One Night in Karazhan.
"You ever played chess before? Any long nights with your Paladins playing this intellectual's game?" Alleria muttered as they surveyed the field before making their first move.
"A lifetime ago, when I was a young man." He laughed dryly. "It was how I was taught strategy."
"Got one in mind to beat this madman?"
"One, it's just a question of whether he knows it or not."
"And whether he'll cheat."
Uther took a deep breath and pointed at a soldier in their front row.
"You there, soldier." He called loudly, his voice echoing in the quiet that preceeded their chess match, the outcome of which would be far greater than he realised. "Move forward two squares."
Khadgar chuckled as the Stormwind soldier stepped forward to start the game.
"Your fondness for them is admirable, but you shouldn't get too attached to them, they will start to die soon enough."
Unbeknownst to Uther, far to the west, the remaining soldiers of Stormwind marched out of their city.
"To avoid confusing yourself, old man, I'd recommend using more simple terminology, and directing your pieces to the grid positions on the board, like so;" Khadgar waved his hand to his front row. "Felguard to E5."
With his command the shadowy demon moved forward until it stood in front of the Lordaeron soldier.
"Soldier to F4." Alleria said quickly, and the human soldier obeyed by moving forward two spaces.
On the battlefield the combined armies of the original Lordaeron Alliance march across the fields of Westfall.
"Felguard, kill that pathetic soldier." Khadgar laughed, enjoying watching the demon behead the soldier and move on to its square.
In Elwynn Forest, demons once again swarm over the soldiers of Stormwind, overwhelming the ground they had just recaptured.
"Cairne, move to C4."
The corrupted mage laughed harder as the Tauren Chieftain moved out into the middle of the boad.
"Archimonde to H4." Khadgar commanded the demon lord, something he would not do were he standing before the Eredar. "Check."
The miniature Archimonde was now poised to attack Varian Wrynn's piece.
"Varian to F1!" Alleria said quickly, and the King moved one space over.
In Elwynn Forest, Matthias Shaw protected his king from a demon assassin that ambushed them on the road.
"Felguard to B5!"
The demon moved up to stand diagonally across from Cairne.
"Tyrande, vanquish that demon."
In the Burning Steppes, the Elven priestess inspires her warriors to mount a decisive charge against the demons, driving them back.
"Nathraziem to F6."
"Mekkatorque to F3."
"Archimonde to H6!" Khadgar said, noticing that his most valuable piece was now threatened.
"Soldier to D3." Uther decided to try and reinforce their 'weaker' pieces.
"Nathraziem to H5." Khadgar steepled his fingers, studying the positions of the Azeroth pieces. "What's your game, Lightbringer?"
"Protecting the world from the corruption and destruction of the Legion." Uther responded. "Mekkatorque to H4."
The Gnomish King astride his mechanostrider was dwarfed by the winged demon he was now nose to nose with.
In eastern Elwynn Forest, amid the burning trees and scorched earth, a Dark Iron drilling machine broke through the earth, and a column of Gnomish soldiers lead by their King charged out.
"Archimonde to G5."
"Mekkatorque to F5." Alleria said, saving the Gnomish king from certain attack.
"Felguard to C6." The mage said, before delighting in pointing out; "your precious Chieftain is threatened."
"Soldier to G4." Uther responded, ignoring the distraction. "Now your Nathraziem is too."
"Nathraziem to F6." Khadgar snapped, retreating from the threat.
"Cairne, move along one space."
"Felguard, take B5. Kill that Elven whore!" Khadgar relished the command.
Uther looked away as Tyrande was cut down, but resolved himself to win the match.
In the Burning Steppes, while Tyrande barely remained standing, the charge she had inspired was completely wiped out.
"Soldier to H4."
The Troll steps casually forward into position, standing shoulder to shoulder with the Lordaeron footman.
"Archimonde to G6."
"Soldier to H5."
"Archimonde to G5." Khadgar shows visible annoyance at having to move one piece around so much over his other pieces.
"Thrall to F3."
"Nathraziem to G8."
"Arthas, cleanse the board of that filth." Alleria smirked.
The Prince nodded, before charging the Felguard who stood helpless before him; with a single swing of his mace he eradicated the towering foe.
"Enjoy your victories while you can," the mage sneered. "Archimonde to F6."
Arthas looked visibly disappointed as the Eredar moved out of his reach.
"Magni to C3."
"Shivarra to C5."
"Magni to D5." Uther commanded, and now the Dwarf threatened Archimonde anew.
"Do not focus your efforts on one piece, you have already vanquished Archimonde from this world," Khadgar chuckled. "He will return again, and his vengeance will be all the more terrible; observe."
With a wave of his hand, the mage ordered Archimonde to stride across the board and immolate the Kal'dorei soldier who had yet to move.
In the Steppes, the Darnassian forces were pushed back further under a fresh demon assault, made worse by the disheartening effect of their earlier attack being overwhelmed.
"Arthas, move to D6." Uther encouraged, spotting an opportunity.
Khadgar didn't give his next command verbally, meaning the sudden attack of the Shivarra against Cairne came without warning, and they were all forced to watch the Tauren Chieftain fall.
Cairne had tried to help the Kal'dorei hold the line, but in the chaos was isolated from his people, and before they could rescue him, the brave warrior was grievously wounded, and he fell to his knees.
"Soldier to E5."
Archimonde suddenly turned and picked up Sylvanas by the throat, strangling her with one hand.
"Sylvanas!" Alleria cried, but to no avail.
The demon lord threw her off the board, and she slammed against the wall and slumped down. Yrel moved to check on her, but a wall of green flames held her back.
"Check." Khadgar said, ignoring the drama his attack had caused.
"Varian to E2." Uther said, as Alleria fought to control her emotions.
"Nathraziem to A6," Khadgar said smirking. "Give up now Lightbringer, I have almost won."
"Not yet, you haven't." Uther smiled back.
"Please tell me you have a plan to beat this demon-licking filth!" Alleria hissed under her breath.
"Have faith," he assured her, "this is a strategy I once saw Tirion use against Saidan. I may never have played since I was a boy, but I've watched and learnt from others."
He turned back to the board, and going the extra step of gesturing.
"Mekkatorque to G7." Before adding with relish; "Check."
The Gnome was now poised to strike at Kil'Jaeden.
In Elwynn, the Gnomes rode to the aid of their Stormwind allies, saving them from being completely overrun.
Khadgar snarled and waved his hand, making the Deciever's piece move one space away from the Gnome King.
"You're playing with fire." Khadgar warned, waggling his finger at them.
Suddenly the empty spaces on the board erupted with green flames, and while most of their pieces were not phased, Arthas recoiled back in fear.
"Stop trying to scare us!" Alleria snapped.
"Thrall to F6. Check again." Uther said quickly.
The Orc summoned water to douse the fires blocking his path, before moving forward to stand by the Gnomish king. Khadgar seethed, before grinning as Thrall's piece was attacked by the nearest Nathraziem.
To the east, the front created by the forces of Kalimdor was slowly pushed back towards their portal, every inch paid for with Orcish, Tauren, and Kal'dorei lives.
"A necessary sacrifice." Uther proclaimed, when all eyes turned to him. "Arthas, move to E7."
All eyes turned to the Prince, who did as he was bid, moving to stand between the two Felguards into the perfect position to attack Kil'Jaeden unopposed.
"Checkmate." He announced, looking up from his square into the burning green eyes of Khadgar. "You've lost."
The fel fires died in an instant, and Alleria rushed to her sister's aid as Jaina and Vereesa burst into the room, their faces and robes blackened by soot and ash.
"What have we missed?" Jaina asked, as Vereesa also hurried to her sister's aid.
"You've arrived just in time to die with your friends!" Khadgar roared, waving his hands wildly.
In an instant all his pieces returned to their starting positions, with more appearing behind them and in the wings. The doors slammed shut behind them as the demons began to advance slowly, the noble game of chess forgotten.
"What you're oblivious to, Lightbringer, is that this game had far greater stakes than little Windrunner's health."
"What are you talking about?"
"Each move we made was reflected across this continent, every loss representing the eradication of whole armies!"
Uther felt the blood drain from his face at this revelation.
"Oh yes, your friends whose pieces you discarded from the board with little thought are dead because of you."
As the demons surrounded Arthas the Prince began to fight for his life, while Alleria and Vereesa defended their unconscious sister and Yrel held the line to stop the demons from surrounding them.
"And so it ends here for Uther the Lightbringer, and his allies," Khadgar mocked as more and more demons appeared. "They came so far, overcame so much, only to die where no one will find them."
A laugh echoed through the chamber, making everyone stop suddenly and look around for the source of the laugh; Khadgar recognised it immediately, and slowly moved to back out of the room.
"Ah, my former, fallen apprentice, you may be more powerful than you were when you helped to kill me, but you have not learnt anything."
"Show yourself!" Khadgar snarled as the doors slammed shut behind him, trapping him in the chamer as well.
There was a blinding flash, and when it cleared the board had been reset to the winning layout, but the Azerothian pieces that had fallen were standing again, with new pieces sharing their spaces or being protected by figures in gilded silver and gold armour.
"My people!" Yrel said excitedly, seeing a towering Draenei defending Tyrande's prone form.
"No!" the mage bellowed. "Impossible."
"I knew the Legion would be underhanded, so I held back some of Azeroth's forces," Medivh's voice said coolly. "Now they take to the field."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Vol'jin fought like he was possessed by a Loa, giving everything he had to defend his people and his king, whose side he had not abandoned despite the never ending tide of demons that pressed against them.
"Do we fall back?" he asked, as another salvo of Kul Tiran cannonballs soared over their heads.
"Where to?" his king asked bitterly. "In front of us is death, behind us be de sea, retreat is not an option!"
"Where are de Loa?" a Troll called somewhere to their right.
"Rezan help us!" the king cried. "Come to our aid!"
The sky rumbled with thunder, and when Vol'jin looked up expecting to see hope, felt his stomach sink at seeing green meteorites falling towards the Troll lines.
"Bwon'samedi be good." He muttered, bracing for the end.
The wind suddenly picked up over their heads, blowing the smell of the sea across the battlefield instead of the acrid tang of smoke that he had gotten used to. He looked up again and felt his jaw drop. The fel meteorites had been hurled by the strong winds into the demons own lines, and the thick black clouds were beginning to swirl around.
"Great spirits!" Rastakhan breathed, as the swirling cloud formed into an immense tornado, that touched ground in the heart of the demons ranks.
"Dis be no spirit," Vol'jin said slowly, as the tornado began to lay waste to the mass of demons.
"Press de attack!" Rastakhan roared, swelling with pride and a newfound strength, before letting out an inhuman roar.
Vol'jin swore to himself that he saw the outline of a great armoured Devilsaur surround the Troll King as he charged into the scattered demons. The tornado quickly sprouted arms, with one hand wielding a great lightning-edged sword that further decimated the sea of demons.
"You think to control the winds? They are MY domain!" the thunderous apparition bellowed, and Vol'jin looked left and right to see other apparitions of wind appearing from the clouds.
Meanwhile…
Thrall stood shoulder to shoulder with Gromm, fighting with everything he had as the three united armies were slowly being pushed back towards their portal.
"So much for the Burning Steppes, the only fires I see are demons rotting corpses!" Gromm snarled.
The mountain erupted in response to his challenge, black smoke billowing from its mouth, while near the base the sealed doors that led to the heart of Blackrock Mountain exploded, the shattered and searing pieces hurtling into the mass of demons that surrounded the Orcs, Tauren, and Kal'dorei. Just like a lava flow, fire elementals poured out of the mountain in numbers that rivalled the Legion's own, but instead of assaulting the beleaguered mortals, they swept towards the demons instead.
"By fire be purged!" a voice boomed, and Thrall saw a towering elemental with fiery wings leading the charge. "Sear their presence from the face of the world!"
"There's a human expression I've heard," Drek'thar chuckled, as he was helped towards the portal by Rexxar. "Something about 'fighting fire with fire'."
"The question is whether this fire will burn us too," Rexxar grunted, supporting the wounded Shaman as best he could inspite of the injuries he'd received.
"For now, the fire warms our weary arms, giving us new strength." Thrall said, flexing his good arm and ignoring his shattered stone one. "We must push into Redridge."
"Where are Tyrande and Cairne?" Drek'thar asked, before passing out from pain.
"I do not know." Thrall looked around, over the field of dead and dying for familiar figures. "Our forces were separated to the east…"
Within Dreadmaul Rock…
Tyrande had never been a fighter, but now she was fighting as hard as her warrior and huntress kin for her very survival.
"This is the end," Maiev groaned, leaning against the cavern wall clutching her side.
"Elune is with us." Tyrande assured her, not wanting to believe it. "She will not abandon us in our our of need."
"Abandon us? What's left to abandon? Our people have been slaughtered out there!" Maiev snapped. "We were weakened defending Hyjal, we should never have come to this place."
"I would never abandon our allies to save myself!" Tyrande wheeled on the former Warden. "They came to our aid in Hyjal, we would be forever shamed if we hid while they fought and died to protect Azeroth. Reinforcements will come."
"What reinforcements?" Maiev laughed, before groaning in pain.
The ground suddenly shook violently, creating a miniature earthquake within the cavern that caused small stalegtites to fall from the ceiling, and the Kal'dorei hiding within to fall to their knees. As dust settled down around them, Tyrande heard the sound of a portal opening nearby, followed by the steady sound of hooves on stone.
"Do you need a hand, young lady." An accented voice asked, and Tyrande saw a gauntleted hand reach into her peripheral vision.
She looked to Maiev, and saw that she had passed out from the pain, her unconscious form slumped against the cavern wall. She took the proferred hand and slowly rose to her feet, her eyes immediately moved to look up at the mounted knight who had come to their aid, but she recoiled unsteadily at the figures she beheld.
Emerging from a portal that showed the unmistakable forest of Ashenvale on the other side, Tyrande beheld strange blue-skinned humanoid soldiers adorned in gilded armour wielding weapons made of crystals.
"Who are you? How did you…"
"Priestess, apologies," a familiar voice called, before Maiev's lieutenant Naisha pushed through the strange creatures to greet her. "These people are allies, they're not of this world but they're opposed to the Legion. Their ship crashed into Stonetalon Mountain, and thanks to a human mage they're ready and able to help us push the Legion back to the Portal."
"We lost our home to the Legion long ago, we shall fight to defend you from the same fate." The one who had helped her to rise said, thumping his fist against his chest.
"You speak our tongue?" she said uncertainly.
"Your 'human' cast a spell on us to aid in communicating, to us we are conversing in our tongue." He admitted. "We have heard the Orcs share this world too, their tongue is known to us."
"Perhaps, when this is over, we can learn to speak without spells, and you can call this world home too." She smiled warmly, hearing the sounds of renewed battle raging outside.
"We shall fight harder to earn our place here," he straightened to his full height. "What do we call you, dear lady."
"I am Priestess Tyrande Whisperwind, you may call me Tyrande." She gave a courteous bow. "I lead the Kal'dorei in this war."
"A Priestess leading soldiers?" he raised an eyebrow, before remembering his manners. "I am Exarch Akama, I have the honour of leading our people into battle."
Meanwhile…
Elwynn Forest was a charred wasteland now, every tree was either burned to ash or blackened and twisted, the lakes and streams were almost dried up, and the wildlife was either extinct or hiding in the caves for the survival of their species. In the burned out remains of the Goldshire Inn, Matthias Shaw was fighting, but not to save his own life.
"It's over Matthias," Varian coughed, his lips flecked with blood. "Our armies are gone, our allies are lost, and I'm dying."
"You're not dying on my watch!" Matthias snarled, trying to staunch the bleed. "I'm no priest, but I know how to combat a wound like this!"
The ground rumbled beneath them, and the sounds of demonic cries grew ever louder.
"I never told you Shaw, I was waiting to make a grand announcement of it…" Varian said, looking around at the remains of the once homely establishment. "Tiffin's pregnant."
"Well now you better not die, you've got a son to raise" Matthias chuckled, "you know what it's like for a Prince to grow up without their father."
"I think I… Turned out alright, I protected Stormwind and its people." Varian chuckled.
The rumbling grew stronger, and Matthias worried the inn would collapse in on them.
"What's causing this?" he cursed.
The ground burst open beside them and an earth elemental climbed out, followed quickly by several more.
"The Stonemother sends her regards." One of them said to the two humans, before they began to move out of the inn.
"Unusual reinforcements, but welcome ones." The spymaster breathed. "We're saved your grace, just hold on."
He looked into his King's eyes, but saw that Varian was gone. With a heavy heart Matthias closed his king's eyes, before rising to his feet and saluting him.
Another distant explosion sounded outside, and he heard a cry that had come to late.
"For Khaz Modan! Rally to the King!"
-AN-
Apologies to those who find Chess boring, or my descriptions of each move confusing. I used a recounting of 'The Immortal Game' for the strategy, as it seemed the most fitting for a match where the fate of a world hung in the balance; if you wish to see how it played out a little better, I recommend looking it up to better understand what happened in this chapter.