(AUTHOR'SNOTE: This chapter's a lil long, but it's worth it. Lot's off action. Enjoy!)

Chapter 5: The Battle For The Rises

Several days passed after the initial attack on Orgrimmar. The Horde had successfully repelled the demonic forces, but for how long, they were unsure. Draggo and Draggar had recovered as well as Frostwing from the excruciating battles they had endured. Draggo, Draggar, Kanya, and Velemere were discussing the situation when Fenron came over.

"Draggo, Draggar, Thrall has ordered an emergency meeting of his soldiers within the Ring of Valor." Fenron stated. Draggo and Draggar acknowledged the druid and proceeded to the Ring of Valor.

"Fenron, do you know what happened to Crether and Drek'val?" asked Draggo.

"After the battle in the Alterac Mountains they were sent as defensive forces to Thunderbluff. I have not heard word of them since." Fenron answered.

"May the spirits be with them then." said Draggo as they began to enter the Ring of Valor. The stadium was packed with all races of the Horde as their eyes fell upon Thrall who stood within the middle of the Ring of Valor. Once everyone had entered Thrall began to speak.

"Warriors of the Horde, I bare grave news." said the Warchief. "A large force of demons is on approach to Thunderbluff. They will be upon the city within the hour."

An outburst broke out amongst the Horde. Panic, fear, and anger possessed the crowd. Draggo and Fenron grimaced in fear of the city. Their friends were in grave danger.

"SILENCE!" boomed Thrall. His voice silenced the boisterous crowd. "We shall come to our allies' aid, but we cannot simply charge in blades raised. I have a friend here with something that might be able to aid us in this battle…" Thrall said as he gestured towards someone who was standing within the shadows. A small goblin walked over to Thrall with a large cannon like device in his arms.

"This," said the goblin holding up the device, "is the a what I like to call the TNTitan! It is capable of firing large and highly explosive charges from far distances. We've been developing it for the past few years. As for it's strength…Well let's just say we could take down a dragon in a shot or two with one of these bad boys!" screeched the goblin.

"Warriors of the Horde, heed my words: we will destroy this demon menace, we will find and defeat Sargeras, and we willdefend our home!" hollered the Warchief. Everyone in the stadium rose up in a monstrous cheer.

"For the Horde!"

"For the Horde!"

"For the HORDE!"

"Let us go, my fellow Horde, and protect our brethren against these vile demons!" yelled Thrall.

"Be sure to pick up your TNTitans on the way out!" yelled the goblin as the Horde began to rush out of the coliseum.

Outside the coliseum were racks of TNTitans and piles of ammo. An eager and battle lusty Horde rushed over and grabbed their weapons.

"Horde, we shall attack from the skies! Let our enemies feel our rain of fire! Let them burn like the hell they belong in!" Shouted a rather aged orc mounted on top of a wyvern dressed in slick spiky black armor that matched it's peculiar black coat. The orc was wearing rather intimidating armor. Spikes and blades erupted from all sides of the orc's armor. His face was littered with scars of battle only adding to his spine chilling appearance. At the stables nearby were lines of battle ready wyverns. Everyone ran towards the stables except fro Draggo and Fenron.

"Aren't you two coming?" asked Draggar as he halted in his pursuit towards the stables.

"Oh, we're goin alright." growled Draggo. He took a horn from his belt that he used to call Frostwing to him. His loyal drake was never to far to heed his call. The mighty blue drake descended from the heavens and kneeled before his master.

"I shall see you there my son. Strength be with you." said Draggo as he took off, the Horde close at his back. Draggar then averted his gaze to Fenron. He had neither a mount nor a TNTitan.

"What of you?" Draggar asked.

"I have my own way to fight from the skies." Fenron chuckled. He placed one of his hands in the air and a large swirling green mist of druidic energy began to engulf his body. Then, a large brownish wing erupted from the mist; then another. A long scaly brown tail slithered from the back, and then Fenron erupted from the mist as a large brown dragon releasing a monstrous roar that made the sky and earth tremble. Draggar looked on in shock. He didn't know that this transformation was even possible for a druid!

"Hop on, my friend. Let us rid our world of this filth." grumbled Fenron. Draggar reluctantly hopped onto Fenron's back and the dragon burst through the skies like rocket.

Fenron caught up with Draggo at the head of the raid.

"Father do you know how many demons we re going to be facing?" asked and eager, yet slightly intimidated Draggar.

"According to Gargon," said Draggo gesturing towards the orc on the black wyvern, " it's a larger force than the one that attacked Orgrimmar."

"Indeed." said Gargon in his gruff voice. "Regardless, they will be exterminated just as their allies were…"

The Horde finally entered Mulgore and within moments they had arrived on Thunderbluff…and it's sundering. The demonic force was indeed larger than the one that attacked Orgrimmar. Abnormally large pit lords stomped across they land, destroying all wildlife in their wake as they smashed their blades into the rises. Demonic harpies soared around the skies, swooping down and attacking Thunderbluff guards. Much of Thunderbluff had been taken by wrath guards and other man'ari eredar. Much of the city had been set ablaze by the demons. It was pure destruction.

"Attack my fellow Horde! We must release these wretched insurgents' grip on our allies!" hollered Gargon. He was the first to swoop down and fire his TNTitan at a pit lord he was attempting to climb one of the rises. The explosive charge exploded on the demons back leaving a large bloody scorch mark on it's back. The pit lord fell off the rock howling in pain and angry. He crashed to the ground, injured but alive. He was soon followed by other Horde firing their TNTitans at the demons. Soon, the Burning Legion countered with assaults from the harpies and sorceress standing at the edges of the rise. The battle was at a standstill.

Draggo was being pursued by a large and menacing harpy through the skies. Once he reloaded his TNTitan, he shifted around in his seat and blasted the harpy into bits. When he turned back around in his seat, he saw the horror that was taking place on the land. The Thunderbluff forces were being mercilessly slaughtered like cattle. The orc quickly urged his drake down, smashing it directly into a wrath guard that had a tauren pinned to the ground.

"Thank you orc. Please, you must aid Cairne! He is being overrun by demons! He has been able to hold them off for now, but I fear he grows weary!" cried the tauren guard.

Draggo nodded in affirmation and began to call down his drake when he realized Frostwing was occupied fleeing from attackers. Draggo did not fear for his drake's safety; he knew Frostwing was perfectly capable of handling himself. With no transportation but his own two feet, Draggo made a run for the bridge. Just as he reached the bridge, he saw a demonic sorcerer burn the ropes of the bridge, dropping it to the ground below. The demon cackled as it turned to see Draggo's shield crash into it's face, sending the demon plummeting to the ground below the rise. The only other path was to take the bridge to the Lower Rise and to ascend the totem to the High Rise. Draggo began to dash for the other bridge.

Draggar remained in the skies with Fenron; Draggar was blasting demons to bloody bits while Fenron scorched them into a mist of ash. The attack on his homeland had made the druid extremely infuriated and aggressive.

"Draggar, I need you to look for Drek'val and Crether." said Fenron between breaths of fire. Draggar knew Crether and Drek'val through his father, though his relationship with them was not as close as it was with Fenron.

"I worry for their safety. Even they are in danger in the face of this enemy. I will find a safe place for you to land and continue to exterminate these demons " said Fenron.

"Very well Fenron." replied Draggar.

The brown dragon managed to navigate through the demons and landed on Elder Rise. A large number of doomguards were piling into the tent where Hamuul Runetotem and Hagatha Grimtotem resided. Draggar quickly rushed into help. As soon as he entered, a doom guard was shot otut of the tent opening, soaring right past Draggar falling to the ground dead. When he looked inside he found more dead doomguards. Standing in the back of the tent, surrounded by the doomguards and man'ari eredar stood Hagatha Grimtotem and some tauren looking beast. It was larger than an average tauren and his face had taken on a more bestial appearance and his paws were larger and bared gnarly claws. Fangs protruded from his mouth like a tiger and his fur was extremely ruffled. The beasts muscles bulged out of his leather garbs and his eyes glowed yellow. This beats was mercilessly hacking away at the demons with speed and ferocity that Draggar had never seen before. Hagatha Grimtotem stood by the beast, blasting the demons with spells and occasionally healed her ally. Though they were a daunting force, they were obviously beginning to weaken.

Draggar ran into the action and began to annihilate the demons from behind. Countless spells and demonic weapons were hurled at Draggar, but he was relentless. His blade brought the remaining demons to their demise. Once the threat was dealt with Draggar approached the two. Hagatha and the beast were both heaving deep breaths of exhaustion. Their age was very apparent in that moment.

"Are you two alright?" asked Draggar.

"Yes, I believe so. Thank you orc." thanked Hagatha. The beast weakly fell to one knee and let loose a painful grumble.

"Hamuul are you alright?" asked Hagatha as she placed her glowing green hands on the beast. Hamuul quickly rose and nodded.

"Thank you warrior. Your aid was greatly appreciated." growled Hamuul in a feral voice.

"Have you two seen a Forsaken and a troll by the names of Crether and Drek'val. They were sent as reinforcements here." asked Draggar.

"No I'm afraid not, but I do know that all of the reinforcements were sent to the High Rise to protect Cairne." said Hagatha.

"Very well then. Be safe." said Draggar as he began to set off for the High Rise.

"Wait! We shall accompany. We must protect Cairne Bloodhoof." said Hagatha as she began to follow Draggar. Hamuul got on all fours and began to sprint along with Draggar and Hagatha and took the bridge to Middle Rise.

Draggo had managed to make it to the large totem that would lead him to High Rise. Unfortunately, the demons had burned down the totem and the surrounding building. Draggo would have to climb up the rubble and fight through the doom guards that stood upon it. He charged the demons with his weapons raised and shouting out a monstrous battle cry.

His shield made first contact on a demons face and it fell to the ground. Draggo stabbed the demon in the neck, black blood oozing from the wound. Draggo savagely ripped the blade it, killing the monster. Two more doom guards flew through the air at Draggo. They both released demonic flames from their mouths. Draggo quickly crouched down and hid behind his shield which repelled the flames. As one of the demons flew over his head, Draggo threw his blade up, slicing the doom guard open. The other managed to tackle him to the ground. The demon sat on top of him, pinning him to the ground, and swung his fist down at the orc. Draggo used his barbaric strength to catch the fist in his hand and swing his own fist at the demon, knocking it off of him. While it was on the ground Draggo retrieved his shield and severed the demon's head with it.

Before Draggo could pick up his sword, more doomguards and wrath guards were upon him. His shield being his only weapon, Draggo would have to alter his strategy. A wrath guard charged Draggo, his dual axes poised for attack, and brought the two axes down. Draggo blocked the first of the axes with his shield and when the other axe was heading for his side, Draggo stopped the attack by grabbing the handle of the weapon Draggo swung the axe off his shield and then swung Dragon Guard into the demon's face, leaving a large indentation. Bewildered by the forceful blow, the demon loosened his grip on the axe which Draggo ripped from his grasp and used it to execute the demon. This axe would have to serve as Draggo's weapon until he reached Dragon Strike on the other side of the demons.

Draggo charged into the crowd and began to hack away. At one point a doomguard had swung his titanic blade at Draggo who had blocked the blow with his axe. The force of the swing was so strong that Draggo's axe began to crack from the pressure. While Draggo tried to hold off the blade, a wrath guard approached menacingly from behind. Draggo reacted instinctively and tossed his shield at the demon, severing it's head. With his now free hand Draggo picked up another axe from the ground and swung it at the doomguard's wrists, cutting off it's hands. He then struck the final blow. With a few more kills, Draggo retrieved both Dragon Guard and Dragon Strike and finished off the last of the demons. He then ran for High Rise.

Draggar approached the large totem wyvern roost and noticed a large amount of dead demons laying upon the rubble of the surrounding area. He quickly ran up the rubble and arrived at High Rise. There he saw that the brunt of the demonic forces was here, surrounding Cairne's He also knew that Cairne was at the center of the mass of demons because Draggar could see random demons flying through the air and either crashing on the ground dead or plummeting off the rise to their demise. Very few others were around to assist the Chieftain. Hamuul and Hagath quickly rushed into the battle to aide their chieftain Draggar then noticed there was another mass of demons piled around some other individuals at the center of High Rise.. At the epicenter Draggar was able to spot his father and Drek'val trying to survive the demonic onslaught.

"Father!" cried Draggar. Draggo turned and saw his son running towards him.

"No Draggar! Assist Cairne! We can handle thi-" before Draggo could finish his sentence a demon snuck up behind him and dug his blade into the orc's back knocking him to the ground. Drek'val caught the demon's next blow with one his hand blades and dug his other hand blade deep into the demons chest.

"Go Draggar, now!" shouted Draggo.

Draggar painfully nodded and ran to Cairne. Draggar cut through the forces and was able to get to Cairne. He had many cut's and gashes, but the tauren chieftain was tough and bold. He was still fighting strong.

"I've come to help Cairne!" said the orc as he dug his sword into a demon.

"Very well green skin. The help is greatly appreciated." grumbled the tauren as he smashed a wrath guard into the ground. Draggar noticed a Forsaken was lying at the entrance to Cairne's, his arm nearly severed. Draggar then realized that the Forsaken was Crether. He was unsure whether he was alive or not, but he would have to check on that later.

Cairne and Draggar, along with Hagatha and Hamuul, initially held off the demon forces, but they began to wear out and the demons seemed to only grow in number and strength. Draggar began to take many blows until he had been knocked down. Not having the strength to defend himself he was at the mercy of the demon towering above him. Before the demon could strike, Cairne's totem crashed into the demon, sending the demon soaring into the skies. Cairne quickly pulled the weak orc to his feet.

"Stand and fight young one. Dig deep within yourself and find your true strength!" hollered Cairne.

Emboldened and empowered by the tauren's words, Draggar continued to battle against the demons. Suddenly, as they were fighting, Gargon dropped from the sky holding n immense blade in one of his hands. Draggar looked at the size of the axe in awe. It was larger than Cairne's totem! He couldn't see anyone being able to hold that weapon with two hands, let alone one! Gargon displayed his strength by dealing with five demons that leaped at him at once. All of the demons left the ground in one piece and each one came down in two. Gargon roared and began to dismember demon after demon with an unimaginable fury. Soon after his arrival more Horde forces arrived to aide Cairne. Within minutes the Demonic forces were all but obliterated. The Horde cheered and reveled in their victory. Draggar panicky rushed over to see the fate of his father. Draggo stood triumphantly on top of a demon's body accompanied by Drek'val who struck the finishing blow on a demon who had managed to survive. They were soon accompanied by Fenron who descended from the skies covered in the blood and ashes of his enemies.

"Well done my friends, and my son. We all fought well and were rewarded for our efforts!" boasted Draggo.

"Yes we were." Fenron said proudly. "Draggar, were you able to find Crether?" Fenron asked.

Draggar solemnly turned to Cairne's hut and pointed. The small group approached the body of their friend. Upon inspection they realized he was alive, or at least as alive as a Forsaken could be. Fenron mended Crether's most grievous wounds and managed to keep the rogue in stable condition though he was still unconscious.

Drek'val began to explain what had happened at Thunderbluff. He said that he and Crether arrived at Thunderbluff and informed Cairne of what was going on. He took the necessary precautions, but they were unprepared for the demonic siege attack. Within minutes, the demons had begun to overrun Thunderbluff. All of the readily available forces, including Crether and Drek'val, were sent to aid Cairne. During the battle, Drek'val was separated from Cairne after some kind of spell had blasted him away. He was all by himself until Draggo arrived and began to assist him. Soon after was when Draggar arrived.

The Horde was still reveling in their victory when the earth began to tremble.. A titanic and monstrous roar the likes of which no one had ever heard of before boomed through the air. The sound apparently was coming from the Spirit Rise. The Horde quickly rushed over to see the source of the disturbance. Once they arrived at the Rise they found nothing, only rubble and bodies from the previous battle. Another roar came and the Horde peered over the edge of the cliff. At the bottom of the Rise was a large black portal resembling a whirlpool about the size of the Central Rise.