Disclaimer - I do not own Warcraft
Borean Tundra
The former aspect of the earth, Deathwing, was thrown from the tear between the elemental planes. Before the former aspect could recover his balance and take proper flight, he was suddenly thrown into the ground by the massive frost wyrm, Galakrond. An aerial battle soon ensued between the black dragonflight that were with Deathwing and the blue dragons and frost wyrms. Even though the tear has closed itself, it suddenly released a massive amount of energy, intensifying the already strong winds for a few minutes
The winds soon turned into air elementals who quickly aided the faceless ones in their fight against the scourge. In reponse to more enemies engaging them, many of the liches reanimated all of the creatures that were killed when the energy field was first erected, bringing in more bodies to throw at their enemies
After a while of being thrown around by Galakrond, Deathwing finally managed to regain his footing and used his tail to slam away the giant frost wyrm. "You wretched worms actually dare to attack me?!" the former aspect yelled as he began unleashing his flames everywhere. Deathwing's flames did not get too far to interfere with the undead army below when a breath of frost with near equal power blocked it. The former aspect looked around for the source and saw his former brother in arms flying towards him. "So, out of all the dragons, I thought you would be the last one to appear considering how weak you have become." Deathwing mocked
"Enough, Neltharion. Your madness will end today." Malygos declared back right
"Hahaha. I would like to see you try." Deathwing retorted before they heard a very loud roar. The former aspect was quickly re engaged by Galakrond
In the meantime, Kor'vas was flying around, barely managing not to get blown away. 'Kel'thuzad, Drak'thul, can you find a way to cut down these winds? This is becoming unbearable.' she requested
'Give us some time, Kor'vas. We're trying to drain the energy from the runes but it will take us some time. For now, just engage their ground forces.' Kel'thuzad responded
Lordaeron
Outside the energy field that surrounded the capital city, a massive wildfire began out of nowhere and completely burned all of the trees. From the flames came fire elementals, who quickly torched everything in their way. The fire elementals were soon joined by air elementals and together, they used their powers to spread the flames everywhere
"Well, well. Look at that." Rivendare said, pointing to what was going on outside while they were on the top floor of the rebuilt palace. Altruis and Candrael looked at what the death knight was talking about
"That didn't take too long." Altruis commented
"If they're here then that means-" Candrael said
"That Lord Illidan has forced out Deathwing and has engaged him." Rivendare finished. Before long, the elementals began to approach the force field only to get killed instantly when they tried to enter. "The plague actually affects these things?"
"That is surprising when you consider that they don't appear to have a physical body." Candrael responded
"Regardless of the cause, everyone get ready for battle. That force field will not be able to hold them off forever." Altruis ordered. Many of the undead siege weapons began to take aim right outside the force field
Theramore Isle
The situation became a whole lot worse when a larger elemental appeared in the desert. "Suffer the wrath of this world's dark masters." he roared to no one in particular. The winds directly around him became a lot stronger. Lightning struck everywhere until he noticed that some distance away from him, the lightning bolt was deflected. Turning his sights to what was going on, the elemental lord rushed to the location and found the draenei ships and its defenders trying to fend off his minions
"Uh oh. Trouble." Jaina said when she noticed an oversized elemental. All of her allies looked where she was pointing
"Is that a leader of the elementals?" Vereesa wondered
"Makes sense. We'll have to prepare for an even bigger fight." Alleria said and nocked another arrow
Kael, Khadgar, Rhonin and Jaina tried to combine their powers to cast their magic at the elemental lord but it was able to reduce the damage by striking lightning on the ground. The large elemental countered back by randomly using his powers to create a powerful tornado on one of the ships
"The shield won't last at this rate. All hands, prepare for battle." a draenei commander yelled and mages prepared to fire their spells should the shield go down
"Impressive. To think that a mortal's creation can last this long against me." the elemental commended after ten minutes of strong winds not destroying a shield. "But, all things come to an end." the elemental declared and summoned what was the most powerful lightning bolt any of the alliance have ever seen and completely broke one of the shields
Fortunately for the alliance, the abnormal weather, while still strong, has significantly diminished at this point thanks to the efforts of Kel'thuzad although they weren't aware of this. This made fighting the elementals more manageable. Many of the paladins began casting holy light at their soldiers while minimizing the damage to themselves with divine shields. Draenei mages began flinging magic everywhere which were further accentuated by high elf and human mages
Upon seeing an opening, Kael quickly casted a flame strike spell right at the larger elemental. This turned out to be a big mistake as the elemental lord's wind powers blew away a lot of the spell and it ended up hitting some of the elf's allies. Jaina saw this and decided to shoot a lightning bolt directly at the elemental. It inflicted some damage but nothing that significant
"You dare use my own element against me?!" the large elemental raged before retaliating with a powerful vortex
Jaina and Kael quickly created an arcane shield which kept them safe. The vortex soon stopped when Alleria fired an arrow enchanted by ice magic. It slowed the elemental for a few seconds but the ranger was forced to retreat when he turned his attention to her. Seizing the opportunity, Maraad fired a small stream of holy energy which inflicted a decent amount of damage
"To me, minions. Destroy these vermin in the name of our dark masters." the elemental declared and summoned more air elementals
Khadgar and Rhonin summoned water elementals to even the battle but they found themselves unable to cast the spell. When they did manage to succeed, the elemental would instead attack its summoners forcing them to destroy it
'Illidan, what have you unleashed upon this world?' Khadgar wondered to himself. Only then did he realize that when the others said Illidan was dangerous, they really meant it and the demon hunter exceeded their expectations on his madness. Not wanting to dwell on it too long, Khadgar summoned a small blizzard right on top of the elemental
The large elemental saw this and merely grinned. Instead of being hit by it, the elemental redirected the ice shards at the the largest group that were occupied fighting his minions. Reacting quickly, Rhonin managed to block most of it with another arcane shield
"Everyone, don't use any weather related spells. This one seems to be able to control them directly." Rhonin yelled, having deduced how the elemental's power work
In response, the elemental trapped him and his group in a large whirlwind. The center of it was calm but escaping it was going to be very risky. While the elemental was enjoying the fight, it admitted to itself that he had some slight respect for the mortal that figured out his powers. Suddenly, a massive pyroblast was thrown his way and it forced him back. "What?!" the elemental said in disbelief. The power of this attack also dispelled the whirlwind he had created and Rhonin quickly shot a stream of ice at him. The elemental broke free almost instantly but both Vereesa and Alleria fought him in a melee battle, their swords enchanted by Khadgar to have ice properties. Naturally, the elemental used his powers to force the sisters back but to his surprise, it did not do as much damage as it should have. The answer became clear when Turalyon and a few paladins created divine shields around the sisters to reduce as much damage as it can
"Jaina, while Alleria and Vereesa keep it busy, we need to charge up another pyroblast and end it once and for all." Kael suggested
"On it." Jaina agreed and began to create another pyroblast with Kael added his power to it. "Once we fire this, it will create a huge explosion." she warned
Alleria was the first one to notice what Jaina and Kael were up to and nodded to her allies in the two mages' direction. When they saw what the two mages were doing, they made sure that a larger elemental's attention be focused on them, this time they were joined by Turalyon and Maraad. Other elementals couldn't help as they were being occupied by the other alliance soldiers
The elemental did not have a clue as to what his enemies were planning. He decided to summon a lightning storm at random to put them at a disadvantage. It slightly worked as the lightning was near unhindered and forced the paladins to heal themselves as well as whoever they can. The entire battlefield was thrown into disarray
Before the lightning strikes could take that big of a toll, Jaina finally released the pyroblast which raced through the battlefield right towards the air elemental. Immediately, Khadgar and Rhonin created arcane shields around the four who kept the elemental busy right as the pyroblast hit, creating a huge explosion. While the four were shielded, they were still thrown away because of the blast. Kael quickly casted a flame strike right where the elemental was before he could blow it to random directions. When the smoke from the explosion cleared, he was still there but was badly injured and barely able to move. Khadgar decided to end him by firing a blast of pure arcane energy, destroying it once and for all
With the biggest threat now gone, all of them turned their sights towards the remaining air elementals and finished them all off soon after but not without a price. Many of their people, both civilian and military, were killed in the battle while every single one of the ships were damaged
"At least this is over." Jaina sighed while trying to catch her breath
"That may be but look." Vereesa said while pointing to the sky, which still hasn't returned to normal. "I have a bad feeling that this was only one of many battles to come."
Durotar
Durotar was under heavy siege by the elementals. Even their outposts near the coast were under attack, this time by water elementals. Thrall, as well as other shamans, tried to calm down the raging elementals but to no avail. What was happening was far beyond their power. The battle against the elementals was made all the more difficult by the fact that trying to directly attack them with their melee weapons would not inflict that significant amount of damage
The horde was mostly battled near the coast as water elementals came crashing with each wave, having already destroyed all of the outposts in the area. Out in the sea, Neptulon observed the assault by his kind. However, he was not involving himself personally as he no longer considered himself as a servant of the Old Gods but a lot of his kind was still under their sway even after thousands of years
The elemental lord observed his surroundings and after a while, he realized that these green skinned creatures can harness the powers of the elementals. An idea came to his mind to finally free his kind from the Old Gods' influence once and for all. The first thing he did was transform himself from his usual form into running water, taking advantage of the chaos, and quickly raced behind the main battles deeper inland. When he found a small group of orcs that weren't engaged in battle, Neptulon assumed his regular form right in front of them
"It's one of these things." an orc stated the obvious and tried to attack however, Neptulon simply trapped him in a small whirlpool
"Peace, mortals. I did not come to fight." Neptulon answered
"Yeah, you're actions says otherwise." another orc countered, pointing out his actions
"Wait, if you were able to sneak your way up to here then that means that this creature could have killed us and this conversation wouldn't be happening." a tauren said and calmed down the two orcs. "So, my name is Cairne Bloodhoof. Who are you?"
"I am Neptulon the Tidehunter, the elemental lord of water. I seek help of your strongest shaman." the elemental lord answered
"May I ask why?" Cairne asked
"My kind is under the influence of creatures who are very corrupt." Neptulon answered and surprised them by his honesty. "And I need the shaman's help for this."
"And why should we believe you?" the first orc argued
"That is for your most powerful shaman to decide, not you." Neptulon answered. From his tone, he had no intention of telling them
After a while of considering the elemental's words, Cairne finally spoke. "Very well, follow me. I shall take you to the Warchief." he said and led the way. The tauren chieftain and elemental lord went to the outskirts of Orgrimmar and found Thrall engaged against some air and water elementals. "Thrall." he called out
"Cairne?" Thrall asked and quickly dispatched the nearby elementals. "Who is that with you?" and the elemental lord introduced himself
"What exactly do ya want?" Vol'jin asked
"Your kind can harness the power of us elements, right?" Neptulon asked and Thrall merely nodded. "I need your help to free my kind from the influence of certain creatures. I will not speak for the other elementals but for my kind, I no longer wish for us to be affiliated with them but most of us water elementals are still under their influence."
"'Their'? Who are you talking about." Drek'thar wondered
Instead of answering, Neptulon showed them a vision of the Black Empire so long ago. While he did not show the entire event, he did emphasize the Old Gods
"What were those things?" Cairne asked in complete surprise, unable to believe that such corrupt creatures exist
"They are known as the 'Old Gods' and they seek to bring all of existence under their control." Neptulon answered
"What's happening now, is this their doing?" Thrall asked
"It is not. What is happening is a result of the actions of an enemy of the Old Gods." Neptulon answered and showed them another vision, this time about what was happening in Northrend, the forces of the undead fighting against the black dragonflight and tentacle creatures, which the horde did not know were the faceless ones
"Was that Deathwing?" Cairne asked when the vision ended
"Yes, Deathwing is a servant of the Old Gods. Once a mighty dragon now has fallen to corruption. Illidan Stormrage is declaring war on the Old Gods and every creature that serves them, including the fallen aspect. Unfortunately, their servants are located far and wide and with the Lich King's war, every single creature on this world will feel its effects." Neptulon explained
"So, what exactly do you need our help with, Neptulon?" Drekthar asked eventually
"As ya said earlier, ya want us to free yer kind from deir influence, don't ya?" Vol'jin concluded and Neptulon merely nodded, which was barely noticeable
"How exactly do we do that?" Thrall asked
"Warchief, are ya sure about dis?" Vol'jin asked in slight disbelief to which Thrall merely nodded
Neptulon then gave them instructions on how to create a spell that would cast a purging effect that would be directed to his kind. Thrall and the other shamans made sure to double check the instructions to see for any double cross but found none, much to their surprise. As they were making it, they learned the spell's intricacies and gave much insight into the powers that the orc shamans harness. It worked similar to the spell Illidan used to rip open a hole between the elemental planes but the orcs did not know that
By dropping a small part of his essence, instead of the spell affecting all of the elementals like Illidan's did, it would only affect his kind. Drawing energies from Azeroth's ley lines, natural energies gathered at the site where the spell was being cast and slowly but surely, waves of magic flew outwards. To the surprise of the rest of the horde, the water elementals began to stop fighting. Only the air elementals continued to fight with such tenacity. Many of the water elementals disengaged if they were fighting and quickly returned to the sea. The air elementals, having lost a lot of their allies, were slowly losing the battle against the horde. The tide was turned even more against them when some water elementals targetted them instead. Over at the seas, the whirlpools created earlier have mostly calmed down. The whirlpools were still there but its currents were nowhere near the strength it had at the height of Illidan's spell, less than half of that strength in fact
Eventually, the air elementals were defeated. The battle did take a huge toll on horde as well. Every single one of their outposts near the eastern coast of Kalimdor were either partially or completely destroyed. A lot of lives have been lost trying to fight off the raging elementals and the landscape itself was altered due to the intensity of the abnormal phenomenons
"Did it work?" Cairne asked when the spell was done
Drek'thar casted one of his spells, one that would allow him vision of an area that isn't too far from him. The shaman directed it towards the areas near the coast and found no more fighting. "It seems it is, for now." he answered before looking at the elemental lord. "However, this is far from over, isn't it?"
"Indeed. I am certain that the battle against Deathwing is not yet over and I fear that the Lich King will not stop until every creature affiliated with the Old Gods is destroyed." Neptulon warned grimly
Thrall quickly moved to go back so he can find his wolf
"Thrall, where are you going?" Drek'thar asked
"To the Alliance. We need to compare notes on what we know so far." Thrall replied before continuing on
Ashenvale Forest
While the water and air elementals have engaged the mortals in the barrens a few fire elementals also made their way but this time, they appeared on the borders between Ashenvale and the barrens. The fire elementals were quickly engaged and, given their little numbers, defeated by the night elves, having only burned a small part of the forest. In the meantime, Malfurion and the other druids still continued to try and use their powers to determine the source of this madness. Fortunately for them, the disturbance of magic on Azeroth have mostly resettled and finally, they were able to project their spirits to other areas of the world
To Malfurion's horror, it was as Ysera said, Illidan. His brother had torn open the barriers between the elemental planes and forced. What made the sight even more disturbing is that the landscape mirrored the one from the dream he had months ago. The disturbing feeling only got worse when nearly everything from the dream was there. The only difference between his dream and what he was seeing was that the area did not have as many trees, there were no bodies of snake creatures, Malygos was present and above all, Illidan was nowhere to be seen. It was only know did Malfurion realize that the dream he had before was actually a vision of what Illidan intended to do. He did wonder where his brother was but figured that he must be fighting somewhere else. Knowing he wouldn't be able to do anything useful, he, along with the other druids, returned to their bodies
"Shando-" muttered one of the druids
"I know. I can't believe that Illidan would go to these lengths." Malfurion muttered in disbelief. Ever since they have reconciled after Archimonde's defeat, he has tried to understand his brother's motives. Despite their differences and outward distaste for each other, Malfurion believed that Illidan wasn't what his reputation would say. Even his brother's actions now, the motives made perfect sense as Deathwing was gonna have to be dealt with sooner or later but how Illidan went after the fallen aspect was just unbelievable
"My love." Tyrande called out as she approached, breaking him from his thoughts. "What did you find out? Is it true?"
"Unfortunately, yes. Illidan has completely gone after Deathwing. That dream I had many months ago was actually a vision of what he was planning to do. I just didn't want to believe it." Malfurion said. At this point, he knew that none of the night elves had the means to stop Illidan and if they did, the outcome would be much worse as Deathwing would kill them all
"Illidan..." Tyrande muttered. As of now, she was really hoping that this madness would end. Like with Malfurion, he understood of what Illidan was doing but completely disapproves of what he did especially since he never told anyone of his plans
Before they could dwell on it any further, someone teleported near them
"Khadgar?" a druid said in surprise
"Vereesa, Thrall, what are you doing here?" Tyrande asked
"What was happening, it's-" Thrall answered but was cut off
"Illidan's doing. I just found out now. He is fighting Deathwing in Northrend." Malfurion answered
The mortal trio looked at each other in surprise
"We need to compare notes. What about Sylvanas and Arthas?" Khadgar asked
Northrend
A little over a mile away from the southern coast of the Borean Tundra, the draenei ship was finally approaching. The intense weather that happened only made the journey that much more difficult and the fact that they pushed the ship's speed to its absolute limit so they reached the continent in a short amount of time has ensured that the ship will be in need of major repairs. When they got close however, they were quickly attacked by the black dragonflight however, most of the black dragons were killed by frost wyrms and gargoyles chasing after them. Because they were not fully grown dragons, the aerial forces of the scourge gained the upper hand. The flying insects that belonged to the faceless ones were overwhelmed by the scourge forces
"What is this madness?" Arthas could not help but mutter aloud, noticing the massive battles between the dragons as well as the visible lands being horribly scarred
"We're too late. They've already begun fighting." Sylvanas said while pointing to a specific battle among the clouds. Two massive dragons, one of which being the size of a fully grown one while the other was an even larger but skeletal dragon, fighting each other
"Deathwing." Alexstrasza muttered. While she has always imagined what it would be like when the fallen aspect finally returns, seeing it herself was a different matter all together
"We have no choice now, sister. We have to help Malygos and Illidan." Ysera mentioned and the other two aspects merely nodded
'If the elementals have also been forced to surface on this world, that can only mean that Illidan is not only declaring war on Deathwing but with the Old Gods as well. If that's the case...' Nozdormu thought to himself, knowing that he has to do something for this war
Suddenly, their ship was rocked when two medium sized black dragons landed on the roof of the ship
"Something's on top." Romuul said as he tried to maintain balance
"Get if off." Arthas said in a panic
Just as the dragon aspects prepared to leave, the ship was rocked again and this time, one of the black dragons fell to the sea burning in green fire while the other was sliced in two. The reason as to why made itself known when Kor'vas stepped right in front of the ship before flying back up top. Romuul opened the doors to the ship and let her in
"What do you think you're doing?" Alexstrasza demanded to know when the demon hunter approached them
"Killing Deathwing." Kor'vas responded plainly. "Don't worry. Earlier, I saw a large number or Red Dragons flee the continent." she said when she noticed Alexstrasza's face grow worried before looking at the other draenei on the ship. "Romuul, don't fly inland."
"What? Why?" Romuul asked but followed through by making a detour just when they were close to landfall
"The area where we forced Deathwing out is still littered with magic. Anyone that isn't affiliated with us will die if they wander near the area." Kor'vas responded and was met with surprised reactions. "Head towards the northwest and set this ship down on the island that is made out of pure ice."
"Coldarra? Why there?" Nozdormu asked
"Because only Kel'thuzad can perform the spell that would make you immune to the one we used to force Deathwing out." Kor'vas answered and a few minutes later, they had the ship land right between Naxxramas and Coldarra itself. Kor'vas led them inside. "Kel'thuzad, Drak'thul."
"Kor'vas? And Alexstrasza? Wait, why have you come?" Kel'thuzad asked the dragon aspects suspiciously
"Do you really need to ask? We have a duty to stop Deathwing." Alexstrasza reminded them
"A duty you have ignored ever since he fell into corruption." now, it was Drak'thul's turn to remind them, having been told about what had happened
"Enough. The more help we have against Deathwing the better." Kor'vas said and prevented any argument from taking place. "Kel'thuzad-"
"I understand." Kel'thuzad said and casted a protective spell around Velen, Sylvanas and Arthas
"Drak'thul, I need a portal back to the main battle." Kor'vas ordered and the orc warlock created a portal that would directly into the tundra
"We're coming with you." Sylvanas said and received surprised looks when it shouldn't have been a surprise. "We're not just gonna sit around while this madness happens. If I had to choose between helping Illidan or Deathwing, I might as well pick Illidan." she declared
Without receiving objections, Sylvanas and Arthas followed Kor'vas through the portal and arrived at one of the areas controlled by the scourge. Velen decided to stay put and see if he could help Kel'thuzad and Drak'thul in any way he can. The duo expected the scourge to react negatively but to their surprise, they didn't mind their presence at all
"Listen, both of you. Over there is where we casted the ritual to force out Deathwing." Kor'vas said while pointing and the area that was the most badly damaged. "Do not let any of these Faceless Ones reach that or they could turn the tide of this battle."
"Understood." Sylvanas answered, figuring that the faceless ones are the tentacle creatures and Kor'vas promptly flew away
"Come on. Let's help the undead." Arthas said with a hint of resentment. The two made their way to the nearest battle which was quite far
"I'll provide cover from the top ridgeline." Sylvanas said and the prince merely nodded. 'Undead rangers?' she thought to herself in surprise when she saw other undead high elves having the same idea
In the meantime, Arthas quickly killed a bunch of faceless ones with his holy magic. The undead took kindly to his actions and covered his back from faceless ones that were trying to ambush him. Eventually, he came face to face with the death knight commanding this army and it was one that he never expected to see again. "Uther?"
You didn't really think I would just put out the battle against Deathwing immediately did you?
Another one of things I will get wrong. As you might have been able to tell, this is not how the elementals work in Warcraft, As I said before, I didn't really put that much effort into researching this part because I wanted to write a completely different one. The part where it was mentioned that it would kill them if they enter is tha shield used to force out Deathwing, just wanted to clear that up
When I was writing this part of the story, I was originally gonna skip this part but some time ago, I rewrote it to what it is now because I decided to give Thrall a larger role. He's among my top five Warcraft characters so I wanted him to have a more active part. It won't be as large as Illidan or even Illysanna's and it will come much later in the story but by in large, he will have a part to play
Aside from that, since it isn't that long after the Mount Hyjal battle, Tyrande is still the gentle queen and not the vengeance driven warrior we know her as now. I'm not gonna comment on the last part as I will talk about that in the next chapter. The same goes for Malfurion
Finally, I intentionally mispelled the words when Vol'jin spoke. I kinda like the Troll accent so I tried to recreate it as best I can but I think it really sucks. If there are gonna be mispelled words, it's only gonna be on the Troll speeches