CHAPTER 6

The Allies Strike Back

Baron Bloodbane and his guardian Thebis-Ra approached the Lich King and bowed. "Sylvanas plans to enlist some help from goblins, what news have you heard of their existence?" the Lich King asked.

"None," the Baron said, "I thought when we defeated the Nerubians we had taken complete control of Northrend. Recent reports suggest about five separate encampments have disappeared due to unexplained circumstances, but nothing pointing to goblins."

"This is a nuisance that must be taken care of, one of my spies says that the shaman leader of the goblins has a plan for attacking us using tunnels under Icecrown," the Lich King explained, "but so far attempts to find the tunnels have been unsuccessful. I have as many shades as I could spare patrolling the mountains for any signs of the goblins, they should be reporting within the hour."

"What of our defenses?" Bloodbane asked.

"I need you two to ensure that all our forces camp just outside of my throne, have them post guards at night and make sure they don't get restless" the Lich King said. "I've also sent for Kel'Thuzad to recall his forces from the Plaguelands and join in the defense of the Frozen Throne. Meet with him when he arrives and brief him on the situation."

Bloodbane and Thebis bowed one more time before scurrying off to fulfill what was commanded of them.

Ezzil Darkbrewer and his guard made their way slowly through the mountainous terrain of Northrend, Mira Shadewither and a few escorts right behind him. The goblin shaman, unlike the Dark Ranger, had seen the shade in the corner of the room at the meeting. After it had left the goblin explained the situation and together he and Mira had come up with a new plan. If the Lich King was ready for a surprise underground assault then he would be caught off guard by their new plan. The goblin shaman had resisted the Lich King's rule ever since his arrival and was certain that he would finally defeat the undead ruler and claim the mountains as his own.

Using his magical senses, as he had done at the meeting with Sylvanas, the shaman constantly scanned the terrain for any sign of invisible spies. Satisfied there were none around the goblin moved towards a nearby rock. The enormous formation was about twenty feet in height and to any passing spectator just appeared to be another wild creation of nature. The shaman raised his staff in the air and began speaking in an ancient goblin language. Mira watched in amazement as the rock slid to the side, revealing a stairwell below. Ezzil and the other goblins made their way down, followed by Mira and the other undead. After all were down the staircase the rock slid back over it.

The first room they came to was lit by an expanse of fluttering torches mounted all along the walls and was a dug out cave with many entrances that doubled as exits. Here and there goblins would come through the room, hurrying into another through the exits. "This is one of many Great Halls," Ezzil explained, "they lead to every other part of our underground base. To your left are the experimental rooms, to the right are the mining facilities, and straight ahead are the sleeping quarters that also double as a passage to another Great Hall."

"How far does your kingdom stretch?" Mira asked.

"Every bit of Northrend that the Nerubians or the undead don't own we've claimed, overall we've expanded and took over the entirety of the underground caverns. Save for a few patches where the Neubians still exist" Ezzil said.

"Impressive, the Lich King won't stand a chance against us now" Mira cackled.

"This war will still be a risky one Ranger, the Scourge has the biggest army in existence and they gain more and more with each passing day," the shaman said, "I'm afraid that even with the combined power of the Forsaken and our forces we only stand a small chance against them."

Suddenly a goblin hurriedly approached the shaman and bowed, still running in place with urgency. "Shaman, our eastern laboratory has spotted a large group of undead making their way toward Icecrown!" the goblin exclaimed.

"Who's leading them?" Ezzil asked.

"A Lich, he's been yet to be identified" the goblin said.

Mira drew her short sword. "Calm down Ranger," Ezzil said, "I'll deal with this, just enjoy the show."

Kel'Thuzad yelled at his forces to move with haste, the Lich King had expressed absolute urgency in him reaching the Frozen Throne as quickly as possible. The Lich's warriors picked up the pace once again, plowing through the snow as fast as their legs could carry them. Up ahead Kel'Thuzad noticed a small group of figures approaching them. He motioned for a full halt. The figures came into view moments later, revealing a platoon of green skinned warriors that the Lich recognized as goblins. Knowing, as a general rule, goblins kept themselves neutral during wars the Lich calmed down and his forces began moving again.

Suddenly the ground beneath them began to shake. Kel'Thuzad was unaffected because of his levitating abilities but he watched as his men fell to the ground below them from the shaking. On their backs and completely caught by surprise, the undead fighters were easily susceptible to the goblins' attacks. The first few goblins pulled out small bottles of mysterious liquid and shook them. The liquid began bubbling furiously and with well aimed throws the goblins tossed the bottles into the undead forces. The bottles broke and the liquid reacted to the oxygen in the air, exploding with devastating results.

Mira watched from a cliff edge above the battle as the Scourge forces were left dazed and scattered by the effects of the potions the goblins had thrown. The explosions had ripped apart huge gaping holes in the ground where the undead had once stood. Now the goblins rushed forward to deal with the survivors. The goblin warriors had excellent speed and agility, easily out-maneuvering the clumsy undead. Mira watched in near disbelief as a small group of only about twenty goblins easily tore through the lines of undead.

Kel'Thuzad watched his warriors as they were slaughtered and began chanting an incantation. The snow below the undead suddenly swirled around them and froze itself to their bodies, giving them protective armor. Then the Lich focused on the goblins themselves, calling on his magical abilities to assault the pointy-nosed fighters. Now the air around a nearby goblin became unbearably cold and in an instant the warrior was nothing but a statue of ice. The Lich began focusing on another goblin when from out of nowhere he felt a powerful wind force him backwards, the impact slamming him into a rock.

The Lich recovered easily and looked around for his attacker. He noticed an older goblin a few yards from the battle swirling with magical energies. Kel'Thuzad levitated toward the goblin and the two squared off. Mira watched as Ezzil challenged the Lich with another quick blast of wind. But Kel'Thuzad wasn't about to be done in by the shaman this time. The Lich raised his arms quickly and in response a glacier of ice shot up and shielded him from the powerful wind before crumbling to shards of ice. Now the Lich used his magic to levitate the shards of broken ice and threw them at his opponent. The dagger-like shards were met by a stream of fire from the shaman's staff. The fire engulfed the shards and melted them with ease.

Kel'Thuzad frowned, he was up against a powerful opponent. He tried to manipulate the snow around the shaman to engulf and freeze the goblin but the snow couldn't heed his call. It seemed the goblin had just as much mastery of the cold magic as he did. Now Ezzil looked past the Lich and to his warriors, noting that they were having a lot more trouble now that the undead were covered in icy armor. He yelled for a retreat of his fighters. The goblins finished their final attacks and scattered in all different directions. Ezzil focused on the rocky terrain around the remaining Scourge forces and began calling to the mountains to help him. With an ear shattering noise the surrounding mountains let loose what loose pieces they had at the request of Ezzil. From both sides the Scourge watched in horror as rocks and snow plummeted down upon them.

Kel'Thuzad began fleeing away as quickly as possible, not wanting to be crushed like his men had been. Ezzil just let the Lich escape, hoping that the fool would return to the Lich King with news of the attack and make the king even more paranoid at the coming of the goblins than before. The remaining goblins retreated back into the mountains and Mira hurried to catch up with Ezzil. "Impressive show shaman, both you and your warriors fought well" the Dark Ranger said.

Ezzil nodded in acknowledgement of the compliment. "The spirits guided us well today but we were up against opponents that didn't expect our attack," the goblin said, "the Lich King's forces will be much more prepared than these baddies had been. Trust that this small reprieve did not gain us much." Mira accepted the goblin's words, knowing that the shaman was far wiser than she.

"I will send word for my queen to send our forces and we will prepare for our final assault on the Scourge" Mira said.

"Let us hope that together we can crush the Lich King and his army of baddies" Ezzil said before opening another secret passageway into the kingdom of the goblins.