Arthas raised his sword Frostmourne, which glowed in a cold blue light, as if the sword itself was anticipating the fight. However, as the blade came down, the mutated elf simply ducked and used his new arms to duck himself into the ground and disappear in a matter of moments, too fast for the human eye to see. Arthas blinked a couple of time, looking around, but only found his forces fighting against those acid spitting insects.
"What is the meaning of this?! Are you elves too scared to fight me?!" he shouted into the air. As if to answer the death knight, the mutated elf came out of the ground, exactly where Arthas was standing, giving the death knight a perfect uppercut with one right arm, while the two others tried to slash through the armor, but ultimately failed because of its enchantments. Still, the fallen paladin staggered backwards, clasping his chin with his free hand.
"If you have taught us one thing human, than it is that there is no such thing as honor while fighting the likes of you."
Without another word, the elf disappeared again into a ground, not even leaving a hole, since he put the earth back over himself again. Arthas "tched", readying his trusty blade, while carefully moving above the ground. He expected another attack from below him, thus carefully eyed the earth below him. What he didn't expect was the elf to come out from behind him and charge at the human, claws outstretched. Just in time Arthas managed to turn around and block the attack with his sword, needing to hold it with both hands. All six hands were caught up in the rune blade, which cut through the tough skin of the zerg-elf. The latter hissed, as he could feel blood flowing out of his hand. Arthas smirked, but it disappeared rather quickly, when the human noticed that the blood wasn't read, but a yellowish green. The elf used the distraction to let go of the blade with one hand and punched the fallen prince straight into the face.
"GARGH! You bastard!" the death knight summoned his unholy magic and unleashed a blast of ice from his left hand. But Arthas underestimated the elf's ability to burrow himself and before a field of 100 yards was frozen, the Zerg had already disappeared into the underground once again. Cursing, Arthas shot barrages of ice to wherever he suspected his opponent to be underground, freezing Zerg, Undead and a poor squirrel in the process. In a matter of minutes hundreds of yards of elven land were frozen, covered in multiple centimeters of ice. The death knight panted after having used so much magic, much more than he had his entire life. Using the pause, the elf came back onto the surface, a mocking grin plastered onto his face.
"What is wrong, your highness? Not in the mood for a game of tag?" he asked in a mock time.
That was enough for Arthas to finally lose it. After being stolen of his victory over Sylvanas, after having lost many troops to the insect monsters, the elves having prepared the defenses of their capital city and finally being denied of destroying the walls of the elven city, the human was for the lack of better term fed up. He charged blindly at the elf, ignoring the warning voice of Kel'Thuzad. The mutated elf just stood there, seemingly waiting for the strike to come. In the last moment, the death knight was stopped, as he felt his leg burn, like he just stepped into a pit of lava. Looking down, he found his bare skin melting away, his boot already gone. One of the Roaches had freed itself from the main fight and attacked Arthas. In fact the undead were continuously losing ground against their insect opponents. Whenever one was too damaged, it would bury underground, only to come back later without as much as a few scratches on their carapaces, if any.
The death knight either didn't notice or care about this face. He killed of the Roach with a blast of green magic and ran towards his humanoid opponent again, only for said opponent to bury himself. The death knight came to a staggering halt. Before he found his footing again, the Zerg-Elf came out of the ground just behind Arthas and unleashed a barrage of slashes against Arthas' armor. However the only thing he managed to accomplish was destroy the cape and damage the metal a little. Whoever woved those spells into the armor was certainly no slouch, that much the elf realized. Completely annoyed, Arthas turned around and slashed the Zerg elf right through the chest. The elf was surprised, after all, his armor was supposed to hold against Terran projectile weapons as well as Protoss energy weapons. But then again, magic was a complete new concept to the Zerg, to which they still had to adapt to.
The elf jumped backwards, quickly checking on his connection to the rest of the swarm, which admittedly was still a new concept to him as well as the rest of the mutated elves. He was pleased to find out that his forces were doing exceptionally well for Azeroth with the only loss being the one Roach that the death knight took out. Since it would be hard to take out the fallen prince by his own, the mutated elf decide to play around a little more with the death knight, until most of his army was dead for good.
"I see, so that's how the prince of Lordaeron came to power." The elf jumped a few feet backwards. "No skill for the blade or any leadership whatsoever. Just a little, expensive toy, which allows him to play with a bunch of mindless puppets. If it weren't so many, you-"
The elf didn't get any further with his taunting. Arthas practically announced his attack with a fearsome battle cry. For the elf it was the same old play. Dug into the ground, this time wait a little for his wounds to recover from the slash and then come out at the most convenient moment. However, it seemed that the elves former brethren had other plans. A unit of cavalry came charging out of the city, seeing the enemies weakening each other. And although they weren't able to identify any losses on the side of the insects, the elves were confident they could defeat what was left.
The elf silently cursed, as his troops informed him of the coming attack. He even recognized a few high ranking Guards and Mages through the eyes of the Roaches. Knowing full well that these mages could unleash pure terror onto his Zerg, he gave the order to retreat to base. Burrowing themselves, he and the roaches were long gone, when the guards arrived, perfectly slaying the leftover undead, Arthas fumed, but even he knew, he was no match for an entire battalion of elves. Summoning his trusty steed, he retreated from the battlefield, before any of the elves could catch him.
"Not so fast, monster!" One brave elf chased after Arthas on one of those huge bird creatures. The death knight blocked the attack from the elf, which destroyed the elf's sword somehow. Before the elven woman knew what happened, Arthas had cut off her head and Frostmourne absorbed the soul of the elf. The body fell to the ground, only to get back up again, picking up it's head again. Later on one of the mages would burn the undead body to ashes.
"Sergeant, report!" The female lieutenant barked her orders.
"Yes, my lady. The undead have been successfully eliminated. The mages made sure to burn every single corpse, moving or not. Unfortunately we let Arthas escape. He managed to slay Private Leya, before retreating."
"Curses! She was always so short sighted. But nothing we can do about now. Any signs of those other monstrosities?"
"No, my lady. We searched the immediate perimeter, but found no sign of them. No doubt they dug their way underground back to wherever they came from."
"No doubt, indeed." The lieutenant nodded. "Sergeant, report this to the Captain immediately. The rest of you, back to your posts! The undead might try to attack again!"
W-A-R
Back at the small base, the elf and his Roaches returned, where other similar or in some cases completely differently mutated elves waited for him.
"This didn't go as planned, did it Zaath?" asked Veice, the last remaining mage of what was left of their once great army. The rest were either scattered across the land, in Dalaran or preparing the defenses of Silvermoon. The once High Elf woman, now sprouted very long tentacle like hair, along with two violette glowing orbs on her shoulders, almost like shoulder plates, only round. Her skinny body was now adorned with carapace armor, although it didn't make her look any less fragile than before. Her fingernails were now long claws and short spines grew out of the latter half of her arms.
Zaath shrugged in response. "All things considered, it could have been worse. But I have to admit, I severely underestimated the capabilities of whatever demonic force forged his armor. The Roach needed three shots, until it was finally gone."
"Still, you took way too many risks." Another Zerg-Elf walked towards the other two. This one was muscular like Zaath, but aside from his changed body, he still looked like a (more or less) normal elf man. That is until two blades came out of his arm and the elf carefully observed them.
"After noticing the lack of impact your attacks did, you should have let the Roaches kill the bastard. Now he's back with his main army, which will make it much harder to annihilate him."
Again Zaath shrugged. "Whatever Salen. But honestly, I'd rather not have to face the General, after "stealing" her kill."
At these words, everyone looked over to the glowing cocoon in the very middle of the base. The amount of pain their general must be going through, must be ten times as much as the other elves had gone through.
"How is she?" Zaath asked.
"Nothing has changed." Yet another elf answered.
"What do we do? Should we wait until she breaks out or should we attack the undead, while we have the chance?" One of the surviving privates asked.
"We attack." Veice positioned herself in front of the cocoon and placed a hand on it. "For all we know, it could take until the evening, before the transformation is complete. As the highest ranking member, next to Sylvanas, I take charge for the time being. Zaath, take your Roaches and do the same you did earlier with the siege weapons. Azinda, take half of us who are specialized in ranged attacks, as well as half of the Hydralisks and get rid of these annoying Gargoyles. Once we have the air cleaned, you will meet up with me. I'll lead a charge right at the front of the undead army. A small part of us will stay here and defend the base. Finally Kaonia, since you have adapted to the changeling DNA, you will go back to Silvermoon and inform them that we're not their enemies. With the help of our former brothers and sisters, we will be able to push the undead army out of our lands."
"Understood!" Every transformed elf saluted. Kaonia used her newfound abilities to transform back into her original state: Long red hair, orange-like skin and her normal ranger armor. She even managed to replicate her sword and bow. Veice briefly wondered if those actually worked, but shook the thought off. She could study their newfound biology later. For now, they had to bring the dead to the rest.
"You have your orders! Move out!"
W-A-R
In the strategy room of the palace, High King Anesterian and his highest ranking military members who were not dead or occupied in the fights, as well as some of the highest mages and priests stood around a map of Silvermoon, discussing the recent events.
"It appears those insects and the undead are enemies." The captain of the guard reported. "Our scouts inform us of a large force heading towards the main undead army. We have confirmed reports of said insects protecting our western gates. And one more thing, my King. I have managed to scrape together a report, if you want to call it that, about the first wave of the insects. So far I only heard about property damaged. No citizen was really injured during the attack, aside from a boy who was run over."
"Curious. It almost sounds like this attack was staged in order to warn us about the incoming invasion." The High King commented. "Almost as if they are sentient creatures."
"Surely, someone must be controlling these." Aleron, one of the mages suggested. "There can be no other explanation. Of course the questions that follows is, why is this whoever is controlling these helping us?"
"I think we should worry about the shield first, before we look into whatever those monsters are or their motives for this matter." Another mage spoke up. "I admit I am curious as well, but the safety of our city should come first."
"Indeed." The High King nodded. "The preparations are going as planned I presume?"
"Of course. In only three hours, our mages will create the barrier. As long as the Sunwell is with us, no one is going to break through. Until then we have to continue to hold our defenses."
"I have the highest expectations of our troops. However, I find it concerning we haven't heard about Sylvanas. I guess Arthas spoke the truth. He really did slay her and with her most of our rangers." The King allowed a sigh to escape his old lips. "A tragedy. One we will make sure to avenge one day."
Just then a guard ran into the room. He was out of breath and looked like he was going to collapse any second. The others were startled by the sudden intrusion, but let him speak none the less.
"My King! One of Sylvana's rangers just arrived here in Silvermoon! She claims that Sylvanas and is alive, along with a small part of her troops!"
Immediately everyone's eyes lit up. "These are great news! Send her in immediately!"
The guard nodded and made a gesture with his spear. No one recognized the returning ranger, as she was obviously a low ranking member.
"My King, the High Mages, Captain." Kaonia saluted. "I am afraid you won't be happy with what I am about to say. Surely you must have noticed the insect army, which is currently fighting the undead."
"Indeed we have." Aleron spoke with a raised eyebrow. "Do you have any information about those monsters?"
"The good news I can bring you, is that they are on our side."
"On our side? Explain yourself." The High King demanded.
"I need to ask you to let me finish my report, before you judge anything I said."
Kaonia quickly gave them a summary report about the first sightings of the undead, the raided villages and how Arthas used a strange weapon to raise and control the undead, continuously marching through their beloved land Quel'Thalas.
"Seeing as death was imminent, we prepared for our final stand. Sylvanas send messengers to Silvermoon in hopes of warning you, before it was too late. In the end, they all were intercepted by the undead and killed.
After another devastating attack on our position, we knew there was no way we would survive the next one. However it was at this moment that Arthas' power came to work against him."
"How so?" The King asked. "Did he lose control of some of his minions?"
The ranger shook her head. "No, he brang a being back to live, which strength rivaled those of the most powerful forces on Azeroth."
Everyone's eyes widened at those words.
"It was a being simply called the Overmind. The Overmind once was the leader of the insects, known as the Zerg. Having limited time in the world of the living and for some reason feeling "generous" in it's own way, it offered the General a deal of some sort."
"A deal? Forgive me if I sound skeptical, but to me it sounds like it was just looking for a way to come back permanently. After all, you said it just could stay here temporarily. Isn't that right?" The King asked.
"The General believed the same. She didn't tell any of us of what she was doing, but she accepted the deal, giving her full control of the Zerg. The insect creatures you saw outside the walls."
As soon as those words left her mouth, there were outrageous cries among the room. Everyone seemed to have it out for the ranger, that is until Anesterian shot a small fire ball into the air. The resulting explosion silenced everyone.
"Explain yourself this once ranger." The King demanded in a calm tone.
After catching herself, the ranger continued, though she now began to eye everyone carefully. "Apparently for centuries there has been a small nest of the Zerg deep underground. It is hard to explain what happened next, but the best way to describe it is that we all...have been changed."
"Changed in what way?"
The former high elf looked down on her hands, a sad sigh escaping her. "In order to control the Zerg, we had to become Zerg as well."
She looked up again. "Every surviving ranger, including myself, is no longer a Quel'Dorei. The only reason I still look like the high elf is because of my new abilities."
"New abilities?" the captain couldn't help but ask.
To answer this question, Kaonia changed right in front of everyone. Her weapons, clothes, and armor seemed to grow into her, while her hair seemed to melt together, until it was back to the dreadlocks.
"By the sunwell…" One elf breathed out. Another hide tried and failed miserably to hide his blush.
"I have only this to say, my King. We will continue to fight alongside the Quel'Dorei until every last undead is slain. Right at this moment our forces are attacking the undead positions. If you send your troops now, we will be able to throw back the undead. However, if you do not trust us, we won't hold it against you."
"I WILL KILL YOU ARTHAS!"
Everyone, even the old High Elf King, jumped startled the shout of the voice, which they all knew all too well.
It seems the General's transformation is complete.
W-A-R
Pain...the only thing Sylvanas had felt for what appeared like an eternity, but was only a couple of hours. Something broke her bones, tore her flesh apart and rearranged it like a sick little puzzle game. Her body twitched and jerked, her mouth let out an unhearable scream, until she wasn't even allowed to move anymore. Her muscles wouldn't listen to her anymore. She had no choice but to endure her body being violently changed, as she floated in whatever was keeping her alive. Those simple words didn't even come close to what she had experienced. But then the pain subsided. She could feel her body listening to her once again. At first her fingers twitched. The she moved an arm. Another one. Her legs. Finally she moved her upper body, opening her eyes. She was surrounded by flesh and liquid. She barely recognized it as her protective cocoon, as it was in her way. Her way of getting revenge on that bastard of a prince. Channeling all her rage, she used her newfound psionic powers and destroyed her prison from the inside. From an outside perspective it just looked like the cocoon exploded. Masses of creep, as well as nearby Zerg units were thrown away by the impulse. Sylvanas let out an immense shout, one she was aware the entirety of the elven land must have heard.
"I WILL KILL YOU ARTHAS!"
Her mind immediately reached out to every Zerg being on Azeroth, suppressing their free will and enforcing hers upon everyone. And right now she didn't want anything more than to give a certain prince the most slow and painful death she could possibly imagine.
The other former rangers stared at their General, no their Queen, in both awe and horror. She had the regular carapace armor they all had. Spines grew out of her arms and legs, giving her an even more dangerous look. She had two huge wings coming out of her bag, as well as a tail, which ended in a stinger of some sort. Her hair had turned into the normal dreadlock look, although she wasn't wearing any sort of hood anymore.
Without even acknowledging the presence of her former comrades, now subjects, Sylvanas bend down, outstretched her wings and leaped off into the air, flying where her army was fighting the undead and Arthas.
W-A-R
Arthas let out a fierce battle cry, stabbing one of those hound like insects in the head, from the top of his horse. Of course he had heard the cry and no doubt it came from Sylvanas. Finally he would be able to kill her for good and with her those insects with which the elves hoped to protect their precious lands. He had concluded that as a last resort, Sylvanas had used some sort of forbidden magic to summon those beasts and transform herself and her troops into the things they now where. No doubt a forbidden secret weapon of the elves the General dug out from somewhere. But it wouldn't be enough. His army, despite all losses, still had the advantage in numbers. The Ghouls and Abominations were great distractions, while his Nerubians and Necromancers shot down the insects in a barrage of projectiles and spells. Hew himself, as well as the Gargoyles that hadn't been shot down by the snake like creatures, were busy protecting the meat wagons from the spiky elf and his army of cockroaches. Unfortunately for him, their ability to burrow on the spot made it difficult for him to actually kill them. More often than not, he had to use the magic that was given to him by Frostmourne.
Another tactic he used was summoning masses of skeletons and sending them against the snake like creatures, so they were to busy to use their own ranged attacks against his army. To counter the strategy a mage elf summoned blizzard after blizzard, hitting both Undead and Insects alike. But something else which was annoying him to a great deal, were the elves who shot poisonous arrows out of their arms, as if they had crossbows attached to their arms. Right now the only thing preventing them for shooting key units were the masses of Zombies the death knight send their way.
He even went as far and summoned Ziggurats around his position. The huge towers did their fair share of work, but were already heavily damaged with the crystals flying unsteadily in the air, a sign of the towers soon collapsing if not repaired quickly. Something he couldn't do at the moment. Arthas just cut down another one of those insects and wanted to turn his attention towards one of those annoying elves, when he heard a battle cry, which he became all too familiar in these past couple of days. An excited grin appeared on his face, thinking he could finally destroy the elves for good. Of course he was expecting a completely different Sylvanas Windrunner. He just didn't expect her to come down charging from the sky.
