"Another 3 patrols were ambushed yesterday, and though they drove off the Wretc… Fallen attackers we still lost two of our junior Guardians in the skirmishes. I say we just torch the entire ruin and be done with the problem entirely." Coira only just resisted the urge to shake her head at Vranesh, every time the man opened his mouth it was as if he was deliberately trying to antagonise someone in the room.
He was at least remembering to use the 'proper' term for their former brethren now, though quite how much the Lord Regent had to browbeat him into doing so was anyone's guess.
"You will do no such thing, even with the price degradation due to poor upkeep and weathering, our forces have already reclaimed 20,000 gold's worth of treasures and artefacts that we thought lost to the Scourge for ever. This is the first month in a year that we will be able to repay the interest on the loans we have taken, without being forced to ask for the 'help' of the Court of the Sun. We even managed to use the money, saved on the weapons and armour that has been salvaged and repurposed, to close out one of the more minor loans entirely." Quartermaster Allerion was not much of a people person, which was why he was completely tactless in focusing on the monetary aspects of the reclamation, rather than the personal cost associated with such gains.
It had been a week and a half since she and Harry had arrived in Silvermoon, and the place had changed so much in that time that it had brought more than one Blood Elf to tears, as they approached Harry with whatever meagre gifts they had to offer him. Looking across the room, to where the tired looking Terran was sat on one of his 'been bags', Coira couldn't help but smile.
Rather than just accept or reject the gifts, that some of the Blood Elves couldn't afford to give him from the looks of it, Harry had taken the time to speak with each and every one of them. In addition, he had used his magic to repair and brighten their clothes or transform their hair into elaborate and fancy styles. This was something Coira doubted any Magister would do, as it would be seen as a 'waste of magic' or 'not worth their attention'.
It was a small thing in comparison to repairing the entire Southern Wall, or facing off against Dar'Khan, but it suddenly meant that even the civilian Blood Elves were starting to feel like they could actually return to something approaching a normal life.
"The clearing operation is valuable to us, both in terms of morale and the goods we can liberate, but only so long as we can prevent the Scourge or the Fallen from overrunning it again if they attack once more. Champion Balic, Lady Liadrin, how are we doing fortifying the River crossings?" The male Paladin gestured to the woman next to him to speak, which surprised more than just Coira given the slight noises around the room.
But the former Paladin ignored it as she pointed down at the 3-D model of Silvermoon, that Harry had created for them to use with his earthen magic, when the Lord Regent started talking seriously about retaking land around Quel'thalas.
Coira knew Lady Liadrin by reputation, one of the most powerful Priestesses of the Light that had been serving in the High Elf ranks when the Scourge attacked. But the last Coira had known, Liadrin had headed out into the Ghostlands over a year ago, completely disillusioned with the Light due to what had happened to their people. Grand Magister Rommath had returned with her, when his strike force taken the small island of Eversong to the South West of the City, which would serve as an ideal location for farming if they could secure the bridge to the island suitably.
"We have fortified the other two main river crossings with traps, defensive enchantments and a small watchtower each, though we plan on expanding that to a full outpost if we can obtain some magical assistance." Everyone knew she was talking about Harry at this point, but Lady Liadrin seemed determined not to address him directly or refer to him favourably, perhaps due to her belief that Quel'thalas' current state was caused by the Humans of Azeroth more than anything else.
"In addition to the three minor crossings known to us on the seaward side of the River Elrendar, I identified four more areas closer to the Lake that could afford the Scourge a crossing if they were sufficiently determined. We will set up observation posts at each minor crossing, so that if an assault does occur the enemy will not catch us by surprise, as well as enough traps that anything short of a large assault force would be decimated." Despite Coira's misgivings, someone who abandons her people to go on a death quest shouldn't be instantly reinstated to their original position of responsibility in her opinion, Lady Liadrin seemed to have maintained her skill at commanding and organisation if nothing else.
"Excellent news, that improves the security of our Southern Flank at least, but it won't be enough to stop a determined Scourge assault without massive casualties, and we cannot afford such a conflict. Lord Potter, I know you have been busy with your work on the walls, as well as supplying additional mana items to our citizenry, but do you think you can do anything about the Dead Scar? It is our biggest tactical weakness right now, and whilst I know it is asking a lot, given our own experts think there is nothing that can be done…" The Lord Regent paused as Nash'ala started hissing to Harry, which she only did now to make sure he understood entire requests, as his Common was good enough now without his translation rune that he didn't have it active except in cases where he needed to speak for some time.
"I have a plan, something that one of my abilities grants me should definitely allow me to do something to the Dead Scar, though I need to spend some time studying it without certain… limitations. And to do that, I will need to not have any of your more, close minded subjects interrupting me." Obviously this was one of those times, Harry looking to the Lord Regent obviously intending to reveal his inherent talent with Death Magic to the Council.
It was a clever move, as either Lor'themar introduced his abilities and therefore gave his approval and support which would mitigate the Council's reaction, or he didn't and risked losing the support of the Terran in restoring Silvermoon City.
"Lord Potter has revealed to me that he has been bestowed with an affinity with what he calls 'Death Magic' due to some unique circumstances related to his origin on Earth. He keeps his power shackled through the use of his cloak, which is specially enhanced for that purpose, as he knows that there are negative connotations to such magic here." It was a cover story, Coira knew that based on what she had been privy to before they arrived here.
But unless the Lord Regent specifically asked her, and pressed her for what she knew, Coira saw no reason to add the little extra she had been entrusted with.
"You mean we have been harbouring a Necromancer amongst us!" Lady Liadrin was already on her feet, Champion Vranesh following her in drawing his sword, Liadrin prepping her own blades before firing a hammer of pure light across the room.
They were in the clear minority however, a golden barrier surrounding Harry and blocking the hammer's flight with a deep clang, as the two moved forward aggressively. The source of the barrier became obvious, with Champion Balic hefting his two handed hammer to his shoulder, a task he completed with deceptive ease given it's weight.
"Just because the Lord Regent has acquiesced to Prince Kael'thas' order, to create the little band of Blood Knights Grand Magister Rommath has given you command of, does not give you the authority to attempt murder on one of our honoured guests Lady Liadrin. Now, get your attack dog to sit back down and sheathe your weapons. I do not know what has given you the belief you needed to reignite your Light powers, but if needed I will be more than happy to test that faith, I imagine I will find it wanting…"
Whatever civility had been between the Paladin and his former comrade was shattered, obviously Champion Balic did not agree with the creation of another political and military organisation within Silvermoon's already convoluted political landscape.
It seemed that Lady Liadrin could read the mood of the room though, and it was only after the Blood Knight Commander backed down and sheathed her weapon, did Coira realise she had drawn her own without thinking about it. She stowed them away as the barrier began to fade, Harry not having even shifted from his relaxed posture, Regent Lor'themar speaking up again a moment later in a cold tone that made his disapproval over Lady Liadrin's actions clear.
"And that is exactly the reaction that Lord Potter predicted from some of our kind. I know you were not here at the time Lady Liadrin, but given how much more inflated the tales get each day about his fight with Traitor Dar'Khan you must have heard the stories by now. If you cannot control your reactions, then I will excuse you from this meeting and when I convene the Council for the…" The Lord Regent paused mid-speech with a frown, and a moment later Coira heard it to, the tolling of a very low pitched bell joined moments later by the sound of other bells.
"Scourge attack, Grand Magister…" Harry was already gone with the softest of pops, even as the others all gathered their weapons and waited as the Grand Magister began chanted.
Now Coira could only hope that the work they had put into place was going to be enough…
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"Keep going Rangers, we are nearly there!" Even as she gave the order, Sylvanas wasn't entirely sure whether the Blood Elves would be able to withstand the wave of Scourge that were surging to life around them, for every Scourge she or her Dark Rangers felled it seemed as if five appeared to take it's place.
Originally they had planned on approaching Silvermoon from the South East, travelling around Lake Elrendar to avoid the concentrations of Scourge that covered her former home, but Sylvanas had wanted to take the more direct route to surprise Lor'themar. She knew that her people were not in the best position to join the Horde, given their situation she was surprised they were still able to hold Silvermoon at all, but they would do their best to hide their difficulties from her out of pride if nothing else.
As she dodged out of the way of an attacking Nerubian, short sword flashing out from her waist to stab deep into it's cranium as she passed, Sylvanas couldn't help but wonder if she should have been a little more cautious after all.
"I see the river!" The shout from her leading Dark Ranger was aptly timed, as even the Forsaken tired from exertion and they had run nearly flat out for the last two miles whilst engaging in combat.
Concentrating for a moment, Sylvanas let out a banshee howl that stunned most of the Scourge surrounding them, providing them with the breathing space they needed to breakthrough. As they got closer however, Sylvanas was surprised to see dozens of dead Scourge littering the area, either through traps or from arrow fire, and she could hear the tolling of bells from what she had assumed was a Scourge camp on the other side of the river.
"Ambus...Argh!" It was only when one of her Rangers caught an arrow to the arm did Sylvanas realise that the Blood Elves had in fact retaken the far side of the river, and that given the vast number of undead attacking them the defenders weren't really looking before they were shooting.
"For fuck's sake, Rangers, fall back and to one side of the crossing to defend yourselves." There were some piles of earth and stones that could be used as cover, though as more arrows began to fly their way Sylvanas was rapidly losing her temper.
"This is Ranger General Sylvanas! Stop shooting and guide us across!" She wasn't sure if her shout would even be heard, let alone listened to or acknowledged, but the arrow fire seemed to drop off over the next minute or so.
Just because they weren't being shot at by their erstwhile allies didn't improve their situation greatly though, as they were still stuck on the wrong side of what was undoubtedly a trapped river crossing, with a massive Scourge onslaught approaching. Her Rangers kept their cool, most of them climbing on the mounds of earth to get a better vantage point. She gestured to five of them, who drew their long blades to deal with any Scourge that got too close, but it was only a temporary stand at best.
Summoning her magic, Sylvanas unleashed a wave of Black arrows, targeting the few Necromancers or Nerubians she could make out amongst the rapidly encroaching swarm. There were enough of the undead that some were being crushed by other Scourge as they advanced, and as they got to within 50 metres of them Sylvanas was prepared to risk the losses she would incur retreating across the fo…
"Lady Sylvanas. You seem busy." The calm voice from next to her nearly gave Sylvanas the heart attack she knew was impossible for her body to achieve, sword half drawn before the earth around her Rangers moved and her mind recognised the voice speaking to her.
"Your timing is impeccable Lord Potter, though if we are going to continue this conversation I would suggest we withdraw to a safer location?" Even as the earth formed a wall around them, complete with what looked like a stake filled moat, Sylvanas turned to their saviour.
She was surprised when he didn't instantly respond, the man looking at her confusedly for a moment before speaking.
"My common is not very good my Lady, I do not understand… all of what you say? We should go."
Go where? Sylvanas' initial frustration at the situation was compounded by the Terran's confident remark, though as she turned to gesture at the crossing, Sylvanas found a stone bridge constructing itself from the leftover materials and the ground itself. It was also at this point that Sylvanas noticed two of her Rangers pointing their weapons in the Terran's direction, which she stopped with a dismissive wave of her hand before gesturing at the bridge.
"Anya, lead the others over the bridge and provide support fire from there, Lord Potter and I will hold them here as long as we can before following." The ten Dark Rangers managed to look hesitant as a group, but none of them dared disobey a direct order from her, though a couple lingered longer than they needed to whilst providing 'cover' to their retreating comrades.
"Harry." The more informal use of his name rather than his title caused Harry to smirk, even as a wave of his wand caused a dozen earthen warriors to start pulling themselves from the earth.
"We fight here, then fall back." Her use of simpler language, as well as some basic gestures, seemed to make the plan much clearer to Harry as he nodded a moment later.
Reaching out with her mind, Sylvanas summoned the spirits of the dead High Elves in the area, of which the incredible number still brought a stabbing pain to her heart. Pulling on her mana, she connected them to the bones of the fallen resting in the area and unleashed them with a simple command, gain your revenge. Skeletons pulled themselves from the earth outside their little barricade, many drawing the weapons they fell with before falling upon the Scourge.
They wouldn't last long, it was getting to the point where Sylvanas was struggling to see anything but Scourge in front of them, hundreds of them sweeping past them to try and ford the river as ghouls leapt at the earthen golems who were manning the shoulder high wall. There had to be 10,000 Scourge here already, and Sylvanas didn't doubt that thousands more were on the move.
Still, she hadn't felt so...close to alive since she deposed of the Dreadlords and took control of the Forsaken, unleashing a charged black arrow towards the swarm and then slamming the blade section of her bow into an attacking ghoul. Had she allowed herself to become so mired in running the Undercity and it's bureaucracy?
"Time to move!" Her cry was prompted by an abomination bursting through the wall Harry had created, crushing two of the golems beneath its bulk, as undead poured into the small amount of breathing room they had.
She turned to run, when Harry grabbed her arm and a rather uncomfortable sensation came over her, as if she had just forced her body to do something it shouldn't be able to.
"My Lady!" The voice of Anya Eversong, one of her former lieutenants who fell with her during the Fall, made Sylvanas realise what her eyes were trying to tell her.
She could see the abomination impaled on an earthen spike almost half its size, but it was suddenly almost fifty metres away, and on the other side of the River Elrendar to boot. There wasn't much time to think about the teleportation she had just undergone, as the first Scourge were nearly across the river, so Sylvanas drew back her bow to distract herself the best way she knew how.
"Keep them busy, then go to the city!" The floating bridge suddenly morphed into a giant slab, slamming into the Scourge crossing the river and scattering them like leaves in the face of a whirlwind, and Harry was gone once more.
"You heard Lord Potter, fight to your last ten arrows and then start falling back. Anya, take one and get Allera out of here, she's no use until we can get that arrow out. Shia, go talk to whoever is in charge of the outpost, we will need support if we are going to hold them here. Make sure they know we are withdrawing to the City, they won't be able to hold against this onslaught for long."
Sylvanas only hoped the Blood Elves were in a better state than she had mentally assessed from the reports of the Horde 'merchants' visiting the city, otherwise a lot of them were going to die…
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"I need a Priest here!" With a badly mauled Farstrider barely able to grip his shoulder, Harry wasn't overly shocked that he surprised more than one of the rapidly assembling Blood Elves on the battlements, but as two of them rushed to take the Farstrider from him Harry didn't have time to care about their delicate sensibilities.
The last 30 minutes or so had been a flurry of fighting and apparitions, his initial rescue of Lady Sylvanas and her party followed by apparating to the other two river crossings, to assess whether the swarm at the main crossing was a singular occurrence.
"Make room!" Moving through the Blood Elves to get to the Needle of Clay, Harry vaulted up the steps, to where the rest of the Blood Elf Council were looking out at the rapidly darkening horizon.
The feelings of fear and despair were amplifying around him every second, a cruel reminder that the initial swarm would only be part of the problem. Nash'ala and Coira were there as well, the Naga gripping the staff that Harry had purchased for her with the kind of possessiveness that he didn't normally see outside of the Goblin's on Earth.
Harzlen had been able to remove the magic from the enchanted bracelets containing Nash'ala's magic, without hurting the Naga's own magical system, the loss of magic allowing Harry to vanish them from her before they could recharge. Nash'ala had been practicing each and every little bit of Terran magic he had taught her since, with a fervour that he had only previously heard being used to describe people of religious backgrounds.
As he finished a quick survey of the towers rather packed interior, there were almost 100 people crammed in the space usually meant for about half that number, he heard Lor'themar speak his name. Turning back to where the Regent was stood in full battle armour, Harry quickly activated the translation rune to Nash'ala, now was not the time to be worrying about translation issues.
"Lord Potter, we feared the worst when the main outpost fell back to the gates without you. Lady Sylvanas has told us you were incremental in assisting them stay ahead of the Scourge onslaught, so you have my thanks for aiding one of our firmest allies." Unlike the others, Lor'themar was maintaining a tight control of his emotions, a controlled and relaxed manner that no doubt helped calm the others around him a little.
"I went to relieve the watches on the other river crossings, the first I reached before the Scourge forces fully crossed the river, the other was already being overwhelmed when I arrived. I managed to portkey two of your men back to the city and brought another personally, but the other two had already fallen." The positive of saving 8 Blood Elves was somewhat dampened by the loss of two more, but at this point any good news was desperately needed.
"Look at it…" Champion Vranesh was far from his usual pompous self as he gazed out at the masses of undead that were moving towards Silvermoon, slower than they had been when they first breached the river.
"There must be thousands of them…" That was a vast understatement in Harry's opinion, his best guess at this point was at least 60,000 to 80,000 Scourge undead, and that wasn't considering any of those Grotesques, Flesh Golems or Necromancers amongst the Swarm.
"And if that isn't bad enough, our Scouts reported seeing the traitor fly over the Western Ruins on some monstrous Dragon. Given his flight direction, there can be no doubt he is headed to Quel'Danar. Whilst the Sunwell and it's power are gone, whatever he is planning cannot be good, given this is his attempt to keep us from stopping him. I know I have already asked a lot of you Lord Potter, but would you be able to assist Lady Liadrin and Champion Balic in leading Silvermoon's defence?"
Whilst Harry was more expecting to be asked to engage Dar'Khan again, he understood that there was a lot of personal consideration behind Lor'themar and the other Blood Elves wanting their revenge on the man personally. Whether they would succeed or not was another question, but if he didn't prevent the Scourge from overrunning Silvermoon all of his work in aiding the Blood Elves would have been pointless in the first place.
"I wouldn't teleport directly there, given what I have seen of your magic, he would have ample time to prepare to destroy you as you pass through it. Champion Balic, Lady Liadrin, what is the plan?" It was clear that his advice had struck Grand Magister Rommath by surprise, but he nodded a moment later as he started chanting.
"We have 40 of our best Farstriders ready to accompany the Lord Regent, to help deal with any Scourge the Traitor raises in defence of himself. Every other Guardian and Farstrider are manning the walls, Lady Sylvanas is graciously leaving her Dark Rangers to aid us whilst she accompanies the Strike force. Our Paladins and Blood Knights are preparing to defend the main points of attack, given your assistance with repairing the walls, they will be the main weak points." The gates, even if the Scourge were just to charge the walls without any strategy that would make sense, though Harry suspected Dar'Khan would have left someone in charge of this force to target them specifically.
A co-ordinated Scourge attack would be far more terrifying than a swarm, especially in such numbers, and that would keep the Blood Elves focus far more on the attack rather than what Dar'Khan was doing. And given the slowing of the undead advance, to allow them to properly 'form up' as it were, that scenario was looking increasingly likely.
"Send out the word to get every pitcher of oil, flask of Alchemist Fire and anything else similar brought to the South Wall and onto the ramparts. I will be able to protect the gates from the heat, and fire will be our best weapon against the Scourge assault." Turning to where the 10 Dark Ranger's were stood, Harry decided to try and work with them given their leader had just passed through Rommath's portal, he could leave the majority of the defence to the the two Blood Elves.
"How do you feel about helping me with a trap? Apologies, I don't know any of your names…" There was a moment of silence before one of them stepped forward.
"Dark Ranger Anya Lord Potter. Lady Sylvanas told us you wouldn't care, and I would never doubt the General…" Which was the polite way of saying she had doubted Sylvanas but would never have let that be said.
But as the screeching noises started to get louder, Harry knew he had more pressing things to worry about.
"You can work out whether you trust me or not later, for now you merely have to decide if you want to help me kill a load of these bastards." Calls and orders were beginning to make it clear the Blood Elves were readying themselves.
Though, as the swarm began to form on this side of the river under a dark cloud of those grotesques and other undead fliers, Harry wondering if readiness was going to help them very much at all.
"Tell us where you need us…" Anya's reply brought him back to the present with a small grin, though he had one last person to speak to.
"Coira." The woman almost seemed surprised to be addressed, though as she focused on him Harry could feel her determination.
"Protect Nash'ala okay? She needs to power our artillery…" Whilst he hadn't been sure something like this would happen, as the Naga moved towards the special artillery piece he had set up using his magic, Harry was glad that he had started with teaching Nash'ala one spell in particular…
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"We are preparing our forces Milord, though I would prefer to wait for…" That was as far as the senior Necromancer got, before he was cut off with a sigh from the dark purple orb he was holding in his hand.
"There is no time Freed, no doubt my kindred have noticed my flight to the site of the Sunwell. Ready the attack, and then your forces can be reinforced by those from the Ghostlands as they arrive. Now do your duty, and do not distract me further!"
Necromancer Julian Freed had been a member of the Cult of the Damned for almost 30 years, drawn into their ranks as a young teenager with the promises of power and forbidden magics. Unlike the other members of the Cell he had belonged to, Julian had shown enough magical talent to attract the attention of one of the Necromancers, an adept working with the great Kel'thuzad himself.
From there it had been a slow and steady rise through the ranks, as Lord Arthas rampaged through Lordaeron and Quel'thalas. Though he desired to ascend to become a Liche for the promise of Immortality it offered, Freed hadn't been foolish enough to volunteer to go to Northrend like some more of his ambitious colleagues. He had yet to hear of a single one that had come back…
But that left him to deal with the civil war erupting between the Elf bitch and those still loyal to the Master, which lead to more and more high ranking Necromancers being drawn from the Ghostlands to fight the so-called 'Forsaken', allowing Freed to rise through the ranks to his current position. Now he just had to work to deal with the pretentious Dar'Khan, and whatever schemes he was trying to 'subtly' work with the Sunwell and the remaining Blood Elves, and then his ascension as a Liche was assured.
"What are your orders Master? Shall I tell the others to empower the attack order spells?" The grovelling of one of the Necromancers, who served as his aides and general seconds in order to curry his favour, almost had him snap at her for distracting him from his thoughts.
He was tempted to ignore Dar'Khan's instructions, after all the mere presence of so many Scourge at their walls should distract the so called 'Blood Elves' from whatever the traitor Elf was planning, and it left the possibility that the Blood Elves might actually deal with his 'boss' for him.
But as Freed's keen eyes surveyed the field, he caught sight of a group of people making their way hurriedly across the wasteland in front of Silvermoon's walls, coming from the small isle to the West and South of Silvermoon that the Blood Elves had retaken over the past week. Activating an enchanted telescope at his waist with a mental command of his magic, the item flew up to his left eye, and the group came into much clearer focus.
After looking over the group of almost 50 people for a few seconds, Freed almost ignored them. To catch them before they reached the walls, he would have to charge his ghouls and other cannon fodder forward at full pace, which would leave them exposed without support from the abominations and the corpse wagons. But as he reached the rear of the group, Freed noticed that a number of those fleeing for the walls weren't wearing the bright and ostentatious colours the Blood Elves seemed to prefer, even when they were living like rats in the ruins of their former city.
Instead of the panicked actions of those in front of them, the group of black clothed and cloaked individuals moved like a cohesive unit, maintaining a formation around a single figure in the middle, almost like they were acting as guards…
"Launch the attack immediately! All of infantry are to charge, prevent that group reaching the walls. NOW!" Even as his 'aides' spurred themselves into action at his sudden change in mood, Freed was already invoking his powers.
Reaching out into the Dead Scar that split the city in two, Freed found thousands of corpses merely awaiting the opportunity for him to raise them. Straining his power's limits to the maximum, Freed managed to find a group of corpses that belonged to the former 'Silvermoon Royal Guard' that had fallen ahead of the fleeing group.
Whilst the corpses of the dead could only be brought back to their full strength through complex and magic intensive rituals, the more training and skills an individual had before they fell influenced how capable his minions would be when he raised them as more basic undead.
And if he wanted to slow the Elf bitch who now called herself 'Queen' down, enough to overwhelm her with the rest of his forces before she reached 'safety', then he would need a cut above the usual undead cannon fodder that the Scourge used...
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"Well Lord Potter's plan is certainly working!" Shia Duskbeam's sarcastic but amused call mirrored Anya's thoughts, as they escorted the few civilians and Rangers who had been working on Eversong isle before the attack, heading towards the Dead Scar that split her former home in twain.
Whereas the Scourge had previously been content to marshall themselves on the nearside of the River Elrendar, when Harry teleported them to an area a couple of miles from Silvermoon City and they started their 'retreat', things changed quickly. She was currently in the middle of their formation, pretending to be their General for the purposes of the charade, Lord Potter's logic that such a tempting target would make the Scourge leaders attack before they were strictly ready.
100 or so undead had been hastily raised in their path, to deny them access to Silvermoon's southern gate no doubt, whilst the swarms of Ghouls and other Scourge were charging towards them as fast as they could from the river. Thankfully Lord Potter hadn't wanted them to retreat to the main gate anyway, so they instead moved into the Dead Scar and retreated as fast as they could up the rather treacherous route.
So many of her brethren had fallen in an attempt to halt the unstoppable path of the Scourge forces that bones, weapons and other debris still littered the depression in the ground, meaning that the group could only move at a quick jog without risk of someone crippling themselves with an injury. Two of the civilian Blood Elves had already injured themselves on the sharp hazards that littered the ground, and that was only slowing them further.
"We are nearly at the wall, do we know what Lord Potter's plan is now Anya?" Shia's call, from where she was leading the Blood Elves at the front, made Anya think for a moment to try and remember the specifics of the plan Lord Potter laid out.
"We continue as far as we can sisters, the path should be easier from here. Pass the gate and towards the Sea, we cannot wait for them to open the gate." They would be cutting it close as it was, the undead high elves who had been raised to prevent their flight to the South gate had now joined the chase, and the fast ghouls were closing more and more by the second.
"Keira, Dia, with me, Shi, take the others, sprint ahead and prepare to cover us. We must slow them down if we are to make it." Turning in the same breath that she issued her orders, Anya pulled out one of the special arrows Lord Potter had given her before he had teleported away.
It was the single strangest arrow she had ever held, no fletching to aid its flight and despite it's slightly larger than normal size, the arrow might as well have weighed nothing in her hands. In a single motion Anya notched her arrow, sighted down the middle of the Dead Scar to where the masses of undead were rapidly approaching, and loosed the weapon after imbuing it with a little of her magic.
Despite its oddness the arrow flew true, though Anya's eyes widened as it suddenly grew to the size of a wagon upon impact with the first Scourge she had targeted, the increase in size causing it to hit the floor and spin on it's axis, crushing dozens of the nearest Scourge.
"That will work Anya, don't suppose you have any more of those from Lord Potter do you? I don't think that is going to slow them enough for us to escape yet." That was true enough, the Scourge were already beginning to pour around the new obstacle, but it had bought them precious seconds.
Anya did have two more, though now she knew what they did she wanted to try and save at least one of them. And it wasn't as if they are helpless by themselves, they were the honour guard of Lady Windrunner after all. Summoning her mana as her General had taught her, Anya fired a bolt of pure darkness from her bow, the spell streaking across the ground with unnatural speed, smaller bolts of darkness shooting off to strike the Scourge it passed on its path.
Whilst the smaller bolts would not fell the Scourge they hit, the magic would slow them down, the main bolt hitting a Nerubian webspinner before exploding in a wave of magical shrapnel and energy.
"Each of you fire a Black arrow, and then we fall back to the others. We save Lord Potter's enchanted weapons for emergencies." And if that meant she had them to take with her when they finished here, then that was just a bonus, perhaps the Mages of the Undercity could decipher its secrets for them to use in their own battles.
The other two nodded in understanding and quickly followed her orders, unleashing two more Black arrows at five second intervals. The newly raised dead were getting dangerously close now, but they were now being fired upon from the walls, so hopefully that would slow them down somewhat. As she watched, a boulder the size of a corpse cart suddenly appeared in mid-air from the direction of the wall, slamming into the middle of the former Royal Guard as they rushed towards them, scattering more than a dozen of them into the air from it's impact alone.
There was no time for Anya to think any further on the matter, as she turned away from the encroaching Scourge to charge up the slightly more even ground of the Dead Scar into what was once Silvermoon's main street. She still had memories of this place, long before the coming of the Scourge and its degradation to the pitiful state it was in now, happier times…
They continued to fall back in groups up the Dead Scar, though Anya had to use one of Lord Potter's special arrows to buy them the time to do so, and as she turned to fall back for the 5th or sixth time she could hear the ravenous groans of the Scourge following behind her.
"By the Sunwell..." Shia's gasped exclamation was all Anya caught as she sprinted past the waiting Dark Rangers, the rain of Black arrows flying as a swarm rather than one or two at a time. As she reached roughly 100 metres past where the others had stopped, Anya turned to prepare to fire once more, her breath catching in her throat as she realised exactly what Shia had been so surprised by.
Whoever was in charge of the Scourge forces evidently wanted General Windrunner dead more than they wanted to crush the Blood Elves, as literally thousands of Scourge were beginning to pour into the gap between the two walls, the Dead Scar invisible to her eyes under the weight of bodies that wanted their heads. Either that, or they thought that they could attack the gates as she and her sisters fled through them, but Anya felt it was more likely to be the former point rather than the latter.
"Run, everyone. Run!" There was no time for a fighting withdrawal anymore, they'd given the retreating Blood Elves as much time as they could, if they tried to delay any longer then they would be enveloped in the swarm.
No one needed any encouragement, Anya and the other two Dark Rangers firing off as many Black arrows as they could over the next ten seconds, before joining the others in their flight. She only hoped that Lord Potter was as powerful as General Windrunner had implied to them, otherwise their retreat was only buying them a few minutes.
As they ran up the long depression, Anya could suddenly make out Lord Potter ahead, the man stood in the middle of the Dead Scar and surrounded by burning candles and burnt scrolls. Anya wasn't as magically sensitive as some of her fellow Dark Rangers, as she preferred to rely on her other senses even in death. But even she could see the magic radiating off and around the human, it was strong enough to make a manifestation of itself, in the form of a giant snake like creature.
The Blood Elves had already passed him, careful despite their panic to avoid disrupting whatever spell or ritual Lord Potter was preparing, Anya only hoped that he was nearly done.
"Akash, Nokatal, Umensch Ho'Kanan!" It hurt Anya's ears to hear Lord Potter's chanting as she reached him, as if the language itself was not meant for hearing.
With a start, she realised with a start that the energy she could feel radiating from him was Necromantic magic as well as elemental magic, something she had never heard a non-Scourge human using effectively.
As the last of the Dark Rangers sprinted past the ritual site, the snake like creature began to uncoil from it's position around the human, the dark energy that made up its manifestation sucking the Necromantic Magic from the ground of the Dead Scar around it to increase it's size. Anya suddenly noticed she could feel a pull upon her own magic, specifically the ambient 'curse' that kept her soul within her dead body, which made her eyes widen and caused her to turn to the other Dark Rangers.
"Keep going, whatever spell Lord Potter is using affects the dead!" Anya wasn't one to boast, but she was one of General Windrunner's most powerful acolytes, both before and after they died defending Silvermoon.
So if it was affecting her, then it would be deadly to the other Dark Rangers soon enough. Pulling back another 20 feet, and feeling the effects of the 'pull' substantially decrease, Anya then turned her attention to the Scourge Swarm. It had been slowed by the appearance of what appeared to be pit traps and walls, but it was getting terrifyingly close to the mage they were pinning their hopes on.
As the swarm of undead got within 10 feet of Lord Potter, the man suddenly slammed his hands into the ground with the snake following his movements, and the ground shook. Anya stumbled as the entire section of the Dead Scar inside the City's boundary engulfed the attacking Scourge like a monstrous wave, before what must have been several thousand tonnes of blighted Earth and minerals surged downwards along the Scar.
"By the Gods…" It was one of the most impressive magical displays Anya had ever seen, whilst the Magister's of Quel'thalas had been able to construct entire streets of buildings in a day or so, nothing they had ever done had been this… destructive.
Now she understood why Lord Potter had wanted them to lure the Scourge into the Dead Scar, as she stared down the massive channel that had been opened between the two halves of the city. She could see that Lord Potter had not only used the earthen attack to defeat the Scourge, but as the Earthen Surge poured outwards into the Ghostlands beyond Silvermoon's Southern wall, it was clear he had removed every piece of the corrupted Earth inside Silvermoon.
"What is he doing?" Looking over at Shia's questioning cry, Anya saw that Lord Potter was still chanting, his face ashen in colour and blood dripping from his nose.
"Look, the gate!" Allera's call dragged Anya's eyes from the human who had just solved more of the Blood Elves' problems than any other human in history, and she could see what the surprise in the Dark Ranger's tone was for.
As most of the blackened earth settled into the Dead Scar between Silvermoon and the River Elrendar, it's job of crushing at least a quarter of the attacking Scourge accomplished quite handily, some of it remained by the ruins of Silvermoon City's Blazing Gate. As Anya watched, the earth morphed and sculpted itself into a structure that dwarfed the former 'shining example of High Elven strength and endurance', whichthe Blazing Gate had been referred to upon it's completion almost two millenia before.
It stretched at least four metres above the walls on the Eastern side of the city, with two towers on either side of the space left for a gate, complete with imposing battlements and other defences. It's black stone structure almost glowing with a dark light, and Anya couldn't be sure from this distance but she felt she could almost see crystals visible in the structure of the gatehouse. There was no gate of course, that would have to be constructed later, but the combined efforts of eliminating the Dead Scar from the city, the destruction of the Scourge attack and the creation of the new Grand Gatehouse made a very clear statement.
Anya was the first to notice Lord Potter's collapse out of the corner of her eye, and with a newfound respect for a living human that she thought would be impossible to muster, she rushed over to check on him. The massive amount of magic he had used had caused quite the bit of damage, and without thinking of her previous fears Anya grasped the small ring Lord Potter had given each of them before leaving them to bait the trap.
"I am taking him to get treated. Work round to the Seaward gate if you can, there is no way we are getting back to the battle through the gateway." That was an understatement, the new gorge in the earth in front of her was already starting to fill with water, obviously Lord Potter had dug deeply enough to reach the water table.
Without waiting for a response, Anya sent some magic into the small item now clenched into her left hand, her right grasped firmly around Lord Potter's cloak. She only hoped that wherever the item would take them was somewhere that had a healer…
A/N: I had a choice in this chapter, whether to have Harry face off against Dar'Khan again, or to help defend Silvermoon city from the attacking Scourge.
Those who have read the Sunwell trilogy will be questioning where the Scourge assault comes from, but in my head it makes sense for Dar'Khan to use it to distract the Blood Elves from trying to stop him. Imagine in WoW if you had to split a raid in two or more groups, where each section of a raid had to succeed in multiple parallel objectives on different parts of the map (like out of sight of each other) to complete the quest chain against a timer? (If this already happens, sorry.)
What did people think of my way of introducing Sylvanas properly? I tried to avoid making her a damsel in distress, merely caught up in a Scourge assault at exactly the wrong time. Did it work?
I haven't written the fight on Quel'danar, and to be honest I probably won't, we will see it more as an 'aftermath' type event done from Sylvanas/Lor'themar's point of view. The next chapter will see some more new characters from the Sunwell trilogy, two of which will be of particular use/interest to Harry and vice versa.
On a more serious note, I have to offer an apology now. I have recently bought a house, which all of a sudden means I have suddenly got to worry about this whole 'being an adult and managing my budget' thing. I know I don't post regularly, but this is me letting you guys know that that rate is going to drop significantly going forward.
I did set up a .on account, but I don't think what I offer on here is going to be worth people spending money on. Though, if you want to check it out, it is the same username as I use here. Perhaps I am being overly pessimistic.
I have muscled through all of my working stories to provide you with a new chapter for each of them, I hope you all enjoy them, and apologies for the bad news.