((This story, although using characters I've ascribed personalities to, is copyright Blizzard Entertainment 2005, please don't sue and all that jazz.

This story is rated PG... er... T(?) for minor swearing and violence and such.))

Swinging Chickens
A World of Warcraft fanfic
By Kristin Renee Taylor

Part Five -

Two points of burning red in what was left of the ruined face. The undead soldier, a huge hulking skeleton in scraps of metal, tore down the door to the Swinging Chicken and took it first step inside the tavern. Twin axes in its hands reflected the firelight. It fixed its gaze on the lone female human that stood in the middle of the empty commons.

One axe pointed at her. "Kill her."

The space behind the soldier boiled and burst as, with a hair-lifting wail, the Scourge surged into the tavern.

As the rush of ghouls and skeletons swarmed towards her, Liathano moved.

Her sword was a blur of light in her hands, and where Alennius passed, limbs flew and bodies crumpled in severed heaps. As the first wave crashed into her, she held her ground but, slowly, she begin to lose ground.

A ghoul, flesh peeling in strips from its rotting body, leaped for her. She sidestepped, spinning away in time to cleave the wrist from a soldier aiming a sword at her face. The soldier's shield caught her under her jaw. She stumbled to a knee, spitting blood, and barely parried a knife blow. She turned the blow away from her, rising and cleaving the soldier completely in two.

She shoved the body into two of its fellows, followed with a quick decapitation. A flicker of movement resolved into sword blade. She ducked away, too slow. Felt the blade draw a line of heat over her right eye. Blood flowed down her face, into her right eye, blinding her.

She caught a brief glimpse of Anri as she disabled her attacker. The lithe thief had been pinned against the stairs by a rotting ghoul almost twice her size. With one hand and a badly bleeding arm, she kept the thing's claws away from her face.

Hot pain exploded in Lia's shoulder as something heavy slammed into her blind side. She staggered. Fell. And was immediately buried in walking death.

Liathano was swallowed by absolute darkness, smothered by an ice-cold weight that made it impossible to move, to see, or even breathe. Small things, wet and slimy, squirmed against her clothing and writhed against her exposed skin. The only thing keeping her from screaming in terror was the thought of those things getting in her mouth.

A muffled, high-pitched roar of outrage.

Something struck the crush of bodies on top of Lia. The quality of the darkness changed. Weight shifted, not a lot... but it was enough.

Lia surged upwards with strength born of terror and horror. The mass broke. She burst free from the tangle of cold bodies, scrambling across the floor. She flailed madly at her body as she stood. Scores of small black things, like some weird maggot-leech crossbreed, clung to her skin and clothes. She knocked them off frantically.

"Liathano!"

She jerked to the side. The axe blade whistled past her face and thunked into the wood behind her and stuck, handle quivering. The blow to her jaw came from her blind side. She staggered back and fell hard to one knee, spitting blood.

Dirty boots, skeletal toes poking through holes in the leather, entered her vision. She followed them up to see the massive skeleton standing over her, its other axe raised and poised to strike.

She reached for her sword, realized she had lost it in the pile of bodies, and threw herself backwards to avoid having her head split open. Her hands came across something heavy and weighty, and she snatched it up as she came to her feet-

holding a somebody's hacked off leg. She dropped it with a yell of revulsion. Ducked a swing from the soldier's axe. She spun, wrenched the first axe free of the wall, and whirled back to face the soldier.

Not her weapon of choice, but still much better than a severed leg...

The two axes clashed together, haft locked against haft. Lia was strong, but the undead had the advantage of not feeling pain or muscle fatigue. She strained against it, teeth gritted, every muscle rigidly defined. Inch by inch, the soldier's axe blade crept closer to her face.

Green and black blurred past her face. A heavy mace smashed into the side of the soldier's knee, obliterating the joint. Lia shoved hard. The skeleton tumbled backwards, flame-red eyes bright with astonishment. It hit the floor. The mace came down on its head, crushing the skull. It twitched once and went still.

Lia looked to her savior. "Fizzlethork!"

From head to foot the goblin was spattered with black ichor. Beady black eyes glared around suspiciously. He gripped a large mace in his hands.

Liathano looked around. The commons was clear, save for the two of them. Bodies and severed limbs, many still twitching, lay scattered about the floor. The door to the tavern hung askew, knocked off its hinges.

"Where's-"

Glass shattered. Several thumps as something or somethings large hit the ground on the floor above them. A short, high-pitched scream of pain.

Lia rushed towards the stairs. "Anri!" The thief was gone from her position.

"GET BACK!"

The front of the tavern exploded.

The explosion knocked Lia off of her feet, flinging her against the stairs. She hit hard enough to stun her, all air driven from her lungs. Fizzlethork vanished under a wave of fire and debris. Obsidian and emerald fire plowed through the tavern's front wall, literally tearing it clear of the rest of the building.

Coughing, Lia struggled to her feet and squinted through the acrid smoke, eyes watering.

True night had ended. Pre-dawn light tinted the world outside a universally dull blue.

An Infernal tossed away the now-flaming section of wall it held. It turned back towards the tavern. It shrieked and reached into the tavern with one flaming arm.

Lia rolled forward, narrowly ducking away from the flames. Fire scorched along her back, singing her hair. She ignored the pain. The Infernal's explosion had knocked away the bodies covering Alennius. She grasped the hilt as she rushed past the Infernal's arm, sprinting outside and past the thing's legs.

The entire front of the Swinging Chicken Tavern had been torn away, exposing the rooms inside. Shapes flickered in the upper story, lit by the Infernal's fire and the tavern's growing flames. Anri and Gorthad, back to back, fending off an assault of dark winged shapes. Gargoyles.

The Infernal rose up to its full height, obscuring the battle behind it with its body. It swung around to face Liathano.

She lifted her sword into a ready position. She barely came up to the thing's knee.

It shrieked again, green fire erupting from under the animated chunks of obsidian rock. It tried to crush her. She leaped back, the Infernal's fist smashing into the ground. Green fire spattered across the earth like drops of water, igniting anything it touched. She brought Alennius down on the section of rock that made up its hand. The blade skittered across the surface of the rock and didn't even leave a scratch.

The Infernal made a strange chuffing noise. It was laughing at her.

Lia backed away, thinking rapidly. A movement caught her attention. She glanced towards it.

Anri stood at the edge of the tavern, unconcerned with the flames that licked dangerously close to her feet, threatening the stability of her position. She called out, "Lia! Get the 'lock!" She pointed behind Liathano.

Lia spun. Spotted a small, hunched shape slide into the shadows of a building. The warlock, rabid red eyes glowing fiercely, lifted a desiccated finger towards her and begin chanting in a raspy, thin tone. She ran forward, Alennius held in low in both hands. The sky above her erupted, balls of flame hurtled towards her. She threw her weight forward, lunging, and stabbed the warlock through its chest. Alennius plunged clear through the husk of the body, nailing it to the wood behind it. She wrenched the blade out, then plunged it through the undead magician's head, silencing it forever.

The Infernal screamed.

Lia spun and immediately dropped to the ground to avoid a shaft of flaming timber as it crashed into the house, demolishing it.

The demonic creature threw its head back, roaring in fury.

Anri sprinted forward and launched herself off the second story, towards the Infernal's back. One hand jerked a short sword from the small of her back; near-blinding purple energy exploded into existence along the length of the blade.

Wielding the sword over her head in a two-handed grasp, the thief brought the glowing blade down on the Infernal's shoulder. It screeched, a sound of stone scraping against stone. Staggered away from the tavern, arms flailing at its back. Anri was flung away, flying through the air to strike the ground some distance away. She didn't move.

"Anri!" Lia ran towards the fallen woman.

The Infernal cut her off. Jagged cracks had formed in its chest, originating from the sword in its back. It dropped to its knees. Its shriek scaled upwards, rattling the ground and air. It thrashed mightily. And exploded.

Lia through up her arms as thousands of razor sharp shards of stone flew past her, each drawing sharp lines of pain along her body.

One shard slipped past her arms. Pain erupted in Liathano's throat. The storm of stone ended as quickly as it had begun, leaving an unearthly stillness in the air.

Lia pawed at her neck with frantic fingers. She couldn't breathe. Her throat was rapidly growing slick with blood. She could feel the stone inside of her, working its way deeper with every desperate breath she tried to take.

She didn't want to die. Not like this!

Anri coughed weakly and rose, groaning. Her movements dislodged a small shower of black shards. She stood slowly, right arm dangling uselessly at her side. She coughed out a laugh as she surveyed the ruins of the battle. "Holy hell, that was some awe-" Her eyes landed on the struggling warrior. She paled. "Lia?"

Liathano staggered. Through a roaring in her ears, she heard Anri shout "ALEXY!" And then she was pitching forward. Her body hit the ground.

Everything went black.