The Nightmare
Chapter 1- The Onyx Bench, by way of Marxila
Marxila rode quickly through the burned remains of Elwynn Forest. She headed as fast as her horse could move to Ironforge.
Why won't my teleportation spell work? Could it be that Ironforge has fallen as well? She thought as she rode. Several hours later, she arrived at last at the Gates of Ironforge. She stared up at the mountain as she rode, hoping the Dwarven Kingdom hadn't fallen. Along the path to her left and right were bodies of the Dwarven guards to the city. It seemed as though the Newcomers had attacked Ironforge too.
As Marxila rode into the city, she saw the faces of injured humans, dwarves, and gnomes. Where are the Night Elves and Draenei? Have they abandoned the dwarves? She rode into the main ring of the city, and across a bridge as fast as she could. She entered the Great Furnace and then the throne room of Bronzebeard.
"Bronzebeard!?" she called out, hoping he was still alive. Anduin Wrynn and Highlord Bolvar Fordragon had both fallen in Stormwind to the power of the Newcomers. No one answered her.
She exited the throne room and then actually SAW the Great Furnace for the first time since she entered the city. The entire thing had collapsed and molten lead and magma gushed around the rock that did manage to be above the flames. Dead bodies were everywhere, littering the broken stone. Ironforge had fallen too.
Marxila cast a spell on her steed, transforming it into a bridle. She put the bridle into her bag and then began to cast a teleportation spell to the Exodar. She poured her magic energies into the spell, but it was all for naught. It seemed the Exodar had been destroyed as well. Why is this invasion happening? She began to recast a teleportation spell, this time to Darnassus, home of the Night Elves. The spell was working perfectly, which made her happy. She cast the spell and was pulled through existence into a white space of nothingness. An instant later, she was spewed out, standing in the city of Darnassus as if she were already there.
Marxila gazed around, hoping to see no destruction at all. What she saw filled her with horror. The city had not been destroyed, it was BEING destroyed. She summoned her black stallion and rode across a large bridge. She saw that the Newcomers were entering from the portal to Rutheran where the Hippogryph master was located. What was worse was the fact that the large tree Teldrassil was swaying violently, threatening to fall into the Great Sea.
Marxila joined the ranks of the Night Elf and Draenei forces to help stop the invasion. At least the Night Elves and Draenei didn't betray us; they were just in need of help as well…
She joined the other spell casters in the back of the ranks while the stronger fighters converged with the monstrosities. She channeled a spell into her body, and then focused it around her. Everyone within thirty yards was instantly filled with magical energies, increasing their power and knowledge of magic. That took a lot out of her, so she began to replenish her power by evocating. Swirling energies spun around her, filling her with magical strength. Feeling rejuvenated, Marxila began to cast a spell. Fire swirled around her hands as a solid globe of flame materialized. The fireball leapt from her hand and smashed into one of the deformed creatures, causing it to erupt into searing flames. The blast would kill a normal creature, but the monster seemed untouched. It began to charge into the group of warriors and paladins, all trying immensely to protect the casters behind them. The creature, feeling enraged, ran fast, impaling a paladin through the chest and sending others flying aside. It ran quickly towards Marxila, goring all in its path. The impaled paladin was sent flying off of the horn of the beast when it reared its head back. It reached the spot where she was and trampled the ground, swinging its horn at the spot quickly. Marxila, however, had escaped safely by blinking through the space in front of her and rematerializing behind the massive beast.
"They're too strong everyone! We must fall back! We can't let anymore die!" Marxila yelled out to the soldiers around her. She began to cast a portal spell, hoping to get as many as she could off of the tree before it fell. She yelled for the other mages to do the same. "Focus your magics upon the city of Orgrimmar! It may be the capital of the Orcs, but they'll cooperate with us for their world will fall as well!"
People entered the portal as fast as they could, teleporting instantly to the huge city of Orgrimmar, capital of the Orcs. Sensing the spell dissipating, Marxila entered her portal. It faded abruptly afterward. She looked around and saw that most of the soldiers had made it. She was relieved to see that they had made it out alive. Quickly, Orc warriors gathered around the group of Alliance. Thrall, the warchief, walked up to the edge of the circle surrounding the survivors of Darnassus.
"Why are you here? What have you got planned?" Thrall yelled aloud to the survivors. How can he speak our language? Marxila wondered. She responded with,
"We were under attack and couldn't think of anywhere else to go. Have you seen the Newcomers yet? They have destroyed Stormwind, Darnassus, Ironforge, and the Exodar. All of our cities have fallen to this new threat. What about you?"
"You have been attacked by the Newcomers as well?! They have already destroyed the Undercity, Silvermoon, and Thunder Bluff. Every Horde we have is hold up in this city, awaiting a fight with the monsters," Thrall said. "Well, now that you are here, you might as well help us fight this new menace. You are the sole survivors, I take it, of the onslaught. You have nowhere to go, if you help us defend the city, we shall rebuild together our civilizations and return the glory of Azeroth to our lands.
"You better prepare yourself for the battle at hand, our scouts have seen the Newcomers army. It's on its way here and can be here at any moment." Thrall motioned for his soldiers to lower their weapons.
Marxila listened to the speech, and agreed to the proposition laid out by Thrall. "Okay then, Thrall. My fellow alliance, we must fight for our lives! Avenge the fallen!"
Suddenly, an explosion erupted along one of the cities walls. The wall caved in and debris was sent everywhere. The creatures were in the city. Orc, Troll, Tauren, Blood Elf, Undead, Draenei, and Night Elf forces ran to meet with the attackers.
Marxila watched in disbelief as a new creature previously unseen ran through the gap in the wall. It was immense. It resembled a Doom Guard, albeit was much, much bigger. It also was deformed and had several eyes and gaping mouths all over its body. It was disgusting.
The new creature, whatever it was, put its hands into the air and a large, rocky ball of arcane energy appeared. It threw this ball down upon the ranks of soldiers, killing all instantly. Marxila watched the destruction of this new creature and sensed the fall of Azeroth. She summoned her stallion and rode away quickly.
She left the city by way of the front gate, but was surprised to see another one of the immense creatures approaching. She rode at it, and swerved through its legs, confusing it for an instant. She rode away as fast as possible, entering an encampment of the Newcomers. She saw a horrifying sight.
Deformed Humans, Elves, Gnomes, Dwarves, Draenei, Trolls, Orcs, and Tauren were being outfitted with ethereal armors. They were using the bodies of the fallen to fight the remaining survivors. From her side a solid ball of lightning hit her steed, killing it instantly and sending her toppling off.
"Fuck," Marxila cursed. She summoned a barrier of energy around her as she ran away from her attackers. She was hit by three more of the lightning balls, shattering her barrier. She frantically looked around, hoping for a way out. She noticed a portal of what looked like a calm, rocky field of dirt. She saw this as an escape and dove through.
Several seconds later, she found herself lying in the dirt, rocks jabbing her. She stood up and looked around. Where was she? This didn't look like anywhere in Azeroth. The sky was a cascading waterfall of swirling shades of dark purple, blue, and black. She could see various planets spinning quickly while energies of red, green, yellow, and white surrounded them.
She liked this new place. She looked around for the portal that brought her here, but realized it had disappeared. She tried to tap into her magical energies to conjure some water, but she couldn't. It was as if she couldn't use any magic whatsoever. Apparently, this place caused magic to be void.
Marxila looked around for somewhere to go. She saw a cliff that dropped off into nothingness. All around her was the cliff. She was on an island in the sky. She felt distressed. Marxila looked around once more, hoping to see something she hadn't previously. She saw a beautifully carved bench made of Onyx. The bench had swirling spines on it, decorating it in what looked like ethereal energy. She sat on the bench, it would at least feel better than the dirty ground.
The Onyx Bench lifted off of the ground and leaped forward off of the cliff as soon as Marxila had sat on it. It began to fly through the twisting energy of the sky of this world and then began to move incredibly fast. The bench fell away from Marxila, shattering and disintegrating into nothing. Her body feeling increasingly uneasy, Marxila began to hold her stomach. She began to thin out and stretch. Her matter was being pulled through a rift somewhere far off, and she was being stretched into a thing strip of stringy matter.
