Auriana
As promised, Auriana returned to Stormwind later that evening to sleep close to her beloved King. Admittedly, there were few things she loved more than burying herself in the thick furs that lined Varian's bed and curling herself up against the warmth of his side, and she had perhaps needed less convincing than she had made out. Auriana was not usually one to indulge in luxury, but there was something so indescribably comforting about nestling into Varian's shoulder, and feeling the strong beat of his mighty heart thrum throughout her body as she drifted off to sleep.
Regrettably, the warmth and safety of Stormwind's Keep was now quite literally worlds away, as Auriana stood alone before the forbidding gates of Hellfire Citadel. It had been over a week since her reunion with Varian, and she hadn't returned to Stormwind since. Auriana's time had been utterly consumed by preparations for the assault on Gul'Dan's fel fortress, though her thoughts would inevitably turn towards the King whenever she had a moment to breathe.
Leaving Varian was always difficult, of course, but their most recent parting had been tainted by a strange undercurrent of foreboding. Auriana had stayed in Stormwind until late morning, finding it very hard to resist the allure of the soft blankets and Varian's warm embrace. It was only with great reluctance that she had finally crawled out of bed and dressed in preparation for her return to Draenor, feeling Varian's wolfish gaze upon her back the entire time. Auriana was more than familiar with the moods of the King of Stormwind, and she knew that he had been struggling mightily with the temptation to order her to stay.
"Not another lecture, please," she had warned him. "You know why I have to leave."
"I wasn't going to lecture you, Auri," Varian replied, though his eyes told a different story. "I may as well smack my head against a brick wall for all the good it would do. I just… I don't like it when you fight."
"That's a lie," she had murmured, taking his face in her hands.
His skin had been warm, as it always was, and he had leaned wistfully into her touch. It never ceased to amaze her how such a big and dangerous man could look at her with such tenderness, and she had felt her heart begin to race beneath the power of his stare.
"You love it when I fight. It's what makes me who I am," she reminded him gently. "What you don't like is when I lose."
Varian had frowned, and it was a long time before he finally spoke once more.
"Hmph," he had grunted, reverently closing his fingers around Auriana's throat and caressing her pale skin with a weathered thumb, "Then I suppose you'd better win..."
As she stood now before the gates of Hellfire Citadel, Auriana absentmindedly mimicked the King of Stormwind's final gesture, touching her hand to her own throat as if through imitation she might recall the warmth of his hands. There was no one else she would have rather fought alongside in the coming battle, but she knew all too well that he had his duty, as she had hers.
I'll make you proud, Varian, Auriana thought grimly. I will protect our kingdom.
A strong burst of wind caught her hair, and she shifted irritably beneath her new armour. The smiths of Lunarfall had worked hard to replace the armour that Auriana had so unceremoniously sacrificed during the invasion of Tanaan Jungle, but she couldn't seem to get comfortable. Her new set was finely crafted, and it fit her like a glove, but it wasn't quite the same as her well-loved old set. The armour she wore now had been made for a commander of the Alliance, and she felt it far too new, too shiny and ostentatious when compared to the simpler garb that had served her well for many years.
"Ye alright, lass?" came a voice from behind her, and Auriana briefly looked over her shoulder to see Delvar Ironfist approaching. "Yer twitchin' like a wild wolpertinger on Brewfest."
"It's nothing," she said dismissively, returning her gaze to the Citadel. "I didn't realise you were talking to me again."
The grim-faced death knight had made no secret of the fact that he took Auriana's brief disappearance during the invasion of Tanaan as a personal insult, and he had been gruff with her ever since her return. Of course, he had also barely strayed three feet from Auriana's side the entire time, and she had actually needed to order him out of her bedroom more than once so that she might bathe and sleep.
"Ha, ha," Ironfist growled drily. "I'll talk ta ye when ye stop tryin' ta get yerself killed. Yer a damn difficult woman to guard, ye know that?"
"My apologies," Auriana said, her tone ever so slightly sarcastic. "I thought you might appreciate the challenge."
"I'll appreciate the 'challenge' more once I get yer pretty little head safely back ta Azeroth," he grunted, adjusting his belt. "For now, however, I thought ye might like ta know that yer troll friend has arrived."
Her interest piqued, Auriana looked back beyond Ironfist to see a large force of Horde soldiers emerging from the jungle. She and Zala'din had remained in contact ever since she had left the Horde war band, and she had been expecting his arrival. As promised, he had bought the full strength of his invasion force, and they took up a marshalling position opposite the already assembled Alliance troops. Auriana made a few quick calculations, and estimated that Zala'din had brought roughly several hundred of his finest troops. Combined with Auriana's own Alliance soldiers, they represented a considerable force, and she only hoped it would be enough to stop Gul'Dan.
Cut off the head of the beast, and the rest of them will soon fall, she mused darkly.
As Auriana watched, she saw a sudden movement within the Horde lines, and the war band parted to allow Zala'din to ride free. He was mounted upon a large, snarling raptor, and both beast and rider were adorned with bright feathers and fearsome war paint. The troll Commander's eyes were sharply focused, and he found Auriana immediately; urging his raptor forwards to meet her where she stood upon the narrow concourse leading to the gates of Hellfire Citadel. He was followed closely by a Horde standard bearer, who rode a similarly decorated raptor, and carried a fluttering red and black banner on her back.
Zala'din pulled his raptor up a few feet short of where Auriana and Ironfist stood, and practically leapt from the beast's saddle. He gave Ironfist a fleeting, curious glance, before turning his attention fully to Auriana and the Citadel.
"How ya doin', mon?" he asked, eyeing Auriana carefully from head to toe.
"I'm well," she replied, giving him a brief smile. "Or, about as well as one can be when preparing to launch an all-out siege on an insane warlock and his rabid band of fel orcs."
Zala'din barked out a short laugh, and jerked his chin towards the two monstrous fel cannons protecting the outer gates of the citadel.
"Dey gonna be a problem," he said grimly. "Dere's only one way in, and with dis bridge bein' so narrow, our troops are gonna make easy fodder for da Iron Horde."
Auriana nodded in agreement, having just been contemplating the very same dilemma herself. She had made sure to stay just out of range as she conducted her inspection of the Citadel's defenses, but she was under no illusions about the kind of damage the Iron Horde cannons could inflict once she ordered her army to move within range.
"I had an idea about that, actually," she said thoughtfully. "How many mages do you have with you?"
"A dozen and den some," Zala'din supplied. "Da Regent Lord was kind enough ta send a group of Sunreavers ta aid us in da assault."
Auriana frowned ever so slightly at the mention of the Sunreavers; the faction of Horde magi who had been thrown out of Dalaran after the theft of the Divine Bell. While Auriana had not participated in the Purge of Dalaran herself, she knew there was no love lost between the Sunreavers and the Kirin Tor, and she wondered how well the Horde mages would take to her direction. Still, for her plan to work, Auriana needed the strength of the Horde to augment the small cadre of Kirin Tor mages that Jaina Proudmoore had given over to her command, and if it meant keeping her men safe, she'd take whatever help she could get.
"Would it be possible for me to speak to one of your mages?" she asked. "I have a plan, but the Alliance and the Horde will need to work together."
"We don't need 'em, lass," Ironfist interjected quickly, fixing Zala'din with a fearsome scowl. "The Alliance can take care of themselves!"
"I will not risk good men against those cannons, Delvar. If I have to use the Horde to advance our cause, then so be it," Auriana said firmly. "Zal?"
Zala'din frowned down at Ironfist, but nevertheless muttered an order to his standard-bearer in Zandali. They talked back and forth for a while, before the standard bearer turned her raptor and rode briskly back towards the Horde lines.
Auriana gave Ironfist a swift, disapproving look, and jerked her head at the marshalling Alliance soldiers.
"In the meantime… Delvar, could you fetch Calandra for me, please?" she asked, the politeness of her phrasing undercut by the sternness of her tone.
Ironfist stiffened, but his almost fanatical loyalty won out over his obvious dislike for Zala'din, and he hurried off to comply with Auriana's command. As he left, a tense silence settled between the two Commanders, and Auriana sighed. She knew she was more pragmatic about working with the Horde than many of her comrades; and that Ironfist in particular was one of those who had strongly questioned her willingness to ally with the Horde in the past. While Auriana tentatively considered Zala'din a friend, and might have otherwise pursued a conversation, she did not know how a troll might react to a perceived insult from a dwarf, and decided that for now it was perhaps best if she didn't push the issue.
Fortunately, the Horde standard bearer returned before the silence became too oppressive, with a raven-haired blood elf woman in tow. The blood elf was immaculately dressed in the distinctive red and gold of the Sunreavers, and her fierce green eyes radiated an imperious intelligence. Auriana stood her ground, though it belatedly occurred to her that while she was not currently representing the Kirin Tor, the Sunreaver mage may not look kindly upon someone who had completed their training in Dalaran.
"Dis be Girana. She leads da Sunreaver contingent here in Tanaan," Zala'din said, by way of introduction. "Girana, dis be Auriana Fenwild, Commander of da Alliance."
"Yes, I know who she is," Girana said shortly, considering Auriana with a wary expression. "What is it that you want from me, Commander?"
Well, I'll take curiosity over outright hostility, I suppose, Auriana thought drily.
"I need the help of you and your mages to disable those fel cannons," she explained. "If we run at them headlong, we're going to get slaughtered. Horde and Alliance both."
Auriana gestured to path behind her, where Ironfist had returned with an elegant, auburn-haired woman following close on his heels. Warmage Calandra had served the Kirin Tor in the Borean Tundra during the Nexus War, and Auriana knew her to be a strong leader and a talented mage. She had been chosen by Jaina to lead the Kirin Tor mages in the assault on Hellfire Citadel, and Auriana was grateful for the presence of another powerful ally against the Iron Horde. Unfortunately, it seemed that Calandra did not share Auriana's tolerance of the Horde, and no sooner had she arrived than she began to glare daggers at Girana.
"Between your Sunreavers and my Kirin Tor, we should be able to freeze both cannons long enough to get our armies inside that first gate," Auriana continued, pointedly ignoring Calandra's scowl as she gestured back towards the fearsome Iron Horde artillery. "Once inside, we can take control of the cannons and turn them back against the Citadel."
"Clever," Zala'din commented, nodding his approval. "What ya tink, Girana?"
"You have proven yourself a steadfast ally in the past, Commander, and for this reason I might have considered doing as you ask… but I will not work alongside agents of the Kirin Tor," the Sunreaver mage said coldly, her bright green eyes narrowing with intense dislike as she turned upon Calandra.
Auriana opened her mouth to head off the argument, but Calandra was faster.
"You were one of us, once, Girana," she retorted, squaring her shoulders aggressively before the blood elf's challenge. "Before you turned traitor."
"I was a member of the Kirin Tor before you were even born, jael," Girana snapped. "Jaina Proudmoore had no right to throw us from a city that was as much ours as hers!"
"Then perhaps the Sunreavers should have considered that before they allied with Garrosh Hellscream," Calandra growled.
Auriana bit her lip, wondering if she had perhaps been overambitious in believing that the Sunreavers and the Kirin Tor could overcome their recent history and work together. She looked briefly over to Zala'din as the two women continued to bicker, and the husky troll shrugged. His gaze was keen, and he was clearly ready to move at the first sign of serious trouble, but there was a wry lightness to his expression that Auriana understood to mean that the squabbling mages were her problem. She sighed, trying to think of what she might say to encourage the two factions to work together, when she realised that there was a faster solution, if not precisely an elegant one.
Silently, Auriana reached for her power, and her eyes and arms blazed to life. She drew on as much magic as she was able, until she was full to the brim with raw, surging energy. Auriana vaguely realised that she was holding more power than she previously would have believed possible, but now was not the time to dwell, no matter how interesting such a discovery might have been.
"Are you all quite done?" she asked quietly, arching one eyebrow with as much disdain as she could muster. "Forgive me, but I thought we were here to win a war. To do so, I need those cannons frozen. I will not repeat myself again."
Calandra's eyes widened dramatically, and even Girana's haughty blood elf facade broke before the untempered force of Auriana's power. The Sunreaver woman acquiesced with a short nod, and a moment later, Calandra mimicked the gesture.
"Thank you," Auriana said, sighing slightly as she released her power. "I believe there are currently more Alliance mages here than Sunreavers, but in order for this to work, we need to take both cannons out at the same time. Calandra, send half a dozen of our mages to assist the Sunreavers in disabling the right hand cannon. The remainder of our forces will concentrate their efforts on the left."
Calandra grimaced, as if swallowing something very bitter, but Auriana knew she would not disobey. Historically, hierarchy among mages was not decided by birth, or title, or wealth, but rather by raw power. It was now considered an antiquated, if not outright barbaric, way of determining relative rankings among mages, but the primal sense of disquiet brought on by facing a mage of superior power was nevertheless hard to resist.
"See to your mages, Calandra," Auriana ordered softly, "And await my signal to begin your attack."
"Ya got dat, Girana?" Zala'din added, giving his own ally a stern glare.
The two warring mages exchanged a charged look, but nevertheless parted without further discussion. Calandra simply blinked away, while Girana mounted up behind the standard bearer and rode slowly back to re-join the Horde.
"Go with Calandra, Ironfist," Auriana added. "I will follow you shortly, but I need a word with the Commander first. No arguments."
Despite her warning, Ironfist looked as if arguing was precisely what he would like to do, but even the stubborn death knight knew there was little point in picking a fight with Auriana when she had dug in her heels. He was still defiant enough to shoot her a disapproving look, however, before heading off down the road after Calandra.
"Care ta explain what just happened?" Zala'din asked, once the two of them were alone.
"Ah… have… have you ever seen young men flex their muscles at one another in order to establish a pecking order?" Auriana asked awkwardly. "I did… that. Magically speaking, at least. I can't have either side forgetting who holds the power around here. Working together has never been more important, and we cannot lose ourselves to petty squabbles."
"So… ya threatened dem," Zala'din surmised.
"Basically… yes," she conceded sheepishly, her discomfiture making the troll grin. "It seemed to be the most expedient option."
"Ya got no argument from me," the troll shrugged. "If it works, it works."
He looked down at her thoughtfully, and a strange expression flickered across his face.
"Just how powerful are ya, really?" he asked slowly. "I dunno about dat Warmage of yours, but Girana is very strong… yet dey both seemed proper afraid of ya."
Auriana frowned and stared down at her scarred hands, and realised that she had been avoiding asking herself that very same question.
"Honestly… I'm not actually sure anymore," she admitted. "But if I'm going to find out… today seems as good a day as any."
"Hmph. Well, da Horde are ready ta do dere part," Zala'din said proudly, swinging back up into the saddle of his raptor. "We'll move on ya order, Commander."
"I've sent gnome sappers to set charges around the outer gates," Auriana informed him. "They will detonate upon my mark, and the path should be clear for us to move in. I figure that exploding the gates should be enough of a hint, don't you think?"
"Even some of my denser orcs could figure dat one out," he agreed, giving her a wry grin. "May da loa watch over ya, little lion. It be time ta finish this fight."
Zala'din whistled to his raptor, and the big beast turned instantly at his command. Auriana watched him leave, enjoying the last few moments of relative peace before she unleashed pandemonium upon Hellfire Citadel. As much as she loved to throw herself into the heat of a battle, she had never lost sight of her overall goal, and would certainly never take risking the lives of her men lightly.
"Alright," she said finally, to no one in particular. "Let's get this done."
With a casual wave of her hand, Auriana teleported herself back to the middle of the Alliance marshalling grounds, where her men were completing their final preparations for battle. A quiet, eager energy thrummed through the group, and everywhere she turned Auriana saw calm and determined faces staring back at her. She was also pleased to note that despite her reservations, Warmage Calandra had already begun to move the Kirin Tor into position, along with a number of Lunarfall's own mages.
Auriana was soon joined by Ironfist and Lieutenant Hafela, who both looked grim and ready for the battle ahead.
"Is everything alright, Commander?" Hafela asked, a slight note of reproach entering her voice.
"Everything's fine," Auriana said firmly. "Are we ready here?"
"Of course," Hafela said proudly. "We await your command to move out."
Auriana nodded, and forced herself to take a deep, steadying breath. She noted a large rocky outcrop nearby, and climbed atop it so that she might be better seen. Auriana was the type of person to lead by deed rather than by word, but she knew that words still had their place, and she would do her best to inspire her troops as best she could.
"Soldiers of the Alliance!" she shouted, magically enhancing her voice so that she could be heard by every last one of her men. "You have done yourselves proud throughout this long campaign, and the spoils of your sacrifice now lay before you! We have pushed the Iron Horde back to their fortress, where they stand upon the brink of defeat!"
A great whoop went up from her men, and Auriana felt her heart quicken in response. As much as she had once tried to deny it, standing at the head of a great army was exactly where she belonged, and there was no denying the way her blood surged and her legs trembled impatiently.
"The defenses of the Iron Horde will crumble before us, and we will bathe the halls of Hellfire Citadel in their blood," she roared fiercely, balling her hands into tight fists. "The time has come to end this war… with a victory for the Alliance!"
"For the Alliance!" came the answering cry, as the brave soldiers of Lunarfall unsheathed their weapons and lifted them to the sky.
"For Azeroth!" Auriana screamed, thrusting her right hand into the air.
"For Azeroth!"
The roar of the Alliance was almost deafening, and a moment later, the Horde added to the cacophony with a fierce rallying cry of their own. The jungle practically shook with the combined fury of the Azerothian forces as they crashed swords into shields and rattled their spears, and Auriana felt that she had scarcely seen a more magnificent sight. She looked across the field to left, and was somewhat surprised to see that Zala'din looked similarly affected. He leaned forwards eagerly in the saddle of his raptor, his red-eyed gaze sharp, and he already carried both of his swords free.
As if sensing Auriana's attentions, Zala'din turned his head to look in her direction, a sly grin spreading across his face. The big troll nodded, and Auriana knew the time had come. She opened her palm and sent a burst of red sparks flying from her fingertips, signalling the gnome sappers hidden beneath the bridge. For a tense moment, it seemed as if something might have gone wrong, only for a mighty crash to reverberate through the jungle a second later as the outer gates of Hellfire Citadel were torn asunder. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it appeared that the gnome sappers had rather overestimated the strength of the explosion required, and the resulting fallout was enough to briefly obscure the entire Citadel. When the dust finally settled, however, the path into Gul'Dan's fortress lay clear, and Auriana grinned in brazen anticipation.
"Soldiers of Azeroth!" she thundered, sending wild power crackling through every inch of her body. "Attack!"