Disclaimer - I do not own Warcraft

Five Months Later

Construction of Illidan's stronghold was going well and it has already begun to tower into the skies. After the Val'kyr explained the existence of the Old Gods, Illidan has sent some of the death knights into strategic locations in order to maintain eyes on the land. The Scourge didn't have the numbers yet to build multiple strongholds in the kingdoms so the demon hunter had to send his more powerful death knights to conduct said operations with all the shades they had

Zul'aman

The last city of the Amani trolls were under attack by the Scourge. A few days ago while the Scourge were busy with their fortress, the trolls from Zul'aman suddenly attacked, thinking that the Scourge was still weakened after the battle with the Burning Legion. However, they were grossly mistaken. They took too long in their preparations that they did not realize that most of the undead forces were in Dalaran, guarding any potential breach that the Legion might make. The Troll's attack on Quel'thalas was a disaster as they only managed to get a small amount of territory before Maiev completely halted their assault

A small number of flesh golems accompanied the former warden and completely slaughtered them all. With Frostmourne, she was able to quickly raise the fallen trolls and outnumbered their attackers, quickly forcing them on the retreat

'Illidan, the trolls are attacking Quel'thalas. Thought you should know.' Maiev said telepathically to said person, who wasn't in his lands at the moment

The demon hunter wasn't particularly concerned about this as he was well aware that the trolls were far too weak to pose any real threat but he was amused by their boldness. 'Deal with them and raze their city to the ground.' he ordered

'As you wish, my King.' Maiev answered and cut off the connection before opening a different one. 'Illysanna, Kor'vas, Altruis, the trolls have attacked us. I might need your help to end this as soon as possible.' she said

'Got it. Go attack them first. We'll be on our way and do what we can when we arrive. It will take us about an hour.' Illysanna answered as the three of them were still in Dalaran

'That's fine with me. I'm right across the river in Zul'aman now.' Maiev said before cutting it off. She raised her blade and the Scourge began charging towards the city's gates

The trolls quickly climbed to the walls of the city and began using whatever ranged weapon they have in the hopes of stopping the assault. Maiev was the only significant member of the Scourge to take part as she didn't want to leave Quel'thalas unguarded and these trolls were not that ready to face off against someone like her, who is not only an individual who is on par with other skilled fighters but also one who wields incredibly powerful necromantic magic with an equally powerful runeblade

Maiev observed the battle from across the river. Ghouls, skeleton warriors and other lesser undead warriors were trying to claw their way through the main gates while meat wagons rained down corpses on both the gates and the trolls. The undead trying brute force their way through the gate were getting slaughtered as they were starting to gather at a narrow chokepoint, the bridge to the city. After some time of getting slaughtered, she has had enough of this and raised her sword. Gargolyes and frost wyrms soon came flying from Silvermoon and began attacking the trolls

Control over the skies already proved to be a challenge for both sides during the second war and it most definitely proved to be an issue now. The undead's flyers were quickly caused the trolls to divert their attacks to them, allowing the undead ground forces to pile on and continue brute forcing their way through the gate. With their frost breaths, the frost wyrms froze and shattered various parts of the wall while being very difficult to take down by the trolls' weapons. After clearing the walls on the gate, a few frost wyrms helped the ground forces by completely removing the gate. Maiev saw this and blinked towards the end of the bridge and led the rest of the undead inside the city, quickly engaging the desperate troll defenders

Soon enough, the undead began pouring through the gate, including undead trolls who were killed earlier. After the last of the undead ground forces entered the city, a few Val'kyrs descended from the sky and raised the ones who were killed on the bridge, adding more soldiers to their assault, which only made the situation much worse for the trolls

When the undead finally broke through the gate, a sky barge flew towards Zul'aman but was not noticed due to the assault on the main gates

"Seems like Maiev has already broken through." Altruis commented as he observed the battle. "Would she even need our help?"

"No." Illysanna said and surprised the two with her. "Her exact wordings was to 'help her end this as soon as possible'. She can end this on her own but she wants it done this finished here and now."

"I can agree with that." Kor'vas said before opening the door of the barge. "Let's just kill the leader or prevent anyone from escaping while the rest of the trolls are distracted."

"Agreed. Let's meet on the ground before flying in the city." Illysanna said and Kor'vas jumped out, followed by her two compatriots. When ground was nearing, wings then came out from the trio's backs as they glided safely to the ground

"What's the plan?" Altruis asked when they rendezvoused

"Cast magical traps on the trees and ignite the forests on fire if any living creature enters the vicinity. We'll split up and head inside the city once we're done. Don't bother trying to find each other in the city. Just focus on hunting down Zul'jin." Illysanna ordered

"This is our first mission ever since we became just like Illidan." Kor'vas commented before beginning to walk in a random direction. "Let's do this." she said in an eager tone. She was eager to test out her new powers

A few minutes later, Altruis used an invisibility spell as he was the first to enter the city with his new flight abilities, courtesy of following Illidan. In the area where he entered, it was mostly an empty place, something which wasn't unexpected given what was happening. He then decided to meet with Maiev while picking off any trolls in his way. He found a group of trolls that were heading towards the main battle. Altruis ambushed them and easily dispatched them with barely any effort. After a short while of picking off two more groups, he found another group which were busy trying to open something, a secret exit of the city

Altruis had no idea on whether or not those who would use this secret exit were civilians or military but he knew he had to make a choice. 'Would it be worth it if you lose everything in the process?' Korvas' voice rang in his head as this was a similiar situation. If he destroys the exit, the trolls are trapped and at his mercy, which he knew would only end up in him killing them. But if he lets them live, he might piss off Illysanna or worse, Illidan, and the trolls could prove to be a headache when they are engaging the Old Gods. Having to make a hard decision, Altruis made his choice. He assumed his demon form and fired an eye beam at the exit which buried it in rubble

The trolls quickly looked up and attacked. They were able to observe some of the demons during the time the Legion was here so they were not surprised that a demon was attacking them now. The only question they had was why this demon looked like an elf but that didn't matter. They engaged Altruis but were easily outmaneuvered. He didn't simply fight them head on, he also used various simple magic spells such as smoke clouds to make the engagement favorable to him. While he could just burn them with his various demonic spells, he still preferred to simply cut them down. Like with Illidan and the other former night elves, he preferred to fight with weapons rather than magic

This battle was short and completely one sided, it ended up with Altruis killing all of the trolls. 'I guess there's no turning back now.' he thought to himself before reverting back to normal. 'Maiev, we're all here in the city. I found a secret exit and destroyed it. Have your shades scout out for any other exits. I might not be able to find them all.' he said telepathically

'What about Kor'vas and Illysanna?' Maiev asked as she ordered some shades to do what he said

'I'm not sure where they are. We split up after putting some traps in the outside forests.' Altruis responded

'If that's the case then they're probably going straight for Zul'jin.' Maiev concluded. 'Leave the troll's leader to them. They should be able to handle it on their own. Focus on finding other exits.' she said

At the same time, Kor'vas was having the same idea, to link up with Maiev and pick off any trolls along the way. Unlike Altruis however, she found a large group of trolls that were planning something as soon as she entered the city. She decided to use the same simple tricks to give herself an edge but she didn't bother to enter her demonic form. This caused the fight to last a bit longer as there were more trolls

Overpowered, the trolls tried to retreat to a more secure location. "Retreat. Don't let her get to the prisoners." one of them said and they all retreated

'Prisoners?' Kor'vas thought to herself, wondering what or how the trolls even have prisoners in the first place. She decided to investigate this so she pretended to head to another direction but in reality, she just hid behind a wall. Once she was in the clear, Kor'vas went invisible and went the way the trolls she attacked did. Kor'vas got confused for a few minutes but eventually located a defended gate with the guards on alert. 'Only one way to find out.' she thought to herself and broke her invisibility by instantly assuming her demon form, firing an eye beam right at the gates and burned it

"There she is." a guard said before Kor'vas blasted him with fire. The other trolls attacked the night elf but were easily taken out or incapacitated with one hit from her blades. For the sake of learning, she chose to use blades that were similar to Illidan's twin blades even though they weren't her preferred weapons

It only took her a few minutes to dispatch the guards outside but in the prison area itself, there were more guards. This time, she was caught slightly offguard when someone jumped from above and tried to slice off her wings but rather than panic, she used their numbers against them by turning around, forcing a troll not to attack or he would end up killing his comrade on the night elf's back, which Kor'vas quickly took advantage of by throwing herself backwards, slamming the troll into the ground and she quickly rolled when a troll tried to run her through. She then got up and grabbed a couple daggers from her belt. One of the daggers hit a troll and removed him from the fight while another barely missed but it gave her the distraction she needed to cut down more trolls

In the meantime, the prisoners in the cell heard all the fighting. They were glad that someone was killing the trolls but on the other hand, just who was attacking the trolls? The answer soon came when what looked like a hybrid of an elf and demon approached their cell after the sound from the fighting ended

'High Elves?' Kor'vas asked herself in surprise when she saw who were in the cell. She looked around the other cells and found them empty or with dead high elven bodies, which led her to conclude the four she saw alive were the only survivors. From closer observations, she assumed that the trolls messed with their prisoners, something she didn't find surprising given the fact that trolls hate the high elves

"Who are you? Are you with the Legion?" a high elf female said warily

"If you're gonna kill us, get it over with already." a male prisoner said

Instead of giving an answer, Kor'vas merely walked to the cell, intentionally remaining in her demon form. "I'm not with the Legion." she said eventually. "Now, who are you?"

"You're not with the Legion yet you're wielding their powers." another high elf protested

Kor'vas rolled her eyes at this and decided to be a little harsher. "Either you tell me who you are and how you got captured or I leave you to rot in there." she threatened

After a while of tense silence with Kor'vas still intimidating them in her demon form, the high elves relented

"Allari Starstrike."

"Kayn Sunfury."

"Candrael Twinshadow."

"Sevis Brightflame."

Satisfied, Kor'vas dropped her demon form before slashing the cell door open and released the surviving prisoners. "You're coming with me." she ordered

"Who are you serving anyway?" Allari asked curiously

"The Scourge." Kor'vas answered and the high elves immediately got on guard. "Don't bother. You won't last long in a fight against me and the undead no longer serve the Legion. We are on our own now." she said and walked to the exit. 'Illysanna' she tried contacting telepathically

'Can't exactly talk right now, Kor'vas.' Illysanna responded as she blocked an attack before throwing off her attacker. Her attacker was none other than Zul'jin, the Amani Troll chieftain

Illysanna was the last one to arrive in the she did, she went to the rooftops and went straight for Zul'jin's chambers. She did not know exactly where it was so she decided to gather that information some groups of trolls. Naturally, no troll gave that information so Illysanna decided to sneak around, listening closely to any chatter from the trolls. The first groups of trolls she encountered didn't chat that much so she decided to intimidate them by assuming her demon form and tortured them for what she wants. It worked and she reached the general area of the chambers and here, the trolls were chattering about Zul'jin so she decided to kill them and check the area before finding what she was looking for

In Zul'jin's own chambers, there were a lot of dead trolls. The only ones alive was Zul'jin himself and Illysanna. The night elf threw her daggers when she infiltrated the chambers and even killed Zul'jin's wife before they quickly engaged in battle

"I was wondering when da Legion would come for us." Zul'jin said after Illysanna threw him away

"You talk too much for someone who only has one arm." Illysanna mocked and threw another dagger at him, forcing him to dodge. She did wonder how the troll came to that conclusion since she wasn't in her demon form, unless he still believed the undead were still under the Legion's control. When he did, Illysanna was already close and tried to slice him down. He barely managed to dodge again but was quickly kicked away. Zul'jin recovered his footing and blocked Illysanna's next attack before headbutting her away. Now, it was his turn to go on the offensive and Illysanna blocked his attacks but was pushed back. Zul'jin even managed to cut his opponent when she left herself open for an instant but quickly pulled back when Illysanna merely shrugged it off and brought down one of her swords

"Is dis all da Legion is capable of?" Zul'jin taunted as Illysanna hasn't inflicted any significant injuries upon him

Illysanna merely raised her eyebrow. "Are you really that stupid?" she taunted back before deciding to assume her demon form once more. Zul'jin was surprised as he thought this was just a random elf with demonic horns and he did not expect that she would be capable of being a demon at all. Caught off guard, Illysanna unleashed a simple smoke cloud with her magic and slashed Zul'jin across his back. The troll tried to counter at the direction the attack came from but she was no longer there, having taken full advantage of the distraction she created. In response, Zul'jin climbed a small elevation in his chambers to get out of the smoke but to his surpise, Illysanna was not on the ground. He quickly looked up and saw a sword flying towards him. It hit him right in his right shoulder and he was forced off the little elevation into the ground. Before he could respond, Illysanna was already flying towards him with her other sword, running him through right in the chest

Zul'jin coughed up blood as his life was slowly leaving his body. He was mentally berating himself of losing to an elf but there was nothing he could do about it now. He already lost and no longer had the strength to even get up

"What's wrong? Is one elf too much for you? I thought you were supposed to be the 'Mighty Troll Warlord?" Illysanna mocked, knowing full well about the troll's hatred for the high elves. Zul'jin wasn't able to make a response as his eyes finally closed

At that same time, the undead had already swarmed the entire city. The whole assault against a very weakened Zul'aman wasn't entirely difficult and did not last more than six hours. The frost wyrms and val'kyrs gave the Scourge a massive advantage while Altruis made sure that no one escaped the city

Northrend

Illidan, Agatha, Anub'arak, Kel'thuzad and Drak'thul have returned to Northrend but not in the glacier. They were in the entrance to Azjol'Nerub. He had gotten word from Maiev that Quel'thalas was attacked by trolls but she had it handled. Just to be safe, Illidan checked it through his undead minions and found that they were already breaching the gates of Zul'aman so he decided to just leave it to Maiev

"Pardon me my king, but why are we here? I thought we were going to Icecrown?" Kel'thuzad asked when they were walking through the corridors

"We are going to the glacier, but not yet. We might be stronger than the mortals on Kalimdor but I want some insurance against the Old Gods and Legion." Illidan said. His comrades understood what he meant. He wasn't just preparing for a war against the Old Gods, he was preparing for a two front war against the Old Gods and the mortals on Kalimdor

Everyone here were aware that Illidan was planning to raise another undead army, this time the remaining Nerubians. More importantly, they know that Azjol'Nerub would be littered with faceless ones by now so they were wondering why Illidan wants to confront them, unless

The ancient Nerubian empire tunneled through most of Northrend's underground and it is possible to alter the surface landscape slightly if anything happens here. "My king, are you planning on raising back all dragon corpses?" Anub'arak asked as he knew that over the millenia, most of the dragon's corpses have been buried so deep underground exhuming them would be difficult

"If that's the case then why bother doing it here? Can't we just go to Dragonblight and do it there?" Drak'thul pointed out

"We could but there is someone's attention I want to attract first." Illidan said. After a moment's silence, they realized who he was after

"Wait, Alexstrazsa won't agree to ally herself with us." Agatha pointed out

"It's not Alexstrazsa." Kel'thuzad said, surprising the Val'kyr. "It's Malygos, isn't it?" he asked the demon hunter

"Indeed. Deep inside Azjol'Nerub, there is a certain area that leads very close to one of the ley lines in Northrend. If we can find a way to tamper with it, then we should be able to affect the world's natural magic and in the process, attract Malygos' attention." Illidan explained before coming to a stop. He quickly summoned his twin blades as living Nerubians suddenly surrounded them

"Look, brothers. The traitor king." one of them said before Illidan cut him down

"Traitor king?" Drak'thul asked curiously when he protected himself with a fel shield

"He is referring to me, warlock." Anub'arak said before unleashing locusts to distract them and gave Kel'thuzad finally killed them. Agatha then reacted by raising them into undeath. "Illidan, the area you're looking for is located deeper into Azjol'Nerub. We might have to fight our way through the remaining Nerubian resistance or the Faceless Ones to get there." he warned

"Hardly matters. There is an exit that would lead near the Borean Tundra?" Illidan responded in a questioning tone

"Yes. One of the exits is on the border between Dragonblight and the Tundra." Anub'arak answered

Without missing a beat, they picked up their pace and began slicing their way through everything they can see. Illidan and Drak'thul's demonic magics gave them an edge despite being outnumbered. During the little skirmishes, their numbers only grew as Agatha kept raising the fallen Nerubians. Eventually, they came across the faceless ones. Under Illidan's instructions, neither Agatha nor Kel'thuzad, were to raise them into undeath

Eventually, they arrived near the area, which was swarmed with faceless ones and two forgotten ones

"This isn't gonna be easy." Drak'thul commented

Thinking quickly, Kel'thuzad froze the ceiling. Drak'thul caught on to what he was planning and caused some of it to drop down on their enemies. The massive blobs didn't just observe. They quickly raised tentacles to block the debris while shooting fire bolts at the same time. Anub'arak and the other undead nerubians also released their locusts to distract the faceless ones but it didn't do that much as the Old God's minions were focused on them

Left with no other choice, Illidan entered his demonic form and began cutting down the faceless ones. He also ignited his body in fel fire to ensure that no one would be able to get close to him without suffering burns. Agatha in the meantime has focused on creating an unholy aura that would slowly heal them through the battle while Kel'thuzad created protrusions made out of ice while Drak'thul focused on separating the faceless ones into groups by surrounding them in fire. Anub'arak and the other undead nerubians engaged in a brutal melee with Illidan providing cover from above or joining in himself

Eventually, Illidan flew on top of a pillar and unleashed a very powerful eye beam at one of the forgotten one, which slowly began destroying it. Multiple tentacles came out of the ground with the full intention of ripping apart the demon hunter turned lich king. Kel'thuzad froze most of them and Drak'thul created a fel shield around Illidan before Agatha sent out a wave of death coils to replenish their energies. It took a few minutes before Illidan managed to destroy one of the forgotten ones. After it was destroyed, many faceless ones suddenly dropped to the ground, dead

Kel'thuzad and Drak'thul then combined their powers and used their frost and fire magics on the other forgotten one. This time, Illidan was the one who defended the two spellcasters with Anub'arak's help. Most of their undead nerubians were dead now and Agatha can't raise them again with her using her powers to heal the two spellcasters. When it looked like Anub'arak can handle the remaining faceless ones, Illidan joined in and fired another eye beam and eventually, the last forgotten one exploded which also killed the remaining faceless ones

"The area is clear, my king." Anub'arak said. Illidan then motioned to collapse all entrances to the area except for the one that would lead to the exit towards the Borean Tundra

"What is it?" Drak'thul asked when he noticed the demon hunter kneel down and tried to feel the ground

Illidan then got up and made sure that he wouldn't absorb the ambient energy from the recent battle. "This area is close to the ley line alright. Make sure no one interrupts. I need to concentrate so I can tamper with it and it will take some time." he ordered and began channeling his energie. It took a little over half an hour before a few magical waves was spread from this specific area from the ley line

"So, what exactly was that supposed to accomplish?" Agatha asked curiously

"Absolutely nothing." Illidan answered and surprised the others before giving them all a smirk. Agatha noticed this and realized what it did so she explained it to the others before Illidan continued. "I was considering on using that to quickly raise the dragons but I changed my mind. I doubt Malygos would ever agree to help us if we raised Sindragosa back from the dead. Instead, I only used its energies just to alert someone that something is going on here. Considering this is near a ley line, Malygos should be the first one to be here to investigate since he is the guardian of magic. He may have been driven mad ever since Deathwing nearly wiped out his flight so we'll see if that madness has turned him completely insane."

"That makes sense. If Malygos does agree to help us then it is doubtful we would be able to raise any more dragons from Dragonblight." Kel'thuzad pointed out

"There's always a tradeoff. Now, let's head for the surface and see what happens." illidan said and Anub'arak lead the way

After a few minutes, they soon came out of the nerubian empire and found Malygos and a few blue dragons waiting for them

"Stormrage, what were you doing down there?" Malygos demanded to know

"I was wondering if you would even come." Illidan responded plainly

"Enough, demon. What were you trying to do with that magic?" a blue dragon asked

"Merely to draw your attention." Illidan answered and the dragons grew suspicious

"Go on." Malygos said

Illidan sent a telepathic message to his minions not to say anything before addressing the dragon aspect before him. "I have a proposal." he said and Malygos merely wished for him to continue. "I want both of us to work together against a common enemy."

"What?! So you wish for us to serve you in death?!" another blue dragon yelled in fury

"Enough!" Malygos said before the situation escalated unnecessarily as he himself was intrigued by Illidan's proposal. "What common enemy do you wish for us to fight?" he asked the demon hunter

"Deathwing." Illidan answered simply and the dragons gasped

"The betrayer." Malygos muttered, both to annoy Illidan and in his own rage at his former brother. "And you want what remains of the Blue Dragonflight to serve you fighting him?" he asked curiously

"If I wished for your flight to be in my army I would have done so by now. We both know that the Blue Dragonflight is nowhere near the strength it was ten thousand years ago. You still haven't recovered from Deathwing's betrayal. I only wish for us to join forces and take him down once and for all." Illidan answered

"And how do you propose for us to fight him? We don't even know where he is." one of the dragons pointed out

Illidan then looked at Agatha and indicated that she wanted her to explain. "Deathwing is hiding in Deepholm. I assume you must be familiar with that name. With your help, we can force out Deathwing from where he is hiding and kill him here on Azeroth." she explained, careful not to give the details

"Why didn't you just fight him by now?" another dragon asked

"Because we need you to aid us in casting the spell. It is very dangerous and it would be disastrous if something goes wrong." Agatha answered

"I see. So you want my help to ensure that the spell would only do what it is meant to do." Malygos concluded and glared at the demon hunter for a few minutes. "And how long do you expect this alliance to last?"

"You're not seriously considering this are you, Spell Weaver?" the dragon from earlier said in surprise but Malygos merely ignored him

"Only as long as Deathwing is alive. Once he is dead, it will end. Whether we will be enemies or not will be decided after he is gone. Make no mistake, my war is not with you nor with the mortals." Illidan responded

"For as long as it is mutually beneficial then. And I suppose you won't mention who you you are waging war against?" Malygos commented and Illidan merely shook his head. The dragon looked into the tunnels leading underground. "And what about that spell you cast?"

"That was merely to draw you out. It would be far more difficult to fight through your remaining flight just so we can have a word and I don't really think they would appreciate my presence." Illidan answered. He was confident that the blue dragon would not realize what he did until it was too late, granted what he did wasn't much

Malygos tilted his head in suspicion before shapeshifting into his elven form. "Then you don't mind if I personally take a look at this?" he said

"No, I don't. Just send a messenger to Silvermoon once you made up your mind. Unless we are provoked, the Scourge is not to attack anyone and that includes you dragons." Illidan answered

"You insolent mortal!" the dragon from earlier said but Malygos raised his hand and made him stand down. "Spell Weaver?"

"If the Lich King is telling the truth, then we shall consider his proposal. Besides, it is better if we go after Deathwing ourselves rather than wait for him to be ready to take us all on." Malygos said and looked at the demon hunter, who merely gave a slight nod at him. The other dragons then changed into elven forms so it would be easier for them to navigate the destroyed underground kingdom. "This will not be an easy decision to make, Lich King. It will take us time to give a verdict."

"Just don't take too long. I don't want Deathwing to attack first." Illidan said and Malygos nodded in understanding before heading underground. "Now, let's head to Icecrown." he said and they all began walking towards said location

After an hour of walking, they were on a ridge of a valley. On the other side was a wooden door that was slowly opening. "Rejoice my brothers!." a voice yelled out as a human looking creature came out of the door. "The death god has arrived!" he yelled again and this time, there were cheers

"Finally, the Vrykul." Illidan said as he observed the crowd coming out

Okay, scratch what I said. I added this chapter to finally round up the rise of the Scourge. Next chapter will begin the next arc. Instead of making this a novelization type story, I will make it like the actual World of Warcraft where a war happens, the war is over and then skip to a few years forward where the next war happens

That aside, this chapter and the sixth were inspired by a fanfic entitled 'Defying Death' by Melkor's Mercy. It's a great read although I don't think it reached a conclusion unless it was moved or continued in a different story. If anybody knows what happened to that story please tell me since I really enjoyed reading it. It's also where I got the idea about Vashj, Azshara and Illidan however, they have a far more different role in this one obviously

I'm also not particularly sure about where the Vrykul were. What I could find was that they were somewhere near Icecrown and they were awakened by the Lich King. The thing that Illidan did in Azjol'Nerub was to awaken the Vrykul. Just wanted to clear that up before it causes unnecessary confusion