Impa was the first atop the walls. She immediately raised her hands to the heavens, her maces held up high. Lightning fell from the sky and crashed into her with a deafening roar.
"For Argus!" Impa screamed, whirling forward and slamming into a spider like creature that had just crested the wall. It went flying back with a shuddering boom, and Impa chanted a quick spell, dropping down several small totems at her feet. The totems shuddered and popped upright as the spirits bound within began to emanate aura's of power. Nearby guards weapons were suddenly enhanced by the wind itself, and their bodies hardened against the icy weapons of the Scourge.
For his part Harry let the flow through him, radiating out an aura of protective magic that would offer some protection against mundane weapons. He followed after Impa, raising his shield to ward off the hail of missiles the Scourge were throwing at the walls.
"What are you doing up here?" one of the human guards growled at Impa as she ducked down behind a parapet as another icy blast from a Scourge mage hit the walls.
"Saving your sorry hide," Impa replied. "Are you really going to complain about this?"
"Ready?" Harry asked, crouching beside Impa.
She nodded. "Shock and awe. Go!"
Together, the two stood, Harry placing a barrier of light between them and the foe. Impa unleashed the lightning stored up in her weapons, knocking several spider like creatures off of the wall. A bunch of spidery silk shot out at Harry, but was stopped by his magic. Impa then burned away the silk with the help of a fire spirit, allowing Harry to back off and both to duck again.
"I suppose not," the guard muttered, still crouched in the same place. "At least one of you is human."
"Are any of you wounded?" Harry demanded. "We both can heal any minor wounds."
Many of the guards were injured, and Harry and Impa made their way along the wall, bolstering defenses with spells and healing the injured, while Impa used her fire and lightning to knock off spider creatures. They were at the end of the wall when a shriek came from above, and gargoyles descended from the clouds, claws outstretched to seize guards and knock them off or haul them away.
"Light blind you!" Harry cried, casting a spell at the nearest cluster of gargoyles. The beasts shrieked and shuddered, then focused on Harry, diving for him and ignoring all others. Harry braced himself, raising his shield and calling upon the Light again to strengthen his stance. The gargoyles hovered over him, raking at him with talons and battering him with their wings. Harry struck back with his sword and slammed at them with his shield, keeping them at bay, and distracting them from Impa.
"Duck!" Impa shouted, and Harry dropped down into a crouch. An instant later a deafening boom echoed as the air crackled with electricity as an arch of lightning slashed through four gargyoles. One went down, but two more fell upon Harry as another streaked passed him at Impa. Harry raised his shield and called upon the Light, while Impa lashed out with flames, coating her weapons with fire and striking at her assailant. She managed to knock one down just as Harry cracked the wing off of his and send it plummeting to the ground below.
Before Harry could deal with his second, there were more cries from on high, and additional gargoyles descended. Impa lashed out with lightning again, but both she and Harry were tiring.
"There are too many!" Harry cried, desperation in his voice as he bashed at the gargoyle he was still fighting with using his shield.
Impa cried out in alarm as more gargoyles came after her, raising her maces to ward them off.
Just then, a woman's voice shouted, "Suck on this!"
Fire and ice slammed into the gargoyles, as the twin mages from earlier teleported onto the battlements. "Tally ho!" George shouted, and his water elemental sprang into being, its jade mask crackling with power. It launched out bolts of icy water at bullet-like speeds, while George froze the wings of the gargoyles with a spell, sending them crashing from the skies.
His sister raised her blazing orb and blew, a stream of fire engulfing the gargoyle that had been after Impa.
"Need any help, old man?" George asked Harry, coming up next to him as Harry struck at the gargoyle with his sword.
Harry grunted, then drove the point of his sword home, calling upon his remaining strength and letting the Song of the Naaru flow through him. A blast of holy energy struck the gargoyle, and it's stone skin cracked as it fell to the ground.
"Yes, thank you," Harry managed breathing hard.
"Together now," Fred told Impa. "On three! One, two-"
"Three!" Impa roared, sending a blast of fire at a pair of swooping gargoyles. Fred added a fire blast of her own, and the gargoyles shrieked and plummeted, their stone skin warping in the heat.
"Stand back you two," George ordered Harry and Impa. "We'll handle this."
"Thought you didn't want to get involved," Fred teased.
"Stuff it. You like killing Scourge as much as I do," George ordered. Together, the twins unleashed a storm of fire and ice, clearing the ground below the walls near them and causing several sink holes the spider things had been climbing out of to collapse.
"Wow," Harry said, leaning on the wall and struggling to catch his breath. "Why didn't you come up here and help sooner?"
"Familial disagreement," George said frostily, refusing to look at Harry.
Fred winked at him. "He didn't want to see you get disemboweled a-anyway, old man."
"Why do you keep calling him old man?" Impa demanded, setting down a new totem that called forth a soothing water spirit. Harry breathed out a sigh of relief as he felt the slow trickle of water rehydrate and reinvigorate his body.
Fred and George both flinched. "Um, got to go."
With a pop and a flash, they both vanished.
"They are so weird," Harry muttered.
Impa nodded seriously. "Everyone in this entire place is mad."
Despite their help, the guards were grudging in their thanks of Harry and Impa. Once everyone's wound were tended to, they climbed down the walls to find General Arlos himself lambasting Harbinger Vurenn.
"-insubordinate space goats with no ability to follow-!" the general was shouting.
"General sir," Harry said, coming to attention and saluting, despite his desire to blast the man.
The general whirled, his fist raised as his face went beat red, but Impa spoke first.
"You said no draenei vindicators on the walls, yes?" Impa demanded.
"That is exactly what I said!" the general hissed, coming up loom over Impa. This did not work very well, as though she was yet young, Impa had reached most of her full growth, and draenei tend to be rather taller than humans. Still he, was much wider than the slender shaman, and he bristled up at her. "You disobeyed orders! Give me one reason not to back you back on that damned pirate ship and kick you out of my command!"
"I am no vindicator. I am a Shaman of the Earthen Ring," Impa stated, folding her arms over her breasts and glaring right back at the general. "I am not even in Harbinger Vurenn's chain of command. I am here as a personal favor to a friend."
"And I, in case you did not notice, am not draenei," Harry said. He almost added a "sadly" in there, but refrained.
The general whirled on Harry, and did a much better job of looming over him as he was half a head taller than the 14 year old boy. "So you claim to be under my command as a human, then?"
"No sir. I serve under the Vindicarate and Harbinger Vurenn," Harry answered. "But as I was not forbidden from aiding your men, I saw no reason to hesitate to do so."
Arlos glared down at Harry. "Do it again, and I'll have you put in the stocks." He whirled on Harbinger Vurenn. "Control your men, or I'll have you put on the next ship to anywhere. I told you I'd find a place for you draenei. And when I do, you can either do what I say our get the hell out of my command."
With that, then general turned on his heels and paced away to where the nobleman Talbot was standing and waiting for him. The noble seemed to try to calm the general as they walked back to the keep, but everything he said seemed to just rile the general further.
"I think this confirms our suspicions," Vindicator Maraad said, stepping up beside Vurenn.
The Harbinger nodded. "Indeed. We shall have to begin our sweeps quietly. Come, though. You two look dead on your feet. Excellent work. You may have angered the general, but you saved lives."
Harry and Impa stumbled back to the barracks, stripping out of their armor and most of their clothes and crawling onto their cots, passing out almost as soon as they lay down.
"Psst. Hey! Impa!"
Harry groaned and turned over, half opening his eyes.
"Psst! Come on, I know you're awake!"
Impa stirred, sitting up on her cot. "Huh? Wazzat?"
Harry saw a freckled face peering in the window of the barracks, half obscured in shadow but still recognizable as Fred.
"Come on! I need to talk to you! Come out ide, quick! George will notice I'm gone soon!"
"What is it?" Harry said, yawning and sitting up. "Another attack?"
"Go back to sleep old man," Fred said in a gentle, warm tone. "Just some girl talk, OK?"
Harry looked to Impa, who was struggling to slip a tunic on over her undergarments. He flushed and looked away. "Er, you gonna be alright?"
"I'll be fine," Impa said, pulling on some hose and grabbing her cloak. "Go back to sleep."
Harry lay back down and closed his eyes, but didn't manage to drip back off. What had Vindicator Maraad said?
"Impa!" Harry gasped, sitting bolt upright. "The dreadlord! Don't go anywhere alone! She could be-"
But Impa was gone. Harry felt panic rising, and struggled into his own tunic and trousers, stumbling outside as he struggled into his boots. He looked around frantically, trying to find where Impa and Fred had gone, but it was dark, and the flickering torches didn't add much illumination. He was about to cast a spell of illumination when a snowball struck his shoulder.
Whirling with his bare sword in his hand, Harry frown George eyeing him, tossing another snowball in his hand.
"What do you want?" Harry snarled. "Where's Impa?"
"Probably still talking with my sister," George answered, flicking the snowball in Harry's direction. He batted it away, glaring at the mage. George sighed. "Look, I let her sneak off to have her little pow wow. I need to have a talk with you myself. Damn the consequences."
"What are you on about? Are you a dreadlord? Are you working for one?" Harry demanded, slowing edging toward George.
The mage laughed. "A dreadlord? That's not your problem, at least not here. Good guess though, and I imagine you'll have much the same problems. No, come, we have to talk. Impa's fine. Fred would sooner die than let anything happen to her again."
"Again?" Harry asked, not lowering his blade.
George grimaced. "Ugh. Nevermind. Come on."
Harry slowly followed the mage around the back of the barracks, keeping his sword in his hand. Somehow though, he didn't think the mage was going to hurt him. Oddly enough, he reminded him a great deal of someone he knew. Surely not the Weasley twins though, he was far more serious.
"What is this about, George?" Harry demanded when the mage came to a stop near the wall.
"Hmm? Oh, call me Fredrick. Or Fred. Really, I've always thought that was my name."
"Then why did you say you were George?" Harry said, exasperated.
"Old habits die hard," the mage said.
"Whatever. Look, what do you want to talk about? And what does your sister want with Impa?" Harry demanded.
George shrugged, leaning against the stone masonry of the wall. "Probably the same thing I want. To change things, just enough."
"Change what?" Harry demanded.
"Fate," Fred (or George) answered. "You talked to A'dal, right? What did he tell you?"
"I...how do you know about that?" Harry demanded.
"Khadgar, a mage of the Kirin Tor and my teacher. He's close with A'dal. You could say he sent me to help you, in a way," the male mage answered with a shrug. "But really, listen closely. I don't have much time. Talk to Vancleef. She's an expert at the sort of situation you're in right now."
"Captain Vancleef?" Harry said, a puzzled look coming over him. "What does she have to do with anything?"
"A great deal, I hope," Fred said, his eyes going unfocused as he gazed at something that wasn't there. "But you never know. Fate is a fickle thing. Anyway, get her help. Don't let your 'dreadlord' escape. He's a part of finding what was lost and fixing what was broken. That's what you were told, right?"
Harry nodded slowly. "What's your game, George, or Fred, or whatever your name is?"
"The same as yours, I think. To save those I love and protect this world," Fred answered. "And all others."
"All others? George, Fred, whatever, who exactly are you?" Harry demanded, slightly raising his sword.
"The Twin of Ice, son of the Flame," the mage answered. "I've said enough. Too much, perhaps. Do find what was lost. And Harry, never lose it. Never give it away. Perhaps if you had held onto...well, again, I've said my piece. Fare thee well, Harry Potter. We shall meet again. Perhaps then, you will know why I love you so."
Harry's eyes went wide, and he stared in shock as Fred casually walked past him. By the time Harry managed to regain his composure and turn, there was nothing. Harry shivered as snow began to slowly fall from the sky, and hurried back to the front of the barracks. To his surprise, Impa was waiting for him.
"Did you talk to George?" Impa asked, standing with her cloak drawn about her and shivering slightly.
Harry nodded, then shook his head. "I mean, I talked to the male mage. He said his name was Fredrick. Which is really odd."
Impa chuckled. "Yeah. She told me to call her Georgina, that that's what I'd always called her. Didn't make any sense really."
"No," Harry agreed. "They're very, very strange. But he knew about A'dal."
"Really?" Impa asked, raising an eyebrow. She shook her head. "Come on, let's get back to our room."
When they were back inside, Harry sat down on his bunk, his eyes unfocused as Impa took her cloak off behind him and got under her covers. "You know," Harry said. "He said he loved me."
Impa went still, and after a moment asked in an odd tone. "Oh?"
"Yeah. I mean, I don't get it. I don't even know him. It felt like I should though. He seemed sort of familiar, somehow. But he said some odd things. Acted like he knew me, knew that I wasn't from Azeroth," Harry said.
"And do you...love him?" Impa asked, her tone hesitant.
Harry half turned and then quickly looked away, as Impa was once more only in her underclothes and was only half covered by her blanket. "I don't think so. Certainly not like a lover, that's for sure. But...maybe like a distant relative? I don't know."
"Hmmm. Well, that makes what Georgina or whoever she is told me even stranger," Impa said, rustling her blankets as she lay down.
Harry pulled his own covers over himself and looked over at Impa. "Oh? What's that?"
"Not to let you name our child," Impa said. Then she snuffed out the lamp with a snap of her fingers, leaving Harry to stare in shock at the darkness.
The next morning they were woken by another alarm gong. Harry and Impa raced out, pulling on their armor and formed up with the vindicators.
"What is it?" Harry asked, pulling on his left gauntlet as he looked about wildly.
"Dragons," Harbinger Vurenn informed him. "They found two dead dragons near our barracks.
"Dragons?" Impa asked. She looked around. "Aren't they supposed to be very large?"
"These were smaller," Vindicator Maraad said, coming over. "A drake and a dracanoid. Black, with odd markings. Something of the nether about them."
"Undead?" Vurenn asked.
Maraad shook his head. "No, certainly not. Corrupted somehow I think. Is not the black variety of dragons supposed to be most wicked?"
"So I have heard," Vurenn said, rubbing his chin. "They were meddling with the netherdrakes in Shadowmoon Valley. But what are they doing here?"
Further discussion was interrupted as General Arlos came striding out of his keep in a rage. He bellowed and waved his arms, and soon the two dead dragons were dragged out from behind the barracks. One was covered in great burns, the other had a wing and leg frozen and shattered.
"Dragons! In my keep? Dammit all these have to be servants of that blasted Lady Prestor or Onyxia or whatever she was. And they showed up right at the same time as those damned space goats!"
"Now, now, sire, let us not jump to conclusions," Counselor Talbot said soothingly as he hurried up alongside the general. "The timing is suspicious, yes, but perhaps there is another explanation."
"I can see none!" Arlos barked. He glared at Vurenn. "You and your men are confined to quarters until further notice! And that human brat and the female fire caller. Get out of my sight!"
With that, the general started hauranging his guards, turning his back on the draenei.
"Sir, I need to go back to the Defiant, first," Harry whispered. "I'll be right back."
"The Defiant?" Vurenn said, raising an eyebrow. He shrugged. "Very well. See to it you are not caught. I believe General Arlos is in deep in the thrall of a dreadlord, and we must find a way to free him, soon."
Harry hurried off, with Impa hard on his heels. "Did he tell you to do this?" Impa whispered as they made their way to the docks.
"You mean 'Feorge'? Yeah," Harry said. "Why?"
"Because his sister told me to talk to Captain Vancleef as well. Didn't actually consider doing it, but those marks on the dragons...Fire and Ice."
"This whole thing is increasingly odd," Harry agreed. "But we've got to do something. Whatever is wrong here, it's our duty to cleanse it in the name of the Light."
The Defiant was still docked, as the ship was being repaired of the damage it had suffered in the Kvaldir attack and being resupplied still. When Harry and Impa requested to see the captain, they were shown to her cabin.
"What is it?" Vancleef demanded, glaring up from a stack of paper on her desk. She was dressed only in a scarlet shirt and loose cotton pants, and without her uniform greatcoat and hat, Harry realised she was quite young, only a few years older than he.
"Captain Vancleef, we need your aide," Harry said. "Something is wrong with General Arlos."
"Yes, he's got a great bloody stick up his ass," Vancleef answered, looking back at her papers. "But I don't see how that's my problem."
"We think something more is going on," Impa said. "Harbinger Vurenn suspects he is under the influence of a dreadlord."
"The hells a dreadlord?" Vancleef demanded, setting her pen down as a spark entered her eyes.
"It is a demon of the Burning Legion," Harry explained. "They are shapeshifters and deceivers. Several, such as Mal'ganis, are known to have served with the Scourge in the past. We believe one has infiltrated the ranks of the keep is and influencing the general."
"Bet it's that bastard noble counselor of his," Vancleef growled. "Always some noble prick ruining everything."
"Um, we don't have any suspects at the moment," Impa admitted. "Though there are two mages that have been acting very oddly. Twin mages, called collectively Fred and George, though which is which seems to switch around."
"Twin Mages?" Vancleef asked. "Wait, you don't mean the blond and the redhead do you?"
Harry and Impa both blinked. "You know them?"
Vancleef shrugged. "Saw them pointing at me and whispering. I sent Ripsnarl to sort them out but they popped away. Odd looking pair. The girl reminds me of Red though."
"Who's Red?" Harry asked.
"Old first mate of mine, she's back in Stormwind doing the king's bloody work now," Vancleef answered. "But anyway, about this demon thing. You think you need something found out, and then killed, yes?"
Harry nodded. "Yes; the demons of the Burning Legion must be purged wherever they are found."
Vancleef grinned wickedly. "Well then boyo, you came to the right crew. Oi, Helix, Ripsnarl, get in here!"
At the captain's bellow, the beastman, now in human form, and the goblin crewmember Harry had talked to earlier came into the cabin.
"Yes, your ladyship?" Helix the goblin asked.
"I told you not to bloody call me that," Vancleef snapped. "On my ship, it's Captain, savvy? Anyway, these two think we've got a demon hiding out in the fort here. Landlubbers acting weird, Ripsnarl?"
The beastman shrugged. "Lubber's are always acting weird, captain. But these are stranger than most, I think. They smell wrong."
"Don't mix right," Helix put in. "Even with the crew members that is proper Alliance races and all ain't welcome. Hells, I've gotten a cold shoulder even from the gnomes and they're always up for talkin' explosives if you get them sloshed."
"Could be demonic influence," Ripsnarl admitted. "But I think it's that general. He smells awful. Don't rightly know if he smells like a demon though. My nose wasn't so sensitive when last I fought the Scourge."
"Well, sounds like I need to pay the general a little visit," Vancleef said, standing and grabbing her greatcoat off of a rack. "Come along kiddos, it's time for some fun."
"Um, actually, the general said we were confined to quarters and threatened us if he saw us again," Harry said. "We probably shouldn't come."
"Well then what good are you?" Vancleef said. At the mournful expression that cross Harry's face, she laughed. "I'm kidding. Relax. Let the Brotherhood handle this. We're always sorting out the Alliance's messes anyway."
/\/\\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\\/\/\/\\/\\/\/\/\\/\/
"Here I am, a member of the bloody bourgeoisie," Vanessa grumbled to herself as she stood on the deck of her ship in her fine embroidered great coat and plumed hat. She did sort of like the hat though.
"I'll take the steady food and pay over gettin' hanged any day," Helix said, coming up and offering three vials. "Got what you asked for, captain. Had most of it laying around, gnomes had the rest squirreled away."
Vanessa held the vials up to her face, swirling them around, before nodding and tucking them away in her coat. "And how much did it cost?"
"I took a discount," Helix said with a grin. He held up his hand. "The four fingered kind. That um, isn't goin' to be a problem now that we's on the straight and narrow, is it?"
"If they complain, just submit a requisition order in the name of the Alliance," Ripsnarl growled, coming up in his human form. "I've got what I need. We ready?"
"As we'll ever be," Vanessa agreed. She turned to the young paladin with the odd scar on his forehead. Harrison? She forgot. "You get those paladins of yours ready. If it is a demon, me and the boys can keep it busy, but we damn well can't fight one all on our lonesome. You holy types are piss at subtlety, but you're perfect for when you need some demon skulls cracked. You see the green smoke, you come running. Got it?"
"Yes ma'am," the paladin answered. "I'll inform Harbinger Vurenn immediately."
"You do that," Vanessa said. She handed him a roll of parchment. "There. That says you were here on my orders. One of the benefits to being a real officer type. Now get going."
The paladin and his blue companion left. Dead useful, that one. Anyone who could call up a storm or sling lighting was alright in Vanessa's books, as long as they did it for her at least.
"Right, come on you two. Let's go pay this General Arlos a visit," Vanessa said, straightening her hat and heading down the gangplank.
No one accosted them until they came to the entrance of the keep, where a guard held up his hand. "Halt! What's a group of criminals and greenskins doing visiting the general?"
"You will address her ladyship as Countess Vanessa Vancleef of Westfall, or as Captain Vancleef of the Defiant, boy," Ripsnarl growled, getting up in the guards face. "And you will address me as Lieutenant, savvy?"
"Piss off," the guard sneered. "You're a bunch of jumped up pirates. And if that girl is a countess, then I'm the Duke of Redridge!"
"Helix," Vanessa said in a bored tone. "The kneecaps."
"Kneecaps?" the guard said, turning around, just in time for Helix to ram a belaying pin into the side of his knee, causing the guard to cry out in pain and fall flat on his ass.
"Sorry your dukeness," Helix said, grinning as he smacked the pin onto the palm of his hand. "But we gots papers and everything. Now, disrespectin'' an officer and a lady? That's time in the brig and ten lashes, last time I checked the Alliance military handbook. Which I did, twice, on account of me now being a petty officer and all."
"You can't do this!" The guard gasped, trying to rise. "You're pirates and-" the guard stopped when Helix raised the belaying pin again. "Fine! Go in, but don't expect a warm welcome."
"Oh, I am going to enjoy this," Ripsnarl muttered as they made their way inside. He sniffed the air, frowning. "Stinks like...hmmm. Blood? Old blood."
"That what demons smell like?" Helix asked. "Or undead?"
"Not...quite," Ripsnarl answered, rubbing his chin. "If I went worgen, I might be able to tell better, but, well, I think we'd best save that for later. Plus, I like this shirt."
"Come on boyos, we've just begun," Vanessa said, taking the lead once more and making for the stairs. They were not stopped again until they came to the general's war room, where a guard captain held up his hand.
"Stop right there. The general has no interest in seeing you, scum."
"That's the wrong way to speak to a superior officer," Vanessa said calmly, coming to a halt with her arms folded behind her back in front of the man.
"Superior officer?" the captain sneered. "We're both captains."
"Wow, you are dumb," Helix laughed. "Navy captain's same rank as a commander, dumbass."
"Yes, but unlike her, I earned my rank, and I'm not a criminal," the guard said. "So that makes us even. Plus, I don't consort with goblins and dogs."
"I should have you flogged," Vanessa said with a shake of her head. "But I'll settle for a quick word with General Arlos. My marine contingent needs reinforcing; we took losses on the crossing."
"Ha! As if anyone would be willing to sail with pirate scum," the guard captain laughed. "But fine. I'll let you in, if only so I can see you kicked out on your ass."
Inside, Vanessa found Arlos glaring at the map, sitting in a chair massaging his temple as Counselor Talbot paced back in forth behind him.
"Even if they are an inferior race, they are a part of the Alliance. Perhaps we could find a use for them. We could send out patrols," the Counselor was saying.
"That's suicide," the general grumbled. "The undead would be upon them the moment they left this forsaken keep. Damn! By getting tied to the land we just make ourselves a target for the Scourge! Even they couldn't patrol the entire coastline, but once we set down roots we just made ourselves vulnerable."
"But your position would be stronger without...weaknesses," Talbot said soothingly. "If it were more...pure."
"Yes...yes I agree," Arlos said, leaning forward. "A patrol would do that damned Harbinger good. Maybe he'd even get himself killed."
Vanessa coughed, loudly.
"What?" Arlos snapped, looking up. When he saw Vanessa, he turned purple and gripped his wine glass so hard Vanessa thought he'd break it. "What do you want?"
"I couldn't help but overheard you wished to be rid of some undesirable elements," Vanessa said, coming forward. "Perhaps you'd give them to me? My crew is short after the losses we suffered on the crossing."
"As if I'd help scum like you," Arlos sneered. "What that idiot king thought he was doing, making a criminal like you an officer and a noble. It's disgusting. And you brought your pet beast and that vile goblin with you!"
"General, general, please. We can help each other. You want to be ride of something, and I want more men. Sailors don't need to be smart, or even human. I can take them right off your hands," Vanessa cood.
Behind Arlos, Counselor Talbot stroked his chin. "It may work to our advantage, sire. We do have certain undesirable elements that could do with removal. This makes an expedient way to do so."
"Could pack off that entire damned legion of space goats," Arlos mused. Then he shook his head. "Bah, that's too many. Maybe some of the dwarves or gnomes. Useless little bastards."
"Certainly," Vanessa said smoothly. She reached into her coat, and produced a bottle of champaign. "Had this in my cabin. Please, allow me. A drink, to seal the bargain."
"I'm not drinking your swill!" Arlos snapped. "I-"
"Sire," Counselor Talbot said, coming forward eagerly and putting a hand on the generals shoulder. "It's Suntouched Special reserve. I haven't seen a bottle of that since...well, in a very long time."
Vanessa glanced at the bottle, keeping her face neutral. It was some fancy piss that Varian had foisted off on her. He admitted he loathed the stuff, but it was seen as refined.
"It will be good for you to keep something like this in your cabin," he told Vanessa when he'd given her the bottle along with the refit Defiant. "For when you entertain the nobility. After all, you are a Countess now."
"What, like you?" she'd demanded.
The king laughed. "Don't serve me this weak stuff! Get me something with a kick, like that Black Label Rum! Now that is the drink of a real warrior!"
Well, at least it was doing it'd bloody job, even if it was elvish piss.
"This?" Arlos said, incredulous. "That's elvish stuff."
"From the vineyards of Quel'thalas," Talbot said, caressing the bottle. "It may be elvish sire, but it's a far sight better than what you're drinking."
"Hmph. Fine," Arlos grumbled. He motioned for glasses, and a soldier brought over a tray with three. Vanessa poured for the counselor and general, talking as she did so to hide her movements, though really the large sleeves on her greatcoat did that well enough.
"So, what about a squad of dwarven marksmen? I could use some long range firepower."
"Fine, I can spare those," Arlos agreed, picking up his glass. He sipped at it, then shrugged and downed the champagne. "Hmm. Not bad."
Talbot savored his wine, slowly draining his glass. "It lacks the flavor I remember. Alas. It seems all I sup on turns to ash in my mouth these days."
"Maybe you're just too picky," Vanessa said, pouring out two more glasses as she nursed her own. "Me, I'm just a pirate. Not taste for this fancy stuff."
Arlos took a swig of his glass, then belched loudly. "Hmph. Not usually a fan of the knife ear's brew, but I like the bubbles."
"Indeed," Vanessa said, watching him closely. Behind her, Ripsnarl and Helix took a few steps apart, the beastman loosening his shirt and Helix put a hand inside his jacket.
"I feel...odd," Arlos said, putting a hand to his forehead. "Like...light, where am I?"
"Having bad dreams lately?" Vanessa asked, loosening the daggers up her coat sleeves.
Counselor Talbot clutched his chest. "What is...My mind, I can't-"
"Tell me, general. What do you dream of?" Vanessa demanded, taking half a step back and falling into a fighter's stance. Around her the guards let out moans, some falling to one knee.
"Oh Light! What have I done?" Arlos cried, standing with wild eyes so suddenly that his chair was knocked back. "My command, it's my command! Mine! I can't-"
"Nooooo!" Talbot shrieked, and the general and soldiers screamed in pain, falling to their knees.
Vanessa pulled a vial from her coat and smashed it on the floor, causing green flames to flare and the room to fill with smoke.
"Foolish mortal!" Talbot hissed, his face draining of color as his eyes turned blood red. "What did you put in that wine?"
"A few things, Vanessa said easily, doffing her great cloat and twirling her daggers. "One was a mild hallucinogen. Helps break mind control spells by making you not quite sane. The other was manabane. Breaks any attempts at keeping up enchantment. Guess I was right. It was you, Talbot. Or should I say, dreadlord?"
"I am not some pathetic demon," Talbot hissed as he slowly changed. "I am one of the San'layn! Overlord of the Borean Tundra."
Vanessa felt her blood run cold as she stepped away. The Counselor grew in size, his muscles bulging as his hair became white and his fingernails turned to talons. His mouth threw two long fangs, and he hissed at Vanessa.
"Well, looks like I've exposed you now," Vanessa said, smiling as cold sweat ran down her back. "And you've lost your hold on the general. Your mine now, you undead bastard!"
Vanessa stepped through the shadows to appear behind Talbot, striking out with her daggers as Helix pulled a pistol and fired just as Ripsnarl leaped forward and changed into his worgen form, his claws and fangs stretching out to strike.
"Enough!" Talbot roared. He struck out behind him with a sinew arm, grabbing Vanessa and throwing her into Ripsnarl, sending them tumbling back. Helix's bullet struck a manashield, but before the goblin could fire again he was bowled over by his flung companions.
"You think you have won? You have lost everything! This keep, and all within it, are mine!" Talbot roared. "I am Prince Valanar! And I have drunk of the blood of these minions!"
The vampiric undead raised a hand into the air, and crimson ribbons extended to everyone in the room save the three former pirates. They struck the general and his guards, and the flesh melted from their bodies as they victims screamed in pain. From the steaming piles of flesh skeletons emerged with glowing red eyes.
"Go, my minions! Slay the living, and claim this keep for the Scourge!" Valanar ordered.
"Oh balls," Vanessa groaned. She dodged the first skeleton to reach her and slashed at its spine. The creature let out a horrific moan, then collapsed, the spell animating it broken for a moment, but it reformed within seconds, rising once more to attack.
"Um, captain, this is bad," Helix cried, throwing out several small bombs. They shattered several skeletons, but just like Vanessa's, they reformed after a moment, the crimson ribbons from Valanar knitting even the dust of the remains back together.
"Kill the one in the damned dress!" Vanessa ordered. "Don't focus on the minions! Ripsnarl, clear a path!"
With a roar the beastman leapt forward, his claws slashing away and making a way forward to Valanar, who was hovering over the shattered map table, a crimson orb glowing between his two outstretched hands.
Vanessa sprinted forward, hurling a vial of poison at the prince as she slashed two skeletons to ribbons. She jumped up at the prince, only for him to fire a bolt of boiling blood from the orb at her, knocking Vanessa back to the floor as she cried out in pain.
"Foolish mortal! I am no weakling wizard! You shall die, and your blood shall feed my thirst!"
The skeletons closed in, and Vanessa struggled to her feet, desperately fighting them off.
"There's too many of them! They won't die!" Helix cried, his voice full of panic.
"Just keep it together we-"
The door to the room shattered in an explosion of light, and a dozen draenei paladins in full plate charged into the room, swinging great hammers and swords of glowing crystal. The skeletons they hit with holy magic crumbled and did not reform, collapsing into piles of bone and blood.
"About damned time!" Vanessa shouted. "Where were you?"
"Stay back!" the lead paladin ordered, Maraad if Vanessa remembered right. "We shall cleanse this foul beast!"
"Fools! You shall accomplish nothing!" Valanar hissed. He flung the orb forward, and it burst into a hundred bloody missles, a dozen of which came for Vanessa. She cried out, but a shield of glowing light appeared around her, and the bolts splashed against it, falling away harmlessly. When she looked up however, Valanar was gone.
"Don't let that fucker get away!" Vanessa roared, dashing towards the stairs at the back of the room.
Outside, Harry and Impa along with most of the other paladins were trying to cleanse the soldiers who had collapsed to the ground, crying out in pain. It had happened suddenly, and while not everyone was affected, about half of the garrison were writhing in torment.
"What's happening?" Harry shouted to Harbinger Vurenn as he tried to heal a weeping guardswoman.
"Vancleef must have broken the dreadlords spell," Vurenn said, looking with his sword in hand. While he commanded the Vindicators, he himself was not well gifted in the Light. He had a strong sword arm, but his greatest weapon was his keen strategic and tactical reasoning. "I can only hope Maraad can prevent the demons escape."
"Harry, what the bloody hell did you do?!"
Harry spun, seeing the twin mages running towards him. "I got Vancleef's help like you said! Now either help treat these men or-"
"You were supposed to confront him yourself!" Fred, that is, the male one, said, coming to a halt before Harry.
"This wasn't supposed to happen!" Georgina said in a panicked tone, looking around desperately.
"Well it did," Fred snarled. "Get ready."
"For what?" Impa demanded, looking up from the soldier she'd been healing.
Suddenly, a dark figure with bat like wings emerged from the keep and took flight, making for the walls.
"The dreadlord!" Vurenn shouted.
"I got him!" Impa said, jumping up and extending a hand. A moment later, a lightning bolt lashed out, but a mana shield enveloped the figure, and the bolt was absorbed.
"Oh no you don't," Georgina growled, holding up her fiery orb. "Get 'em Reth!"
"No!" Fred shouted. "We're not supposed to-"
"RETH RETH RETH RETH!"
The orb exploded in a blast of flames as a great fire elemental rose up, shooting a lance of flame at the fleeing figure and blasting it down to the courtyard.
"Shut up, we already did and now we have to fix it!" Georgina hissed, glaring at her brother. "Now come on, that's a serious Scourge nasty and I can't take him alone!"
"Bloody buggering hell!" Fred screamed. "Fine!"
Just as the figure started to rise from where it had fallen, Fred rained down a storm of ice, causing it to huddle beneath its wings as shards of ice slammed into it.
"Vindicate, destroy the Dreadlord!" Vurenn shouted as he charged forward, his sword held high. Harry was half a step behind him, along with half a dozen other paladins.
"MORTAL FOOLS!" With a shriek of rage the figure flapped its wings, sending out a gust of black wind that drove Harry to his knees and blinded him. "I AM PRINCE VALANAR! THIS IS MY FORTRESS! HERE, YOU SHALL ALL SERVE ME!"
From above, Vancleef's voice shouted, "No! Don't let him-"
But it was too late. Nine crimson orbs shot out from Valanar, and bloody spears were flung in all directions. Each of the spears hit an Alliance soldier who moments before had been writhing in agony. All those who had not already been cleansed by the paladins perished in a hiss of blood as their flesh dissolved, and their skeletons peeled off their mortal coils.
"COME FORTH MY MINIONS!" Valanar roared. "CLEANSE THE LIVING FROM THIS LAND!"
"Reth, stomp him!" Georgina ordered.
The great fire elemental let out a blast of flame, but with a flap of his wings Valanar dodged away. An instant later, the fire elemental roared in pain as skeletons flung themselves at it, slashing with weapons or bare bone.
As if that wasn't enough, from beyond the walls there was a chittering hiss, and the guards who remained atop the ramparts cried out in horror as a swarm of the spider like undead launched an all out assault.
"To the keep!" Vurenn bellowed. "Survivors to the keep! We will make our stand there!"
Authors Note:
Man, I wonder what sort of zany adventures Luna and Neville are having?