The Invasion of Rohk'aka Part 5 (Kings Clash - Part 2)
Arctikus looked to the capital city with a fierce scowl. The shining white towers and high walls casting her mind back to stories told of her ancestor's kingdom before the Dwarves cast them down, driving them into the mountain crags.
'
First we crush your allies, Ironforge, and then we come for you,' she promised. The image of her son's mangled body and severed head flashing in her mind, making her draw back and hiss.
Running her hand through her white mane, she forced herself back to the task at hand. '
I need to report to Frost King Malakk,' she reminded herself.
Turning she gave Hala'zhi a nod and they turned their backs to the barriers of wind and holy magic protecting their army from cannon fire and marched towards the meeting area.
The camp was long since done marshalling.
Shaman and priests chanted, danced and sang, calling forth their divine power for barriers or the riding storm.
Legionaries in their fine armor and blades were at rest, but still in rank lines, ready to rise and charge the moment they were called to action.
Meanwhile the great beasts rallied near the back of the invasion force as artificers and handlers made them ready to break through the walls or enemy fire.
The rest of the camp was the usual ordered chaos, great tents rose and everything from potion to food were being brewed while scholars and advisors shuffled around in haste.
At the heart of it all was Malakk, residing on his mobile throne, bristling in vexation at his wounds, but keeping his mind sure and focused all the same. That little half human, half troll scholar was taking back a scroll from the gargantuan Drakkari as they arrived.
She strode up to the map table laid out before some of the chieftains and higher ranked priests among the legion's leaders, along with the sole Nerubian representative,
Seer_Ixit.
"Ah, Great Mother, Hala'zhi, welcome back. How fares the front?" Malakk asked, his good arm toying with a token as he divided his gaze between the magical map of the city before him and its true counterpart.
"Frost King Malakk," She and the Forest Troll saluted, before Hala'zhi spoke.
"Winter remains an ideal time for this invasion, the rains have ensure the lake backing onto the capital is high and the spirits of storm easy to conjure. Your legions need only maintain three camps to contain those within and they seem vexed their canons cannot bypass our barriers." The troll toyed with their furred mane of gold, "Though the fact they are keeping their casters back is odd to this one."
Arctikus nodded and added. "They have bunkered down with barriers of arcane and light but after their canons did not breach they refuse to engage. Their walls are new, high and adorned with powerful enchantments against brute force or piercing strikes."
She was surprised to see the recently arrived Zol'Maz speak up, "Doubtless their best fighters wait for us behind the gate, yes? They know we are acting with haste and can plan around this fact."
Malakk clicked his tongue, glancing to the sky before muttering, "Tis a shame we had to reveal the Dragoons so soon. Quen'Lith did a strafing run and deemed it impossible to break through."
Hala'zhi huffed, "The orcs war did much to prepare the humans for this possibility, Frost King."
Tapping his throne, Malakk nodded before continuing. "If they are still using their Light so casually, they must not have gotten word of our Saronite, or think it an exaggeration."
Arcikus nodded, "The Siege-Breakers think the same, though as they are using it now, even with Saronite, we may only have one chance at tearing through."
"True, true, if we had we could use it for overwhelming force but we traded much Saronite away and used more for armor than spears; such a shame Otembe could not make his cannon idea work," Malakk hummed. "I don't suppose you have any ideas, Ixit?"
The Nerubian swayed as if blown by the chill winter wind, rocking in place as it blinked disjointedly and said, "Your empires use of the cursed blood is your own. We may aid you here, but not at our own expense."
Malakk smirked, "Another way of saying no," He mock whispered, before continuing, "Are the new recruits holding up well?"
Arctikus shrugged, "Commander Xex'Mon says the Orcs are a motley lot, but seem to be doing well enough, though I think they are undisciplined."
Hala'zhi chuckled, "The commander is not wrong, but they are an extra few hundred hands if nothing else."
Malakk's focus had already drifted, looking to Ixit he asked, "You said that your Seers and arcanists were holding up well, is that still true?"
Ixit hesitated for a time, eyes rolling back as they twitched and shuddered briefly, before answering, "Their interference remains strong, the Nether-Ways between the capital and Dalaran are embroiled and twisted. But the Alliance is working to break through and will succeed if given the time. Familiars also report sign of movement beneath the city, they believe a minor evacuation."
Malakk growled, "I cannot let their king escape us, the longer he lives the longer this war will drag on, we must be swift and decisive."
Zol'Maz was scowling, "If so then I think this war should have been conducted faster, or with more preparation."
"We are more than prepared, you merely hoped us to forsake the crusade entirely," Gal'Darah snapped.
"What are your orders then, Frost King Malakk," Arctikus intoned before the fighting to press on.
He looked to the map in thought for a time, before beginning to grin, "The humans have little understanding of Shamans or Loa, still, yes?"
Hala'zhi let out a raspy, feline like chuckle, "On the battlefield in this number? Most assuredly."
Garl'Darah perked up, "The word was the walls were strong but the foundations, perhaps less so?"
Malakk nodded, "Let us pull back our fliers for now and focus our energies on the storm, but relegate more now to shaking the earth, disrupt their foundations and focus."
'"The spirits are at our side for that," Acrtikus mused, looking to Moorabi, "Do your Taunka have anything else to add to the mix?"
Moorabi grinned, "Better suit for battle than spirit mixing sadly, but I can check if they brought bound Earth Spirits with them."
The was a frantic tapping as Elder Shamans Moky tapped their claws on the table, "Something more. Spirit Beasts. Ours, theirs."
That sparked something in her mind, and Arctikus said, "Shall we have our Waterbinders and Siege-Breakers work with them to get our Saronite Spears close enough to disrupt the gates? If we time it right, we can not only sunder their Light but shatter the walls and surge through the opening."
Her liege grinned, "It can be as you say, Great Mother."
"You wish us to adopt an arrow formation then, Frost King Malakk?" She asked.
The giant troll nodded, "Yes, the longer this goes on the more the humans learn to counter our skills, best we strike hard and fast to keep them off balance. If we break through and onto the main road, it will likely be as Zol'Maz said, their strongest force, but also the heart of much of their defenses. Strike at the wall guardians from behind and we can watch their collective spell work collapse and open many new fronts."
Malakk sent his gaze across them. "This will rely on timing and precision, so I leave the specifics in your and the others hands. Quen'Lith and her dragoons can guard our backs so take whomever you need, marshal the legions as needed and split that barrier open."
Arctikus grinned, her gaze drawn to the dark clouds above their heads, her mind thinking of how delicately the city sat upon a raised bed of earth surrounding by waters on so many sides.
'Fragile to the elements, yes, we can work with this!'
"It will be done, Frost King Malakk!"
Dagren the Orcslayer had, had it up to his beard with this war, Garithos's posturing around the common soldiers and worst of all the ignorance of the mage standing in front of him.
"Paladin," The auburn haired man drawled. "I do not know how things operate in Kul'Tiras, but I assure you our wards can more than handle whatever the trolls can bring to bear upon us. These walls withstood the Horde itself!"
Repressing the urge to simply bludgeon the old man, Dagren bit back, "The Orcs had a poultry force of powerful death casters. Their magic was suited for rending flesh from bone, not stone from the earth."
"Be that as it may," The mage answered airily, "We must not divide our attention between the wards and the barriers, lest their dragons return." He gestured behind him to the circle of mages channeling magic from the city square into the swirling barrier of purple above, their magic joining that of their kin along the walls and bastions in the city.
"Now if you shall excuse me, I must make ready for my shift maintaining the barriers from real threats, and not the trolls imagined spirit gods." He turned to leave and Dagren lost his patience.
"Listen to me man!" Dagren grasped those blue and violet robes and dragged the fool close enough to loom. "I am not some wet behind the ears boy who knows not of what he speaks!"
Some of the other mages looked ready to defend their companion, but Dagren's knightly guards trotted forward to stand in their way as he continued.
"I have dueled sea witches, orcs and horrors from the deep and I am telling you, these trolls will not continue blasting the wall if it remains a waste; instead they will seek to sunder it at the foundations. Now can you give me the mages to reinforce them or not!?"
The magus tried and failed to rally his pride and gulped, "I can spare some, but it may weaken the barrier when their time comes."
"The barrier won't be any use if the walls crumble, now rally them so I can get to work."
"Yes... Lord Paladin."
Within the dimly lit escape tunnels of the capitals castle, a huddled crowd startled at an echoing, crackling rumble.
"Did they breach!?" Someone gasped, near stumbling over themselves until Calia placed her hands at their back, gently encouraging them onward.
"No, no that's thunder, must be a freak storm," One of the guardsmen murmured.
"A storm, now of all times?" Arthas hissed somewhere at the front, where he aggressively swiped at the masses of web with his hammer.
"Storms not so bad," Countered the guard captain, "It might stall the invaders a touch, but will make escaping harder once we get to the boats"
Lianne glanced back at the captain, "Are we at risk of flooding?"
The man slowed but shook his head, "Not possible my queen, these tunnels are old but well maintained, there should be a system in place.
Lianne froze and whispered, "If they are well maintained how have they become so overcome with webs?"
Their procession stilled, Arthas cursing as he yanked his hammer free and nearly fell, only to be held up by a guard.
"Shine a beacon ahead of us," the captain snapped.
One of the mages among them did exactly that and they were greeted not by the sight of thicker and thicker webs that almost seemed to glow as they shivered and shook as though filled with thrashing insects.
"The… Storm?" Calia asked hopefully.
"No, no this is not natural," The guard captain hissed.
A voice clicked and rebounded around them in the dimly lit halls, the sound of skittering feet tapping in time with the webs as weapons were drawn.
"Clever little prey, still outside the heart of our webs, but not beyond our sight. We shall send our familiars to entertain you while the city falls."
With that, gleaming eyes swarmed into the room, warped, and mutated spiders twitching violently and hissing like snakes as they charged.
Someone screamed and Arthas called to the Light, their voices drowned out by the crack of thunder.
Nazgrel was used to feeling crowded.
The camps had been cramped and over-stuffed from the moment he'd been forced into them as a child and only death had made room.
He stood among his fellow orcs in the only "Orcish Legion" of the troll's army. It was made up of those who had shaken off the lethargy or like him, never suffered its worst pangs thanks to being young. None had ever told him why that helped.
They all bristled in the face of cold winds and at the galling sight of the human's city, such gleaming, clean perfections and open space while they had been forced into rotting wooden cabins to slave away their lives!
Older warriors snarled and growled, barely holding themselves back, their minds filled with thoughts of avenging a passed defeat. The young among them, as far as Nazgrel could tell were caught between trying to imitate their elders or the severe manner of their liberators.
Nazgrel however was doing neither, his gaze locked upon the robed trolls chanting and dancing, energies radiating from them he could not see yet could somehow feel. He watched as the clouds swirled and writhed around the city, growing heavy and dark, belching out rain and lightning on the magic that protected it as rain began to fall.
'It's like you said mother, there are spirits in the air.'
He stepped forward, he broke ranks, barely hearing the words of his fellows as he stepped forward and felt raindrops splash against his cheeks, wanting to weep and roar.
"Legionnaire, fall in!" Their commander barked.
Nazgrel looked back at the towering troll, "Commander Xex'Mon, there are spirits, you have spirits…"
The troll quirked his brow confusedly, "Aye, these ones are different than we're used to, but eager to speak for so few here have listened. You know of spirits?"
"My…My mother told me of them, before the humans broke her… I never knew if she was right until now."
Striding forward to clap him on the back with a giant hand the troll said, "They are every bit as real as you or I, and with their aid, we're gonna avenge your ma."
Lightning crashed against the city's magic and the ground began to rumble, drawing shouts of confusion from the city's defenders.
"It won't be long now," Xex'Mon murmured.
Nazgrel smiled.
Magroth_the_Defender looked down at the amassed army, his heart stirring with anger ill-befitting of a Paladin. His war star mace clutched so tightly his knuckles almost ached as his chest burned.
"So many, there's so damn many," A soldier murmured.
"I didn't think there were this many trolls left on the planet, let alone an army," another whispered.
"Stand fast!" Garrithos bellowed, "We'll cull their numbers back shortly. This is the armies time to shine, don't let these monsters intimidate you, they will break upon our walls with ease!"
Mograth glanced at the bulky mustachioed man, "You would do well not to underestimate a force that felled Uther the Lightbringer, inspiration is necessary in war, but so too is caution."
Garithos huffed, "Uther the Lightbringer is to be honored, but he clearly was overwhelmed by their numbers. Why there could well be a hundred thousand surrounding our fair city, anyone could be defeated marching into that unprepared."
"You accuse him of carelessness?" Mograth groused.
"No, merely not knowing this enemy," he answered, casually toying with his moustache. "It's as the men said, these beasts should be living in the foothills and caves, not amassing in any real number." The half trained Paladin's smirk grew wide as he jeered, "Look upon what they bring to batter our gate, a mere ballista! Tell me they are anything but a motley crew of animals relying on their numbers?"
Mograth glared down at the distant but growing ballista, surrounded by a parade of water elementals, and enshrined with a reinforced mobile guard tower on wheels, bearing strange runes.
"If they have confidence in it, we should view it as a threat," Mograth counselled.
Only to be waved off, "If you wish to then reinforce the gates then do so,
brother, and leave me be."
Cannon fire rained down but was met with powerful waterspouts that softened their speed, letting them rebound off the siege engines and fall to the ground. All while the stout ballista continued its path, a host of trolls and shaggy furred creatures marshalling at its back while great mounted beasts trumpeted and stomped in the distance.
Leaping from the walls, Mograth joined Halahk and they raised their weapons high, "Paladins, students of the Silver Hand, reinforce the gates and show these invaders the power of the Holy Light!"
The pace of the quakes was growing, the storm showed no signs of slowing, the winds howled, and the gates of the city pulsed with lavender and golden light.
Arctikus could feel the rhythm of the battlefield take hold as Shaman's chants and Priests prayers rose high. Offerings to Shango and the Drakkari Pantheon were laid low upon makeshift alters as warriors began chanting, "Dra-Kar-Ri" over and over to the sound of thumping feet.
Zol'Maz at her side, his Iron Tree armor resplendent, his heavy axe in hand and his body pulsing with a crimson light.
The Great Mother clutched her Saronite tipped spear and marched at the back of the siege engine, letting the sounds of mounting war and thrumming energies of battle suffuse her being when-
The lightning comes, the earth shakes, her eyes flew open.
"
FIRE!"
The trolls within did not hesitate to obey and with a snap the Saronite infused ballista, shining with emerald runes and tipped with the pulsing black metal was loosed.
It soared with neither resistance nor support from the air, its presence a near figment before it pressed against the barrier, devouring magic, piercing the enchanted gates and rupturing the light.
What followed was like a scream.
Golden flames howled, stone and wood was shattered and splintered as the barriers broke and a blast of force was let loose upon the city's defenders for which none were prepared.
The humans were not granted a moment's respite.
The earth beneath the gates towers ripped and sundered, swallowing and disgorging stone as the world itself seemed to shake apart. The lightning barreled down crackling and lashing around the streets and disrupting the hurried mages bid to block their way.
No order need be given to unleash the second wave, as a horde of screaming elements savage spirits and conjured monsters swarmed around them like howling winds.
But the Alliance was rallying, even as the spectral force burst into the city, clawing, flying and slithering their way up the walls and intent on washing over the marshalled soldiers like a wave-
They were being stopped.
The rallied troops stood ready, mages and priests let loose their spells to defend their brethren on the gates and at the forefront stood twin paladins in resplendent armored robes; star mace and long sword raised high, a golden barrier burned away at all that dared approach them.
"Charge!" Zol'Maz bellowed.
The stampeding rhino behind them forced them to part, its armored frame shaking the earth as well as any spirit and forcing even the Alliance to brace while those on the walls struggled to find purchase.
As it crashed against their shield the world seemed to shudder and shake before a glowing golden mace swung and with an explosive crack obliterated the beasts head. Its riders furious leap to avenge their mount was met with a single slash from the other Paladin and the Drakkari was burnt to ashes in a wave of gold.
"We must take them," Arctikus hissed as she began to run.
"I will take the blade," Zol'Maz intoned, his personal guard racing behind him, while Earth Shaking Dire Trolls at hers while snapping raptors and Frozen Warlords nipped at their heels.
The twin defenders, in their resplendent blue regalia, the mace wielder roared, "Come vile invaders! Face we the
Defenders of Justice and the
Circle of Holy Light, face Magroth and Halahk!"
The soldiers rallied and the twin paladins braced to meet them, the mages frantic efforts to reinforce the gate not swift enough to stop their charge as Arctikus roared.
"Come then champion, you face the Great Mother Arctikus and the Warlord Zol'Maz!"
Carried on cold winds they vaulted forward, the twin paladins charging to meet them, only to leap between the other at the last moment.
Zol'Maz snarled as the star mace crashed against his heavy axe, their clash tearing at the cobblestone as Magroth's body was encompassed in a golden aura to match Zol'maz's crimson.
Actricus hissed as she weave around sharp slashes of Halahk's blade. Fate seemed to smile as she struck the golden sword with Saronite steel only for the man to use the burst of force to spin around and deliver a blistering cut to her cheek.
All around them soldiers were beginning to clash, the Alliance desperate to stem the tide and Drakkari equally desperate to not let the breach seal.
Few had the strength or speed to survive getting between the champions bouts. Arctikus knew she could do little, but leave the battle to the commanders and chieftains as she braced for another bout.
Cariel Roame was not a commander, she was barely a Paladin, but the trolls outnumbered them -Which still felt like madness to say- and reinforcements were at least days away.
Their commanders had a plan though, to turtle up and wait out the siege, then spill forth and crush the enemy when reinforcements came from all sides.
But as her father often said, only fools have one plan and their commanders were anything but that.
If, if the trolls breached, the elite orders would hold main street and bear the brunt of the invaders mightiest vanguard. If they couldn't wholly force them out, they'd slowly stagger back, allowing reinforcements to strike from the East and West streets.
This plan was bolstered by having sharp shooters and mages on the roofs to rain down death on the enemy; trolls never fought in cities so Lordaeron was at the advantage.
'
Working like a charm!' She thought, swaying out of the way of a Dire Trolls swing, its body so wide and muscles to large she practically filled the street!
But it did not save the troll, guttural roar escaping her maw, spearmen pierced her wrists and twisted their blades in. The knights binding the steel to their mounts as her reactions were slowed by mages.
Cariel raced forward, leaping off the trolls knee, her arm and into the air she swung her hammer and watched the trolls head go flying!
The troll fell back towards her kin with a slam and Cariel landed with a huff,
'I wonder if this is how Gnomes feel?'
She had no more time to thin, brushing her drake braids away from her face, she hopped back hastily as dark armored warriors burst onto the field.
'
We know of your metal now!' She thought, watching as whips and nets were deployed to bind the trolls so arrows and daggers could be driven through the slots in their armor.
She was drawn from the foray when a scream struck her ears, one among many but-
She cast a glance behind her and her eyes widened as a mage fell from the roof, a snake clinging to their neck. Then watched as a troll burst through the wooden roof of a house and wrapped his giant hands around two archers waists and dragged them down.
Her gaze drifted and she could see more swarming the walls, equipped with climbing equipment like spiked shoes and gloves letting them crawl on walls like spiders.
A snarl caught her attention and she raised her rounded shield just in time to stop a lightning strike as furry little creatures the size of Dwarves began lashing out from the alleyways.
'
Maybe we shouldn't have assumed they didn't now how to fight in cities,' he thought bitterly, racing after the leather armored beasts with a pair of footman.
'But that alone won't win you the war!'
Gal'Darah's stood atop the central siege engine besieging the West Towers. At his back was a priest of each of the Pantheon. All accompanied by a Shaman, while a Legion of them gathered at their backs along with the soldiers, chanting and singing and dancing!
HIs vision swam with divine ecstasy.
The world a myriad of shifting, rippling, light and color.
The souls before him, harried and confused were laid bare, while his kin formed a divine chorus.
Beneath his feet the siege tower rumbled, disgorging cannon fire and spears in equal measure at the mightiest towers, while the storm above let loose bolts of lightning and the ground roared.
There was no need to raise new spirits in this place, so long ignored they danced and sang at the sensation of his mind mingling with theirs and roared to be heard for the first time in millennia.
The Legions chanted and cheered, giving their voices to the cause as Gal'Darah swayed and swung his arms; the mad conduction of one possessed with divine mission. Tears of blood spilled from his glowing eyes and in his maw and through his veins a vengeful light shone.
Another chant, another prayer, another roar and ground beneath the tower turned to mud, draining with it the stone slabbed streets and forced fortifications of ice and magic meant to hold them in place.
The tower strained but the chorus of the skies sang their song of death and Gal'Darah's hands lashed out with a single strike and pierced the straining shield. Lightning running along the tower walls side, the brick ruptured and sundered at least and the white tower fell.
Another bastion for the barrier mages gone and with it, the West district lay open to them.
Down bellow Chieftain Krol'Ton roared, "Make for the breach, before their barrier reforms!"
The earth shook, lightning crashed against the city's defenses as cannons roared and the army flooded the streets.
Bloodlust was already beginning to take some of his fellow orcs, but Nazgrel kept his focus on their commander.
The trolls gleaming white armor making him stand out as they barreled through the gaping wound in the cities wall..
"Follow me, to the Grand Garrison!"
Nazgrel raised his war-blade high and roared in time with the thunder.
Dagren the Orcslayer bit back a curse, '
Just another hour to bolsters the streets, if only we'd had some of those damned Water Priests!'
But lamentation did not save lives and so he drew his war glaive and bellowed, "Rally, rally to me and plug that wound in our walls! Reform the barrier from the Grand Garrison!"
In the distance he heard the familiar roars of 'Lok'Tar Ogar!' and frowned, '
Bolstering their forces are they?' If that were the case it was not just a question of trolls but how many enemies the Alliance might face.
As the tide of spirit beasts and roiling elementals stemmed, followed now by a wave of blue and green warriors and casters, Dagren braced for battle, even as his mind plotted far, farther ahead.
'Even if the city falls, the Alliance will not!'
The battle had been slipping away from Arctikus, she wasn't sure how or when. The Drakkari were advancing in yes, but it seemed a dozen duels were taking place on streets and rooftops. The sheer chaos was almost overwhelming!
"Ah!" Another flash of light to her eyes forced her to focus as she deftly dodged Halahk's following strike and skidded along the stone streets.
She could see him charge again and met her spear with his blade but there was no flash of explosive Shadow and Light. Her strike glanced off and he was getting in close, a gash along her belly forced her back and to guard.
He struck.
This time there was a blast, but while he braced for the shock, Arctikus did not and let out a guttural shout as her arm snapped from the force, spear launched free as she was sent staggering back.
Halahk flung himself into the air, golden wings carrying him aloft; Arctikus drew her crystal dagger and braced for battle.
Only for a bulky shadow to leap between them, with shaggy fur and a massive carved totem for a weapon.
Halahk struck but his Light clashed with the spirits of Taunka ancestors and lost, his wings flared as the howling ghosts roared and forced him to drift back.
The strangely deep and melodic calls of the Taunka Shamans filled the air and a host of
Spirit Beasts, Shoveltusks, Rhino, Leopards and more surged into the street. Halahk's mages met them with walls of conjured ice as they fell back another block.
They were winning this... Slowly.
Arctikus bit back a hiss as her shattered arm dangled at her side, '
If I find that Paladin again, I shall run him through.'
Meeting the furred face of the Taunka she forced a grin through the grimacing pain, "My thanks," she said, taking back her spear from another.
"Think little of it, Drakkari," The Spirit Warrior intoned, "Where shall we strike?"
Glancing around and only half paying heed to the Taunka shaman trying to set and heal her arm, Arctikus mused that question and cast her gaze to the still purple tinged sky.
"We need their mage force gutted before we can truly take the city," She muttered, eyeing the purple tipped mage tower practically humming with Arcane magic.
'
If I waste this spear and we lose it, the castle might become fortified, but if this goes on we'll be worn down!' It was an easy choice to make, really.
Raising her spear high, the spirits lifting her voice aloft. "Saronite Ballista forward, warriors, clear us a path to crack open the mages tower!"
"Hail Chieftain!" the warriors roared, as a mammoth let loose its trumpeting call.
Axes had never been Magroth's primary weapon, but after he had lost his Star-Mace fighting the Drakkari Warlord, he'd had little choice but to take up the injured trolls weapon.
And as he raced up the steps of the wall to see a troll clambering over the edge, only to let the axe loose and bury it in her skull, he decided that decision had been a wise one.
Before her body fell, he yanked the crimson touched axe from her head and beheaded another troll clambering over the walls, their shield not saving them.
All around him the streets were in mounting chaos.
Garithos had been blasted apart with the gates which had undermined command.
Halahk had been driven deeper into the city and making his way to the Market Square to guard the mages.
Light only knew where Dagren was and all the while soldiers on the wall were still trying to blast away at the invaders.
The cannon fire was almost deafening, but it was little compared tot he trumpeting calls of the war beasts.
Grrasping the nearest cannoneer, he bellowed, "Leave the cannons!"
"But Lord Paladin, they are breaching the city!"
He grasped the younger man's shoulder, "They know the shots are coming, these will do no more good. We are falling back to the second layer before they push too deep into the city, and I need help evacuating everyone while the mages ready the secondary barrier!"
That was when Saronite steel struck the great mages tower of Lordaeron, as fire and lightning rained down on the barrier and one too many mages was struck low.
That was when the barrier started to break.
Dagren's battle had seen he and his forces driven further and further back.
A bid to hold the garrison had lasted for a time, but they lacked the numbers and experience to stop the stone turning against them.
Now he duels along the city walls, the 'Drakkari Chieftain', a hulking warrior who had sworn revenge for his murdered mount.
His gold-black armor blazed as he swung his mace, each of them bloodied and battered from the days events but-
The barrier shattered, unveiling to all the stormy skies above and with it, the promise that every Alliance soldier was now a target for the wicked storms.
The Chieftain cackled, "The war is done, Paladin!"
Draconic screeches rose high in the air, the rumbling finally ceased, only for the skies above to crackle as their priests and shamans shifted their attention.
"The battle maybe," He murmured as the troll charged him.
Dagren weaved around the strike, letting it glance against his chest plate and kicked off from the ground, one arm snaking around the blade.
The troll was stunned only now seeing he had been played the fool but too late as Dagren let loose a hammer of light at the chieftain's feet, an explosion of force sending both of them toppling off the battlements and towards the lake below.
'
I am a son of Kul'Tiras, I can survive the water,' he thought to himself as the troll desperately struggled after him.
"We die together!" The troll cackled.
"No," Dagren answered, a burst of Light enshrouding his frame moments before they crashed against the water, the bubble absorbing the force while the troll's body snapped.
Surfacing, Dagren kept himself close to the rocky peninsula upon which Lordaeron city sat to keep himself afloat.
'
The city is yours, but not the nation, not the Alliance.'
Teranas froze on his throne at the sensation of the air cracking in accordance with lightning.
Like shattered glass and storming gales, the wind cried as the barrier around the city was not just pierced but shredded. Its magic writhing and lashing across the skies before fading like the evening sun.
Pressed against his throne, he bared his teeth as windows rattled and cracked, mutterings, "Guards… Guards!"
Trumpets bellowed and he snapped, "Be ready to die holding this chamber!"
Malakk watched the barrier splint and break with a satisfied nod, letting a wave of magically enhanced wind wash over him like a wave, blasting back his mammoth's fur as the beast bellowed as if to compete with the sound.
Tapping the throne and motioning Moorabi to march them forward, Malakk roared, "Legions of Zul'Drak, descend upon the city, we end this war, now!" On his back, grasped tightly in his left hand, Zerat seethed.
The Legions acted as one.
Be it in the skies,
Quen'Lith smirked, lucky bone necklace intertwined with her fingers as she roared, "Dragoons, descend on the palace, do not let them erect another barrier, Shriekers guard our backs against their Gryphons!"
Upon the earth,
"Our Frost King demands we march, so remember the plan, encircle their church, we cannot let it become a home to resistances!" Gal'Darah bellowed as he and Batu charged towards the capital.
Or within the catacombs,
"Take the royal family, and the elf, now!" Anok'suten decreed, warriors swarming through steel and flames to their targets.
Brushing off his dented armor, Zol'Maz spoke with grim certainty as he motioned his army forward. "Maintain ranks, barriers and shields ready, wear them down and give no relief!"
The mages could not cast in time, the paladins and priests were to spread out, the Wildhammer shamans too few and too distracted. With such losses the walls would hold for only a time on their own.
Waves of legions unleashed their fury upon enchanted stone like a howling hurricane, sundering and shattering the walls as more and more raced through the city gates or climbed over the fortifications.
From upon his mounted throne, Malakk's gaze was set upon the shining palace, unwavering, unyielding and unforgiving as an executioner's blade.
Teranas could not say how long it had been, but surely it could not have been so quick?
It seemed as though one moment their defenses had held, the next it had broken and they were inundated with dragons on the towers and warriors at the walls.
Every magus was in play, every paladin in the fray and every soldier at work trying to hold back the massive assault on the castle, with only a small host trying to hold the throne room doors that creaked and thudded with the troll's assault.
'Surely they could break in elsewhere, but if they want to make this symbolic, let them. The more time it buys the better.'
It was not to be long however; a glint of steel glimmered as it pierced the door and while forced back with a pulse of magical lightning it was but a prelude to the true breaker.
Teranas could hardly believe his eyes as his throne room was split open by a monstrously large beast that could scarcely fit through the grand double doors. Mighty, metal adorned tusks slashed through the air sending soldiers to their backs. A snake like nose lashed out as though a whip and it bellowed at the mages on the balconies surrounding his throne room.
The sound was echoing and booming in the closed hall, windows shattered and a deafening ringing sung out.
Teranas watched, head aching and rising from his throne as three trolls leapt from the beasts' head.
The first was sharp and lean, wielding twin daggers he cackled and pounced upon the nearest mage.
The next was a troll in all crimson regalia, wielding a giant blade of flames that cut down the first guards unlucky enough to rush them.
The other wore thick robes and strange armor; a spear was deflected off her stone shield, and when the knight tried to draw it back, she grasped it. The winds howled, pulling the guard forward and letting her drive her war hammer into his stomach, sending him crashing into a balcony like a ragdoll.
The shock wore off and more troops barreled in from the halls, but it had been too late the moment the doors were breached. Now a blue sea of trolls swarmed into his chambers, filling the halls, and swarming the balconies.
From atop the beast, on a throne of stone rose the tallest among them. He walked gingerly down the bowing beast's head and stepped off ever so lightly. A strange multi-pronged sword in one hand, he seethed, giant tusks glinting in the flashing light outside as his eyes swam with hatred.
The troll kicked a fallen spear to him, hissing in rough common, "Ready a weapon little king, for justice has come and I'd give you a fairer chance than you gave my friend and Speaker, Malaka'Raz!"
'
Oh...'
All at once the reason for this became startlingly clear and all of it too late to help them.
Sucking in a breath and rising to his feet, Teranas said, "I suppose solving this in a civilized manner is no longer possible."
The troll scoffed, "You saw to that."
Licking his lips and ignoring the desire to curse his circumstances, Teranas took up a fallen guards spear. '
The longer this battle lasts, the more time my family has to escape.'
"I was never much for fighting, but I will not let you take my home without a challenge!" He shouted, aiming the spear at his foes throat, and racing forward.
The blade writhed as if alive, flashed through the air, in one stroke it cut the spear in twain, but Teranas did not have time to think, as the troll blurred passed him and struck.
He felt a deep, burning pain and then…
Nothing.
The shouts of horror and rage from the Alliance soldiers barely registered to Malakk. He was too busying biting back the surging pain in his side and marched up the steps of the fallen human's dais to sit before his too small throne.
"Crush whatever soldiers remain and find me every record, diplomat and royal you can," he ground out.
"Hail, Frost King Malakk!" His soldiers cheered, washing over the remaining resistance within but a moment and surging through the castle halls like a flood.
Taking deep shallow breaths, Malakk used Zerat to scoop up the king's crown and rolled it between his fingers as the sounds of battle still raged outside.
'Malaka'raz, may you know serenity in this justice, my friend.'
__________________
NOTES:
Well there you have it, the Drakkari accomplished one of their most primary objectives and have also burnt through basically all their surprise bonuses and secret advantages. Because the Alliance now knows how the Drakkari fight, the kind of magic and numbers they can bring to bear and there's no way to pull surprise dragons a second time, so unless the Drakkari leave now or adjust their strategy the war will grow much, much worse as the Alliance forces are rallying.
Much of this chapter was recently written content, discussions with others made me realize I really rushed this chapter and I wanted to both show more of the battle and strategies on display, as well as show the Alliance getting their licks in despite being heavily outnumbered at this stage. Honestly Dagren getting away is a recent shift so we'll see how much if anything that changes, but its rooted in the fact the guy just kept surviving in WC3, so I interpreted him as a serious minded type who knows when to fold-em. Morgrath and Halahk are more fight till the end types but I didn't want to break the flow by dragging that sort of thing out on screen, and who knows they might have been captured.
As to the magic on display, well consider this the Shamanistic equivalent of what the mages did in the Troll Wars; plus as noted the Alliance hasn't had to deal with strong Shaman, let alone an army of Shaman for generations so their wards were ill prepped for these kind of attacks. Also for those who requested it, I tried to include more Taunka and also some Wolvar! Also thanks to Pillowsperky for reminding me the spirit beasts exists, that and Ganonso's work gave me a lot of inspiration for new ways for the Drakkari to use line and siege breakers without taking direct causalities.
Also while not a main thing, one aspect I always feel the need to note is just how stupid big Drakkari are, hence being able to grab people by the waste with one hand or a Dire Troll basically filling a street XD Also I recently learned siege towers mostly held ballista, archers and cannon recently, so that was fun.
