A/N: Huge apologies for the delay. This chapter gave me so much trouble and I had to keep going online to find videos of the fight to make sure I got everything right. Hope you enjoy!

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Laura: Thank you! It can be fun to write. :)

Rae stumbled – fell – out of the remains of the Iron Star, collapsing in an undignified heap at Khadgar and Yrel's feet. Though there were exclamations of concern from the others she couldn't move for a moment; she needed time for her stomach to return to its normal position in her body which was not in her throat. She was dizzy and she could feel sweat dripping down the back of her neck. Now that it was all over Rae realized she hadn't really thought about what being inside that damned thing would mean. Thankful that it was all over she struggled to stand. Strong hands grasped her under the arms and carefully lifted her up. She was grateful enough for Khadgar's support that her brain didn't have a chance to act in its usual juvenile way. When she felt like her legs would support her she took a careful step away from him. He peered into her face, clearly checking to see if she was alright, and she nodded.

"We need someone to return to begin searching through the city for survivors … or any of the enemy that somehow escaped the Commander's attack. The rest of our forces should be brought forward just in case of a surprise counterattack from the Iron Horde," Yrel ordered.

Rae glanced around and met A'odriel's eager gaze. "Gaige, take An'dir with you to make sure everyone that is supposed to be is dead. Vel and A'odriel can search for any wounded survivors and prepare them for transport back to Fort Wrynn or the garrison."

"What about you?" Gaige asked as the others hurried to carry out her orders.

"I am the Commander. My place is on the frontlines."

"It would be safer if you came with us."

She narrowed her eyes at him, his arguing in front of the other leaders rubbing her the wrong way. "I'm not here to remain safe nor could I be called a true leader if I avoided anything that might be dangerous." Rae could see he wanted to say more but she turned and stepped to Yrel's side. She sighed with relief when she heard Gaige's retreating footsteps. That relief was short lived. They had only made it down a few steps towards the water when orcs began pouring in from hiding places along the docks.

"Well this just became a whole lot harder," she mussed as she took up a defensive stance, arcane energy swirling up inside her.

"I can clear the way to the flagship. Hold off these invaders while I finish my spell!" Khadgar yelled, rising several feet off the ground as he was surrounded by blue magic.

"Come on! Let's give the wizard some time!" Durotan rushed forward into the incoming soldiers and the rest of them could only follow.

Rae remained at the back of the fight, picking off anything that dared get too close to the archmage. She was no good in close-quarters fighting anyway and Draka and Durotan along with Yrel and Maraad had a good handle on that. It still felt odd to be on the same side with a race that for the first forty years of her life she had been taught to distrust but she was grateful they were there as they needed all the help they could get. Chaos reined for several minutes and she began to think that their plan to take out the ships was not going to work. Every time they took down an enemy two more appeared. The sparks around her hands never faded as she launched bolt after bolt into the orcs bearing down on her. She spared a quick glance over her shoulder towards Khadgar. He was still in the midst of his casting and Rae hoped he would hurry it up; they were close to being over run. Finally there was a sudden pulse of energy and a wave of blue washed over the docks. The force of it took her breath away but she looked around in amazement. Everyone one of the Iron Horde attackers had been frozen in place, each looking like a perfect statue. Glancing back at Khadgar she was hit with concern to see him down on one knee, his shoulders rising and falling sharply. She hurried to him, squatting down to make sure he hadn't been injured. He waved away her concerns.

"It is finished. I must rest a moment. The flagship is up ahead. I will join you there once I regain my energy." She was rather reluctant to leave him alone and vulnerable – though after the display of power she'd just witnessed she knew there was nothing to worry about – but Yrel and Maraad's urging brought her to her feet. Making their way quickly through the immobile Iron Horde they came to the edge of the docks and close enough to hear the argument taking place between Blackhand and Orgrim; to discover that there was some differences of opinion among the enemy leaders was a plus. Any dissention there could be manipulated to their advantage. Thankfully the Archmage wasn't far behind them and they surveyed the situation. Unfortunately they couldn't all converge on the ship housing the weapon as the orcs were on a separate one and sure to see their attack. They would have to split up and hope dividing their power would work.

"We will hold off Blackhand. Destroy that weapon!" Yrel yelled as they watched the two orcs rush at each other.

"Get me to that weapon, Khadgar," she said, turning to him as the others ported onto the flagship. It looked like she was going to have to come face to face with the enemy after all.

He gave her a look she couldn't decipher. She would've said it was fear but it was gone so quickly she couldn't be sure. It warmed her heart a bit to think that the Archmage seemed to care about her safety.

"You are sure?"

"Yes. I may not be able to disable it but I sure as hell can get rid of everyone on board and clear the way for those of you that can. We also need you ready to port us out if things go bad."

He nodded slightly and began his spell cast. "Come back in one piece." She was instantly incased in a glowing sphere which carried her to the ship where the Iron Horde's weapon waited. Unfortunately it dropped her right in the middle of several soldiers and she had to fling out a massive arcane explosion as soon as the sphere's protective barrier disappeared, sending them all hurtling over the railings. That in turn attracted the attention of the commander and the remaining defenders.

So much for a sneak attack.

"Don't let this nuisance near the cannon!"

Throwing up her arcane barrier she began to methodically work her way forward. Being alone it was slow going but she was helped every so often by piles of grenades that had apparently been prepped for an attack. She couldn't help giggling with glee every time she was able to lob one into a group of attackers … and it saved some of her mana. Going into a fight without Vel or another healer was a situation she tried to avoid, she knew her weaknesses, but sometimes it was unavoidable. At least she knew Khadgar was near by and probably keeping an eye on everything; he would port her out if she was about to be overwhelmed.

She hoped.

Eventually she made her way to the ship's commander. He gave her a savage grin, hitting a lever on the cannon as he jumped down to meet her causing it to begin swinging around to face the docks. As she moved in circles around him, avoiding his flame thrower and casting arcane bolt after arcane bolt, Rae wished her more powerful spells didn't take so long to cast. When she had Gaige hacking away at someone, keeping their attention, it wasn't a problem. Having her attacker's full focus took much more concentration and no small amount of luck. A couple of times she didn't move quite fast enough and she could feel the heat of the flames get closer than she would like, most likely singeing the edges of her cloak. Finally, after what seemed like hours the force of one of her arcane bolts caused his weapon to crack apart. He stared down at it in surprise and she darted in closer, digging deep for more power, and released an arcane explosion that knocked him to the deck. Knowing this was her one shot at finishing the fight she unleashed a barrage of arcane energy that stuck him so hard it shoved him further across the wood boards. A hand twitched briefly then was still.

Rae took a moment to catch her breath before turning and eying the large cannon that needed to be destroyed. This would take a lot more than just some arcane blasts and she was fairly certain that the resulting explosion would incinerate her almost instantly. That didn't sound like something she wanted to experience so she decided a closer look would hopefully give her a better idea. However a sound behind her had her turning to see Khadgar and Thaelin materialize on deck. While the dwarf instantly clamored up onto the weapon the archmage approached her.

"We will take care of this. They need help with Blackhand …"

She nodded. "I'll go. Be ready to send these ships to the bottom as soon as we're clear." Though again seeming reluctant he teleported her across the bay to the other ship. This time her arrival went unnoticed and she cautiously made her way toward the bow. Orgrim was already motionless on the deck, his neck twisted at an angle that left no doubt as to his condition. Durotan and the two draenai didn't seem to be making much headway with Blackhand. The orc tossed something that resembled a grenade towards the Iron Star she was standing near and Yrel yanked her away just as it exploded. He laughed as they scrambled to regain their balance.

"Didn't anyone tell you not to play with fire?" With another laugh he threw a handful of the grenades towards the remaining stars and Rae braced herself for the inevitable blast of consuming fire.

Well this wasn't a great idea.

There was a massive explosion and she felt the boards under her feet shift and buckle, knocking her to her knees … but the quick death by incineration didn't come as expected. Coughing she squinted through the smoke to see a golden glow encasing them. Maraad, broken and bleeding, had his right hand outstretched, using the last of his energy to protect them from the blast. When he saw the fire had passed by the trembling arm dropped to the ground.

"No!" Yrel whispered at her side. Rae scrambled over to Maraad but his eyes had already gone dark, his final act had been to shield them from the explosion. Yrel crawled to her side. They could see Blackhand through the lingering smoke and sparks digging his searing mace into Durotan who lay at his feet.

"Keep him distracted while I heal the orc. We will need his help."

Grabbing the only thing close by, Maraad's weapon, she hurled it at Blackhand's back. As soon as it struck (though apparently not doing any damage) he turned slowly, a deep chuckle in chest, eying them for a second.

"What do you want, little girls?"

"Your head," Yrel replied. With those words Rae released a barrage of arcane bolts that struck him full in the chest. Though, again, not much damage was done it did pull his attention from the draenei as they'd wanted and she was able to focus on Durotan.

"Such arrogance to believe that the two of you alone could defeat me," he growled, stalking towards her. Taking a small step back she fired again, thrilled that he had taken the bait and seemed to have forgotten about Yrel. From the corner of her eye she saw her approach where Durotan was beginning to move and a warm glow surrounded him as she cast a healing spell. Just as he struggled to his feet Blackhand swung his mace at her and reached out with his other hand, grabbing her around the neck. Raegan gripped at his fingers as she felt her feet lifted from the deck. Over his shoulder she saw the others advancing.

"No. Not alone," she gasped.

As Durotan threw his axe Yrel empowered it with Light and it struck true, digging deep into Blackhand's shoulder. He threw back his head in a howl, dropping her in the process. They ran to her side and a blast of golden light cleared all the smoke from the deck. Without it stinging her eyes she crouched into a defensive position again as Blackhand staggered to his feet and rushed at them.

"You will all die!" he screamed.

"Just you," Yrel replied and in a flash of light they found themselves back at the docks, the exploding ship now behind them. Maraad and Orgrim's bodies had also been ported back to land and Durotan and Yrel knelt beside them. Rae turned and watched as the two burning vessels began to sink into the water of the harbor. At least they'd been successful in that.

"Are you alright?"

Khadgar was at her side almost immediately, his concerned gaze raking over her face.

"I'm okay."

His eyes narrowed a bit, clearly not convinced. Opening her mouth to assure him she was truly alright she froze in place when he reached out and ran his fingers lightly over her neck.

"How did you get these cuts and bruises?"

"Just some parting gifts from Blackhand." She kept her tone light not wanting him to become angry over something that couldn't be changed.

"They look like … fingers." She felt him tense and his eyes darkened as he stared at her. "He grabbed you around the throat." The tightness of his voice betrayed his anger.

"Yes," she said with a sigh. "I was keeping him distracted so Yrel could heal Durotan. It was just briefly and, as you can see, no harm done."

Rae could tell he wanted to say more but Gaige and An'dir ran up then, returning from their sweep through the city, and Khadgar stepped back, turning his attention to Yrel and Durotan.

"What happened here? We heard the explosions," An'dir asked, motioning towards the smoking ships.

"We accomplished what we set out to do. The weapon, along with the ships, have been destroyed."

"And Blackhand?"

She shook her head. "He was alive when we were ported off and though it exploded a second later I have my doubts that we've seen the last of him." Glancing around she registered the absence of two of their friends. "Where are Velred and A'odriel?"

"They stayed with the injured survivors back up towards the gate."

Gaige, of course, latched on to one small detail in her answer to the night elf's question. "You were on that ship?"

"Yes. I was on both ships," she replied with a roll of her eyes. "The weapon had to be taken out."

"So how did you end up on the flagship facing Blackhand?" His voice rose a bit.

"I had Khadgar port me over once I'd taken care of the weapon's commander. Yrel and Maraad needed help."

He frowned and glared at the Archmage's back. "Why didn't he help them?"

"Because I insisted he stay back in case we all needed to be yanked out of there … which we did."

Just as Khadgar had done only moments before Gaige's eyes narrowed as he looked her over.

"There are bruises on your neck, Rae."

"So I've been told. It was a fight, Gaige, and sometimes people are injured in them, as the scars all over my body can tell you." She heard her name called and she was extremely grateful for the diversion. "Now, if you'll excuse me I need to see what has to be finished here before we return to the garrison. We lost two good men today and arrangements need to be made."

"Does it sting?" A'odriel asked as she carefully wrapped a bandage around her neck.

"No. It just feels a bit tight."

"You were lucky."

She shrugged. "Maybe. I suspect I've been on borrowed time for a while anyway."

The druid huffed in irritation and Rae knew if she'd been in cat form her ears would have laid back. "At least I know there is someone who will keep an eye on you since you don't take your safety seriously."

"Please don't encourage him. Gaige means well, I know, but -"

"I'm not talking about Gaige." She looked at her friend in confusion. "The Archmage."

Rae felt her cheeks instantly warm. "I am Commander of the Alliance garrison. It would be a bit odd if he wasn't concerned."

"Don't play dumb with me, Raegan Eastcroft. The others probably haven't noticed, men rarely do, but I have."

"What do you mean by that?"

"All the requests for you to travel to Zangarra? The frequent meetings? And if I hadn't already noticed it the way he watched you today on the docks was a giveaway." She raised an eyebrow. "My guess is he isn't fully aware of his feelings or what he's doing. He doesn't strike me as the type to openly moon over someone."

She could only stare, the power to talk having left her completely. The words she'd just heard echoing wildly inside and her heart leapt at the idea while her head tried to reason it away. There was no way Khadgar felt … such things. He was … well, he was the Archmage, wiser and more knowledgeable than she could ever hope to be, and surely such things were beyond him. Weren't they?

"Raegan," A'odriel's voice was unusually gentle as she squatted in front of her. "The Archmage … does he know how you feel?" Now Rae stared at her friend with panic rising inside. Was she that obvious or easy to read? Had she somehow displayed or said something that gave away the secret? By the Light what would everyone think if they knew? Did Khadgar know? Her alarm must have been plastered on her face because A'odriel gave her hands a quick, comforting squeeze.

"Do not worry. No one that doesn't know you well would be able to notice anything different in your manners around him. You haven't done anything that would give people … ideas."

"You are sure?"

"Rae, I've seen how Gaige shadows you, tries to attach himself to your hip, and the way you always kindly-" She snorted and A'odriel rolled her eyes with a grin. "Okay, so not always kindly but you are always making sure to be clear that you harbor no feelings in that direction. The subtle differences in how you are around Khadgar are pretty telling … if one knew to be looking."

She eyed the druid for a moment, searching for any sign she wasn't being truthful. Finding none her shoulders relaxed and she shrugged again.

"No, I don't think he knows and he doesn't need to know. It is pointless and foolish to feel such a way."

"It is foolish to love?"

"It is when nothing could ever come of it."

"Why would you think that? You are both human. What reason could there be to keep you from being with him?"

Rae waved her hand in a vague motion towards the wall. "All of this. We're in the middle of a fight, trying to liberate a world, there's just no time for something like that. Once we return to Azeroth I most likely won't see him again."

A'odriel rose to her feet with a smirk on her lips. "Some how I highly doubt that."

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Khadgar stood in the center of his private chambers, staring at the wall as the day's events replayed in his mind. They had succeeded in destroying the weapon along with two of the Iron Horde's prized ships … but at what cost. Maraad and Orgrim would not be easily replaced. The orc's death loomed especially large as he had apparently been a voice of reason amongst the leaders … and now that small fragment of common sense was gone. Was there anything they could have done differently to avoid their loss? Their plan had proceeded exactly as they'd hoped … until the end. He shared Raegan's doubts about Blackhand; that orc was too stubborn to die so easily.

Raegan …

His hands fisted at his side as he again pictured the bruises on her neck (they had darkened substantially before they had left for the garrison), heard her calm explanation of what had happened. Yrel and Durotan had filled in a bit more detail of what had happened while they'd been hidden in the smoke … and he knew it would take some time to get that image out of his head. That beast had lifted her by the neck and could have easily broken it. All it would have taken was a slightly tighter grasp and her body would have been laying there on the cobbles with Maraad and Orgrim's. He felt sick at the thought. It didn't help that at the time all that was happening he was having Thaelin aim and prepare to fire the cannon at the ship, thinking none of them could have survived that initial blast. He had almost killed her himself.

He sat down hard and ran a hand through his hair. What was wrong with him? He couldn't answer the question though a little voice inside sneered at him for being blind. Something he did know, however, was that the time was almost ripe for their final assault and in his mind it couldn't come quick enough. The sooner they were all off this world the better.