Chapter 33 - Reunited

It felt as if time had stopped for Felrus. Even the mages who had been so adamant in unleashing their most devastating spells against that hulking suit of enchanted armor just a few seconds earlier were now staring dumbfounded at its fallen carcass, and the grinning lad who stood there with his hand outstretched for the fallen warrior.

As if by instinct, Felrus' gauntleted hand rose up to take hold of the rogue's, and with his help, the warrior stood up. He saw Dalrus furrow his brows, as he had to lift his head to look his brother in the eye. "Did you get taller?" He said, one hand raising to his own forehead, then going up to Felrus' to gauge the height difference between them. "Bloody hell, Fel. What have you been eating while I was away?"

"Dalrus?" Felrus finally said, staring into his brother's eyes while he simply stood there with a shocked expression on his face.

His grin grew even wider, and the young rogue struck a dramatic pose, fists resting upon his hips while stuffing his chest out and lifting his chin. "The one and only, thank you very much! Looks like you need some help, eh bro?"

Felrus blinked, the realization of what was going on slowly dawning onto him. "Dalrus." He repeated out loud. "You're here. You're alive?"

To that, Dalrus' grin suddenly vanished, his face turning into an expression of fear and confusion. "Woah, I-I don't know, hold on, let me check..." He then saw his younger brother put his weapon back in his belt's holster, remove one of his gloves and slide his now bare fingers under his other glove to gain access to his own pulse. Then there was a loud sigh of relief from the youth, who nodded towards Felrus. "Good news, I think I am alive! But what do I know, I'm not a doctor. Maybe we need a more professional opinion."

Good Light, it really was him. Tears welled up in Felrus' eyes as he suddenly surged forward and wrapped his arms around his brother's waist, lifting him off the ground in a tight bear hug. "Light bless you, brother, it really is you! You're not dead! You're really here!" He practically shouted the words, a huge, silly smile on his face while Dalrus squirmed and protested under the might of Felrus' hug. "Gah- Fel, you're gonna break my ribs! Bloody hell, when did you get this strong!?"

There was a cough from behind them. Turning around, Felrus noticed it was Lady Jaina who approached them and had cleared her throat to draw their attention. "I'm sorry for interrupting your reunion, and I assure you, I myself am very curious as to how you have found us, young Dalrus, but I believe we have more pressing affairs to deal with right now." She pointed towards the opposite entrance on the other side of that cave. Turning back around, the two brothers saw that there was a new wave of undead soldiers emerging, along with no less than two more metal golems.

"Regroup! Fall back and regroup!" Wyrmbane was shouting. The warriors who had scattered along the battlefield to deal with the first attack wave retreated back to their side of the cave where the main force of the Human Expedition was holding their ground. The paladin looked down at Dalrus from atop his steed and nodded in appreciation. "Your arrival could not be more fortuitous, lad. I don't know how you stopped that thing, but do you believe you could do it again?"

With an arrogant smirk on his face, Dalrus locked his fingers and outstretched them until they all cracked loudly. "My lord, I'm feeling generous today, so I think I'll do it twice more, just for you." He declared, then proceeded to whip out his swords again. "With that said, if you folks could distract those things while I sneak up behind them, that would be dandy. The weak point is that empty space under their helmets. I managed to land a critical hit because that thing was looking down, so the back side of the helmet was lifted and exposed."

Wyrmbane nodded. "Understood. We shall draw their attention away from our backline and keep those armors far from our spellcasters. Captain, I want you to form three squads. Two to keep those armors occupied, and one more to engage the undead. I shall personally lead one of the squads against the enchanted armors. To arms, men! Victory is near!" The warriors let out a warring cheer, then proceeded to reorganize themselves under Wyrmbane's and the captain's commands. Felrus once more turned to face his brother, as if expecting him to vanish the moment he wasn't looking again. "Where have you been?"

"Ah, you know me. An exciting tale involving battles against orc warlords, terrifying demons and bathing elven ladies. You know, my average type of adventure." Dalrus nonchalantly said, looking extremely proud of himself. "I'll give you the details of my heroic exploits later, brother. For now, we got some helmets to split."

WIth a nod, Felrus walked over to where his sword was laying down and picked it up again. "Indeed. Come, brother. Let us fight... Together."

And with that, Dalrus and Felrus proceeded to join the first group engaging one of the metal golems. It was in the center of the cavern, while the main battle group formed a defensive line closer to the other end of the cave to hold back the skeletal warriors, while the second group lead by Wyrmbane slowly pulled their enemy towards the side of the cave, close to where the river of fire was and away from the main group.

These metal golems didn't seem much smarter than the previous one; both were still relying on their overwhelming strength and resistance to smash and stomp over the battlefield, relying on nothing but pure brute strength to take down its foes. So far, the warriors were managing to avoid direct blows, but each time the metal golem's limbs hit the ground, the resulting impact would create small tremors and shockwaves capable of sending everyone down on their backs.

"OK Fel, here's the game plan." Dalrus shouted while they ran towards the first group, which was currently attempting to surround the golem closer to the middle of the cave, between the main group fighting the undead ahead and the rest of the Human Expedition behind them. "Try to keep its focus on the ground. I'm gonna come from above the moment the weak spot is revealed."

"Got it." Felrus answered, not even questioning how his brother would manage to approach that massive thing from above. The metal golem was now raising its right leg high up, then performed a heavy stomp against two of the soldiers surrounding it. They managed to dive out of the way, but the impact from that enormous metal boot hitting the ground was enough to create a hole on the ground.

Holding his sword up with both arms, Felrus let out a ferocious warcry and leapt against the metal golem's leg, the edge of his massive weapon coming down against the knee joint as he fell. There was a loud 'clang' from metal hitting metal, and Felrus' weapon bounced off the golem's thick plating, with a large dent being left behind. Despite how old it was, this magical creature was quite sturdy, if even a two handed broadsword couldn't penetrate its armor.

Then, the golem let out an echoing metallic noise that almost sounded like a growl, resonating inside of its hollow body with frightening effect. It retrated its right hand until it was at level with its head, its fingers curling into a fist, then brought it down where Felrus was. Knowing that creature's attacks were as strong as a battering ram, the warrior was quick to jump away, then braced himself by sinking his sword tip against the ground when the impact of the golem's punch made his hair and beard flow above his face, the resulting air pressure almost pushing him away. Letting out a savage grunt, Felrus pulled his sword out of the ground and slammed the blade against the golem's wrist, but once more, all he managed to do was create another dent in its armor with little effect. He could almost see chips flying off from his blade, and it would most likely require some intense sharpening later. 'Yeah, that's it... Keep your attention on me, big guy.' Felrus thought, watching the metal golem slowly raise its arm again, yet another metallic growl echoing from within the armor.

Then, Felrus realized, his brother was nowhere to be seen. By that point, the other soldiers who had been thrown off their feet by the golem's previous attacks were recovering, many of them readying their weapons and surrounding the metal golem once more. The creature, however, had its gaze fixated on Felrus - or at least, that T-shaped hole in its helmet was facing his general direction. The metal golem had raised its left arm far up above its head, this time appearing as if were intending on slamming it against the ground like a hammer instead of punching him. So high its arm went, that Felrus saw the joints in the armors left arm raise to the point that a gap in the armpit was revealed.

There was some slight movement from the corner of his eye. Instinctively, Felrus turned his head to get a better look at what it was, but it was so fast, all he could see was a black blur springing from an unknown location towards the metal golem's exposed flank. There was a strange sloshing noise from above, and a second later, the golem's arm fell off from its joint and crashed against the ground besides it, which lifted a cloud of dust that made Felrus stagger and cover his eyes.

It all happened so fast, even the metal golem itself didn't seem to realize what had happened, and its entire body twisted to add momentum to its blow as it attempted to crush the soldiers of the Human Expedition with an arm that was no longer there. Then it looked down to peer at the gaping black hole in its left side, where, where the arm had been only seconds earlier.

Felrus was the first one to recover from that staggering occurrence. Holding his sword above his shoulder with both his hands, he twisted his body as if he were holding a bat, then slammed his sword with all his might against the metal golem's kneecap. The resulting noise was like hammering a gigantic bell, but to Felrus' satisfaction, the knee guard in the golem's enormous boot was bent to the point where the creature lost its balance and fell over the other knee.

The metal golem was now bending over, the one arm it still had attached reaching out to grab the one that had just been cut off. The moment its hand touched the arm, a large pillar of ice suddenly rose from the ground and encased its entire gauntlet, trapping it against the ground. The golem let out another metallic growl, this one sounding surprisingly angry for a creature that didn't even have a mouth.

"That will not hold it for long!" Lady Jaina was shouting from behind them. "Attack now!"

It was at that moment that Dalrus appeared over the golem's back, right above its neck, swords lifted to deliver the final blow, his eyes gleaming with triumph. Then, he stopped, his victorious expression switching to utter confusion. "This one's got a short neck, or something! The helmet is still covering everything!"

Felrus, however, would not waste this opportunity. "Then batter it down! Go for the joints! Dismember this blasted creature!" Howling like a beast, Felrus attacked the golem's knee once again, aiming for the same spot so the dent he produced earlier would dig even deeper. After a brief moment of hesitation, the other warriors joined in, swords and spears repeatedly attacking the golem's knees and wrists.

Their attacks were producing results. The creature's joints were covered in bruises and began to cave in from the many blows... But suddenly, the creature let out it's loudest metallic howl yet, this one so loud that the warriors were forced to stop and cover their ears. The ice pillar binding the metal golem's arm to the ground then cracked all over and shattered in a thousand pieces, ice shards raining all over its attackers.

Free, the metal golem stood up straight, its lost arm held in its one good hand. It pushed the arm against the hollow pit on it's left side, and suddenly it could move again. Sensing the danger, Dalrus jumped off the metal golem's neck and landed close to his brother. "Well, that didn't work." The rogue declared. "OK, time for plan B!"

Felrus looked down at him inquisitively. "There's a plan B?"

It was amazing how his little brother could still sport that grin even in the middle of a battle like that. "Big brother, you insult me! Did you really think that I, Dalrus Plaguefang, would jump in the midst of a life-threatening battle such as this without a carefully plotted strategy and three backup ideas to follow?"

This made Felrus lift his brows in genuine surprise. "And... Do you?"

Dalrus' smile froze on his face for a moment. "O-of course I do! I mean... The bigger they are, the harder they fall, isn't that right?"

Felrus' retort was cut short when the golem attacked them once again, its enormous foot kicking up a chunk off the ground, the debris flying in many directions and raining all over it's attackers. Coughing, Felrus ducked under the attack, then ran off to the side along with his brother to evade a second cascade of stone debris. "So what? Are you saying to make it fall over?"

There was no response from his brother as they ran, and when Felrus took another look at him, he noticed his eyes were darting all over the place as if he were looking for something. "Y-yes, that is exactly what we are going to do! I mean, isn't it obvious? We make it... Fall..." Dalrus' eyes stopped upon the sea of fire against the far side of the cave, where the second group lead by Wyrmbane was busy with the other metal golem. "Felrus, I got an idea."

"I thought you already had three?"

"Of course I did! Now help me lead this thing towards the other group! I gotta have a quick word with Lady Jaina! Counting on you, Fel!"

"Wait, what are you-" But Felrus was unable to finish his sentence as his brother ran towards the metal golem closest to them. The creature once more tried to kick the rogue, who dodged to the side, then kept running to that side, towards the Human Expedition's main group where Lady Jaina was providing support to the main group battling the undead along with all the other spellcasters.

He wasn't sure what his brother was plotting, but he said he had a plan. With that in mind, Felrus turned around to face the other soldiers responsible for bringing down the gigantic suit of living armor. "OK, new plan! Bring this thing over to lord Wyrmbane's group, on the double! Keep its attention on us!" Then, he began to shout at the top of his lungs and wave his sword around over his head as if it were a flag while also running towards the scorching flames that filled that cave with light.

The soldiers were visibly confused by this tactic, but the captain was currently on the frontlines with the main group engaged with the skeleton warriors, so everyone ended up following Felrus' lead. They all started to run towards Wyrmbane's group while also being as noisy and flashy as they could to keep the golem's focus on them.

The plan worked. The metal golem turned its huge body around and began to run after the soldiers, each step making the ground tremble under it.

It was a good thing they had damaged that thing's joints so much earlier, otherwise that humongous suit of armor would catch up with them in two steps. As it were, it was constantly staggering, especially thanks to the knee Felrus had damaged earlier. That didn't make it any less deadly, however. It attempted to swing its massive hands down against stragglers, and the impacts from its blows were just as strong as before.

By then, Lord Wyrmbane noticed the group approaching them. "What in Light's name...?" He said, surprised.

Felrus himself had no idea what to do next, but he had to let the commander know what was going on. "It's all part of the plan, sir! Move!" Pretty soon, they would be close enough to the first group that the soldiers would crash against each other if they didn't slow down. "Dal... Come on..." He whispered under his breath, then skidded to a halt.

The metal golem that up to that point had been busy trying to kill Wyrmbane's men had noticed the comotion. The river of fire was just a few meters from its back, with its attackers surrounding it in a half moon. That dark, eyeless helmet turned over to behold Felrus' group being chased by its damaged companion, then it began to stomp over towards them, making the soldiers in that direction scramble out of the way so they wouldn't be stepped on like ants.

Now, the distraction groups found themselves trapped in between the two golems, one between them and the scorching flames of that unnatural, flaming river, the other approaching from behind and about to reach them. It would take less than five steps for it to catch up with the two groups. 'Light help me, what now?' Felrus thought, a cold tinge of fear gripping at his heart.

"NOW!" Dalrus' voice shot through the air.

The ground behind Felrus was abruptly covered in a thick layer of frost. The metal golem chasing them stepped over it, and the ice was almost immediately crushed under its weight. The moment it did, however, the ice continued to grow upwards until it had encased the golem's entire boot. "Now, go for his legs! Break it down!" Once more, Dalrus' voice was heard from an unknown location.

Realizing his brother's plan, Felrus immediately ran forward to confront the metal golem whose foot was frozen solid. The creature had stopped completely, the tip of its other foot also being frozen just as it was being raised for another step, and it attempted to free itself by pulling on its leg. Felrus took this opportunity to attack the frozen leg before him, and he saw a thick crack spread all over the metal golem's boot.

Just as the other soldiers began to surround it to join the attack, however, the metal golem swung it's arm against them in a wide, low sweep. Felrus managed to duck under it by skidding over the ice floor between the creature's legs. His body slammed against the golem's other foot, but somehow he managed to keep himself steady as he looked up.

Dalrus had, once again, climbed over that golem's back, and now stood behind the creature's neck with his weapons at ready with an underhand grip. "Dal, can you hit the weak spot now?" Felrus shouted as he tried to get himself up on the slippery floor. "No!" His brother responded. "But I have a better idea!" Ahead of them, the other metal golem was one step away from its trapped companion, it's hulking body casting a shadow over the two brothers as it managed to cover the blazing inferno behind it. "More ice!" Dalrus shouted from his vantage point, then brought both of his weapons down against the T-shaped hole in the golem's helmet, sinking them all the way down to their hilts.

The creature cried out a deafening noise that sounded like the oldest and rustiest metal door in the world being slowly opened. It brought both hands up to where Dalrus was, attempting to squash the rogue flat between its palms. Dalrus, however, was one step ahead of the golem. He had already released his weapons from the helmet, strapped them to his belt and dived forward into the air, narrowly avoiding being completely flattened.

As Dalrus jumped, a thick path of ice began to form on the ground before the injured golem. The soldiers all ran away from the spreading frost, which advanced all the way towards the other metal golem, then it went even past that, moving up to the edge of the river of fire. Dalrus fell against that icy floor, his body curled up so he would slide straight ahead and between the other golem's legs, whose hollow helmet followed the rogue's advance until it was staring straight down.

The damaged golem was still producing that horrifying sound, and it had managed to free its back foot and was moving it forward to take a step forward to chase the rogue who had injured it so. As it did, however, Felrus gripped his sword with both hands once again, holding it like a lumberjack about to chop down a tree. It was hard to get a good base over that floor covered in ice but, mustering all his strength, he slashed at the golem's frozen leg one final time. The knee joint was completely shattered, breaking from the creature's leg. Since the metal golem was in the middle of taking a step, its other foot was in the air and about to touch the ground, and losing its foundation leg made the golem lose balance completely.

So huge the creature was, its fall appeared to occur in slow motion. All the soldiers had safely moved out of the way already, but the other golem was still standing there, slowly turning around to chase after Dalrus, who had managed to use his momentum to keep sliding over the ice until he stopped against the edge of the fire river. Because of that, it didn't even notice the situation of it's companion, who fell on top of it. Both golems began to fall over Dalrus, who simply stood there, smiling at them until the last second.

"DALRUS!" Felrus shouted, reaching out with one hand for his brother while attempting to desperately run over to where he was. All he did, however, was also lose balance on the ice floor and fall on his face, just as the metal golems toppled over the edge of the cave and fell in the river of fire under them. "DALRUS!" Felrus screamed again, trying to raise his head and crawl over where he had last seen his brother.

"What?" Came a voice from his side. Felrus turned his head so fast his neck cracked, and there was his brother, squatting down beside him on the portion of the floor that wasn't covered in ice, his bright blue eyes staring into Felrus'.

"Wha...? You're... But I just saw..." Felrus' head quickly snapped back and forth over where the two hulking suits of armor were being consumed by the flames, their massive weight making them incapable of moving back towards the edge, and his own brother who was now right next to him. "How did you...?"

"Secrets of the trade, my muscle headed elder brother!" Dalrus proudly declared as he stood up and stretched both arms above his head. "One thing you should know about me, I'm pretty damn hard to kill. Now, I know you must be comfortable chilling on the ground like that, but we got more stuff to do." Then he offered his hand to Felrus like he had done earlier.

"Plaguefang!" As Felrus was holding his brother's hand and rising from the ground, Lord Wyrmbane approached them, having climbed down from his horse. "Good heavens, boy, next time give us a warning! But excellent work on defeating both those things at once."

Felrus cleared his throat and stood up straight, giving the paladin a salute. "Sir! It was actually my younger brother's plan. I was merely following his lead."

"Indeed?" From under his helmet, Halford Wyrmbane's eyes shifted from Felrus to Dalrus, who had the widest, proudest grin on his face as he attempted to casually look in a different direction. "A cunning ploy, young one. You made true on your promise, after all."

"Ah, well, you know..." Dalrus brought his hands at level with his eyes, and admired his own fingertips, despite the fact he was wearing gloves. "All in a day's work, sir. Just doing my job. Of course, if you really want to show your praise, I could always use a brand new..."

Before Dalrus could finish his sentence, however, Jaina's voice came from behind them. "Commander! The frontline needs assistance! They are being pushed back!" They all turned to face the young mage who was running towards the group. "Quickly, we must join them!"

"Right away, my lady!" Wyrmbane raised his fist above his head and screamed to be heard by all nearby soldiers. "The armored abominations are no more! Do not relent! Victory draws near! For the Light!" The soldiers all cheered for their commander, then marched towards the other end of the cave where those skeletal warriors and archers kept pouring through, held back by a firm line of defense set up by their captain and his soldiers.

Dalrus began to slap the dust off his clothes. "Welp, guess one job's done. On to the next one, eh?" He then turned to face Jaina and took a deep bow before her, one arm waving over his side while the other bent under his chest. "Ah, and thank you for your help, my lady. Thanks to you, my plan went off without a hitch. As expected from one as cool-headed as you, eh?"

For some reason, Felrus felt the urge to slap his brother, but he managed to hold it back with a shake of his head. "My lady, if you will excuse us, we too shall join the battle." He spoke in a heavy voice, walking up to Dalrus and pulling his brother away from the back of his jacket, who said: "Hey! Come on, Fel! Stay frosty, will you?".

Jaina Proudmoore simply chuckled. "That was a very creative usage of my magic, young Dalrus. But your brother is right, the battle is not over yet." She watched as Felrus dragged his younger brother across the ice floor before allowing him to stand up on his own.

Still slapping dust from his jacket, it took Dalrus a few seconds before he noticed Felrus was scowling at him. "What? Come on, it was funny!"

"That's not it, you bloody moron." Felrus practically snarled as he hung his sword over his back. "You keep putting yourself in danger like that. I thought you were gone again back there!"

With a dismissive wave, Dalrus said: "Bah, you worry too much. But, if you're going to get all grumpy over it, then from now on you take the lead, alright? And I'll be watching your back, and jump in when you need help. After all, I'm supposed to be your shadow, isn't that right? The Plague, and the Fang, together."

Despite himself, Felrus found himself sighing, then smiling. "Yes... Together. As it always should have been, my foolish little brother." His eyes then lifted to where Wyrmbane and his men were joining the captain's forces to fight back the undead assault. "Shall we go put the dead to rest, then?"

His little brother chuckled, then he saw Dalrus grab his swords again. "After you, my overly thoughtful elder brother. They will never see me coming."

Then, together, the two plaguefang brothers proceeded to join the main battle against the dozens of skeleton soldiers and archers barring their way towards their awaited destiny deep within the caves of Stonetalon mountains.