Gulefritz here with chapter 4 of Battle for Lordaeron.
In this chapter we will see the Battle for Stratholme a battle happening before the fall of the Ashbringer.
In this chapter will we be introduced to our third survivor, an old paladin of the Silver Hand.
So far I plan to use the AU future of this chapter, which would be the case where Alexandros Morgraine survives Renault's attack.
With that, lets get on with the show.
An army of two hundred and seventy heavily armed men and women stands before the gate of Stratholme. Infront of them stands an old white bearded man with a giant Warhammer. The white bearded man is flanked by a man with a red beard in inquisitor clothing to his right. To his left stands a man who is still adorning a blue armor with the double headed eagle on his chest. The blue soldier is holding a blade that has such a strong aura around it, that most undead are blinded by it.
He was flanked by High Inquisitor Isillien and Highlord Alexandros Morgraine.
Saiden Dathrohan had found the strongest the crusade had to offer and formed a unit out of it. with these men the grand crusader intended to take on the hardest of foes and make an elite unit that would be a figurehead for all other units of the crusade. He intended for them to take on whatever hardship Arthas would throw at them, and they would destroy it.
And now came their first test. The city of Stratholme.
In the abandoning of the interior of Lordaeron, Stratholme had suffered greatly. Whatever remained of silver hand knights in the city had decided to barricade themselves inside the bastion in the western part of the city.
Meanwhile the scourge had returned to the city and ravaged the remaining human population still in the city. They did not find many, but they did find some who had survived Arthas's purge of the city.
The scourge inside of the city was led by an old baron of Lordaeron. Baron Rivendare, fallen father of Paladin Aurius Rivendare, had pledged himself to Arthas's scourge when the prince landed in Northern Lordaeron. He had been given a runeblade, just like Falric and Marwyn, given to him by the fallen prince personally.
For months the scourge had laid siege to the bastion within Stratholme, but none of their attempts had broken through the defences of the bastion.
One day a thousand undead stormed the bastion and struck at its door with hammer and axes. They managed to break into the bastion itself but the compact lines of the knights of the silver hand did not break.
Their morale was high and their armor strong.
Saiden knew of the situation within the city as days prior to his arrival a scout managed to sneak out of Stratholme in search of aid, an aid he received.
Saiden turned to look at Morgraine and Isillien and nodded at both of them.
"It is time to strike. High Inquistor you will follow me and a half of the men. Purge any undead and necromancer you see"
Isillien nodded and bowed before the grand crusader.
"As you wish"
Saiden then turned to Alexandros.
"Highlord. You will take the other half of the army. My army will clear King's Square and then go for Market Row. Your forces will strike the Festival Lane and from there move into Elder's Square. You are to secure Alonsus Faol's chapel. Understood?"
Alexandros nodded and turned around to order his men around.
"Crimson legion! We attack! Victory for the light!"
With that Saiden ordered the men forward and the crimson legion surged forward. the man charged with such zealotry, that no army in the past could compare to the crusaders. The only army coming close would be the army that spearheaded the attack on Blackrock spire.
The crusaders broke into the ruined city and were immediately meet by the fallen population of the city, led by several necromancers. One of the necromancers yelled out to one of the nearby acolytes.
"The living is here! Go and warn the baron!"
The crimson legion did not give the necromancers much time to prepare a defense. The army frontline raised their shields and bolted straight into the undead force. The soldiers cut into the mass of undead soldiers, and the undead retaliated.
It did not take long before both living and undead lied on the ground. Unfortunately for the crusade, were the necromancers quick to raise the dead again. Saiden saw this and yelled out to Isillien.
"Isillien! Purge those necromancers from our lands!"
The high inquisitor would immediately start to form a bolt of light and send it forward. the bolt hit one of the necromancers who would begin to burn from the impact. The high inquisitor smirked and started to summon his energies for another bolt.
Meanwhile at the front the power of the Ashbringer had come into view.
Alexandros struck down several undead with every swing of his blade. The sword cleaved several undead into pieces per strike, and the light from the blade burned the shadow magic keeping the undead together, leaving nothing but ashes behind.
The Highlord went on the offensive and carved a path straight through the undead mass. The Highlord left a pile of ash in his wake and was advancing on the necromancers who were trying to keep the undead forces together and raise them.
Alexandros reached the necromancers and cut them down the with his blade. Soon enough all the necromancers had been cut down and the reaction was immediate.
All newly raised undead soldiers fell apart. Skeletons who were fighting crusaders were reduced to nothing but a pile of bones. Ghouls who were leaping and biting through the armor of the crusaders broke down and were turned into a pile of rotten flesh.
The crusaders now outnumbered the raised undead soldiers and were quick to cut them down. The inquisitors went forward and immediately started to light the undead corpses on fire using the light.
The battle stopped, and Alexandros turned around to see the result of the battle. Out of the two hundred and seventy men, fifteen lied on the ground dead. The inquisitors were quick to separate the fallen from the living, salvaged the armor, and burned the corpses.
"With fire we show the greatest compassion to our fallen. With fire we allow their souls to go on to the light, with fire we make sure they are not trapped in their bodily shells, raised by the traitor prince"
Saiden Dathrohan calls out to Alexandros and points in the direction of Market's row.
"Alexandros take those with shields and the priests with you and take Market's row and from there move on to Alonsus Chapel. We expect the undead come from the gauntlet, so your task will be to hold back the undead advance"
Alexandros nodded and turned towards the soldiers with shields.
"You men with me! For Lordaeron!"
With that the Ashbringer and half of the scarlet crusaders present stormed forward. They crossed the gate leading into Market's row and were immediately met with an enormous army of undead soldiers. The undead were swarming in from the gauntlet, but the scarlet crusader stood strong. They formed a shield wall and Alexandros stood ready with the Ashbrnger in hand.
The undead army charged and hit the lines of the crusaders hard, even pushing them back a little. But a constant reinforcement of the shield wall was able to keep the line stable. Alexandros went into the fray and started to strike down undead after undead and the crusaders started to advance when one of the scourge traps sprung upon the army.
The portcullis fell when the army was in the middle of crossing, effectively capturing six crusaders, one of which was Aliya Lacrimosa. She barely managed to jump back before the portcullis hit the ground right in front of her. She looked around at all those who were captured, mostly men who were older than her.
One of them yelled out.
"Come on! lets get this portcullis up!"
Aliya nodded, and she put her hand on the portcullis together with people from both sides of it. they started to lift, when trouble hit from above.
Two nerubians had hid on top of the gatehouse, waiting for an opportunity for a fresh meal. Both jumped down and landed on top of two soldiers and knocked down the rest of them. Aliya could sit back and watch in horror as the nerubian grabbed the man's head with their arms and snapped their necks.
Both soldiers fell to the ground. Aliya watched as both men fell to the ground. Something snapped within her and she quickly rose from the ground. She rose from the ground and charged forward into one of the nerubians and managed to hit into the undead, going as far as to cut of two of its arms and cut straight into the neck of the undead, killing it immediately.
The three other soldiers were struggling with the other nerubian who were pushing the other soldiers around. It struck out with its arms and several men were hit of their footing. The nerubian went for a soldier and struck down its right hand, the boned arm breaking through the armor of the man's chest piece, piercing his hearth.
The nerubian turned to Aliya and roared.
"For Azjul'nerub!"
The nerubian bolted forward and Aliya embraced herself for the blow. She jumped to the fight a few moments before the nerubian would have hit her and hit it in the side. Enraged the nerubian slashed out and hit her across the chest, sending her flying back, landing in the arms of the still alive soldiers. She shook her head.
"Come on men! Let's kill this monstrosity!"
The three soldiers formed a shield wall. The enraged nerubian stormed forward and went headfirst into the shield wall. The shield wall broke, with the two men pushed to the side and Aliya being pinned underneath.
"Kill it! Kill it now!"
One of the men rushed to get back on their feet and struck into the undead as quick as possible. One managed to pierce the back of the undead, while the other cut into the arm holding Aliya down on the ground. She managed to get her sword hand free from underneath the undead. The push had struck the sword of her hand, but it was now free again. She gripped the sword and struck into the nerubian, piercing its neck, killing it instantly.
The nerubian collapsed. The undead fell upon Aliya pinning her to the ground. The two men who were still alive went and pushed the nerubian from her. They gave her a hand and helped her up from the ground. The moment Aliya got back on her feet, did something strange happen.
The portcullis raised. All three of them looked around and figured out how.
One of the soldiers nearby had climbed through a broken building and used a hammer to break into the gatehouse. The soldier cleared the gatehouse of undead and raised the portcullis, letting the trapped soldiers out.
The soldiers at King's square stormed through the gate and joined the Ashbringer at the frontline. Alexandros had managed to break the undead lines and now they pushed forward. Alexandros smiled as he could see his goal. Alonsus's Chapel.
The building used to be the place where Alonsus Faol, Archbishop of the Church of the Holy Light, used to preach. His prayers always filled the chapel and the old man were a uniting figure for the lordaeron people. His death was a bad omen by the lordaeronian people, and no more than two weeks after his death, did the plague hit the city of Andorhall.
And now the living would recapture the chapel.
The undead was fleeing from the crusaders. Their foul master had recalled them into the gauntlet. The crusaders laid chase and cut down as many as they possibly could. The living was able to cut down another two hundred undead. In the Ashbringer's push, had only fifteen solders fallen, counting the three inside of the gatehouse.
Meanwhile in another part of the city a more brutal battle had commenced.
Saiden Dathrohan had gathered the remaining soldiers, all armed with two handed weapons, mostly swords and war hammers. The grand crusader had also taken all of the inquisitors with him. The grand crusader had decided to go on the offensive, and the men behind him were struggling to catch up to their leader.
The lines of crusader sprinted as fast as they could and they joined the grand crusader in the battle.
Crusader Alan was amongst the men who sprinted to Dathrohan's side. The crusader, still armed with the two-handed sword handed to him by Renault, stormed straight into the undead mass. He tripped several undead and cut down multiple per swing.
He took several strikes to the body. A ghoul managed to bite into his left arm and would have taken the whole arm, had a crusader behind him not cut down the ghoul before further damage could be done.
Alan looked to the side and noticed the one who came to his aid was a man younger than himself, barely past his teens. He nodded and turned back to the battle ahead, jumping into the fray again.
"For Lordaeron!"
The undead soldiers were cut down by the crusaders. The undead were cut in half or smashed to the side. Soon enough, the undead forces, smaller than that the Ashbringer was facing, shrunk in size.
Then disaster struck.
A burning building broke apart and fell down on both the living and the dead. The broken building blocked the way and captured several soldiers, most notably the grand crusader himself. The men gathered at the building.
"Get him out from there!"
Saiden Dathrohan looked around and saw that the road was blocked. He was unable to get back to his men, so he turned to face the undead, but most of the undead were down as well. The old paladin looked around and noticed no undead were coming at him, in fact nothing was near him.
No undead, no human, even the sounds of battle were gone. Saiden could feel a strong shadow aura but did now where it came from, not before it was too late.
A shadow had formed behind the grand crusader without him noticing it. the shadow manifested into a demon. This demon was tall, had long dark bat like wings and his hand had long, sharp claws. His head had long black horns as well. The demon laughed and grabbed the crusader with his right claw, starting to drain the power out of the grand crusader.
The demon grinned.
"My name is Balnazzar. I am a nathrezim, an agent of the Burning Legion sent to sow chaos in your lands. I am going to kill you and posses your body. I am going to lead your small crusade and you will watch as I destroy all you cared for"
With that Balnazzar blasted Saiden's head with a strong shadow spell. The grand crusader screamed out of pain and could only feel as the light did not come to his aid. He felt as slowly he lost control of his body to this demon invader.
Saiden summoned one last spell and managed to free himself from the demon's grip.
"By the light I will purge you from Azeroth, you demon filth"
With that Saiden stormed forward and struck out at the demon. Balnazzar laughed and caught his Warhammer with one claw. He formed his left claw into a fist and struck the grand crusader, sending him flying backwards. He laughs as he watches the grand crusader fall back into a pile of rubble.
Balnazzar drops the grand crusaders Warhammer and rushes forward. the grand crusader forms one last spell and send it towards the dreadlord but is never able to send it against the demon.
"It has been interesting, but it is time for you to die!"
Balnazzar grabbed the grand crusader and blasted his body with a strong shadow spell. The spell brought the grand crusader to brink of death, the moment the dreadlord had been waiting for. Balnazzar picked up the near dead grand crusader and held him up with his right claw.
Suddenly Dathrohan fell to the ground, no longer held by Balnazzar's demonic claw. Balnazzar had vanished from the area. Saiden Dathrohan suddenly stood up and shook his head. He looked behind and walked over to his Warhammer.
But it was no longer Saiden Dathrohan, Grand Crusader of the Scarlet Crusade, who was in control of the paladin's body. His body had been reduced to nothing but a mere shell for the dreadlord Balnazzar, agent of the Burning Legion.
"Time to prepare this world for the legions return"
Meanwhile back at the frontline, the crusaders were still fighting the undead forces. Many did not know what to do now that their grand crusader was gone. Commander Malor noticed this and started to organize the men. The grand crusader may be gone but he was not ready to let the men inside the bastion suffer any longer.
"Ten soldiers will keep digging and guard this path to the Crusader Square, the rest of you, come with me, we got a bastion to save"
With that Malor the Zealous, commander of the Crimson Legion, stormed forward, followed by around eighty men. The men stormed into Crusader square and were immediately met by a large horde of undead soldiers.
The undeads were trying to breach the door into the citadel with a giant log. The crimson soldiers charged forward and hit the undead force in the back. The undead dropped the siege and turned around to face the new enemy from behind.
The defenders inside of the bastion noticed the undead dropped the siege. One of them looked outside and saw an army of humans in red armor, supported by priests burning undead with the light, right in front of their bastion, killing undead as if they were made out of butter.
The man turned to tell his commander what was happening, and the result was immediate. The soldiers inside of the bastion, armed with blue armor from the second war and a few knights of the Silver Hand, opened the bastion and stormed out of the bastion, joining in on the battle.
One of the paladins were armed with an armor made by lightforged steel. An armor that had a strong light aura. The paladin was an old paladin from the second war who had grown gray hair by now.
Like most of the other paladins of the hand, was the man armed with a two-handed Warhammer. His name is Gavinrad Brightbringer. The paladin led the remaining defenders in the battle of crusader square and soon enough the two sides of living soldiers meet in the middle of the square.
Commander Malor meet with Gavinrad in the middle of the square. Both men nodded and bowed before each other. Gavinrad is the first to speak.
"I do not recognize your face nor the standard your men are bearing. Please tell me, who is it that has come to my aid and saved my men from the undead army that has ravaged Stratholme"
Commander Malor looks over the paladin before looking at the soldiers he let in battle. In total they were fifteen soldiers. He looks back to Gavinrad.
"My name is Malor the Zealous. I am the commander of the Crimson Legion. We are a force, under the leadership of Grand Crusader Saiden Dathrohan, leader of the Scarlet Crusade. The Grand Crusader send us into this battle, both to save you and reclaim this city from the undead"
Gavinrad nodded and looked around before looking back to Malor, raising an eyebrow.
"I know who Saiden is and I do not spot him within your ranks. Where is he?"
Commander Malor is about to explain what happened to the grand crusader, when a loud voice yells from behind the army.
"I am right here Brightbringer"
The entire army turned around and there walked Saiden Dathrohan. He looked fresh, as if nothing had hit the man. He grinned as he walked up to crimson legion and smiled at Malor.
"You done well Commander. Now send word to the Ashbringer, tell him we have taken this part of the city and we now prepare to take the gauntlet"
Dathrohan then turned to Gavinrad.
"I am sure you have a lot of questions my friend. Bring all your men inside the bastion and I will explain it all"
Gavinrad nodded and followed the grand crusader into the bastion, together with his soldiers.
This would be the day Gavinrad Brightbringer joined the Scarlet Crusade, and the day the Crimson Legion claimed the bastion as their theater of operation for the campaigns in the Eastern Plagueland.
Now, that is chapter 4. Tell me what you liked or disliked and tell me if you want to see Alexandros dead or not.