Author's Note:
Is chapter 5 too late for a disclaimer or what? Anyway, I don't own any of this stuff (wouldn't it be cool if I did?) except a few of the original characters and some concepts. Thank you for your reviews! Now that I've got ten, I thought "hey, they want chapter 5, so I'll give them chapter 5".I just hope I didn't rush it too much. _ More reviews would always be appreciated. Good stuff happens to people who review a lot! This is a long chapter (and one of the more action-packed), so I'm aiming at 15 or so reviews before I write the next one.
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At first Illidan was pleased with the shade's reports. They had discovered many useful things; it seemed that a group of goblins had rejoined the horde, bringing with them a a variety of technological developments. He had learned the details of the orc defenses inside and out, and the shades had then even ventured as far as Ogrimmar itself. There he found that the horde had made great progress, devoting their time to surplus and research rather than purging the beasts of the barrens. Nonetheless, Illidan was sure that careful cunning and sheer force could crush them.
Then the last shades reported and shattered that confidence. They had apparently encountered the green clothed warrior, who was in possession of a device that allowed him to see the invisible spies. They reported that he felled one of their number with an arrow, and as they fled they saw trolls setting up sentry wards all over Durotar. Indeed, many more shades were spotted by the wards and executed by the border guards. Illidan gritted his teeth; he had lost one of his greatest assets against the horde almost as quickly as he had obtained it. Thwarted clearly, by this mysterious warrior who could see the unseen. He decided to turn his wrath towards the necromancer in charge.
"You imbecile! I told you to have the shades find out what the orcs were up to, not to have them march into them middle of Ogrimmar, where virtually every witch doctor and spirit walker have set up shop! Did you really think that they could go unnoticed for long? The orcs at least are not as stupid as you!"
The necromancer cringed, hoping that his death would not be too painful. "I apologize my lord, but the shades acted on their own intuition, I did not expect-"
"You did not expect them to walk right into the heart of the most dangerous place they could possibly go? They had no orders to the contrary! You are a weak leader and a worthless tactician. When I was alive my dumbest pawn was smarter than you! Thanks to your foolishness, I must rethink our entire strategy. Now get out of my sight."
Amazed at his luck, the necromancer bowed low and hastily beat a retreat back to the necropolis. Illidan meanwhile sat atop a boulder and thought.
"What we need are allies, which we do not have." He muttered. "The orcs know too much of us; we can never hope to surprise them. I do not like to go into battle without an advantage. Here in their homeland, their forces are the equal of ours, and they have the benefit of years of preparation. A frost wyrm attack would be pointless now; they have too many measures against that. So what to do?"
Deciding to wander off into the barrens where he could think without idiot commanders disrupting his thoughts, he slowly walked north, leaving the undead base behind. He walked unaware of his surroundings, leaving behind a trail of fiery footsteps. About halfway into the night, he suddenly became aware that he was being watched. Cursing himself for his carelessness, he kept walking as if he had noticed nothing.
Then suddenly, two creatures, Illidan could not tell what, dived at him from above. They screeched as they attacked.
"Easy prey sister! None who are foolish enough to venture into our lands escape alive." One of them cried.
Illidan leaped backwards and leaked mana into the air around him. Feeling the familiar sensation of being engulfed in hellfire, Illidan could now see his assailants. They were harpies! Amazed at the creatures' audacity, Illidan easily evaded their talons. Screeching in rage, one of the harpies blew a powerful gust of wind at him. Illidan surrounded himself with the Lich King's energy, and it formed a frost barrier that the wind beat itself against to no avail. Illidan was surprised but pleased to see that both the demonic and frost magic mingled effectively. Meanwhile, the other harpy had snuck behind him, and now dived towards the undead champion. Spinning around with shocking speed, Illidan grabbed the attacking harpy by the neck. Seeing this, the other harpy quickly turned to flee, but Illidan quickly sent a bolt of fire at her. With a last shriek of pain, the harpy burst into a heap of charred feathers.
Illidan now turned his attention to the harpy he had captured. She was still struggling and trying to slash him with her talons. Staring into the harpy's eyes, Illidan used the Lich King's persuasive powers to pierce her mind. The harpy immediately went limp and Illidan released her. He stood there contemplating; the harpies were unorganized and savage fighters, but they might be exactly what he was looking for.
"Can you hear me?" Illidan asked the charmed harpy.
"Yes."
"Where are the rest of your people?"
"They have scattered across this land. I do not know."
Illidan frowned. It might be more trouble than it was worth to organize and control a band of scattered and divided birds. He would determine that later. Instead he asked the harpy a different sort of question.
"What do you think of the orcs?"
At this the harpy scowled. "We hate them. This is our land, and they try to chase us off it. But we are not afraid!"
Illidan smiled at the creature's tenacity. "And what do the orcs think of you?"
"They hate us. We ravage their caravans and their precious pigs. They in turn hunt us, and many of my sisters have fallen."
Illidan pondered this. If only these creatures were organized, then they may prove to be useful indeed.
"Who leads you?"
The harpy frowned, her sharp eyes turning glassy. "Our queen mother, Bloodfeather, was our leader. She was slain by the orcs. Since then we have struck out on our own, but it has never been as good for us since she was killed. No one fought the orcs harder than she."
At this an uncharacteristic wide grin spread across Illidan's face. He looked closely at the harpy.
"And where is this Bloodfeather now? Where dose her body lie?"
"She was slain in the old nest. We have since abandoned it, but she still lies there."
"Show me where this nest is." Illidan ordered, the harpy's weak mind under his complete control.
The harpy nodded and flapped her wings. Soon she was hovering in the air, waiting for Illidan to follow. Illidan grinned; now would be a good time to test another of his abilities. Exerting his powers of transformation, he slowly felt his wings grow larger as his body shrunk. His metamorphing abilities had been improved greatly by undeath. Soon he resembled an overlarge bat with glowing, unblinking eyes. Nodding to the harpy, he flapped his own leathery wings and followed her off into the night.
The trip didn't take long. Surveying the surrounding terrain with a birds eye view, Illidan noted that Ogrimmar was not far away. He also noted, to his irritation, that there were hundreds, no, thousands of tiny green eyes staring up at him.
*Sentry wards* He thought to himself. *But I doubt they can see this high.*
Soon they had arrived at the nest. It appeared to have been formed naturally, but it was the perfect roost for raiders like the harpies. It was a sheer stone enclosure, only accessible by land through a narrow pass. Illidan could see a number of bones littering the floor. As they touched down, the harpy walked over to an incredibly large, rotting harpy.
"Here lies Bloodfeather." She told Illidan.
Illidan wasted no time in performing the grisly ritual. He walked in front of Bloodfeather's remains, and with his finger wrote out several strange runes in the air. He raised his hand, and paused. Then he suddenly grabbed the living harpy's head. The harpy screamed as she glowed green and Illidan drained her life essence. After he had absorbed all of the life, Illidan dropped the harpy's lifeless corpse onto the hard ground. Then he outstretched his arm towards Bloodfeather and poured the life essence of the harpy and malice of the Lich King into the corpse.
The dead harpy queen glowed as life, or rather unlife flowed through her. Slowly, she stirred. Then she shook herself and stood upright. Bloodfeather was no longer rotting and mutilated, for she had been restored by her brethren's sacrifice. She was every bit as awe inspiring and terrible as she was in life, and even more so, for Illidan's voice spoke in her head and the Lich King's power flowed through her wings. The only noticeable difference undeath had seemed to make was that her eyes were no longer sharp and bright but dim and cold, and her once brilliant red plumage was now the color of dried blood. Illidan was quick to wipe any former memories she had from her mind, save for her hatred of the orcs and leadership over the harpies.
"My servant, do you know who you are?" Illidan asked quietly.
"No." The harpy queen answered truthfully.
"You are the enemy of the hated orcs and the queen of the harpies. You were slain by the orcs, but I have revived you. You must have revenge on them."
"Yes, the orcs must pay!" The harpy queen screamed, her eyes flashing.
"Yes, and soon. You are now the servant of the Frozen Throne, and you have allies. Here is what you must do; gather your kindred from all over this land, and raid the orcs without mercy. They will try to hunt you again, but that is when we shall aid you."
"Yes, allies. I serve the throne."
"Now go! And remember when you raid the orcs; they cannot know that I revived you. You must not be seen, only your sisters may."
"Stay out of sight, yes." The newly resurrected harpy queen murmured, then took flight. Illidan watched her figure recede into the red dawn, then opened up a dimensional gateway and walked through it back to the base of the scourge.
The necromancer in chief did not seem particularly glad to see him, but he hid it well. "Lord Illidan! Was your meditation fruitful?"
"Indeed. I have formed a plan that may well make up for all your failures." Illidan laughed, and told him about the harpy queen.
The necromancer scratched his head. "But master, I do not understand why you bothered to recruit these.savages. They are but a minor thorn in the orc's side, and nothing compared to our gargoyles or frost wyrms."
"You do not understand because you are stupid!" Illidan snarled. "The orcs do not see them as a threat, because, as you put it, they are a minor thorn in their side. But when the harpies slowly cut off their supplies and livestock, the orcs will have no choice but to try to eradicate them again. What's more is that the orcs are very queer about their system of honor, and without a doubt they will send a champion or hero of theirs to ambush the harpies. Perhaps even warchief Thrall himself will take on the task. In any case, we will be waiting for them, and when the orcs attack we will ambush the ambushers, slay their hero, and resurrect him to strike a great blow to their morale and their army!"
The necromancer nodded thoughtfully. "We could win the war against them in a single battle. You are truly the champion of the scourge my lord."
"I am quite aware." Illidan said dryly. "I trust nothing of importance has happened while I was gone?"
"No my lord." The necromancer said, relieved that the conversation was at an end.
"Good. Now here is what we are going to do for the ambush, and don't screw this up. We will wait as long as it takes."
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Link awoke at dawn. He was always a light sleeper; you had to be if you went the places he did. After a quick stretch and a yawn, Link got up and walked towards the warchief's den. It had been nearly a week since he had first arrived in Ogrimmar, but he now had a reason to stay; he had met with the warchief a few days ago, and explained that he was looking for a lost friend. The warchief still didn't know that Link was from another world, but had made this promise.
"Link, I would like to help you, but as you know the recent harpy raids and the undead have been most pressing. Once they have been dealt with, I will be more than happy to help you find your friend. There are many spiritualists here, and I am sure that one of them at least will be able to help you."
And so Link had taken to meeting with the warchief each morning, to receive the latest news of the undead. Thrall, also an early waker, was always glad to receive him. However the orcs had not taken any actions yet, neither against the undead who surprisingly seemed to have withdrawn somewhat, nor against the harpy raiders, afraid that action against one would leave them unprepared against the other. Once Link arrived at the warchief's den however, he realized that something was about to happen. Usually when he met Thrall, he would be alone or with Nazgrel, his chief of security. Now there were five people in the den, all of them conversing quietly and studying a large map of Durotar. Seeing Link enter, Thrall halted his conversation with Nazgrel.
"Link! It's good to see you; you came right on time."
"We're going to put a stop to these harpy raids once and for all." Nazgrel growled.
"Thaz rite mon. We weel craash them!" A massive troll unlike any Link had encountered before declared.
"The harpies attacks have taken their toll. Supplies are running low in the city, and last night alone two caravans and a farm were hit." Thrall said in his deep, melodious tone of voice. "We can no longer ignore them. I haven't seen the harpies so vicious since Rexxar dealt with their leader."
"So what's the plan?" Link asked.
"We will disguise ourselves as a supply caravan. When the harpies see it, they will attack it. That is when we shall strike! A hundred of the most skilled troll bezerkers will be waiting under the covers. I myself will lead them while the other chieftains of the horde will wait behind to counter any attack by the scourge in my absence. They should be able to hold the undead back until my return."
Link thought about it; it was a sound plan, though a bit obvious. However, from what he had heard about harpies, they were not very smart creatures.
"Kraz'gol praised your marksmanship greatly Link, and I would be honored if you accompanied me on this mission." Thrall said.
Link didn't hesitate to answer. "Okay. When do we leave?"
Thrall grinned. "Now. I suggest you get ready."
Link customarily carried all his equipment with him, and so was as prepared as he needed to be. Following Thrall out of the den, he walked down the main street of Ogrimmar until they came to the fake caravan. Ten large kodo beasts were there, each one harnessed to a wagon. Already the blue-skinned bezerkers were crawling under the sheets that had been laid over the carts. Link admired the simple brilliance of the plan; covered by the sheets that traders used to protect goods from the dust, the trolls looked like nothing more than more paraphernalia off to market. Thrall gestured for Link to follow him to the lead cart, where he climbed up and slipped under the cover. Link followed suit, and soon he could feel the caravan begin to move.
Once they were under way, Link admitted that it could have been a more comfortable trip. For one, the cart bumped and jerked strongly whenever it went over the slightest bump, which was often. For another, it was hard to breath under there, and it was soon so hot and stuffy that Link was nearly gasping for air. Thrall however, seemed to be comfortable enough, and was so silent that in the darkness Link almost couldn't tell he was there.
After nearly an hour of traveling, Link was beginning to wonder if the Harpies had caught on and weren't attacking. The stuffiness was becoming a real annoyance, and judging from the faint grunts he heard from the other carts whenever they hit a bump, the trolls weren't enjoying the experience either. Then suddenly came a high, shrill voice, soon joined by many others.
"Slay the orcs! Chase them from this land!" Came the cries.
Upon hearing this, both Link and Thrall leapt up from the cart. As Link blinked, adjusting to the light, Thrall blasted a bolt of lightning at one of the diving harpies. It shrieked as it fell to the earth, and Link was surprised to see the lightning leap from the stricken harpy to strike another, and then another. Link realized now that Thrall wasn't called warchief because he was a pacifist shaman. The bezerkers meanwhile, apparently eager to escape the stuffy carts, jumped out and began throwing spears at the airborne attackers at an impressive rate. Link notched an arrow to his bow, and was about to strike when he heard a new voice, more of a twisted and horrible scream than a voice actually.
"So the wicked warchief reveals himself! It ends here orcs!"
From over a ridge she came; Bloodfeather the Risen, queen of the harpies. Thrall seemed shocked to see the enormous harpy, whom he had thought dead. Then suddenly putting two and two together, he roared.
"It's a trap! Retreat!"
"Too late warchief! It is too late!" Came another voice, altogether too horrible, deep, and grisly to describe.
From above the ridge, five massive frost wyrms, the scourge's undead dragons, appeared. But they were not the source of the voice; each one carried an abomination in their claws, and the biggest frost wyrm of them all, seemingly having trouble flying due to the weight it carried, held a huge, two-headed abomination in its clutches. Dropping their putrid loads, the frost wyrms began raining down an endless barrage of icy breath.
The bezerkers on the ground tried to fight off the frost wyrms, but soon the five abominations tore into their ranks. Link groaned, realizing that expecting only harpies the warchief had only brought bezerkers with him; no ground units. Leaping into the fray, Link drew his sword and hacked away an abomination's arm just as it was about to slice a troll. Thrall fought ferociously, hacking at the abominations with his warhammer and blasting the frost wyrms overhead with lightning.
Meanwhile Scourge, delighted at the number of foes he faced, charged into the trolls with a vengeance. Belching out a green haze of disease, the abomination hacked at any troll that got his attention while absent- mindedly swinging his hooks that managed to maul many who ventured to close to him. Others fell to the ground coughing, the foul fumes of the abomination getting to them. Scourge had more than ten spears in him, be he hardly noticed. The damage they did to his undead bulk was negligible, and the ecstasy of battle was upon him.
Link was busy tangling with another abomination when a frost wyrm from overhead shot a blast of freezing energy at him. Reacting quickly, Link blocked the blast with his mirror shield. The shield sent the frost back at Scourge, who, finding that his arm was frozen, beat a troll over the head with it to shatter the ice.
One of the bezerkers took aim at Bloodfeather, who up until now had been sending blasts of foul wind at the trolls below. Seeing this, Bloodfeather swiftly dropped to the ground before the bezerker. Surprised, the bezerker stared at her before preparing to hurl his spear again. This was his undoing; Bloodfeather stared back into his eyes and used the psychic charm granted to her by the Lich King to daunt the troll's mind. As soon as the troll was under her control, Bloodfeather quickly took flight again while the troll spun around and impaled one of his brethren through the heart. Grabbing another spear, the troll turned and spotted the warchief, who was busy fighting a frost wyrm and had his back turned to the troll. The troll hurled the spear at the warchief's head.
Link spun around. Realizing what was going on, he notched an arrow to his bow and took quick aim before firing. The arrow flew true, and broke the spear in half. Notching another arrow to his bow, Link fired at the charmed troll who was about to attack the warchief again. Nailing the troll in between the eyes, Link grimly turned again to see the two-headed abomination charging towards him, arms raised and chains swinging.
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Author's End Note:
Like the cliffhanger? Anyway, what did you think? I personally am kinda worried cause I did this when I was exhausted from an exam on Saturday.so anyway, hope you liked it, and remember, reviews = good = more updates.
Is chapter 5 too late for a disclaimer or what? Anyway, I don't own any of this stuff (wouldn't it be cool if I did?) except a few of the original characters and some concepts. Thank you for your reviews! Now that I've got ten, I thought "hey, they want chapter 5, so I'll give them chapter 5".I just hope I didn't rush it too much. _ More reviews would always be appreciated. Good stuff happens to people who review a lot! This is a long chapter (and one of the more action-packed), so I'm aiming at 15 or so reviews before I write the next one.
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At first Illidan was pleased with the shade's reports. They had discovered many useful things; it seemed that a group of goblins had rejoined the horde, bringing with them a a variety of technological developments. He had learned the details of the orc defenses inside and out, and the shades had then even ventured as far as Ogrimmar itself. There he found that the horde had made great progress, devoting their time to surplus and research rather than purging the beasts of the barrens. Nonetheless, Illidan was sure that careful cunning and sheer force could crush them.
Then the last shades reported and shattered that confidence. They had apparently encountered the green clothed warrior, who was in possession of a device that allowed him to see the invisible spies. They reported that he felled one of their number with an arrow, and as they fled they saw trolls setting up sentry wards all over Durotar. Indeed, many more shades were spotted by the wards and executed by the border guards. Illidan gritted his teeth; he had lost one of his greatest assets against the horde almost as quickly as he had obtained it. Thwarted clearly, by this mysterious warrior who could see the unseen. He decided to turn his wrath towards the necromancer in charge.
"You imbecile! I told you to have the shades find out what the orcs were up to, not to have them march into them middle of Ogrimmar, where virtually every witch doctor and spirit walker have set up shop! Did you really think that they could go unnoticed for long? The orcs at least are not as stupid as you!"
The necromancer cringed, hoping that his death would not be too painful. "I apologize my lord, but the shades acted on their own intuition, I did not expect-"
"You did not expect them to walk right into the heart of the most dangerous place they could possibly go? They had no orders to the contrary! You are a weak leader and a worthless tactician. When I was alive my dumbest pawn was smarter than you! Thanks to your foolishness, I must rethink our entire strategy. Now get out of my sight."
Amazed at his luck, the necromancer bowed low and hastily beat a retreat back to the necropolis. Illidan meanwhile sat atop a boulder and thought.
"What we need are allies, which we do not have." He muttered. "The orcs know too much of us; we can never hope to surprise them. I do not like to go into battle without an advantage. Here in their homeland, their forces are the equal of ours, and they have the benefit of years of preparation. A frost wyrm attack would be pointless now; they have too many measures against that. So what to do?"
Deciding to wander off into the barrens where he could think without idiot commanders disrupting his thoughts, he slowly walked north, leaving the undead base behind. He walked unaware of his surroundings, leaving behind a trail of fiery footsteps. About halfway into the night, he suddenly became aware that he was being watched. Cursing himself for his carelessness, he kept walking as if he had noticed nothing.
Then suddenly, two creatures, Illidan could not tell what, dived at him from above. They screeched as they attacked.
"Easy prey sister! None who are foolish enough to venture into our lands escape alive." One of them cried.
Illidan leaped backwards and leaked mana into the air around him. Feeling the familiar sensation of being engulfed in hellfire, Illidan could now see his assailants. They were harpies! Amazed at the creatures' audacity, Illidan easily evaded their talons. Screeching in rage, one of the harpies blew a powerful gust of wind at him. Illidan surrounded himself with the Lich King's energy, and it formed a frost barrier that the wind beat itself against to no avail. Illidan was surprised but pleased to see that both the demonic and frost magic mingled effectively. Meanwhile, the other harpy had snuck behind him, and now dived towards the undead champion. Spinning around with shocking speed, Illidan grabbed the attacking harpy by the neck. Seeing this, the other harpy quickly turned to flee, but Illidan quickly sent a bolt of fire at her. With a last shriek of pain, the harpy burst into a heap of charred feathers.
Illidan now turned his attention to the harpy he had captured. She was still struggling and trying to slash him with her talons. Staring into the harpy's eyes, Illidan used the Lich King's persuasive powers to pierce her mind. The harpy immediately went limp and Illidan released her. He stood there contemplating; the harpies were unorganized and savage fighters, but they might be exactly what he was looking for.
"Can you hear me?" Illidan asked the charmed harpy.
"Yes."
"Where are the rest of your people?"
"They have scattered across this land. I do not know."
Illidan frowned. It might be more trouble than it was worth to organize and control a band of scattered and divided birds. He would determine that later. Instead he asked the harpy a different sort of question.
"What do you think of the orcs?"
At this the harpy scowled. "We hate them. This is our land, and they try to chase us off it. But we are not afraid!"
Illidan smiled at the creature's tenacity. "And what do the orcs think of you?"
"They hate us. We ravage their caravans and their precious pigs. They in turn hunt us, and many of my sisters have fallen."
Illidan pondered this. If only these creatures were organized, then they may prove to be useful indeed.
"Who leads you?"
The harpy frowned, her sharp eyes turning glassy. "Our queen mother, Bloodfeather, was our leader. She was slain by the orcs. Since then we have struck out on our own, but it has never been as good for us since she was killed. No one fought the orcs harder than she."
At this an uncharacteristic wide grin spread across Illidan's face. He looked closely at the harpy.
"And where is this Bloodfeather now? Where dose her body lie?"
"She was slain in the old nest. We have since abandoned it, but she still lies there."
"Show me where this nest is." Illidan ordered, the harpy's weak mind under his complete control.
The harpy nodded and flapped her wings. Soon she was hovering in the air, waiting for Illidan to follow. Illidan grinned; now would be a good time to test another of his abilities. Exerting his powers of transformation, he slowly felt his wings grow larger as his body shrunk. His metamorphing abilities had been improved greatly by undeath. Soon he resembled an overlarge bat with glowing, unblinking eyes. Nodding to the harpy, he flapped his own leathery wings and followed her off into the night.
The trip didn't take long. Surveying the surrounding terrain with a birds eye view, Illidan noted that Ogrimmar was not far away. He also noted, to his irritation, that there were hundreds, no, thousands of tiny green eyes staring up at him.
*Sentry wards* He thought to himself. *But I doubt they can see this high.*
Soon they had arrived at the nest. It appeared to have been formed naturally, but it was the perfect roost for raiders like the harpies. It was a sheer stone enclosure, only accessible by land through a narrow pass. Illidan could see a number of bones littering the floor. As they touched down, the harpy walked over to an incredibly large, rotting harpy.
"Here lies Bloodfeather." She told Illidan.
Illidan wasted no time in performing the grisly ritual. He walked in front of Bloodfeather's remains, and with his finger wrote out several strange runes in the air. He raised his hand, and paused. Then he suddenly grabbed the living harpy's head. The harpy screamed as she glowed green and Illidan drained her life essence. After he had absorbed all of the life, Illidan dropped the harpy's lifeless corpse onto the hard ground. Then he outstretched his arm towards Bloodfeather and poured the life essence of the harpy and malice of the Lich King into the corpse.
The dead harpy queen glowed as life, or rather unlife flowed through her. Slowly, she stirred. Then she shook herself and stood upright. Bloodfeather was no longer rotting and mutilated, for she had been restored by her brethren's sacrifice. She was every bit as awe inspiring and terrible as she was in life, and even more so, for Illidan's voice spoke in her head and the Lich King's power flowed through her wings. The only noticeable difference undeath had seemed to make was that her eyes were no longer sharp and bright but dim and cold, and her once brilliant red plumage was now the color of dried blood. Illidan was quick to wipe any former memories she had from her mind, save for her hatred of the orcs and leadership over the harpies.
"My servant, do you know who you are?" Illidan asked quietly.
"No." The harpy queen answered truthfully.
"You are the enemy of the hated orcs and the queen of the harpies. You were slain by the orcs, but I have revived you. You must have revenge on them."
"Yes, the orcs must pay!" The harpy queen screamed, her eyes flashing.
"Yes, and soon. You are now the servant of the Frozen Throne, and you have allies. Here is what you must do; gather your kindred from all over this land, and raid the orcs without mercy. They will try to hunt you again, but that is when we shall aid you."
"Yes, allies. I serve the throne."
"Now go! And remember when you raid the orcs; they cannot know that I revived you. You must not be seen, only your sisters may."
"Stay out of sight, yes." The newly resurrected harpy queen murmured, then took flight. Illidan watched her figure recede into the red dawn, then opened up a dimensional gateway and walked through it back to the base of the scourge.
The necromancer in chief did not seem particularly glad to see him, but he hid it well. "Lord Illidan! Was your meditation fruitful?"
"Indeed. I have formed a plan that may well make up for all your failures." Illidan laughed, and told him about the harpy queen.
The necromancer scratched his head. "But master, I do not understand why you bothered to recruit these.savages. They are but a minor thorn in the orc's side, and nothing compared to our gargoyles or frost wyrms."
"You do not understand because you are stupid!" Illidan snarled. "The orcs do not see them as a threat, because, as you put it, they are a minor thorn in their side. But when the harpies slowly cut off their supplies and livestock, the orcs will have no choice but to try to eradicate them again. What's more is that the orcs are very queer about their system of honor, and without a doubt they will send a champion or hero of theirs to ambush the harpies. Perhaps even warchief Thrall himself will take on the task. In any case, we will be waiting for them, and when the orcs attack we will ambush the ambushers, slay their hero, and resurrect him to strike a great blow to their morale and their army!"
The necromancer nodded thoughtfully. "We could win the war against them in a single battle. You are truly the champion of the scourge my lord."
"I am quite aware." Illidan said dryly. "I trust nothing of importance has happened while I was gone?"
"No my lord." The necromancer said, relieved that the conversation was at an end.
"Good. Now here is what we are going to do for the ambush, and don't screw this up. We will wait as long as it takes."
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Link awoke at dawn. He was always a light sleeper; you had to be if you went the places he did. After a quick stretch and a yawn, Link got up and walked towards the warchief's den. It had been nearly a week since he had first arrived in Ogrimmar, but he now had a reason to stay; he had met with the warchief a few days ago, and explained that he was looking for a lost friend. The warchief still didn't know that Link was from another world, but had made this promise.
"Link, I would like to help you, but as you know the recent harpy raids and the undead have been most pressing. Once they have been dealt with, I will be more than happy to help you find your friend. There are many spiritualists here, and I am sure that one of them at least will be able to help you."
And so Link had taken to meeting with the warchief each morning, to receive the latest news of the undead. Thrall, also an early waker, was always glad to receive him. However the orcs had not taken any actions yet, neither against the undead who surprisingly seemed to have withdrawn somewhat, nor against the harpy raiders, afraid that action against one would leave them unprepared against the other. Once Link arrived at the warchief's den however, he realized that something was about to happen. Usually when he met Thrall, he would be alone or with Nazgrel, his chief of security. Now there were five people in the den, all of them conversing quietly and studying a large map of Durotar. Seeing Link enter, Thrall halted his conversation with Nazgrel.
"Link! It's good to see you; you came right on time."
"We're going to put a stop to these harpy raids once and for all." Nazgrel growled.
"Thaz rite mon. We weel craash them!" A massive troll unlike any Link had encountered before declared.
"The harpies attacks have taken their toll. Supplies are running low in the city, and last night alone two caravans and a farm were hit." Thrall said in his deep, melodious tone of voice. "We can no longer ignore them. I haven't seen the harpies so vicious since Rexxar dealt with their leader."
"So what's the plan?" Link asked.
"We will disguise ourselves as a supply caravan. When the harpies see it, they will attack it. That is when we shall strike! A hundred of the most skilled troll bezerkers will be waiting under the covers. I myself will lead them while the other chieftains of the horde will wait behind to counter any attack by the scourge in my absence. They should be able to hold the undead back until my return."
Link thought about it; it was a sound plan, though a bit obvious. However, from what he had heard about harpies, they were not very smart creatures.
"Kraz'gol praised your marksmanship greatly Link, and I would be honored if you accompanied me on this mission." Thrall said.
Link didn't hesitate to answer. "Okay. When do we leave?"
Thrall grinned. "Now. I suggest you get ready."
Link customarily carried all his equipment with him, and so was as prepared as he needed to be. Following Thrall out of the den, he walked down the main street of Ogrimmar until they came to the fake caravan. Ten large kodo beasts were there, each one harnessed to a wagon. Already the blue-skinned bezerkers were crawling under the sheets that had been laid over the carts. Link admired the simple brilliance of the plan; covered by the sheets that traders used to protect goods from the dust, the trolls looked like nothing more than more paraphernalia off to market. Thrall gestured for Link to follow him to the lead cart, where he climbed up and slipped under the cover. Link followed suit, and soon he could feel the caravan begin to move.
Once they were under way, Link admitted that it could have been a more comfortable trip. For one, the cart bumped and jerked strongly whenever it went over the slightest bump, which was often. For another, it was hard to breath under there, and it was soon so hot and stuffy that Link was nearly gasping for air. Thrall however, seemed to be comfortable enough, and was so silent that in the darkness Link almost couldn't tell he was there.
After nearly an hour of traveling, Link was beginning to wonder if the Harpies had caught on and weren't attacking. The stuffiness was becoming a real annoyance, and judging from the faint grunts he heard from the other carts whenever they hit a bump, the trolls weren't enjoying the experience either. Then suddenly came a high, shrill voice, soon joined by many others.
"Slay the orcs! Chase them from this land!" Came the cries.
Upon hearing this, both Link and Thrall leapt up from the cart. As Link blinked, adjusting to the light, Thrall blasted a bolt of lightning at one of the diving harpies. It shrieked as it fell to the earth, and Link was surprised to see the lightning leap from the stricken harpy to strike another, and then another. Link realized now that Thrall wasn't called warchief because he was a pacifist shaman. The bezerkers meanwhile, apparently eager to escape the stuffy carts, jumped out and began throwing spears at the airborne attackers at an impressive rate. Link notched an arrow to his bow, and was about to strike when he heard a new voice, more of a twisted and horrible scream than a voice actually.
"So the wicked warchief reveals himself! It ends here orcs!"
From over a ridge she came; Bloodfeather the Risen, queen of the harpies. Thrall seemed shocked to see the enormous harpy, whom he had thought dead. Then suddenly putting two and two together, he roared.
"It's a trap! Retreat!"
"Too late warchief! It is too late!" Came another voice, altogether too horrible, deep, and grisly to describe.
From above the ridge, five massive frost wyrms, the scourge's undead dragons, appeared. But they were not the source of the voice; each one carried an abomination in their claws, and the biggest frost wyrm of them all, seemingly having trouble flying due to the weight it carried, held a huge, two-headed abomination in its clutches. Dropping their putrid loads, the frost wyrms began raining down an endless barrage of icy breath.
The bezerkers on the ground tried to fight off the frost wyrms, but soon the five abominations tore into their ranks. Link groaned, realizing that expecting only harpies the warchief had only brought bezerkers with him; no ground units. Leaping into the fray, Link drew his sword and hacked away an abomination's arm just as it was about to slice a troll. Thrall fought ferociously, hacking at the abominations with his warhammer and blasting the frost wyrms overhead with lightning.
Meanwhile Scourge, delighted at the number of foes he faced, charged into the trolls with a vengeance. Belching out a green haze of disease, the abomination hacked at any troll that got his attention while absent- mindedly swinging his hooks that managed to maul many who ventured to close to him. Others fell to the ground coughing, the foul fumes of the abomination getting to them. Scourge had more than ten spears in him, be he hardly noticed. The damage they did to his undead bulk was negligible, and the ecstasy of battle was upon him.
Link was busy tangling with another abomination when a frost wyrm from overhead shot a blast of freezing energy at him. Reacting quickly, Link blocked the blast with his mirror shield. The shield sent the frost back at Scourge, who, finding that his arm was frozen, beat a troll over the head with it to shatter the ice.
One of the bezerkers took aim at Bloodfeather, who up until now had been sending blasts of foul wind at the trolls below. Seeing this, Bloodfeather swiftly dropped to the ground before the bezerker. Surprised, the bezerker stared at her before preparing to hurl his spear again. This was his undoing; Bloodfeather stared back into his eyes and used the psychic charm granted to her by the Lich King to daunt the troll's mind. As soon as the troll was under her control, Bloodfeather quickly took flight again while the troll spun around and impaled one of his brethren through the heart. Grabbing another spear, the troll turned and spotted the warchief, who was busy fighting a frost wyrm and had his back turned to the troll. The troll hurled the spear at the warchief's head.
Link spun around. Realizing what was going on, he notched an arrow to his bow and took quick aim before firing. The arrow flew true, and broke the spear in half. Notching another arrow to his bow, Link fired at the charmed troll who was about to attack the warchief again. Nailing the troll in between the eyes, Link grimly turned again to see the two-headed abomination charging towards him, arms raised and chains swinging.
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Author's End Note:
Like the cliffhanger? Anyway, what did you think? I personally am kinda worried cause I did this when I was exhausted from an exam on Saturday.so anyway, hope you liked it, and remember, reviews = good = more updates.