Disclaimer - I do not own Warcraft

Gunships

Even though the gunships and necropolises from Silvermoon were not yet close enough to deploy their troops, Illidan had already flew on ahead. From the bridge, it did not go unnoticed

"Where is he going?" Drak'thul asked curiously

"It must mean that Uther is dead." Illysanna answered

"How do you figure?" Vandel asked

"Uther met with Jaina Proudmoore and if he did that, then the only reason would be to save Arthas. It stands to reason that those two have already found him and were defeated so before Arthas could go anywhere else, Illidan wants to finish this as soon as possible. If not, then at the very least, he wants to prevent Arthas from corrupting Jaina and the Old Gods gaining another minion." Illysanna answered and she began walking away, Kor'vas following her

"You going somewhere?" Agatha asked

"Illidan needs us to do something." Illysanna sighed, knowing that she couldn't just leave without saying anything. "I can't tell you what it is as it's not my place. Just make sure Maiev and the others aren't overrun. We'll go on ahead and try to secure a small foothold."

"I'll come out along with you. My flight will help secure the skies and provide cover for Maiev if we can reach her." Malygos said and the three of them left

Valeera observed the exchange of words. 'I must admit, Illidan is very clever. He knows very well how to anticipate someone's moves and uses it to his advantage. But still, is Jaina really that desperate now?' she wondered to herself as she watched the demon hunters and the dragon aspect leaves. 'I guess that means I'm stuck with them. Of course Maiev had to go back to the Broken Isles.'

At the gunship's top deck, Malygos, Illysanna, Kor'vas and a few blue dragons took flight. From the other necropolises, blue dragons, frost wyrms and gargoyles all took flight. Along with the gunships and necropolises, they began raining down fire upon the naga

Nazjatar

In the middle of the chaos, Illysanna and Kor'vas had made their way into the very edge of the city, right on top of the elevations made from whatever spell Azshara had cast. Behind the both of them were the seas of Azeroth

"So, how are we supposed to find Vashj in this city? Not to mention how do we even identify her from the rest of these..." Kor'vas asked but realized she didn't even know what race they were facing. "What are these snake creatures anyway?"

"Illidan said that they call themselves the Naga." Illysanna answered before addressing the other thing her friend had mentioned. "I am not exactly sure to be quite honest. I've met and talked with Vashj before but that was before I lost my eyesight."

"I guess we'll have to figure that out on our own and even if we could still see, we wouldn't know what she looks like now that she's a Naga." Kor'vas pointed out

"That's a good point." Illysanna said as she crouched at the very edge, observing the chaos from the gunships. While observing, she began to take note of the city's layout. "Kor'vas, if you were Azshara, where would you have your closest servants stay?"

Kor'vas raised an eyebrow at this. She was looking at the sea and was amazed at how she was literally on the edge of it while on the other side of her reminded her of a ravine but with a city at the bottom. She decided to follow her friend's line of sight and took note of the layout. In just a few seconds, she quickly figured out a response. "In the palace no doubt. Azshara was the Highborne Queen and Zin Azshari should be easy to make out from everything else. I assume that the largest structure in the city is where she would be staying. What do you think?"

"I was thinking the same to be honest." Illysanna replied. They weren't even in the city yet and they already narrowed down the possible areas where their objective was. "What's on your mind, Kor'vas?"

"I'm still having a hard time believing the real reason why Illidan is fighting this war to be honest." Kor'vas answered as the gunships and necropolises were closing in. "You don't find that surprising, Illysanna?"

"When I first heard of it, I was just as surprised as you are. It took me a few days to take it in." Illysanna answered with a slight chuckle and got up. "The gunships are getting close. Let's do this."

"Alright. However, once we're down there, I highly doubt that going invisible would be of much help." Kor'vas warned

Illysanna wasn't too surprised at hearing that. Since hearing that Azshara was merely putting up a facade during her time as the queen, there was no telling what else she could do. "I would be surprised if we could just sneak up. Let's head straight for the largest building and see if we can find Vashj. We could also just capture and interrogate one of the Naga for her whereabouts."

"I don't think we should do that to be honest." Kor'vas said, confusing her friend. "It is possible that the Old Gods can see and hear through their servants and if they find out that we're trying to locate Vashj, then they might realize what we're really up to and kill her."

After thinking about it, Illysanna sighed. "I think you're right. I did promise Illidan I will do my best. I guess our best option is the largest structure." she said and unleashed her demon form. "Let's go." she said and jumped down

Kor'vas mimicked her friend's action and followed her lead. Since the gunships were still raining down fire, there were a few guards in the area of the city they wound up in. The two of them flew towards the guards and quickly dispatched them, slaughtering every single one of them to ensure no one could call for reinforcements. "Something wrong?" she asked when they were in the clear

"I just have a bad feeling about all of this. Truth is, we are not prepared for this battle. Fighting Arthas is one thing but N'zoth is another. Something tells me his prison is nearby." Illysanna answered. "I know that Illidan wouldn't allow this to happen but still."

"You have a good point. I think Illidan always knew this would come. I don't think he's just relying on Azshara on this one. He must have something else in mind." Kor'vas said

Hearing her friend's words, Illysanna remembered something important. "Now that you mention it, Illidan did go somewhere when he heard Arthas was corrupted. He never told me where he had gone off to."

"That would explain things. He probably went to get one of those things that Maiev theorized about." Kor'vas said and looked towards the city, spotting more naga coming towards them. "Looks like we're about to have company."

"It's almost like we're fighting the Legion." Illysanna commented as she readied her blades

"Well, the Highborne were serving the Legion so that's not surprising." Kor'vas said and they both quickly engaged the naga

The two used their old tricks once more, clouding the entire battlefield in fel clouds and picking off the spellcasters first. The naga weren't expecting their vision to be handicapped and in the surprise, they attacked aimlessly. The spellcasters tried to blow away the fel cloud but the demon hunters were too fast. While the naga spellcasters were able to reduce its effects, they were all slaughtered before they could fully dispell it

"Works every time." Kor'vas said after they killed the group

"Every first time you mean." Illysanna corrected her. "I doubt that the Naga would fall for that more than a few times."

Kor'vas just shrugged her shoulders. "At least we will be able to save time with our objectives but you're right. We should hold off in using that trick unless we really need it." she said and fired eye beams towards the sky. 'Kel'thuzad, we've secured a small area on the ground. This is your opening. Illysanna and I will continue on with our objective now.' she said telepathically

"Let's go." Illysanna said and they snuck around in the city, using the chaos and cheap distractions to evade the naga. They didn't bother to engage the naga in the city as they didn't need to so they just used their powers to destroy parts of the nearby buildings to divert their attention. Without the waters, the naga weren't able to keep up with the demon hunters' movements, both of whom were just jumping from one part of a building to another if they were spotted. The naga couldn't even spare their flyers because of the chaos in the sky. Even if they do get spotted, the two would simply take flight and take advantage of the aerial battle to hide their movements

Minutes later, Kor'vas and Illysanna finally made it to the largest structure in the city and flew towards the very top of it

"So, do you think she's still inside?" Kor'vas asked, genuinely not knowing as she wasn't yet born during the War of the Ancients

"I'm not sure." Illysanna responded. "Ten thousand years ago, most of the high ranking members of Zin Azshari remained within the palace, of course that included Azshara's handmaidens. However, that was a long time ago. I have no doubt that things have changed."

"I'm willing to do this however you want, Illysanna." Kor'vas said

Illysanna just nodded at her. "Let's check the inside first. We may find something that would distinguish her from the rest of the naga." she answered. The two of them then dropped down the side of the building into a a window. They shattered it and found themselves in a room. "This place is huge even for a room."

"Why am I getting the feeling that this is Azshara's private quarters?" Kor'vas asked rhetorically. The pair then leaned against the door, attempting to listen if something was outside. They could see with their spectral sight but they didn't want to take the chance. "Seems like there's no one behind the door."

"It's odd. I can't even see any magical traps." Illysanna said as she opened the door into the hallway. "You'd think that the room where the Queen resides in would be more secure than this."

"Perhaps we were wrong and this isn't Azshara's private quarters." Kor'vas said before the two of them followed the hallway, checking every room they come across

"It's possible. It could also suggest that the Naga are like us where everyone who is a part of the Scourge is combat ready." Illysanna suggested

Back at the city's outskirts, the Scourge have begun building a proper foothold. The gunships' firepower proved invaluable in clearing areas. They were even out of range of the naga's spellcasters which ensured their safety while at the same time, those on board, along with the blue dragons, ensured that the naga's flyers don't overwhelm the gunships. The same also went for the necropolises but since they weren't as heavily armed as a gunship, they instead focused on getting to the secure area

Kel'thuzad and Drak'thul transported themselves from the gunship they were on earlier and onto the necropolis that was already descending. As the necropolis was constantly under attack, both of them combined their powers to create a shield to minimize the damage. However, that shield was suffering large amounts of damage when the naga spellcasters concentrated on it. Down below, more of the naga were already gathering to meet their enemies but it soon became clear that they wouldn't be able to stop the necropolis from landing

"If the shields go down, then we'll make a crash landing." Drak'thul said

"In that case, open the entrance and deploy the army." Kel'thuzad ordered and soon enough, the Scourge's ground forces began pouring out of the necropolis even though it has not landed yet. "Fire all of our weaponry on the nearby areas. We'll get slaughtered if we just attack like this."

As the necropolis fired its weapons, some of the naga were forced to disperse or they would die. The gunships, who still remained at a distance, continued to rain fire upon the city but after raining continuous fire for quite some time now, it had to recharge. The naga took this opportunity to concentrate their attacks on the descending necropolis, finally breaching the shield erected around it and caused it to fall faster, crashing hard

Since the ones onboard were undead, the crash barely fazed the Scourge and they just burst through the walls and quickly engaged in battle. Only Drak'thul and Valeera were the one disoriented as they were not undead. During the battle, it soon became clear that the naga were winning. As only one necropolis managed to get clear of the aerial battle happening and land down

In an attempt to turn the battle around, or at the very least, buy them some more time, Kel'thuzad released his powers and created large ice formations before summoning a hailstorm to disrupt the battle in the skies. Drak'thul also finally recovered from the crash and release multiple fel orbs into the sky, creating a shower of fel fire which augmented the hailstorm. With these two spells, the naga soon realized that they underestimated their enemies severely. The other necropolises took advantage of the spells both Kel'thuzad and Drak'thul had cast and began to descend as well. Now, val'kyrs were also deploying and ensured the naga wouldn't be able to shoot them down

The Scourge was already more than strong enough to fight the naga and Azshara's disappearance only tilted the scales further in their favor. Y'Shaarj was able to even it out but with the attack, it became clear that it was not enough. The naga and the Old Gods were not prepared for this engagement and overly relied on Nazjatar being inaccessible to the outside world and the Scourge was more than prepared for even this kind of war. This soon led to the naga attacking the necropolis to slowly lose especially since they did not think that someone as powerful as Kel'thuzad and Drak'thul would be here. As such, the Scourge seized this opportunity and began creating defenses while more naga were coming towards them

'Maiev, were are building a base right now. What is your status?' Kel'thuzad asked

'We're under heavy attack. It seems like these snake creatures are trying to drive us out. We're holding on for now but not for long. As if these snakes that keeps calling themselves as the Naga weren't annoying enough already, they seem to hate me.' Maiev answered

'I see.' Kel'thuzad responded. 'Malygos.'

'I'm on my way there now. Hold on for as long as you can, Maiev.' Malygos said

On the other side of the city, the Scourge's Broken Isles forces were under heavy siege. Giant turtles and hydras, along with the rest of the naga, were putting a huge amount of pressure. Maiev used Frostmourne to alter the immediate vicinity by creating giant icicles. She had also ordered Ymiron to ambush some group of naga and buy them some space to work with. A few minutes after Maiev's group had arrived, the naga recklessly launched a full scale counter attack but it was greatly disorganized and was more of a panic response so in the end, it was repelled and those who have fallen were reanimated into the Scourge's service which allowed the undead to hold their ground. However, this also caused the naga to be careful of their follow up attacks

Behind enemy lines, Ymiron, along with some vrykul warriors, separated from the main group from the Broken Isles to divert the attention of the naga. From the way the snakes were fighting, it became clear that they weren't experienced in a war. A large group of naga attacked Ymiron's position, which was exactly what the undead wanted and with the other side of the city under attack by Kel'thuzad, some pressure was taken off from Maiev's group

A naga commander personally assaulted Ymiron's position among the destroyed buildings. After minutes of fighting, the naga finally grew wise and targetted necromancers first. However, the difference between the two factions became clear as without an immediate commander, the naga weren't able to coordinate with each other. As such, with a little help from the val'kyr, many of the naga were picked off from this sky. This left the naga commander vulnerable to attack

Ymiron quickly took the chance to duel the naga commander and quickly put his opponent on the defensive while at the same time, taking the both of them to an area where none of their subordinates can interfere

"Naj'entus!" one of the nearby nagas said in concern. He moved to help the commander but the other vrykul kept him busy

Naj'entus, although able to defend himself, was cut a few times by the death knight before him. Like with the rest of the naga, this was his first real battle. Even with the highborne that were turned into the naga and not born as one, this was their first battle in millennia. Despite all this, the naga commander was able to fight effectively. Ymiron, despite having limited experience in the war in Outland, was not able to significantly wound his enemy yet. After a while, Naj'entus forced the death knight back with a small blast of high pressure water. This time, Ymiron was the one on the defensive as the naga commender's trident was larger than his runeblade. However, the death knight was able to turn the tides again with a simple death coil which disoriented his opponent for a bit

Ymiron then siezed the opportunity to land a large wound on the naga right where the tail was connected to his body. Naj'entus growled in pain but was able to swing his tail and force the death knight to the ground. The naga was then able to successfully run Ymiron through the torso, pinning him to the ground

"You dare attack us, you imbeciles?" Naj'entus growled. "The masters will not show you any mercy." he declared but when he mentioned his master, there was a distinct difference between his tone when he said that one word from the other words, something that Ymiron noted and aroused the death knight's suspicion

"And neither will we." Ymiron fired back and kicked his opponent back. He then shurgged off his injury as he took it out. "You're masters are getting desperate, aren't they, snake man?" he asked but was quickly tackled by the naga as he retrieved his weapon. Ymiron headbutted the naga but it did nothing so instead, he released a small burst of ice. This forced Naj'entus back and they quickly resumed their duel. However, it soon became clear that despite his inexperience, Naj'entus knew how to fight as at point blank range, he released more high pressure water, forcing back Ymiron

The two of them continued to clash swords, releasing water and ice every now and then, causing damage to the immediate surroundings and at the same time, making it difficult for anyone who wasn't a flyer to reach the both them. Despite his injury, it became clear that Ymiron had the upperhand and was creatively using his powers, specifically using it to target Naj'entus tail. This worked as the naga's movements became slower and after two injuries on the tail, Ymiron had the upperhand completely

"Wretched surface dweller! How dare you-" Naj'entus yelled after Ymiron pierced him through his upper torso

Ymiron didn't bother to respond to that. While he got a few injuries during their duel, they weren't targetted at any of his limbs so with nothing but brute force, he forced himself to shrug them off. He kicked the naga into the ground after puling out his sword. Naj'entus tried to force himself to get up but Ymiron was faster and stomped on his head

"You know, during our battle..." Ymiron said as he put the tip of the blade right at the naga's head. "I keep getting the impression that you wished you weren't serving the Old Gods." he said

Naj'entus' eyes widened in surprise but wasn't able to say anything in response as Ymiron sliced off his head. Rather than be furious, Naj'entus was relieved that he no longer had to serve the Old Gods

'Strange. I would have thought these people would be zealots.' Ymiron took note as he observed his opponent's head roll. 'Is it possible that these creatures don't want to serve the Old Gods?' he wondered before he went back to the main battle. But before he did, he shattered some of the ice created from their battle

On the opposite end of the city, the naga continued to attack the Scourge's position. However, before they were able to mount an effective counter attack, the Scourge had already begun building defenses. Combined with Kel'thuzad and Drak'thul's power, all the previous counter attacks failed and those who died were only added to their ranks. That was until powerful arcane blasts destroyed a lot of the ice created by the archlich. This did not come as a surprise to the Scourge as it was only a matter of time before the naga would realize that this front was far stronger than the one on the other end. It was further proven true when one of the naga, a female, was giving orders to the rest of their warriors

The Scourge however, was more than ready for their attack. As such, the naga weren't able to immediately gain any grounds. The undead held strong with their defensive structures providing cover while the gunships continued to rain down destruction in random areas that weren't under their control. It only having every so often as the gunships' weapons weren't fully recharged and would continue to shoot if it has sufficient energy to rain a barrage. The only exception was the largest structure in the city. By now, the other necropolises have landed near the area where the first one was and their armies were already engaging the enemy counter attack

"Lady Venomtongue, the undead's position is too well defended and the gunships are making it difficult for our forces to get here." a naga warrior reported to the commander

"These damn undead." Venomtongue hissed under her breath. "Keep pressing the attack. The masters will have our heads if we do not keep control of the situation."

As the battle progressed, more and more naga were killed. However, the undead also suffered considerable amounts of losses but they weren't making that much of a difference. The naga did not target the necromancers or liches as they were too well defended in their position and they just kept raising every fallen naga after another. Even Kel'thuzad himself has joined in raising fallen corpses. The naga corpses weren't the only ones being raised. If the naga leaves much of a corpse intact, the undead would just re raise their own again

"Do these creatures know that our army is not an ordinary kind? They're just feeding their warriors into a meat grinder." Drak'thul couldn't help but wonder

"Don't underestimate them, Drak'thul." Agatha said in a reprimanding tone. "We were not ready for this engagement and we are only attacking for the sole purpose to kill Arthas. We do not yet have the details of what else we can use to kill the Old Gods and this city is dangerously close to N'zoth's prison."

Everyone's ears perked upon hearing that. They did not expect that information at all and rather than trying to raise the fallen, Kel'thuzad turned his attention into gathering his powers around the perimeter while Drak'thul shot more orbs into the sky to rain down more fel fire upon the battlefield. In the meantime, Agatha took this chance to draw a sword and fly into the sky

'Valeera, get ready.' Agatha said right before she began casting some spells along with Kel'thuzad

"Give up, you monstrosities. You will not-" Venomtongue said but was cut off when the energies gathering around the undead's defenses began glowing and transformed into a powerful blizzard which also created a thick fog. All of the naga immediately stopped their onslaught due to their clouded vision. "Stand still, you fools." she reprimanded her warriors and used her magics to slowly dispell the fog. "There they are. Kill them!" she yelled. As Venomtongue prepared to go to the main battle, she was suddenly stabbed at the back of the neck, instantly killing her

"Lady Venomtongue!" one of the naga said in concern upon seeing their commander fall in battle and charged at her attacker

The one who killed Venomtongue was Valeera, who used the cover from Kel'thuzad's blizzard to sneak up on her. The other naga used their spells at her as the high elf began to panic. However, before she could be killed, Agatha flew down to elf and erected a shield that would block any of the spells for a small amount of time, knowing full well that Drak'thul covered her back. Her assumption was proven right when fel lightning bolts hit the area at random, severely injuring those who were directly hit. The lightnings were not ordinary lightnings. It was a complex spell Drak'thul had worked on. A few seconds later, the areas hit by the lightning turned into large fel fires, burning those who were hit to death. Agatha used this chance to finish off the counter attack by creating cold winds to spread the fire. The val'kyr's leader then took to the skies and regrouped with the rest

"Do you always take those kinds of risk?" Valeera asked incredously

"Sometimes, you have to learn how to trust the people you're working with otherwise, what's the point of even fighting together? We may not have the same exact goals but we have the same enemies." Agatha answered the high elf and regrouped with the others

"Now what?" Drak'thul asked when they were in the clear

"At this point, the gunships should be recharging its weapons. We need to redirect the souls to them." Agatha suggested

"Do that. We will need the cover of the gunships if we are to minimize our losses. For now, our goal is to take over the city. Lord Illidan should finish his fight with Arthas soon." Kel'thuzad said before giving orders to the rest their troops

Just more of the battle against the Naga. Throughout the story thus far, neither Ymiron nor Agatha has been the highlight of the battle. Ymiron is mostly on the sidelines or off panel while Agatha is usually on her other duties. In this battle, I decided to give them a small highlight even if it's nowhere near the kind the others get. I don't think I'll do this for Kel'thuzad since he already had his in the Battle for Lordaeron earilier on. I'll have to wait and see if I can fit in Drak'thul having his own battle though because writing characters who aren't that adept in direct combat is a bit tricky

I also had Valeera do something in this story. As for why I added her back, it will be the same as the Black Dragons. Only at the very end of the story will the reason be revealed because I already have the very last chapter planned out. All that's left is everything leading up to it. It may be minor but hey, Valeera is just the personal assassin of the Wrynns if I'm not mistaken

I made the Naga here not as good compared to the Scourge. As mentioned in the chapter thirty one, experience is the best teacher and the Naga have little to no experience in a war. The Scourge has. That is the reason why they are outmatched. They simply aren't used to fighting a war. When I wrote that part of the story, I decided it to not only be to Illidan alone but also to others. This battle reflects that as even though the Naga are formidable, they don't have the necessary experience