Content warnings: graphic violence, character death
Kinndy let go of Jaina's robes. "We should bury them."
"We will." Jaina got to her feet. "We'll find their names and lay them to rest."
Theramore's cemetery was blasted to glass like everything else in the city. What a thought; the dead underground were the only bodies left behind.
Vol'jin stayed crouched beside her. "Da right to kill Hellscream belongs to his own people, to da people he betrayed."
"I'll do everything I can to help them."
He stood. "Tomorrow we be honouring our dead. Tonight, we make corpses." He pointed at her. "Don't you be takin' any Darkspear for your army of da night, Lich King. Take da Kor'kron."
Before Jaina could inform him that she would be taking no one, a tauren man with cinnamon-coloured fur and feathers in his mane trotted up to them. He paused at the sight of Jaina and kept his eyes on her as he spoke.
"Vol'jin! Hellscream has made a compound beneath the Ragefire Caverns and fled there. The human King and an army of rebels are fighting their way through as we speak but…" He shook his head. "There are so many. So many willing to die for this madness."
Vol'jin straightened to his full height for a moment. "I will stay here, Baine. Da Darkspear will reclaim dis city for da Horde." He cocked his head at Jaina. "Make dem pay. For your people an' for ours."
Jaina gave a shallow bow. "For all of those he has wronged."
The tauren led Jaina and Kinndy through the pitched battle. He had a small team of fellow tauren who gave Jaina silent, wary looks but they were happy to accept her shields as they plunged through the violence.
The high cliffs put them in shadow and as they pushed on, Jaina caught glimpses of shops and houses, of ordinary people trapped in the chaos. The narrow gorge wasn't just a strategic military objective- it was a city street, in a city at war with itself.
She almost tripped over a young orc girl- maybe the same age as Saffron- kneeling in the street, curled around a younger child. She had a deep cut on her shoulder and tear tracks through the red dust on her cheeks. Their eyes met. Jaina grabbed her arm, took a split-second glance upward, and snapped a portal into existence. She shoved the pair through, hoped the exit wasn't too high above the roof, and ran on.
Jaina saw Khadgar first.
"Ah! There you are! What kept you?"
"Those people," said Kinndy. "The dead people up there. They're from Theramore."
Khadgar's expression fell.
Jaina bit down on heartbreak. "Point me in the right direction."
"Baine here says the Kor'kron barracks are ahead. If we can open the doors, we can let in the rest of the invasion force through them."
"Vol'jin is keeping his people above to re-take the city." Jaina looked around; aside from herself and Khadgar, there was Baine, his company, and a few dozen adventurers. "Baine said Anduin is here?"
"We took a different route in than you did. Anduin should be right behind me."
Their conversation was interrupted by Baine's roar. "Nazgrim! You traitor!"
"Well, I think he's going to be busy for a while. Let's see if we can make a hole around the side-"
A bolt of golden light smashed down on the Kor'kron joining the fight around Baine and Jaina saw Anduin, glowing sword in hand, charging in from another tunnel with a company of soldiers in Stormwind tabards. The adventurers around them quickly re-grouped on him, leaving Khadgar and Jaina to hold their side of the fray.
"Where did Lor'themar get to?" Jaina asked.
"Still above, I guess. He was coming down the same path as Anduin, last I knew."
Baine's fight with the traitorous Nazgrim shifted as they locked weapons and briefly took each other to the floor, only to rise seconds later and crash into the wall beside Anduin. Jaina saw him raise a hand and a warm glow lit his armoured fist- he's too young for plate mail!- only to have it snuffed out by a lash of blinding black energy. Jaina turned to the source; another orc- with a blade for a hand- rushed up the hall where Nazgrim had come from.
"What was that?"
"Some devilry from Pandaria," Khadgar shouted back. "They call it sha."
The new foe had a deluge of Kor'kron with him, of course.
"There's so many!" Kinndy's voice cut through the clamour.
Jaina saw a tunnel ahead of them, through the gauntlet of Kor'kron. "There! That must be the way!"
"Yes, it-"
A dagger came flying out of the melee and struck Khadgar in the mouth with enough force to snap his head back. Jaina screamed and dove after him as he fell. She grabbed his robes and managed to keep him from bashing his head on the ground, but his weight pulled her down too, and she landed awkwardly on one elbow and knee, half straddling him. Pain shot up her limbs.
"Khadgar! Oh my god-"
There was an ugly gash in his lip and she could see a gap where a couple of his teeth were knocked out. By the grace of whatever alien power watched over him, the dagger had struck him hilt first. His eyes rolled back and he went limp.
"Oh no, no-!" She glanced up. "You!" She projected the full force of her harrowing, deathly voice at a human- no, Forsaken- priestess. "Help him!"
The Forsaken woman froze, gaze fixed on something behind Jaina. Jaina took the cue and threw a shield over herself and Khadgar.
Where's Kinndy?!
Her apprentice stood beside them, staff raised, one hand out-stretched and holding a shield of her own that withstood the force of a warhammer. The shield fractured as the wielder reared back for another strike. Jaina rolled onto her back, dropped her shield, and blasted the whole onslaught between herself and the tunnel with a disorganized volley of frostbolts.
The Forsaken priestess slid across the floor to reach Khadgar.
"Get him on his feet if you can. We need him!"
A handful of what Jaina took to be the woman's companions rushed to surround her while she pressed glowing hands to Khadgar's chest.
Another dozen adventurers had the blade-armed orc occupied and Baine was still trading blows with Nazgrim.
Jaina's gaze landed on Anduin. She scrambled to her feet, pushing the support spell down her injured leg to stabilize it.
"Kinndy, with me!"
"What about Khad-"
"Let the priestess see to him. Come on!"
They dodged around as many of the on-going fights as they could but Jaina had to put up a pair of shields like a plow blade and throw her weight behind them to shove between two Kor'kron.
"Jaina!"
"Anduin!"
"That way! We have to open the doors!"
There was no time for a reunion hug. Jaina directed another volley of ice down the hallway. They ran. Among Anduin's soldiers was a silver-haired human Death Knight with twin runeblades who wore the blue and white tabard of Lordaeron over his dark armour. Their eyes met for a moment and he quickly looked away.
"There! There!" Anduin pointed with his sword. A trio of adventurers were pulling the doors open almost before he finished shouting. A mix of Kor'kron and invasion fighters surged through from the other side and blocked the hall.
"Forward!"
Their company was shedding people with every new battle and each push cost them time, but adventurers from the open barracks joined them now, along with a number of orcs wearing tatters of red fabric tied around their arms, on their belts, wrapped around staves and the hilts of axes, or binding their hair. Some of them were distinctly not soldiers; they were ordinary people inspired to action, carrying shreds of the flag- the Horde- that they believed in.
After a blessedly Kor'kron-free thirty seconds, they reached a junction where the hall split into three.
"Which way?"
"All of them. Find out where they lead. Take your soldiers there, I'll go this way-"
The sound of armoured feet pounded up the hall behind them.
"Augh! I'm sick of these jerks!"
Kinndy turned, aimed her staff at the advancing Kor'kron, and launched a fireball. Most of them ducked and dodged out of the way but it held them for a moment. In those precious seconds, an answering blast of magic caught the Kor'kron in a crossfire, and Lor'themar's scarlet robes flashed through the havoc.
"Regent-Lord! Thank the Light!"
Baine was with him, bloodied and limping but victorious. And behind them, supported on one side by the Forsaken priestess and the other by Zaphine, was Khadgar.
"Khadgar! You're alive!" Kinndy clapped her hands. "I was so worried."
"Don't worry. I'll be good ath new," he lisped through the hole in his teeth and gave Kinndy a thumbs up.
"What now?"
Lor'themar had taken up a rearguard position with Baine at his side. "We'll hold them here. Go! Find Hellscream!"
Jaina pointed. "I'll go this way- Anduin- Your Highness- that way-"
"I'll take the latht hall."
"Are you sure?"
"It'th fine." Khadgar waved a hand. "I've got all thethe new friendth." He gestured to the priestess and her companions.
The adventurers swiftly organized themselves into four more or less equal groups and attached themselves to one of the leaders.
"May the Light go with all of you!"
"And with you, Your Highness!"
"Earthmother watch over us all!'
"Forward! For the Alliance!"
"For the Horde!"
Jaina spread her shields across the width of the corridor to protect the adventurers with her and ran. A blood elf paladin fell into step on her left, his own shields blazing to life, overlapping hers.
"How's the fight, Lady King?"
Jaina turned to her right and found Kagra. The Death Knight bared her tusks in a fierce grin.
"Oh, you know. Just once it would be nice to have a dragon-free battle."
"They're handled." Kagra spun her daggers around her fingers, runes flashing. "We saw to the Dragonmaw."
"Good to hear."
Ahead of them a deep growl rumbled down the hallway. Heavy steps shuddered the floor, followed by the sound of metal dragging on stone, and then a snort.
Jaina stopped. The adventurers formed up around her. "Are you kidding me? More dragons?"
There was a reddish glow ahead and as they drew closer, Jaina saw a portcullis with thick, spiked bars, partially raised. It was jammed at a an angle, leaving a gap just tall enough for the largest of their group to duck under.
The growling and snorting continued, now interspersed with loud sniffing.
"Well, it knows we're here," whispered Kagra.
"Shh. We may still have the element of surprise. Let's see what we're facing."
They crept up to the portcullis. At first, in the dim crimson torchlight, Jaina didn't see anything. She heard more snuffling. It was moving in their direction.
"Oh, I don't like this." Kinndy whispered. "I can't see anyth...ing."
The blood elf paladin took a step back and hissed. "What demon-?"
Jaina blinked and her eyes refocused. Her jaw dropped. "That's… that's a devilsaur."
"And somebody armoured it. Who does that?!" Kinndy was right. The devilsaur had thick pieces of plate chained to it, including a massive blade attached to its head.
"Well," said Kagra. "At least it's not a dragon."
"How is this better?!"
"I'll take point." The blood elf paladin unsheathed his sword.
"I'll distract 'em." A blue-haired gnome stepped up, holding a small bomb. He had a string of them on a bandolier across his chest.
"Shields ready."
"I've got your back."
"I've got an eye out for the damned Kor'kron."
The adventurers turned to Jaina.
"On your go, Lady Proudmoore."
She paused. "We don't have to fight this thing. Look-" she pointed across the devilsaur's cell. "There's the exit. I'll distract the monster and you get that far door open. We can be on our way quickly and hopefully without anyone getting eaten."
The adventurers considered amongst themselves for a moment.
"Beggin' your pardon, ma'am," said a dwarven woman, "It should be myself an' other plate wearin' folk keepin' the beast at bay."
Kagra snorted. "Our Lady King can do your job in silks. Put your strength to use lifting that gate."
"I appreciate the courtesy but Kagra is right. Ready?"
Affirmatives were given and Jaina and Kinndy stepped into the room. They crept along the wall until Jaina deemed their distance from the adventurers to be sufficiently safe.
"Let's get its attention."
Jaina leveled her repeating frostbolt spell at its neck.
The devilsaur turned as the first shards of ice shattered against armour and thick skin, opened its enormous jaws, and roared. For several seconds after, Jaina couldn't hear anything but ringing in her ears, and she saw several of the adventurers stagger and reel as they made their way along the opposite wall. Jaina kept the spell aimed at the most exposed flesh she could see.
"Jaina…"
"Hold your ground. Set your shields."
She nudged the feedback loop and the spell screamed between her hands. Now her frostbolts were doing some damage, though not as much as she would like. Beside her, Kinndy's shields were laced with lightning, holding strong despite her obvious fright.
The beast charged.
Jaina waited til the last moment, then shifted all the power into an ice shield as the devilsaur reached them. Its jaws spread across the whole span of the shield, teeth grinding against the ice. It snarled and shifted its grip, trying different angles, and when it couldn't get purchase, it rammed its head against the shield in frustration. Jaina's arms shook with the effort of holding the ice solid.
She tasted blood and felt a drop of warmth slide down her upper lip. Dammit! Not yet!
She pressed the feedback loop again. The power tripled and she thrust spikes of ice out of the shield. The devilsaur bellowed.
Behind the shield and the beast's furious noise, Jaina heard armoured feet pounding toward the room. Please, please be more adventurers catching up to us.
But the sound came from the wrong direction- from the exit hall, not the gate where they entered. Cries of challenge rang out and she knew Kor'kron from deeper in the cavern had found them. If she kept the devilsaur occupied, the adventurers could concentrate on the Kor'kron and hopefully push through them. The footsteps didn't stop. There were too many.
Jaina slammed her spiked shield into the devilsaur's face.
"Run!"
Kinndy never left her hip. The Kor'kron caught the adventurers between themselves and the devilsaur, slammed the gate shut behind them, and now out-numbered her companions at least four to one.
The beast still had its attention on Jaina and Kinndy. She set her shields and dashed toward the entrance gate, turning the devilsaur away from the adventurers and the oncoming Kor'kron. Just before they reached the gate, Jaina teleported herself and Kinndy back to a point near the exit. The devilsaur rammed its head against the entrance gate and crouched to snap at the space below the portcullis, ignoring the adventurers for the time being.
Kagra and the dwarf tackled the exit portcullis. "Quickly, while it's confused! The gate!"
"I'm on it! You! Tauren! Help me!"
Jaina stumbled. Her knee throbbed and she focused power from the feedback loop into the support spell. Her vision blurred; she found the wall with a trembling hand and kept her balance.
The devilsaur turned away from the entrance gate, shaking it's massive head in frustration, and roared again. The sound vibrated the very air.
Jaina's knee was a constant sharp pain, but the support spell kept it from buckling. Some of the Kor'kron were peeling away from the battle and coming after them now, and the devilsaur was closing in on the commotion.
She turned to Kinndy. "Brace yourself."
Jaina knelt and pressed her palms against the floor, took a deep breath, and reached for the Lich King's power. It was only too eager to respond. Jaina gave a cry and slammed the dark magic into the ground.
Cracks spidered out from beneath her hands, zig-zagging across the floor, and in their wake the earth heaved and shuddered. Spikes of ice burst from the cracks. Jaina gritted her teeth, focused on not impaling the adventurers, and channelled the quake spell until the room shook everyone off their feet, including the devilsaur.
She tried to rise and couldn't get further than her knees. Fine, then. I can still cast. She reached out with one hand. Ropes of unholy magic streaked across the room. She grabbed as many of the adventurers as she could and yanked them to her position, reached again for those she left behind and pulled.
There were only fourteen of them left.
Kinndy ducked under her arm and tried to help Jaina to her feet. The blood elf joined her and they lifted her between them.
The devilsaur rolled and got its feet under it, faster than half the Kor'kron.
"Go! Go! Go!" The gate rested on Kagra and the tauren's shoulders, creaking slowly down despite their combined strength.
"Forward!" Jaina rasped and stabbed a shaking finger down the hall.
Kagra and the tauren let go of the gate and dove after them. It slammed shut but seconds later Jaina heard clicks and gears rumbling; it wouldn't hold the Kor'kron for long. Hopefully long enough to interest the devilsaur.
They managed a few running steps before the corridor in front of them filled with more Kor'kron. Behind them, the portcullis raised and the devilsaur drove the other group toward their backs. The adventurers readied weapons.
The dwarven woman looked up at Jaina. "It's been a right pleasure, Lady Proudmoore."
Kinndy, eyes wide with terror, leveled her staff at the hallway ahead.
Jaina crooked her fingers into claws and took a deep breath before she drew on her unholy might. Her chest tightened. The edges of her vision started to blur. She hesitated.
We don't know what's ahead or how long this battle will take. If I spend too much of myself now, I'll be useless to them.
Jaina let go of the power.
"Keep that sentiment in the present tense," she said. "I'm bringing reinforcements."
Kinndy fought the urge to hyperventilate. There were Kor'kron in front of them, behind them- and the devilsaur- hopefully it was too big to get into the hallway- but what if it wasn't?
She closed her eyes. Breathe. She took a slow breath in through her nose, held the breath for two heartbeats, and let it out through her mouth. Counted another two heartbeats and took another breath.
Then she firmed up her grip on her staff and squared her shoulders. "Okay. Let's do this."
Behind her, she heard the snap of displaced air as Jaina opened a portal.
Concentrate on what is in front of you.
There were so many weapons coming toward her, so many eyes, so many teeth-
The blood elf paladin slammed his sword against his shield and screamed something at the Kor'kron in what must have been Thalassian. He stepped half in front of her- she still had line of sight around the edge of his shield and she remembered Jaina's words- adventurers overlap their strength until there are no weaknesses. He was protecting her; he was counting on her to be strong beside him.
Kinndy aimed for the Kor'kron in the lead and launched a fireball- it wasn't powerful enough to do more than surprise and singe him a little- but it was enough to make him falter. When he did, it threw off his gait and, to Kinndy's shock, those behind him knocked him down, leapt his fallen body or ran right over him.
The blood elf held his ground. He looked so slender and frail against the onslaught of orcs but when the first one lunged for him, he met the rush with preternatural strength, throwing the leader back with his shield.
One of the orcs' attention landed on Kinndy and she saw the Kor'kron give a snort of amusement.
Kinndy frowned and gathered her power, whirled in a full circle, and unleashed another fireball from the tip of her staff. This one was better- it had more force and mass and it knocked the orc off her feet and back into her fellows.
Kinndy had it now- the best way to form the spell and the best way to direct it- focus it through her staff- and she had pretty good aim, too! Beside her, the blood elf used his sword more to parry than stab or slice, as much a shield as his actual shield. Defense. We've got to hold them here.
She picked another target, formed the spell, aimed and unleashed it. She chose the same location each time, trying to poke a hole through the wall of black armour.
But there were too many of the Kor'kron and too few of the adventurers- Kinndy glimpsed a body crumpled against the wall on the other side of the corridor, a body without black and gold armour-
She struggled to keep her focus. The blood elf skidded back, beset by two huge orcs but still stubbornly pushing against them. Kinndy blasted a fireball into their shins and it gave him enough time to regain a solid stance.
It only lasted a second and then the wave of black armour overwhelmed them. Kinndy saw the blood elf's shield flash and his arm around the waist of a human woman, drawing his shield across her as they disappeared under the battering crush of Kor'kron. He had been standing beside her just a second ago and now-
A wave of invisible force blasted over her head and slammed into the Kor'kron. Immediately following the blast was a charge- the Scourge were here! The undead soldiers advanced, shields and spears leading, swords and magic behind, fearless- mindless- and threw themselves on the staggered Kor'kron.
The odds were even now.
No, they weren't- the odds were overwhelmingly in their favour! Kinndy took a second to find the blood elf. He was still alive, struggling out from a heap of bodies in black armour. He turned and pulled the human woman to her feet with one hand. His other arm was badly broken, bone poking through his torn sleeve.
A grey-haired orc woman- missing an eye, her braids bound with shreds of red fabric- gently took hold of his elbow and magic like sparkling water flowed around his injury until there was nothing left but a rip in the fabric.
"Well then." The dwarven woman put her hands on her hips and blew out a long breath. "It is a right pleasure, Lady Proudmoore! Present tense."
Kinndy turned to smile up at her mentor. Blood smudged Jaina's lips and chin but she was standing on her own and clear-eyed.
Kel'Thuzad stood beside her.
"Oh," said Kinndy, "were things really that bad?"
Jaina wiped her nose with a little square of black fabric. "There's no reason to let things get that bad before asking for help."
The old orc woman approached Kinndy and said something, then gestured to her.
"She wants to know if you want her to heal your hands," said the blood elf.
Kinndy looked down at her hands. Her knuckles were burned so badly that they were red, swollen, and blistered.
"I- I didn't notice- how did I- did I- y-yes. Please."
The woman knelt with creaking knees. Her magic felt like soothing water and Kinndy watched with awe as the blisters subsided, the redness and swelling faded, and her skin became smooth and whole again.
"That's amazing!" She raised her gaze to the old woman. "I've never been healed with magic before. You're incredible. Thank you!"
The blood elf translated, though Kinndy thought the old woman understood the essence of her words. She smiled around worn tusks and Kinndy helped her to her feet.
"Seriously, that's amazing."
"Everyone, take a moment to catch your breath. Then we move on."
The Scourge soldiers formed a ring around the battered adventurers as they tended their wounds, retrieved lost weapons, and consoled each other. The body near the wall turned out to be a worgen woman; two of the adventurers knelt beside her, hands aglow, then backed away, shaking their heads. In eerie near-silence, her comrades gathered around her and whispered their final words.
"What about the devilsaur?" Kinndy peered around Kel'Thuzad, trying for a glimpse between the Scourge. "Can it fit down this hall?"
"Doubtful. I gave it a couple of chew toys to keep it entertained anyway." Kel'Thuzad cocked his head toward Jaina. "Poor thing deserves a better life than this."
"I don't think it would enjoy Icecrown's climate."
"Well, if it wasn't alive…"
"You already have a pet."
"Kinndy doesn't."
"Uh, no thanks. I don't want a pet that will try to eat me."
"All right everyone! Onward!"
The Scourge led the way.
The near-silence didn't last long. In front of them, Kinndy heard the now-familiar commotion of battle and they broke into a run.
The hall opened into another room with two other entry corridors and one exit. First Kinndy saw the black and gold armour of the Kor'kron.
"How many of them are there?!"
"Too many."
"Oh! There's King Anduin!"
The young King was warded on all sides by his remaining company and a group of orcs wearing scraps of red cloth but they were sorely out-numbered. Mixed into the melee were strange insectoid creatures that Kinndy didn't recognize.
Their group plunged into the fray without hesitation, evening the odds again. Kinndy tried to find a line to hold as they had in the hallway but there were no lines here, only chaos.
Jaina appeared at her side and her shields flashed to life.
"Stay with me!"
"I'm staying!"
Jaina's eyes lit with unholy power. Seconds later, King Anduin and his protectors broke through the reeling wall of battle and joined them. Jaina's shields expanded, threaded with golden light from the King's clenched fists. In ones and twos, their allies staggered through the shield, shepherded by the Scourge, and they added their varied magics to the shield- sparkling, writhing, burning, blooming-
"Now." Jaina's voice raised the hair on the back of Kinndy's neck.
Then she and Kel'Thuzad stepped outside the shield, hand in hand.
Kinndy understood what casting partners were in an academic sense: mages who cast together to achieve results neither would produce alone. What Jaina, Khadgar, and Lor'themar had performed outside the gates of Orgrimmar was parallel casting- their spells supported each other for a common goal. Kinndy had struggled to understand the difference. Surely casting in parallel would produce results none of the involved mages could do alone?
Now she understood.
Pure, unfettered arcane power exploded from Jaina and Kel'Thuzad's clasped hands, momentarily formless, loosed from all bonds of shape or control. It screamed like a living thing set free, seared the stone walls of the room, blinded her, and broke into uncountable colours, a hundred thousand hues splintering in all directions. Then it tightened, sharpened, honed to merciless precision, and struck crackling spears of lightning through flesh and black armour.
The layers of shields began to unfold and Kinndy realized there was nothing left in the room but them. Jaina's support spell was a bright scaffold now, no longer faint, but if she felt any weakness, she didn't show it physically and it certainly didn't hamper her magic.
King Anduin approached Jaina and, after a second of hesitation, pulled her into a laughing embrace.
"Good to see you," he said when he released her.
She patted his cheek. "You too."
In the moments after the spell, everything else seemed mundane- even the High King of the Alliance standing a hands-breadth from Kinndy.
"Where's Khadgar?"
Jaina pointed. "He's in the tunnel still. I felt his magic push back against the spell."
Anduin waved to a human Death Knight. "Thassarian, take a few people and find him."
The Death Knight bowed and hurried away.
"We were ambushed by Kor'kron and those insects. Have you ever seen such a thing?"
"Children of the aqir," said Kel'Thuzad, "but none that I recognize."
An explosion sounded behind them in the tunnels and everyone jumped, readying their weapons. Khadgar, Thassarian, and his group of new friends stumbled out from a cloud of acrid black smoke, coughing and batting away flecks of glowing ash.
"More mechanical horrorth! I've had about enough of them."
He drew up short when he saw Kel'Thuzad.
"Oh wonderful."
The lich squinted at him. "What happened to you?"
"Fabulouth heroicth."
King Anduin's voice rang out. "People of Azeroth!" He turned to address the whole group. "The only way is forward! Together!"
The group consolidated, organized itself- rebellious Orgrimmar citizens, adventurers, Stormwind soldiers, and the Scourge- captained by three mages and King Anduin. It set Kinndy's heart pounding.
"Anyone else feel sort of like… wow!" She fanned herself with one hand.
"Nah, you don't be the only one feelin' that." Zaphine fell into step beside her. "Kinndy, yes?"
"That's me!" She reached up for a quick handshake. "Soffriel says you're a warlock."
"Ha, he's generous. I still got much to learn."
"Me too. I've been Lady Jaina's apprentice for…" She paused. "Five weeks. Hey! We should study together!"
"Your magic an' mine be very different."
"That's actually a good thing. The best way to learn is by teaching someone else to understand. It really makes everything fall into place for me. Is it true you can summon demons?"
Zaphine nodded. "But not me. Not yet."
"Me neither- uh, I don't mean demons. Some mages can summon water elementals. I'm better at fire."
"Maybe we don't be so different after all."
The corridor sloped downward and torches became less frequent. There was something heavy in the air- not magic, not an emotion but something real and palpable. Kinndy's skin crawled.
"There's something here," she whispered.
"I feel it too."
"I don't like this. It's too quiet."
King Anduin signalled a halt. The three mages stood in a triangle with the King in the centre, Jaina and Khadgar flanking him and Kel'Thuzad facing forward into the silent darkness. Right. He's the offense. Khadgar must be a defense mage like Jaina.
"Whatever we face," he said, "we face it together."
Kinndy heard a raspy purr and the sound of air rushing-
"Above us!"
And the room- huge, vaulted, long, more a large corridor really- focus!- became a blur of weapons-
"Oh spirits they're fast-"
"Focus," Kinndy gasped, "take them on one by one-"
As the battle around them escalated to furious bedlam, Kinndy found herself backed against Zaphine. Felfire and shadow magic careened around them both- Zaphine's defenses were like Kel'Thuzad's- they reached and bit, devouring rather than repelling. Okay, I can work with this! All of Kinndy's time spent throwing rocks and fireballs at the lich made sense in the pandemonium: she identified spells of attack and defense, and paid attention to the attacks that came at them, found gaps in other's defense and struck through them with streaks of rippling flame.
Familiar black armour joined the battle-
"Really?! How many of them are there?!"
The onslaught of Kor'Kron drove Kinndy and Zaphine apart. Kinndy slammed her staff against the floor and a mighty ball of fire blasted out from her, pushed the warriors back with heat and concussive force.
She caught glimpses of the warlock between moving bodies. Hands aglow, ducking, dodging, throwing felfire, eyes wide and teeth bared, her skirts and necklaces whipping around her-
"Zaphine!"
Kinndy tried to force her way through the throng to the other woman. She launched another fireball but there were more bodies between her and Zaphine now.
"Kinndy!" It was a shriek of gut-wrenching terror. "Help!"
"Zaphine!" Kinndy whirled, fire trailing from the tip of her staff but it wasn't enough, it burned but it had no force. "Zaphine!" She couldn't push through and the orcs were closing in. Zaphine fell, down on one knee, and struggled back up, flashing fire in her hands. Tears streaked her cheeks.
"Help me- help-"
Kinndy saw a blur of metal connect with Zaphine's temple, her felfire faded, and she reached out one hand, grasping for anything, and then the wall of Kor'Kron closed on her.
"Zaphine!" Kinndy screamed so hard her voice broke.
And then she realized that she was surrounded and alone. Completely surrounded: swords, clubs, ironclad fists- she was cut off from all of her friends- and she was so small. She made a sound she didn't know she could make- a scream that ripped out of her like a roar, harsh and guttural- and she spun in a tight circle. Fire blazed from the tip of her staff, sputtered, burst and turned blue-white- Kinndy still had her mouth open but she couldn't make a sound. She was swallowed by the clamour- weapons, bodies, too many-
Something hit her in the back and she sprawled flat on her face. Her staff bounced away into the swirl of bodies. A hand grabbed her hair-
Suddenly it let go and she was wet, her clothes soggy, hair drooping- She wiped at her face with a sticky hand- it was blood, it was all blood-
A battering wind swept above her and before she could get up, something dove out of the wall of Kor'Kron, grabbed her, somersaulted with her held tight, and she recognized arms wrapped around her, the back of her head smashed against armour, and a body curved over her. She wriggled and thrashed but they held her tight, unrelenting, unmoving. Oh. They weren't hurting her; they were sheltering her.
The world screamed. Kinndy's protector hunched over her and remained frozen, arms squeezed tight.
She managed to crane her neck enough to look forward- between bodies-
A fury of whipping chains, glinting like a whirlwind of tiny knives, slinging blood, slicing- Kel'Thuzad's back, his robes flared on the currents of seething magic, hovering above the ground, and pure blackness spun out from his hands, a pinwheel of shadows on the floor that grasped and stuck to the Kor'Kron and the insectoid things among them.
They melted like living wax, bodies liquified from the boots up, sucked into the spinning void. The magic only sought the living, and now she recognized a Death Knight's armour wrapped around her.
Kinndy grabbed her protector's vambraces with desperate strength and pulled her feet onto their armoured thighs, finding purchase with her heels as the hungry blackness swept by beneath them.
And it was done. Kel'Thuzad's feet touched the floor again and his chains retreated into embroidery. The Death Knight released her. Their eyes locked for a brief moment- it was Kagra. She was gone before Kinndy could thank her, snatching an axe from the puddled Kor'Kron, howling into the fray.
Kinndy's first instinct was to find her staff. She glanced this way and that, looking for the gold and pink amidst sticky red and black. There would be more soldiers. She had to find it fast.
Then she turned and saw Zaphine. Sprawled on her back, entrails slopped over her open belly, her braided belt oddly clean. One arm just missing and her face a smear of anonymous meat that ended three feet away with her tongue beside a hammer.
Something eclipsed her gaze but Zaphine stayed, every detail etched in perfect clarity.
"You're going home now."
Jaina handed Kinndy's staff to her and pushed her through a portal.
She landed on the floor of the laboratory in deafening silence. She sat there, shaking, teeth chattering, covered in blood.
"Kinndy?"
She tried to stand up but she was shaking too hard. She dropped her staff from numb fingers. Soffriel knelt down before her.
"What happened?"
She took a deep breath, held it for two heartbeats, and burst into tears.
Fever stormed through Jaina's veins. Her eyes burned, her muscles ached, and her hands- the only skin she could see- had lost any tint of pink. Even the beds of her nails had gone white.
She was standing because of the support spell and her own words came back to her again and again- this is a siege, you can't spend all of your strength at once. But she had spent too much already, in bits and pieces, and necessary bursts. The rational part of her mind knew that she should withdraw from the battle, yet the primitive, hungry part howled for vengeance- somewhere ahead of them was Garrosh Hellscream and he would pay for every hollow face she recognized in the city above, every name, all of those left alive to be haunted by loss-
She made a compromise: the best help she could give right now was the Scourge. She surrounded Anduin with the most stalwart of them, mixed in with visibly unsettled Stormwind soldiers. She sent the casters to aid Khadgar. Several served as her eyes throughout the melee and her ready guardians.
The rest she pushed ahead. They cut and bludgeoned their way through the Kor'kron, undeterred by swords plunged through them and lost limbs, dispassionate in the face of fire and acid, and so it was the Scourge that broke through the last line of Hellscream's defense.
Jaina gasped. "Thrall!" She raised her unnatural voice and cut through the noise of the Kor'kron's last stand. "Hellscream! You will answer for you crimes! Azeroth comes for you!"
Anything the rebellion had been holding back was now unleashed- magic and blades, teeth and claws, fury, despair, revenge- they threw down the failing Kor'kron and charged as one towards their goal.
Thrall's own voice echoed in the vaulted chamber before them.
"-spirits of the wind, the earth, the water! Hear my call! Come to my aid!"
"Warchief! Silvermoon stands with you!"
"An'she smiles upon us!"
"For the true Warchief!"
"For the Horde! Our Horde!"
And then another voice-
"FOOLS!"
Jaina didn't need the volley of curses hurled after that voice to recognize it: Hellscream.
Kel'Thuzad appeared at her side. His hair was tied back in a blood-streaked ponytail and he was carrying a scythe.
"We have a problem."
"What kind of problem?"
He pointed upwards, toward the distant ceiling. "That."
Jaina squinted. "What is that thing?"
"One of Khadgar's new friends says it's the beating heart of an Old God."
"I'm sorry, it's a what? What- how did he get-? Nevermind." She turned her attention back to the Scourge point of view for a moment. "Yeah. That's a problem."
"Shall we take a closer look?"
"Absolutely."
The heart- and now Jaina could see that it was very much a real, pulsing heart suspended in an iron cage- exuded power. Old power, deep power, the sort of power that went beyond magic, that existed before magic. She felt a tug, a sharp needle of despair, and shoved it away.
"I can't believe I'm saying this but I don't think we should meddle with that thing."
"Too late," said Jaina and pointed. "Hellscream's already meddled."
Purple mist extended from the heart to Hellscream himself, winding around his arms and chest, sinking into his skin. It threaded through his fist and coalesced into a monstrous axe.
"That isn't good."
Whatever strength the heart gave to Hellscream turned him from a formidable warrior to a creature of nightmare. Thrall charged him and Hellscream tossed him across the room with one hand and a laugh. Despite Hellscream's newfound strength and ferocity, the rebellion organized themselves expertly as they descended upon him. Jaina gave the Scourge one command:
Kill him.
The heart glowed above them and the mist continued, swirling through the battle. The streaks of bright black magic that Khadgar called the sha darted among them, striking some of the combatants and Jaina watched them crumple to the ground with each touch. Some of them rose; others curled up; others lay where they fell.
The sha reached for Anduin.
Jaina teleported into the battle just in time to grab him and yank him away from the questing tendril.
You do not have the strength to defeat him.
Jaina stumbled and caught herself against Anduin's back. The voice in her head almost sounded like her own, but she had communicated telepathically with Kel'Thuzad long enough to recognize another mind inside her own.
You are too weak to carry on.
She blinked rapidly, ran a hand through her hair.
"Lady King!"
She looked up at the blood elf paladin- he grabbed her arm and pulled her to her feet. I fell?
You will die when you leave this place.
Kel'Thuzad- this thing is telepathic!
Your cause it hopeless. Your allies will leave you behind.
She clenched her jaw. Get out of my head.
You have already lost.
The battle around her faded; she was standing on the ice at the bottom of the stairs to Icecrown Citadel. The building was crushed. Only the stairs remained, leading to nothing. Panic shook her and she raised a hand to her cheek to feel the slight indentation of a scar and cold flesh. I've dreamed this before.
All of your friends are dead.
The scene became clearer. The sparkle of ice crystals beneath her boots. The colour of the sky; it must be summer. The mangled bodies of everyone she knew- this isn't real, they aren't dead- everyone except-
Damn this thing is persistent! Kel'Thuzad. It got you instead of Anduin.
Good. I'm too weak to be useful. Azeroth needs Anduin.
Your allies will leave you behind.
She could feel Kel'Thuzad's mental presence but he didn't say anything for several seconds. Azeroth needs you too.
The voice was quiet. The ruins of the Citadel were not as convincing as those in her dreams. This looked like a child's sandcastle kicked over by a petulant sibling; the thing in her mind strived to shock her with total crushing destruction but it failed to understand the small details that would hurt her most.
Jaina sneered.
Show me something real.
Jaina! For fel's sake, don't antagonize it!
The pieces of the Citadel reassembled. The bodies vanished. The scene shimmered and Jaina found herself on the deck of a Stormwind ship, making for the red beach of Durotar.
"Where did you come fr- Who are you?"
Jaina turned.
And met her own eyes.
They stared at each other. This other her bore no scars; there was colour in her cheeks and lips; she wore purple and gold robes and carried a staff. Her hair was white with a single blond streak at her hairline.
"You're me," said Jaina. "I'm you."
The other Jaina wore an expression of derision. "Me? You're mad."
Jaina looked around. "This is some sort of mental illusion. The heart in Hellscream's lair is messing about in my mind."
Other Jaina gripped her staff. "What do you know about Hellscream? Who are you?"
"I'm you. I asked the heart to show me something real. This isn't what I expected."
Other Jaina raised her hand and shackles of magic tightened around Jaina's wrists. "Guards! Take this prisoner below decks and find out what she knows!"
The bindings were tight enough to hurt. Jaina shrugged out of them. "I've always wondered what it would be like to duel myself."
Other Jaina hesitated and a blush spread across the bridge of her nose.
"I thought that when I was just a mage. I think it would be madness to duel myself as I am now."
"...who are you?"
"A daughter of Kul Tiras, once a student of the Kirin Tor, once the Lady of Theramore." She paused and examined the expression on her other self. There was pain there, bitter anger, hate- and loneliness. It was buried deep, but Jaina knew herself. She spoke gently. "I defeated Ner'zhul at Light's Hope Chapel. I took Deathwing's left eye on the ramparts of Stormwind. I have two apprentices, and now I join the people of Azeroth to overthrow a tyrant. I am Jaina Proudmoore, the Lich King of Icecrown, and my kingdom is a sanctuary at the top of the world."
Other Jaina gasped. "No-! You're not me-!"
Suddenly Kel'Thuzad was beside her. "We need to get out of here as fast as possible."
"Are you you or are you a figment of my- or the heart's- imagination?"
Kel'Thuzad grabbed his own wrist for a few seconds. "Jaina, I have a pulse."
She reached up and rested two fingers on his throat. "You do."
The colour drained out of his cheeks. "This is my nightmare."
Jaina was quiet for a moment.
Other Jaina took the opportunity to slap magical shackles on Kel'Thuzad. "You're both going to tell me who you are and what you know about Hellscream!"
Kel'Thuzad's eyes widened. "That's you!"
"She doesn't think so."
"Both of you! Silence!" There was magic behind the order but Jaina brushed it off.
"An angrier version of you." He popped the shackles open and examined the broken spellwork. "But less powerful."
"Is that really your nightmare? Being alive?"
He grimaced. "Being mortal."
Other Jaina gestured and Jaina prepared herself for some magic but instead she heard the whistle of an incoming projectile-
-and the solid thunk as the arrow sank into Kel'Thuzad's chest. They both stared at it.
"Ow."
Jaina heard- or sensed- the next arrow and whirled, spread her hands, drawing shields across them both.
"Uh…" Kel'Thuzad sank to the deck, hand pressed to the spreading bloodstain on his robes. "That myth about dying in your dreams-"
All of your friends are dead. There is nothing left of your world.
There is nothing left of you but meat in a cage, used by a selfish man. Shut up.
The ship, the beach, and the other Jaina disappeared into purple smoke.
Jaina sat up with some difficulty. There was a weight on her lap that she ignored for the time being. She was shivering, still feverish, and her wrists ached. All she could see were shapes and colours; sound was muffled.
"Jaina?" She identified one of the shapes as Khadgar leaning over her.
"Ugh. Yes, I'm here." She rubbed her hands over her face. Sound slowly became sharper. "Everything hurts."
The weight in her lap shifted and Kel'Thuzad sat up beside her. His hands flew to his chest and he grabbed at his bloodstained robes.
"Oh thank the Void." He sprawled on his back. "Don't scowl at me like that, Archmage. It makes you look old."
Jaina got to her feet with Khadgar's help. Every movement pushed the support spell to the limits of its power.
"What happened?"
"Hellthcream lotht. King Anduin and the new Warchief handed him over to the pandaren."
"Wait- He lost? I missed it? I missed- Oh for Light's sake! How long was I in there?"
"About twenty minuteth."
"Dammit!" She rubbed her temples. "I have such a headache." Then the rest of his words registered. "What do you mean 'new' Warchief? Is Thrall-?"
Khadgar shook his head. "He'th fine. He pathed the role to Vol'jin."
"And Hellscream isn't dead?"
"Unfortunately, no. The pandaren have him and intend to try him for the crimeth he committed againtht their people. Come. The pandaren fellow invited uth to vithit Pandaria with him for a theremony of thome kind."
Jaina hesitated. Her body screamed for rest. She rubbed her sore wrists. "I should…"
There were lines of reddened skin around her wrists, as though she had been bound.
I have a bizarre question- do you have a hole in your chest where the arrow hit you?
...yes.
"Why not. This day has been strange from dawn to dusk and I would love to see Pandaria."
"Exthellent!"
Jaina's brain was in the final throes of exhaustion and her impressions of Pandaria came in jumbled images: beautiful curved golden roofs; a well of brilliant light and a large cylindrical bell hung by scarlet ropes; a hovering, undulating long dragon made of light; warm air scented with flowers she couldn't identify.
The support spell began to sputter and die, and she remained standing thanks to Kel'Thuzad's arm secured around her waist. She was vaguely aware of their pandaren host asking about her health and assured him that she was only tired from a long fight and would return to wholly appreciate his beautiful continent after some rest.
Before she succumbed to overwhelming fatigue, Jaina stared, mesmerized, at a pandaren ghost, some great old spirit returned to close a chapter of Pandarian history she didn't understand at all.
"Why do we fight?" asked the spirit. "To fight out of fear or anger is to fight a war that never ends. Face your fears. Calm your hatreds. Find peace within yourself so that you may share it with the world around you."
Jaina nodded to the spirit. "I will."
I am Jaina Proudmoore, the Lich King of Icecrown, and my kingdom is a sanctuary at the top of the world.
Then she passed out.
