Disclaimer - I do not own Warcraft
Two Weeks Later
Illidan's ship landed on a clear shoreline in northern Lordaeron. With the Shadow Orb, they were able to use its powers to keep them hidden from plain sight, avoiding any ships that were occupied by the Legion's remaining forces
"Burn the ship." Illidan ordered as they got off. Drak'thul complied and burned it quickly
"Now what? And why did we avoid those human ships?" Altruis asked curiously
"Those were not humans on the ships." Illidan answered and heard a unanimous 'what' from his comrades. "The one that tipped me off about the Skull of Gul'dan was a Lich named 'Kel'thuzad'. He also gave me a crystal on what the Legion has been up to. All of the humans kingdoms have already fallen. One of them in particular has a navy, which the demons used to conceal their forces."
"Yes, that human kingdom is called 'Kul'tiras'. It was one of the kingdoms that formed the Alliance of Lordaeron. Their marines gave the Horde a lot of trouble during the second war." Drak'thul commented
"Surprising that you believed the Lich." Altruis commented to himself
"Not entirely. I didn't believe the Lich at first but as I was travelling to those..." Illidan said, not entirely sure of what the ruins of Suramar was called
"Broken Isles." Illysanna said, coining the name
"Broken Isles, my ship was attacked by one that bore the flag of Kul'tiras." Illidan explained
"So, that's how you made it to the Isles. I thought you just flew there." Illysanna pondered curiously. "Now what? We can't possibly fight all the demons ourselves and if they've got gunships then it's gonna be more trouble."
"We'll find Kel'thuzad and get his help to drive out the demons." Illidan answered and to his surprise, all but one didn't seem bothered by it
"Illidan, the undead? Are you serious?" Altruis asked in surprise. "The undead are servants of the Legion and you want to ally with them? How do we even know we can trust them?" he pointed out
"We don't have to trust them. The only goal right now is to get rid of the remaining Legion forces, something that the undead shares with us." Illidan pointed out. The others had their doubts but Illysanna and Kor'vas trusted him so Drak'thul decided to as well. Left with no other choice, Altruis decided to do the same
Eventually, they arrived in a town that was still burning with corpses everywhere. There were a few Fel Guards, undead Necromancers and an Eredar Warlock guarding the town. The group figured that the town wasn't of significant importance if this was the only ones that guarded it. At Illidan's signal, Kor'vas, Illysanna and Altruis killed all the demons, making sure not to kill the necromancers. The Eredar Warlock tried to fight back but the demon hunter killed him personally as soon as he realized that the demon was about to cast a spell that would alert other demons that this town was under attack
"We are grateful you have finally come, Illidan Stormrage." one of the necromancers said
"You knew I was coming?" the demon hunter asked in confusion
"Yes. Lord Kel'thuzad has informed us about how the Lich King sabotaged the invasion by letting you know about the Skull of Gul'dan. Since then, we have been waiting for your arrival as you are the only one powerful enough to drive out the demons and would be willing to work with us towards a common goal." the necromancer explained
Altuis was surprised at this turn of events. As with most, if not all, night elves, he thought that the undead were with the Legion but with this new information, it became clear that the undead were just among the Legion's pawns, one who do not wish to be anymore. He still had his distrust but at the very least their goals align. He could only hope that the undead would not kill them afterwards
"Where is Kel'thuzad?" Illidan asked
"He is in the Capital City of Lordaeron. Be warned, the Legion is also occupying the Capital City and it is among their most heavily fortified fortress and have stationed three gunships in it." the necromancer warned
"If you undead are against the Legion, then why aren't you doing anything to them?" Altruis asked suspiciously, bringing up a point that the other night elves also wondered
"Pardon, elf. But with the Legion's gunships stationed above the Capital City, our forces cannot hope to fight the Legion. They have more forces than we do and we would all be killed by its firepower. The Dreadlord, Balnazzar, has also been keeping a close eye on us under Archimonde's orders." the necromancer answered
Before anyone could say anything, Drak'thul signaled them to hide among the hills, indicating that a demonic patrol was here. Before the patrol reached, he made sure that all the corpses were burned. While they didn't know if the patrol was heading inside the town, it was best that they not get noticed. As such, they all hid themselves
"If this Balnazzar has been keeping a close eye on you, then how was Kel'thuzad able to travel to Kalimdor?" Illidan asked suspiciously when they were sure they were in the clear and went out of their hiding spots
"Balnazzar, as well as the other Dreadlords, were occupied attacking the other kingdoms upon the Legion's arrival. Archimonde wanted to make sure that the entire Eastern Kingdoms was under the Legion's control in the event that something went wrong in Ashenvale Forest. Even Balnazzar had to do something as the humans fought with incredible resistance and when he was away, our King took that opportunity to send Lord Kel'thuzad to Kalimdor." the necromancer said
Illdan eyed them suspiciously and wanted to see if they truly were lying. As such, he fire a jet of green flames at all of them, intentionally not hitting them. When it cleared, he was surprised that the necromancers didn't even flinch despite knowing that even the Lich King would not be able to reanimate them if the demon hunter killed them here and now. The undead have heard about the demon hunter's reputation from the Legion, even about the part of how he permanently killed Azzinoth for good as Rage Winterchill wondered what made a certain night elf dangerous. This led the undead to believe that if Illidan was able to do that, then he would be able to do the same with them. They didn't have evidence if this was true but considering that demons can only be killed in the Twisting Nether and a night elf was able to kill one permanently on this world, it somewhat intimidated them
"Lead us to the city." Illidan ordered and the nercomancers were happy to oblige, although the necromancers did say it would take them three days at most, to which the group understood. 'Drak'thul, cast some warding spells to see if they're leading us into a trap. Kor'vas, Illysanna, Altruis, keep a very close eye on the surroundings.' he said directly to their minds, ensuring that the necromancers couldn't have heard it. 'It's something we demons can do. We can telepathically communicate with those we consider as allies.' he explained
It took them two days of walking to get to the crossroads that would lead towards the Capital City. They did take some breaks during the night so they can rest. "This way." one of the necromancers said and led them through the roads. He made sure that they weren't on the main path and this soon paid off as it wasn't much further before they saw the demons that were guarding the entrance
"We're severely outnumbered." Illysanna whispered as she observed the main gates to the Capital City, noticing a small army of demons and undead guarding it
"The Capital City contains the largest undead army in the Easter Kingdoms. We would have rebelled against the Dreadlords but the gunships can wipe us out, even if we succeed." the necromancer said and pointed to a gunship in the distance
At this, it became obvious what needed to be done, disable or destroy the gunships and they saw three of them just floating above different areas on the Capital City
"This isn't gonna be as simple as infiltrating the gunships." Illidan said as he observed the guards with his spectral sight. "The demons have invisible spirits lurking around. I've encountered some on these during the invasion of Ashenvale Forest." he said, recalling the slight complications he had when he destroyed the gunships before joining at Mount Hyjal
"The black ones are called 'Shades', they're with us but the other is called 'Spectres' and they're more powerful Shades in service to the Legion alone. Both of them are currently used by the Legion now and Illidan is right, they can see through invisibility." one of the necromancers said
Illidan thought about this for a few minutes as the others were awaiting his orders. "How far is the next nearest guards?" he asked
"Very close. It would only take about five to ten minutes before reinforcements can arrive. Not only that, one of the gunships has the gates on its sights." the necromancer answered. "The only fortunate thing is that the other gunships don't have their sights aimed here."
"All of you, kill and distract any reinforcements." Illidan said eventually and surprised his comrades. "I am familiar with those gunships, they take a few minutes before they can fire and readjusting the aim takes about the same amount of time. I need the demons distracted so I can infiltrate the gunships."
Drak'thul was the first to attack and unleashed a huge fireball, igniting the area in flames. Many of the demons were quickly burned and reeled from the injuries
"We're under attack. Call for reinforcements." the Shivarra commander ordered and one of the Fel Guards quickly ran back
Almost as quickly as they were attacked, Illysanna, Altruis and Kor'vas attacked the demons, catching them off guard. The necromancers then raised the fallen demons as skeleton warriors as they were not powerful enough to raise a demon into undeath while retaining their powers and abilities. The demons tried to fight back they were killed as Drak'thul kept flinging spell after spell to provide cover for his allies. Even the Shivarra commander was killed by Illysanna when she tried to kill Drak'thul
In the meantime, Illidan flew towards the nearest gunship, whose cannons were already charging and would wipe out his allies. However, before it can fire, Illidan flew inside the ship and quickly slaughtered the demons operating it
"Kill him!" a Doom Guard yelled before Illidan just casually sliced him in half, using his twin blades to more easily fight. Other demons tried to attack but Illidan simply set them on fire. Some were killed, others survived but the point was simply to keep them busy as the demon hunter rushed to the control room where the Fel Guard operating it was hit in the back of the head by a spear made of pure fel energy, killing him. Illidan then quickly turned off the ship's weapons temporarily, saving his allies. More demons tried to attack him from behind but with the tight space, he was able to gain the upper hand by either firing lightning bolts or just slicing them all up. When he was able to dispatch the current group, Illidan had the weapons readjust its aim in the direction of the other gunships, including the few that were floating above the main courtyard of the Capital City. As soon as it took aim, Illidan shot down all the other gunships before heading to the top most deck. Before he can fly down, a Fel Lord was teleported onto the ship along with a few Infernals
"You're not going anywhere." the Fel Lord said and motioned his minions to attack. Illidan merely grinned at this as he knew he will just have to link up with the others
Back on the ground, Illysanna and the others were able to hold their own as the necromancers kept raising more and more skeletons. However, Infernals and Fel Reavers soon joined the battle and they were slowly getting overwhelemed. To their surprise, many were suddenly called back
"What's going on?" Altruis asked while Drak'thul tried to heal some of the wounds he got
"Up there." a necromancer said and pointed to the massive flames that were slowly going down, indicating that the gunships were destroyed, save for the one Illidan infiltrated. "The rest of our forces in the city are engaging the demons now as we speak. The ones here were called back to engage the our forces."
"Then let's go. The Legion is vulnerable now without their dominance in the air." Illysanna ordered and headed to the path
"What about Illidan?" Kor'vas asked in surprise
"He'll just have to meet us there." Illysanna said before looking at the necromancer. "How far are we towards this Kel'thuzad?" she asked
"Not that far. It would only take less than an hour and that is if we walk on a regular pace." the necromancer answered
"Let's move before Balnazzar does something. Illidan will figure out what we're up to and if he isn't back yet, then that probably means he wants to use the gunship or something. Whatever it is, we cannot afford to allow the demons to last much longer." Illysanna said and led the way. With no other choice, the others did the same, deciding to trust her lead
In the main Lordaeron palace, Balnazzar was still in the throne room, although over half the building was destroyed, waiting for further instructions from Archimonde. The Eredar had only ordered them to take out all of the humans, something they were able to do as all of the other kingdom's defenses were not built for the onslaught by the gunships, which rained down Infernals and Fel Reavers directly into their cities, throwing all of the defenders into complete disarray. The cultists were also instructed to make specific runes that would allow them to create portals, not to the Twisting Nether but merely to the areas under the Legion's control, allowing them to bypass any defenses or outposts. It worked perfectly as Kul'tiras, Stormwind and Gilneas were completely helpless against them. The Dreadlord's attention was taken when he suddenly heard something explode
"What in the?" Balnazzar said in surprised as he walked onto a balcony, noticing that two of the gunships were hit and slowly crashing into the ground. The Dreadlord was furious before storming back inside. "Lich! This is your doing isn't it? How?" he raged suspiciously, completely oblivious to Archimonde's fate
"Yes. Archimonde's assault on the night elves' ended in failure. He was defeated nearly a month ago and now, it's time for us to be rid of you." Kel'thuzad said before freezing the Dreadlord solid before teleporting away. While it was possible for him to defeat Balnazzar, he didn't risk as the Lich King still needed him
Illysanna and the others soon reached the main city itself and noticed it was very bloody. Undead and demons were all killing each other as brutally as possible. Liches and necromancers were raising those who have already fallen while Banshees protected them by casting anti magic shields. Eredar Warlocks were also flinging their own spells, completely destroying abominations and flesh golems with demonic lightning bolts and burning many ghouls. Even Death Knights were engaging Fel Lords, Doom Guards and many other powerful demons. At this point, it wasn't clear who would end up victorious so the group quickly reacted and engaged the demons. To their surprise, the undead welcomed their aid and worked together with them, some even watching their backs. Flesh golems even guarded Drak'thul as the warlock was casting his own spells
While they were engaging, Kel'thuzad suddenly teleported to them and froze many of the demons in the immediate area. "You are with Illidan Stormrage, are you not?" the Lich asked the night elves who merely nodded. "I am Kel'thuzad, the Arch Lich of the Scourge." he introduced himself and the night elves did the same
"It seems like we have a common enemy, Lich." Kor'vas commented as she decided to observe the carnage
At this point, Balnazzar has broken out of the ice and flew outside, noticing the raging battles. Not wanting to risk this, instead of joining the battle, he went to the demon gate he had erected, which was linked to the Legion's other main stronghold in the Eastern Kingdoms, and brought in reinforcements, led by two Pit Lords named Mongrethod and Brutallus. As soon as they stepped through the demon gate, Mongrethod cast a spell into the sky, raining down fireballs on the battlefield, hitting both demons and undead while Brutallus just charged through, killing both friend and foe and slaughtering five Death Knights, who had been occupied fighting other demons, in just one charge
Drak'thul had managed to cast a spell that shielded him from the fireballs. The other three night elves were forced to run around and dodge incoming fireballs but Kor'vas was hit and her left arm was burned before a Lich cast a small freeze spell on her to put out the flame. Illysanna had managed to use a Doom Guard as a shield while Altruis took cover inside a building. He was forced to fight a few more demons and was wounded in that fight but nothing too significant. Mongrethod had cast a lot of fireball spells and it was raining destruction everywhere when suddenly, his tail had been cut off
The Pit Lord yelled in fury and noticed that another demon had cut it off but he didn't realize who it was. With the Pit Lord yelling, many demons went to aid the injured Pit Lord but Illidan merely gathered energy around him and unleashed it in an omnidirectional wave, killing most while those that survived were left barely able to move. The demon hunter then set his sights on the Pit Lord who was rushing at him. Illidan was forced to fly up when the Pit Lord brought down his spear, rending the ground in two
Illidan didn't want to drag this battle on for very long as more reinforcements might come so he fire off green energy from his hands, which concealed the immediate area in a green cloud. Mongrethod just flapped his wings at this and blew it away and was furious when he didn't find his enemy. He looked around and noticed that the undead have completely occupied any minions that were close enough to help him so he figured he would have to fight this other demon on his own. The Pit Lord was about to cast another spell when he suddenly felt someone land on his back, a pit lord's worst blind spot. Mongrethod was next to helpless as Illidan merely grabbed hold of his wing as the pit lord flailed haplessly. Even the flames on the pit lord's back didn't have any effect on Illidan. Summoning one of his falchion swords, Illidan thrust it right in one of Mongrethod's eyes and unleashed a huge amount of energy, causing an explosion and killing the pit lord
The demon hunter was forced to fly up once more to avoid the explosion but this time, he was in a clear spot. He fired his eye beams right through the portal and created an explosion on the other side. Whatever was there was now burning thanks to the eye beam. Illidan flew back down and began channeling his powers, which was slowly closing the demon gate. Balnazzar noticed this and took this chance to kill the demon hunter but he was intercepted by Illysanna, who had threw a Doom Guard's head at him when he tried to move, getting his attention before he was suddenly hit by a blast of frost. Illidan looked at Illysanna and they nodded at each other, leaving the dreadlord in her and Kel'thuzad's hands
In the meantime, Brutallus was engaged by Kor'vas, a couple Death Knights and a Lich. Unlike Illidan, they didn't know that a pit lord's back was its worst blindspot and were forced to engage Brutallus in a brutal melee battle. Brutallus was one of the most battle hardened Pit Lords, and as such, even against a four on one, was able to hold his own. Kor'vas proved to be the most challenging since her fighting style mainly revolved around speed while the Death Knight's were around fighting up front. Brutallus was trying to hit her but she dodged any slash he threw. The Death Knights didn't have that so easy as Brutallus was able to nearly cleave one of them in two and was taken out of the fight. The other death knight got lucky and was able to block while the lich managed to save him when the pit lord tried to run him through by freezing one of his blade hands. Kor'vas then took the opportunity to jump on Brutallus' remaining wing and slice it off, causing him to yell in pain before she was thrown off. Any other demons that tried to interfere wasn't able to do so as the lich would get rid of them, at least if the night elf wasn't in danger. Kor'vas was nearly crushed when the pit lord tried slamming his tail into her but he got distracted as the lich used his powers to create a small elevation of ice so that the death knight can jump up and bring his runeblade down on the pit lord's head. Just before Brutallus was about to explode, the lich created a wall of ice around the death knight and Kor'vas which shielded them from most of the explosion
At the same time, Balnazzar had his hands full. Illidan was already making progress with closing the demon gate and Balnazzar won't be able to stop him, not with a night elf and Kel'thuzad in the way. Other demons couldn't even interfere as Drak'thul and a bunch of flesh golems protected the demon hunter. The dreadlord couldn't focus on the demon hunter otherwise Kel'thuzad would just freeze him to death. Even though he was physically stronger, Illysanna was able to give him a whole lot of trouble with Kel'thuzad easily able to get him distracted. To make matters worse for the dreadlord, Kel'thuzad called banshees to him to cast anti magic shells on him and Illysanna. Balnazzar was able to break the shells after some effort and engaged the night elf in a melee battle, which he was winning until Kel'thuzad pierced him from behind with an ice spear. The dreadlord quickly countered with a carrion swarm and scored a direct hit before following it up with a lightning blast, hitting the lich once more. Illysanna used this distraction to use her own fel magics, the very same taught by Drak'thul to her, and shot a stream of fel fire at the dreadlord. Balnazzar was surprised at this but wasn't given much chance to think about it as Illysanna inflicted a deep wound in his left shoulder, using the flames to get his attention. He was able to quickly throw off Illysanna but with this injury and an unfavorable battle, he decided to hide in the shadows. Not seeing where the dreadlord was, Illysanna and Kel'thuzad were helpless when their energies were slowly being sapped away
Kel'thuzad tried to use his powers to locate Balnazzar but was unable to do as the dreadlord hit him with another carrion swarm. The two of them were hit by lightning bolt from shadowy images that were constantly moving around. Their saving grace came when Drak'thul summoned multiple lightning bolts and struck their area, forcing Balnazzar out. The dreadlord turned his sights on the orc warlock and summoned down Infernals from the sky, killing some of the flesh golems that were with Drak'thul upon impact and engaging the rest. This proved to be a fatal mistake as Altuis has used the chance to sneak up on him and run him through where Kel'thuzad's spear had hit. Balnazzar was able to throw him off after he had slash the dreadlord again but at this point, Kel'thuzad was able to throw an ice spear, this time aimed right for the head, killing Balnazzar
Even though Balnazzar and both Pit Lords are dead, the battles still raged and it seemed to go in favor of the demons. Kel'thuzad grew curious as to what Illidan was doing and why it took so long to close the demon gate. The Lich looked towards the demon hunter and realized he wasn't just closing the gateway but Kel'thuzad was too late to stop it. Illidan cast a spell which caused an explosion on both sides, clearly indicating that he doesn't trust the undead that much. The explosion instantly ended the fighting as all the remaining demons were killed or left barely able to move, same with the undead. Many of the death knights and liches were able to use their powers to shield themselves from the explosion while Drak'thul did the same, protecting the night elves
Any undead that survived were barely able to move as the explosion wasn't intended to merely kill them, Illidan also adjusted it to drain their energies. The demon hunter walked over to where Illysanna was, along with the others. His group had made their concerns clear that they didn't trust the undead and at this moment, they realized that neither did Illidan
"I see you still do not trust us, Illidan Stormrage." Kel'thuzad commented
The night elves and Drak'thul grew curious why the lich wasn't upset while Illidan's eyes merely narrowed at this. "You don't seem upset that I nearly killed you?" the demon hunter said
"Of course not. My master, The Lich King, had already told me how this encounter would end. He is well aware that earning your trust would be very difficult, if not, impossible. However, we do share a common goal, to ensure that we do not become the Legion's slaves." Kel'thuzad answered
"This 'Lich King', who is he?" Illidan asked
"With your inherited memories, I think you already know his real name, or at the very least, make an educated guess." Kel'thuzad pointing out, confirming his suspicions
"Ner'zhul." the demon hunter said in realization. It was the only real conclusion as he already had his suspicions that whoever is the master of the undead is one that the Legion has manipulated and forced to do their bidding. Ner'zhul fit this criteria nicely
"The shaman? I thought he was dead?" Drak'thul asked in confusion. The other night elves just listened intently. They didn't know who this 'Ner'zhul', except for Illysanna who had some idea thanks to orc warlock
"Not necessarily. After the orc's defeat, Ner'zhul managed to escape to the Twisting Nether..." Kel'thuzad answered
"Right into Kil'jaeden's hands." Illidan finished. This left the three night elves even more confused at the mention of the name but they figured that from the way he said it, it was one of the Legion's leaders
"Now what?" Kor'vas asked curiously after a few minutes passed
"Lich, how did the Legion get here?" Illidan asked
Instead of answering, Kel'thuzad merely led the way and signalled the rest of the Scourge to merely to wait. The demon hunter and his group followed him to a library in the destroyed Lordaeron palace. Much to their surprise, everything in the entire place was destroyed, except for one certain book. "This." the lich said as he handed it to Illidan. "This is the Book of Medivh, the last guardian. I'm certain you have already heard of him. His spellbook contained the incantations necessary to weaken the barriers between worlds."
Illidan flipped through the book's pages, analyzing its contents and after closing it, he realized something. "Sargeras." he said
"What?" Illysanna asked, wondering why he mentioned the Dark Titan's name
"This book wasn't written by Medivh. It was written by Sargeras, the Dark Titan and the Legion's true master." Illidan answered which surprised even the lich. "Medivh has long been under Sargeras' control, slowly twisting his thoughts until Kil'jaeden was ready to send the orcs to this world, which he opened up the Dark Portal from this side, giving them entry."
"And when that failed, this 'Kil'jaeden' sent the undead to finish the job." Altruis said. "I guess you really were right that the Legion would return."
"Whether I was right or not is irrelevant. Lich, I'm gonna need your help." Illidan said
"On what exactly?" Kel'thuzad asked
"Salvage some parts of the gunships. It is possible for us to use the book's incantations to destroy all the gunships that are on this world with a ritual." Illidan answered
"I see. Very well then." Kel'thuzad said and they all walked out of the library
As you might be able to tell by now and from my Bleach fanfic, I'm a fan of the proverb 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend' even though that cuts both ways. When you consider how Illidan agreed to work for Kil'jaeden just a few months after fighting Tichondrius, I don't think this would be that out of character and Kil'jaeden and the undead aren't exactly that different in that sort of thing. Although this chapter is probably foreshadowing what will happen afterwards
I decided to just get rid of the gunships in one go. I did write them as being overpowered and if I keep putting Illidan flying up, infiltrating and destroying a gunship, that would get old real quick. So, to save you and myself from that boredom, I decided to get rid of them here and now
Also, I decided to have Illysanna coin the name 'Broken isles'. I couldn't find any information on who gave it the name. That part about Sargeras in Medivh's body and Kil'jaeden might be wrong but that's just the general idea
That's about it for now