Chapter 7 - The siege of Gilneas
His little flashback was suddenly interrupted by Genn Greymane's piercing yell from far below. "CANNONS READY!" Underneath him, Dalrus saw the soldiers scramble to load the ammunition into the cannons. The horde was much closer now, and it simply spread all the way up to the hills like a moving sea. His jaw hung open. More and more, infinitely, they just poured out from over the hills to the east. There was simply no limit to them. "TAKE AIM!" Another yell, and Dalrus could see the men shifting the cannons some. "FIRE!" The final order came. The soldiers brought a lighted fuse down upon the cannons, and with a deafening blast, their deadly projectiles were launched.
Thanks to his keen eyes, Dalrus could actually see the black balls of iron flying through the air at incredible speeds and blasting into the ground. He saw the undead be sent flying, most of them blasted to bits, others mortally dismembered, with dirty craters left behind from the blasts. All over that endless army of the Scourge were similar explosions occurring, creating big holes in the undead ranks. But as soon as those holes were created, the undead behind them would simply scamper forward to take their place, and still they poured from over the hills, never ending, not even flinching as dozens, maybe hundreds of their ranks got blown to bits right before their eyes.
"AGAIN! RELOAD, AND FIRE AT WILL! LET HOT SMOLDERING IRON RAIN DOWN UPON THESE ABERRATIONS!" Greymane's voice once again echoed around them. Again and again, Dalrus saw the soldiers load the cannons and unleash their rain of death against the undead scourge. As they drew closer to the city walls, the suppressive barrage grew more and more intense, until the creatures actually began to die - again - faster than they could advance. By now they were within range of the archers, gunners and arcanists as well. Dalrus saw one mage who was close to his hiding spot lift his hands up towards the sky, his eyes closed in deep concentration. Slowly, a fireball began to form over his hands. Dalrus watched aghast as the orb of flames grew to the approximate size of a grown man, then was hurled down towards the horde below. The ensuing explosion left a crater as large as a house, with flaming undead scampering off to all directions. Taking a sweeping look around the field, Dalrus could see similar feats were taking place left and right; ice shards fell from the sky like lances, impaling scores of the undead below. Projectiles of pure glowing arcane energy snaked through the air, seeking any target they could find to instantly vaporize their undead marks upon contact.
'Bloody hell. How can there be any wars when either side has mages?' The boy thought, impressed. Walls of fire suddenly rose on the ground below the closest zombies that approached the walls, and for the first time, Dalrus saw them halt. Just like that, all at once, as if they were a single hive mind, they stopped where they stood. Many of them continued to fall from the magical onslaught raining all around them, not to mention the continuously fired cannon balls, arrows and bullets. 'Woah, did we win already? Are they gonna retreat?' He foolishly thought in amazement. His naive thoughts were soon interrupted when he heard high pitched howls coming from somewhere above, soon followed by the screams of men.
His blood going cold in his veins, Dalrus shifted a little, darting along the wooden beams that supported the watchtower's ceiling. Looking from a small gap among the brick walls, he managed to catch a glimpse of a thick grey blur swooping down from somewhere above and snatch one of the mages that stood along the wall. It only took him a moment to notice what it was, and his blood felt even colder within his body. It was one of the gigantic bat-like creatures - the gargoyles - who had dived down to grab one of the men, carry him high up in the air away from the wall, then drop him on the ground below. Dalrus saw the man scream and flail in the air all the way down, where his body vanished among the mass of the undead. And he wasn't the only one. All over the place, men were trying to fend off the demonic beasts. Guns were blazing, people were screaming, and again and again those horrifying screeches echoed along the walls as another creature either got a kill or was killed.
As the ranged defenders got busy with the aerial assault, the host below resumed its forward march. With the suppressive barrage of gunfire and magic slowing down, they were able to gain ground, inching ever closer towards the thick, enormous Wall of Greymane. The first few creatures were already reaching it now, although Dalrus couldn't see them from where he was. Biting on his lower lip, he looked to the side, then somehow managed to hold back a scream when something very large and heavy landed right on top of the tower he was currently hiding on. That distraction almost had him break his stealth, but as the soldiers looked up in worry, he remained completely still and maintained the dark veil covering him. Then they all heard the creature that landed on them crawl towards the edge and leap off. Dalrus saw tiles fall down to the side, and a Gargoyle got impaled by a bolt the size of a lamp post right across the chest.
Then, a trumpet sounded. A voice Dalrus had on numerous times before heard screaming at this very same volume came from below. "MEN! TAKE AIM!" The guards underneath were so busy loading up cannons and firing upon the gargoyles and the undead host below, they probably wouldn't notice Dalrus even if he wasn't stealthed. He hopped down from his spot and slowly made his way down, curiously peering over one of the windows along the walls. Surely enough, it was Lord Darius Crowley who was commandeering a squad of sharp shooters armed with dwarven rifles to shoot the monsters down from the sky. The bats screeched even more, many attempting to strike at Crowley's men, but the suppressive fire was just too strong. Soon they had to retreat, much to the joy of the men, who began to cheer.
Those cheers were suddenly cut short when the most absolutely horrific thing Dalrus had ever seen in his life emerged from over the edge of the wall, lifted a soldier up in the air and tore him in half with its claws, blood and guts flying everywhere.
Dalrus had never been scared, afraid or icky about spiders. He actually thought the little critters to be kind of cool - eight legs, building webs, catching mosquitoes and other annoying bugs, and even appreciated how some were very venomous. But the creatures that now were climbing over the edge of the wall would make even the bravest hero falter. Those spiders were about four meters tall, their black, lidless eyes hungrily searching for their prey. They possessed torsos and arms like a person, though their hideous heads were still that of a spider, venom dripping from its fangs. Their lower half was also that of a spider, with six long limbs ending in sharp claws. Dalrus could see the creature sported several scars and stitched parts. It was at that moment that Dalrus realized the curse of undeath wasn't reserved to humans alone; any kind of creature or monstrosity could rise to join the ranks of the Scourge.
Later on, he would discover those creatures were called 'Nerubians', but then and there all he could do was stare open mouthed as the creature proceeded to swipe down at a second soldier, its vicious claws tearing the man's arm clean off. Dalrus saw the limb fly high in the air, blood spraying to all sides like crimson rain as the man screamed in agony. It was none other than Crowley himself who, with a savage war shout, leapt forward, his sword held in both hands and slashing down at the creature's face.
The blade sliced through the nerubian's chitinous, exoskeletal skull with ease, carving it in half. Purple rotting guts leaked out of the wound, but still the monster wasn't fully defeated; it's body trashed madly, now with only half its face in place and attempting to kill Crowley. The noble man rolled underneath its swiping arms, ending up below the arachnid torso and in between its many legs. Slicing upwards, he cut the creature's belly open as he dashed out of harm's way. The nerubian let out one last gurgled shriek as it died and collapsed, now truly lifeless. The men had no time to celebrate; all over the wall, similar things were occurring. Those gigantic, monstrous spiders who managed to climb the wall, some carrying smaller undead soldiers on their backs, were attacking the defenders all along the barricades. Breaking out of his daze, Dalrus quickly ran down the tower's steps and arrived at the wall itself. As quickly as he could, he ran over the edge and felt his heart skip a beat.
How many of those nightmarish creatures were climbing the wall towards them? A hundred? More? All over the wall's extension, he could see the nerubians climbing, their lifeless eyes fixed at their destination. Dozens of them fell before they could make it, the defenders now dropping flaming tar over the edge to burn the creatures along with whatever was unfortunate enough to be below with them. But the scariest part wasn't even that... It was the sight of that infinite horde of undead clawing at the wall's enormously thick bricks and staring up at Gilneans with their endless hunger and glowing yellow eyes. So shocked he was by this, he did not even notice the first projectile that flew a few meters to his right. He did notice the one that slammed straight against the tower just next to him, though. Looking up in shock, he saw gory bits falling down to the ground below. He then took a closer look at the horrifying horizon before him, and saw over ten similar projectiles arcing in the air and flying towards them. Upon closer inspection, he realized, horrified, those were actually mortal remains; torsos, heads, limbs, organs, all still covered in blood and many with carrion swarms buzzing around. Dalrus was then reminded of the meat wagons, the undead Scourge's siege weapons. He just had a hard time accepting that such an unthinkably grotesque idea would ever be put into practice.
"I'M HEADED TO THE EAST SIDE!" Crowley shouted. "HANDLE THIS AREA, DON'T LET A SINGLE ONE OF THOSE MONSTERS BREAK THROUGH, OR THE POPULATION WILL BE IN DANGER!" Taking over half the men from his squad, Crowley ran as quickly as he could along the wall to where the fighting was the thickest. Dalrus simply stood there, dumbfounded, not knowing what to do. Looking around, he saw that there was blood all over the floor. Much, much blood. Most of it belonged to the nerubians or the gargoyles - as he could tell from the purple and green colorations - but there was also the red blood of the living... Not to mention mortal remains. He could see entrails, limbs, even corpses here and there. Those were unceremoniously kicked or pushed aside by the living soldiers who continued to shoot their arrows, bullets and cannons at the enemies below.
Dalrus then looked back over his shoulder. Between the city and the walls were the Northgate woods, with a small bridge leading into the cathedral square. The streets should be deserted, but he knew there would be scores of people within the cathedral, possibly filling it to the absolute limit. Guards had already barricaded some streets in case things went south, and many cannons were pointing towards the gates, just to make sure. In the forests between the wall and the city was the main force of the Gilnean army; hundreds of soldiers, knights, hunters and mages. All those who couldn't remain on top of the wall with the artillery were waiting on the ground for the moment they would be unleashed to engage the undead army in a ground battle. The gigantic doors were being relentlessly pushed by the undead below, but so far, it was holding just fine. Perhaps the wall really was impenetrable after all.
"The creatures are forcing the gates! They bring siege weapons, and have summoned a colossus!" A sentry shouted, and Dalrus once more looked over the front of the wall. What he saw made him wince.
Of course he had heard of giants before - who hadn't? Just as dwarves were short, giants were tall. But he never imagined he would see a creature as colossal as the one who slowly dragged it's massive feet towards the front gate. He couldn't even imagine where it had come from, as he was sure it was nowhere to be seen moments earlier. The creature was huge enough it would have to duck to pass through Gilneas' main gates. Many parts of its skull were exposed, dead hair strands clinging on to the bases. Its jaw was hanging to the side as if broken, and many, many teeth were missing, along with its nose. One arm was slightly bent and twisted, the other was hanging limp by the side. Almost all of its ribs were showing, and it had absolutely no flesh between its spine and the enormous belt that supported a torn, rotting loincloth. Dalrus wondered why an undead would wear clothes, then realized that was probably how the colossus was buried. He could also see many meat wagons following close by in its wake, hurling their missiles at the walls but mostly focusing on the gates.
Now that they knew what to expect, countering the nerubians was proving to be far easier. Many creatures were knocked down with cannon balls dropped right on top of them, others with well aimed spears, some with magic. Very few actually made it to the top now, and those were quickly overpowered by the many defenders, who surrounded the monsters and attacked with long lances.
The colossus was now right before the gates. The hulking monstrosity began to lift its arms, clearly preparing to ram straight against it.
"ARTILLERY! BRING THAT THING DOWN!" Greymane ordered, and surely enough, a barrage of cannonfire flew at the giant. It staggered for a moment, one of its arms attempting to protect its face. More arcane missiles were being launched by the mages, those focusing more on the creature's ankles and feet. Before long, it was pushed back, one of those colossal legs giving away. The colossus let out an ear piercing roar as it collapsed on top of the undead behind it, crushing scores of them. It was then that horns were sounded from the west.
Looking in that direction, Dalrus noticed there were ships coming into visibility. The wall extended all the way to the sea, and on that side, the Gilnean navy was gathered. They had anticipated an attack from water, but now there were a few Gilnean ships approaching the shore. Their cannons began to assault the Scourge army from their flank, inflicting heavy losses. They were out of reach of the enemy's ranged weapons, and thanks to the suppressive fire coming from the wall, approaching the beach to try and attack the ships was suicide even by the undead standards.
Looking over towards the horizon, Dalrus could see that a large host of the undead was also attempting to storm Shadow Fang Keep without much success. The narrow passage effectively made their large numbers absolutely meaningless. Any aerial assault upon the place was out of the question, as scores of ballistae were doing a fine job at keeping the gargoyles at bay. Looking back down, Dalrus saw that the combined onslaught from above the wall and the sea was finally having the desired effect; the undead were being pushed back. Slowly, the front lines were decimated, until the small lake separating Pyrewood Village from the wall became visible. It was at this point that the undead became out of reach for the defenders cannonfire. There, the host stopped, and remained still, staring at the many defenders who shouted and waved their arms defiantly.
Then, some movement... From behind the undead ranks, began to come forth a new artifact of war. It was a carriage with long spiky horns on its wheels. Bony shields could be seen along its extension, and a large ebony pole with a demonic head engrave on it's tip was visible at the front. The undead were now bringing out battering rams, which were being guarded by several of the abominations - enormously tall undead composed by scores of corpses grotesquely stitched together.
"THEY BRING FORTIFIED WEAPONS WITH ESCORTS!" The sentries informed. "OUR CANNONS WILL NOT BE ENOUGH!"
It was by then that Genn Greymane came riding from the east side of the wall, along with Darius Crowley and many other noble generals. The men assessed the situation with grim looks. "Even if we focused our fire upon it... Look at how many they bring. Suppressive fire won't be sufficient anymore." Said the king. "Aye." Darius Crowley concurred. "Their first tactic was to try and storm us with their numbers. Now they are starting to get smart. We are gonna have to go down and hold them off ourselves."
The next few minutes were filled with shouts and chaos. The main Gilnean armies got into proper position, forming ranks. Dalrus could see the heavily armored soldiers at the front, their shields and swords at ready, while the more fragile mages and healers were all at the back line. The king was riding his horse back and forth before his host. "Get ready, men! We shall drive these monsters back!" He was shouting, his sword drawn and aiming at the sky. "They knock on our doors, wishing to destroy our home! Show them our will, our spirit, our power! Today, we fight for our land! For our families, our people, our very survival!" The army cheered at their king, who turned around to face the gates. "NOW! OPEN THE GATES! KILL THEM ALL! FOR GILNEAS!" Before his command, the gigantic gates slowly opened. Dalrus could only imagine what that undead army was like from floor level. The battering rams, along with their escorts and many smaller token troops were once more advancing through the fields. The mages began to shower them down with their destructive magic, but this time, their spells began to bash against green shells of dark energy surrounding the siege weapons. "THEY HAVE WARLOCKS! OUR SPELLS ARE INEFFECTIVE!" A mage declared, and Dalrus bit on his lower lip nervously. His father and brother were both probably down there, ready to charge against the enemy and meet them head on before the gates to their city.
The gates were now partially open, and with a mighty war cry, King Genn Greymane led the charge outside, closely followed by his royal guard, all on horseback. The main Gilnean army was close behind, all rushing to exit the gates as quickly as possible so they wouldn't remain open for long. The undead had crossed half the distance back towards the wall by the time the defenders began to form defensive lines on that large open field surrounded by mountains and trees. They held their ground, a sea of humans clad in heavy plate armor preparing to face off the invaders.
Eventually, they reached the first undead squads. Dalrus saw the defenders quickly dispatch the shambling monstrosities, those lower ranking zombies who only succeeded thanks to their large numbers - in many senses, cannon fodder. The Gilnean army held their lines before those weaker waves, but finally the first siege weapons began to approach the main army. Dalrus saw one abomination lift a huge deformed arm over its igly head and hurl a butcher's hook as big as Dalrus himself forward. The deadly projectile flew straight forward, cutting through no less than two people before smashing a third one behind. The abomination then pulled the hook, which was attached to a chain, and dragged the mangled corpses towards it. It then proceeded to load the corpses onto a meat wagon, which in turn hurled the fresh remains against the soldiers. There were many screams and chaos soon ensued. The undead took this opportunity to strike at the front line.
Now that they were closer, Dalrus could really see just how huge those abominations were. The creatures had to be around three meters in height, which was further enhanced by their deformed, fat bodies. From their open stomachs, acidic bile was constantly pouring through, and occasionally the boy could see a green cloud of what he could only assume was toxic gas emanating from them. The creatures were quite resilient, on top of everything. It took many cuts and blows to fell even one. The shape of their bodies made it very hard to pinpoint a vital spot, even more so to strike it. The best most could hope for was to slowly chop it to bits until it became unresponsive, then move on to the next one.
The battering rams were nigh unstoppable death machines. They literally kept on rolling forward, their spiked wheels slicing down anyone foolish enough to stand in it's path. Upon closer inspection, those were actually human bones sticking out from all over their surface, each one sharpened into a deadly weapon to those who approached.
It was Darius Crowley who conquered the first victory. The noble lord rallied his personal squad and, together, they surrounded one of the weapons. As a pair of men clad in heavy plate armor, equipped with shields and maces stepped forward and attracted the attention of the abominations, the rifle men and mages focused their fire upon the weapons themselves, slowly whittling them down from a distance. Eventually, the monstrosities were brought down, and finally, by their conjoined effort, the first of the siege weapons was set ablaze and destroyed. Taking notice of this strategy, Greymane issued his orders, and soon several smaller squads formed along the Gilnean ranks, all acting in similar fashion to destroy the rams.
The battle lasted until the sun began to set on the horizon. Still the defenders were out there on the field, risking their lives to push back whatever weapons or undead monstrosities the scourge had to unleash. However, once darkness began to show upon the horizon, Greymane gave the order to retreat. Dalrus felt a chill run down his spine for a moment, but suddenly, all around him, a thin purple veil spread out until it was stretching about a full kilometer before the city walls. The defenders slowly retreated, and the undead gave chase. Dalrus could see that as they entered the field, the undead began to topple over, their flesh rotting much faster until they turned into bony remains, then dust against the floor. It took a while before the barrier took full effect, of course, but it was more than enough to weaken the enemies to the point where the Gilneans could make a safe retreat without any losses. The barrier closed behind them, and that force field endured. More undead came forward, but thanks to the barrier, by the time they got even close to the walls, arrows and guns were more than enough to dispatch them. The weaker ones couldn't even make it halfway, only the more resilient ones like the abominations, or the nerubians could go far before they collapsed.
The boy could hear Greymane speaking below. "Today, we have won our first victory! But do not grow complacent! This barrier is a weaker version of the one used to defend Dalaran from that traitor prince! Archamage Arugal said it would take much of his power to hold it during the night, when we are most vulnerable! Stand watch over the walls and get ready for ambushes! The rest of you, recover your energy for the battles to come!"
Dalrus let out a long sigh and leaned back against the wall. He could see the soldiers clambering back and forth, dragging the corpses of the fallen or carrying their injured towards medical bays. Today, for the first time, that wall had successfully performed its role in keeping it's denizens safe, the boy thought with a bitter smile. He ran a hand along his forehead and realized he was covered in sweat, and trembling. He closed his eyes and took a few moments to recompose himself before finally getting up and starting to make his way down from the wall through the watchtower. As he did so, he saw more injured and dead men being carried. It was difficult to keep his stealth through all that misery, but as he slowly sneaked his way through the busy soldiers and healers, his mind drifted back to the second day of his training with his new master.