Chapter II: Fate of the Forsaken
The cold-hearted fiend lay in wait as he watched his prey from a high hill. A delicate looking victim, Sylvanas, but then again all elves seemed delicate at first glance. Besides, the hunter knew more about his prey than the average assassin. He knew that she had an immortal hatred for the Death Knight Arthas, and that she would do anything to make his undead life miserable. He also knew that making rash decisions can lead to foolish mistakes.
Her recent order had spread her forces very thin and her Black City empty of any formidable resistance. The assassin thought as he rose, 'For the Lich King.' His thin arms spread apart as he began to chant ancient necromancy.
Out of the ground came many warriors, fresh undead with swords carved from bone and rotten skin and bows made from dark wood corrupted by blight. Skeletons with an eternal green fire burning in their hands accompanied the assasin's newly risen army. They spawned with no end, growing like weeds in a badly tended garden, until the fiend lowered his hands, satisfied with the vast army he formed in a matter of minutes. They turned their rattling bodies toward their master, awaiting his command. "…Destroy the base." The skeletons hissed and charged downhill towards the Dark Lady's black citadel.
Two Necromancers stood guard at the gate into Sylvanas's Undercity, one drawing small sketches into the dirt with his staff, while the other sat on a tree trunk with his nose in a book.
"So…" one spoke up, looking up from his drawing, "Lady Sylvanas is going to Northrend?"
"Yee-up."
"And we're stuck just on guard duty?"
"Yee-up."
"This is going to be boring."
"For you, undoubtably."
The first necromancer sighed, smothering his drawings out with his foot. About that time, the necromancer noticed the pebbles on the ground jumping from some soft rumbling. "What's that?"
"What's what…?" The studying mage glanced up as he too began to hear the rumbling. "A Stampede?" And then, they saw it, many many skeleton warriors rushing down the hill, hissing and clanging their swords together.
"…Eep…"
"This is bad." The wiser Necromancer turned to the other, "Quickly! Send word to Captain Blackheart that we're under attack!" The lesser mage nodded and went through the gate hurriedly, while the other began to raise warriors out of the ground to resist the horde of monsters.
Within seconds the few undead warriors and the necromancer fell and the skeleton army began pounding against the main gate. The remaining Necromancer hurried to the Slaughter Houses, where the undead captain that Sylvanas left to handle the remaining forces remained. He was a Death Knight named Odin Blackheart. "C-Captain Blackheart!"
The dark-eyed swordsman glared down at the necromancer, "What is it?" He growled.
"Th-the base is under attack! Undead forces still loyal to the Lich King attack!" Odin turned and marched out of the Slaughter Houses, the Necromancer following him, "What should we do? Shall we send a runner to Lady Sylvanas?"
"The Dark Lady is too far and too busy to come back immediately."
He made hand gestures to any ghouls, crypt fiends and other necromancers he passed as he headed to the main gate. The Forsaken warriors rallied up and followed the Death Knight.
"We'll make our stand here for the Dark Lady!" Free acolytes hurried to man Meat Wagons and moved them behind the small resistance that stood behind the weakening gate. They loaded the wagons with rotting corpses and pulled back the catapults.
"Now…on my mark," Odin drew his sword and watch the pounding gate as it began to crack. "Ready…" DOOM! DOOM! DOOM! The skeleton army struck harder.
The Gate fell to pieces. "Fire!" And all hell broke loose.
"Fit as many ghouls as you can into each one, and put the Acolytes in the Crypt Fiend transports. Hurry, we haven't time to waste." Sylvanas gave out commands to her underlings while Varimarthras dealt with Necromancers, Abominations and Meat Wagons. They were nearly ready to depart up to Northrend, but then a Necromancer came up from the south to the Dark Lady, exhausted and nearly dead again, "Lady Sylvanas!"
The Banshee Queen glared at the dark mage, "What is it? Weren't you part of the forces I left at the Undercity? Why are you here!" The angered voice of the Dark Lady shook the heart and mind of the Necromancer.
"Forgive me, my lady, but our city is under attack by the Lich King's forces! Based on what I have seen, they are led by a fearsome Lich."
"A Lich?" Sylvanas gritted her teeth, "That bastard, can't he even die right?" She turned to her ships, wondering what forces she could bring to accompany her as reinforcements. Too many of her forces were on the ships already and if she waited for them to unload, her Citadel would be destroyed before she could assemble her warriors. Then she spotted a group of banshees waiting for their orders to load. 'They will do nicely,' she thought, ordering them to follow her as she hurried back to her base, with the Necromancer close behind.
They ran several miles before the dark mage made it in front of Sylvanas, "Wait, m'lady, there's a faster route back to Undercity."
Suddenly, Sylvanas stopped in her tracks, glared down at the Necromancer and lifted him up by the collar, "Why didn't you say that earlier?" her reverberant voice struck unimaginable terror into the mage's undead heart, stilling his tongue. Sylvanas's growl seemed to make the earth around them shudder. "Nevermind… Just lead us to it, before I kill you myself!" throwing him down without vigor.
"Y-yes, Lady Sylvanas." The Necromancer's voice trembled on the edge of fear. He led the Dark Lady and her banshees to a small cave that reeked of mildew and corpses. "This path practically gives a direct route to Undercity, passing all the terrain above."
"Hmph, fine. We go!" With that, Sylvanas hurried in, readying her bow, the stench warning her of possible dangers of the deep unknown, as the necromancer remained behind, chuckling to himself.
