even saw it. On instinct, with my empowered shield, I deflected the attack and bashed my attacker in his chest. The momentum knocked the large orc off his feet and, more importantly, off my garrison wall.
"That right, boys! Clear 'em off, clear 'em off!" Keeshan yelled in encouragement before stabbing an orc grunt through the mouth just as said orc's head poked above the walls.
I quickly gathered the Light into my hand until it was the size of three Earth basketballs and hurled it at Keeshan. The ball or Divine Star – its proper name – did not go to the corporal immediately. Instead, it bounced to the closest soldier by me and healed him for a moderate amount. The soldier stood taller and attacked a surprised orc with renewed vigor. However, the spell that healed him now bounced off of him and struck the orc. This time, the orc burned from the damage and recoiled from the pain. The footman took that time to sink his blade into the orc's stomach before pulling out to stab him again just before he pushed the orc off of the parapet. The ball of Light was not finished as it bounced from the orc to a footman and then to two orcs in rapid succession. On and on it went, damaging enemies and healing allies until it reached Keeshan. Once the Divine Star struck Keeshan, the Corporal minor wounds were completely healed, before the ball of light reversed course and made its way back to me, hitting enemies and healing allies along the way once more.
If I was lucky enough, it would finish off the weakened one, but at the very least there were a lot more orcs in pain now. It was a skill that was costly as I felt the drain on my stamina when I threw it out, but at least it was worth it when we were tightly packed like this.
I quickly unleashed a few more Prayer of Healing, a strong spell that was capable of healing whole clusters of people. With my soldiers topped off, I wanted to check on the orcs' status and when I looked over the walls I found myself smiling at the sight. Sure, it was weird and the timing a bit inappropriate, but I couldn't help it. My crossbowmen in the battlements were doing a good job prioritizing those orc spearmen, and all that was left for us to deal with were the grunts. It must be noted that without the threat of ranged attacks, the melee part of the orc raiders was easier to handle.
As proof of this, I moved over to where a ladder was just placed against my garrison's wall. The orc must have been a veteran as he had scaled the ladder quickly but soon found his defenseless bare head greeted by my sword. He dropped like a sack of potatoes and hit the other three orcs that were climbing the ladder right behind him, on the way down. This was where the easy part came in, I made eye contact with the next orc who growled at me, and pushed their ladder off the wall. I heard curses hurled at me in orcish and ignored them to check on my forces.
Overall, as hard as the fighting had been, we were winning. There were no breaches and because I had my Adepta–I mean clerics spread out for maximum coverage, there were no fatalities either. It was mainly because the brunt of the attack was on my side of the wall which faced the forest. Those that thought to be sneaky and scale the other part found fresh troops backed by a healer who gave them a painful lesson with Light attacks.
I could tell that the constantly recovering army was really pissing off the orcs. Any attacking force worth their salt knew that in order to siege a base successfully, you needed three times the numbers at the least and anti-fortification contraptions to boot. The current orcs' attackers only had numbers and themselves. Sure, they cut down a lot of trees to make crude ladders, but that was all they had. Initially, they wanted their spearmen to soften us and take out some of the defenders. Several of my unlucky footmen were caught off-guard and sent falling to their deaths off the parapet. However, my crossbowmen in their battlement that was positioned ten feet up from the parapet easily suppressed the orc's ranged units.
I even asked our hunters to help with sniping those spearmen or anyone who looked like they were ranged spell-casters. After that, the siege was almost like playing whack-a-mole. A dangerous version, to be sure, but unless you were really stupid, you had the high ground advantage over your enemy who was climbing head first at you. There was a reason why Obi-Wan Kenobi beat Anakin Skywalker. Oh yes, just present to me the most vulnerable part of your body where I could best kill you… I would take that all day, every day.
"They're getting tired." I grinned happily as I noticed the wall scaling attempts were petering out. "Gavinrad!"
"Ready, Callan?" The knight already had our horses prepared. Along with thirty brotherhood knights, I had another forty cavalrymen who were readying up.
I jumped off the second story, which would hurt normal people but Power Word: Shield absorbed the impact before bursting. Since the battle at Eastvale, I had been shoring up my weakness which was horseback riding. Then after Garona's ambush, I spent more time in practice with Keeshan and Jenkins, both for drills and spars. Now, with my improved skill and my Light power, we were gonna murderatethose tired orcs.
"Mara!" I called the cleric who was growing very comfortable on the battlefield. She finished caving in a grunt's chest with her empowered strike before she turned to me. I pointed to her and twirl my finger in a circle to encompass the garrison. "I'll leave their healing to you."
"Yes, Callan!" Mara nodded as she began snapping orders to her cleric sisters.
"They're falling back to rest sir!" One of the crossbowmen shouted from the battlement.
"Open the gate!" I ordered as I got on my warhorse. As soon as the gate opened, seventy-one warhorses were let loose and tramped over a very surprised group of orcs. Not finished, we banked right and rode our horses fast and quickly found that the orcs resting in a tight cluster by each other.
Perfect.
"Break their backs, men! For Stormwind!" I roared, amping up the riders, as we caught a very surprised bunch of orcs out in the open. Where our swords couldn't reach, our horses did as they stomped on or just plain ran over an orc like an oncoming truck. We intentionally drove the tired orcs closer to the walls and within range of our crossbowmen. I envied them; those guys must have been having a field day with all the easy pickings.
We continued to clean up the field around the garrison in a clockwise position. While we didn't get all of the orcs as some were smart enough to run to the forest, the vast majority were dead after our fifth circle around the garrison. There was loud cheering along the walls by the soldiers and the civilians inside. The gates opened and out came a swarm of civilian militia. They worked quickly to strip the dead orc of their weapons, armors, and most importantly, our used crossbow bolts.
Those that were stripped were then piled up into stacks of hundreds and burned on my order. There were protests that we didn't have that much oil to do this every time, but leaving rotting corpses on the field was asking us to breathe in sickness. Modern medicinal practices for the win in this regard. A second group quickly made their way to raid the nearby village of leftover food or supplies that were not taken along during the initial evacuation.
"You did good lad," Gavinrad told me as our horses took on a slow walking pace. We took our lances and stabbed them through orcs' bodies to make sure that they were dead for the strip and burned crew. "Lothar would be proud."
I felt a bit shy at the compliment or maybe I was weirded out. It was just...odd, the compliment. To me, I could have done so much better, and while there were some deaths, at least the majority was still alive.
Eventually, everyone was finished with their job, and the groups returned, escorted by the cavalry just as the sun finally set. The night sky was illuminated by the twenty pyre worth of orc corpses. Our loss totaled thirty-five footmen and ten times that number injured. Unfortunately, the dead footmen were too far gone, their spirits released by the time we found them under the throng of orc corpses. Upon dismounting my horse, I spotted Mara and the rest of her sisters soldiering on, their once pristine armor splattered with blood and their hair frazzled. All of them wore tired expressions on their faces, the battle high having left them. I admired the fact that, even barely being able to stand on their feet, they were tending to the wounded.
"Mara," I called out to the woman who jumped at my voice before turning to greet me, but I didn't give her time to. "Get some rest, all of you, I'll handle it from here."
"But we can–" Victoria began before I did a zipping motion across my lips in a gesture for silence.
"You guys just used the Light extensively for the first time in new ways. Trust me, you need rest," I said as I made eye contact with each woman. "I will be relying on you even more tomorrow."
A few bit their lips before they inclined their head and reluctantly made their way to the town hall.
The wounded were taken to the makeshift hospital building which was the not-church Mara and friend had built. There, the civilians and footmen were lying side by side while being administered regular first aid or given water as they cried for relief. These scenes of suffering hit differently when I was witnessing them up close. Thankfully, unlike on Earth, I could do something about it.
"Alright," I clapped, grabbing everyone's attention. "Is this all our wounded?"
"Yes, milord," an elderly woman in her sixties answered. She was what the locals called a healing woman. They were pretty much general physicians and used medicine and rough science to heal rather than magic. "Sir Byrun was the last one brought in."
Sir Byrun was one of my footmen. Hearing the groans of the injured I nodded. "Okay, I'll make this quick. Nobody moves."
I held out my arms and began singing. It was a soft chorus in a melodious alien language that shouldn't be in use yet. I knew people were staring at me, but that didn't matter because, shortly after the Light filled the room and sang with me. Like before, I was the singer and it was the band; I directed it and it supplied the power.
In the game, Divine Hymn only lasted a few seconds. That was because it only had to heal forty people and only for a percentage. In real life – and wasn't that a weird thought – it could heal so much more, it just needed someone to spend the time and energy to do so. If someone wanted to heal two hundred people, they needed to do the work. After five minutes, I opened my eyes as I felt the Light reluctantly leave me, especially since it wanted to do more together with me. I nod at the healing woman and injured who looked at me in shock.
"Well? How are you all feeling?" I asked and saw some soldiers ripping their bandages off to show healed scars.
"By the Light..."
"Just a scar now..."
"…dead for sure!"
"Looks like everyone's fine." I felt proud of a job well done. All of them were healed, and nobody died. Another win for today. With my job done, I bade them a good evening's rest. "Rest well everyone."
I made my way inside the town hall which was packed with women and children. Their mothers or caretaker hushed them as they saw me. With a jaunty wave, I went to my private room on the second floor. I saw my two footmen, who had blood spatter on their armor, salute at my appearance.
"Sir!"
"At ease," I said before I turned to the right one. "I need you to hand this to the scouts. Tell them I need a reply from Lakeshire."
I quickly wrote down what I wanted to know and handed it to Nate who left quickly. The letter was simple, I needed to know what they, and by extension Stonewatch, wanted me to do. Do we hold for reinforcement or escape and if so, in which direction?
With everything done, I allowed myself to fall like a cut tree, armor and all, onto my cot and was immediately out a second later.
++ The Next Morning ++
After a quick morning breakfast which involved sausages, scrambled eggs, and very soft bread, I began my inspection of the wall's defenses. There were minor damages that I spotted, but they wouldn't affect the overall structural stability. With me was Keeshan since Jenkins had taken the night shift and was now resting.
"How are the civilians doing?" I asked the corporal. He didn't bat an eye at how I addressed the 'peasants' now, having gotten used to my quirk.
"Secure for the most part." Keeshan began. "Per your orders, the blacksmith worked throughout the night to make the orcs' weapons feasible for our militiamen."
I nodded happily at the news and was glad for Stormwind's militarized culture. Every man and woman knew how to fight to some degree as part of their general education growing up. We had already distributed the weapons and armor we could scourge up, which amounted to a thousand outfitted militiamen. I had hoped that the blacksmith could rig existing orcs' weapons for human use so we could increase that number, which turned out to be the right decision.
"Make sure to give those guys extra rations," I said as I continued my walk along the wall. "They would need it most and tell them to take power naps to recharge. I don't want to push them too hard, but it could mean the difference between life and death."
"They'll understand, sir." Keeshan nodded as he followed me dutifully. "Also, of the err… civilians we took in, we discovered about five hundred were retired veterans so I prioritized arming them first."
"Good." I agreed with the decision. We needed all of the fighting men we could get. I had roughly five hundred under my command, not including Gavinrad's knights which numbered around thirty and an additional three hundred footmen from the survivors of the Stonewatch patrol.
After Garona's ambush, Stonewatch was tasked with helping to secure the area to the south of me. My father's handiwork, no doubt. The force was a thousand strong, but only three hundred made it back to the garrison. The highest ranked was a sergeant, and he happily turned over command of the survivors to me. All in all, I had a pretty sizable force to beat back any siege. By the time I was finished with my rounds around the wall, said walls were fully manned. The militiamen were also ready at a moment's notice to fill in any gaps, but we just had more militiamen than weapons right now.
"Hmm, what's going on over there?" I asked as something peculiar caught my eye. By the not-church were Mara and her sister, both of them leading a large group of soldiers and civilians in prayer. "They're holding service now?"
"It's so they can thank the Light for their blessings," Keeshan said with a soft smile.
"Blessing? What blessing?" I rolled my eyes and gave Keeshan a pointed look. "Last I checked, they just lost their homes and the orcs might attack us in greater numbers. I wouldn't call that a blessing, John."
"What?" I saw Keeshan give me an odd look as if I was stupid, and I did not particularly appreciate it.
"Nothing, sir," Keeshan said flatly before he glanced down at the morning service. "Don't worry, Lady Mara keeps the sermon short. That's the tenth service held already."
Now that was interesting because those Church of the Light sermons could be a bit long from what I recalled. I was young then and wanted to know how the Light was preached in my favorite video game. It wasn't quite a mistake, but I never did feel the desire to go back. Wanting to take a closer look, I hopped off the wall to check out the service, wondering if it would be different from what I remembered. Unfortunately, by the time I arrived, it appeared the service was winding down.
" –Deo Gra-tias~~" Mara finished chanting softly. There was a glow about her, literally, but she wasn't the only one who was a bit brighter. The people who were in attendance also had a much softer glow as they said the Light's chant with her. She saw my approach and smiled before she turned back. "Go and may the Light keep you safe in the coming days."
There was a rush of thank you before they disperse. It took me a moment to realize why Mara's ending chant was so familiar. It was something I was used to hearing with a male voice. It was the Warcraft 2 church building sound when you clicked on it.
'Huh...' I thought as I found out later what that meant in real life. Latin words must have different meanings in Azeroth cause I am pretty sure they don't worship the Christian God. I noticed that the people made sure to give me a wide berth along with odd glances here and there. I ignored them and approached the clergywoman's makeshift altar.
"Lady Mara, Clerics, Abbess," I greeted the High Cleric and the other sisters. They were in the middle of cleaning the area and returned my greeting with a warm wave. I nod in their direction and turn back to their leader. "I must say I never expected so many would have the time to attend the service."
"It was thanks in part to your inspiration." Mara walked toward me and inclined her head in Keeshan's direction. "Many felt the Light yesterday when the wounded were treated. I do hope that one day you can let me listen to the Divine Hymn in full."
"Maybe but I think seeing five clerics laying the smacketh down on the orcs' candy asses would be more inspirational I'll bet." I arched an eyebrow at her and saw her blush. I think we were all surprised when she took to killing orcs like a duck to water. I didn't even see any guilt or remorse in her at all for ending those lives. Heck, even I still got affected by those who I killed; I was just better at hiding it.
"You give me too much undue praise, Callan," Mara said politely as she stood in front of me. "Without you, I have no idea how many souls would have slipped through our fingers."
"You'll get there," I said as I patted her on her shoulders. I didn't want to bring the mood down. "I can honestly tell you that, based on what I saw of your performance yesterday, you have improved greatly by leaps and bounds!"
Mara's expression showed just how much she was pleased by that comment. "Really, in what way?"
"Fishing for compliments? How unlike a cleric, Lady Fordragon," I teased and saw her shyly push a stray hair behind her ears.
"W-well, it did feel easier the more I used it, as you said but..." Mara's eyes turned to me, her expression serious. "When compared to you, I feel that we still have a long way to go."
"Don't worry about that." I waved off her doubts. "When I started out, I wasn't much better than you. The more battles you get into, the more experience you'd have in using it. Doubt is the killer of the Light."
At this point, I saw that the other clerics had finished and were paying rapt attention to my words. Crap, when did this turn into an impromptu lesson on the Light? Oh well, in for a penny, in for a pound. Time to get a copyright strike.
"Remember my fellow battle clerics, don't just believe in the Light," I began in a wisen tone. "Instead, believe in the Light that believes in you."
I felt bad when they all had enlightened expressions on their faces. It was a farce, and I couldn't wait until Alonsus Faol formed the Order of the Silver Hand to teach the girls the correct way to channel the Light. Right now, I was muddling through and just hoping something would stick. While I might not have wanted the responsibility, they weremine now. I just hope that I didn't hurt their foundation too badly.
"Ahem." I coughed a bit. "Anyway, are your gears in good condition?"
"Yes," Milfy-Victoria came up next to Mara as if she had been waiting for a chance to assert her presence. "The Blacksmith gave us priority and inspected our gears personally. He said its durability is still good."
"Good, remember that it's important to–"
DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUUN!
That was the warhorn.
"Orcs on the horizon, sir!" Came the cry from the battlement.
The garrison came alive as non-fighting women, the elderly, and children went into the town hall to hide. The militia went into action and helped to transport crossbow bolts and arrows for our range defenders. Finally, the footmen, the heart of our fighting forces, manned the wall with shields and weapons at the ready.
I turned to the cleric and changed things up based on their performance yesterday. "Mara, you are strong enough now to stand alone. Man the north wall."
"But..." Mara wanted to say before I grabbed both sides of her arms and looked her in the eyes.
"You're ready, trust me." And I meant every word. She was a natural; every kill she made would make her better against the next one. I turned to the others and gave them their orders. "Abbess Delilah and Laura, you two will move between the north and east wall. Victoria and Alyson, you two move between the north and west wall. I will hold the south and float wherever I am needed. Understood?"
The clerics nodded, and I smiled and gave them a soldier's salute before we climbed the stairs to the top of the wall. Jenkins was already there when I arrived and was greeted by the sight of the massive force of green. The orcs, in greater numbers than yesterday, were chanting their familiar war cry as they emerged from the forest. Upon seeing the defenders on the walls, they stomped their feet harder, pounded their chests louder, and yelled in orcish at us. Unlike the group from yesterday, this orc force was carrying a lot of ready-made ladders with metal hooks to latch onto our walls.
Jenkins let out a loud whistle even as I asked him, "How many would you say are out there, Corporal?"
"At least six thousand, sir." My second-in-command answered. I turned to see that the other side of the wall that was facing the river bank was clear. West was also clear and so was east. It seems that they wanted to challenge the south wall again.
"How's our range looking?" I asked.
"They are ready, sir. Just give the word," Jenkins replied as he kept his eyes on the oncoming attackers.
They stopped well outside the firing range of our crossbowmen and yelled something at us. Then the leader, a large orc with some type of brown prayer bead around his neck emerged from the attacking force. He was shirtless like most orcs were, but in his hand was a long curved blade and a flag strapped to his back. His hair, what little there was, was tied tightly to his scalp.
It was a blademaster, I realized, one of the deadliest types of warriors that the Horde had. Heck, they were a hero class unit in Warcraft 3! The blademaster raised his sword in the air and roared something in orcish. Whatever it was sure as hell motivated the orcs because as one, the orcs all stomped their feet and yelled to the sky in reply.
"What do you think they're saying?" Jenkins asked. Whether it was out of nervousness or genuine curiosity, I would never know because the blademaster then pointed his massive two-hand sword at us and uttered the orc's famous war cry.
"Lok'tar Orgarrrrrr!"
"Get ready!" I shouted and heard my orders echoed by the corporals down the line. The orcs streamed toward my segment of the wall, ladders in their hands and spears cocked back. I had to wait until the maximum number of orcs enter our killzone.
I called upon the Light to bless as many people around me with Fortitude as possible to increase their stamina. A quick scan around the walls let me see Mara and her clerics have finished giving out the same blessing. I turned my attention back to the orc and grinned.
"NOW!" I shouted just as the orcs entered what was considered oue maximum range.
"Loose!" Jenkins roared as arrows and crossbow bolts rained down on the orcs, killing some instantly with lucky headshots while others staggered or stumbled after acting like pincushions for the projectiles.
The first that made it to the wall were the thin orcs with spears cocked in their hands. Like an Olympic javelin-throwing athlete down to the form, they hurled their spears at my defenders on the wall.
"Barrier!" I shouted as a golden dome of light encased my section of the wall and greatly diluted the oncoming spearmen attack. All the spears entering the translucent golden dome of light lost their moment enough for my men to easily deflect them.
"DRAENEI!" I heard the orcs curse and focused on my section of the wall.
The orcs had a massive hate boner for anything Draenei related and that was why I purposefully used such a flashy spell to grab their attention. I knew that I could defend my section of the wall. The more I used my cheat Light magic in conjunction with my earned personal skill, the better I would get at it. As long as they focused on me, the other walls would receive less pressure.
"Here they come boys!" Jenkins shouted as the orcs switched up their tactics a bit and preloaded their grunts onto the ladder. The mass and sheer strength from the other orcs then pushed them up so they could drop down on the defenders without having to make the death climb up. "Clever bastards!"
I agreed, but I held up my hand and called upon a stronger smite, a Holy Smite, to fire at the closest ladder to me. The stronger smite broke the ladder in half and sent the orcs tumbling down onto their own forces. It didn't stop there as I quickly popped a few more ladders, but there were just too many of them. Soon, it started to rain green orcs, and the fighting began in earnest.
Once more with the dense pack of bodies on the wall, I gathered the Light and threw out Divine Star to the left and right of me. I trusted it to do its job as I leaned out to the way from an axe. Then with my sword, I bashed the first orc with an empowered strike and sent his body flying off the wall. Not finished, I turned around and pointed at one of the climbing orcs and welcomed the grunt with a smite to the face, followed by the lightning bolt of a fiery spell that set the orc on fire. The Holy Fire attack was effective for two reasons: it was a quick strike that burned the enemy and kept on burning them for a few seconds. I unleashed those with abandon on enemies I wasn't directly fighting to give my soldiers an edge, even as I blocked, stabbed, and smashed orcs that got close to me.
I was in the zone!
"Barrier!" I called out again and the golden dome appeared to soften the enemy's attacks. Many orcs thought they had a killshot on my men but found their momentum had been sapped by my defensive skill. I threw two more Divine Stars once more, left and right of me, to keep my men fighting at their best. My footmen took advantage of their renewed strength and the orcs' confusion to finish them off.
"DRAENEI!" A bloodied orc roared with anger. "KILLLLLLLLLLLLLLL"
An orc on the far side of the wall bull rushed past my men, knocking even a couple off. I held out my shield and readied myself. For some odd reason, I noticed that his eyes were glowing blood-red, a sign of the famous orcish bloodlust.
"Aegis," I said as he crashed into me and was confused when I wasn't bowled over. It might have been his last thought too when I lopped his head off during his confusion. My Power Word: Aegis surprisingly did not break from the impact; I guessed he was no Garona. With my Light shield still on, I waded into a group of orcs further down the line to cut, thrust, smite, and bashed my way through. Afterward, I threw out a couple of Divine Stars for good measure.
I allowed myself a quick breather as my stamina slash mana needed a few seconds to refill after my liberal use of it after an hour. Going from wall to wall was not easy. A quick glance showed me that the men from other parts of the wall, where the attacks were light, were rushing to reinforce my side. Mara and her sisters were also looking at me, uncertain of their role as orcs have yet to scale up on their side.
They didn't need to worry; I knew their moment was coming soon. After the orcs were stymied by the defenders on the south wall and took horrible losses, some orc would probably get the bright idea that they should spread out and find a weaker spot to climb.
"Orcs by the north gate!"
"Orcs climbing the east!"
"Orcs attacking from the west!"
"Militiamen, now is our time!" Militiaman Clements, my civilian adjutant shouted. "Reinforce those walls!"
"Aye!" the militia answered and broke into smaller groups to help shore up the defenses on the wall.
"Ettins!" I heard one of the men yell. That couldn't be right. Those guys never teamed up with the Horde.
I fought my way over to that section of the wall, killing orcs either by arm, Smite, Holy Fire, Holy Smite, or even Shadow Word: Pain when I could get away with it. Finally, I saw the 'ettins', which turned out to be something much worse: a group of fucking ogres. They had thick wood that they must have cobbled together to use as large shields. In their hands were large stone hammers, fit for their size but would look weird on any other race, orcs included. Using their ridiculous strength, they proceeded to hammer at wooden walls. The wall, which had stood up against everything the orcs threw at it, groaned from the sheer strength of these large bastards.
"Fuck!" I spat as I cut through any orcs in the wall and shouted up at the battlement. Threw up a barrier for good measure. I tossed a smite at the shields and while it caused damage, it did not punch through. Holy Fire created a small fire, but the wood did not burn.
However, there was a trump card I didn't know I had. I knew that Penance was a discipline priest skill that locked onto a single target but stupidly, I forgot the fact that my cheat, Anduin skill set, allowed me to fire five orbs at once. That was five orbs times six volleys. That was thirty orbs of holy light 'fuck yous' in a matter of seconds!
So I flooded my body with the Light until I felt like I was about to burst and then aimed one hand down at the group of ogres and let loose. The ogres did not notice anything was wrong right up until their shields broke under my constant barrage of Penance. Then there was a cry of surprise followed by pain and yelling. I rained holy hell down on the ogres until I felt empty and had to stop. I could feel my stamina slowly recovering while the men by me protected me zealously.
As I recovered, I saw that, of the thirty or so ogres that were attacking, only ten had died. The rest were severely wounded. Burnt marks and blood could be seen dripping from their body. One of the more damaged ones looked up to find the source of their pain and locked eyes with me. He might have been the leader since he pointed at me and yelled something to the other ogres who were slowly getting back up to their feet. I held out my hand and uttered one word.
"Death."
The ogre leader stood still for a moment before, to the surprise of his group, he toppled over, dead.
"D-Draenei?!" one of the ogres questioned. I turned to him and we made eye contact for a second before I uttered the word again.
"Death."
Like the first one, the ogre staggered backward before falling onto his back, dead. The rest of his battered group stared at the dead bodies of their kind before looking back up at me fearfully. I held out my hand once more, and they broke, running. They didn't seem to care that they were running over orcs in their way. I stumbled back and breathed a huge sigh of relief. That took a lot out of me. I was surprised I could use Shadow Word: Death, a skill that was used as a finisher against severely weakened opponents, without resorting to shadow form.
"Huh, go figure." I exhaled. My awareness, no longer focused on the ogres, spread out once more, and I saw that everyone was too busy to have paid attention to me. They actually trusted me to take care of that group of ogres… talk about pressure.
"Good job, sir!" one of the archers from up on the battlement shouted down to me before he loaded another arrow at the enemy in the distance. Because of the ogre trampling on the orcs, they had to reorganize from the unexpected attack. That allowed us a small lull in the battle as the intensity dimmed. Perhaps the ogres were a huge part of the plan for the orcs? The lull also allowed me to think and with a jump, I scanned the rest of the positions.
I searched for Mara and her fighting clerics and saw that they were engaged in – and winning – against orcs that had managed to scale their side of the walls. Feeling that my stamina had filled up enough, I needed to check all sides for ogres just in case. I slaughtered the orcs along the way while throwing out heals that helped out groups of my soldiers. They were simple ones like the Lightwell, the Prayer of Healing, to heal whole groups, and my favorite, Holy Nova. The last one was an explosion of Light magic which doubled as an attack. It would strike the enemy and burn them even while it gave my forces a moderate amount of healing. More importantly, it was low-cost in terms of stamina.
When I got to Delilah's and Laura's front, the two had things well in hand. I gave them a few words of encouragement after helping them clear the area. Then I got to Mara's section, and I ended up fighting back to back with her. We covered each other's gaps and eventually established dominance on her side of the wall. Again, I marveled at her improvement. She was an absolute monster, just brute forcing some of her Light attacks through the grunts' defenses. Finally, I arrived where Victoria and Alyson were and noted that the pair were covered in green blood splatter, probably due to their preference for maces. They didn't even notice it, too busy showing off their kills, I had to remind them that this was a battle and not the time to brag. The two were contrite and resumed their duties, healing those footmen that needed it and throwing out the occasional smite down upon the orcs.
"Good jaunt, sir?" Jenkins asked as he pushed off another ladder while I defended from the orc that was on the ladder next to his. I took the shield's tip and jammed it right in the orc's face, caving it in before I sent a volley of Penance down into the next orc. The drain was significant, but it gave us more breathing room.
"We're doing well. The militiamen are exhausted, but the soldiers and clerics are still good to go," I told him.
I saw the blademaster appear from somewhere, all fire and fury as he kicked the grunts and yelled something at his forces. Whatever he said seemed to have worked as the grunts began to eye the wall like a piece of meat again.
"Everyone, get ready. Here they come again!" I warned as the orcs charged at the wall with renewed strength.
The day's siege was much more intense than the one from yesterday, but as the hours passed, the orcs were no longer as hyped as they were at the start. I took that as a good sign that we were breaking their morale because, as the day wasted away and the dead piled up for them, they would eventually realize they couldn't take my garrison. We took losses too, but for every one of our fallen, we took more of theirs. Just a bit more, and they would break. That was something that both sides knew. However, in a battle, a situation could change in a moment regardless of any precautions taken.
There was a crack sound on the far side of the garrison, Mara's side to be exact. I turned just in time to see a huge section of the wall crumbling down along with the cleric. It was the group of ogres survivors that had run off earlier during the day. I miscalculated; I thought that with their leader dead, they would be aimless and flee from the field of battle. That was when, from behind them, walked the blademaster who, I just realized, never once directly participated in the battle.
"Lady Fordragon!" Gavinrad screamed in horror. The cleric was missing.
"Lok'tar!" He roared as orcs spilled in from the gate. "Uruk!
"Seal the breach!" I shouted as I jumped off the parapet. "Victoria! Alyson! To me!"
I rushed to the gap with the tired militiamen and quickly killed the first orc I saw. I was surprised by how fast I was able to do it, but their movement just seemed slower to me now. It was slowly turning into a free for all skirmish with the breached gate as the wall defenders had to hold against the Horde that was now flooding inside.
"Barrier!" I cast that first to give my soldiers a layer of protection. "Barrier! Barrier! Barrier! Barrier! Barrier!"
My stamina was not topped off by any means and with six barriers that covered the front lines of the fighting, I knew what had to be done. However, I couldn't do it alone.
"Gavinrad!" I pointed at the ogres with my sword. "Keep them off of me!"
"Yes, Lothar!" Gavinrad charged with his knights against the ogres. On horseback, I would say an ogre would have a hard time fighting against a knight, but on the ground, they had a height advantage. Again, the high ground was important.
I pulled the Light to me, feeling it straining in my body. When I couldn't pull in anymore, I let it go. A ring of golden light exploded from my body and swept through the area. When it touched the defenders, it healed them and gave them strength. The orcs, however, were badly hurt when the light wave touched them. The fel magic inside their body reacted negatively to the Light and doubly so when my intention was to hurt them.
"Draenei!" The blademaster roared as the golden flames from my Halo spell burned the fel on his skin. His ogres were pushed away by Gavinrad, leaving him wide open. However, a blademaster was never defenseless as he smiled cruelly and got into an attack stance. His predatory eyes gleamed when he saw Victoria and Alyson flanking me, both emitting a soft golden glow. They must have looked very much like Draenei vindicators with their dress armor, shield, and mace to the orc. The blademaster showed me a cruel smile that was all teeth and stalked toward me, even as the clerics raised their shields, their newly formed battle instinct screaming at them that this was no ordinary orc.
"Ladies," I said as I glared at the Blademaster. If he thought I was gonna fight him fairly, he was wrong. "Smite him down!"
As one, the three of us raised our hands and three lashes of golden light struck him. Then struck him again, and again, and again. The blademaster, taken off guard, tried to shield himself from the smite barrage with his raised sword. However, while the other two were continuing with their smite, I switched it up.
"Chastise!"
The Blademaster roared in great pain as the powerful spell landed. He must have been surprised when Victoria and Alyson's smite was amplified by Holy Word: Chastise. I then called Holy Fire on him again and again while the clerics continued to smite him with all they had. The blademaster bled enough that he let loose a challenging roar.
"MUARAAAAAAAAAAH! KILLLL!"
He charged toward us, tanking through our attacks and was willing to suffer through the pain. However he was completely blindsided by the twin volley of Penance that came from his right. The twin Penance volley of eight orbs total broke the blademaster's momentum and sent him to the ground. He recovered quickly, but we never stopped our onslaught and that forced him to try and defend himself.
I flickered my eyes to the origin of the attack and was surprised to see Abbess Delilah and Laura holding their hand out to fire another volley of Penance. I didn't even know that they had learned it. The two faces were strained from using such an advanced spell. It was clearly taking a huge toll on them.
"Keep at it!" I shouted as five priests ganged up on the elite warrior. The fighting around us grew intense. It was as if the soldiers somehow sensed that this was a deciding moment. "Don't let up!"
Even though I said that, Laura was the first to collapse to her knees in exhaustion. A brotherhood knight was by her side instantly to defend her from attacking orcs. Alyson was next as she dropped to her knees beside me. Finally, Victoria and Delilah stopped at the same time, their faith strong but their bodies exhausted. The defenders of the garrison paid a huge price to defend us from orcs' attacks. Some of the civilians were going as far as to hold onto a grunt's leg as other militiamen stabbed the orc.
It was just me and the blademaster now, interference from both sides checked by our respective forces. He was bleeding everywhere and his flesh was charred. Even his hair was not spared as it was burnt to a crisp. However, when he saw that it was just me and him, he laughed, please for the one-on-one duel. I swallowed hard; I still had something in the tank thankfully, there was no status screen or anything, I just felt it. I might have had the Light, but this was a frigging Blademaster. This was probably going to be the toughest fight of my life.
At least, it should have been when something burst up from the rubble and stabbed the blademaster in the back. A familiar short sword popped out from the orc's chest like a xenomorph. He looked down at the sword in confusion, but I wasn't. Mara was behind him, looking like she had just walked out of the Carrie movie prom set. She was battered, bloodied, and utterly pissed.
"Die, foul beast!" She roared and pulled her sword up and split the blademaster's head in half. "To the hells with you!"
'Damn girl!' I thought. That must have been the nicest way I heard someone say 'Fuck You!' I was not the only one who saw what happened; the orcs fought with less intensity when they finally noticed that their blademaster was dead.
"Glory to Stormwind!" Mara shouted fervently. She must have been riding that battle high as she ignored everything around her and raised her sword to the sky. The defenders, seeing this and inspired by what she just did, fell onto the demoralized orcs in a crazed frenzy that even took me off guard. The death of their blademaster and leader, combined with our ferocious attack, was what broke the numerically superior Horde as they began to retreat through the gap, not used to being the ones getting savaged.
I looked at Mara who had collapsed to one knee as her adrenaline faded, the only thing keeping her from face-planting was her sword stabbed into the ground. Surprisingly, upon seeing me, unshed tears could be seen shining from her eyes. The furious warrior-cleric was gone now. Instead, she appeared almost docile and her shoulder sagged as if she carried a heavy burden.
"I-I'm sorry Callan...it was my fault they were able to breach the wall," she said, a guilty expression on her face as she hung her head in front of me.
The other clerics came to comfort her while the rest of the remaining soldiers finally routed the invaders. The orcs only fled a short distance away. Both sides–attacker and defenders–were exhausted. Many had sacrificed their lives to defend the keep, both civilians and military. The wall was breached now and combined with the loss of half our defenders, the next attack wave, if it comes, would probably be even bloodier. The survivors were weary and resigned. Some collapsed on their asses where they stood, too tired to move. All in all, the situation looked quite grim.
Fuck that shit.
"Get all of the bodies out of the rubble now," I ordered. As something in me snapped. "Every dead body you see, bring them to our main square. NOW!"
"Sir–" Jenkins must have thought grief had taken hold of me.
"I said now, Jenkins!" I growled at him, making the corporal step back. A moment later, he ordered all the men to execute my order.
"Sir Callan, the dead should be laid to rest," Abbess Delilah said gently. "Not on display like this. That would only hurt their loved ones."
I ignored her as I glared at the sky, searching for what I knew was out there.
"It's finished, sir," Jenkins reported in a hesitant tone.
"Good," I replied as I walked into the center of the dead. It was like something out of a history book, rolls of dead bodies lined up. I looked up once more to the sky and flipped it off. "Come get me, bronze twats!"
The people must have thought I was unhinged screaming at the sky like that, but it didn't matter. Only what happened next mattered as I spread my arms out and gathered an unprecedented amount of the Light, more than I had ever tried to channel, probably even for Anduin.
"Sir Callan?" I heard the Abbess say in concern. She could feel it. Everyone could.
"Callan?" I heard Mara ask, confused as I was sure she could feel the Light's strong presence. "What are you doing?"
I ignored her; I needed to concentrate as I mentally recited the wordy chant. A golden light began to gather in my hands, and a thick golden circle like a halo pooled at my feet, brimming with power. The Light was felt everywhere by civilians even if they didn't understand it. Even the orcs could feel it as I could hear sounds of surprise somewhat beyond the gap in the wall. I let the Light continue to fill the area as I chanted quickly under my breath and when I was sure the Light presence had covered all the bodies, I infused all of that power into the bodies.
It was blinding, even more so for me due to my proximity, to see hundreds of bright pillars of golden light suddenly appear all around us. However, that wasn't the only thing that happened as the corpses on the ground were also uplifted within these pillars. Inside these intensely bright beams of light, the injuries that were inflicted on them were undone as if time rewound for them. Gasps of surprise came from all around–or maybe it was horror; it was hard to tell. All too soon, the pillars of golden light faded away with a final flash to reveal an assortment of confused but alive people. They staggered on their feet, some falling to their knees while others gasping as if drawing their first breath.
"What the..."
"Where am I?"
"The walls, the walls…the breech?"
"Impossible!"
"Charles, you were dead!"
"You're alive! How!"
And many other similar questions poured forth. It did not take them long for the people to turn to look at me. The gazes from the clergy group was especially fervent. Whelp, cats out of the bag now…
"Callan...what did you do?" Mara's voice which had been so desperate before was now awed. "How...this miracle...how?!"
I chose not to answer her but instead basked in the cries of happy people. Despite that, I noticed that a few dozen remained dead. Humming softly, I closed my eyes, but I wasn't done. Those that I brought back were weak, vulnerable, and easy picking for the orcs to deal with if the bronze got to me first so… I looked up to the sky once more and asked the Light to help me. Once again, I prayed to the Light for salvation.
"Callan?" Mara's tone was uncertain but soft as if she did not know how to talk to me.
I didn't have time to chat, this required focus. Unlike Eastvale, it was much easier this time as the familiar Light dropped down onto my hand and sprung up in a massive golden dome that covered the entire garrison.
"By the Holy Light!" I heard Delilah's disbelief.
"I...I'm healed?!"
"My wounds!"
"I'm no longer tired!"
I kept it up as much as I could until I saw all the newly resurrected stand up to their feet, and then–and only then–did I let it go. I felt myself go from strong to weak the moment the Light left me and would have fallen onto my face had I not been immediately caught by Victoria.
"Don't worry, Callan, I have you," Victoria gently told me. There was something else in her tone that I couldn't quite identify. That was when I remembered that the reason why Mara and her sought me out was because of my usage of the Holy Word: Salvation. Well, now they know, but I wasn't quite done yet.
I pushed to my feet using my sword as a crutch and willed myself to stand up proudly. The soldiers were all looking at me as I pointed the sword at the gap to where stunned-looking orcs were just a short distance away.
"FInish them! For Stormwind!"
A battle fervor sweeps the soldiers as they swarm out from the gap and toward the orcs. Completely spent, I collapsed on my ass despite the cleric's assistance and raised my head to watch the soldiers charge into the demoralized orcish group. I believed that was the first time that I ever heard the orcish sounds of despair.
*** The Black Morass ***
The Horde had marched, chanting and killing all the pests in their way toward the human's lands when they stumbled upon something peculiar. It was a large roadway that was flat and wide enough for an army to move through. They had not known the reason why until they stumbled upon the human army's former encampment.
Durotan remembered that there were trees along this path and confirmed that the path was indeed new and most likely made by the humans. Many orcs chieftains mockingly thanked the humans for making their path to glory. After all, based on their maps, the cleared pathway led to the human's lands. Many had laughingly assumed that the humans had caught sight of the might of the Horde and fled like cravens before them.
It was when they were half a day on the newly made path that attacks by raiding parties on their rearmost forces were reported. The attackers struck hard and fast, burning supplies and slaughtering many peons and grunts before leaving unchallenged. The outriders that were supposed to warn them never reported back and were most likely killed. Blackhand was furious and ordered ten thousand outriders with grunts to pursue these stragglers and bring him their heads. The next day, the surviving hundred orcs that had cowardly fled reported that the human army had not retreated but instead moved behind them. The ten thousand orc warriors were swarmed and killed by the numerically superior humans.
The survivors were executed for their incompetence and Blackhand, in a surprising move, halted the march to pursue the human army. Durotan was now in charge of all the other clans' outriders along with his Frostwolves. For the past two days, he found himself hunting a very tenacious prey. The prey was a mounted human with a familiar lion shield, the one that humiliated Blackhand. Many times, the human mounted warriors and Durotan Frostwolves riders clashed and each time, they drove them off but not before they inflicted horrendous losses on their wolves and riders.
Durotan walked into the Warchief's tent, exhausted after the latest engagement with the humans. They lost another five hundred wolf riders today and an equal amount of wolves to match. The human mounted warriors suffered less and all had fought to the bitter end, not surrendering as others had done before. As much as Durotan hated to admit it, he was beginning to grudgingly respect their warrior spirits. However, the chase would finally end as he had spotted the human's main camp, and the Horde was now just outside of their enemy's sight.
With such thoughts, the chieftain made his way inside. The first thing that Durotan noticed was Gul'dan and Blackhand, the two standing close to each other and talking in low whispers. The former stopped when he saw the Frostwolves leader enter.
"Ah, the mightyDurotan," Gul'dan greeted in that smarmy manner that always made the Frostwolf chief's skin crawl. "They eluded you again, I hear."
Some of the other clan chieftains in attendance turned their attention to Durotan and sneered. His recent string of defeats against the human's mounted warriors was making the others doubt his skills.
"I challenge any of you to do better!" Doomhammer came to his friend's defense. He stared at the chieftains that had looked down on Durotan. "If not for Durotan, those 'Knights' of theirs would have caused far more havoc for our forces."
Durotan gave a grateful nod to his friend. "Their riders are as good as any of my wolf riders."
"If so, why do they still elude you?" Cho'gall the strange ogre asked from one head but in the same breath, answered with another. "They are better than Durotan. Durotan weaker!"
Durotan bristled and reached for his axe when Blackhand pounded the ground with his large warhammer.
"Enough!" The Warchief turned to look at each of the orcs in the room. "Regardless of Durotan's lack of success, we have them cornered now and will crush them here."
"Lok'Tar!" Many of the orcs roared and beat their chest.
"I would not underestimate them," Durotan cautioned and saw Blackhand narrow his red eyes at him.
"Explain, Durotan," Blackhand demanded.
"They want to fight us here, lead us here even. That means that they have a trap set up for us," Durotan had to look up at the taller orc. "Every experienced hunter knows a cornered prey will fight the hardest."
Blackhand, to Durotan's surprise, appeared to consider his advice when a low banging sound could be heard.
"What is that noise?" Gul'dan asked, but Blackhand and the other chieftains' nostrils flared and exhaled loudly. Blackhand was the first to exit the tent before the others followed.
When the leaders of the Horde exited, the loud banging sound became even louder. Durotan could see the majority of the orcs that heard the sound were looking in a single direction, the human's position.
"Follow me," Blackhand ordered as he called for his wolf and rode toward the humans and saw that they had heavily fortified their position. He remained in the shadow of the trees, but it was not their fortification that he was interested in. It was what they were doing.
The human in black armor that had broken them during their siege was in front of his army, waving a blue and gold flag with a familiar beast on it.
Behind him were the human warriors, in the tens of thousands, using their weapons to strike their shields in unison. The sound of thousands of shields being struck reverberated through the entire area.
Any warrior worth his salt knew what the humans were doing. They were issuing a challenge to the Horde. Soon, the area they were in was packed with orcish warriors who answered with roars of their own, but the human's shield strikes were still louder.
"Get the Horde ready!" Blackhand roared. His blood lust was roaring in his veins. "We will attack at dawn!"
The other orcs' leader roared in agreement as they began preparation for tomorrow's battle. Gul'dan saw all of this and waited for most of the leadership to leave before approaching Blackhand.
"I will have my Shadow Council ready to soften them up for you, Warchief," Gul'dan said with a cruel smile but stopped when he saw Blackhand giving him a level stare.
"You will do no such thing." Blackhand growled as he approached Gul'dan and towered over him. "A warrior challenge deserves a warrior answer."
Gul'dan's face was filled with anger before he lowered his head. "As you say, Warchief."
Blackhand gave Gul'dan one last look before he let out a snort and left. Now, only Gul'dan and Durotan were left. Durotan eyes were on the warrior with the lion shield. Tomorrow, they would finally find out who was truly the better between the two of them.
"Ah, that one," Gul'dan spoke up to a surprised Durotan. "He is their most famous warrior, you know."
"Good," Durotan said and meant it. "His death will bring much honor to the one who kills him."
"It was also his son that you met in the forest, the one who uses the Draenei's magicks." Gul'dan turned to see Durotan expression. He knew the Frostwolves leader was a Draenei sympathizer and often took great joy in throwing their deaths in the Frostwolf chief's face.
Durotan did not deign to answer the disgusting warlock.
"It is fitting that father and son would be killed within days of one another." Gul'dan chuckled.
"I thought your assassin failed her task." Durotan reminded the warlock as Garona had been spotted in the company of humans by their raiding party. Gul'dan was made to explain what happened and became the laughingstock of the Horde leadership for a while. Durotan could not have been more pleased when Gul'dan was mocked. Judging from the warlock's bitter expression he was still not over losing her.
"I was a fool to send an assassin after a magick user," Gul'dan confessed before his smile turned cruel. "I have sent an appropriate member of the Shadow Council with Kargath's forces. The Draenei taint will be removed soon."
"Well." Durotan clenched his jaw at the reminder of the Draenei's fate. "Let's hope that they won't fail you again this time. After all, you have done so very often."
Durotan then turned and made his way back. He did not see Gul'dan raise one of his hands and point it at his back. However, the latter slowly lowered his hand as there were still uses for Durotan and his Frostwolves.
'Soon, Durotan, the Horde will no longer need your Frostwolves and then...' Gul'dan shook his head and made his way back to their lines even as the human's challenge resounded while dusk settled.
TBC...
AN: Well, sorry I got swamped with work so I made up for my absence with a longer chapter, hope it is okay. :D
Anyway, now first off, thanks to Icura, who despite his busy schedule helped me edit this into a coherent narrative and highlight where I needed to flesh out more details.
Secondly thanks for the robust discussion, I love it! It's like…nourishment for the soul so again, thanks for that! I also have a fan who is making an art of Callan for me so that should be posted sometime soon. I know people are gonna have some words to say to me about the "Deo Gratias" but damn it that does not mean the same thing on Azeroth as it does on Earth! Thats my story and I'm sticking to it, what it is is an official Warcraft church praising the Light. Proof is in WC2.
On another note, Ikarnate maps are hard but I am still fooling around with it. In the meantime I will be using the other maps I find to show the meta battlefront to the audience and not what Callans knows.