Disclaimer - I do not own Warcraft
Shando Pan Settlement
Half an hour after Nathanos arrived, Jaina woke up with a groan
"Lady Jaina, are you alright? How are you feeling?" one of the healers asked in worry while the other ran out to inform Sylvanas
"I'm fine, I think." Jaina said while clutching her head. "My head hurts. What happened?"
"You were nearly killed by one of the Sha, Lady Proudmoore." the healer answered her
It took a few moments for Jaina to recollect what had happened. She remembered her and Sylvanas asking a death knight for her help and the battle in the temple. The archmage remembered the battle against the Prime Sha. When she had her doubts, the Sha shot dark energies at her and created a hole in her body before everything went black. Her eyes went wide at what had happened. "How long was I out?" Jaina asked in concern
"Nearly half a day." the healer replied with uncertainty
"Half a day?" Jaina muttered in disbelief but she had a bad feeling it was longer than that. She remembered how badly the Sha had injured her yet only short of half a day had passed according to them
"Turalyon had patched up your injuries and stabilized you after the battle but you were still unconscious. Some time ago, you suddenly began breathing again." the healer filled her in on the details
'How could I have made a full recovery with those kinds of injuries in only a few hours?' Jaina muttered in disbelief, before realizing something. "Where is Arthas? Or Sylvanas?"
The healer jumped up in surprise at her reactions. She wasn't even concerned about herself. "Prince Arthas left earlier. I haven't heard from him since. Lady Sylvanas should just be in one of the buildings." he replied
Getting up quickly, Jaina suddenly got out of the room, trying to support herself with the wall because her head was still hurting but she was mostly fine by now, much to her surprise. When she got out, she was surprised to see a lot of their warriors, especially the pandaren, preparing for battle. She soon saw the one she was looking for and quickly ran over. "Sylvanas!" she called out as she ran towards said person
The ranger general turned around and was surprised to see the female archmage approach. "Jaina? When did you wake up?" she asked in surprise. The others who were with her were also surprised given how bad her injuries were
"How is this even possible? Your injuries were worse than mine. How did you recover this fast?" Dranosih asked in complete disbelief. He still wasn't back to full health but it was enough for him to fight at least
"Where is Arthas?" Jaina asked, ignoring the orc's question. Everyone look at each other, waiting for someone to say a thing. Not a single one of them wanted to be the one responsible for breaking the news to her. "They got him, didn't they?" she asked, dropping to her knees
"I'm sorry, Jaina." Alleria said while putting a hand on her shoulder as the archmage began to cry
"They used me to get to him." Jaina said sadly. "Has the Scourge gotten to him yet?" she asked
"We don't know. All we know is that the Mogu'Shan Palace is under Arthas' control. Khadgar is out there scouting the area as we speak." Turalyon answered
Wiping away her tears, Jaina was filled with hope that she may be able to save her prince. "Then let's go." she said firmly
"Jaina, are you sure you want to come with? You just recovered and you need to rest" Turalyon asked with concern. While the archmage's talents would come in useful, they knew that this would be a huge risk for her given who they were fighting and if she was not in a right state of mind, it could jeopardize the entire mission
Jaina simply nodded weakly. While it was clear that Arthas being corrupted deeply affected her, she also showed determination. Ultimately though, the decision would be up to Sylvanas and Dranosh. With her in an emotional state, Jaina wouldn't be fit to lead so Sylvanas had to take command. The ranger general then spared a glance at the orc, who was simply waiting for her decision
"Alright, Jaina. You can come but do not do anything foolish and if you are fatigued, tell us." Sylvanas warned her. "Otherwise all of us will be under the Old Gods' control." she said sternly. Jaina merely nodded in understanding. "Good. For now, rest up. We're leaving in ten minutes."
Moshu'gan Palace
"Welcome, servants of Stormrage." Arthas said. The fact that his voice was twisted was something that did not go unnoticed and confirmed that he has been possessed. The corrupted prince then got up and drew his sword, which was thrust into the floor
'I don't really think this is a good idea.' Amira said mentally as they got a good look at their opponent
"So, you avoided being turned into Ner'zhul's slave and yet, you became the Old Gods'." Rivendare commented. "What a waste."
Growing annoyed at the small banter, Kayn unleashed his demon form again and rushed in front of the corrupted prince. Much to his surprise, Arthas was able to parry his attack. Not wanting to dwell on it or give the prince a chance, Kayn raised his other sword and attempted to run Arthas right at the head. Arthas easily blocked this and kicked him away only to be hit by a blast of fel energy. The prince was forced back and was quickly slashed Altruis. Instead of being hit, the Heart created a dark tentacle that blocked Altruis' attack
While the two demon hunters were the ones who quickly fought Arthas first, the death knights and dark rangers were ambushed from behind by the other remaining Prime Sha. Zeliek was quickly taken out of the fight when the Sha shot a stream of energy right at the back of his head, killing him. Along with the other Prime Sha were more lesser Shas and undead pandaren
"Surprising that you've left yourself open considering that Illidan's plan was to wipe out our servants and leave us vulnerable." Arthas said as he was in a sword lock with Altruis while his minions kept the others busy
"Yeah well, if you had a brain you wouldn't have even gotten yourself into their claws." Kayn said as he run Arthas from behind
Arthas hissed in pain and forced Altruis back and from the wound, more dark energies came out attempting to devour the demon hunter who barely managed to dodge. Before Arthas could target Kayn, Altruis quickly reengaged him and was able to slice off a small part of the Heart. "You wretch!" the prince growled and swung his sword in a circle, forcing both demon hunters back and prevented Kayn from attacking again. He motioned for some of his minions to aid him but they were all killed by the other Scourge warriors. Upon seeing that they were leaving the demon hunters to fight him, Arthas lured them into a different and much larger chambers
The remaining Sha, the Sha of Pride, found itself in a situation similar to the other one in the palace. Against eight formidable warriors of the Scourge, the Prime Sha was quickly overpowered. It's only saving grace is that the demon hunters weren't fighting it directly. The lesser Shas weren't of much help either with all the icicles being thrown around the room but their sheer numbers were causing some irritation
At the moment, Anya and Amira were the ones directly engaging the Prime Sha as the others were occupied with the lesser Shas. The Prime Sha tried to stab the death knight with its claws but the dark ranger covered her ally by firing some black arrows which prevented the Sha from attacking. Amira took this chance to slice off two of the Prime Sha's fingers on its claw. Before Amira could continue, a tentacle popped from the ground and threw her across the room before she was swarmed by more lesser Shas. It happened so fast that Anya was caught off guard and was not able to support her fellow Scourge warrior. The Prime Sha then quickly slash Anya across her torso and nearly sliced off her left arm
"Time to die, corpse!" the Sha of Pride said but was blasted by ice from behind
The distraction allowed Anya to move back into a safer area and fight the lesser Sha instead. Her injury was too severe for her to use her bow so she had instead used her remaining arm to use her sword. When the Sha looked behind it, Sally was already closing in and run her runeblade through it. Another tentacle appeared behind the death knight but having used that trick already, Cyndia shot multiple black arrows at the tentacle and allowing Sally to get out as Rivendare quickly sliced off one of the Prime Sha's arms
Slowly but surely, the undead were winning the battle against the Shas and the numbers were also going in their favor. When the dark rangers fired their black arrows at the undead pandaren, it's flesh is stripped from its body and the skeleton falls under the ranger's control. After being attacked the by Rivendare and Sally, some of the skeletons quickly tried to jab at the Prime Sha, inflicting minor damage. Geting rid of the irritation, the Prime Sha just destroyed the skeletons with a blast of dark energies
However, killing the skeletons was a mistake as this gave Sally the opportunity to get on the Sha's back and thrust her runeblade into its head. Like with the Shas killed by the Scourge, Sally released a huge amount of ice magics, freezing the Prime Sha solid. Since the frozen Sha would take up too much space in the limited area, Rivendare decided to destroy it and they turned their sights on finishing off the remaining lesser Sha
On the other area of the palace, Arthas was still engaged by the demon hunters. The corrupted prince suffered some deep wounds but the Heart wrapped around him forcefully closed them while the demon hunters' own wounds were not healing. Not a single one of the prince's wounds even damaged the Heart as it would simply regenerate itself. Even though Arthas was not as agile as the demon hunters, the Heart creating random protrusions to attack them certainly gave him an edge
'How can Arthas just keep on fighting like that? We have inflicted enough injuries to straight up kill any living creature and yet...' Altruis wondered as Kayn was engaged in another melee fight. "Unless..." his eyes soon widened as he realized what was happening
Arthas noticed this and created another protrusion from his left arm and slashed Kayn across his torso. "I see you figured it out." he said before tentacles appeared from his back and threw Kayn away. "That's right, the more you fight against me, the greater my influence is on Arthas. The injuries you inflicted were directly upon his body. I did not heal his injuries, contrary to what you think. Arthas' spirit is slowly seeping away and it is all thanks to your ruthless attacks, you've made it easier for me to take control of this vessel and to greater exercise my powers."
'That's why he was waiting for us here.' Altruis thought in realization at how badly he fell for the trap. Even though he was in charge of investigating this entire continent, he was never really good at making these kinds of decisions unlike Maiev, Kor'vas or Illysanna
"Now, come then, Demon Hunter." Arthas said, his voice now much more menacing than before, and charged at Altruis. The demon hunter was able to dodge easily and jumped up into the sky. "Get down here." the prince declared and created tentacles to drag his target back down. He reeled when Kayn slashed him across his back and destroyed the tentacles. "Now, you're just annoying." Arthas said and simply created more tentacles to wrap around the high elf, preventing any movements and more to keep Altruis away. The prince then raised his sword as Kayn was struggling to break free and slashed him, creating an even deeper wound from his right shoulder all the way to his left leg. "Get out of my sight." the prince said and threw Kayn into a cracked wall. Since that wall was already damaged, it broke from the impact and Kayn was thrown into the waters around the palace. The high elf demon hunter was thrown out of the room and landed in the pool of water, unconscious and barely alive. He still remained in his demonic form and his injuries were so severe that his right wing was badly damaged while part of his right horn was sliced off
"Kayn!" Altruis yelled
"You should worry about yourself." Arthas mocked as he stabbed his sword in the night elf demon hunter's abdomen. "A shame. It would have been nice if you waited for your master. Fighting him would have been so much fun." he said as he slash his sword, which was still in his enemy's abdomen, upwards, creating another deep wound while releasing more of his dark powers. Arthas then brought it down, striking at the neck down to the lower right of Altruis' torso, instantly killing him. With both of his enemies out of the fight, Arthas went back to where his minions were engaging the rest of his enemies and simply observed them. 'Only a few more minutes now.' he thought. The prince noticed the large pieces of ice that was scattered in the room and realized that it was the last of the Prime Shas
Amira noticed the corrupted prince just observing them and realized that the demon hunters must have been defeated or killed. She was the only one that noticed Arthas leave the room earlier but chose not to say anything. 'Altruis?' she called mentally but got no response. 'Damn it, Kayn!' she tried, again no response. "Oh hell. I think Kayn and Altruis are down." she muttered, much to the surprise of the others. When she glanced at Arthas, she could swear she saw him smirk
"Take him down, now!" Rivendare ordered and released a wave of ice, killing the remaining lesser Sha. He then led the charge against the corrupted prince
Sally took a glance at who was left. She then grabbed Anya by her arm. "Anya, listen, given your broken arm, you won't be able to fight. Head to the outside and inform Lady Illysanna about what is going on. We'll keep him busy."
"Wait, are you sure?" Anya asked uncertainly
"I am. Chances are, Arthas might kill us here and now. One of us has to survive so Lady Illysanna or Lord Illidan can plan ahead on what happens next." Sally said before she too engaged the fallen prince
Anya watched the death knight go. She wanted to join in the battle but one of her arms was basically unusable at this point and even after being healed by a death coil from earlier, she was not in that good of a shape. Begrudgingly, she retreated
Even though he was more outnumbered than earlier, Arthas was having a easier time fighting off the death knights and dark rangers. These Scourge warriors were not as agile or as ruthless as the demon hunters so the prince had an easier time fending them off especially with the Heart covering would be fatal wounds. The fact that Y'Shaarj was having a much more solid hold on Arthas' body only tilted the battle in his favor even more all thanks to the demon hunters. None of his enemies were aware of how he defeated the demon hunters so with the Heart protecting him, it kept them in the dark. 'If it wasn't for those demon hunters, they might actually be able to kill me.' Arthas thought to himself
Rivendare was the one who attacked first but Arthas easily blocked before transforming the fingers of one of his hands into tentacles, piercing the death knight and throwing him out of the room. Amira was the one who attacked Arthas next with the dark rangers firing arrows in support. The death knight was able to freeze one of the prince's legs in place and when she went for his head, the Heart reacted by shielding him with dark energies and forced her back. Arthas then thrust his sword into the ground, creating spikes that pierced all of the dark rangers and killing them. Sally then attacked Arthas but the prince just slashed her across her torso and created a tentacle to throw her somewhere else
"What now, death knight?" Arthas mocked at the last remaining enemy
Amira steeled herself. Even though she knew full well that Arthas was way out of her league, she chose to fight but like with the others, Arthas defeated her by simply cleaving her in two
"Now, then." Arthas said as he created a throne using his magics. "It is only a matter of time."
Vale of Eternal Blossoms
The Alliance, Horde and pandaren were still on the way towards the palace and they have already entered the Vale. They have already rendezvoused with Khadgar and it won't be that long before they reach the palace itself. While they were on the way, an explosion in the distance suddenly got their attention
"What the hell was that?" Alleria asked in surprise
The answer soon came when a pandaren warrior came running and he looked relieved at seeing the group. "Chen! It's the Mantid. They've broken through the wall!" he said and everyone couldn't believe what they just heard
'As if we didn't have enough on our hands already.' Sylvanas inwardly cursed
Left with little choice, Chen decided that it would be best to split up. "Sylvanas, you and the Alliance go save Arthas. The Horde and the rest of us will hold off the Mantid for as long as we are able." he said
While the others hesitated, Sylvanas didn't. "Alright, Chen. Good luck." she said and looked at the Alliance members. "Let's go." she ordered
After sparing a few glances at their allies before following the ranger general. They soon arrived at the palace and one of their fears was soon realized, the Scourge had already been here. There were pieces of ice that can be seen from the outside and the fact that some of the palace's structure has been damaged or destroyed
"Oh no. We're too late." Jaina said in disbelief
"Maybe not." Khadgar said and pointed to the main entrance where two individuals were coming out, both of them clearly injured. "Look."
At the entrance, Anya was coming out carrying a very injured Kayn. The dark ranger was surprised when she noticed the Alliance members coming but was not in a position to do anything to them. When they approached, Anya wasn't the slightest bit disturbed and she set Kayn down near the wall
"Anya." Alleria called out. "What happened?" she asked and looked at the badly injured demon hunter
"It was a trap." Anya answered. "Arthas was waiting for us."
"Arthas is still here?" Jaina asked
"He is, last time we were inside anyway." Anya said
Suddenly, Kayn began to cough as he regained consciousness, gripping his head in pain and groaning. "What the hell happened?" he asked and flinched as his body was badly injured
Anya put a hand on his shoulder and stopped him from moving too much. "You were nearly killed, Kayn."
"That damn human." Kayn grumbled in annoyance
"Can you two tell us what happened? We need to know what we're facing." Turalyon asked
Both Scourge members looked at each other and decided they had very little choice so they relented
"I think this was all a trap for Arthas." Anya said. "In the Temple of the Jade Serpent, Amira had mentioned that Jaina was left near dead. If what I'm thinking is right, that attack was only meant to put her near death but enough to ensure she wouldn't regain consciousness. I'm almost certain that the Old Gods are aware that Arthas can get desperate when the people he cares about are in danger. I believe that the Old Gods were somehow whispering to Arthas with the promise of healing Jaina and guided him to where the Heart of Y'Shaarj was."
"Guided? What do you mean by 'guided'?" Sylvanas asked suspiciously
"When Nathanos was tailing Arthas, the prince suddenly decided to hide himself. I can tell for a fact that Arthas was not aware of Nathanos because I was tailing him as well and there is no way he could have known that one of the hills actually had a door. Someone had to have been guiding him." Anya pointed out before looking at the demon hunter. "Kayn, were you able to gather any information on Arthas?"
"Yes, the reason Arthas was waiting for us is because he wanted us to attack him." Kayn said and everyone looked at him in confusion. "Altruis and I have inflicted enough injuries upon him that would have killed a normal human ten times over. However, he kept shrugging them off. I think that Heart of Y'Shaarj contains the last remaining essence of the Old God and when Arthas got it, the Old God possessed him." he explained. "Any injury we inflict upon him only strengthened Y'Shaarj's hold on his new vessel and allowed him to exercise his power to a greater extent." he finished and the Alliance all listened with horror in their face
"Arthas..." Jaina muttered
"Wait, so you are saying we can't save Arthas?" Nathanos asked with slight anger
"At this point, I'm not exactly sure." Kayn answered
Before anything could be said further, Jaina suddenly ran inside the palace
"Jaina! Wait!" Alleria called out and left with no other choice, the others began to follow her. "Damn it. Just when we said not to do anything stupid."
"Sylvanas, wait." Anya said and grabbed hold of the general's arm. "Inside, be very careful. Arthas now is unlike anything we have ever faced and that's counting the Burning Legion. Unlike us, you are far more vulnerable to being influenced by the Old Gods. As undead, we are already corrupted creatures so in a sense, we cannot be corrupted by the Old Gods. If we could, then it would take much more effort when compared to corrupting you people. I'm not fully certain about this but right now, that's the only explanation I can think of as to why Y'Shaarj chose to kill us instead of forcing us to their side. " she said and suddenly, her face reflected fear. "Do not be reckless. If Arthas is still inside the palace, he might want to corrupt more of you."
"Alright, Anya. Thanks for the tip." Sylvanas said with a smile. Gently, she let her arm go from the dark ranger's grip before following the others
As the two Scourge members watched the Alliance go, the dark ranger decided to inform Illysanna of what had happened while also trying to call out if anyone else survived
At the same time, Jaina was rushing through the inside of the palace. It was not too difficult to find where Arthas might be. All she had to do was follow the trail of death, ice or damaged structures left by the Scourge. While she was trying to observe her surroundings, an arcane shield suddenly blocked the only other exit in the room which would lead deeper into the palace
"Jaina, what do you think you're doing?" Khadgar asked as the rest finally caught up with her. "We can't go after him without some kind of plan. If he was able to defeat the Scourge then we must be ready." he reprimanded her and all she could do is look down in Shame
"I just realized something." Alleria said. "If any injury we inflict on Arthas would only push him further into the Old God's control, how would we even begin to fight him?"
The answer soon came when the arcane shield created by Khadgar was broken and footsteps can be heard. "You don't." a voice said from the other exit. It was revealed to be none other than Arthas with some sort of living creature attached and surrounded his body. "Well, well. It is rather surprising to see you creatures in this place. I would have thought you would turn tail after meeting the Scourge."
"Arthas, why? Why did you let this happen?" Jaina asked in desperation
In response, the corrupted prince began laughing, his voice slowly twisting as his laugh began growing more maniacal. "Arthas can't hear you anymore!" the prince responded and his voice was almost unrecognizable from Arthas' own, confirming what the demon hunter had said earlier
"How are you even alive?" Sylvanas growled as she drew her blades, being aware of the story of Y'Shaarj
"Wouldn't you like to know?" Arthas mocked, tilting his head as his enemies began drawing their weapons or preparing their magics. "Do you really expect to fight me here?" he asked. Out of fury, Jaina unleashed an arcane bolt at the corrupted prince but he was able to block it very easily with a shield of darkness. "Come on, Jaina. Is that the best you can do?" Arthas said mockingly before releasing a wave of dark energy, causing them to take a step back
"Arthas, you're better than this. A Paladin should not succumb to the darkness. Fight the Old God's influence!" Turalyon urged him, hoping to avoid a fight
Again, Arthas merely laughed. "Is that so, Paladin? Have you seen what happened to Uther, or Mograine, or Fordring? You have become so blinded by your faith even after facing the Burning Legion." he said and drew his sword, pointing it at the elder human. "So, come then you so called heroes. Show me all that power and glory. For in the final hour, this world and all of creation Shall fall unto darkness."
Well, here's the encounter between the Corrupted Arthas and the rest of the Old Gods' enemies. I tried to recreate what Arthas had said in the WotLK reveal trailer but obviously, it had to be changed. Now, if you are confused to how exactly he survived fatal injuries, the explanation will come in the conclusion of this arc, a detailed one
I also wrote this that after her injuries, Jaina only suffered a headache if only to make her participate in the battle. And well, Y'Shaarj did promise to heal her and the way I've written it is that Arthas would never have touched the Heart if Y'Shaarj didn't make good on its promise. Basically, it was just insurance
The part about how an undead cannot be corrupted is something I made up as well. It's basically like how a the same poles of a magnet repel each other and you would have to do something crazy to force them to attract and even then, it doesn't even work at all
Also, yes. I just killed Altruis and the other eight members of the Scourge. The way I've written the Scourge thus far is that they are far too prepared for a war which led them to their victories over Deathwing and the Emerald Nightmare. When I was writing this arc, I wanted it to be different. No matter the outcome of the Pandaria arc, the Scourge would lose something valuable. A demon hunter is certainly valuable given their limited numbers
All that's left now is to see how this all pans out