Chapter 7: A battle in the city, a battle on the sky

Tirion Fordring

Darkness. Screams. Explosions. Tirion opened his eyes, blood covering his face. He saw a dead elekk a couple meters away from him, one of his legs completely blown up. At its side, the blue armored draenei slashed a ghoul in half with his just as blue battle-axe. Tirion weakly stood up but fell onto his knee. The explosion had hit him quite hardly.

But this was no time to falter. "Light, give me the blessing to rise up and defend this city…" He could feel the Light wash through him, as strength came back to his muscles, and finally stood up. More ghouls had approached the draenei, who was slowly having more trouble fending them off.

Tirion wasted no time. He quickly ran towards him, Ashbringer on hand, and with one swift strike, slashed three ghouls at once. As the bodies began dropping to the floor, they quickly disintegrated into ash, filling the floor. The draenei warrior had just finished dealing with another ghoul when he noticed Tirion behind him. "Highlord! I thought you were-" He was quickly interrupted as even more ghouls rushed towards them.

The paladin extended his hand, a prayer to the Light on his mind, and a bright light quickly enveloped his whole body, protecting him. With a battle cry, he launched towards the incoming ghouls. His many years of battle experience kicked in as he stabbed the first ghoul in front of him and punched another in the face, fazing it for just enough time to pull off his blade and decapitate it.

A third ghoul had tried to attack him from behind, but as it struck Tirion with its claws, the light barrier surrounding him easily repelled the attack. The undead minion roared in pain as its claw burned to a crisp at the contact, but it was quickly silenced as the paladin buried the blade into its skull, turning the monster into ash. Tirion looked around; the streets were filled with undead, adventurers either protecting civilians or outright focused on fighting them head on.

He could see skirmishes all around the area: some paladins fending off ghouls out of a shop, mages blasting skeletons out of the streets, a bear clawing and biting ghouls off while a huntress gave some covering fire… Two thoughts crossed Tirion's mind: where had so many Scourge troops appeared from? And why could he only see ghouls and skeletons?

"There's no time to waste!" He looked around until he reoriented himself, and then turned at the draenei warrior. He was covered in black blood, and Tirion could notice a small tear coming from his eye as he stared at his now dead elekk. "There must be more civilians in need of help. Go give them a hand," he started running towards the first explosion, the inn, but turned around one last time, "and I'm sorry about your elekk." He didn't wait to see the warrior's reaction; as soon as he finished that sentence, the paladin ran off towards the inn.

It would be quite a run from his current location, but he had to keep going. He saw a night elf riding a black nightsaber in the same direction. Just as he was going to ask for a ride, though, another explosion sent them both away. The paladin flew against a wall, while the elf and his mount were sent a dozen meters away, but quickly regained their ground. Thankfully, Tirion's barrier was still up, and when he hit the wall, it cushioned most of the impact.

He was stunned for a second. When he recovered, he could see a group of ghouls coming from the house that had just blown up. Before he could reach them though, both the nightsaber and a giant cat jumped upon them, quickly ripping three of them to shreds. Tirion didn't waste any time. He began focusing holy energy in his left hand, right one holding his blade, and as he advanced, directed it towards a ghoul, which after letting a roar of pain, fell dead to the floor.

The druid and its mount were still breaking havoc amongst the ghouls when the Highlord stabbed two of them at the same time, turning them to dust in a matter of seconds. An arcane blast coming from the sky finished the last ghoul in the group; the paladin took a moment to regain his breath and look at the skies. At least a couple dozen stormcrows flew around the area, the Kirin Tor mages over them shooting fireballs and frostbolts to the enemies below.

Tirion entered the now destroyed house. Burned furniture and rugs could be seen all over the place, smoke now filling the building. He sensed something upstairs; after locating the staircase, still usable, he covered his mouth and nose and went upstairs. Reaching the second floor, he followed his senses into an open room.

A figure, covered in black robes, stood inside a green barrier covering most of the room. A glowing rune could be seen on the floor, black smoke emanating from it. The cultist didn't seem to notice Tirion's presence; he was busy chanting in some strange language. "So, this is how they're summoning them!" It was time to put an end to this.

He grabbed his sword with both hands. "Light, give me the strength to break through this darkness!" The Ashbringer started shining with golden light and with all the strength he could gather, Tirion stabbed the barrier. Shadow energy erupted from the barrier, the clash between the Light and the dark magic pushing Tirion away. He flexed his legs to maintain balance and continued pushing. He could feel the sweat dropping over his face; this was proving more difficult than expected.

But he could sense the barrier weakening. "One…last…PUSH!" With that, the barrier vanished, leaving the cultist unprotected. Only when his protection disappeared did the robed figure seem to notice the blade-wielding paladin in front of him.

"FOR THE GLORY OF THE LI-" He couldn't even finish his sentence before his head went rolling down the floor. Tirion managed to observe the now bodyless head's features before it became ash: pale grey skin, black hair and lifeless, blood red eyes. "San'layn."

He looked around; besides the now useless rune on the floor, there was nothing worthwhile in the room. "Rhonin!" He reached towards his pouch; when he saw the orb, he could see it shining brightly, a loud voice screaming through. "Tirion! Tirion! Can you listen?!"

"Rhonin! They're bringing troops with summoning runes! The Kirin Tor must get inside the houses and shut them down!" Rhonin spoke again, "My city… Arthas will pay for this!" He could hear the anger coming from the archmage's voice, but this was not the time. "Rhonin, focus! We need to inform both the Kirin Tor and the adventurers!"

"You're right. How far are you?" He made a quick calculation. "I should be able to get there in about ten minutes by foot." "Make your way here as fast you can. We've secured Bronzebeard; he's passed out though. The paladin, however…" Tirion didn't need hear the rest to understand. He would remember to honor his fallen comrade, but there was no time to waste now. "I understand. I'm on my way."

He left the room, and after going down the stairs, found himself once again in the streets. There were less undead by now; surely the adventurers' effort had been successful. Tirion turned towards the inn's direction and started running. He saw a small group of skeletons ahead, swords in hand. But they were no match for the Ashbringer. As soon as he was in range, he slashed the skeletons with one swift strike. They tried blocking the attack, but their weapons were easily shattered by the force of the swing. Just as easily, they turned to dust.

As he approached the entrance to Runeweaver's Square, a purple light erupted from within. "Another summon?" A trio of Kirin Tor mages, riding their aerial mounts, flew over him towards the plaza, but suddenly, a metal hook coming from below pierced one of them through the chest, pulling him and his mount to the ground. His scream of pain as he was dragged down with his stormcrow reached the paladin's ears before quickly cutting down. "Damnit, an abomination? I must reach Rhonin, but…"

He reached the entrance to the square, barely dodging a body thrown at him. He looked back; the corpse was covered in blood and guts, his dwarven features barely recognizable. He turned and observed the monster in front of him: easily over 30 feet tall, this abomination was as grotesque as they'd get: grey, dead skin, open wounds, a third arm extending from his back… It currently tried to impale a leather-wielding tauren, who shot lightning to the monster while evading, hardly damaging the monster.

Tirion noticed as Kirin Tor mages arrived from across the city to blast the monster, but they were still not enough. He conjured holy energy around him, and with a strong grip on his sword, launched towards the abomination. It noticed the golden-plated warrior approaching. "PALADIN BAD! PALADIN DIE!" Turning its attention to him, it shot his hook in an attempt to impale him, but Tirion managed to dodge it by rolling.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Tirion grabbed the Ashbringer with both hands and fiercely slashed the chain attached to the hook, cutting it and letting the hook loose. "Everyone! Focus its head!" In a matter of seconds, fire, frost, arcane, and lightning started raining over the abomination. It cried in pain, but still resisted going down.

"PALADIN KILLED HOOK! ME ANGRY!" It started rushing towards Tirion, not noticing the increasing heat around him. Suddenly, a giant fire vortex surrounded the abomination, which roared at the feeling of having its flesh burnt. The paladin looked around; he noticed an armored elf, a red tabard over his chest and a helmet on his head, focusing on his target. Aethas Sunreaver was known as a Fire magic specialist; and that fire tornado was more than enough proof of his expertise.

"Highlord! We need to kill this ugly thing now!" Tirion started focusing holy energy on his blade to attack the monster as soon as the spell went off, but barely noticed the strange movement within. Before he could warn him, a giant piece of flesh erupted from the vortex, flying towards the mage. Being focused in maintaining the spell, Aethas knew the moment he saw it coming his way that he wouldn't be able to dodge fast enough.

No one noticed the arrow quickly intercepting the meaty projectile, which at contact made it explode in several smaller pieces and splashing black goo all over the place. A green-clothed elf, bow in hand, had appeared besides Aethas and started shooting towards the monster. "Come on, Sunreaver! I thought you blood elves were more skilled than that!"

Without interrupting his spell, he answered the white-haired hunter. "I don't remember asking for your help, Vereesa, and I certainly don't need any night elf to do my job!" "Quit it and focus!" Tirion couldn't care less about their problems right now; if they could spare energy in banal discussions, it would be better used on killing the enemy at hand.

More adventurers had arrived at Runeweaver's Square. Now, hunters and warlocks were adding their attacks to the offensive, while warriors, paladins and rogues waited for the fire tornado to wear off before entering to do their job. Tirion himself had returned to focusing holy energy into the Ashbringer; if he did this right, he could finish the battle in one strike. Aethas' shout was heared all across the square: "NOW!"

As the flames disappeared, showing the now charred but still standing abomination inside, the melee warriors launched towards the monster. Swords, hammers, axes and daggers made their way into the abomination's body, which tried to punch and kick around to get the adventurers off it. However, as soon as he did, a shield appeared from within the group to block its attacks. When its attacks actually managed to reach someone, they would get healed by the shamans or priests on the sidelines, and quickly return to combat.

Tirion himself had wasted no time. A great amount of holy energy was now focused on the Ashbringer, shining golden after the amounts of energy within. He needed a way to reach the abomination's head, and it came to him the moment he saw at the sky. With so much noise around, it was a miracle that a Kirin Tor mage managed to hear him. "Kirin Tor! I need a lift!"

The one mage who did hear him directed his mount below. As the stormcrow approached the ground, she gave her hand to Tirion to help him mount. "Get me above it, quickly!" As the bird started flapping its wings, gaining altitude, he observed the battleground below: there were easily thirty or more people fighting the abomination, which was slowly but surely weakening. Between spells, heals and weapon swings, it was quite the spectacle. However, with an invasion ongoing, they would need every second they could manage to save.

After some seconds, he was quite some feet above the monster. He stood up, careful to not lose his balance, and looked towards the mage, "When this is over, I'll need a second ride. I'll wait for you on the ground." He watched the battle below, and one last thought crossed his mind. "Light, give me the blessing… to not die, please." And he jumped.

Time seemed to slow down as he fell, gaining speed as he approached his target below. He could feel the wind on his face and see the ground getting closer every second, but he focused; this was his one chance. He clutched his blade with both hands and aimed towards the monster's head. As it grew bigger, Tirion counted down. "Three, two, one, NOW!"

Once he was barely above the abomination, he used all the strength he could gather and pierced its skull. As the blade made its way through its head, a loud but short scream filled the square. The golden light made its way from the Ashbringer into the undead being, glowing cracks appearing all over its body. It fell to his knees, and finally, to the floor, dead. Tirion jumped from the now limp corpse to the ground, just before it turned completely to dust.

The whole plaza erupted into cheers at the victory, happy after being able to bring the enemy down. However, Tirion's eyes had focused at another image. One of the square's wall was demolished, probably the abomination's doing. From below the rubble, a small hand holding a ball. A small tear fell from the paladin's eyes; even the innocents weren't safe from the Scourge. As the mage approached Tirion with her stormcrow, he gave one last order: "Everyone! The Scourge may still be causing havoc across the city! Follow Windrunner or Sunreaver and help the civilians!" With that, he mounted the stormcrow and went off.

"To the Legerdemain Lounge!" She quickly directed her mount to the requested place. Tirion used this moment to watch the city: smoke rose from different parts of the city, but as far as skirmishes go, it seemed like it was way better than it was a couple of minutes ago. He knew that by flying he would get to Rhonin in just a minute, but just to be sure, he pulled the speaking orb from his pouch. In that very moment, a quick shout came from it. "-as a distraction! Get here qui-"

A big explosion came from the inn, which Tirion could clearly see by now. The stormcrow stopped dead on its track, afraid of the explosion. He tried to sense undead around the explosion, and for a fraction of a second, his blood ran cold at the amount of dark energy coming from the place. "The Lich King?! No, it's strong, but not even close to him. It's still a massive amount of energy… who is it?"

His thoughts were interrupted when he felt another presence quickly approaching the explosion. He looked around; no one on the streets. Then, he looked at the skies. He could recognize the frostwyrms anywhere: skeletal dragons, magic glowing inside them; they were the Scourge's most powerful aerial forces. This one was quickly gaining speed by picking its wings, pointing towards the explosion.

Then, Tirion saw it: just as the dragon arrived, a winged figure arose from within the smoke. He managed to notice the red clothes it was wearing, matching the color of its bat-like wings. It was holding another, shorter figure with one arm, and the moment the frostwyrm was above them, spreading its wings to slow down, they took place over the winged beast, which proceeded to gain speed. In one swift movement, they were flying off to the distance.

Tirion didn't know what to do. However, he was quickly put in track by the voice coming from the orb, "They have Bronzebeard! We need to go after them!" Knowing that Rhonin was still alive, he turned to the mage. "You heard him! Let's go!" With that, the stormcrow started chasing after them, flapping its wings as hard as it could.

They could feel the wind on their faces as the city became smaller and smaller behind them. When he looked back, Tirion noticed that a group of Kirin Tor mages, riding their own stormcrows, were rallying behind them. What's more, some other adventurers on their own mounts were accompanying them as well. With a more varied group, he felt safer already.

They could now see the yellow trees below them, as well as the giant crystal tree that gave the zone its name. The Crystalsong Forest was one of the most beautiful areas of Northrend, but this was no time for a tour. Specially given the direction they were following, and the great, menacing structure that set the ending of this chase: the Icecrown Citadel.

Resting on the icy grounds of the zone it took its name from, it marked the final objective for the allied forces of the living' campaign on the northern continent. But they were not ready yet. If they dared entered the Lich King's fortress now, it would be suicide, even for Tirion. If they didn't catch the frostwyrm before that, they would have to pull back.

"Light, give us the strength to catch up to our enemies!" The stormcrow could suddenly feel rejuvenated energies coming from within and started ramping up the speed. Slowly, it started shortening the distance between them. Tirion wondered why there were no more Scourge troops around, but had his questions answered to him in a moment. "Highlord! Frostwyrms incoming!" Tirion looked at the direction the mage had pointed to; a numerous group of undead dragons, their skeletal bodies shining with the magic within them, could be seen on the distance, making their way to meet the group.

"Can we beat them? Between battling them and recovering Bronzebeard… It's too much, and the rest are way behind us." However, when he looked behind, Tirion was surprised to see the rest of the group had caught up. He knew paladins could empower their mounts to move faster with the Light, but sometimes forgot that other adventurers, like hunters, could do so as well.

As they grew closer to their target, and thus, to the incoming frostwyrms, Tirion started preparing for the battle. Considering most of the adventurers following him would probably be ranged fighters, and that the most difficult battle would be actually retrieving the dwarf, he knew that they were the ones with the best chance to reach Bronzebeard. However, it was easier thought than done.

There was only one way this would work. "Mage, do you think your stormcrow will understand an order?" She looked back at him. "Do you have an idea, Highlord?" He looked back at the frostwyrms; judging by the distance between them, they didn't have more than half a minute. "We'll be the first to intercept those dragons, and first and foremost we need to recover Bronzebeard. If you can command your mount to focus on reaching him, we can both concentrate on defending ourselves to actually survive this. Can you do it?" Twenty seconds.

She inclined towards her crow's ear and whispered something, and it cawed back in response. "She'll do her best, Highlord. Do you think we can do this?" He could see the fear in the mage's eyes; for many, a situation like this would be certain death. "What's your name, lady?" "Cassandra, Highlord." He looked back at the champions behind them; he could see them readying their weapons and spells; then, he looked at incoming frostwyrms. Ten seconds.

"Okey, Cassandra. Get ready…" Fire started surrounding her hands as she formed a fireball, and Tirion gathered as much holy energy as he could manage. The wind crashing against them, the coldness of the skies, the sun slowly approaching the horizon… all there was now were the enemies and them. Five seconds.

"…because we can do this, and we will. NOW!"

They launched their spells at the closest frostwyrm in front of them, which quickly went limp after the attack. The stormcrow barely dodged the approaching body, rolling to the side; they had to harden their grip on the reins to not fall off. In a matter of seconds, the sky had turned into a battleground, spells, arrows and dragon breath appearing all over the place. Some frostwyrms fell under the barrage of fireballs and explosive shots, while others managed to burn the incoming adventurers with their undead flames.

The stormcrow did all it could to avoid the incoming wyrms; empowered by the Light, it dived, rolled, sped up, slowed down and raised up to reach the ever-distant dwarf and his captors. However, with all the maneuvers, it seemed like the distance between them enlarged instead of shortened. Meanwhile, Tirion and Cassandra went all out: she launched fireballs as fast as she could, while the paladin continued healing and strengthening the crow, while defending them from the incoming attacks.

As he erected a barrier of holy magic to counter an incoming frost breath, Tirion watched the battle unfold. Blue, red, green and yellow; spells of all colors and shapes could be seen travelling from one place to another. Ignoring the circumstances, one could even say it was beautiful on its own way. He noticed a big frostwyrm coming directly towards them, its intent not to burn them with its breath but to outright crash against them.

"Suicide attacks?! At that speed, I don't think the crow can dodge it! Think, Tirion, think!" The moment it popped into his mind, the paladin went into action. As the wyrm approached, he started channeling holy energy into the Ashbringer, which started shining in response. Then, he stood up, flexing his legs to keep his balance, and focused the rest of his energy and magic in his legs. He needed to time this right; else, he would most likely not survive this.

"Highlord! What are you doing?" He didn't turn his sight from the incoming dragon. "I'll need you to catch me, Cass. I'll trust you with this one!" With that, and releasing the magic gathered in his legs, he jumped. Propelled by the Light, he advanced way more than he normally would, intercepting the dragon now few feet away from the stormcrow, full speed.

Before it could react though, Tirion swung his blade against the undead monster, a vertical slash easily crushing its skull. The holy energy gathered inside the Ashbringer quickly scattered across the dragon's body, which shattered into several pieces before turning to ash. With it dead, he'd avoided certain danger. However, now he had now nowhere to land.

As he started falling, his heart pounded faster and stronger. For a second, he even thought that the mage would not be able to catch him, and that this would be his final battle against the Scourge. He was quickly shaken off those thoughts though as a claw strongly grasped his arm. He calmed down a bit and looked forward; they'd kept their distance with Bronzebeard, but that was still a long way to go. Then, he looked around: the frostwyrms were now all behind them, leaving them clear to give chase. "Cassandra, give me a hand!" As she helped the paladin back up, he started channeling as much holy energy as he could into the stormcrow; he was feeling the exhaustion from all the fighting taking its toll, but this was the last chance they'd get.

As the bird started gaining speed, the distance between the dragon and them shortened. The Icecrown Citadel looked closer and closer. "Highlord, I have an idea! I need you to take the reins though!" As they swapped places, Tirion now handling the mount's reins, Cassandra started concentrating arcane energy all around them.

She had to do this correctly. Blinking alone, standing still or moving at low speeds was one thing; blinking both herself and Lord Fordring, alongside the stormcrow, at this speed, could end up with all three of them dead if even the slightest mistake was made. She had one chance. Calculating the speed at which they gained distance and focusing on the right spot to end up near the dragon, she gave one last warning to Tirion.

"Highlord, I'll blink us all just besides Bronzebeard's captor. It'll probably take all of my reserves of mana, so I won't be much help after that." Regaining all the strength he could, he gave one last nod. "Let's do it." In a moment, all three of them had disappeared from their spot on the sky, reappearing right beside the frostwyrm, the captor, and Brann.

Time slowed down for Tirion as he went into action. He could clearly see the figure responsible for Bronzebeard's capture: a female, grey skinned elf, with bat-like wings spreading from her back and a gemmed staff on her back. "San'layn!". Behind her, the dwarf was tied up in black ropes, still conscious. Brann's eyes opened at the sight of the paladin, and he probably would've started shouting had he not had his mouth covered with ropes as well.

The undead elf quickly unsheathed an elven dagger, flowing with death energy, and quickly tried to stab the paladin. He blocked the weapon with his own blade, and using his free hand, shot a bolt of holy energy towards his enemy. However, she quickly used one of her wings as a shield, the attack dissipating at contact.

As this exchange happened, the frostwyrm tried to make some distance by changing directions, but Cassandra, barely remaining conscious after her previous spell, steered her mount in the same direction. Tirion, making his best to keep his balance, tried slashing the elf, but she quickly countered by grabbing her staff and blocking. She tried slashing the paladin with her dagger once more, but he grabbed her arm midway. Locked in that position, they started trying to overcome the other's strength.

Tirion could feel his foe's aura surrounding them, trying to weaken them with shadow energies. Was it not for the Light, he may had started feeling weaker; however, he didn't know how his companions were doing, nor had he the opportunity to check on them. Even with the Light on his side, the elf had the upper hand on strength, just barely.

"Do you really think you can win this, paladin?" Her voice, though nice sounding, made her intentions very clear. "The Lich King will rule over all of you, no matter what you try!" He planned his next move. "Sorry lady, but he ain't no king of mine!" Focusing his energy, he pushed his enemy back, releasing his grasp on her arm and quickly grasping the Ashbringer with both hands. Focusing the Light through his blade, just as many times before, he started to stand up, ready to jump for a decisive attack.

However, the undead elf had a plan of her own. The moment she felt herself free, she focused all the energy on her dagger and the gems on her staff to summon a purple smoke around the stormcrow and its riders. Tirion, reacting to the sudden spell, gathered the holy energy inside the Ashbringer back into himself, and then formed a barrier around him and his allies.

The mage was useless against this attack; with all her mana spent, all she could do was steer her mount in the right direction and watch as Tirion did his best to cover them all from the spell. The purple smoke struck surrounded the barrier, trying to push through. Fordring could feel the sweat running across his face; he didn't have much time left on him.

"You are a fool for trying to best the Blood Queen of the San'layn on your own, paladin! I will wipe you and your friend from existence, and then your precious Crusade will be next!" Tirion was running out of mana and ideas. Both he and Cassandra were already drained, and they didn't have more than a minute before getting into dangerous distance from the Icecrown Citadel.

"Cassandra! Listen to me carefully!" She turned towards him. "We only have one chance at this! I'll infuse you with a Blessing of Wisdom, which should give you some of your mana back! Once I do it, at the count of three, blink yourself and the stormcrow right behind them, understood?!" She glared back, worry showing on her face. "But Highlord, you wo-" "THERE'S NO TIME! GET READY!"

With one hand up focusing on the barrier, he pointed the Ashbringer towards the mage. Suddenly, she could feel a surge of mana back on her. She quickly focused on the spot she would blink to; it would be way easier now that it was a shorter distance. Tirion was feeling his arms numb and his vision became blurry for a second; this would be his last attack. He knew that the smoke would at least give him the element of surprise; that was his only advantage.

"Three. Two. One. NOW!" Just before the stormcrow disappeared from its previous spot, Tirion jumped towards the dragon, dissipating the barrier and gathering all the holy magic he could inside his blade. The smoke made his skin burn in pain at contact, but he gritted his teeth and endured. As he appeared through the smoke, the Blood Queen was taken by surprise. Before she could react, Tirion unleashed all the holy energy around. "HOLY NOVA!" The holy energy spread around them, pushing the elf off her mount and into the abyss.

Before the frostwyrm could react and try to shake him off, Tirion gripped Brann, his eyes joyful at the turn of events, by the ropes restraining him. With the last strength he had in him, he jumped from the frostwyrm, the dwarf besides him. Just as he expected, Cassandra and her stormcrow were just behind them, ready to catch them. Just as he landed over the bird, he gripped the mounting chair as hard as he could with his free hand. "LET'S GO!"

As he placed the dwarf between him and the mage, the stormcrow quickly made a turn and started heading towards the opposite direction. He didn't know where the elf had ended, but he didn't care; he was barely staying conscious, and definitely didn't have the energy to keep fighting. They had Bronzebeard, now it was time to return.

As they gained distance, Cassandra looked back. The frostwyrm wasn't following them, which meant that it probably went after its rider. The worst was now over; they'd made it out alive. "We did it, Highlord! I can't believe we did it!" He looked back at her, a small smile on his lips. "You're right, girl. We did it, thanks to you." She felt embarrassed at the compliment of such a mighty figure, a small giggle coming from her.

Tirion was preparing to cut Bronzebeard's ropes, but suddenly went cold. A horrid, dark aura suddenly appeared near them. "No…NO!" He barely managed to lift the Ashbringer before a black figure, wielding a shining, blue sword, quickly slashed against him. The impact of both blades sent waves of energy around, the immediate force stopping the stormcrow on the spot. Although Tirion was able to save them from the attack, the strength of the attack made him lose balance, almost falling off. He managed to grab a rope from the mounting chair. As he hanged, barely keeping his grip, he could see him.

A black, armored horse spread its wings in front of them, blue light coming from its eyes. The Plate of the Damned shined black as the light was reflected off it, and Frostmourne glowed the same color as its master's eyes. The Lich King, riding his old horse, Invincible, blocked their path.

"Fordring…" Tirion didn't have the strength to even lift himself up, and Cassandra was probably shocked at the sudden appearance. There was no way he would win this. "If this is it, I won't go down without a fight!" "Arthas! You dare show your face after al you've done?!" The Lich King chuckled at this comment, his echoing laugh filling the air.

"Should I remember you it was you and your precious allies who dared show in this continent? My continent?" His aura started feeling much heavier, and the air much colder. Cassandra started preparing a fireball with the few mana she had left. Arthas couldn't help but smile. "For as much as I would like to play with you, I'd rather not waste my time with your… champions."

"Champions? There must be backup on the way!" Arthas spoke again. "I've taken interest in Bronzebeard, Fordring. Give him to me, and I'll consider rewarding you with a quick death." Cassandra looked at the dwarf. Brann's eyes were full of fear, and he shaked his head from one side to the other. Tirion was not one to betray his comrades. Holding to the ropes with one hand, he used his last strength to lift the Ashbringer with his free arm, one last defying gesture against the Lich King.

"We will never hand you one of our own! Listen to my words, Arthas! No matter how many of us fall against you, in the end, the forces of the Light will claim victory!" At this, the Lich King couldn't help but loudly laugh. "Defiant to the very end. I will gladly come back to raise you as my most powerful champion, eager to make you desecrate the very Light you so fervently worship. But for now, the dwarf is all I'll need."

He raised Frostmourne, necrotic lightning instantly appearing from its tip. Striking the stormcrow, it twitched in pain as the lightning kept it in its place. Cassandra fired her fireball towards the Lich King, but he just swept it away with his free hand. Even as fear started showing on her face, she would battle to the end. With her last mana left, she started casting the biggest Pyroblast she could muster.

Tirion, on ther other hand, struggled to keep his grip on the rope, as the stormcrow's twitching made it difficult. He noticed Arthas gathering even more energy on his free hand, a black, pulsating sphere forming on his palm. He looked at the Ashbringer one last time, his only regret being the fact that he couldn't do more to stop Arthas. But he knew that the Argent Crusade would live on, and that in the end, the Light would prevail. "Light… give me…the energy…to die fighting."

The Lich King laughed on last time. "I must admit, that I used to wonder about the many ways I could kill you, paladin. I will enjoy this way more than you can imagine…" This was it. "SEE YOU IN HELL, FORDRING!" The blast quickly travelled across the sky. At the same time, the mage shot her Pyroblast to intercept it, and Tirion casted his last Holy Blast.

All three spells intercepted each other, creating a huge explosion which blasted the Tirion, Cassandra, Brann and the stormcrow off the sky. As they started falling, Tirion watched around. Both the mage and her mount were now limp, gaining speed with each passing second. As he looked up, he noticed the Lich King's mount flying just besides the dwarf, as Arthas grabbed him into the sky and started creating a portal mid-air.

"I guess this is really it. Light… please, may you receive me in your gentle embrace." His mind couldn't help but think of all the fellow comrades that had fallen in the battle against the Scourge, and how he would now reunite with them. He could almost feel as if he was falling slower, as if time slowed down. "Ha…curious." With one last smile, he closed his eyes.