Warcraft belongs to Blizzard
Fate/Stay Night belongs to Typemoon
Warning! This is more of a spin off instead of a direct cross with modern day. I like Saber and so I am gonna put her in the WoW world.
Also, this fic takes place during the first Orc -Human war.
Special thanks go to Knightwalker for helping to edit this fic! He even cleaned up the speech form Saber and made it more blood pumping in my eyes. :D He volunteered to help with this chapter and all other future chapters!
UPDATED! 9/12/14: Xbox432. There is no quit in him! Thanks you editor o mine!
Update 8/29/14! :
Welcome Wayfarer who put the extra polish on this chapter before we forge onward! To battle!
Lioness of Stormwind
Chapter 3
- Three days after the attack on Marshal's Keep -
The orc scout, Kuhagron, quietly stalked the pink skin's army, making sure to keep himself out of sight from the ones clad in black armor, he knew that all would inevitably fall before the might of the Horde, but he wasn't stupid. After all, the Draenei wore similar armor and gave the Orcs a 'decent' battle. If he wanted to keep himself alive during the Orcish conquest he would have to remain a respectable distance from these pinkskins.
But Kuhagron had a job to do and his scouts had confirmed that the ones clad in black armor, riding those odd looking mounts, were guarding the front of the fleeing refugees while a larger group in blue and grey were towards the rear, no doubt to discourage any attacks. The right flank, however, was guarded by people who, while not armored the same way, looked just as dangerous and hardened as the rest. Amused with himself, Kuhagron knew that he had just found the right area to attack and while these pinkskins were proving themselves to be more than just simple boars to be slaughtered; they would all fall to the might of the Horde.
All in due time.
- The Black Morass -
Militia Commander Arturia led her forces like she had always done in her previous life, from the front. Only this time, she was not on horseback. Knight Commander Armin had sent her a war horse but she instead had given it to her friend Tiffany, the cleric. If her army was walking then so would she. After all, a King leads by example, a commander even more so, and this latest gesture solidified the militia's faith in this girl-turned-commander.
Tiffany Lightshade looked over to her best friend, marveling at the complete transformation from the beautiful and strange young woman to a hardened leader that demanded obedience with her every gesture. The past three days had been enlightening, for the brunette at least, as she observed Arturia organize her forces. She wasn't even sure how her blonde friend knew how to train troops, but after three days the militia had become a truly effective fighting force under her friend's command.
"Tiffany, you have been looking at me for quite some time. Is there something on my face?" Saber asked softly under her breath and out of earshot of her men.
Saber was now wearing a higher quality set of grey, plated armor given to her by the Knight Commander. Thankfully, Lancelot knew her preference and sent her a well-crafted, two handed sword along with a one-handed sword, a shield and finally a spear. The sword was currently hanging on her waist, the shield strapped on her back with the great sword sheathed right on top of it. The spear, however, was in her right hand, the tip pointing towards the sky as an example to her men.
The cleric-in-training looked up towards her well-armed friend and shook her head. She had wanted Arturia to take the warhorse but for some reason found herself following the command of this short blonde hero. She would find that there was just no refusing the girl. To Tiffany's amazement, Arturia's commanding aura shifted slightly, revealing herself as the Arturia she had always known and smiled.
"It still amazes me what you can do," Tiffany began, "where did you learn to do this all of a sudden?"
"Books," Saber replied causally.
Saber wasn't oblivious to her friend's reaction; she saw the skeptical look on her friend's face. Yet she was not lying, she did learn from books. Merlin had brought her many tomes on strategy and tactics back on Earth. Surprisingly, the men here were easier to train then those in her home country. Maybe it's because women were also considered warriors here as well that it made them accept her with little qualm. She had found out the men who challenged her early on had not done so because of her gender, but simply did not feel that someone of her physical stature could command. She had dissuaded them of that notion thoroughly. Now those same one hundred men were her most ardent supporters and the first to eagerly take in her new training methods.
While the fighting style may be similar, Saber had to factor in one very important dimension to warfare in this new world. Magic. If they had magic, it would stand to reason their enemies would as well. There were a few magi with the main army and the few that she had with her were more like hedge wizards from the local town. Not very educated, from what she was told, but she would also incorporate them into her strategy.
After all, this isn't the first time she had dealt with magi.
"When did you say we would reach the Redridge borders again?" Saber questioned, having never been this far away from the border towns.
"Another day at the pace we are going at," Tiffany replied. She had once journeyed with her master to Stormwind Castle itself and was awed by the vast kingdom's territory. If one traveled alone, one could cover distance far more quickly, but for an army they moved as fast as their slowest member. "Then we'll reach Stormwind and Lakeshire with another three days of travel."
"Good," said a satisfied Saber, nodding as she turned right and found Mariam, a tall, massive woman who had also enlisted in the militia, awaiting her command. When inspecting her forces, she had found that around a quarter of them were women. Even the footmen were not all composed of men.
"Have you heard back from our scouts yet?"
"Not yet," Mariam replied formally. She was not sure how to address the shorter blonde who had proven her skills by taking on one hundred men, but she tried to be as respectful as possible.
"Strange," Saber mused. While the Knight Commander, no doubt, sent scouts of his own and would notify her if something was amiss, there was something to be said for using the locals who knew these woods better.
"Tell our forces to be on their guard and take up bow formation."
"Yes, uh... Commander," replied Mariam, with slight hesitation, before barking out orders to the rest of the group.
Immediately, the assembly, which had been marching in a strictly linear fashion, switched to a slightly curved formation, placing the men with the longest shields on the more exposed side, the spear men forming right next to every foot soldier with a shield.
It was then a frantic scout sprinted towards Saber that she knew someone was wrong. Snapping a quick salute at the disheveled woman, Saber quietly listened for the report of the messenger from the regular army. "The greenskins are hitting our left flank and rear forces. The Brotherhood have left the front to assist .You are to maintain formation."
Saber solemnly nodded and questioned the messenger, "What is the size of the greenskin's forces?"
"Maybe a few hundred on the left and no more than five hundred to the rear. The Knight Commander believes it to be a kind of raiding force," the messenger quickly replied back.
"Okay, good work soldier," Saber nodded, ending the dialogue, as the messenger snapped a respectful salute and hurried back to her own commander.
Tiffany tighten the grip on her reigns after hearing the report. Her heartbeat quickened before she saw her friend's expression turn to stone, not unlike those bronze statues of fallen heroes back when she visited Stormwind Castle.
Saber turned back slightly as Tiffany watched a forty something old man run up to Saber's side. "They will be hitting us hard momentarily, tell the militia to prepare," the regal Saber commanded as she turned and focused towards the forest.
"What!?" shouted the alarmed man named Logan, the local hedge wizard in command of the other hedge mages. He had been trailing behind Arturia, staying a good distance away.
"What makes you think so, girl!?" he roared.
Saber's brow raised slightly, "They could not have moved to the front of us, as our scouts would have picked it up. And they attacked our flank and rear with a small pittance against the main Stormwind forces. Unless they're as dumb as they look, it seems like their attack on the weaker flank is a way for them to get towards the citizens at the center," Saber explained calmly, despite Logan's disrespect.
Tiffany hardened her demeanor, "I will coordinate the healing like you asked me too," she intoned as she got off the war horse and walked off to the group of civilians who were skilled at healing.
Saber gave a quick nod, walked up a small hill and turned full face towards her men. Logan took a step back as her regal stature boomed louder than any command, her forces halting their march and faced their commander.
"Men and women of the Stormwind Militia!" Saber began, the militia giving her their full attention. "I know many of you are weary from the past couple of days, but this is not the time to rest…" she paused, memorizing the faces of those in front of her, "…we were battered and beaten, losing friends, families, and loved ones…" she closed her eyes, breathing in the cold air as the faces of Kay and her father appeared, "…but this is not the time to mourn, nor is this the time where we consider ourselves a simple militia from a small village, no we…" her eyes opened, the power within her irises glowed in the presence of her own Majesty, "…we… are warriors… knights… brothers and sisters of arms with the honor and glory of countless heroes of the past, linking us together under the banner of BROTHERHOOD!" Saber steeled her voice. "TODAY, WE ARE THE LIONS OF STORMWIND! TODAY, IT IS OUR TURN TO ROAR BACK IN VENGEFUL FURY! TODAY, LIONS. WE. FIGHT!"
"RAAAAAGH!" the militia roared in excitement, the call to arms echoing throughout the swamp and forest as Saber held a mighty fist in the misty air, the sun reflecting against her armor from behind.
~~~∞∞~«╠╬╣»~∞∞~~~
Hiding in the forest, just a few meters away from the pinkskins, Raid Leader Valkor of the Blackrock clan grinned. His plan worked perfectly. He was in charge of a vanguard force, a force much larger than the one sent to those weak, little stone buildings. Five thousand strong, he had intended to destroy these insects that somehow managed to wipe out the entire Bleeding Hollow forces without mercy. Earlier, he had tossed away two thousand of his orcs to make it look like it had been a real attack on their rear guard and left flank. They had taken the bait and are now ready to shatter the pitiful defenses of the rabble before him.
So, it came with some surprise when just as he was about to shout out his war cry that the pinkskins had bellowed a war cry of their own. That had confused his warriors but he was an ORC and a leader. It was too late for them to realize what they had just gotten themselves into.
Unslinging a large battle axe from his back, a family heirloom of his, he shouted to his grunts, "LOK TAR ORGAR! KILL THE PINKSKINS! WE SHALL BATHE IN THEIR BLOOD!"
"LOK TAAAAAR!" the orc forces resounded back loudly as they charged ahead, appearing out of the forest, intending to bulldoze their way through the pinkskins, when they instead clashed into a well-organized layer of shields and spears.
Valkor looked on with stunned amazement as moments before his forces collided into the pinkskins; they banded together and locked all of their shields collectively, forming a shield wall. His forces were not easily deterred, however, and smashed into the enemy's wall of shields and spears only to be halted, their momentum blunted. That was when the pinks skins hurriedly opened small gaps in their tight formation and flying spears, balls of fire and arrows hurled out of their ranks, with near perfect precision, hitting his grunts in fervor.
"KILL THEM!" Valkor shouted in anger as his forces roared in battle fury, only to hear a loud, bellowing war cry to counter his own. Searching for the source, he noticed it was a tinier pinkskin with golden hair yelling, no roaring, in challenge at his forces as she emerged from the formation alone, and, to his amazement, cutting down all who came near her. Then, as if by drawn by instinct, her forest green eyes met his blood colored ones and turned to him, screaming out another war cry as if DARING him to face her.
"THAT ONE'S MINE!" Valkor yelled in savage anger and began to charge towards the blonde little pinkskin. Having witnessed him charging towards her, this weakling dared to charge back! "Come and meet your death, little female!"
His warriors moved out of his way as he ran at the armor clad pinkskin who issued the challenge. Valkor had to admire her spirit, if not her strength. Taking his large battle axe, he swung it around his head intending to cleave the girl in two as she came charging at him. He directed his axe down hard at the golden haired girl only to see her raise her shield arm above her head. It shall availed her none, after years of fighting the Draenei he was confident his strikes would shatter her shield and cut through the little girl.
At least, that's what was supposed to happen.
At the moment his war axe touched the shield, the girl angled her shield against the flat of his axe and deflected it. Then quicker then he thought possible, she had pushed his axe away, drawn her sword and was on him. Moving through his great reflexes, he was surprised yet again to find the steel tip of her blade puncturing his throat and dodging his axe that nearly decapitated her. Knowing he was about to die, Valkor tried to take the golden haired enemy commander down with him only to see her duck nimbly under his swings and caught a glimpse of her blade before his vision blacked out.
~~~∞∞~«╠╬╣»~∞∞~~~
Even as she decapitated the greenskin leader, she noticed two of the beasts charge towards her. Drawing the great sword from her back, she moved faster than the two grunts could react and beheaded one of them, disarming the other with a powerful shield strike and stabbing him through his gut using the sword that decapitated the enemy commander just moments ago. The surrounding enemy forces too stunned to react at what they had just witnessed within a span of a minute.
"Push them back!" Saber shouted without warning, causing the enemy to jump half a step back as she used their moment of fear and charged back at the greenskins, cutting one in half with her great strength.
"For Stormwind!"
"FOR STORMWIND!" her own army shouted back with even greater fervor after witnessing the downed enemy commander, broke ranks and charged.
"AHHHHHH!" Saber screamed at the greenskin that appeared to be casting magic. Before he even knew what was happening, she had lopped off his hand at the wrist, surprising him before she crushed his head with the flat of her greatsword. Spying another caster, she saw an Orcish spear a foot away from her feet. Snatching the spear off the ground she tossed it at the other enemy caster, killing him instantly.
Feeling now was the right time, she shouted out, "NOW LOGAN!" and witnessed cooking oil and pig fat shoot into the sky, raining down on her enemies. Just as the oil and fat started dropping from above, several balls of fire struck the waste and caused massive panic in the enemy ranks.
"LANCERS!" Saber boomed and watched her specially made jousting spears, held by two men each; begin stabbing into the greenskins' ranks, killing the ones at the front lines as her own forces used this opportunity to advance.
~~~∞∞~«╠╬╣»~∞∞~~~
Kuhagron did not know who started to run first, whoever did was a dead orc. Such cowardice would not be tolerated as he could scarcely believe that his brethren began peeling away. He watched as those on fire were crashing into grunts that had not retreated nor were in fire themselves, causing even more panic within his now inherited forces. Of course, the sound of battle-hardened Orcs screaming in agony was quite unsettling. The Draenei never fought back with such brutality. Then there was that little, golden haired demon that had killed his commander with little effort and any other orc that dared get in her way.
It was then said demonic little girl's eyes locked onto his own and he watched in cold silence, as those little, metal boots began marching to his position. She was coming for him.
He knew it.
Anyone she had gazed upon died.
"RARRGHHH!"
Well, if he was going to die, at least it would be by his own accord.
He rushed at the enemy commander, admiring the way she also charged at him, swung his jagged sword over his head intending to at least wound the little demoness. But just as they came into range, he saw her arm blur and felt the cold touch of steel running through his waist a moment later. Stunned, he felt himself topple off balance and onto the ground, surprised when he couldn't feel his legs anymore. Looking wide eyed at the little demoness, he instead saw his legs still standing in place. Taking a moment to realize what had just happened, he gurgled out a laugh before succumbing to the cold embrace of death.
The other Orcs, upon seeing their second-in-command cut in half, broke ranks and ran for it, taking a moment to consider that they were actually fighting demons of all things.
"Don't you dare run, you cowards!" Brinotau shouted, he was now effectively in command after his commander and the second-in-command perished, "we can still wi-urkk!"
The Orcs looked on in surprised horror as a blade emerged from his chest, the golden demoness killing the talking Orc without him even realizing it. That was enough for them; the third just died and the fourth was dying as they watched him get slaughtered by enemy forces, the fifth tried to run but that blonde devil had just yelled out a command and stood by as arrows pierced the fleeing orc from behind. Everything was a complete mess; they needed to get out of here if they wanted to live.
~~~∞∞~«╠╬╣»~∞∞~~~
"This battle is ours!" cried out one of the militia men, a wave of cheers followed suit as Saber yelled out an order and pointed her sword at the fleeing enemy.
Saber watched as the greenskins ran for their lives even as her arbalesters and mages fired their respective projectiles at the retreating figures. Shaking her head at the rabble, she knew a disorderly retreat would often create more causality and death then the actual battle itself. Though she was satisfied with how quick the battle turned out, of the greenskins that arrived, only half would make it back out alive. The rest were dead or bleeding out; it seemed like these greenskins are not the type to surrender.
~~~∞∞~«╠╬╣»~∞∞~~~
"Arturia!" Tiffany called out, sprinting up to her blood covered friend with worry.
Saber watched in momentarily silence as her friend's hand glowed with holy light, held up towards her.
"Don't worry about me, get the others first. Most of the blood on me is that of the enemy," she gently spoke out with a watched as her friend eyed her for a moment before finally nodding in reluctance at Saber's unflinching gaze. Tiffany headed towards the other wounded.
It was at that moment that she saw Lancelot and his Brotherhood Knights arrive onto the scene. Without a word, Saber took up her blood stained blade and pointed it in the direction of the fleeing greenskins. Lancelot, having served under her for years in a previous life, understood what she meant.
Kill any stragglers and secure the area.
"Haah!" Lancelot shouted as he flicked at the reins, the contingent of black, armored knights following behind and leaving the militia to clean up after themselves.
"M-Milady?" said an approaching, nervous man. He seemed like he was in his late thirties but looked capable, evident from the cuts in his armor. She had noticed him eyeing her earlier and waited for him to approach her since the battle's end.
"Yes?"
"I am Cole, Miriam's second in command," said the disheveled man softly before bowing his head. "She… she… died in battle... d-does that mean I am to take her place?"
Saber had intended to simply answer with a 'yes' and let that be the end of it, in her previous life, she was High King of Britannia; she could not afford to show any weakness. But in this life, she wasn't King. With a slight pause, she tentatively reached out, putting her hand onto the man's shoulder and gave it a squeeze.
"Miriam was a good woman. I am sorry that she has fallen, but I am sure she was content with fulfilling her duties to the very end," Saber spoke softly to the man, who now had tears in his eyes as he nodded.
"Would you honor her by carrying on those duties for her?"
Cole nodded, pausing to take it all in and snapped a proud salute.
"M-Militiamen Cole, at your service! Commander Arturia!" he shouted. Saber gave a slight smile before saluting back at Cole, before the man took a step back and ran towards the wounded to do what he could to help.
~~~∞∞~«╠╬╣»~∞∞~~~
Saber surveyed the battlefield and went off to either help carry the wounded or finish off the dying greenskins. It was just a few hours later when she saw Lancelot ride back with the Brotherhood Knights in tow, stopping just in front of her.
"Any survivors?" she asked, her voice full of steel.
"Maybe a few hundred, we rode and brought down as many as we could, Your Ma- I mean, Commander," Lancelot corrected himself ruefully with an easy smile. He was somewhat nervous that his King had yet to mention anything about his role in his betrayal of Camelot.
"Good," she declared, nodding in satisfaction. She then looked at the mounted Brotherhood Knights who were staring at her through their visors; she could feel the curiosity from their gaze.
"Are you needed by Lord Knight Armin?"
"No, the attacks on the rear guard have been completely crushed, though they did inflict causalities among our forces," Lancelot reported. He then looked at the condition of the militia and raised an eyebrow upon seeing that their wounded was lighter than expected. His comrades had been surprised the right flank held upon their arrival but not Lancelot. After all, it was his King that was leading!
"Good," Saber nodded. She dismissed Lancelot, who, to the other Knights' surprise, took on a more relaxed stance. A no name girl had given the famed knight a command and he obeyed it.
"We could use a few more clerics here for my men, if any section could spare them."
"I'll see what I can do," Lancelot replied with a respectable tone before giving his King a bow and rode off, leaving behind half of his forces to bolster her ranks in the case of a repeated attack.
Saber turned her attention to the remaining Brotherhood Knights, who then professionally fanned out to patrol the area before she could give any sort of command.
'Stormwind truly did make some fine knights,' she mentally noted with praise.
"Arturia!" Tiffany called out to her friend, a glowing ball of golden light in her hand as she marched on over. "NOW can I attend to your wounds?"
"You are finished with the others?" asked Saber, tilting her head slightly to her clearly agitated friend.
"Yes, all those that are wounded have been taken care of to an extent," Tiffany replied testily as she held out her hand and touched her friend on the shoulder.
Saber suddenly felt a swell of energy, not unlike that of Avalon's rejuvenation, heal all her minor cuts and scratches from the battle. She marveled at the familiar warm sensation and watched as Tiffany released her, looking a bit faint from the process. Immediately, she steadied her friend and looked at her in concern.
"Wow, that really took a lot out of me," the cleric-in-training replied slightly out of breathe. She did not think Arturia would absorb so much of her mana reserves despite her outward appearance of no identifiable wounds.
"Then you need rest," Saber firmly said in concern. Turning to Cole, she merely looked at him and he gave her a quick salute, moving to support the cleric and bring her back to the main convoy for rest. It was then she saw yet another contingent of Brotherhood Knights arrive, these ones carrying the banner of Knight Commander Armin.
"Militia Commander," Armin greeted with a proud smile.
"Knight Commander," Saber returned the greeting and watched as the rest of Armin's entourage in white robes dismount from their horse. Immediately the robed people set about the wounded, hands glowing gold, as they worked to finish the healing her own clerics began.
"You broke their main attack," Armin continued. "I fell for their feint but not only did you hold them off, you beat them back..."
"Who exactly are you?"
Saber gave a slight smile, "Arturia, first and only daughter of Igraine and Athan from Marshal's Keep."
Armin and his Knights did not know why, but the girl in front of them, despite her short stature, radiated a sort of presence that towered over them. Her pride was tangible when she said the names of her parents. He had only felt such a presence from King Adamant, Lothar, and a few others before.
This girl… who was she, really?
"What do you plan on doing after we get to Redridge?" he asked, eyeing her carefully.
Saber looked directly at the Knight Commander's eyes, holding his gaze without a hint of hesitation. "Whatever needs to be done," she stated like a matter of fact, "my only concern right now is the impending attacks and the safety of my people."
Armin's eyes blinked at the way the girl said 'my people.' Amazingly enough, the militia men behind the girl who had heard her declaration stood just a little taller.
"Then, once this is all over, I would like to talk to you about your future," he proclaimed, resisting the surprising urge to bow to her.
The girl really did radiate that sort of presence.
Mounting his steed, he gave a slight nod, not waiting for a response as he returned to his position at the front, leaving behind a fourth of his entourage to reinforce her flank.
Saber watched Knight Commander Armin leave, contemplating the growing sense of dread in her stomach. Her instincts never failed her in the past, and it would serve only to hinder her if she were to be in denial now. This new threat that no one had seen before were not like the Trolls the men were familiar with. The greenskins had, thus far, threw away several thousands of their own in an attack against their forces. And yet, she had a feeling that was but a small portion of their true might.
Well, whatever would happen in the future, she would be ready.
And she wouldn't be the only one.
~~~∞∞~«╠╬╣»~∞∞~~~
Gul'dan watched in disinterest as Blackhand ordered the rest of the survivors executed for retreating against these pink skins. This may be the beginning of the Orcish conquest of this land but he had already found something noteworthy. From the rambling of the survivors, apparently a small, female pink skin slayed the leader of the raid group with little effort, making him look like a an Orcling. No doubt this 'Golden Demoness' was lucky and was underestimated by the failure of a raid leader. Well, it mattered not; the entirety of the Horde would soon bear down on this land, known as Redridge, at least according to the one called Medivh. From what that Archmage said, they had a force of about fifteen thousand, with more arriving every moment, waiting to buffer the might of the Horde. Grinning, the Orcs numbered over fifty thousand for this army alone with more coming in through the dark portal every day.
Soon, they will slaughter this herd of pink skins and march onto their city of Stormwind, painting it with the blood and entrails of their fallen.
The Destroyer smiled in satisfaction at his thoughts.
All in due time.
All in due time.
To be continued…
Next: Battle of Redridge
AN: Once again thank you to Knightwalker who actually volunteered in editing this fic! Now if people find anything wrong then PLEASE feel free to offer your service. Just saying that "You need help" simply won't cut it. From where would I find help? Kinghtwalker saw my plight and generously offered his skills for this fic. Which with 5 more chapters written some of them over 7k words... well I would be leaning on his editorial skills a lot! Also a shout out to UNSPACY000 for giving me feedback on the story itself. Thanks!
As for what's going on with this fic? Just wanted to do a Warcrafty escort mission and show Saber's ability. For those that don't know, the Humans in Warcraft or not normal Humans from Earth. That's why Saber can do what she does with the proper training. For those that enjoy this fic awesome, I thank you ^_^
As always C+C welcome Reviews appreciated.