The Torrents of War: Part 8 - The Battle of Boralus
Opening Statement: So, like many readers I found myself unsatisfied with the last chapter and as a result have essentially scrapped and rewritten it from scratch. I would like to thanks @Mook91 for the suggested outline and @Ebanu8 for editing. I hope that this new update proves enjoyable, thus let me present:
Sarna was neither a warrior like her ma or a sailor like her pa, she was but a humble barber blessed to live in Boralus.
The woman, nearing middle age, with normally elegantly styled hair formed into a tight bun fastened another gleaming blade to her clothes, her hands twitching with anticipation.
Warrior she was not, but she was neither coward nor traitor, and she was certainly not about to let pirates and trolls of all things have her home without a fight!
Forcing open her door she joined the growing chorus in the streets, their voices rising high as they raced to the docks, to the barricades and the invaders.
The cobblestone streets were slick with soot and ash, the air suffused with smoke and screams as pirates swarmed up from the docks and crashed against the city's defenses.
"Ram the bloody thing over!" Captain Jolly howled, as his crew heaved and ho-ed a mighty battering ram at the hasty barricade erected by the Tirasi town guards and retreating sailors.
Other crew mates bearing large shields huddled around them to protect against the returning fire of the soldiers and the barricade started to crash and strain.
"That's it, that's the way, one more good push and we're in-"
He didn't see the stone mortar flung from the second story window of an old baker, who howled, "Get outta Boralus you ingrates!" before ducking out of the way of the pirates returning fire.
The brief break in concentration and order, however, was enough for several slim breaks in the shield wall to let through crossbow bolts and with the shield-bearers dying, the ram bearers raced back, desperate to get out of range.
Lord Stormsong rested heavily on his cane, eyes sunken and lacking their usual warmth as he absorbed the shameful spectacle before him.
Pirate ships marshalled in the docks and swarmed into the city from Ashvane territory like locusts, as ice spread from the trolls' fleet and upon it marched waves and waves of soldiers.
The Sea Gate still stood, Ashvane having simply resorted to leaving ladders and small holes in their great Sea Wall to let the invaders through.
From his perch atop the gate, Lord Stormsong and his retinue uttered a prayer.
"The sea shall not abide those who come to do us harm; for the sea is our mother and her love is vast and deep."
He raised his staff high above his head, clutched tightly between his hands as the power of his goddess flooded his very being.
"Let the tides rise and rage, let the waters writhe and whirl, let the Tidemother take her fill and swallow these invaders!"
The staff came down with a violent thunderous crash against the stone and all across the ice bridges, one could hear a sudden, violent crack.
Hooktusk did not like how the battle was going.
She put the spyglass up against her eye and growled under her breath, "Damned Tirasi, would that they fall over themselves to run like other cities."
"Will this be a problem?" Her guard intoned nervously.
"Hard to say," She muttered, "We got the pirates wearing 'em out for us and they can't exactly leave with the waters all frozen but-"
That was when she heard a sudden and violent cracking sound; Gral's insignia thrummed with wary sensations, and she braced herself.
Then the screaming started.
Great tracks spread across the ice sheet, massive waves picking up beneath them, hoisting warriors into the air and then sucking them into the deep like killer whales.
Frantically she searched for the source and bit back a screech of fury at the sight of Lord Stormsong leading his people in prayer atop the Sea Gate.
"Stormsong!? That bitch promised us she'd have him out of the fucking way!"
"Navarch, some of the pirate ships are trying to flee!?" Her watcher howled.
'Already? They must have been waiting, but who would-' She caught sight of the sight of a bright burning sun.
"Thalo'dan's Privateers!? The woman hired an elven pirate crew to help trolls!?"
Flynn rubbed his chin, "They must have been recent arrivals, I don't remember them as part of the early meeting-"
"Gral's Guts, they're gonna open fire if we don't let them out," She muttered and where one crew went, others would follow in fear.
"Nav-"
"Shut up!" She snapped, "Order all our ground forces and Krag'Jin's to fall back into the ships, we can bombard the city with cannons and dragoons."
Her ears twitched and her heart sank as word rang out.
"We got new ships coming, they're Waycrests!"
"That damned woman said the Red Hand would have them in chaos for weeks," She didn't even have the energy to curse. Turning she barked, "Turn our rear and side guards around, we can't let them hem us in or it will be us being bombarded into oblivion!"
"Hail Navarch!"
"The Huay Drakkani-"
"Will have to suck it up, winning is falling off the table, but surviving's still on the menu."
She very much did not say something stupid like, 'So long as nothing else goes wrong', but somehow, she feared it would anyway.
Katherine Proudmoore stood within the main foyer of the Keep, dragon-scale armor adorning her frame and a hand on the pommel of her blade.
She tried to take her, and her lieutenants minds off the army rallying around the keep, "How's our munitions!?"
Cannoneer Graves saluted, "Ever since we bombarded the traitors from on high our munitions are… lower than I would like, but still plentiful enough to put up a fight. It was a dab plan ma'am, using our elevated position to rain down on their own cannons."
"She had not the time nor the numbers to erect truly worthwhile barriers, would that we had struck Priscilla as well," Katherine groused.
"All too true, ma'am, still," The stout, long haired man said, "We are ready to give any attacking force the fight of a lifetime. Once they grow a backbone and try again, at least..."
"Yes, I am aware, if they make their way past our roof cannons, we will struggle to stall their advance; still, better to take their long-range weapons when we have the element of surprise."
Graves nodded, as lieutenant Amora raced in and knelt, "Ma'am, we fought off another raiding party from the tunnels, but we had to trigger a cave-in to stop their advance."
"A fair decision, I expect they will make for the east escape tunnel next. Once the next round of charges is rigged, send half your forces there to lay down covering fire, stall their advance for as long as possible."
"As you command ma'am."
"We have movement!" Lieutenant Benedict shouted, the bald, armored man racing down the stairs and promptly saluting her, "It is as we feared milady, they are dividing themselves into tightly knit platoons, using the cover of shields and magic to approach the Keep."
"One cannot accuse Priscilla of hiring incompetence, nor for failing to learn from her mistakes," Katherine answered, hand on her chin, "They likely have explosives, or perhaps a battering ram. Whatever the case, we cannot allow them to approach."
"Ma'am?"
"They have not yet had the time to roll in new cannons, and the remaining few cannot get close enough to do more than irritate us," She let a savage smirk play on her lips, "Let the traitors come, and we shall dip our blades in their blood."
Benedict's chest swelled with pride as he saluted, "As you command!"
Priscilla watched the battle through her opera glasses, a smirk on her lips as she saw several platoon tearing through the firing line without their courage or bodies breaking.
'Take her, take her!' She wanted to cheer. The thought of Katherine desperately trying to dig her way-out from collapsed stone, of seeking some little compartment to cower in with her children as soldiers advanced was like fine wine.
Then the doors of the Keep burst open, and Katherine's silver touched hair flashed into sight as she led the charge of green-bedecked soldiers and robed Tidesages in a mad charge forward.
"What!?"
Her Knight Captain Valyri squinted, "Must not want to waste cannons ma'am, and they've the forces to match what few platoons can break through, for now at least."
Priscilla barely heard her, gaze locked solely on Katherine and she darted forward like a viper. Tidesages and Hydromancers broke the magical barriers and the advancing platoon began floundering, as she crashed against the foremost shield-wall and thrust her blade inside.
Priscilla couldn't hear the scream of pain, but her husband's howl echoed in her mind; nails drawing blood from her hands.
"Cannoneers, can we hit her!?" She hissed.
"No, your grace, at this distance and with their magical support we'd be little more than a hindrance," Valyri said.
"Then send in more soldiers, send in all of them if you must, overwhelm her!"
Valyri stared at her wide eyed, "My- My queen, our plan will work, we can wear them out, we can smuggle bombs closer and weaken the foundations as we have been doing, Proudmoore Keep will fall."
Priscilla grabbed the smaller woman's chest plate and dragged her forward to hiss in her face.
'I don't want her dead later; I was her dead now! I want her screaming head on a pike after she watches me bash her children's skulls on rocks!'
What fell from her mouth was, "The-The trolls have arrived, which means their king will be fast approaching; we must finish this now, so we can give him a pacified Kul'Tiras. Do what must be done, or I shall find someone who will."
The hurt look on Valyri's face should have pained her, but she felt nothing in her raging heart, and after a stifling moment the woman nodded and turned away.
Drawing her sword, she shouted, "The enemy commander had revealed herself; they cannot fire on their own so this is our best chance! Charge with me! Seize your gold! Seize your glory!"
The crowd roared, but not with enthusiasm, shields raised as ranks were formed, some greedy few racing forward, ready to risk their lives for a few more silvers.
"The fewer survivors the bigger the cuts!" Another crowed and her soldiers began to march.
Priscilla saw the look of horrified shock flash across Katherine's face and smiled.
Jaina could not stand being consigned to her room, and so with some gentle coaxing had managed to compel Lorena to watch over Tandred while she took to the roof.
The air was still thick with smoke and the sight of enemy ships in the harbor was like something out of a nightmare, but she could not focus on that now.
All she could do was focus on what was right in front of her.
On the grounds below she saw her mother and their house guard sally forth against the traitors, blades and spells flashing and filling the air in a cacophony of lights.
She cast her own magic from on high, sharp bolts of ice crashing against spell walls and woven disenchantment magics designed to disrupt their defenses raining down.
So lost in her motions and work she did not notice the blood, did not notice the men she felled or the house guards dead, or rather, she tried not to, focused solely on her task.
That was until a cheer rose up and a cry rang out, the words garbled but she heard a name, "Proudmoore!" On everyone's lips and her gaze was torn to the source.
It was her mother, she was on the ground, bare feet away from Priscilla, her left gauntlet and pauldron ruined and her body lying motionless on the ground, surrounded by a cadre of loyal retainers.
"Look away milady," Someone whispered, but their words were nothing to her now, the sight of her mother's charred shoulder and her limp body as Pricilla rose up from her throne with a sword in hand shocking her mute.
Dalaran was dead, along with her beloved mentor, her father now slumbering beneath the waves and her city was burning, and her mother's life was fading before her eyes.
It was too much, too terrible and to this she could only scream, magic suffusing her voice and cracking the air, soldiers stilled and even Priscilla's gaze rose.
Jaina did not notice and she did not care.
She could not lose anyone else.
She would not let them take anyone else.
Her staff's crystal turned a blazing bright blue, like a star it pulsed and surged with power until it became too much and it shattered, scattering into the sky.
Jaina could barely see it, her eyes shining a blistering blue as power course through her veins, flooding the air with mana.
The skies rippled and wavered, strange lights and crackling bolts of magic roiled as the false storm seethed and the Elemental planes came to her call.
Jaina looked down upon the invaders and traitors.
And upon them she unleashed the storm.
Priscilla stared up at the roiling mass of magic in the sky, the sound of her jaw cracking ringing in her own head as the spiraling whirlpool of power surged with life.
'I have to kill her now!' She thought, racing towards Katherine, and howling, "Shoot her, shoot her!"
But some of the soldiers were already running, others too caught up in battle or bewitched by the sight.
All were equally unprepared for when it struck.
Blade of ice as thick as any soldier's arm began to rain down like hail that ripped through steel and spell alike.
Accompanying them were tendrils of water elementals that seethed and roared like the depths of the ocean, their very presence made her feel like she was drowning.
Priscilla's charge was stalled, a great wall of ice barring her path to Katherine as her soldiers dragged her scorched frame inside.
"Ma'am we must retreat!" Valryi cried, tugging at her arm.
"No! No, I will not be denied my revenge! Stop running you cowards!" She swung her sword at the retreating, cowering soldiers only to feel a sudden chill.
"Ma'-urk!" Valryi's head lost a chunk to a bolt of ice, just as Priscilla's arm had been cut from her body like it was nothing.
Before she could even fall, or scream or run, Priscilla felt surging tendrils surround her, oxygen ripped from her lungs as the Elemental encompassed her and she was swallowed into its depths.
Don Adam's was a smarter man than most, and so the moment he saw the mage start screaming bloody murder he fled.
For his foresight he had only been clipped a few times by raining blades of ice before escaping the mad girl's range and disappearing into the city streets, chest heaving with each breath.
"Where... Where the fuck are the pirates, where are my people?" He gnashed his teeth, fumbling for a healing drought as he ducked down another alleyway, Lil'Friend clinging to his back.
"Hey, hey," He barked, "Sniff someone out, we need somewhere to hide until this blows over," He ordered, finally freeing the glowing red liquid from his hidden pocket.
"No one around?" The critter asked, massive ears twitching.
"No, and we need to find-Gu-" Something sharp and cold buried in the side of his neck and was ripped out just as swiftly, and he tasted coppery blood in his mouth
A blurring little form leapt from his back and snatched the drought from his hand; Lil' Friend rolled across the ground and corked the bottle, "Will be needing this."
"L... Lil' Friend?" His fell to his knees, the bloodletting enchantment on her knives robbing him of his strength too quickly to fight back.
"Friends don't buy friends as cubs from markets," She growled. Then, something sharp and wicked spread on her features, "Glad to know your safe number though, die painfully, big friend!" She yipped, before leaping through an open window as Don Adam collapsed to the street, spasming and twitching as his life ebbed away.
Hooktusk's nails dragged blood from her skin as she muttered, "Now what the fuck is happening?" at the magical spectacle raging out of Proudmoore Keep.
She felt a sudden, looming presence behind her and turned sharply, "Huay Drakkani."
Malakk barely even glanced at her, simply staring at the cataclysmic spell even as it began to fade, "That does not look ideal."
"None of this is, Sire," She confess, "The pirates are being slaughtered or dying, the Keep held, and reinforcements are here or will be arriving shortly.
He turned his full attention to her, "Can you win?"
Her jaw cricked and cracked as she tried to find a good answer before she snorted, "No, best I can do is try to drag 'em down with me or scarper."
Malakk clicked his tongue, "How much of their fleet have we sunk?"
Hooktusk's brow arched, "Across the war, and with Falravere leaving, I'd say half at least."
Malakk nodded slowly, "And their docks are certainly damaged."
That made her snort, "The entire Ashvane district will be a ruin before this is done."
"A good chunk of their shipbuilding capacity goes with it then," Malakk's head tilted, his orange eyes focused on the keep before he shook his head, "I can envision no victory here, and if you cannot then we are assuredly doomed to fail."
She couldn't even to argue with that, but her chest tightened, her pride rankled all the same as Malakk pressed on.
"Order a withdrawal, Navarch. I shall take Krag'jin and Seraphaine; while you shall lead the rest North and fortify at Tal'Vass."
She cast a glance at her deck crew and barked her order, "The Huay Drakkani says we're done here, ready for a withdrawal and get me Krag'Jin and his witch!"
"Not gonna get anyone else outta here?" She asked Malakk.
Malakk rolled his massive shoulders, "The Western Dominion will fracture without them; I would evacuate everyone if I could, but the portals are already straining the Ley Lines, or so the Nerubians tell me," He sent her a significant look, "You knew the risks of this path, Navarch."
Snorting, she brushed him off, "I know that much, still rankles; what of the pirates and Priscilla?"
"The pirates are none of my concern, though if some wish to flee with you by all means bolster the fleet; as for Prisicilla..." He glanced back at the city. "If she still lives it does not matter, she never swore her loyalty to me, so I am not responsible for her."
"How convenient," Hooktusk groused.
"It is what it is, Navarch."
Shaking her head, Hooktusk said, "We've already taken losses, and this retreat will be bloody if they don't focus on securing Boralus."
"I shall marshal as many Dragoons and other reinforcements as I am able to cover your retreat."
"Whatever floats your boat, now get outta the way, I have a fleet to organize."
When she moved, Malakk let her pass, his gaze locked onto Boralus, something inscrutable on his features and she pretended not to hear his muttered words.
"This was a mistake."
'On that we agree.'
The Torrents of War: Part 8 - The Battle of Boralus
"Stand fast! Stand fast sons and daughters of Kul'Tiras! We are the children of the sea, the slayers of giants and dragons! We shall not fall to these invaders! Fear not, fear not, the trolls' fathomless maw; for we are blessed to fight for this city!"
"Stand fast! Stand fast sons and daughters of Kul'Tiras! We are the children of the sea, the slayers of giants and dragons! We shall not fall to these invaders! Fear not, fear not, the trolls' fathomless maw; for we are blessed to fight for this city!"
Sarna was neither a warrior like her ma or a sailor like her pa, she was but a humble barber blessed to live in Boralus.
The woman, nearing middle age, with normally elegantly styled hair formed into a tight bun fastened another gleaming blade to her clothes, her hands twitching with anticipation.
Warrior she was not, but she was neither coward nor traitor, and she was certainly not about to let pirates and trolls of all things have her home without a fight!
Forcing open her door she joined the growing chorus in the streets, their voices rising high as they raced to the docks, to the barricades and the invaders.
The cobblestone streets were slick with soot and ash, the air suffused with smoke and screams as pirates swarmed up from the docks and crashed against the city's defenses.
"Ram the bloody thing over!" Captain Jolly howled, as his crew heaved and ho-ed a mighty battering ram at the hasty barricade erected by the Tirasi town guards and retreating sailors.
Other crew mates bearing large shields huddled around them to protect against the returning fire of the soldiers and the barricade started to crash and strain.
"That's it, that's the way, one more good push and we're in-"
He didn't see the stone mortar flung from the second story window of an old baker, who howled, "Get outta Boralus you ingrates!" before ducking out of the way of the pirates returning fire.
The brief break in concentration and order, however, was enough for several slim breaks in the shield wall to let through crossbow bolts and with the shield-bearers dying, the ram bearers raced back, desperate to get out of range.
Lord Stormsong rested heavily on his cane, eyes sunken and lacking their usual warmth as he absorbed the shameful spectacle before him.
Pirate ships marshalled in the docks and swarmed into the city from Ashvane territory like locusts, as ice spread from the trolls' fleet and upon it marched waves and waves of soldiers.
The Sea Gate still stood, Ashvane having simply resorted to leaving ladders and small holes in their great Sea Wall to let the invaders through.
From his perch atop the gate, Lord Stormsong and his retinue uttered a prayer.
"The sea shall not abide those who come to do us harm; for the sea is our mother and her love is vast and deep."
He raised his staff high above his head, clutched tightly between his hands as the power of his goddess flooded his very being.
"Let the tides rise and rage, let the waters writhe and whirl, let the Tidemother take her fill and swallow these invaders!"
The staff came down with a violent thunderous crash against the stone and all across the ice bridges, one could hear a sudden, violent crack.
Hooktusk did not like how the battle was going.
She put the spyglass up against her eye and growled under her breath, "Damned Tirasi, would that they fall over themselves to run like other cities."
"Will this be a problem?" Her guard intoned nervously.
"Hard to say," She muttered, "We got the pirates wearing 'em out for us and they can't exactly leave with the waters all frozen but-"
That was when she heard a sudden and violent cracking sound; Gral's insignia thrummed with wary sensations, and she braced herself.
Then the screaming started.
Great tracks spread across the ice sheet, massive waves picking up beneath them, hoisting warriors into the air and then sucking them into the deep like killer whales.
Frantically she searched for the source and bit back a screech of fury at the sight of Lord Stormsong leading his people in prayer atop the Sea Gate.
"Stormsong!? That bitch promised us she'd have him out of the fucking way!"
"Navarch, some of the pirate ships are trying to flee!?" Her watcher howled.
'Already? They must have been waiting, but who would-' She caught sight of the sight of a bright burning sun.
"Thalo'dan's Privateers!? The woman hired an elven pirate crew to help trolls!?"
Flynn rubbed his chin, "They must have been recent arrivals, I don't remember them as part of the early meeting-"
"Gral's Guts, they're gonna open fire if we don't let them out," She muttered and where one crew went, others would follow in fear.
"Nav-"
"Shut up!" She snapped, "Order all our ground forces and Krag'Jin's to fall back into the ships, we can bombard the city with cannons and dragoons."
Her ears twitched and her heart sank as word rang out.
"We got new ships coming, they're Waycrests!"
"That damned woman said the Red Hand would have them in chaos for weeks," She didn't even have the energy to curse. Turning she barked, "Turn our rear and side guards around, we can't let them hem us in or it will be us being bombarded into oblivion!"
"Hail Navarch!"
"The Huay Drakkani-"
"Will have to suck it up, winning is falling off the table, but surviving's still on the menu."
She very much did not say something stupid like, 'So long as nothing else goes wrong', but somehow, she feared it would anyway.
Katherine Proudmoore stood within the main foyer of the Keep, dragon-scale armor adorning her frame and a hand on the pommel of her blade.
She tried to take her, and her lieutenants minds off the army rallying around the keep, "How's our munitions!?"
Cannoneer Graves saluted, "Ever since we bombarded the traitors from on high our munitions are… lower than I would like, but still plentiful enough to put up a fight. It was a dab plan ma'am, using our elevated position to rain down on their own cannons."
"She had not the time nor the numbers to erect truly worthwhile barriers, would that we had struck Priscilla as well," Katherine groused.
"All too true, ma'am, still," The stout, long haired man said, "We are ready to give any attacking force the fight of a lifetime. Once they grow a backbone and try again, at least..."
"Yes, I am aware, if they make their way past our roof cannons, we will struggle to stall their advance; still, better to take their long-range weapons when we have the element of surprise."
Graves nodded, as lieutenant Amora raced in and knelt, "Ma'am, we fought off another raiding party from the tunnels, but we had to trigger a cave-in to stop their advance."
"A fair decision, I expect they will make for the east escape tunnel next. Once the next round of charges is rigged, send half your forces there to lay down covering fire, stall their advance for as long as possible."
"As you command ma'am."
"We have movement!" Lieutenant Benedict shouted, the bald, armored man racing down the stairs and promptly saluting her, "It is as we feared milady, they are dividing themselves into tightly knit platoons, using the cover of shields and magic to approach the Keep."
"One cannot accuse Priscilla of hiring incompetence, nor for failing to learn from her mistakes," Katherine answered, hand on her chin, "They likely have explosives, or perhaps a battering ram. Whatever the case, we cannot allow them to approach."
"Ma'am?"
"They have not yet had the time to roll in new cannons, and the remaining few cannot get close enough to do more than irritate us," She let a savage smirk play on her lips, "Let the traitors come, and we shall dip our blades in their blood."
Benedict's chest swelled with pride as he saluted, "As you command!"
Priscilla watched the battle through her opera glasses, a smirk on her lips as she saw several platoon tearing through the firing line without their courage or bodies breaking.
'Take her, take her!' She wanted to cheer. The thought of Katherine desperately trying to dig her way-out from collapsed stone, of seeking some little compartment to cower in with her children as soldiers advanced was like fine wine.
Then the doors of the Keep burst open, and Katherine's silver touched hair flashed into sight as she led the charge of green-bedecked soldiers and robed Tidesages in a mad charge forward.
"What!?"
Her Knight Captain Valyri squinted, "Must not want to waste cannons ma'am, and they've the forces to match what few platoons can break through, for now at least."
Priscilla barely heard her, gaze locked solely on Katherine and she darted forward like a viper. Tidesages and Hydromancers broke the magical barriers and the advancing platoon began floundering, as she crashed against the foremost shield-wall and thrust her blade inside.
Priscilla couldn't hear the scream of pain, but her husband's howl echoed in her mind; nails drawing blood from her hands.
"Cannoneers, can we hit her!?" She hissed.
"No, your grace, at this distance and with their magical support we'd be little more than a hindrance," Valyri said.
"Then send in more soldiers, send in all of them if you must, overwhelm her!"
Valyri stared at her wide eyed, "My- My queen, our plan will work, we can wear them out, we can smuggle bombs closer and weaken the foundations as we have been doing, Proudmoore Keep will fall."
Priscilla grabbed the smaller woman's chest plate and dragged her forward to hiss in her face.
'I don't want her dead later; I was her dead now! I want her screaming head on a pike after she watches me bash her children's skulls on rocks!'
What fell from her mouth was, "The-The trolls have arrived, which means their king will be fast approaching; we must finish this now, so we can give him a pacified Kul'Tiras. Do what must be done, or I shall find someone who will."
The hurt look on Valyri's face should have pained her, but she felt nothing in her raging heart, and after a stifling moment the woman nodded and turned away.
Drawing her sword, she shouted, "The enemy commander had revealed herself; they cannot fire on their own so this is our best chance! Charge with me! Seize your gold! Seize your glory!"
The crowd roared, but not with enthusiasm, shields raised as ranks were formed, some greedy few racing forward, ready to risk their lives for a few more silvers.
"The fewer survivors the bigger the cuts!" Another crowed and her soldiers began to march.
Priscilla saw the look of horrified shock flash across Katherine's face and smiled.
Jaina could not stand being consigned to her room, and so with some gentle coaxing had managed to compel Lorena to watch over Tandred while she took to the roof.
The air was still thick with smoke and the sight of enemy ships in the harbor was like something out of a nightmare, but she could not focus on that now.
All she could do was focus on what was right in front of her.
On the grounds below she saw her mother and their house guard sally forth against the traitors, blades and spells flashing and filling the air in a cacophony of lights.
She cast her own magic from on high, sharp bolts of ice crashing against spell walls and woven disenchantment magics designed to disrupt their defenses raining down.
So lost in her motions and work she did not notice the blood, did not notice the men she felled or the house guards dead, or rather, she tried not to, focused solely on her task.
That was until a cheer rose up and a cry rang out, the words garbled but she heard a name, "Proudmoore!" On everyone's lips and her gaze was torn to the source.
It was her mother, she was on the ground, bare feet away from Priscilla, her left gauntlet and pauldron ruined and her body lying motionless on the ground, surrounded by a cadre of loyal retainers.
"Look away milady," Someone whispered, but their words were nothing to her now, the sight of her mother's charred shoulder and her limp body as Pricilla rose up from her throne with a sword in hand shocking her mute.
Dalaran was dead, along with her beloved mentor, her father now slumbering beneath the waves and her city was burning, and her mother's life was fading before her eyes.
It was too much, too terrible and to this she could only scream, magic suffusing her voice and cracking the air, soldiers stilled and even Priscilla's gaze rose.
Jaina did not notice and she did not care.
She could not lose anyone else.
She would not let them take anyone else.
Her staff's crystal turned a blazing bright blue, like a star it pulsed and surged with power until it became too much and it shattered, scattering into the sky.
Jaina could barely see it, her eyes shining a blistering blue as power course through her veins, flooding the air with mana.
The skies rippled and wavered, strange lights and crackling bolts of magic roiled as the false storm seethed and the Elemental planes came to her call.
Jaina looked down upon the invaders and traitors.
And upon them she unleashed the storm.
Priscilla stared up at the roiling mass of magic in the sky, the sound of her jaw cracking ringing in her own head as the spiraling whirlpool of power surged with life.
'I have to kill her now!' She thought, racing towards Katherine, and howling, "Shoot her, shoot her!"
But some of the soldiers were already running, others too caught up in battle or bewitched by the sight.
All were equally unprepared for when it struck.
Blade of ice as thick as any soldier's arm began to rain down like hail that ripped through steel and spell alike.
Accompanying them were tendrils of water elementals that seethed and roared like the depths of the ocean, their very presence made her feel like she was drowning.
Priscilla's charge was stalled, a great wall of ice barring her path to Katherine as her soldiers dragged her scorched frame inside.
"Ma'am we must retreat!" Valryi cried, tugging at her arm.
"No! No, I will not be denied my revenge! Stop running you cowards!" She swung her sword at the retreating, cowering soldiers only to feel a sudden chill.
"Ma'-urk!" Valryi's head lost a chunk to a bolt of ice, just as Priscilla's arm had been cut from her body like it was nothing.
Before she could even fall, or scream or run, Priscilla felt surging tendrils surround her, oxygen ripped from her lungs as the Elemental encompassed her and she was swallowed into its depths.
Don Adam's was a smarter man than most, and so the moment he saw the mage start screaming bloody murder he fled.
For his foresight he had only been clipped a few times by raining blades of ice before escaping the mad girl's range and disappearing into the city streets, chest heaving with each breath.
"Where... Where the fuck are the pirates, where are my people?" He gnashed his teeth, fumbling for a healing drought as he ducked down another alleyway, Lil'Friend clinging to his back.
"Hey, hey," He barked, "Sniff someone out, we need somewhere to hide until this blows over," He ordered, finally freeing the glowing red liquid from his hidden pocket.
"No one around?" The critter asked, massive ears twitching.
"No, and we need to find-Gu-" Something sharp and cold buried in the side of his neck and was ripped out just as swiftly, and he tasted coppery blood in his mouth
A blurring little form leapt from his back and snatched the drought from his hand; Lil' Friend rolled across the ground and corked the bottle, "Will be needing this."
"L... Lil' Friend?" His fell to his knees, the bloodletting enchantment on her knives robbing him of his strength too quickly to fight back.
"Friends don't buy friends as cubs from markets," She growled. Then, something sharp and wicked spread on her features, "Glad to know your safe number though, die painfully, big friend!" She yipped, before leaping through an open window as Don Adam collapsed to the street, spasming and twitching as his life ebbed away.
Hooktusk's nails dragged blood from her skin as she muttered, "Now what the fuck is happening?" at the magical spectacle raging out of Proudmoore Keep.
She felt a sudden, looming presence behind her and turned sharply, "Huay Drakkani."
Malakk barely even glanced at her, simply staring at the cataclysmic spell even as it began to fade, "That does not look ideal."
"None of this is, Sire," She confess, "The pirates are being slaughtered or dying, the Keep held, and reinforcements are here or will be arriving shortly.
He turned his full attention to her, "Can you win?"
Her jaw cricked and cracked as she tried to find a good answer before she snorted, "No, best I can do is try to drag 'em down with me or scarper."
Malakk clicked his tongue, "How much of their fleet have we sunk?"
Hooktusk's brow arched, "Across the war, and with Falravere leaving, I'd say half at least."
Malakk nodded slowly, "And their docks are certainly damaged."
That made her snort, "The entire Ashvane district will be a ruin before this is done."
"A good chunk of their shipbuilding capacity goes with it then," Malakk's head tilted, his orange eyes focused on the keep before he shook his head, "I can envision no victory here, and if you cannot then we are assuredly doomed to fail."
She couldn't even to argue with that, but her chest tightened, her pride rankled all the same as Malakk pressed on.
"Order a withdrawal, Navarch. I shall take Krag'jin and Seraphaine; while you shall lead the rest North and fortify at Tal'Vass."
She cast a glance at her deck crew and barked her order, "The Huay Drakkani says we're done here, ready for a withdrawal and get me Krag'Jin and his witch!"
"Not gonna get anyone else outta here?" She asked Malakk.
Malakk rolled his massive shoulders, "The Western Dominion will fracture without them; I would evacuate everyone if I could, but the portals are already straining the Ley Lines, or so the Nerubians tell me," He sent her a significant look, "You knew the risks of this path, Navarch."
Snorting, she brushed him off, "I know that much, still rankles; what of the pirates and Priscilla?"
"The pirates are none of my concern, though if some wish to flee with you by all means bolster the fleet; as for Prisicilla..." He glanced back at the city. "If she still lives it does not matter, she never swore her loyalty to me, so I am not responsible for her."
"How convenient," Hooktusk groused.
"It is what it is, Navarch."
Shaking her head, Hooktusk said, "We've already taken losses, and this retreat will be bloody if they don't focus on securing Boralus."
"I shall marshal as many Dragoons and other reinforcements as I am able to cover your retreat."
"Whatever floats your boat, now get outta the way, I have a fleet to organize."
When she moved, Malakk let her pass, his gaze locked onto Boralus, something inscrutable on his features and she pretended not to hear his muttered words.
"This was a mistake."
'On that we agree.'
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