Chapter 12
MEleeSmasher- After some deliberation, you are correct and I rewritten those anti-Alliance chapter to be…less bashing and for Chief to be less aggressive.
2/10/2020- Rewritten due to criticism.
Garrosh
Pandaria
"Move forward!" Yelled the current Warchief of the Horde, Garrosh Hellscream, as he led his convoy deep into Pandaren lands. Some of the lesser races, aka non-Orcs, grumbled at that, but nonetheless did what they were told, in fear of the repercussion for not following his orders.
Satisfied for now that his soldiers will follow his orders at the moment, Garrosh led the convoy to the heart of the Vale of Eternal Blossoms, where the Shado-Pan were desperately trying to stop him from using the pools of the Vale to revitalize the heart of the Old God Y'Shaarj. If he succeeded, then Azeroth will once again be threatened by the Old Gods. At least spiritually.
To those that know of the Old Gods and their power, using the powers of the Old Gods was a fool's errand. Even though Y'Shaarj was dead, his heart was still powerful enough to corrupt and use lesser minded people to its advantage, even with its weakened state.
But Garrosh, whether through stupidity, arrogance, or a combination of the two, was confident he can use the power for his own gain, which was to have Orcs as the dominant race on Azeroth with the rest of the races either extinct or be subservient to the superior race, and not the gains of a long dead Old God.
Garrosh growled as he and his convoy arrived to the heart of the Vale of Eternal Blossoms. To his annoyance, there were still Shado-Pan fighting his Horde soldiers. Much as Garrosh despised the other races, he couldn't deny that they had some strong warriors. If only some of them were Orcs, his Horde, not Thrall's mockery, would be unstoppable. But enough of that now, the superior race was here and it was time for these Pandaren to witness the superiority of the Orcs.
With a roar, he charged at what few Shado-Pan Pandaren were in his way to acquire ultimate power. Exhausted from fighting his vanguard, the Pandaren could do little as Hellscream cut them all down with his father's weapon, Gorehowl, cutting them all in half or in chunks with his immense strength.
After beheading the last Pandaren, he ordered what free troops he had to lower the bridge. With no objections, a group of Horde soldiers lowered a drawbridge that they brought with them, allowing Garrosh to access the magical pools of the Eternal Blossoms. When they saw this, some Shado-Pan tried to stop them, only to be cut down by Garrosh's soldiers.
With no one to imped their progress, the drawbridge lowered, allowing Garrosh access to the pools that he needed to complete his quest.
Upon taking the first steps, however, a cloud of black smoke appeared before him. Once it dissipated, a Pandaren dressed in black and red clothing took the clouds place. Garrosh knew this Pandaren. This Pandaren was Taran Zhu, leader of the Shado-Pan.
"Enough with your desecrations, Hellscream." Said Taran Zhu. Despite the calmness in his voice, Garrosh can sense the rage and anger that Taran Zhu had for him. For all he's done to his land. "You've been allowed to run rampart for far too long, but all that ends today." Laughing at Taran and his attempt to stop him, Garrosh decided to be merciful.
"Step aside, Pandaren. You face a force beyond reckoning." Said Garrosh, completely confident in the Horde's ability to conquer the world, despite it currently facing a rebellion within its ranks. A rebellion that will soon be squashed. Staying calm, Taran Zhu touched his hat before speaking.
"Your father also dabbled with forces beyond reckoning." Taran Zhu then looked at Garrosh with an expressionless face. "Where is he now?"
Enraged for Taran Zhu mentioning his father as well as mocking him, Garrosh let out a scream of rage before charging at Taran Zhu. Anticipating this, Taran Zhu dodged all of Garrosh's rage filled attacks. After the fifth had Gorehowl stuck in the wooden bridge for a moment, Taran Zhu swung his mace at Garrosh, who caught it mid swing. With Taran's weapon caught, Garrosh tried to headbutt him, but Taran Zhu gathered spiritual energy and pushed him back.
Undeterred by this, Garrosh charged again, this time knocking Taran Zhu out of the bridge and straight into the water surrounding the pools of Eternal Blossoms.
Yet, Taran Zhu jumped back at this literally. With only his toes touching the water, he jumped straight back at Hellscream and upper-cutted him, disorientating Garrosh for a moment. With his opponent confused, Taran Zhu punched and kicked Hellscream with all he had.
"I've fought side by side with the Trolls. The Tauren. And even your Forsaken!" Yelled Taran Zhu as he kept his assault, ignoring the pain in his body as he did so. Much as it pained Taran Zhu to admit, he was still heavily injured from his time at the Thunder Palace, so he wasn't at one hundred percent. Yet, even still he was putting up a fight. "They all have the true values of your Horde! And you lack those values!" Taran Zhu then tried another punch, but Garrosh caught it.
Yelling out in rage, Garrosh headbutted Taran Zhu so hard that his nose broke and blood spilled everywhere. Not done yet, Garrosh grabbed Taran Zhu by the neck and tossed him into the air while he was disoriented. As Taran Zhu fell to the ground, Garrosh brought up Gorehowl and impaled Taran Zhu with it.
Coughing up blood, Taran Zhu looked at Garrosh, realizing he lost.
"Everyone will hear of this recent transgression." Said Taran Zhu, still holding on. "They will all come for your head." Laughing at Taran Zhu's attempt to scare him, Garrosh tossed him forward, toward the main pool of magical water that Garrosh needed for his plans.
"I'm counting on that, Pandaren." Said Garrosh, eager to have more bloodshed. "And when they come, they'll all die. By my true Horde. And with this." Garrosh then looked at the massive chest, which was hauled towards him after the fight, that contained his trump card. Opening it, Garrosh revealed the heart of Y'Shaarj. Upon seeing it, Taran Zhu can feel the power and darkness emitting from the heart. It was faint, but it felt so similar to the Sha, manifestations of negative emotions. Widening his eyes at what Garrosh intends to do, Taran Zhu tried to get up, but failed.
"If you do this Hellscream, the world will be destroyed long before you can rule it." Said Taran Zhu, silently hopping that Hellscream wasn't doing what he thought he was doing. In response, Garrosh laughed.
"You underestimate my will, welp. This heart will submit to me. Just as the entire world will!" With that Garrosh pushed the chest into the main well, submersing the heart of the Old God with the magical properties of the Eternal Blossoms. Almost immediately, the pools shot out black and white energy, flooding the entire valley with dark energy. As it did so, Garrosh laughed out in satisfaction as the heart of Y'Shaarj was being restored.
Chief
Pelican
Master Chief was currently piloting a Pelican dropship to the land known as Pandaria when he saw a massive black and white pillar shot out from Pandaria. Shocked, Chief asked Cortana what was that and if the others were alright.
"I don't know Chief, but you better get there quick. That one-eyed elf said its urgent and he isn't the joking type." Said Cortana, fully serious and trying to figure out what that was. "I'll try to figure it out. You just get there and help those furry pandas out." Nodding, Chief stepped on the gas and flew even faster to Pandaria, not caring if he was spotted or not.
Lor'themar and Team Sigma
"Oh no, that madman actually did it!" Yelled Lor'themar as he widened his one eye in shock at seeing a massive black and white pillar shot out from deep within Pandaria. Team Sigma, meanwhile, looked on in horror and shock as the pillar continued to get even higher. Even Ikit was slightly afraid for what was to come now that this Old God had returned, at least partially.
"Well, shit. We got a lot of work to do. Mainly killing a giant monster that came straight out of Lovecraftian novels." Said Jack as everyone looked at the pillar, scared of what was to come.
Alliance main base
"What is going on!?" Demanded Varian as he saw the black and white pillar from the Alliance base in Pandaria. He had just arrived from visiting his wounded son, who had been injured in an attempt to stop Garrosh from using the bell he stole from Darnassus to create some super soldiers. They succeeded, but his son, Anduin Wrynn was injured in the attempt. Prophet Velen was currently healing Anduin his wounds at the moment. Although Velen claimed that Anduin will fully heal, Varian still worried for his son as any father would for his child.
Seeing Anduin so injured made Varian want to kill Garrosh, who was responsible for injuring his son so gravely. He already despised Garrosh for all the Alliance lives he's killed in this war, but now this was personal. He's going to kill Garrosh himself if he had to, which may actually happen as they've crossed paths a few times already in this war, with each conflict interrupted by one event or another, something that frustrated both leaders. One day, though, they'll be able to fight uncontested with each other and Varian will be able to finally rid the world of that Orc filth once and for all.
But for now, he had more pressing matter, like what the heck that black pillar in the sky was.
Looking over to an officer, Varian demanded if any of their outposts were under attack or if their spies were able to discern what was happening.
"We have nothing, sir. None of our outposts are being attacked by the Horde." Said the officer. "As for our spies, they have nothing. Even Shandris Feathermoon and her group haven't found anything, though we haven't been contacted them for some time." Varian was unhappy with that answer. Looking back at the pillar, Varian suspected that this was the Horde's doing and Garrosh was behind this.
"Ready our troops." Ordered Varian. "Even if the Horde is not responsible for this, we have to be ready for anything."
Chief
As Cortana landed the Pelican in Lor'themar's base, Chief waited in the cargo bay until it was safe enough for him to drop off from the ship. Once it was, Chief quickly got off the Pelican and landed on his feet in the middle of the camp. The Blood elves around him were shocked at how he landed so safely as well as the large flying machine in the air above them. Ignoring them, Chief went to Lor'themar, who was walking towards with him the rest of Chief's team.
"Its about time that your arrived, human." Said Lor'themar, looking at Master Chief with exasperation. "We have little time, so I'll make this brief. Garrosh has uncovered an artifact of terrible power and influence. One that can bring the destruction of Azeroth." Saying nothing, Chief looked at his team, who nodded.
"To make a long story short, big dumb Orc uncovered a piece of some ancient deity." Said High Elf Archer, hiding just how scared she was with what Garrosh uncovered. "If said piece gets more power, he could use it to rule the world in his image. That's all we can give without giving Garrosh more time to escape. So let's go and kill him before he could use it to his own ends!"
Still kept in the dark, Chief nonetheless agreed with them. If this piece was as powerful as High Elf claimed it was, then they needed to kill Garrosh before he could use this piece.
"Where is he heading?" Asked Chief, looking at Lor'themar.
"Now that he's powered the artifact, he's going to Orgrimmar. That means he's going to our docks. That would be your best time to strike and take out both the artifact and Garrosh as well." Said Lor'themar. "I'm evacuating my people from the docks, so they won't get caught in the crossfire. I would tell the others, but I can't risk Garrosh finding out what really is going on."
"So, you're going to let the other Horde races there to die?" Asked Jack. Although he knew that they needed to stop Garrosh, it felt wrong to kill a bunch of people that disagreed with Garrosh and his antics simply because they were caught in the crossfire.
"I have no choice." Said Lor'themar as he held his head with one hand. "If I tell my people to warn the others to leave the docks, Garrosh will be suspicious. He might even use the artifact if he deems it necessary. Besides, you don't need to take out the entire docks. Just Garrosh and his dark prize."
"Agreed." Said Chief. "A simple fighter can launch a precision strike on Garrosh and his prize. Even if it can't kill this artifact, we can still kill Garrosh with a missile."
"So, we just wait until he's there and fire a missile on him?" Asked High Elf Archer, knowing the power of the missiles they had.
"Yes, we just need to confirm he's there." Said Chief. "After that, a missile is sent and Garrosh dies. A few may be caught in the blast, but they'll be necessary if we can stop that Orc." Lor'themar sighed at that, knowing that Chief was right.
"Alright, do what you have to do to stop Garrosh." Said Lor'themar. "I'll see to fixing the mess that he made."
"Once he's dead or deposed, who's going to be your leader after this?" Asked Courier before Lor'themar could leave. Sighing again, Lor'themar spoke.
"To be frank, I have no idea. Could be Sylvanas. Could be Baine. Could even be me. All I know is, it'll be up to all the remaining Horde leaders to decide who will be Warchief after Garrosh dies." Explained Lor'themar.
"So, they could continue the war if they so want?" Asked High Elf. Lor'themar nodded. "Great. Just great."
"Who wants peace and who wants war?" Asked Courier, wanting to know their chances of this war continuing.
"From the top of my head, only Sylvanas would want a continuation of the war. She hates the Alliance and see them as a threat to her Forsaken, but other than her, I can't really see the other leaders wanting a continuation of the war. Maybe Saurfang, but he hates what Garrosh has done to the Horde."
"So we just need to stop Sylvanas from taking command." Said Chief. Lor'themar, however, shook his head.
"I doubt it. While a capable commander, Sylvanas isn't well liked by the other Horde leaders, only tolerated. I sincerely doubt that they'll fought her in place of Garrosh, especially if there is a chance of peace between us and the Alliance."
"So, we just need to convince the Alliance to extend an offer of a ceasefire and the war will end?" Asked Jack.
"Most likely." Said Lor'themar, putting a hand on his chin. "But it'll have to be a reasonable one. Though I can understand the Alliance's wants for reparation, especially since we technically started the war, it'll have to be lenient. Otherwise, the others will push for war. Baine will protest, but its just him and mine." Everyone sighed at that.
"Any way to convince them to offer a fair ceasefire and treaty then?" Asked Jack, looking at everyone. Lor'themar just shook his head sadly, not knowing what they could do. Chief looked at Courier and High elf. Out of them all, they were the best situated in figuring out what to do in this situation as they both have the most experience in politics.
"Well, I don't know if this will work, but what if we let them know of the rebellion. There is a Horde rebellion, right?" Asked High Elf Archer. Lor'themar nodded.
"Yes, my spies have informed me of it. Vol'jin is building a strong rebellion from Horde traditionalists. He wants to depose Garrosh and return the Horde to what it once was." Said Lor'themar, hoping that Vol'jin will succeed in his endeavors. Garrosh has been Horde leader for far too long.
"So, maybe by telling them about the rebellion and offering them a sort of military alliance, they'll see that not everyone in the Horde is bad. Offer to take the brunt of the fighting in exchange for more lenient terms." Said High Elf Archer. Lor'themar contemplated at that.
"That…could work." Said Lor'themar in thought. "But we don't have a representative of the rebellion to make such a thing. Plus, the time it would take to contact the rebellion and inform them of this idea, will take too long. By the time we got a responsive, the Alliance would have besieged Orgrimmar."
"Not really. You can make the offer." Said Courier. Lor'themar widened his eye and looked at Courier. "Look, I know that you don't want to take risks unless it benefits your people, but sometimes you need to take risks in order to gain greater rewards. And this is one of those times. Trust us Lor'themar. This can work."
"Actually, it has a seventy percent chance of working." Whispered Cortana to Chief as Courier continued his speech to Lor'themar. "It'll increase to eighty-five if the Alliance sees the rebellion fighting against Garrosh's forces."
"Will this Vol'jin be alright with this?" Asked Chief. "Sending his people to die."
"Well, considering what we know of Troll's and their way of life, he'll probably be fine with it. If anything, he'll want his rebellion in the thick of it, to show the world that the true Horde isn't Garrosh's Horde." Explained Cortana. Chief hummed at that before looking at Lor'themar sighing.
"Well, alright. Can't believe I'm doing this, but I'll send word to Baine and Vol'jin. They can expect the Blood elves to side with them in their rebellion. I'll also be telling them of the offer I gave to the Alliance. They'll be fine with us taking the brunt of the fighting, but you'll need to return back to me so we can discuss an attack on Orgrimmar. You're help will be invaluable in limiting our casualties."
"You'll have it if you do your best in ending this war, Lor'themar." Said Chief, looking at Lor'themar.
"Don't worry of that, I want this war to end as much as you all. Especially if Garrosh has a piece of an Old God." Said Lor'themar before motioning them to leave, which they did, running toward the Pelican that brought Chief.
"So, uh, what are we going to do once this war ends? I'm not going to side with either faction." Said High Elf as the Pelican took off. "I come from a different world and my people have nothing to do with either the Horde and Alliance."
"Same." Said Jack. "Though I'm inclined to the Alliance, I'm a Militia man first and foremost."
"Skaven Empire!" Yelled Ikit as he giggled to himself madly.
"Talk after this?" Asked Courier as he watched Chief get in the cockpit.
"Indeed." Said Chief, knowing that they'll have to discuss about their allegiance further. But for now, they got an Orc to stop.
"Tell me about this artifact that Garrosh uncovered." Said Chief, needing all the information they had so he could come up with a battle plan should their initial plan fail.
Garrosh
Meanwhile
"Load it up!" Yelled Garrosh impatiently as the heart of Y'Shaarj was being loaded onto his ship. Even from his position, at the base of the docks, he can feel the power of the heart as it pulsated strongly. Grinning, Garrosh imagined all the glory he can obtain with this heart. With it, he can finally realize his dream of a strong Horde that doesn't bow down to the Alliance nor make negotiations with them. The races of the Alliance will be his slaves and they'll finally acknowledge who was the better faction.
Once it was loaded up on his ship, he looked towards the overall commander of the Pandaria expedition, an Orc, just as how it should be.
"Keep fighting the Alliance." Said Garrosh. "Even with this great power, we should let them fear our strength without it." He then glared at his commander with a savage smile. "Make them bleed." The Orc commander nodded, swearing that he'll ensure that the Alliance will lose many lives in Pandaria before taking off. Chuckling in satisfaction, Garrosh was about to go to his ship when his warrior instincts went up.
Grabbing a nearby Blood elf, he raised them up to defend himself. Just in time too as a trio of arrows impacted his shield, hitting her in the forehead, throat, and chest. Growling in rage, Garrosh threw his makeshift shield down and looked to see a group of Nightelves coming out of the forest nearby. Wondering how so many elves managed to get here, this deep in his territory, Garrosh rallied his men.
"We have Alliance filth near our docks!" Yelled Garrosh, pointing at the Alliance forces charging at them under the cover of arrow fire, taking out a few of his men. "Kill them all!" With a roar, his Orcs charged at the Nightelves while the rest gathered their weapons and readied for battle.
Garrosh, meanwhile, was in the forefront of the charge. Seeing the charge coming at them, the Nightelves dispersed, causing the Orcs to spread out and fight the elves individually, something both sides were trained for.
Trying to slice an elf in two, Garrosh yelled out in frustration as his elf opponent gracefully dodged his strike before striking him with her sword. Blocking the elf's strikes with his axe, he then let out a massive scream.
True to his last name, his scream was like hell to those that heard it as with the case with the Nightelf as she held her ears in pain, dropping her sword to do so. Even still, it wasn't enough as she could still hear Garrosh's painful scream. Any longer and she would die.
Fortunately, that was not meant to be as Garrosh was suddenly kicked in throat by another Nightelf, who managed to endure Garrosh's scream long enough for her to kick him in the throat.
Having been kicked in the throat, Garrosh's free hand went up to his throat as he stopped screaming. Glaring at the one that hit him, he saw that it was another female Nightelf, dressed in the standard ranger outfit for Nightelf rangers, baring a helmet that covered her head.
Despite her looking like any other ranger, Garrosh recognized her as Shandris Feathermoon, the general of the Nightelf's Sentinel army and leader of the cadre of Sentinels called the Shadowleaves.
"Your insanity ends here!" Yelled Shandris as she drew her sword. "Do you have any idea what you're doing!? The powers of an Old God cannot be controlled by any mortal being! You'll doom Azeroth with your meddling!"
"I'm saving Azeroth!" Yelled Garrosh as he fully recovered and began to swing his axe towards Shandris, who led him away from her injured sister. "I'm saving the planet from the weak and foolish ways of the Alliance! You Alliance whelps protect the weak, nurture them, allow them to be parasites that weaken your races. If you were in the Horde, you would be expunged immediately! Only the strong have a place to live in this world! And only the Orcs are strong enough to do what is necessary for our survival!"
"Then you're a fool!" Yelled Shandris as she dodged an attack from Garrosh. "Tyrande had saved me from the demons that invaded this world so long ago, nurtured me when I was just a little girl and eventually became my mother. And now I'm the general for the Night Elf Sentinels. Even the weak can become strong, Orc! Something that you seem unable to understand!" Upon dodging another attack, she tried to slash at Garrosh's throat, only for the Orc to grab her and fling her like a ragdoll across the harbor, straight into an Orc that tried to bludgeon one of her sisters to death after he tackled her to the ground. Hitting the back of the Orc's head with her back, Shandris quickly recovered after landing on the ground. She then sliced the Orc's throat as he turned around before helping her sister up.
Before she could ask her sister if she was alright, their senses kicked in and the two immediately dodged as Garrosh charged at them, Gorehowl up in the air. Seeing that his eyes her on Shandris, the other Nightelf tried to attack Garrosh while he was distracted, only for Garrosh to swipe and take her head off, having sensed the elf behind him.
Growling, Shandris attempted to create some distance between her and Garrosh only for to grab her and slammed her to the ground. He then lifted her up and proceeded to slam her to the ground again before grabbing her throat and attempting to crush it.
Gasping for air, Shandris tried to keep calm as Garrosh squeezed her throat. Just before he was about to crush it, Shandris managed to lift the arm that held her sword and slashed Garrosh's left eye with it, destroying it. Yelling out in pain, Garrosh let go of Shandris's neck to hold his eye, trying to stem the blood that came gushing out, some of which landed on Shandris.
Ignoring the blood that landed on her, Shandris got up and shuffled away from Garrosh as he recovered, glaring at her in hatred.
"Coward!" Yelled Garrosh as he held Gorehowl with one hand while the other held his destroyed eye. "You dare attack me with such a cowardly attack!?"
"I dare!" Yelled Shandris as she got ready for another fight with the Warchief. "You have committed unspeakable horrors to the innocent and Azeroth itself! You don't deserve the honor you so crave! You deserve nothing but death!" With that, she readied herself for another go with Garrosh, who roared at her before charging, uncaring of his bleeding eye.
Before either could attack, however, they were interrupted by a loud screech that came from the sea. The screech was so loud that it caused everyone to stop and look at the ocean. To their shock, serpent like people were coming out of the ocean along with fish-like people and giant turtles.
Some of the serpent people were almost dragonlike with everything above the waist being like that of a dragon, roaring out in anger as they raised their weapons in the air, eager for blood, their tails swishing in the water as they charged. The others serpent people were more female like, with slender upper bodies and faces. Some of these had four arms and held staffs. Others had bows in their arms.
While many didn't know what these beings were, the Night elves knew and were in shock that the Naga, former Night elves, were here in Pandaria.
"Why are the Naga here?" Thought Shandris as she saw the offshoot of her species came at both Horde and Alliance forces and began hacking them apart.
While she was a soldier in the Nightelf army, she knew about the history of the Naga, how they came to be and how they were responsible for the fall of the Nightelf empire. Being the adopted daughter of Tyrande Whisperwind, she had to know such things.
The Naga, as said before, were former Night elves. Specifically, Highborne Night elves, the upper class of the ancient Night elf empire. Back then, in a better time, the Highborne were the reason why the Night elf empire fell. Their tampering with the Well of Eternity, a lake of limitless arcane energy and power, had caused the Burning legion, a numberless army of demons and corrupted races, to invade Azeroth ten thousand years ago. And though countless died to stop the Burning legion and to wipe their taint from Azeroth, they weren't completely wiped out. A 2nd invasion attempt by the Burning legion some time ago, proved that they were still strong and if they returned, then the forces of Azeroth might not prevail like the last two times, especially if the Alliance and Horde continue to fight one another.
As for the Highborne, those that were loyal to Azshara, the queen of the Night elf empire, had gathered in the great city of Zin-Azshari and so buried in the ocean when the Great Sundering occurred, a disastrous event that occurred when the Well of Eternity exploded when Malfurion Stormrage, her adopted father, severed the connection between the Legion, who were using the well to transport their forces from their realm to Azeroth, and Azeroth.
The consequences of that event were still in the minds of the Night elves that had fought in the war against the Burning legion as the event tore the continent Kalimdor apart, turning it into the landmasses it was today. Those Highborne that weren't in Zin-Azshari became the High Elves, exiled from their fellow Night elves because of what Azshara had done, who would later become the Blood elves in recent times.
And though many thought Azshara had died along with her loyal followers when Zin-Azshari sunk deep into the ocean, recent events had proven those thoughts to be wrong as it was revealed to all that Azshara had struck a pact with an Old God, an ancient deity that predated the Night elf empire. Of what little they knew of the Naga, Azshara had agreed to become a servant to the Old God in exchange for him to save her and her Highborne.
And since the Naga were real beings, everyone can guess correctly that the Old God had saved the Highborne, using his great power to transform them into the Naga, a people that very rarely come to the surface.
The only times they did so was because it benefitted them to do so or if their master had commanded it. One occasion was the Cataclysm, where they wrecked havoc on the southern Darkshores in Kalimdor with Azshara herself leading the attack.
Why they were here in Pandaria confused some, but Shandris believed that they were here for the Old God's heart.
"Their master must want it." Thought Shandris as she saw the Naga and their subservient slaves, the Mur'gul and dragon turtles, surround the ship that must have had the Old God's heart, furthering Shandris's belief that they're after the fallen Old God's heart.
Not wanting their master to have even more power, in fear of him being able to free himself from his bindings, she ordered her troops to regroup and stop the Naga. Upon hearing that, the surviving Night elves retreated from the Horde troops, uncaring that the Naga descended upon the exhausted and wounded Horde troops, cutting them down as a result. When most had regrouped Shandris ordered them to take the Naga afar, prioritizing their spellcasters.
Agreeing to her orders, her soldiers aimed their bows at the Naga and let loose volleys of arrows. The Naga, whose tough hides protected them from the arrows, roared or hissed as the arrows found small chicks in their hides. The leader, a female spellcaster, spoke in Night elf, pointing at the Night elf force.
Obeying their leader, some of the male Naga and their Mur'gul slaves charged at the Night elves, the fishlike Mur'gul leading the charge.
Letting loose another volley, the Mur'gul died in droves as arrow pierced their heads and entered their brains. But no matter how many died, more came from the sea to replace them. Eventually, the night elves had to retreat less they be overrun.
Just as they were about to leave, a massive tidal wave came up from the sea and began to swiftly come at everyone on the shores. Widening her eyes in shock, Shandris couldn't even speak before the tidal wave came upon everyone.
The Naga forces, who were used to the ocean floor, weren't affected by the slightest the sudden tidal wave, but the Horde and Alliance forces weren't, so they either drowned from the sudden water attack or were crushed by its immense pressure. When the wave died down, the Naga could see that a few survived, including Shandris and Garrosh Hellscream surprisingly.
Not wanting to waste an opportunity like this go to waste, the Naga quickly began to slaughter the weakened forces of the land, not caring about their personal honor. Honor meant little in war. To the Naga. all that mattered was winning.
As the Naga executed her forces, Shandris tried to get up, only for a Naga male, at least she thought it was male, to grab her by the throat and bring her up to it's face. Around it were several Mur'gul slaves, all looking at her with hunger in their eyes.
Glaring at Shandris, the Naga was about to tear her face off with its powerful mouth when it suddenly stopped. Looking at the ocean, it bowed its head as something came out. That something turned out to be a Naga, larger than the ones before.
This Naga was a mix of dark and light blue that somehow complemented each other well. Her lower end was a mass of tentacles, swishing and writhing as they touched the wet sand of the docks. Her upper body had a bountiful chest, but Shandris didn't focus on that, she focused on the orange glow of this Naga's eyes. Though they were quite beautiful, within them Shandris could see evil and arrogance within them. The same arrogance that had destroyed the Night elf empire.
As the large Naga made its way to Shandris, the Naga holding her let go and bowed down to the approaching Naga. Though she had a chance to escape, Shandris knew that escape wouldn't be possible, not when there were so many Naga here. As she looked at the large Naga approaching her, the Night elf could sense that this Naga was, somehow, familiar to her. That she should know its name. As Shandris tried to rack her mind of who this Naga could be, the Naga in question touched her chin with one of its hands, forcing her to look at it.
"Well, well." Said the Naga as she looked at Shandris, speaking in a lovely, but filled with arrogance, tone. "If I'm not mistaken, and if my informants haven't been misled, you're the leader of the Night elf military. If only that helmet is gone so I can confirm." With that, one of the Naga's tentacles shoot out and grabbed Shandris's helmet, ripping it off her head, revealing her blue hair and light purple complexion. Upon seeing her features, the Naga with tentacles chuckles.
"Now I'm certain." Said the Naga as she smiled at Shandris, the smile promising much pain and suffering for her. "You're the adopted daughter of Malfurion Stormrage and that whore Tyrande. They both caused so much trouble for me in the past, both before and after the collapse of my empire." Upon hearing that, Shandris widened her eyes in shock. Now realizing who it was that she was facing. Upon seeing the shocked reaction, the Naga chuckled.
"It certainly took you awhile to figure out who I am." Said the Naga as she let go of Shandris and clutching the staff in one of its hands hard. "I may look far different to what I used to be, but I figured my prowess with the Arcane arts was enough for my former people to recognize me. Either they've gotten dumber or they wish to forget about me." The Naga smirked before tentacles grabbed Shandris by the throat and began to tighten their grip. Gasping, Shandris clawed at the tentacles as she was lifted off the ground.
"Just in case its both, I'll tell you my name." Said the Naga as she shuffled towards Shandris, who was struggling to break free of the Naga's hold on her. "Its Azshara, the queen of the now destroyed Night elf empire." Touching Shandris's face with one of her carefully manicured fingernails, that had been sharpened to be like claws, she swiped at her cheek, drawing blue blood. Inspecting the blood on her nails, Azshara was about to be done with Shandris and snap her neck when she heard a large roar.
"Release me!" Yelled Garrosh as he struggled to be free of the magical chains that bound him in place. Around him, were various Naga, all either without their heads or had them bashed in from headbutts. Intrigued, Azshara floated over to Garrosh, bringing Shandris with her. Chuckling as she stroked her chin, Azshara was somewhat amused as Garrosh struggled to attack her when he spotted her.
"This is the current war chief of the so-called Horde?" Asked Azshara mockingly as she looked at Garrosh's impressive, but to meaty for her tastes, figure. "An overweight, meathead that can't stop yelling?" She then looked at Shandris, seeing her go even paler due to the lack of Oxygen. Rolling her eyes, she mumbled about the new generation of Night elves being too soft before loosening her grip on Shandris's throat, allowing her to breath again. "How your Alliance haven't been able to defeat him is beyond me. Perhaps you're both weaker than I thought."
"The Horde is not weak!" Yelled Garrosh as he resumed his struggles to be free. "Release me and I'll show you who is the weakest here!" Placing both hands where her ears used to be, Azshara spoke again at Garrosh.
"Let's add loudmouth to that list of aliases about you." Said Azshara before, with a flick of her wrist, she placed an arcane construct over Garrosh's mouth, preventing him from speaking. As Garrosh tried to remove the construct, Azshara sighed. "I don't know why he wants you alive, the amount of damage that you already done should be enough for war between your fractions to continue, but he thinks you're still worth something, so I'll spare your pitiful existence. I'll even be generous and teleport you back to that dreadful place you call a home. What was it called? Orgrimbar or something?" As Garrosh glared at Azshara with untold hate, Azshara turned to her Naga spellcasters and instructed them to teleport Garrosh back Orgrimmar. They did so and teleported themselves and Garrosh away.
With the loudmouth away, Azshara turned to another Naga, a male.
"Find the heart of Y'Shaarj. Bring it to the depths of the ocean. Our master," She spat out the last word with disdain. "Will want it delivered to his doorsteps, to ensure it's not a fake. Anything you find, is yours to take." The Naga roared before slithering towards the Horde ship, where other Naga were already ransacking the ship for the heart. With all her objectives secured, Azshara looked at Shandris, who had finished recovering.
"Took you long enough." Said Azshara. "The new generation must be weak if it took this long to recover from a simple strangle." She then laughed. "Now, since I don't have any restrictions placed on you, I think its time for me to…cause some pain to Malfurion and Tyrande by stripping them of their beloved daughter." With that Azshara tightened her grip on Shandris's throat, doing so ever so slowly so as to give Shandris excruciating pain until she died. Smirking maliciously, Azshara reveled in Shandris's struggles as she fought a losing battle to survive.
Just as she had her fill and about to snap Shandris's neck, a loud crack peppered the air and soon, the tentacle that held Shandris was shot clean off from Azshara, who screamed in pain at the sudden attack.
Azshara then put up a shield as she looked around, wondering where that came from. She didn't have enough time to guess when suddenly a large flying machine in the shape of a bird came and began to open fire on her Naga, keeping just enough distance to prevent them from effectively casting spells on it, but not of Azshara. While it focused it fire on her Naga, Azshara readied a bolt of Arcane energy. When it was sufficiently charged, she released the shield and fired a bolt of Arcane energy at the flying machine. The bolt was so powerful that it tore off the wing that it hit, sending it flying away towards the inland. Without that wing, the flying machine went into an uncontrollable spin and soon crashed into the sandy beach.
Scoffing at the crashed flying machine, Azshara yelled at her remaining forces to retreat, to take the boat with them. With that order, every one of her forces quickly heading to the sea with Azshara casting a spell to take the boat with her. Glaring at the flying machine, she wondered to herself why her master wanted the ones responsible to keep breathing.
"He better have a good reason." Thought Azshara looking at her bleeding tentacle limp before submerging into the water, taking the boat with her.
"No." Said Shandris, her voice hoarse from the strangling that she endured from Azshara earlier, as she saw Azshara take the boat containing Y'Shaarj's heart. This was beyond bad. If the heart was restored to even a fraction of its power and another Old God used it to free itself, then Azeroth will face a being that it may not have any hope to defeat.
Getting up, she looked at the flying machine that saved her, shocked beyond belief at its firepower and how its so different from the Gnomes and Dwarves mechanical vehicles. As she was looking at the machine, she saw another, more humanoid machine, go straight towards the flying machine with, to her shock, an elf with green hair.
As she watched them go near the flying machine, she stepped forward, cautiously going towards them. Just because they fought Azshara, didn't mean they were friends with the Alliance. As she approached, she heard some sighs of relief thanks to her long ears.
"Thank god you're all okay." Said a feminine voice. "That magic was…"
"I know." Said a masculine voice, disoriented a bit from something. "I knew magic was powerful, but goddamn."
"You-you seen nothing!" Yelled another masculine voice, this one completely fine to understand. "This magic weak-weak to Skaven magic! You watch-watch!"
"Somehow I doubt that." Said a third masculine voice, whose voice was just as disoriented as the first. Before an argument could be started, a fourth masculine voice spoke, this was quick and to the point.
"Enough. We got company." Said the voice before revealing itself to the machine that Shandris had spotted before. With him was an elf, two humanoid beings in armor, and, to her surprise, a giant rat in armor.
Seeing them all, Shandris was on guard when the machine spoke.
"Its alright, we're friends." Said the machine, who was the tallest out of them all, as it raised its hands in the air, far from the weapons on its back and thighs.
"Yeah, what he said." Said the elf as looked at Shandris with curiosity befitting a child. "We're not going to harm you."
"Yeah some fools-fools want to join a side in this battle-war." Said the rat, growling to himself, looking at the corpses around them with hunger.
"Yeah, before my friend goes crazy, let's get you out of here. Horde forces are going to be here any seconds and I don't want to fight an entire army out in the open." Said the humanoid with a brown trench coat. His compatriots nodded in agreement before the machine man walked inside the ship. His companions, meanwhile, looked at Shandris.
"You can come with us, if you want." Said the last one with a glowing blue visor. "If you don't want to, I don't blame you, but it'd be better for us all if we work together. At least until we get you to Alliance grounds."
Upon hearing that, Shandris looked all around her, seeing the dead bodies of her sisters, the Horde, and Naga. She then looked at her unkempt appearance. Much as she wanted to deny their help, she knew that she needed them.
Her remaining arrows and bow along with her sword were lost when the tidal wave hit. And she suspected the same can be said for her sister's weapons as well. Unarmed and weakened, she stood no chance of surviving and warning Tyrande and the Alliance of what happened, of Azshara. So, much as she wanted to deny them, she agreed.
"Get me to an Alliance camp safely and you'll be friends with the Night elves." Said Shandris, knowing that it would be true. Tyrande cared deeply for her and she would be eternally grateful to those that saved her daughter from certain death.
"Done." Said the machine man as she left the flying machine. "We got to go. I set the engines to explode, leaving nothing for anyone to scavenge from it. But we got to go now, lest we get caught in the blast." With that, he urged everyone to run towards inland as quickly as possible. Not wasting time, everyone ran towards inland, trying to escape the blast. For a splint second, Shandris tripped and fell to the ground, but was quickly scooped up by the machine man and ran with her in her arms. Blushing a bit, Shandris was about to tell him that it was unnecessary when a massive explosion took her breath away, sending shockwaves toward them. The elf yelped as she was forced off her feet and to the ground. The rat laughed as he looked at the explosion, finding it pretty.
As the elf got back up, she ruffled her hair of dirt.
"Think we should leave quietly." Said the elf. "That was not quiet."
"Agreed." Said the man with a blue visor. "Stick to the trees and don't separate. We need to stick together if we want to survive." Everyone nodded as the machine man let go of Shandris and escorted everyone from the front, being as quiet as possible.
As she followed, Shandris wondered if she made a grave mistake trusting them.
Meanwhile
Azshara
In the deep ocean floor, Azshara was floating towards a massive facility. This facility was massive, even the tiniest of mechanism was the size of a human male. On pillars were chains that were all directed towards a deep abyss that the facility was above, keeping something contain.
Swimming to the stop of the facility, Azshara waited on the edges of the facility for her master. Waiting for a minute, Azshara was impatiently waiting for her master when a massive dark orange eye appeared for the deep abyss and several shadow tendrils began to move toward Azshara. Unimpressed, Azshara waited for the tendrils to form into a mass of shadows. Within that mass of shadows came a bright orange eye. Once it formed, Azshara spoke.
"I've acquired the heart of Y'Shaarj, for you master." Said Azshara before snapping her fingers and the heart of the Old God appeared next to her, pulsing with power. Upon seeing it, the eye spoke via telepathy.
"Eons ago, you were the most powerful of us." Said the eye as shadow tendrils went out of the mass of shadows and grasped the heart, pushing it towards the abyss, where more tendrils took it and dragged it deeper into the ocean. "Controlling what you wanted and forcing us to obey your will. Now, all that remains is but a piece of you. One that will secure my accession to power." Azshara, knowing what her master was speaking about, spoke.
"Now that you have your heart, N'Zoth, mind answering my question why you want those beings spare along with that headstrong Warchief? They're inconsequential to our plans. We can easily achieve our goals without them." Said Azshara. Turning it eye toward Azshara, the Old God spoke.
"Everything will be revealed in time. To reveal now will jeopardize our plans." Said N'Zoth. "Fret not, my queen. Everything will come into play and we shall rule Azeroth together." With that, the eye of N'Zoth faded away, leaving Azshara alone.
"Rule together?" Asked Azshara before scoffing. "I think not. I intend to rule alone." With that Azshara swam away, towards her underwater capital city. Unbeknownst to her, however, N'Zoth knew that Azshara intended to betray him, it's in her nature, and will be ready when she strikes her hand.
"All will be mine." Said N'Zoth before planning his next moves.