The Dark Portal.
"Gruul? What the hell is Gruul?" Arthas exclaimed, as the large arm tried to pull the rest of its body through the Portal frame.
"He's a primitive creature called a Gronn from Draenor, it helped us against Deathwing," Alleria said quickly.
The Portal frame began to crack, as the disembodied arm continued to try and pull the rest of it through.
"Where the hell is our army?" Arthas said frustrated.
There was an almighty series of explosions to the north-west, followed by an earth-shattering explosion to the west.
"Delayed..." Muradin said grimly. "The Lich's agents no doubt."
Vereesa reappeared at that moment beside them, looking thoroughly exhausted.
"The Titan's army will be here soon, and... What the hell is that thing?" she said quickly.
"A native of another world, clearly corrupted to serve the Legion," Uther stated. "But we need to reclaim the Skull if we wish to close the Portal."
"Then let's get it!" Alleria said, leaping into the crater.
The others watched as she moved quickly towards the skull, but at the last second a bare-chested, tatooed Kal'dorei with twin-bladed weapons dropped down and snatched up the skull. Alleria nocked an arrow and fired at the intruder, but he skilfully deflected it with one of his weapons, before darting up the crater's edge to the east.
"Illidan!" Sylvanas cursed under her breath, having been given a physical description by Maiev shortly after the cataclysm. "What the hell is he doing?"
"Give that back Kal'dorei!" Alleria yelled. "We need to close that Portal now, before the Legion can set foot on this world!"
"The Legion are stronger than you know!" Ilidan yelled back. "I know better than anyone living what they are capable of... You are not prepared!"
"I escaped the Legion's clutches, I know what they've got waiting for this world! Give me the Skull so they will never defile this world!"
"You know nothing of the Legion!" Illidan laughed, before ascending the mountainous cliff to the south, and disappearing over the edge.
"So our only hope of closing the Portal just ran away, what now?" Jaina asked, the frustration now setting in for her as well.
A rhythmic thumping sounded from the north, and Uther quickly formulated a plan of action for their current situation.
"We need to hold the line until the Titan constructs arrive, once they're here we need to take that thing..."
"Gruul!" Alleria corrected, clambering up the crater to re-join them.
"... Gruul, down, the constructs won't last against it without help." Uther continued. "Once it's defeated... we'll need to fall back."
"What?" the others exclaimed.
"Fighting the Legion here will be a meat-grinder, and the Legion's numbers are infinite," Uther stated. "All that would happen is we would be worn down and killed; we need to fall back, rally the full might of the Alliance, and try to defeat a few of the Legion's higher ranking members, only then will we be in a strong position to push them back."
"And what about closing the Portal?" Alleria asked.
"Let us pray we find it or an equally powerful relic to close the Portal," Sylvanas sighed, as Uther fell silent behind his mask.
Suddenly the Portal frame cracked, and the arm smashed the columns away, allowing the swirling portal itself to slowly expand.
"Brace yourselves, Gruul killed several of Deathwing's fully grown children with ease," Alleria said, as the heroes stood ready.
"So did I," Uther said coolly.
"Technically you brought one of them back to serve us, Ragnaros killed Nefarian the first time, and Ysondre the second time." Sylvanas quipped.
Another blackened arm, with bright green veins came through the Portal, before the fel-poisoned Gronn pulled the rest of its body through, and Uther felt his jaw drop slightly. A large, muscular body was crowned by a rather blunted head; two blackened horns crowned a bright green eye. The eye glowed with fel-energy, and its black pupil quickly spotted the heroes standing on the edge of the crater; the Gronn snarled as it pulled its hoofed legs through, which were comparatively small to the rest of its body.
"Okay, so it's a big, angry stone gorilla..." Muradin commented.
"That's not stone, that's its skin!" Alleria said, clearly upset by what she saw. "Whatever the Legion did; it's already tough skin basically turned into stone. And it's not a Gorilla, it's a Gronn!"
"Whatever!" Muradin shrugged. "Looks like a big one-eyed Gorilla to me."
"The longer that thing is in our way, the more reinforcements that can pour through behind it!" Uther stated, holding his mace in both hands. "Follow my lead!"
Before anyone could argue, Uther leapt into the crater and charged towards the fel-empowered Gruul. Arthas, Muradin and Gromm, who had been itching to fight, followed Uther into the crater immediately, with the others following behind them. Gruul slammed both fists against the ground, before letting out a deafening roar. Alleria's arrows were the first to strike the colossal creature, quickly followed by numerous spells; all momentarily distracted the giant before Uther, Arthas, Sylvanas, Gromm and Muradin engaged it at close quarters.
Their weapons scratched and clanged against Gruul's toughened hide, and the arrows merely bounced off upon impact. The spells, however, seemed to have an effect; ice began to form where Jaina had thrown her magic, and Hamuul's lightning left the hide cracked and blackened.
"Focus your spells around its head!" Uther yelled, before he and the other melee fighters were forced to duck Gruul's swinging right arm.
Gruul's right arm moved to protect its head, as Jaina's ice spells came close to blinding the abomination, its left arm swung wildly at where it had last seen the heroes. Uther summoned the Light to his side, feeling it course through him like a surge of warm water, before channelling it into his mace. When Gruul tried to slam his fist down on top of Falstad, Uther leapt to his defence, slamming his weapon against the Gronn's fel-toughened skin. The effect was instantaneous and explosive; chunks of blackened, rock-like skin flew in all directions from where he had struck, and the towering behemoth bellowed in pain and rage.
"That did the trick!" Arthas laughed, summoning the Light to aid his swings.
Neon green blood oozed from the fresh wound on Gruul's hand, and it wasn't long before more festering wounds appeared on its arms from where Arthas, Sylvanas and Uther struck it with their holy-empowered weapons.
"Focus your attacks on the weak spots we create!" Arthas yelled to the other heroes.
"We are not stupid, human!" Gromm roared, slamming Gorehowl into one of the open wounds, the blade sinking deep into the exposed flesh.
Gruul swiped at them all again with both arms, sending its green blood spraying out across the battlefield, before slamming his fists down with the force of an earthquake, and letting loose a bellowing roar.
"Now it's pissed," Muradin laughed.
Sylvanas scurried back to join her sister, borrowing her bow and quickly nocking an arrow despite the armour she was wearing. The single arrow glowed brightly as it was loosed, and they all watched transfixed as it flew directly into the Gronn's lone eye.
"Now it's blind!" Alleria added with a smirk. "It can't hit what it can't see."
Gruul was apoplectic with rage, now blinded it was swinging its arms wildly in all directions; cleaving great furrows in the ground around it as it tried desperately to kill the gnats attacking it.
"Will someone kill it before it kills us!" Muradin yelled as they scattered away from the flailing Gronn.
"Arthas! Sylvanas! To me!" Uther yelled moving to stand before the Gronn, though at a safe distance from its flailing limbs.
The three stood together, listening to Uther's plan, before facing Gruul. They each began to glow with holy energy, letting it build inside them before focusing on merging their power together. Gruul seemed to sense something was happening as it stopped flailing and tried to peer around with the gaping hole where its eye used to be. There was a blinding flash, as Arthas, Sylvanas and Uther unleashed their combined might against the Gronn; Gruul didn't have time to even attempt to defend itself as the Light incinerated it.
When the light dimmed enough for them to see what had happened to the Gronn, all the heroes could see was a small hillock of blackened ash, with flecks of still glowing, burning green blood dotted around the crater.
"Be at peace Gruul, your fate was not your doing," Alleria said, slowly approaching the pile of ash.
"Not it's doing? It was pretty determined to flatten us all!" Muradin protested.
"Fel magic clouds your thoughts, your mind, making you little more than an enraged beast bent on killing anything before you," Gromm stated, his eyes fixed on the green spots of blood around them, burning into the already corrupted soil.
They did not have long to think before their eyes caught movement in front of the swirling, crackling portal.
"How is it still open if the frame's been destroyed?" Jaina breathed.
"Something or someone must be forcing it to stay open from the other side," Vereesa replied.
Three figures emerged from the swirling portal, clad in black robes with their faces covered; though the height difference between one of the three and the rest told Alleria exactly who they were.
"No..." she breathed. "Kurdran... Danath... Khadgar!"
"What?" the others exclaimed in disbelief, except Gromm who remained quiet.
"The Legion must have broken them..." Uther said with a sorrowful tone.
They watched as a heavily armoured Orc, with his hands replaced with barbed blades, joined them; before the figure Alleria had identified as Khadgar teleported them away, before himself vanishing.
"Scouts?" Thrall asked.
"Advanced guard," Alleria said, shaking her attention back to the present. "They've likely been sent to join up with the Lich's agents and completely cripple any opposition."
"We need to deal with them before closing the portal," Uther decided.
"Why?" Arthas spoke up.
"Because it'll make little difference if we close the portal here, only for a second invasion to appear somewhere else."
Their chatter was completely cut off as red-skinned Orcs, demons of all shapes and sizes, and red-skinned humanoid creatures Uther didn't recognise began to pour through the open portal.
"Fall back!" he bellowed, and they all turned to see the constructs of Ulduar marching over the crest of the crater.
"Perfect timing," Sylvanas almost cheered, as the first wave of orcs and demons clashed with the constructs behind them, allowing them to fall back.
"What do we do now?" Jaina asked, watching as the initial waves of Legion forces were pushed back by the constructs.
"Split up and ensure that each faction of the Alliance is able to send their armies against the Legion! Whatever agents the Lich sent out have likely sown discord by attacking each race in a different way."
"United we stand, divided we fall," Thrall commented. "I and Gromm will go to Orgrimmar, I suspect the Legion will try to corrupt our people again."
Jaina nodded, before the two Orcs were teleported away.
"What of the rest of us?" Falstad asked.
"Alleria, Arthas, you should go to Stormwind, find out where its armies are."
"Of course Uther, morale in Lordaeron will crumble if Stormwind falls again," Arthas said, before nodding to Jaina.
"Good luck my sisters," Alleria smiled, before she and Arthas were teleported away.
"Send me to Ironforge lass, I'll help me brother unite our people" Muradin spoke up, and in a flash he was gone.
"I be needed with my people, da Trolls be scattered but I can rally dem behind da Alliance," Vol'jin stated.
"I will do the same for my people," Hamuul added.
"I trust ye judgement Uther, send me where ye think I be needed most," Falstad quickly chimed in.
Three more spells sent them to where they wanted to go, leaving only a few standing on the edge of the Dark Portal's crater.
"Sylvanas, accompany me to Lordaeron, I will inform Terenas personally of what has happened," Uther said after a slight pause. "It will probably lift his spirits to see me again."
"That it will, Uther; that it will." Jaina smiled, before she teleported the two Paladins away.
"What about us?" Vereesa asked.
"The night-elves are the most at risk from the Legion's advanced guard," Jaina said quickly, "they dared to stand against the Legion centuries ago, and I doubt that the demons will forgive such defiance."
Jaina and Vereesa gave a final glance to the two armies battling it out in the crater, before they teleported out of the Eastern Kingdoms.
-AN-
Well... Three years and five months later I'm back, and I'm still working on new chapters for this story. This is not entirely due to a lack of writing inspiration, ideas, or time to write; it was more the opposite, too many ideas for this and other stories battling for prominence in my mind. I apologise for the long absense to anyone who was eagerly awaiting the continuation of this story, but I am writing again, and have several chapters completed and ready to be posted at a (hopefully) regular schedule.
NilioJ13.