Chapter Two: The Invasion of Westfall
She wasn't sure what had happened. One moment she was walking down the Hill, counting the coin in her purse, and the next she was flying through the air. She hit the ground hard on her back knocking the wind out of her. She wheezed tightly, turning on her side and coughing, struggling to take in breath. She was absentmindedly aware of her empty bag under her back and she was glad that the bottles were no longer in it.
She sucked in air, finally feeling her lungs expand, only to start coughing immediately as she inhaled smoke. The stink of burning grass and wood filled her nose, and her eyes stung and watered as she tried to take stock of her surroundings.
She didn't know what she was seeing. Everything sounded so far away, people screaming and crying - men shouting orders over the panicked masses running around.
Addy climbed to her hands and knees and quickly started to crawl to cover, hiding near a series of barrels near a house as she tied to take stock of her situation.
They were under attack, gnolls probably. She couldn't see any, but this kind of firepower couldn't have come from bandits. Her stomach climbed to her throat at the idea of the Defias attacking - but she quickly threw that idea away. The Defias were gone.
She unclipped her belt, letting it fall to the ground. She yanked out the iron sword, abandoning the leather sheath and climbed to her feet. She moved to the side of the house in front of her and pressed her back against it, holding the sword like Gryan had taught her and looking out to the field in front of her.
Only to freeze, as she finally got a look at the battle in front of her.
The sky, which had been clear and blue for the most of the day, had turned to an acidic green. A swirling black mass had opened up in the middle of the sky and huge balls of green flame shot out of it. Where the balls hit the ground, fire erupted and huge monsters of rock and flame formed before her eyes. Other winged beasts with fangs and horns were running around, attacking the homeless and sending blasts of magic towards the few that dared fight them.
She swallowed the bile rising in her throat, and gripped her sword tighter, looking around for an escape route. But every direction she looked there were more monsters, more demons.
She didn't ask why there were demons here, Westfall of all places. It didn't matter. If she thought to much about it she knew her sanity would abandon her. She needed to keep a straight head for now - she had time to freak out later.
She scanned the crowds of people for Gryan, and through the smoke she saw him at the entrance to the tower, shouting orders as he looked out at the carnage around him. She steeled herself, nodding lightly. She just needed to get to him, then she could figure out the next step.
She heard a snarl nearby and froze. Keeping still in case the beast hadn't seen her she flickered her eyes to the left, trying to catch sight of what had made the noise.
A large boar like beast was standing only ten feet away, snarling and puffing smoke out of its nose. Its black, beady eyes were fixed on her, holding more intelligence than any animal she'd ever seen. Its teeth were long and spiny, long spikes jutted out of the beast at every angle.
Addy swallowed, turning her body to face the creature, her hands shaking. She'd killed boars before. Boars ran wild in Westfall, most of them descendants from their domesticated brethren. But this wasn't a boar - it was a demon, a Felhunter, and no matter how much of an animal it looked like, it was probably smarter than she was.
It leapt at her and Addy screamed as it knocked her to the ground, the sword cut into her painfully, before flying out of her hands. She kicked out with her foot, making contact with the demons chest and sending it flying. She quickly rolled and tried to reach for her blade, but a second later the demon was back on her. It grabbed her ankle, its teeth biting into the tender skin as it dragged her back. She screamed, kicking at it until it let go. She rolled onto her back to get a look at it just in time for it to leap upon her.
The demon pinned her down and opened its mouth to take a bite out of her. Addy threw her hands up, holding its mouth open and away from her, which cause it to snarl in anger. A long drop of acidic green saliva dripped from its open mouth,splashing onto her neck.
Addy screamed as the drool sizzled and burned her. Her vision went white as it ate through her skin, dripping down and spreading behind her jaw and the back of her head. She ached to wipe it off, but she couldn't move, using all of her focus and energy in keeping the demon from eating her face. The felhunter lurched forward and Addy force it to one side of her head, and then the other. The Demon spat out chunks of dirt and grass and roared in anger.
She let out a sob, knowing she wouldn't be able to keep it up. Eventually it would overpower and kill her. She tried to take note of her surroundings as best she could, struggling to dislodge herself from the thrashing Felhunter, and holding its jaws away from her face
She spotted her sword on the ground a few feet away and immediately knew it was her only option.
She looked between her sword and the demon trapping her to the ground, her hands still trying to hold its jaws away from her. She knew that if she were to go for the sword, she'd have to let go - meaning that if she messed it up, she'd probably die in the most gruesome manner possible. But if she didn't, her arms would weaken and the beast would kill her anyways.
She looked back at the sword once more, quickly making up her mind.
In one swift move she brought her knees up to her chest underneath the beast, flexing her feet and pressing them against the stomach of the beast. When the demon reared back to try and attack her again she let go of its jaw and pushed everything she had into her legs, extending them and kicking the beast off of her.
It yipped as stumbled off of her, tripping and falling to to the ground. Addy didn't wait to watch it regain its footing. She turned on her stomach and crawled over to her sword, grabbing it by the blade. She ignore the sharp pain as it cut into her fingers. She could already hear the beast behind her, and without thinking she turned onto her back and pointed the sword straight up.
The demon, which had launched itself at her, impaled itself onto her sword, stomach first. Addy didn't dare move, watching with wide eyes as the boar like creature sunk to the ground, the intelligent life leaving its eyes until finally it stopped moving entirely.
She let out a deep breathe and tried to take another one in, but it was interrupted by a choking sob escaping her throat. The pain on her neck had escaped to a low throb but she used her apron to gently wipe away the rest of the acidic drool, trying to ignore the blood coming off with it. She tossed it aside, looking up, her eyes wild as she tried to take stock of what was happening around her.
There were piles of dead demons, but they were outnumbered by the sheer amount of dead people. She could see the bodies of the two night elves by the fire, holding their hands in death, numerous members of the stormwind guard, their tabards covered in blood. Every now and then she saw a face she knew and her eyes filled with tears, blurring the world into a mess of green and black.
"Addy!"
Everything sounded like it was underwater, she couldn't hear anything but rushing through her ears. She looked around, trying to clear her head as she looked for who had spoken.
"Addy? Can you hear me?"
She blinked rapidly, the tears that had filled her eyes fell, clearing her vision. Kneeling in front of her was James, who she'd sold wine to only moments before. Somehow it felt like it had been hours, but she knew only a few minutes had passed.
"James?" Her voice was small and full of fear.
He gave her a wide smile, "Hey there. You okay?"
Addy looked at him, then down at the felhunter still impaled on her sword, "I killed it."
"I can see that." He chuckled, cupping her cheeks lightly. "Good Job. Think you can stand up? We probably shouldn't stay here right now."
She nodded, pulling her sword out of the demon, trying to ignore the stream of viscous black blood that came with it. The sheath had long since vanished, so all she could do is hold it in her hands as she climbed to her feet.
"You good?" He asked, and she nodded quickly, doing all she could to keep from breaking down. James leaned down and pressed a kiss to her head, then pointed towards the guard tower, "We're going to make a run for it okay? Can you do that?"
Addy didn't respond, just looking at the guard tower blankly. Gryan had been there earlier.
"Hey!" He snapped his fingers in front of her a few times and Addy brought her attention to him, trying her hardest to focus, "I know you're scared, and probably confused. But right now I need you to pay attention." she nodded, her eyes wide as she stared at him. He reached down and grabbed her hand, gripping it tightly, looking her in the eye. "No matter what happens, you keep running towards that tower. Don't stop for anything, get there, get inside. Do you understand?"
Addy started to feel the fog in her brain lift as she was given direction. Run to the tower. She could do that. Don't stop for anything.
She gave him a sharp nod.
"Say it!"
"Yes!" She shouted, her voice cracking, "Yes I understand! I can do it!"
"Good." He reached to his belt and pulled out two one-handed swords, spinning them a few times and holding them outright. "Ready?"
Addy grabbed her sword with both hands, holding it out in front of her. She tried to remember everything that Gryan had taught her and cursed herself that she hadn't practiced in years. She nodded once more to James.
And then they ran.
Running with a two-handed sword was much harder than she ever could have imagined. Working in farmlands all her life had made her strong, but the sword was very heavy and awkward and it took all of her concentration not to accidentally swing it into James. He didn't seem to be having any troubles with his swords, turning as he ran, his eyes scanning all around him for danger.
"We seem to be in the clear!" He laughed, "Keep running!"
Addy didn't argue, pumping her legs as much as she could as she ran up the hill. James held back, running behind her a ways and she felt safer knowing he had her back.
When she reached the top of the hill she felt two hands grab her. She went to swing her sword but she quickly realized that it was a Stormwind guard, trying to push her towards the door of the tower.
She turned to look back for James, quickly spotting him running for the keep. Her eyes went behind him and her heart froze.
"James!" She shrieked in warning.
He looked behind him, but it was too late. A piercing scream filled the air as a felbat swooped down, sinking its talons into James and taking off into the air. Addy covered her mouth with her hands, looking down and closing her eyes.
A second later, James' screaming stopped.
She swallowed the bile that rose in her throat going all but limp as the soldiers dragged her towards the door to the fort. She dropped her eyes to the dirt, not wanting to see anything else.
She stopped moving once the soldiers let her go. She forced herself to stay upright, not wanting to embarrass herself by collapsing. She became aware of her sword dragging on the floor beside her, still covered in the thick demon blood. She reaffirmed her grip on it, swallowing again as she looked around.
She was inside the tower now, and she let out a low breath realizing that she was safe for the moment. Slowly she felt her breathing even out and she could hear things other than the pounding of blood in her ears. She looked around the room, trying to fill her mind with something other than James' terrified face.
All around her were crying people, many with bloody injuries, in huddled masses on the floor. soldiers were running around giving orders and a few healers were hurriedly trying to help those with the worst injuries. She wasn't sure what was worse: and sheer amount of people injured and bleeding, or the fact that only a fraction of people who lived at the Hill we're in the tower. Which meant that there were still people outside...or dead.
A low crying caught Addy's attention and her eyes flickered to the right. There was a little girl in a ratty blue dress with white ribbons in her black curly hair. She was cuddled in the corner, holding a bloody hand to her chest. Addy looked around for a healer, but everyone was focused on the dying, and there wasn't anybody to help the little girl.
Addy felt her feet moving before she'd made the conscious decision to walk over. She tried to look friendly and not like the dirty, bloody picture that she must've made.
When she reached the girl she knelt down, placing the sword flat on the ground beside her. She cleared her throat, "Er...what's your name?" She asked calmly, trying to appear kind.
The girl stopped her screeching, sniffing madly as she sobbed out, "K-Katie."
"Hi Katie." Addy tried to smile, but it probably looked like a grimace. She looked down at the bleeding hand, "Are you hurt?"
Katie nodded, weeping lightly. She held up her hand and Addy felt her heart almost stop as she looked at the mangled mess of fingers, blood pouring from the wound and over her dress. It looked like it had been mangled by a rabid dog.
"Oh." Addy hoped she didn't look as shocked as she felt, and looked at the girl, swallowing. "It's not too bad." She lied, "I bet it hurts."
She nodded, continuing to cry.
Addy looked around desperately for a healer, but there were all dealing with other patients. She bit her lip, looking down at her hands, then up at the girl. She hadn't healed anyone in years, but she remembered the basics.
"I'm going to help okay?" She assured the girl, who sniffed, "But I need to see your hand. Can you hold it out for me?"
Katie hesitated, then held her hand out in front of her. It was shaking and the sight of it only made the girl cry harder. Addy hoped she looked reassuring as she placed both of her hands over the injury and closed her eyes.
It had been years since she'd called on the light, but Gryan had always said she had a gift for it. He'd taught her how to fight with the light, and also how to heal with it. And while she couldn't heal large life threatening injuries, she could fix moderate wounds like this.
She reached out with her mind, taking low breaths as she sought out the light. Immediately she located it within her, but it was so very far away. She struggled to reach it, but it felt just out of reach.
She opened her eyes, huffing in frustration, but closed them immediately, not wanting to see the scared face of the little girl depending on her.
She tried to think back to her training, remembering what Gryan had taught her. The light was like an entity, we don't use it, it uses us.
She swallowed and reached inside her again, until she could barely touch it.
'Please' She asked, feeling a little stupid, 'Help her'
She felt a burst of warmth from her palms and she opened her eyes, looking down in shock. a warm yellow light was illuminating downwards over the hands of the girl. Addy watched as the wounds on the girls hands closed and stopped for a moment. She made the girl close her eyes as she moved her fingers back into their joints, making her cry again.
She started to feel drained and immediately cut of the connection to the light, not wanting to completely exhaust herself. Once she had done so she felt dizzy and almost fell over, feeling incredibly out of breath. She swallowed shame at letting such a small injury tire her so quickly. She hadn't realized just how out of practice she was.
The girl sniffled, looking at her hand with bright eyes, filled with unshed tears, "T-Thank you."
Addy let out a low breath, feeling more in control then she had since this whole thing started. Touching the light after so long had felt near euphoric, soon the achy exhaustion was replaced with a tingling energy that went from her chest to the tips of her fingers and toes. It filled her with a strange new determination and a low rage burned through her as she looked at the people around the room, and the memory of James and his kind face and smile. He'd died trying to save people, trying to save her. Addy quickly gave the girl instructions not to move her hand until a proper healer could see it, and reached down to pick up her sword.
If she could remember how to heal with the light, then she could damn well remember how to fight with it.
She marched towards the door of the old tower. She had almost made it outside when a firm hand grabbed her upper arm and forced her into a hard stop.
"Where are you going?!" Gryan hissed at her, yanking her back into the tower. "Are you insane?"
"I can help!" She snarled, trying to pull out of his iron grip.
Gryan ignored her feeble struggled and turned her so she was standing in front of him, "You can help by staying here and out of the way."
She shook her head, feeling more determined than ever, "No! I can fight, and you need all the fighters you can get!"
"We have fighters." He shouted, "You can see that bloody portal from a thousand miles away, Stormwind is probably sending fighters as we speak." Addy stopped struggling momentarily and Gryan loosened his grip on her. His face softened slightly as he moved his hands to her shoulders and looked her in the eye, "Now listen to me do you remember that healing spell I taught you?"
She gritted her teeth, "Yes, but-"
"Good." He interrupted her, "Because right now we have a lot of injured people and we need healers."
Addy shook her head in anger, "I'm not a healer!"
"You know a healing spell, and right now that makes you a healer."
"Sir!"
Gryan turned his head to look at a group of soldiers waving him over and he cursed, looking back at Addy. "I know you want to fight, but taking on rogue bandits isn't the same as a battle like this. Now it looks like their numbers are thinning and hopefully we'll have this cleaned up soon without too many casualties. But in the mean time say here and try not to be one of them."
He leaned down and pressed a rough kiss onto the top of her head before grabbing his helm and rushing out into the battle.
Addy stood there for a moment, trying to calm herself down and convince herself that he was right. Of course he was - if she'd just rushed out there she'd most likely be dead in minutes. But she wanted to help, and it wasn't like she could help anyone with a serious injury anyways.
"Oh sweetheart that looks painful."
Addy winced as a woman walked up to her. Addy only glanced at her before her eyes saw the prayer beads at her belt. A priest then - she must be one of the few healers in Westfall who now worked tirelessly helping those injured. Addy watched her calm demeanour with envy.
The woman gestured towards her neck and Addy brought a hand up to touch it, crying out at the sharp pain that accompanied it. She'd completely forgotten about the acidic demon salvia burning her, the pain rushing back to her all at once.
The priest brought her hands up to heal her but Addy shook her head, "I can do it." The woman nodded, giving her one last concerned look before turning back to her other patients.
Addy brought her hands to her neck, resting them over as she reached inside her for the same presence she felt when healing the girl. It was easier this time, and without much prodding she felt the warmth of the light healing the wound on her neck.
She was able to heal the full wound without exhaustion taking her over, but once she had finished she touched her neck, only to feel rough, uneven skin where the acid had burned. She didn't let it bother her too much - the pain had stopped and that was all that mattered.
But as she looked towards the other healers helping those around the room she felt a burst of annoyance at herself. How could she be a help to anyone if she couldn't even heal herself properly?
The entire world shuddered and Addy threw her arms out to steady herself. Dust and rocks fell from the already unstable tower and people cried and covered their heads, looking around for the source. Addy's eyes flashed back to the Cataclysm and the never ending earthquakes which had rocked Westfall for months.
Once the shaking stopped everyone was silent, looking around and waiting for something, anything, that would explain the source of the shaking.
Instead the world shook a second time, stronger and more violently. Addy crouched, covering her head incase pieces of rock fell on her. People in the room started screaming and crying. Outside the walls Addy could hear men yelling and giving orders.
Then came a piercing roar, so loud it shook her bones and made her cover her ears with her hands. It seemed like a thousand years had passed before it ended and if left a charged air in its wake. Addy gapped silently, looking around the room which had fallen eerily silently. What in the Light was that?
Nobody moved. Nobody wanted to go outside and see what was standing out there. Addy wondered if she should peak out, but the deep roar had instilled terror in her. She felt all her earlier panic starting to creep up on her, but she quickly squished it back down. She quickly scanned the room before her eyes landed on the stairs, old and rickey and leading straight up to the top of the tower.
She ran over to them, gripping the railing in case the world shook again, taking the stairs two at a time. Normally the stairs were full of soldiers, but right now they was empty save for the groups of people who braved the crumbling structure to make way for the injured downstairs.
When she got to the top she saw a single wooden ladder leading up to a trap door. She climbed it, pushing against the door until it opened. Looking straight up she could see the green portal filling up the sky. Looking closer she noticed that hidden in the black was a sky-ship, long and blacked and spiked. It hovered over the tower silently, not attacking just...waiting.
Addy turned her attention back to the tower, watching out for flying demons before she decided it was all clear and pulled herself onto the top of the tower. She awkwardly pulled out her sword, looking around for incoming felbats. But the skies were empty, Gryan and his men must've cleared them. She hoped that meant they were winning.
The tall, thick, stone slabs surrounding the top were wide enough to hide her entire body, so she quickly ran over to one and pressed her back against it, dropping into a crouch. She took a deep breath, trying to maintain her courage, before peering out and down at the battle below.
"Oh light…" She breathed out, her face growing pale and her legs weak as she finally saw the source of the horrifying roar.
It was huge. Bigger than anything she'd ever seen before. It was almost as tall as the tower and she might have been eye level with it if it wasn't so far away. It had a large scaled body with a long tail, and two bat-like wings, like a dragon. But with the torso of a demon, with two large horns protruding from it's head and a large axe bigger than horse.
She looked down at the soldiers fighting They looked like rats to an elephant and it seemed like they weren't even making a dent.
A low horn burst through the air and Addy turned her head. She let out a breath at the sight of dozens of griffons flying their way - the reinforcements from Stormwind. No doubt they would have mages and warlocks and warriors who could take down a demon of this size. But the soldiers of Westfall were inexperienced and young. Would they be able to hold out before they got there?
The demon roared again, swinging its mighty axe and sending half a dozen man flying through the air. Addy ducked back behind the rock, holding her hands to her ears to block out the defining sound.
Smaller shudders ran through the earth and Addy looked around in confusion before she realized that it was from the footsteps of the giant beast. She peeked out against and sucked in a breath when she realized that the demon was no longer attacking the soldiers. Instead, it had turned its attention to the tower, and was storming towards it with murderous intent.
She looked down, her mind going to the dozens of people in the basement, injured and unable to fight back.
She swallowed. Well she certainly wasn't going down without a fight. She stumbled to her feet, her hands shaking as she gripped her sword. But as it grew closer it dawned on her that she hadn't realized its true size. It was impossibly big, so much so that her brain couldn't even comprehend what it was seeing.
It turned as it approached and Addy paused. it wasn't heading to the front of the tower where most of the people were huddled inside, instead it thundered towards the side of the tower, where wooden patchwork and scaffolding. Addy furrowed her eyebrows, before something occurred to her which made her insides run cold.
It was going to collapse the tower.
Addy startled as she realized that she was suddenly in the most dangerous place she could be. She made to move towards the trap door, but looking back she knew she couldn't possibly make it in time. She turned back to the edge of the tower, looking over. She could make a jump for it, but the fall would be just as deadly as if the tower fell down on top of her. Unless she could land on something. But the only thing nearby was...the demon.
She paused, trying to think quickly. She looked between the demon and the sword in her hand. She could do it. If she was going to die anyways then really there was no reason not to. And if she could distract the demon, even if for a few seconds, it would give more time for the reinforcements to arrive. Distract it from collapsing the tower onto the people inside.
She wandered over to the edge of the tower, gripping the stone as the whirling wind blew around her. A low vibrating filled the air and she looked up just in time to see the large black sky ship vanish. She swallowed nervously and looked back down at the demon, circling the tower.
Addy studied the beast. It was covered in a thick armour, but she was small, and so was her sword. If she could land on it's back she might be able to stick it into it's back or neck before it killed her.
She felt a rage burn inside of her as she waited for the demon to get closer. It was unfair that she should have to die. But there was no real choice here. She could run, maybe get outside before the tower collapsed. But then everyone else would die, which wasn't an option.
The more she thought about it the angrier she got, a rage burned inside of her that didn't belong to her. It was like something had fought into her mind and the same euphoria took her over that she had felt when she'd healed the young girl. The feeling of the Light
Evil! Atrocities! Honourless! Murders!
Her skin began to emit a faint glow, but she ignored it and the strange rage in her mind, instead readying her sword and preparing to leap to her death.
Murders! Cowards! Abominations of the Light!
It was almost there, only a few more feet and they'd be practically face to face.
Evil! Cruel! Foul Beasts!
She inched to the edge, crouching low as she waited for the opportune moment. Her heart pumped loudly and the slight glow in her skin had gotten brighter and brighter.
It was right on top of her…she just needed to wait…
Vile! Immoral! Dishonourable!
The horn blared again, much closer this time, signalling the arrival of the men from Stormwind. The demon turned its gigantic head in that direction and Addy's heart leapt to her mouth and she made her move.
It had seemed like hours, but it had been less than a minute since she'd first seen the beast. Now the demon was so close she barely dropped two feet as she landed hard on its scaled back. She gripped hard and took her sword, pointing it up into the base of its neck, knowing she had to do as much damage as possible before it noticed her presence.
Before she struck she took all of her anger about this terrible, evil monster and used it to channel as much of the light into her blow as she could. Then, with one final burst she pushed the sword upwards into the neck of the demon.
Addy felt the roar of the creature more than she heard it. As soon as the blow was struck she felt her entire body weaken. The exhaustion she'd felt when healing the young girl came back a thousand times and her body went limp, slipping off the back of the monster.
Right before she lost consciousness she saw a flash of white, the screech of a griffon, and the sight of the ground approaching much too fast.
