Chapter 25
Six weeks later …
The reverberation of swords clashing echoed through the war quarter of the Undercity as the newest recruits were drilled. Interspacing the swordplay was the near constant scraping of boots on hard stone and the barked commands of their trainers trying to compete with the cacophony of noise. Stealthed as she was, Sylvanas was left alone. It was not the quietest place the banshee queen could have come to think, but she found the activity distracting.
And she desperately needed to be distracted right now.
Thousands of miles away to the north west, two significant battles were playing out that she held no sway over. She found it unsettling. A woman heralded as a tactical genius on the battlefield, and she was at home watching the rawest of recruits learn the basics of what she herself had mastered long ago.
Her lips twitched slightly into her characteristic smirk as she recalled the events leading up to one of the battles. She had not immediately revealed to anyone that she knew the Alliance had a problem at Wintergarde Keep. She had wanted more information first, and, in time, Alyna had provided it beautifully via a captured cultist. Arthas had not just claimed Naxxramas back but had reanimated mostly all the same denizens it had previously housed in the Eastern Plaguelands.
Including the loathsome lich, Kel'Thuzad. Sylvanas clenched her fist, finding satisfaction in the sound of stretching leather.
Wrynn and Proudmoore had been shocked at Sylvanas' revelations. Not only did she know of their little problem, but she knew more than they did. It was just how she liked it. Thrall had predictably been less than impressed at not having been told first, but she easily dismissed him by saying she had only just found out. A necessary lie, she thought. Knowledge was power, and she did not trust Thrall to use it wisely.
The war council had correctly deemed Naxxramas to be the most immediate threat. Unfortunately, Thrall had demanded she send troops from Venomspite to help deal with the necropolis. She had thought it a petty attempt to 'punish' her for not forewarning the warchief of what she knew. He had Garrosh straining at his proverbial leash, yet she was the one sent to help fix the Alliance's problem, as if she did not have better things to do, which she did. Between needing to protect Venomspite and also raise enough troops to deal with two thousand humans in New Hearthglen, the new orders to assist with Naxxramas had strained her resources considerably. What vexed her further was that she did not believe the Alliance even needed the Horde's help now they had actionable intelligence. While she would not admit it to Wrynn's face, they had been doing admirably at containing the Scourge to the valley. But Thrall was playing at being a diplomat, pushing for cooperation when in her view it was completely unnecessary.
It was inconvenient.
In a calculated risk, she had ordered Alyna to wait until the attack on Naxxramas was due to begin before she assaulted New Hearthglen. The longer they delayed, the stronger the humans would likely be, but having the Scourge in the region preoccupied was, in her opinion, the better choice.
Now, both military endeavours were underway, and both had to succeed for their foothold in Dragonblight to be secured. High Executor Wroth was leading her people in the attack on Naxxramas, while Alyna lead the assault on New Hearthglen. Nathanos had been ordered to remain in Venomspite to secure the evacuation of the blight should it be necessary. Despite her precaution, failure was not an option. She had a high level of confidence in her three officers and their impending success.
So, why did she feel so nervous?
Alyna's brow was lightly furrowed in a frown as she stared at the Onslaught paladin she had just successfully made into one of her vassals.
"What is it?" asked Kyala.
"This one knows something the others do not." She turned to look at her lieutenant. "It appears High General Abbendis is not alone in her leadership of the Onslaught. There is another called Barean Westwind. Apparently, he's a grand admiral thought dead, but he suddenly reappeared a few months ago."
Her lieutenant mirrored her frown. "Another leader? We've been watching them for months, with Skully planted amongst them, and there has been no sign of another leader."
Alyna nodded slightly. "That appears intentional. This Westwind remains in parts of the abbey only accessible to the most devout and trusted." She gestured at the paladin. "Like him." She turned back to regard her vassal as he obediently stood still. "He also confirms what we've suspected. Bishop Street performs most of the blessings on the main population, including this protection spell. It seems the spell appeared around the same time as this grand admiral."
Kyala eyed the paladin with suspicion, clearly not entirely convinced he was under Alyna's control despite evidence to the contrary. "You know I feel uneasy about using these 'vassals' of yours. The sooner we can get this done, the better."
"Agreed." While Alyna had been converting the paladin, a messenger had arrived from Wintergarde Keep stating the attack on Naxxramas had begun. She only had four hundred soldiers, including her two dozen dark rangers, but if her strategy worked it would be more than enough. She had a dozen shadow priests and mages on standby to help bring down the protection spell once she knew what it was. Then all she had to do was kill the Onslaught leadership to throw them into disarray.
Her first two vassals were on their way to take up their positions in the main abbey. She ordered her latest vassal to seek out the bishop in New Hearthglen, and he obeyed. She kept a mental eye on their progress as she finalised the positioning of her troops. She did not want them to be seen until the attack was underway. The dense forest made that almost too easy. Still, she had to make sure they were not complacent.
"Good morning, Sir Timothy! Been on patrol, have you?"
Alyna saw her paladin vassal turn to address a passing footman. "Indeed, I have. I actually need my blessings refreshed. Have you seen Bishop Street?"
The footman pointed to his right. "Aye, sir. I just saw him enter the chapel."
"Thank you. Dawn's Blessings to you."
"Dawn's Blessings, Sir Timothy."
Alyna felt more than saw Kyala watching her carefully. They were making their way towards the largest tree near the walls of the town.
"He's heading to the chapel," she quietly updated her lieutenant.
"Ah." When the captain thought that would be the end of it, Kyala asked, "Can they read your mind too?"
Alyna gave her friend an amused look. "No."
"Ah. Good. That would be … problematic."
The captain muttered as the paladin entered the chapel, "More so for them."
"Your Excellency," intoned the paladin respectfully.
The bishop turned to smile at his guest. From what Alyna could see, he was alone in the small chapel. "Sir Timothy, what can I do for you, brother?"
"I require your blessing, Excellency."
The bishop tilted his head slightly as he regarded the paladin. "Already? Well, come forward then."
Timothy stepped forward, preparing to kneel. As he did so, Alyna could see the bishop raising a prayer book that was attached to his belt with a silver chain. He flicked through the pages to the back of the book, and she had what she needed. She ordered her vassal to strike quietly.
A flash of light descended from just above the bishop's head, stunning the man in place. He dropped the prayer book and it swung on the chain. A few steps later the paladin was behind Bishop Street. Swiftly, he took hold of the man's head and brutally snapped his neck. He caught the body as it fell, gently laying it on the marble floor. Following further commands, the paladin broke the prayer book free of the chain and then dragged the bishop to the altar, hiding it behind the skirting.
He flicked to the back of the book and Alyna could finally read the spell used on the Onslaught followers.
"This makes little sense," she muttered under her breath. She had stopped near the base of their target tree.
Kyala queried, "Hrm?"
Alyna shook her head in confusion as she wrote down the spell on a piece of parchment she had ready for the task. She then reread it, double checking her work against the image she could see in her mind via her vassal. She finally looked up at Kyala after giving her vassal his next orders; dispose of the book, get into position at the abbey.
Her lieutenant got in the first words. "If it doesn't make sense, can we counter it?"
"I believe so," the captain confirmed.
"So, what's wrong?"
Alyna shook her head slowly again and handed the parchment to her lieutenant. "It has elements of Scourge magic embedded in it. It is a shadow spell, as we knew, but the construction is distinctly not what I would expect from a Scarlet priest."
Kyala looked at the spell despite Alyna knowing she did not understand the swirls and diagrams. What she said though gave her captain a cold sensation down her spine. "If the spell appeared with that admiral, does that make him Scourge?"
"If he is, then it's a good thing our Lady delayed the assault until Naxxramas was otherwise occupied."
Her second-in-command glanced back at the waiting dark rangers briefly. "How do you want to proceed, Captain?"
Alyna looked in the direction of New Hearthglen. Her vassals were all in position awaiting her orders. Her troops were also doing the same. If Westwind was Scourge, he was clearly powerful, and there was no predicting what type of creature he was. What she did know was she was more than a match in single combat for most Scourge to handle, if she did not restrict herself.
She was not about to disappoint her queen.
"We continue as planned. Get the spell to our priests. If Westwind reveals himself I will confront him directly."
Kyala handed the parchment to a messenger and followed Alyna up the tree so they could get a decent view into the town. As they climbed, the captain set her plan into motion. Before she dealt with the high general, she had to get rid of the spiritual leader of the Scarlet Onslaught, High Abbot Landgren.
They had observed Landgren moving around the town often, and he always had a pair of guards accompanying him. She had intended on using her three vassals to ambush them, but a different opportunity had arisen. Her priest vassal had seen the high abbot enter the abbey. Alyna knew there was a bell in the tower just above where Landgren was currently praying, and she had sent the priest up the stairs. She hoped ringing the bell would distract the guards.
Everyone heard the bell as it rang out with a discordant tune, as if someone had fallen onto it. Alyna sent in her paladin vassal.
"Your Eminence, would you have time to hear confession?"
The red-robbed man turned with a look of confusion on his face. When he recognised the paladin, he smiled softly. "Sir Timothy, of course." Instead of taking the confession where he was, he gestured towards the exit. "I know a place nearby where we can speak in private, my child. Follow me."
Alyna arched an eyebrow. This was going better than expected. If she could kill the high abbot in a secluded place, she could contain any resulting panic until she was ready to order the main assault. She peered through the branches of her perch at the abbey and could easily make out Landgren and her vassal exit through the large wooden doors. She gave Kyala a quick nod so she knew this was expected. The two men walked down the side of the abbey towards the cliffs near the back of the building as her priest vassal lamented to the two guards about how clumsy she always is.
Landgren turned to her vassal and unexpectedly sneered. "Did you think that I could not see through your flimsy disguise, Alyna?"
If there was ever a time that Alyna nearly fell out of a tree, this was it. Kyala reached over to steady her reeling captain.
High Abbot Landgren laughed. "There is much that you do not understand. The Master sees all." He spread his hands wide as a priest would to encompass his flock. "He told me that you would come for me. I won't die by your hand, though. I have seen what you have done to my compatriots." He stepped towards the cliff edge, his voice taking on a note of serenity. "No. I will leave this world in a manner of my own choosing. And I will return, the grand admiral's will permitting!"
He jumped off the cliff.
"AAAEEEIIIiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii...!"
Kyala spluttered. "Did he just…?" Alyna nodded slowly, currently speechless. Her lieutenant narrowed her eyes at her superior in concern. "Captain? Why did the man we were going to kill just do the job for us?"
His scream echoed off the cliffs and through her stunned mind.
Alyna sat back on her haunches. "I … expect it has something to do with hoping the grand admiral will raise him again." She made eye contact with her friend. "I have no idea how, but he knew my name and spoke to me through my vassal. He knew his fate and … took it into his own hands."
Her lieutenant grimaced deeply. "Have you had that happen before? The knowing it's you bit, not the suicide."
The ranger captain shook her head briefly, still recovering from the surprise. "Only by val'kyr. And he was definitely not one of those. And neither is this grand admiral." She tilted her head slightly as she focused on her vassal, sending him back to the abbey to join the other two. The ranger captain collected herself and gave her lieutenant a reassuring nod. "Whoever this man is, we've come too far to turn back now. I'll sound the attack."
Alyna raised a horn to her lips and blew into it. The sound was repeated by several other horns, acknowledging the order.
Kyala unslung her bow and nocked an arrow. She gave Alyna a quick nod. She was there to protect her captain should they be spotted up in the tree while she focused on her vassals. It was one thing to give them menial tasks they could complete automatically, but to ensure their effectiveness in combat, she had to concentrate.
At least one of the horns had been heard by those inside the abbey. The humans were looking at each other nervously, waiting to be told what was happening and what to do. Alyna ordered her vassals to do the same. Shouts could be heard from outside, and a deep-toned bell began to ring with urgency. That seemed to get everyone moving outside to whatever positions they were to take up. Alyna had her vassals move with the crowd until they passed a thick pillar that was perfect to hide behind.
A strong female voice barked from the back of the abbey, "Report!" From her vassal's memories, Alyna knew this was High General Abbendis.
Only her paladin recognised the male voice who responded. "They have come, Brigitte, as I told you they would."
"We are ready for them, Grand Admiral. Your warning will serve us well," came the impassioned reply.
Her three vassals drew their weapons, rounded the pillar and charged at the red-headed woman standing at the high altar. She turned; surprise evident on her fervent features. She drew her sword with practised ease and turned her simple shield to her attackers. "You may want to rethink your actions, traitors!"
The priest stopped her charge and began to cast protective spells over the paladin and footman.
The grand admiral cast his own protective spell around himself. Through the priest, Alyna could tell it was too powerful to bother with for now. His gaze passed over the vassals and Alyna got the distinct feeling he knew she was controlling them.
"Kill them Abbendis! Do not fail me!"
The high general stepped forward with her shield, slamming it up against the paladin's own shield. Fuelled by her righteousness she pushed him back violently, and the paladin stumbled. "Now I'll show you the REAL power of the Onslaught!"
She raised her sword and a bright light flashed down onto it. She then jabbed the blade at the footman. He parried but left himself open to another jab. Abbendis planted her front foot to twist her hips into the next jab but was forced off balance by the paladin's next shield bash. A bubble of Light snapped into place around the footman, cast by the priest, just in time to deflect the wayward jab.
Whhhoooommmppppffff!
The explosion rocked their tree causing Alyna to look up as she reached out to steady herself. Smoke billowed into the sky beyond the abbey as the loud sounds of the battle in New Hearthglen crashed over her, previously unheard in the depths of her focus.
"Must have been a ship blowing up in the docks," remarked Kyala.
Alyna was about to agree before she gasped and grabbed her own left shoulder; Abbendis had just scored a direct hit on her footman. She hissed through the rarely felt type of pain and waved Kyala's concern away. She closed her eyes and refocused on what was occurring in the abbey.
As Abbendis pulled back from her lunge into the footman's shield arm, a crescent of Light sliced at her face. She cried out in pain at the priest's smite spell and raised her shield higher. It blocked the paladin from her view and he again pressed his weight into another shield bash, pushing the high general back towards the steps to the high altar.
The grand admiral watched the fight impassively, not intervening or calling for any help for his general. Alyna had the priest cast another smite, this time at Westwind. It bounced harmlessly off his magical shield, though it did earn her a sneer for the effort.
Abbendis raised her sword again, and the Light responded, shining down and consecrating the floor immediately around her. Alyna's paladin appeared unaffected and he feigned an attack to draw her attention, but her footman felt his feet begin to burn. Alyna forced him through their shared pain to jab his sword at Abbendis' exposed side, pressing the tip of the blade just above where the general's cuirass ended under her arm. Abbendis tried to step back but did not account for the altar being so close. She lost her balance fully and fell back to half sit on the steps, her shield clattering to the floor as she let go of it to steady herself.
The priest stepped forward and planted her staff in preparation. She drew on the magic stored in the weapon and directed a spell at the fallen general. A dark shadow appeared around the woman and then snapped out of existence as Alyna used her vassal to neutralise the protection spell.
The grand admiral turned to look at the priest, a disappointed scowl on his face.
With her attention split, and her surprise at the priest's actions as an added diversion, Abbendis failed to fully account for the paladin having moved around to her side. She lunged for her shield, but he stepped on it to pin it to the floor, before thrusting his sword at a point above her gorget, piercing the high general's throat.
Abbendis' eyes grew wide. "No…!" she gargled through the blood welling in her mouth. She tried to swing her sword round in a desperate attack, but the footman easily parried it with his own weapon. Alyna had the paladin take a step forward, pressing the blade deeper into the defeated woman, cutting off her windpipe.
"Enough!" intoned the grand admiral. He gestured and Alyna found all three of her vassals had been immobilised by strong magic. The greying figure of the grand admiral stepped down from the high altar and moved into view of the paladin, his eyes narrowing at who Alyna was sure was directly at her, and not Sir Timothy.
Westwind then looked down at the struggling Abbendis as she slowly choked and suffocated on her own blood. He knelt beside her, and just when Alyna thought he might actually put her out of her misery, he instead placed a hand on her shoulder and said, "You served your purpose."
Standing, he laughed, then turned back to the paladin. "And so did you, Alyna. I should thank you for helping me to sort the wheat from the chaff."
The ranger captain snarled and held out the horn she still held towards Kyala. "Hold my horn."
"Now the entertainment is over, I must be on my way. You don't mind clearing up for me, do you?" He started walking down the nave towards the exit.
Kyala automatically took the horn from her captain. Alyna drew Felo'alaan and began preparing a teleport spell, using her priest vassal's vision to guide her destination.
"W-what are you doing?" asked her lieutenant, nerves evident in her voice.
"I will see you in Icecrown, weakling ... if you live that long!"
"I'll be in the abbey."
"I was afraid you'd sa—"
Alyna completed the spell, cutting off what assuredly would be Kyala's standard objection.
She appeared directly behind the grand admiral and wasted no time in thrusting forward with her runeblade, connecting with his shield. He whirled in surprise as the magic of her blade cancelled his protection spell with an explosion that blew both of them back and away from each other. Alyna landed on the marble floor in the presbytery, the momentum pushing her along into the frozen footman as her runeblade clattered away from her.
The grand admiral growled angrily as he picked himself up from where he had collided with a pillar within the choir section. "So, here you are … in the flesh. Even without my sphere, I will crush you! Behold my true identity and despair!"
Alyna scrambled to her feet as the human form that likely never was Barean Westwind rapidly grew to be double in height. Flesh warped and twisted, and wings sprouted out the creature's back to arch higher than the new horns that had grown from his forehead. He stamped what was now a hoof into the marble floor.
The ranger captain blinked in disbelief. "A dreadlord … you're a fucking dreadlord?!"
His voice now boomed through the abbey, the ranger captain's sensitive hearing taking a pounding. "KIREL NARAK! I AM MAL'GANIS! I AM ETERNAL!"
Alyna reached out to her runeblade and called to it. Obediently, it returned to her hand and she began to prepare a spell. "There's no need to shout."
The purple-hued dreadlord took heavy steps towards her, closing the distance at an alarming rate. Alyna hurled her magic at the floor beneath the demon, freezing it as smooth as an ice rink. His hooves immediately lost their grip and he collapsed forward, his clawed hand swiping at her.
She spun out of range and ran behind one of the pillars in a transept just north of the choir stalls. Sheathing her runeblade, she unslung her bow and nocked an arrow. Focusing her magic, she waited the second it took for dark swirls of shadow to start moving around the arrowhead, and then she stepped out from her hiding place. She quickly levelled her bow and fired the black arrow at Mal'Ganis. Unmissable at this range, it thudded into his chest, the curse instantly working to drain him of his strength.
He retaliated with a blast of shadow magic that assaulted Alyna's mind. She grunted with the pain and managed to stumble towards the next pillar in the nave of the abbey. As she fell behind it, another spell cracked into the stone on the other side, sending shards everywhere. While she tried to recover her senses, she heard the dreadlord's hooves scrape against slick marble in an attempt to find enough purchase to stand.
"HIDING WILL SERVE YOU NO PURPOSE, WEAKLING!"
Alyna winced. Did he really have to shout? She then gasped and doubled over in agony, her bow and nocked arrow dropping from her hands as she fell to her knees. She grabbed her head as flashes of pain-wracked memories competed in her mind until she realised they belonged to her vassals. He was attacking them to get to her! As he pressed a fresh mental assault simultaneously on the three humans, she heard herself scream.
Somehow, she still heard his laughter. It was just as obnoxious as the rest of him, and it fuelled her rage. Power thrummed through her body and she clumsily grasped for her runeblade. With a single clear thought, she killed her vassals, ending the attack. Using the pillar for support, she then angrily climbed to her feet and peered around what had been a useless shield. She only had moments to act before her next option was no longer available and she pushed her vision into the realm of the dead. The bright white lights of the human souls were still with their bodies, and she could see the powerful fel-green soul of the dreadlord nearby.
She called to all of them.
The three white souls came obediently, and she consumed them with more eagerness than she cared to admit. She heard the dreadlord laugh again.
"YOU CANNOT TAKE WHAT IS ETERNAL, WEAKLING!"
With a quirky grin, she realised he was probably right, and she stopped trying. As the colours that came with life bled back into her black-eyed vision, she held her hand up and threw a considerable ball of shadowflame at the dreadlord. He closed his wings around his body to absorb the hit, but she heard his grunt of discomfort. So, she hurled another.
"GAAAHH!" Mal'Ganis threw his wings out and away from his body, his hands moving to weave his own spell. He cast it as she threw a third bolt.
Alyna narrowed her eyes as her bolt evaporated. Realisation hit marginally before his attack and she snap-cast a barrier of frost around herself to help absorb the blow. She roared with the strain of maintaining her shield as waves of chaotic magic continued to slam into her one after the other, even forcing her backwards.
She managed to note with some relief that each wave became successively weaker as her black arrow continued to work on the demon, but she did not have the time, or food, to wait him out. The abbey was not constructed to withstand such magic within its walls, and the load-bearing pillars around them began to crumble. Increasingly larger chunks of the vaulted ceiling began slamming down into the floor.
Mal'Ganis, now aware of the danger, stopped channeling his spell. "ENOUGH!" he growled loudly, before realising he was not helping things by being excessively loud. "I waste my time here. I must gather my strength on the homeworld."
He opened a dark, swirling portal of shadow. He took a step towards it, then stopped and turned around. Alyna raised her runeblade in case he decided to try one last attack.
"You'll never defeat the Lich King without my forces. I'll have my revenge ... on him AND you!" He then turned back to the portal and went through it, closing it behind him.
Curious, she thought. It appeared his presence here was personal, and not to do with the Legion.
Not that she had the time to ponder the turn of events. A large piece of masonry crashed down, narrowly missing her and shattering into stone shards that pelted her body. She snarled her disapproval at the disintegrating building and then turned to make a run for the exit.
And then stopped.
She was not going to leave without her bow.
Alyna scanned the area, wood and stone debris rained down as pillars trembled with what remaining strength they had left. When she saw her bow, she dove for it to avoid another falling boulder. She rolled and skidded up to a kneeling position, her queen's gift in one hand and her runeblade in the other. Stowing both, and knowing she had no time to teleport, she vaulted herself down the nave towards the exit, stopping, starting and throwing herself around to avoid her demise.
Somehow, she made it out of the nave into the narthex, the antechamber to the abbey. The damage here was not as great but it, too, was crumbling. She navigated her way through it and burst out through the large wooden doors and into an unexpected body. They both landed on the ground with mutual grunts.
"Captain?" came the concerned question.
Alyna turned her head to look at Kyala. "We need to run. The abbey is collapsing. Get everyone away from it."
Both women rose to their feet, one of them covered in stone dust, the other in human blood. As Kyala went to make sure the order was carried out, Alyna looked around at the carnage that was taking place in New Hearthglen. Her troops had breached both of the main entrances to the town and had pinned the humans between two advancing fronts. Adding to the chaos were her dark rangers raining arrows down from the walls, alongside Forsaken mages and apothecaries with their own brands of destruction. Without their leaders, the humans were being slaughtered.
A large crack echoed behind her, reminding the ranger captain to obey her own order. Unslinging her bow, she nocked an arrow and moved away from the abbey and into the more familiar fray.
It was time to put an end to what was left of the Scarlet Onslaught. She smirked.
Victory for Sylvanas.