Arator parried the blade of the foreign human invader, and used the opening to nearly bisect him across the waist. The armoured human fell down with a thump as large quantities of blood began to gather around his fallen body. A spearman tried to stab him behind his back but Arator dodged the attack, which only scratched his Judgement armor. He then swung his sword at the offender, slashing across his chest as blood splattered over his armor and onto Arator's armor.
The paladin turned right to see several cavalrymen charging at him with their spears; he saw their eyes were like that of an orc eager to spill blood, eager to gain glory and satisfy their bloodlust. The half-elf grimaced and conjured the Divine Shield spell as an impenetrable shield of light surrounded from any harm. When the first spear struck him, the attacker's morphed to that of surprise as his weapon did not inflict any damage to his foe, and he soon screamed when the paladin's blade pierced through his chest. The other mounted infantry saw this and tried to surround him while attacking at once in hopes of killing him. However because of the invincibility spell, Arator soon slayed the cavalrymen one by one as his sword drew blood and wrecked metal.
The half-elf son of Turalyon and Alleria looked to his rear at the boundary of the inner city where the 2nd line of defence was located. Alliance soldiers finishing off the remaining soldiers and their auxiliaries; healing their wounded to get them ready for further treatment or for the next fight; and others prepping for the next battle that will soon come and not give them relief. Arator counted at least several hundred bodies laying before the defensive lines manned by over thousand soldiers. From what he had heard from others regrouping with them, thousands upon thousands of men were coming into the city.
The odds didn't sound great.
"Arator, Are you alright?" He felt a hand tap his shoulder.
Arator turned around to see his friend Caeen Sunblade, a blood elf battlemage, looking at him with a slight look of concern.
The male Blood Elf with brown hair and grey eyes was in his Aldor Regalia set worn by many mages of the Alliance. Held in his right hand was a blade he used in conjunction with his arcanic powers as a battlemage. He met Caeen when he was officially inducted into the Knights of the Silver Hand and visiting his cousins at Dalaran, where he managed to prevent a scuffle from happening between him and a Night Elf druidess. After introducing each other – Caeen was surprised to meet the son of Alleria Windrunner – the rest was history with he and him forming a group to fight for the Alliance and taking up quests needing to be completed.
"Aside from wanting to get a good night's rest after this, not so much." Arator responded with a shrug.
"So the usual." The battlemage said.
"How about you?" The paladin decided to return the favor.
"Annoyance that I had to expend more mana than usual on those weaklings." He scoffed. "Seriously, these ones are something the footmen can easily handle on their own."
"Do I hear Sunblade is losing his touch?" A feminine asked in a teasing tone.
Arator and Caeen – with a scowl on his face – turned to see Nelysae Shadowstar looking at them. The female Night Elf druid looked no worse than them with blood splatters over her Marlone Regalia harness set, face, and over her bladed fist weapon. She was much taller than them like a typical Night Elf, along with amber eyes, silver hair, and a purple skin.
Oh and one interesting fact, she was the night elf druidess when Arator first meet Caeen in Dalaran. So when she joined in the group, it led to some interesting interaction between her and Caeen in the past years.
"Shadowstar, you look no worse than usual." Caeen grunted in annoyance. "You look like you took a dip in Undead crap."
"Says the battlemage who seemed who seem unable to handle a bunch of rabble without using his magic." Nelysae taunted. "All the while I was healing our wounded, attacking entire platoons of soldiers, and getting their attention on me so our forces could get to them unharmed."
Caeen's face went red at the retort and shot back. "I do recall saving you from few close calls when you were little too busy charging straight into their formation."
Before the Night Elf could responded, a voice called out their friend/group leader's name.
"Arator!" Alleria cried out as she and Turalyon along with thousands of other troops ran towards the inner city defence. Arator saw all of them covered with a varying degree of blood, gore and wounds, showing his parents and their troops had been in the thick of it.
"Mother, Father! What's happening?" Arator asked.
Alleria let out a sigh as she told him of the current situation at hand. "The enemy broke through the lines and are swarming the city. The forces here with us is all that's left but they're other pockets scattered over the city." She said though her voice sounded uncertain. "I don't know how long they'll last."
"The rest of their forces are heading this way in less than half an hour." Turalyon said. "They're busy burning and looting the city to push on." The famous Paladin said, feeling enraged at the sight of the city pillaged by the invaders. "What's the situation on your end, son?"
Arator looked back behind and reported. "We had several hundred of the invaders attack us, but we fended them off. We have many wounded and the healers are being pushed beyond their limit. Good news is that we have plenty of ammunition and powers for the guns."
Then not too far from where they were, a enemy proto-drake body fell down to the ground with a bone-shattering impact. The rider burnt and twitching from the lighting strike he was struck with from a Gryphon rider's stormhammer. The Gryphon landed down on top of the proto-drake corpse, and the dwarven rider on it brought his fist to his chest in respect to his officers.
"High General! We have the bulk of the enemy forces marching to this location here soon! Their numbers go over tens of thousands!" The rider reported.
Turalyon grimaced at this and yelled out a new order. "Forces of the Alliance, get to your positions and prepare for battle! The enemy is coming here soon!"
The remaining defenders of the city quickly reorganised themselves to battle positions or preparing the cannons or finishing healing the wounded for what may possibly be their last stand.
Centurion Paulus was becoming increasingly restless. He looked upon the city with anger and longing as he and his cohorts were given the inglorious task of being the reserves and lookout of their rear.
He could sense the disappointment and restlessness emitting from his men, but well hidden through their discipline, though he knew there were limits to one's self control when their chance of glory and riches were denied in front of them. Much as he shared the same sentiment, Paulus reminded themselves that there will be a chance for him and his cohort if they meet more foes in the future.
He then saw on of his fellow centurion, a fine man named Balbus, approaching him with a annoyed look.
"Ah Balbus my friend, it's good to see you."
"It is Paulus. I can see you grow tire of this duty." Balbus observed.
"Yes, standing in guard while the other legio's and cohorts take the glory." Paulus bemoaned. "Aren't you acting as messenger between our forces here and inside the city?"
Balbus groaned as he massaged his face. "Yes my friend, I am. I can say the battle in the city is going good for us. We have pushed the enemies back and slowly taking control of the city in the name of the Empire, along with dozens of captives we've snatched. Though the losses we're suffering is making me a little concerned."
"Concerned? We're the Empire my friend! It doesn't matter what losses we take, we shall stand over our foes."
"We've lost over 20,000 men and auxiliaries at this point and our dragon rider corps have suffered catastrophic losses." Balbus told him. "We still haven't wiped out the bulk of the defenders, whose great sorceries and tools have killed many of our men."
"Do not worry my friend, as long as we do not gi- Do you hear that?" Paulus asked his fellow centurion.
"Hear what?" Balbus's face went confused.
"Listen carefully, it's in the skies."
Balbus listened carefully, looking at the skies at what his friend was referring to. He caught on to what Paulus was talking of and was puzzled by the sound of what sounded like a great whirl of wind and blades chopping through the air. Then the clouds above him were blown away which revealed a golden head of a eagle figurehead as the object it was attached to came into view. Balbus and Paulus were shocked at the massive flying ship above them. They saw it was armed with numerous things that spew iron balls and fire. And attached to port and starboard of the flying ship were these blade thing spinning around incredibly fast.
Then they heard sounds and flash of lights appear from the distances to the their south and west where. They felt the earth shake at the sound of an enemy army approaching to retake their city. Soon enough they saw their enemies appear from over the horizon, the army from the west appeared carrying banners of red and gold; while the other army from the south came with banners of the letter "L" coloured with white and blue.
And both armies were rushing in fast, letting out mighty war cries that could be heard leagues away. The flying ship above them then unleashed its wrath as cannons fired rounds after rounds into the ranks of the Empire's legions, killing dozens of men with every shot. The Empire's rear ranks went to disarray and panic at the sight of the vengeful flying ship, and the unexpected reinforcements coming to their rear.
Like a raging waves of a stormy sea crashing into a boat, the two armies of Silvermoon and Lordaeron crashed into the rear of the mighty legion of the Empire of Sadera.
"Onward to the city, men of Lordaeron!" Arthas Menethil shouted as he swung his hammer from his steed to smash his attacker's head into a gory mess. "For Stratholme, for Lordaeron!" He cried out as he smashed a centurion's head like a melon.
"For Quel'Thalas! For Silvermoon!" Sylvanas Windrunner shouted as she let loose her arrow upon any invaders in front of her. One cavalrymen tried to spear her but she put a arrow through his mouth for his attempted action.
The combined armies of the Blood Elves and Lordaeron remnants charged through the unknown army, tearing through their unprepared and disorganised ranks as the gunship Might of Lordaeron, mortar teams, mages, and few steam tanks bombarded them with impunity. Soldiers of both elves and human cleaved through the ranks of the enemy human soldiers and the remaining auxiliaries, fueled by righteous fury at their comrades in the city under attack by these invaders.
Imperial legionnaires founded themselves hammered by the superior fighting force of the Alliance as technology and magic combined proved a formidable fighting force whom experienced numerous hardships and battles. Lordaeronians and Blood Elves fought their way through, striking down every foe who got in their way, pushing back the enemy from the city. The disorganised state of the army prevented them from forming into defensive formation to take the brunt of the assault.
The rank-and-file fighting force of the Alliance were proving to be a formidable foe to face against. However the adventurers and champions were making themselves nightmares for the Imperial legions, as highly skilled fighters composed mostly of paladins, warriors, druids, shamans, and mages plowed their way through rows and rows of enemy soldiers like a scythe reaping through the crops.
Arthas and Sylvanas were the tip of the spear of the reinforcements; the Prince of Lordaeron smashed through the opposition as his powers with the Light protected him from harm and laying down retribution to the invaders. Light's Vengeance smashing against the bodies of legionnaires, crushing flesh and armor as blood stained against the hammer. While the Ranger-General was swift as the wind, arrow after arrow unleashed like a storm as each one pierced through the exposed spots of the enemies armor and bringing down foes in one hit. And when she used her blades, she weaved through the ranks of the enemy, each slash cutting apart vital portions of their flesh that killed instantly or let them bleeding heavily.
The combined armies of Silvermoon and Lordaeron broke through the ranks of the enemies all the way to the gatehouse. Where half the relief force remained outside to deal with the forces outside; while the other half entered the cities to relief the besieged defenders and clear out all enemy soldiers inside.
The first battle between the Alliance and the Empire of Sadera was over. But the war of the two worlds was far from over, as the drums of war continued to beat on.