Hello all, thanks for the views and followers, but I need reviews too.
Also the items from the first chapter will be at the bottom for votes.
No votes yet, which bums me out, so I hope to see votes after this chapter.
Anyway this will cover, at least, the first two missions of the Human campaign plus any extra events, encounters, or such I throw in without completely losing the Warcraft 3 story, at least until it goes into Arthas being a better soldier/leader/butcher.
Now, let's get to what y'all are all here for.
Disclaimer: I don't own Warcraft, Blizzard, or a great many things that will be in this fic except for some OCs.
(Author's Notes)
"Speech"
"Thoughts"
'Language other than common'
(Mental conversations)
"Non-Humanoid (Demons, spirits, etc. etc.) speech"
"Above's thoughts"
'Above's speech in other language'
(Mental conversations)
Chapter 2: First Contact
5 miles outside Strahnbrad: Uther the Lightbringer's basecamp
Uther the Lightbringer, the first among the Paladins of the Silver hand, a chief advisor to the king, a war hero, a man who instilled discipline and loyalty into the cavalry of the Human race, and held the respect of the Humans, Gnomes, Dwarves, and Elves. A man so respected and feared that raiders and mercenaries would not approach a caravan if he was present. What was this man doing you ask? Well, he was getting rather annoyed that A: some of his men were complaining that Arthas was late, B: there was a decent sized Orc encampment near the town of Strahnbrad, and C: Said Orcs were planning to raid the town, "ENOUGH." His men turned towards him, "I don't want to hear another word about Prince Arthas being late; if he is late then he will have a good reason."
Meanwhile with Arthas
Said Prince, and second among the paladins, was smashing giant spiders with his Warhammer and was getting agitated, why you may ask… Well it starts right after he left the capitol, with a group of mercenaries deciding the Prince was worth kidnapping and ransoming, which ended badly for the mercenaries as Arthas dealt with them by himself. Then there were Murlocs at a river crossing, Forest Trolls on the path through the denser parts of the forest, and now… now it was a large collection of spiders trying to bar his way by eating him and his companions. Now, he had not lost any of his soldiers since they were the toughest and strongest in all of the kingdom, but they were not invincible nor were they impossible to tire out after four straight fights, a long ride and walk, as the Murlocs had scared off the horses, and now a potentially longer fight if the Orcs launched an attack on the village.
So, he did the only thing he could do… started smashing the eight legged freaks into paste/acidic blood pools. Afterwards they pressed on and arrived at Uther's base camp… 4 hours late. They arrived to find Uther waiting at the center of camp, "Ah, Prince Arthas. We are honored to have you among us."
Arthas chuckled, "Save the formalities Uther, it's good to see you." They shared a laugh, "What's the situation?"
Uther sat by the fire and Arthas sat across from him, "The encampment of Orcs is just over this next ridge; however our scouts report they are planning to attack Strahnbrad. I have my own plan, but I would like your opinion on the matter."
Arthas was surprised but then started thinking, "While I am growing in strength in the light and in battle, you have the military and battle experience that matters more. I think I should go aid Strahnbrad, while you go to prepare a settlement and defenses at the Orc encampment. That way if the attack hits Strahnbrad before I can get there you may be able to intercept any prisoner transports they attempt since the Orcs recently have been taking slaves from what my father has kept me informed of."
Uther smiled, "You'll make a fine King one day. It is a fine plan lad, one that we will follow. My forces shall go to prepare and yours shall go to Strahnbrad. You can meet up with us when you've finished."
With that, he left and Arthas and his soldiers gathered nearby supplies from the camp and began marching towards Strahnbrad. For the geography lesson, in my map of Azeroth anyway, the king's road winds through five small farming villages before reaching Strahnbrad. As they passed through the first three there were a few farmers, who were reservists in times of war, who took up their armor and weapons and joined the march. The next two were problematic, when they arrived at the fourth, they found a woman in distress, "Someone! Please, my youngest son Timmy was carried off by creatures, can someone please save him!"
Arthas moved to the forest, before turning to his men, "Falric, get any supplies and soldiers you can while I go rescue the boy. I'll return shortly." His men nodded while he walked into the forest following a flattened path of grass. A few yards in, a bolt from a crossbow whizzed past his head and impaled a tree. He rushed forward and smashed a Gnoll into a tree, which broke in half as his hammer 'Light's Vengeance' went through the Gnoll and smashed the tree. He turned and chanted, before calling out "Divine Shield." a bubble appeared around him as three bolts and a net hit, before they bounced off the bubble. Arthas moved again smashing one Gnoll into another, followed by throwing his hammer into another Gnoll, and scooping up a crossbow and killing a fourth with the loaded bolt. He moved forward and took up his hammer again. He moved farther along before coming to a clearing with five Gnoll huts, three cages, around 2 dozen Gnoll trappers and brutes, and one very large and angry Gnoll Warden holding a flail, "I will say this once, release the boy and leave this area or perish."
(For the record, I am doing the Divine Shield as it stays for a certain amount of time or has reflected a certain amount of damage from the user. It will get stronger as Arthas progresses and yes, it will become stronger than the game's version but that is why it is not solely a time limit ability but a damage absorption ability as well).
The chieftain growled, "Me, Steelsnout. Me leader here and me no fear puny Human. You want us leave, then you must defeat me in fight." He snarled as he readied his weapon and charged Arthas. Arthas moved quickly batting away the flail's head and slamming his elbow into Steelsnout's gut, pivoting, and slamming the base of his hammer's staff into Steelsnout's back.
Steelsnout tumbled into a tree before turning around just in time to raise his flail's rod to block the hammer strike. Unfortunately, for him anyway, he miscalculated Arthas's strength, something he discovered too late as his hammer broke through the handle and smashed Steelsnout's chest in, just before he dropped dead. Arthas turned to the other Gnolls, "Leave this place and release the boy."
The Gnolls, to his amazement, knelt and a trapper spoke, "We serve strongest, you is strongest. We serve you. Maybe not today, but we serve you and obey. We leave but we not go very far, you find us when time. You call us when needed and we kill anything you wish."
Arthas watched as the Gnolls moved into the forest and disappeared. Arthas moved to the cages before finding the one with a small boy inside, "Help me, please, I want to go home."
Arthas smashed the lock on the cage, "It's alright son, let's get you back home to your mother." He scooped the boy into his arms and carried him out of the clearing and back into the village.
"Oh, Timmy! You're safe. Thank you Prince Arthas, please take this along with my gratitude." The woman handed him a gold ring and kissed Arthas on the cheek before taking her son home.
Arthas put the ring on and felt stronger, smarter, and more agile; little did he know the ring the woman had given him was a ring of superiority which boosted the natural abilities of the wearer. Arthas gathered his men, both those from the villages and his own, which now numbered almost 50, and marched to the last village. When they arrived they found it under attack by mercenaries and the reservists were struggling to hold them back, "Charge!" Arthas rushed forward before smashing three of the mercenaries with his hammer and healing the reservists with his Holy Light spell before pushing the mercenaries back and leading the forces forward. After Arthas had felled about 12 mercenaries they fled down a path through the river that divided Strahnbrad from the village, "Is everyone alright?"
The soldiers all nodded and a farmer came up, "We're fine milord but they made off with my farm's ledger, if I don't get it back then I won't be able to fill my quotas and my farm will be taken away."
"Don't worry; we'll get it back for you. Let's move." Arthas and the soldiers, which now numbered around 65, moved down the stream and broke through the mercenary ambushers before making it to the main campsite, which held about 30 mercenaries with varying weapons and one larger foe wielding two large spears, "Return what you have stolen and never threaten these lands again or face death."
The big one chuckled, "I am Magran, leader of this band of cutthroats. I know who you are and who trained you, young Prince. I have always wanted to test my mettle against Uther the Lightbringer, but you being his second in charge means that you can come close to matching him. So I will make an agreement with you, if you defeat me in single combat without any of those fancy spells and I won't use any of our tricks, then I will submit my life to you and we will never harm these lands again."
Arthas nodded and his men sheathed their swords and stepped back as Arthas moved forward while Magran and his men did the same. Magran started off by throwing one spear at Arthas, who dodged it and then threw his hammer at the mercenary, who likewise dodged it and watched as the hammer turned a boulder into a pile of pebbles before having to dodge again from Arthas swinging the spear that was thrown at him. Arthas swept, jabbed, and hacked with the spear while Magran was on the defensive and amazed that someone who used hammers was wielding a spear with ease and skill he had only seen in masters. Arthas then got lucky and snapped Magran's spear before breaking his own and wielding the pieces and attacking with them both. Arthas then got Magran's arms apart and knocked the pieces away from him, before he discarded his own and started pounding Magran with his bare hands. Face, chest, shoulder, arms, legs, repeat, that was Arthas's attack pattern and Magran was feeling every hit like an Ogre was the one dealing the hits.
Magran finally dropped to his knees, "No more, please, no more. Kill me or spare me, we will honor our agreement. We may be mercenaries, but we were soldiers once and we still maintain our honor code. We never break a pact that we have made and we will not endanger these lands again."
Arthas stared down at him for a moment before sticking his arm out and helping Magran up, "Thank you milord, if you ever need fighters, just call upon us and we will follow you into Hell itself if necessary."
Arthas nodded and went to grab his hammer before coming back to Magran, "Give me back the ledger you stole." He nodded and gave Arthas the ledger, "Farewell, but be warned if I hear you are harming people again then I will be forced to hunt you down." Magran nodded and moved out with his troops. Arthas turned to his men, "Let's go."
They marched back to the farmland where the owner was waiting, "Oh, thank you, your majesty, thank you. My farm is saved now, please take this." He handed him a set of studded gloves and went back to his farm. Arthas put on the gloves and did a practice swing which de discovered was faster than normal, what he realized was they were Gloves of Haste which increased his arms' speed.
They continued their march and crossed the bridge to Strahnbrad, before they picked up the pace seeing there was smoke coming from the town. When they arrived, they found Orc Raiders chasing down some civilians running for the gate. The Raider captain grinned, while riding a great black wolf, "More whelps to kill, ride my warriors. Blood and glory to the Blackrock clan!"
They charged forward as Arthas threw his hammer into the one closest and then leapt onto the Captain's wolf before snapping the captain's neck, tossing him away, taking his sword, and chopping some of the other Raiders while the soldiers stopped the remaining Orcs from advancing on the villagers, "Go! Get across the bridge and get to the other towns." Arthas shouted at the villagers, counting the ones who came out of their houses when a few more Raiders threw lit torches onto them. Arthas continued to ride and chop before throwing the blade into another Raider's wolf and then scooped up his hammer and started swatting away any Orc that came near him. To the amazement of everyone present, the wolf he was riding was actually aiding and defending him as he rode it and fought the Orcs.
They finished the Raiders off and Arthas sent a dozen men to guard the bridge before moving into the village, "Split up, slay any Orc you find and get any and all civilians out of here. Meet back at the square after you have cleared your areas." His men nodded and 20 went right, 20 went forward, and the remaining 13 went with Arthas to the lower left. Arthas moved faster upon hearing the sounds of battle and upon arriving, he found 10 Footmen (main fighting force of the Humans) fighting off a dozen Orc Grunts. Arthas charged in, noticing the shock of both Humans and Orcs that he was riding an Orc wolf, smashing one Grunt in the chest sending him into a building before it collapsed on top of him, before smacking another into the waiting sword of a Footman, then smashing another one into the ground, before hurling his hammer into another one which propelled said Grunt into another two, which consequently made them easy pickings for the Footmen that came with Arthas.
Arthas then caught an axe thrown at him, before flipping it over and throwing right back at the Grunt. Arthas then drove the wolf towards the last five. The wolf started clawing and biting one of the Grunts' necks, while Arthas kicked the axes away as the Grunts swung at both him and the wolf. Arthas then caught an axe before snapping the head off, stabbing the nearest Orc with the broken piece, and then threw the head into another Orc, while the wolf clawed a Grunt's throat and tore off the last Grunt's leg before biting his head off. Arthas grabbed his Warhammer and waved his men to follow him, which the town soldiers did as well after directing the civilians to the bridge outside of town.
Arthas rode the wolf back to the town square where he found his men wounded, exhausted, and some wearing dented armor, "Report."
Two soldiers stepped forward and one spoke, "We encountered about 10 Orc grunts that were attacking a pub's doors; we attacked from behind while some of the civilians attacked from the other side with whatever they could find while the women and children ran or the gate. We killed the Orcs, but took some wounds and some of the civilians died."
(I'm not sexist, the game made it so all the Footmen were males, so don't flip out at me. I will make some female soldiers/captains, but for now I am sticking close to the game ways).
Arthas nodded and the other spoke, "Apparently, the raid got some of the local Rock Golems into a frenzy and they started attacking the walls before breaking through and attacking the supply stores. We destroyed them but we have quite a few men with broken bones and are struggling with exhaustion."
Arthas nodded and began to channel a large amount of mana before taking his hammer and slamming it on the ground. The footmen watched as energy exploded across the ground and when it touched them, their wounds healed and their bodies rejuvenated, "Let's go." Arthas stated as he and his men marched towards the last part of town left to search.
They arrived in time to see a Slavemaster commanding a few Raiders and Grunts, "Take these wretches back to the camp. Have the Blademaster prepare them for our masters." They started leaving and Arthas moved to stop them but was stopped by a Forest Troll (the Horde's Trolls are Darkspear Trolls and had never set foot in Lordaeron before, so I am putting them as Forest Trolls who joined the Blackrock Orcs) throwing a spear in front of him. The Slavemaster turned and grinned, which faltered slightly when he saw what Arthas was riding, "Ah, more sacrifices for our masters. Get them, kill those who resist."
The remaining Raiders, Grunts, and Trolls, which total numbered close to 40, attacked. Arthas started by riding forward and hurling his hammer through the mob at the Slavemaster. He dropped 6 Orcs and knocked the Slavemaster off his horse before taking a Raider's sword and started chopping through more of the enemy. He caught an axe thrown at him and immediately threw it at one of the Trolls on the rooftops who were throwing spears down at them. Arthas began chanting and healing his soldiers as they took some hits. Arthas was broken from his concentration as he was hit with the broadside of an axe and fell off the wolf he was riding. He got up and started hacking through any enemies that came near him while taking a few cuts and scrapes from near hits. The wolf stayed by him and even attacked other Raiders' wolves that got near Arthas. Said Prince took a spear that had missed one of his men, by him shoving said man out of the way, and started gutting with the sword while sweeping with the spear before throwing the latter into another Troll on one of the houses, "Falric! Get those Trolls on top of the houses. I don't want to risk more soldiers falling." Falric nodded and proceeded to take any weapons dropped by the enemy and threw them into the Trolls while still watching his leader's back.
Arthas pressed forward chopping through enemy after enemy moving towards the Slavemaster who was swatting his men away like flies with his mace. They weren't dead but that could very well change if he didn't hurry. He dropped as a sword came at his throat, before spinning and cleaving through surrounding enemies by using the force of the spin to add more power to the blade. He then hurled the blade at the Slavemaster as he tried to kill one of the Footmen. Arthas moved through the remaining Orcs by just beating them and getting to his hammer before moving after the Slavemaster, who had dodged the blade at the last second and turned to face Arthas. The two squared off, neither noticing that the Orcs and Trolls were almost dead and the Humans hadn't lost a soldier yet, admittedly there were some injured and disoriented. Arthas charged swinging down on top of the Slavemaster, who blocked with his mace. But, like Steelsnout, he underestimated Arthas's strength and paid for it by him not bracing enough and Arthas's hammer hitting his shoulder which was now broken. This was painfully obvious by the resounding CRACK that was heard even over the roaring flames and dwindling sounds of battle. The Slavemaster screamed in pain, which only increased as Arthas swung the hammer into his legs, which also shattered upon impact.
The Slavemaster laid there on the ground in pain and snarled at Arthas, "Agh, don't think you've changed anything whelp. Our masters will return, the skies will blacken and fire shall reign. This world will burn and all will be consumed in shadow."
Arthas raised his hammer and stared down at him, "Then I will walk through the fire and fight in the darkness until the light shines through. This world may be conquered, but I won't allow your so called masters to be the ones to do so. May the Light have mercy upon you." He then slammed his hammer down on to the Slavemaster's head which reenacted a watermelon being dropped from a decent height. He was about to move before noticing the Slavemaster's mace. It was black with crimson runes covering it and five flanged prongs on the head. He reached down and took it before giving a few experimental swings, finding it light yet durable, "Well, I do throw my hammer a lot and despite this Orc being a barbarian, he does have a decent weapon." He stated, before then attaching it to his waist. He then turned around to find the pure fiery red horse the Slavemaster was riding standing in front of him and brushing against him.
Falric stepped up, "I think it wants you to be its new master, sir. Same with the wolf you were riding earlier." Said wolf came up and sat in front of Arthas while the horse neighed at him and stood there.
Arthas looked at the wolf, which stayed there panting while looking at him, as if it was waiting for orders. Arthas reached a tentative hand out and was surprised when the wolf started licking it and rubbing its head against it. Arthas then placed his other hand out and the horse placed its head against it and seemed to settle down. Arthas knelt down, "Do you two want to come with me?" The wolf barked happily and the horse neighed with, what they assumed was, enthusiasm. Arthas stared at the two before a voice echoed in his mind with two names, "Shadow and Blaze." To the shock of many, the animals actually seemed to bow to Arthas in, again what they thought was, acceptance, "Alright, we go back to the last farming town to see if the survivors heard or saw anything that we may want to know before going to join Uther, let's move out."
They returned to the village, after Arthas gave another healing spell to get his troops moving better, and were approached by a few of the civilians, "Thank you Prince Arthas, you have saved us." Stated a man as he stood there.
A boy walked up, "But what about the others?" He asked while looking on the verge of crying.
Arthas knelt and smiled down at him, "Don't worry son, we'll do everything we can to make sure they come back."
As he was speaking a knight rode up, "Prince Arthas, Lord Uther has set up camp at the base of the mountains and is just outside of the Orc encampment. He requests for you to join him immediately."
Arthas nodded as the Knight rode off. He then stood and got on Blaze, "Falric, I want you to take 50 of our men and follow the path that the Orcs cut through the forest. The other 25 will stay and patrol the farmlands until I can have my father increase the actual military presence here. I'm heading to Uther's camp to aid him in the attack."
Falric stepped forward, "Sir, are you sure you should be traveling alone and that Lord Uther won't need the extra reinforcements?"
Arthas nodded, "Yes, while it is risky, we can't risk more attacks on the town and villages, while Uther and I deal with the main encampment." Falric nodded and they all headed out.
Path to Uther's camp: 10 minutes later
Arthas was riding towards the encampment when Blaze suddenly stopped and Shadow growled loudly. Arthas drew his hammer off his back and looked around, "Whoever you are, come out!"
He turned as a man garbed in black with crimson designs walked out of the forest and stood before them. I smirked towards them, "Greetings good Prince, I have business to discuss with you." I walked forward and turned to Shadow when he started growling harder, "Easy Shadow, I am no threat to your master. Just the opposite in fact." Shadow backed down, but still stood protectively by Arthas, "Good, it seems that he is changing creatures already and it won't be long before he is changing people by just being around them."
Arthas lowered his hammer figuring that I could have killed him with ease if I was a threat and Shadow was calming, "What do you want with me?"
I chuckled as I stood there, "A couple of things, first to congratulate you on your victory at Strahnbrad. Second, to inform you that there is a Dwarven enchanter with some Riflemen in the mountains southeast of the Blackrock base, help them and you will gain an item that will increase your chances of victory, against the Blackrock Orcs and others, greatly. Third, to give you a few items to aid you and your allies in the battles to come." I tossed him a bag and he saw items inside with names written on scrolls attached to the items, "A storm is coming young Prince, no matter what happens walk your path as you see fit, but do not lose your compassion for your comrades. No matter what the path may turn into, it will serve you well to remember that. Goodbye, young one. I will find you again when it is time."
Arthas looked up from the bag I gave him as I turned to leave and called out at me, "WAIT! Who are you?"
I turned towards him, "I am someone who will aid you no matter what. I will find you again when you are ready to learn more." With that I was gone and Arthas looked over the items, there were three items for him and three items for Jaina Proudmoore, a woman who Arthas loved deeply but wanted her to focus on her studies in the wizarding city of Dalaran, Muradin Bronzebeard, a Dwarf who trained Arthas from boyhood in how to wield a hammer and sword, and Uther. That was all well and good but the thing that confused him was the note attached inside the bad which stated the ones for Jaina were to given when they met on the King's road to investigate a plague while the ones for Uther were marked not to be given until Hearthglen and the ones for Muradin were not to be given until they met next.
He was confused but felt that he should listen as he examined his items. They were an ornate black dagger which when he drew it was about 6" long and serrated on the back end, he sheathed it back and continued to look. He found a bundle of 6 scrolls with markings on them and a small bundle of 5 potions. He read the note attached to the dagger and his eyes widened, Leechbane. Dagger crafted with the draining powers of a Great Horror. Once plunged into an enemy it will absorb a piece of their vitality, strength, natural agility, intelligence, and magical power. The longer it is in the enemy, the more it drains and once it is pulled out it transfers what was drained to the user. Once drawn from its sheath, the weapon is bound to the user and will reject others, violently, when attempted to be used by anyone other than the user. Allies may touch it and use it, so long as they do not attempt to use it on the one it is bound to. Any enemies killed by an ally will still be drained, but the blade will hold the power until the owner holds it again. He placed the knife in his boot and then looked at the other items.
He opened the scrolls and read the note attached, The scrolls serve a strong purpose. Place them on your torso for them to engrave runes upon them. It will NOT be painful. The first makes it so any augmentation items you receive will be fused with you and empower your weapons while wielding them should the augmentation affect the weapon. Second scroll allows you to project the items' powers out as an aura thereby aiding your allies. However, items that specifically enhance your skills will be fused with you and will not project outward as an aura, so that ring of yours will not be made into an aura. The third scroll will enable you to mimic any aura you come in contact with. The fourth will increase your spell powers and your control over them thereby making you less winded from high level spells while also making all the spells more potent. The fifth will empower your body, you will be stronger, faster, more agile, smarter, become immune to poisons and toxins as you encounter them, and faster at analyzing a situation. The last one is important, but I cannot tell you all of what it does at this time. But please trust me when I say that it will aid you greatly in the future. It will make it so any weapon you wield will be locked on to you so it will return you if you throw it by merely flexing your hand while channeling mana to it.
He was impressed with the capabilities, so he got off Blaze, took his chest armor off, unrolled the scrolls, and placed them against his chest. His eyes widened as he felt power surge through him and his muscles bulged slightly before constricting back to their normal size, "By the Light, if he can create these abilities, then I can only imagine how strong that man is." He then moved to the potions before noticing his gloves were gone, confused he looked for them before realizing that the first scroll absorbed the gloves so he could move with the speed enhancement without risk of losing it and now he projected an aura that gave his allies faster attack speed.
He smiled as he realized that and began reading the potions, which were a blue, a red, a silver, a black, and a white, note, These are permanent potions that will further increase your power and help ensure that you survive to fulfill your destiny. The blue will increase your magical power to that of an Archmage and your power will grow the more you use magic. The red is a concoction that that will permanently allow your body to heal minor wounds while stopping some of the more serious ones from becoming too life threatening while also making it so the more you fight, the stronger you will get. The silver will increase your movement and attack speed to the point where you move like you are wearing cloth and attack like you are swinging a training sword. The black one will increase your fighting ability and destructive spells and abilities. I know you do not believe you have destructive spells, but I promise you that you do or will soon possess some. The white one will improve your natural leadership; your presence already inspires your troops and allies and makes them want to follow you. This potion will improve that, while also increasing your beneficial spells and the auras you will generate. WARNING: They taste HORRIBLE so you may gag or feel the urge to vomit!
Arthas, while amazed at the abilities of the potions, had to chuckle at the last bit. He popped the corks off the bottles and drank them and, true to the note's words, he gagged and dry heaved a few times before calming down. He stood feeling the potions already boosting his abilities, before he put his armor back on and got back on Blaze before riding towards Uther's camp.
Uther's camp: 20 minutes later
Arthas rode into the camp drawing everyone's attention as he rode a pure red horse and had an Orc wolf beside him. Uther turned and saw him and, while surprised at the animals, greeted him, "Ah, good timing lad. I sent two of my best knights to parlay with the Orcs. They should be returning shortly."
They turned towards a commotion and saw two horses charging through the camp. Arthas rode forward and swept in front of them, "Whoa, whoa, easy there. Shh, shh." He stated as they stopped and seemed to calm as he placed his hands on them, "Uther we have to respond swiftly and fiercely. While I am not saying we slay the Orcs that have no part of this, we must ensure that they are at least too weak to try this sort of thing again, at the very least too weak to be a threat for a good amount of time."
Uther sighed and nodded, "I know lad, just remember that no matter how much we may want to or how much they deserve it, we can never stoop to their level or we become no better than them." Arthas nodded, "Now then, what would you recommend we do?"
Arthas dismounted and patted Blaze on his side, "Well we know they are not going to allow us much time to prepare our forces and a majority of my men are following the path the Orcs cut through the woods to Strahnbrad and another 25 patrolling the towns since both Gnolls and Mercenaries were raiding the towns when we arrived and I felt it best that they be defended should something else happen. For now, I would say since you are the better tactician that you lead our forces while I stay behind to protect our base from the enemy."
Uther smiled again, proud of his young charge, "A fine plan lad, but I want you to lead the attack." Arthas was surprised, "You have created fine plans and have pushed aside your pride to ensure victory and the men would be glad to follow you."
Arthas nodded, "If that is what you wish Uther." Uther nodded and they both split up, Uther to patrol the camp's borders and Arthas to gather a few men to scout the area with him before launching the full attack, "If what that man said is true, then those Dwarves should be just over that rise and are hunting that dragon." He approached the tents and had 10 soldiers join him for the scouting while the others would be prepared to defend the base and then march when they had exact location for the Orcs.
Arthas had traveled over the rise and saw a Blacksmith at the base of the mountain, "I'll be damned." Arthas muttered as he went towards it, his ten men and Shadow following him.
As they approached they saw about 12 dwarf riflemen and two older Dwarves standing out front. The two Dwarves, while wielding a mortar together, turned and greeted Arthas, "Ah greetings lad, are you here to aid us in our hunt?"
Arthas, knowing that he couldn't immediately say yes without raising suspicion, simply stated, "What are you Dwarves hunting?"
The two Dwarves smiled, "We be hunting black drakes, it's said that their blood can bestow fiery enchantments to weapons."
Arthas was impressed, both with me and the capabilities of that enchantment, "The enchantments you speak of could be useful to us. We'll join you."
The two nodded, "The main dragon we be hunting be called Searinox. He resides in the nearby pass, bring us his burning heart and we'll give your weapons a fiery enchantment."
Arthas nodded and led his ten plus the 12 riflemen towards the mountain pass. They encountered a few whelps on the way, but nothing the riflemen couldn't handle. As they got deeper, they found more and more corpses and bones from various things. When they got to the end of the pass, they stood before a great black drake, "Yet more worms coming into my domain, your race seems to get more foolish with every generation."
Arthas readied his hammer, "That may be true, but you will not live any longer to confirm it." The riflemen started firing while Arthas swatted the flames away with his hammer before hurling it with all his might at Searinox. Said dragon moved but the hammer slammed into his wing causing him to crash on the ground where Arthas and the Footmen were upon him, the Footmen stabbing his wings, Shadow tearing at his wings as well, and Arthas taking the mace and slamming Searinox's head repeatedly with it, which had the added effect of not allowing the dragon to breath fire on them. The riflemen then moved up and started firing point blank range into his neck and head. Arthas then called his hammer back to him, channeled mana into it, and then slammed it hard into Searinox's head. The blow caved in his head and killed him. Arthas then took Leechbane and carved out the heart before leading his soldiers back to the smiths.
The smiths took the heart and came back 10 minutes later with a red orb with fire swirling inside it, "Here ya go lad, this be an orb of fire. So long as it be in your possession, your weapons will carry an effect of releasing a burst of fire upon a strike. To help you as you helped us, we'll give you the added power of our riflemen to aid you."
Arthas nodded and pocketed the orb, "Thank you, I hope you have good fortune on any future hunts." Arthas then left and they continued scouting, before long, they had come across a clan of Ogres. The largest, with one head and had battle armor on, stared down at him, "Me Trongok, me chieftain of the Mirkmaul. Why puny Human here?"
Arthas while getting irritated at him already simply stated, "I am here to defeat the Blackrock Orcs nearby."
Trongok laughed, "HA! You no defeat them, puny Human? Even if they weak, you weaker than them."
"Care to test that theory?" Arthas asked while raising his hammer up onto his shoulder. His response was for a war club to come down towards his head which he blocked with his hammer and shocked everyone that he could match the Ogre in strength. Arthas then pushed off, spun, and slammed his hammer into Trongok's back, before grabbing the mace he took and slamming it in his shoulder, pulling back, and then slamming both on his head, crushing it, "I have defeated the Mirkmaul clan chieftain, is there anyone else who wishes to challenge me?"
The Mirkmaul, to the shock of the Humans and Dwarves, knelt before him and began chanting, "Human, Human, Human."
A large blue one came up, "We pledge our strength to strongest of Mirkmaul, you kill chieftain, you strongest, we serve you now." The other Ogres nodded, "If you no want us, we go to forest; we wait till you want us."
Before Arthas could understand what had happened, they had gone off into the forest, "It doesn't matter now, let's go. We have an Orc camp to find." His men nodded and they continued their scouting. Around two hours later they had discovered both the main camp and the area where they held the prisoners. They returned to camp to get everyone ready for the march, while Arthas went to Uther, "Uther, we discovered their camp. It's north of us while they are holding the hostages to the northeast."
Uther nodded, "Good job lad, now I want you to lead the attack and stop them before they can do harm to those people."
Before another word could be said the Blademaster of the Blackrock Orcs came up to them, "You foolish Humans will never learn. The Blackrock warlocks have spoken; this world shall burn and be bathed in shadow."
Uther sighed, "Yes, I've heard that before." He then swung his hammer at the Orc, only for it to disappear, "It was only a mirror image, damn."
Arthas gripped his hammer tight, "Uther, we can't waist time. Now that they know that we're here, they may kill the hostages faster than they were. You lead the attack on the camp and I'll go after the Blademaster and try to save the hostages." Uther nodded and they got the camp ready. Arthas mounted Blaze and rode off with Shadow behind him. He rode until encountering two Grunts and a Troll, which he dealt with by throwing his hammer into the Grunts and Leechbane into the troll. He had them both return to him before riding forward again. He arrived just outside a clearing and found another 5 Grunts. Shadow leapt on one before ripping his neck open, Arthas rode forward and slammed his hammer into one, before turning, pulling out the mace, and then bashing another in the face. Shadow leapt on another before tearing his arm off, before jumping on the last and then slashing his throat open. Arthas patted Shadow on the head before moving to the clearing.
When he arrived at the clearing he found the Blademaster cutting down the hostages. He was about to kill another hostage, who Arthas recognized as a former captain named Marwyn Svren, who had retired after helping his best friend Falric become a captain and trained Arthas into the warrior he was, when Arthas threw Leechbane into his hand. The Blademaster took the knife out, dropped it, and turned to face Arthas, who got off Blaze and had Shadow stay with said horse, "You'll pay for your barbarism." Arthas stated while drawing his hammer.
The Blademaster chuckled, "You weakling of a Human, even if you defeat me our base will just continue the raids. By diverting forces here, you have made it easier to crush your base and continue offering sacrifices to our demon masters."
Arthas chuckled, "Now, whoever said I diverted forces to fight you?" The Blademaster was shocked, "My mentor is leading the assault on your base as we speak, while I came to deal with you." Arthas charged forward before bringing his hammer down, which the Blademaster blocked. However, due to his underestimation of Arthas's strength, fire suddenly lashing out, and his wound from earlier, he still got pushed to his knees.
He struggled to hold the attack at bay while feeling his arms twitching in pain. He then shoved hard and rolled backwards, "What is this man!? His strength is greater than most Orc berserkers and his weapon while having no runes lashed out fire. If he didn't appear like a normal man, I would say he served a demon master or had at least consumed demon blood. Regardless, if I offer him up to our masters then I will be greatly rewarded."
(If he only knew how wrong he was, right?)
The Blademaster charged forward with his blade ready to strike, but was subsequently blocked by the mace Arthas had before he pivoted and spun to swing the hammer at the Blademaster's back, which was blocked by the Blademaster's sword but both the force and the sudden burst of fire, forced him forward and burned his back. He stumbled forward and turned around only to have a boot smash into his face which sent him back into a tree. He got up, snapped his nose back into place, and spit out some blood and a tooth. The Blademaster grinned before charging forward and swiped his blade, which was blocked, before dropping back and sweeping his feet at Arthas. Arthas leapt over it, but was unable to dodge the blade coming at him again and it was able to gash his armor and nicked his arm slightly.
Not letting Arthas get time to recover, the Blademaster charged forward again, but was forced to drop as Arthas threw the mace. The mace flew past him and splintered a tree before he had to bring up his swords to block the hammer and had to suppress the pain from the fire that exploded out from the hammer. The Blademaster grinned, "You fight well for a Human, even if I should die, this was a good fight and a good death."
Arthas found himself smiling, "Indeed, it was an honor. Know that I will not allow all your kin to be slain." The Blademaster then felt pain and cold as his chest started hurting. He looked down and saw the knife from before now both in Arthas's hand and said Blademaster's chest.
The Blademaster chuckled slightly as he coughed up blood, "Haha… COUGH… A Blademaster killed… by a blade… what a world we live in." He looked up to Arthas and smiled, "Boy, tell me… your name."
Arthas, knowing it was a code of honor and respect, answered, "My name is Arthas Menethil, Prince of Lordaeron and second among the Paladins."
The Orc smiled, before turning his blade over and handling the hilt to Arthas, "My name is Sanjaro. It was an honor… I have a request. That mace you wield was… forged by the warlocks of our clan… it is called Stone Wrecker. Please, take my blade as well… its name is Blood Cleaver. It shall serve you well… continue to walk your path with honor… for you are the first Human I have met… that has earned my respect. Use these weapons well… and I can be at peace."
Arthas nodded and took the blade as Sanjaro fell to the ground dead. It was blood red with a gold handle and was slightly jagged on the blade edge. Arthas held the sword for a minute before taking the sheath and putting it on his back with his hammer, put Leechbane back in his boot, and putting the mace back on his waist. He then cut Marwan free, "Thank you milord, I was afraid that I was going to be cut down as well." He stated while rubbing the skin that was raw from the bindings.
Arthas helped him up, "Think nothing of it Marwan, I would've been here faster but I was delayed by his soldiers." Marwan nodded as they checked for survivors, "Damn, not one left. We need to regroup with Uther, let's go." Marwan nodded as Arthas had him mount Shadow, while Arthas took Sanjaro's body and put it on the back of Blaze, and he then mounted Blaze before he then rode off towards the Orc encampment.
When they arrived, Marwan got off Shadow and they found over 30 orc warriors bound alongside around 50 women and children with the buildings burning. Falric and Arthas's troops were there as well. As he approached, the Orcs stared on, shocked that a Human had tamed a Raider's wolf, a Slavemaster's horse, and possessed two of their clan's personally forged weapons. Uther noticed the sword and mace as well and then spoke, "Well lad, what do you suggest we do with them?"
Arthas walked Blaze forward as he gazed at the Orcs, "I am Arthas Menethil, and had this been any other time, I would say to take all of you to an internment camp." This got the Orcs angry for the men and scared for the women and children, while the Humans nodded knowing that it was what usually happened, "However," this got everyone's attention, "I gave Sanjaro my word, before he died and bequeathed his sword to me, that I would ensure your survival. So you will be released and allowed to go to your mountains or elsewhere, but be warned, should you attempt to raid our settlements or farms again, I will bring my wrath down upon you." Arthas then dismounted and took Sanjaro's body from Blaze before turning to a few of his men, "Bring them a few carts from the camp and leave them their mounts."
The men nodded and rode off, while Arthas turned to the Orc that seemed to be the center of the other Orcs' attention and then laid Sanjaro's body down before him, "He fought with honor and skill worthy of his title and people, and I ask that you give him a proper burial."
Everyone was stunned, a Human was asking for an Orc to have a proper burial and was being respectful.
The Orc stared into Arthas's eyes looking for deception, but was surprised to find none. He then nodded, "Very well Human, the fact that you wield that blade, as well as showing respect to Sanjaro and mercy to us means much. I will ensure he is buried with the honor he deserves."
Arthas nodded, "I thank you." Then Arthas shocked everyone again by cutting the Orc free and shaking his hand when he stood. He then turned towards the troops, "Everyone move out, I'll await the carts before leaving with the last few men. They will not try anything, not out of fear but out of honor." Everyone nodded and started leaving.
Two hours later
Five minutes after the carts arrived and Arthas and the few soldiers departed, while leaving still stunned Orcs behind them. When Arthas and the others caught up the men cheered for Arthas as he rode up next to Uther, "That was a surprising decision lad. Most people having seen what we had would have just ordered their execution." Uther stated as they went home.
Arthas nodded, "Perhaps, but Sanjaro earned my respect and I will keep my word when it is given." Uther nodded, "Besides, they would have executed us if the situation was reversed and wasn't it you who said that if we stoop to their level then we are no better than them?" They shared a chuckled as they continued home.
Meanwhile, I stood at the top of a tree, "He is progressing faster than I imagined and it is only a few days now till he will encounter Kel'Thuzad and then the real tests will begin. Now go young one, the faster you get home the faster the days will pass before you head for Hearthglen, Andorhal, and Stratholme. Then your purpose will truly be shown." With that I vanished and went towards the capitol.
And done.
Yes you can vote who will serve him as being alive and who will serve him as an undead. Yes, you can vote on certain characters dying, dying then being resurrected, or surviving to serve Arthas.
WARNING! Arthas will be godlike as we progress and his abilities will be changed/strengthened.
Also some characters will be changed slightly due to the interference of my OC.
Yes, Steelsnout's tribe, Magran's forces, and the Mirkmaul clan will make another appearance but not until after Arthas has been turned to the Lich King's will.
There are polls up on my profile, which if you don't find a specific one for this fic it is because it will be swapped out for a different poll I have with another story but it will cycle back around.
Also happy birthday to me on the 25th of July, I will be 21 years old.
Review and give your thoughts please.
Later everyone.
