Chapter 50: Left, Right, and Center
The moment we landed on the shores of Borean Tundra, it was an absolute disaster. You know what it was like, I imagine many of you were there. We engaged the…what are they called? The Kvadirdir?
Kvaldir, Jin.
Kvaldir, yes, thank you, Tengiu. We engaged with them the moment we landed, barely a few scant moments to unload our supplies. I remember the mists, the way they seemed to cast a suffocating blanket across the entire coast. I imagined that Garrosh had a similar experience, seeing the leftover supplies, arms and armor, the siege engines Garrosh was forced to abandon just from the coast. The forces that were sent here, the main fighting force, easily fought off the kvaldir, but the implications were dire indeed. We saw Warsong Hold looming in the distance, shut up tight due to the nerubian forces that the construction of the hold and roused from their slumber. I couldn't help but wonder if they were here for that soul purpose, defending this choice bit of land to warn any intruders to this frozen wasteland.
And a frozen wasteland it was. Once the kvaldir, the immense human-like warriors and mystical casters and retreated further down the coast, we had a moment to look out over the landscape before us. A moment to reflect on the task that lay before us, monumental as it was, even though none of us wanted to admit it.
Not a year ago, I remember playing chess with Katarai, laughing and talking with him. Now, the elf looked around at the lands around us, a few snowflakes clinging to his ebon hair, his mouth a hard, thin line, chapped and windburnt face, evidence of the long voyage here. Circi was shivering even in her thick robes, and even Andris looked around as the tip of Destiny rested in the dirt, the blade tangled with seaweed from the corpses of the kvaldir. Half the land was rocky and desolate, the other half frozen and unyielding, even against the wheels of our wagons as they were led carefully across the landscape. I tapped my staff against the ground a few times, and knew that we could not use this land to feed our troops; nothing would grow here, no matter how many druids worked the lands or how many shamans prayed to the spirits of air and water.
This land, as I walked to a nearby hill, looking at the huge, looming spire of Icecrown Citadel in the distance, was truly a land of naught but death and wastes.
Even getting to Warsong Hold itself was treacherous. When we thought we were safe, forces of the Scourge would attack from all sides, along with more kvaldir, nerubians, and even the animals itself attacked us, as if to throw us from their land to save us or to force us to join the Scourge, I could not say. It was near midday by the time we reached the land outside of Warsong Hold, such that is was, a land squashed up against the structure. I saw bits of wall had been blasted away by plague bombs, rents placed into the stone and wood and rock by nerubian claws, piles of their corpses so high that the spider creatures behind them could scale the bodies of their brethren to reach the upper walls of the Hold, attacking the defenders on the ramparts, orcs and trolls and tauren who hid behind parapets and crenellations.
I don't know how many died just getting to the gates of the Hold; fifty, a hundred, a thousand, but I know our men and women of the horde sweat fear if they could, and breathed it out in wispy, steamed clouds.
I looked back as we began to enter Warsong Hold, knowing that this land would be the grave of so many good men and women of our horde.
And that brute, that arrogant, stupid brute made it no better. He used the horde's forces like sticks, throwing them into the webs of the nerubians in an effort to staunch their forces attacks, but as many that went out, half did not return, and if they did, they did so as foot soldiers of the Scourge, and those that didn't do that, suffocated and died in the web wrappings of the spiders.
"We're gonna die here, aren't we?" I heard Katarai asked. He had taken a wound to his warm, and Circi was working the huge, broken fang of the nerubian from the muscle and sinew. A scattering of empty shell casings had followed us up here, and the hand that held one of the bullets looked weak and frail.
"Maybe." Was all I could say.
Inside the hold, we were immediately taken to Garrosh and Saurfang. Saurfang was relieved to see us, but Garrosh, less so.
"This is what the horde sends me? Green boys and old men?" the Mag'har said as he looked at our haggard and tired forces. "How am I to storm Icecrown with this?"
"You'd be lucky to storm a collection of thatch huts, Overlord." I said, and that made the Overlord's face tighten in a sick glare. "My name is Matthew De'tylmarande."
"Who leads these men?" Garrosh asked.
Nobody spoke up, nobody said anything. We had numerous veterans of the war among our forces, but none stood up or spoke up. I nodded. "I lead them."
The Overlord growled softly in this throat. "The Scourge has hammered us night and day since we landed. They are the hammer and that damned, haunted coast is the anvil."
"How many came with your van, Garrosh?" I asked.
He said nothing, but Saurfang looked to me. "Enough came and enough were lost that I think the new van has just arrived."
I looked around the Hold. The infirmary was overflowing and the funeral pyres of the dead gave the entire hold a sickly sweet, burnt smell.
"And it only gets worse." Saurfang said.
"Worse? How?" I asked.
"You have news of Dalaran?" Saurfang asked.
I had heard the initial reports, but I turned a deaf ear to them, wanting not to believe it until I saw it with my own eyes. I could not give myself to hope, not yet, not on these lands.
"Tell me of what you know, Varok." I said.
"The Blue Dragonflight has declared its own war." Saurfang said. "On all of the magic users of Azeroth, saying that magic has brought this doom to our door, and that humans especially, have used it for ill gotten gains for too long."
"Is there truth to that? Hmm." Silas said. "I think, some, yes."
Silas and I had been civil with each other, and had even spoken some words of praise on the ship here, me of his shadow magic, him of my new found fire spells. It was a short few steps on the long road to repairing our friendship.
"Their island citadel of Coldarra lies to the north some leagues." Varok said. "From there, they attack the leylines and attempt to siphon magic directly off of Azeroth itself."
"So now there are two wars in the north." Said Andris.
"And Vengeance Landing? How fares Sylvanas?" I asked.
"No better. She battles vrykul night and day, the brutes pouring from Utgarde Keep like ants." Garrosh said.
"And Dalaran?" I asked.
"They have opened their doors to the horde, but they lie a far sight to the northeast, flying above Crystalsong Forest." Varok said.
"Is it true?" Circi asked. "That Aethas Sunreaver leads The Sunreavers from Dalaran and taken a seat on the Council of Six again?"
Garrosh nodded, "But they focus on their play with the dragons. A fortnight past, dragons of all colors flew over the shore of the central area called Dragonblight. Outriders say that they have formed a new alliance to combat the Blues."
"They call it the Wymrest Accord, centered around Wyrmrest Temple. Last I heard, the blue dragonflight was assaulting the temple. My forces had established another foothold there, Agmar's Hammer, but Scourge gargoyles kill any birds carrying messages the moment they take flight." Varok said.
"Sylvanas had the same idea. Venomspite lies opposite the Hammer, but they fare no better against the Scarlet Onslaught." Garrosh said.
"Scarlet Onslaught?" Andris asked.
"The leftovers of the Scarlet Crusade, come to destroy the Lich King themselves and anyone who does not wear the red-and-white." Varok said.
"Well?" I said, throwing up my hands. "Next you will say that the Burning Legion has thrown their lot into this light-forsaken wasteland and seek to oppose us as well."
Garrosh snorted. "We did not even begin on the trolls of Zul'drak, the Drakkari and their Loa-worship, and their fealty to the Lich King, nor the naga that have taken up residence to the south, or the stirrings of giants and titan watchers in Storm Peaks or whispers of Grizzly Hills or the battle we fight against the alliance in Wintergrasp."
I stood there in shock. Best on all sides, top, bottom, left, right, center. I wondered where we might find some reprieve. I removed my mask and brushed the frost off the damp plaster and drummed my finger upon the hard material.
"We can do nothing sitting inside this Hold." I said.
"And I agree!" roared Garrosh.
"But we also can do only damage by hurling our warriors reckless against the Scourge." I said, and that made Garrosh slump his shoulders.
"What do you propose, Matthew?" Varok asked.
"We need allies." I said with a sigh. "More than what we have now. What do we have here that we can use?"
"The taunka." Garrosh said.
"The what?" Katarai asked.
"Some new breed of bull. Kin to the tauren." Garrosh asked.
"They were beset by the Scourge as well, in Taunka'le Village and Camp Winterhoof." Varok said.
"Is that all?" I asked.
"Dalaran. The Knights of the Ebon Blade." Varok said, but I only looked at him.
The only bird that had reached us from Warsong Hold came to tell us of Death Knights. I feared the worse, but it had said they bore no ill will to the horde or alliance, but were Death Knights, Knights of the necropolis Acherus that had freed themselves from the Lich King's dominion, led by Darion Mograine, second born of Alexandros Mograine, known as the Ashbringer. I said nothing but the distaste for allying ourselves with former Scourgelords was probably evident on my face.
"The dragons. The titans. We have no shortage of allies here, Matthew, but a shortage of ways to get to them." Varok said.
"Matthew." Silas said, and I looked at him. "You think too large, phoenix, too large indeed. We must start small. You have allies here, the shadow and the earth."
It took me a moment, but I looked at Garrosh. "There was a shaman and a troll among your ranks. The troll is no older than a boy, and the shaman elderly, frail, but powerful."
"We sent them out no long ago to scout the village that had been overrun by the Scourge. We have no heard from them in some time." Varok said.
"They live." Silas said. "The shadow is too stubborn and the earth too proud. Start there, phoenix. Then we can decide which allies we want to gather around us."
I rubbed my cheek and looked at Andris and Circi. "We should find Ten and Serg." Circi said. "Silas is right, we need all the help we can get right now, not in a few months."
Silas smiled at Circi but the woman only gave him a pained, forced smile. She did not trust him, but I thanked Silas for his help and advice.
And so, the plan was laid. Find Tengiu and Serg and rescue them if need be, and then relieve Dalaran. A big step, but Dalaran would be needed to ally ourselves with the dragons, and the knights of the ebon blade, as much as it pained me, would know how to truly fight the Scourge at their home. From there, we could decide if the titans were allies we needed or if time grew too short. The foot and horse we had were ordered to defend Warsong Hold and beat back the nerubians, and find out who led the Scourge here. From there, a strike force would be led to ensure the taunka were our allies before they were corpses. Katarai, Circi, Silas, Andris, and I left Warsong Hold and went into the craggy, rocky land around the Hold. It didn't take long before we were lost. A turn looked the same, a ditch looked the same, and the same jagged peak jutted up above us a hundred times. We were always within sight of the Hold, but with no means to get there, we were effectively lost.
"Tengiu!" Andris shouted.
"Serg!" Circi yelled.
"Razor!" Katarai called and whistled.
"I feel like we have passed the corpse already. Look, it has the same brooch." Silas said and I sighed. Yes, we had been going in circles and with every turn, we got more turned around. It was easy going, thankfully, seeing as how the nerubians were forcused on the Hold, but no less frustrating.
"Do you think Dalaran will help us?" Circi asked.
"They know what is at stake." I said. "If Modera still sits the Council, Aethas will pead with her if he must."
A few pebbles fell from the hill above us, clattering to the stone floor.
"Matt…" Katarai began, but it was too late. The dark green shape leapt from the nearby spire of rock, shouted something, and then disappeared in a blinding puff of smoke. I swatted at the gases in front of my face, stumbling backwards as the shape formed again in front of us, knives lashing out in green blurs. It was all I could do but to throw my hands up and deflect them with weak shards of ice. A moment later, rocks fell away as another form, a huge, hulking one, burst from the very earth around us, followed by a huge beast, black with eyes like fire and fangs like daggers. Andris crossed Destiny with the blades of the shape, and Katarai aimed his gun, but I quickly used a backdraft of magic to clear the smoke from around us.
"Tengiu?" I asked, looking at the shape that attacked me.
"Boss?" he asked, lowering his knives.
"Dawnshatter!" grumbled the other shape, lowering his twin axes, laughing. "Dawnshatter!"
"Serg!" Andris said, lowering Destiny. I had to laugh and Tengiu fell onto his butt in front of me, daggers clattering to the ground.
"Ah almost kill ya, boss!" Tengiu said, putting his head in his hands.
"Tengiu!" Circi said, rushing forward and hugging the troll boy. Katarai clapped Serg on the shoulder as he shouldered his gun.
"What were you doing out here?" Andris asked.
"We was lost!" Tengiu said.
"Tengiu speaks the truth. We could not find our way back to the Hold. We are starved and lost." Serg said.
"So are we." Andris said.
"The village?" I asked.
"Lost and dead." Tengiu breathed, falling back into the dirt. "Ah am so 'ungry!"
As I reunited with my dear friends, sharing our tales of what brought us to these lands, we did not see the other party approach.
"Light," Silas said, looking at Circi. "Do you have a sister?"
"Uh…" Circi looked around. "Yeah, why?"
Silas pointed up to the hill nearest us and, perched on the edge of the rock, flanked by Blood Knights was Ti'tanya. She had cleaned herself up and her hair shown like a river of gold, and she wore brown and white and gold robes, so unlike her sisters blue, navy, and indigo ones. She just stared at us and then slowly smiled.
"Were I Scourge, you'd be dead." She said with a giggle.
"Ti'tanya, how? When?" I asked.
"I only asked to fight the Scourge. Lor'themar was all too happy to have my skills on the field of your little war, atonement for my…sins." She said, walking down the path slowly towards us."
Silas reached for her when she was within reach, only aiming to touch her robes. He was awarded with a hard slap to the face.
"Hey!" Tengiu shouted. "Dat ain't no way to treat ya allies!"
"Allies?" Ti'tanya laughed a melodic laugh. "You are not my allies. Beloved, let us be rid of this rabble. I know the way back to the Hold."
It took me a moment to realize who she was talking to. "Ti'tanya, no. Do not start this now, girl. I will not leave without my friends."
She gave me a sour, baleful look. "Fine. Rot out here."
"Ti'tanya." Andris said. "Don't do this."
I was thankful for Andis in that moment. She balked in the face of her younger brother and sighed. She bid us follow her and we returned to the Hold.
"It seems we are off to a good start," Varok said. "And a new ally joins us."
"Be silent in the face of your betters, green skin. I am here to assume command of these men, by leave of Regent Lord Theron." Ti'tanya said. "And I order a full retreat to the coast."
"Retreat?" Garrosh roared. "You are empty between the ears, elf. The Warsong do not retreat and you do not command these soldiers."
"You will not speak to me in such a manner, orc!" Ti'tanya screeched.
"Enough!" Serg yelled. "We are in a unique position. The nerubians retreat, we know Kel'thuzad leads these Scourge, and we have a straight shot to the taunka. Matthew, we must take it."
"I lead here!" Ti'tanya said. "And I say we retreat to the coast."
"You do not lead here, elf." Varok said. "He does."
Varok looked to me. "What are your orders, Matthew?"
Ti'tanya glared at me. "I warn you, Matthew, retreat to the coast or my father will hear of this."
I shook my head. "Your father has no power here. Varok, Garrosh, you hold here. I will lead these men to the taunka."
"All of them?" Garrosh asked.
"No," I looked at my friends. "Just the ones I need."
