Jonathan paced in his tent at the news the gryphon rider brought him. Commander Greybraid was facing heavy resistance from the demons. The southern half of the demon territory was apparently infested to disturbing degrees with the foul creatures, and it already looked like they'd take a while to secure their position. Jonathan's own fortifications were almost in place and would hopefully repel any demonic assault that was attempted. He was definitely grateful to have men of such experience and skill assisting in the operation.

The plan was for Jonathan to prevent any demonic assault on Justice Peak by holding the mountain pass while Commander Greybraid eliminated the threat in the southern ruins and Seamus caused havoc among the northern demons. Omega Squad was deep in demon territory hunting patrols and lone demons, and keeping an eye out for any centaur movement towards either position. So far things were going well but it was only a matter of time before the demons took notice of Jonathan and his men, especially considering Seamus was purging the area with enthusiasm.

The dwarven shaman took anything that threatened the natural forces of the world as a personal attack and responded in kind with vicious glee and overwhelming force. Jonathan couldn't fault him for that, as his only personal experience with demons were the ones summoned by the Horde and even those terrified him. The rest of the men were also eager to destroy the monsters so it was likely Seamus was having a grand time hunting demons.

"I'm too young for this," Jonathan muttered to himself as he stared out the tent flap at the low stone walls being built upon. Half a dozen strong men were placing heavy stones and layering it with a binding solution as several of their fellows kept careful watch for any demonic scouts. "Milord would storm through this land without fear. Why can't I?"

He had only just reached thirteen, and while big for his age do to the training from Commander Ashfall, he did not feel ready to face demons. He knew he wasn't ready but his lord had entrusted him with such a duty and he would fulfill it. His Ma had only made the doubts worse when he told her he was going to Justice Peak but she had a right to be worried. After all, who really wants their child so far from them and in danger?

Letting the flap fall he searched for his parchment and ink in order to give Seamus and Oghren a few ideas. The dwarves were currently based in a tower just south of their position and would need to know not to expect more reinforcements. The spellcasters of Shock and Awe were apparently burning the land area by area in an attempt to cleanse it and the delay was limiting their strike range. Jonathan was all for cleansing the land but priorities had to be made, enemies first, land second.


As he was finishing the letter the light from outside suddenly brightened and he looked up to find one of the guards looking worried. "Demons have been sighted Captain. Dozens of the things heading this way."

Jonathan abandoned the letter as he grabbed his weapon and joined the guardsman in returning to the defensive works. Already the camp was being roused quietly, men streaming from tents and projects to form lines behind the bulwark. Jonathan's first view of the demons was a cloven-hooved monster with a spade tail and tall horns surrounded by six large and muscled demons carrying heavy weapons. 'Felguards,' Jonathan identified from the tomes he had read. A large force of Imps danced behind their leader, along with several other kinds of demons.

"Behold mortals, your doom has come! I am Alkris of the Satyr, sent to bring you to your eternal damnation." The satyr gestured grandly with a vicious smile. "This world is ours and you shall be exterminated."

"Begone foul demon!" A priest spat from the right of Jonathan. "Your kind is not welcome on our world, the Light shall cleanse all!"

The satyr snarled as he let forth a bolt of fel magic at the priest, causing the man to scream as he became engulfed in flames despite attempts to block the magic. "Pitiful," Alkris sneered as the defenders helplessly watched the man die. "Kill them all."

"Send the flare!" Jonathan ordered as a force of voidguards and felhounds surged forward, followed by the rest of the demons. "Shields forward!"

"Light preserve us," a soldier muttered nearby.

As the signal flare rose into the sky to alert Seamus the defenders braced to face the onslaught. Several small fireballs from the imps raced past the voidguards only to fizzle out against holy shields provided by priests. Just before the the first of the demons made contact with the shieldwall the felguard rushed from their defensive stance around the satyr, radiating bloodlust that could be felt a dozen yards away. Several men stumbled from the unexpected force of the voidguards but managed to keep their footing despite the felhounds trying to lunge past them to the casters.

"Kill those hounds," Jonathan ordered, knowing he would need every healer they had. "Don't let them through! For Stormwind!"

"Stormwind!" Echoed the warriors around him as the felguards and imps reached the battle.

Two of the defending warriors were cut down by the felguard and imps raced through the gap, fire flung in all directions as they attempted to set everything alight. Jonathan, standing several feet behind a hunter in order to view the battle properly, cut down two as they tried to get into the camp to cause havoc. The fallen were dragged to the healers as their allies rushed to fill the gap despite the presence of the towering demon warriors.

The half-finished wall at least held back the majority of the demons, which were mostly imps, from joining in immediately. Unfortunately the unfinished portion still left several yards of space for the outnumbered defenders to hold and the imps proved able to climb and jump onto the short walls, often by climbing upon their fellows. Jonathan cursed when he realized the demons numbered nearly a hundred and half of his forces weren't at the camp at all.

The imps atop the wall, despite flinging fire every way they could, were quickly struck down by the archers and mages. Unfortunately they were replaced almost as swiftly as they were killed. One of the felguard finally died after a pair of rogues managed to flank it, but it had killed a warrior and struck down one of the rogues before succumbing to its injuries. Jonathan grit his teeth at that as the rogue pulled his friend from the fight.

"Captain," Jonathan's second, Lieutenant Hawkins, spoke up from beside him, "I'm going in."

"Light be with you," Jonathan responded as the knight reinforced the faltering line.

A pair of voidguards died, dispersing into the void and leaving only their bracers, before Jonathan felt a shiver go down his spine as the satyr cackled madly from behind his forces. "I wonder how you mortals will fair against this!" A bolt of green magic shot into the sky, dark clouds appearing on an otherwise fair day. Twin flaming green rocks started to fall towards the camp as Jonathan felt fear course through him.

"Infernals!" Jonathan shouted as several of the more experienced men looked up and cursed loudly. "Move!"

Despite his attempt to warn them, and their efforts to evacuate the obvious landing zone, a few men were crushed outright as the demonic siege engines landed in the center of the battle. Everything seemed to pause as defender and demon alike watched the hulking stone forms of the infernals stand among them. Several spells splashed off the infernals as the men recovered their wits but the searing heat coming off them was enough to make even the bravest man pause.

The men were giving as good as they got against the rest of the demons but the infernals were shrugging off everything they tried. Jonathan was preparing himself to order a full retreat when a familiar horn blowing drowned out the cackles of the satyr, and an earth elemental smashed its way through a pack of imps to engage the infernals. Through the melee Jonathan caught glimpses of Seamus attempting to strike Alkris down, though the satyr danced back from the attacks and responded with his foul magics.

Jonathan's inattention nearly cost him as a felguard broke through the defenders and charged at him. Narrowly ducking the greatsword aimed for his head he snarled as his sword glanced off the metal gauntlet covering his attackers arm. Knowing he had no chance of overpowering the creature he attempted to gain distance but the demon kept advancing toward him. The jarring force behind the felguard nearly caused his arms to go numb as he made the mistake of blocking a strike, sliding back several feet and nearly losing his footing.

"Captain!" Lieutenant Hawkins came to his aid by blocking another attack with his shield. "Let me handle this, Sir."

"Keep his attention," Jonathan replied as he glanced around to make sure nothing else would get to him. "I'll try to get it from behind."

"Yes Captain." The knight likely would have argued with that decision but he was too busy defending himself from the felguard to speak more.

Jonathan sadly had to leap away from a wild swing when he attempted to flank the demon, Hawkins took the chance and struck it in the leg. The felguard returned its attention back to the one who wounded it, blows hammering down upon the mans shield even as Jonathan rushed to attack. Jonathan felt despair as he saw Hawkins' shield get battered aside and a heavy blow nearly crushed the mans breastplate. Gritting his teeth, Jonathan drove his sword through the felguards neck and shoved it aside as he rushed to Hawkins.

"Lieutenant!" Jonathan called as he reached down for the man, who weakly reached up and allowed himself to be pulled to his feet.

"I'm ok Captain," Hawkins said with a wince even as blood found its way through the crushed plate. "Nothing the healers can't fix."

"Healer, right." Jonathan turned to shout for a healer only to pause at the sight of the battlefield.

Blood, from demon and defender alike, covered the relatively small area that was fought upon. A dozen men were going around finishing fallen demons or carrying their comrades from the field, avoiding the smoldering remains of what could only be the infernals. The healers were standing just out of the blood soaked area, tending to the worst injuries as swiftly as they could.

Jonathan gave a sigh as he realized the battle was over. "C'mon Lieutenant." Carefully supporting the man they made their way to a priest who finished patching a hunter and took Hawkins from Jonathan.

"There ye are lad," Seamus Greybraid spoke up from behind Jonathan. "Blasted satyr got away."

"At least we're alive." Jonathan winced as a body was solemnly carried past, valiantly keeping his stomach calm. "Most of us."


"I guess I won't be needing this," Jonathan mentioned as he held up the letter in his tent. "I'll give it to you anyway so that things are clear, but the meaning is the same. Kill every demon you can find, we can worry about cleansing the land after."

Seamus quickly read through his orders before tucking the letter away. "Aye, I'll take care of it. Ye gonna send word to the Commander?"

"Of course." Looking over the list of casualties Jonathan gave a shaky smile of relief that only eight had fallen in the battle, despite the heavy number of wounded. "Commander Greybraid is facing even more demons to the south, Light preserve him."

"That old dwarf won't let any stinkin' demon get the best o' him, I tell you that." Seamus gave a weak laugh in an attempt to lighten the mood but it hardly worked. Even a blind man could tell his was worried about his father, despite his brave face at the news.

"How did your elemental defeat the infernals? They are of roughly the same size and strength aren't they?"

"Ye missed the other elementals being summoned?" Seamus grinned at him momentarily. "Nothin' a few earth and fire spirits can't deal with, plenty o' summoners around."

"Excuse me Captain, but may I have a word?" The muscled priest that had loaned Jonathan the tomes stood lifting the tent flap. "It is regarding Commander Ashfall's orders and the disposal of the demon bodies."

Jonathan was confused but motioned for the priest to join him as Seamus left to carry out his orders. "What can I do for you, Father?"

"Commander Ashfall has tasked the priesthood and the mages to come up with defenses against the demons," the priest explained. "I came to request the use of the fallen demons in our experiments. We believe that having actual bodies to test against would improve our chances."

Thinking it over for a moment, Jonathan gave a nod. "Please keep the bodies and notes under watch, we don't need anyone attempting to bind demons."

"Of course sir. They would be unable to get very far in such an attempt under our watch, I promise you." The priest had a steely quality to his eyes that reassured Jonathan of his words.

"Are the communication attempts showing any promise? That was another problem Commander Ashfall wanted solved." The more good news he could put in his report the better.

"A few mages have had some minor success with a pair of connected journals, but the distance they can work at is causing some issues. They have turned to the leylines in an attempt to carry the message but that burned the last few journals they connected into ash." The priest shrugged before pausing. "Though now that I think of it, they may try using a crystal to carry the message to the journals instead. I'll speak to them myself Captain."

"Thank you Father," Jonathan replied as he puzzled his way through the explanation. "Unfortunately I have reports to make or I'd go see it for myself. Though I doubt I'd understand half of it."

"The bane of every good man, paperwork." A chuckle came from the older man. "Light bless you, Captain."

"And you as well Father."


All across camp the men celebrated their survival, giving thanks and honour to the fallen and wishing the injured a swift recovery. After visiting the wounded, most of which were kept asleep through use of potions, Jonathan retreated into his tent as the warriors start to sing. He knew they were lucky that the demons hadn't committed enough forces to outright destroy them and had instead focused on Commander Greybraid and his much larger battalion.

Oghren had been dispatched to retrieve the golem from Justice Peak, and to request Chieftain Magrum to transport their fallen home. The loss of life weighed heavily upon Jonathan but Commander Ashfall had taught him no plan was perfect. The best they could do was work on their weaknesses and trust in the Light, their wit, and their sword arm to provide them victory. And so he reorganized his defences as his men carried on into the evening.

Several small platforms built upon the mountainside would provide the hunters with clear views over the pass. Once the walls and a gate were finished they wouldn't near to fear a direct breach from the east nearly as much, so reinforcing the western portion of the pass to defend against a centaur raid would be their next priority. The ancient elven roads were a blessing when it came to transporting supplies to the pass at least.

Jonathan had ordered the Dawn Watchers south along the road to make contact with the night elves, though the high elves and night elves seemed to share a mutual dislike. Dawn Singer, as a half-elf, was less inclined towards racial bias. Regardless of any personal dislike for each other he hoped they would take the news of the land route being open as a sign to begin trading. Commander Ashfall had sent word of a food shipment arriving but the night elves had been too worried about their wounded comrade, and relieved by her survival, to partake in more than basic trade agreements. They also needed someone of a higher rank in their society to approve of anything else.

Jonathan groaned at the fact that most of the books his lord knight had assigned him were political to increase his awareness of background events and motives. Things were much simpler before he began to notice such problems. At least he was allowed the military history books to assist him in carrying out his orders. Oghren and Seamus had tutored him in dwarven tactics at Justice Peak as well, before he had sent them out to hunt demons.

Another major concern was the limited supply of mana potions they had. It was such a small supply that several priests were beginning to carry blades rather than rely on their powers for every little thing, though the blades were being enchanted by priests and mages alike. The warrior-turned-priest that was in nominal command of his brothers saw no issue with it despite the traditionalists complaining and so Jonathan ignored the whining or told them to take it up with the Commander. The man deserved it for giving Jonathan the headaches after all.

His recommendation of a quarry of a quarry below Justice Peak was met with approval at least, so the stone supply was likely to increase. Especially for outlying fortifications as the overall priority of things was safety before comfort. Even the priests shut their mouths when the people cheered Commander Ashfall for his stance on the matter. The fall of Stormwind had hit the heart of the people brutally.

Jonathan knew his Pa would approve despite his young age, the man had snuck off to join a militia when he was very young after all. Despite being unaware of all the reasons, Jonathan thought it had something to do with providing for the rest of Pa's family. As he finished his paperwork and pulled out his required reading Jonathan felt that no matter what his ancestors would be proud of him. They had lived under Stormwind's banner for generations after all, so they understood service to the people. He smiled at his bookmark, a small painting his Pa had ordered after his birth. He'd write a letter for his Ma in the morning, she'd appreciate it.


AN: Reviewer Darthus: I 'try' to keep within the lore as best I can but lets face it, by the time I get to the Third War I'm likely to have changed so many things the Naga aren't likely to be introduced any other way. I can however say this isn't the rise of ALL the Naga, as they would totally ruin the Second War which will likely be background unless I feel really damn inspired for something. Who knows? But considering the timelines that I can find that is decades into the future so likely a sequel either way. I'm still trying to nail Varian's age down to a specific number for myself though I DO have the King's Calendar year of 596 to work with. Even the demon presence was something I just went 'Can't find anything saying they aren't there before the Horde so ok'. Hence remnants of the Legion.

No estimates on when the next chapter is due but it is definitely going to be Damon. My checklist for interesting ideas is at least getting a workout.