Ch 17 - Stormwind's Gates Never Will be Breached Again

Varian Wrynn sat in the field hospital allowing Helene to probe and clean the gashes along his side and arm. His armor was stained with his own blood and those of his fallen enemies. Helene finished stitching the superficial gash on his side and began to bind it with a clean strip made from a bedsheet. Varian had insisted he be the last treated of the scouting party. He had sat brooding while the healers treated his men and finally Helene told him to sit. Unused to being ordered, let alone a woman ordering him, Varian started to balk, but she was firm. The only men within whom were within hearing range were Mathias Shaw who had escaped with only a small cut to his hand and Archbishop Benedictus. Both would keep their peace.

Even now he smiled. Helene was much more like Rhenn than she had ever been like her father. She was firm, but gentle and when he looked at her eyes he saw the determination and strength that made him love his wife, her mother. He smiled again hoping that he had sired a daughter that was like Helene and Rhenn. Beautiful, calm, collected, but his seed. Soon, so soon, Rhenn would be giving birth. He sighed and watched the work.

He smiled at her as she finished. "Gently done, my lady, my thanks."

"It will scar." She said.

"What is one more to me?" He asked gesturing to his disfigured face. Though he had a rugged charm to him his face with the vertical and horizontal slices to his face forever marred the once dashing features.

She smiled and moved to wash her hands in a water basin. Her apron, arms, hands, and cheeks were covered in blood. He looked at her back. She was exhausted, but had rounds to complete. He smiled. Rhenn would have stayed as well if he had not watched her leave. Darion Mograine was not amused when his wife was found to be one of the healers. There was no escape for her now and she would be in danger. Mograine appeared to have come to terms with that for he did not say a word about it after her discovery.

The Death Knight leader was standing near the entrance to the triage tent speaking to Anduin as they waited for King Varian to be finished. The Death Knight had his arms folded on his chest as he spoke softly to the prince.

Varian and Helene walked together to the edge and looked out. Helene was wiping her hands free of blood, but it covered her apron and she had streaks on her cheeks. The Death Knight removed his glove and gently pushed a wayward piece of hair back as Master Shaw joined them.

"They are preparing to attack the gates this morning." Shaw said looking at the King.

Helene looked at her step father. He gently cupped her chin. "I will soon be making a move to destroy the leaders." He said to her. He looked into her eyes. "Should we fail, find Anduin and flee the area."

"I will not go without a fight." Helene said.

"Yes, like the last time with you on the front lines. No you will stay out of harm's way and…"

The slap surprised them both. Helene did not care to be reminded now that she had happiness with her husband. Both Anduin and Darion moved to separate them, but Varian lifted a hand as the other went to his cheek. "No, that was uncalled for." He said. He looked at his step daughter in surprise and sadness. He stepped around the two and embraced her holding her firmly. "I am sorry. I just will not have the Prince and Princess becoming targets." He set her back from him. She looked startled she had hit him and also her eyes held regret.

Anduin laid a hand on her shoulder. "Stormwind will not fall father." He said. "You will see to that." He smiled and then led his step sister away.

Mathias Shaw blinked. No one dared to do that to the king, with the exception of perhaps, Queen Rhenn, but she would never do it in public. He looked at Varian soberly. "I have never seen her act in violence, sire."

"It was deserved for that." Varian said heavily. "She was nearly raped to death and murdered by someone in the Horde." He felt his fist ball. "She is a survivor." He looked to Mograine. "Send my regrets of my words to you lady when she is able to hear them."

The death knight nodded and turned to Koltira who stood not far off to follow after the Prince talking to the priestess in the trees.

zZz

The first hit of the great battering ram caused the whole wall to tremble violently, but the thick wood and titanium enforced double gate did not even splinter. Again the ram hit and the gates shuddered. The blow was felt by the marksmen and soldiers on the battlements of the twenty foot thick walls.

Varian stood on the all of the keep within view of the attack, but out of reach of the undead archers. Some rode bone gryphons and tried to enter the town, but the SI:7 marksmen had brought everyone down that had attempted it.

The attack hit him to the very core of his being. Only once the mighty gates had fallen/ He had been a boy. His father had been murdered before his eyes and Lord Anduin Lothar had taken him from the town just as the city fell to Orgrim Doomhammer, the then Warchief of the Horde. He still believed Garona Halforcen had been sent to Stormwind by Doomhammer for the assassination, though Thrall had pleaded that it had been Twilight Hammer Cult. Varian had been raised in Lordaeron with the Menethil family until he had reached his majority and could be crowned King of Stormwind after the great city was repaired and restored to its former glory.

Another hit caused several of the marksmen of SI:7 to shift their footing to steady themselves. Next to Varian stood Mathias Shaw. The master of the assassin guild was dressed in thicker armor than he normally wore. The young man watched the scene before him as Varian did, his icy blue eyes looking for a weakness that his rogues could exploit.

Varian's grey eyes narrowed. "Shaw, gather your men." He ordered softly as he drew a cloak about him. He drew up the face mask. This day he was not wearing the armor of a king or knight of Stormwind, but a rogue like Shaw. He would be faceless and nameless as they small party would infiltrate the rear of the undead defenses and hopefully cripple them. The armor was thick black leather that made him soundless as he moved about.

Shaw whistled softly and seemingly from nowhere a dozen men and women appeared. Two women and twelve men would make this elite strike force. It was a bold plan and Varian knew it. The risk was all or nothing. He looked at the women. Once was a night elf and the other a human. He knew those blue eyes.

He stepped to her. "Are you sure you wish to be part of this Calia?" He asked.

His wife's handmaiden looked up sharply at him and then to a man who stepped to her. Varian dipped his head knowing Master Hastings, the head of the SI:7 organization in Kalmindor. He had married Calia knowing full well he was keeping the identity of the Princess of Loredaeron safe. Now she was also going to be risking all.

"My wife is one of the best here as Master Shaw can attest." Hasting's said. "She has earned her place, your highness."

Varian nodded. She had the right to be there as any of them. He turned to Shaw who looked at his group as he pulled up his face cover. "Our targets are the leaders of the undead and the dreadlord. Kill any we may find quickly and soundlessly before any alarm can be raised." He looked down and saw his best gnome assassin waiting. "Brink, you will scout ahead." He said. Shaw looked at Varian. "The plan is bold and risks much, but we are the ones on the front lines for such things. I know we are up to the challenge."

Everyone there nodded. Varian stepped forward. "This is a strictly voluntary assignment. I will not look down on you if any of you back out now. We may not survive this." He looked at them and then looked at Shaw who dipped his head.

"Then we join you in death." Shaw said.

Varian nodded and took a breath. He closed his eyes and offered a prayer to the Light so that he might survive this for the sake of his son, his wife, and his unborn child. He was doing this for them and to protect them. He had lived through not having a father and he refused to think his children would be so even though Anduin was grown and would soon have a family of his own.

Together the group moved stealthy through the Keep to the door that led to the tunnels to Northshire. Once inside the Abbey, they quickly went to and out the front door. The King saw his step daughter. She was wiping her brow with her hand and seemed a little unsteady.

He walked up to her and pulled his face cover down. She looked at him in surprise and non understanding. He bowed a little to her and handed her a paper. He then watched her as he pulled her into his embrace.

A sense of foreboding stirred her and she whispered a soft prayer and he glowed faintly in the low light of the dusk. "Be safe." She whispered. The prayer illuminated them all before dissipating. She looked up at Varian as he moved to put his face cover back on. "Light protect you, father."

He pressed a kiss to her brow before stepping away to follow the rogues toward the far mountain face. She stood watching him go, the wind wiping her golden hair about her face. Koltira walked to her side. He never seemed tired as she did, a blessing of undead she supposed. He looked at her his face regarding her.

"You need rest." He said.

"Yes." She said stifling a yawn. She stumbled and he caught her by her elbows. Sighing he swung her into his arms and carried her to the dormitory. She pushed back from his chest trying to protest.

He looked at her. "Your husband would have my head if I did not keep you safe and well." He gently laid her onto the bed. She seemed to sink into it as if she were in the embrace of a lover. He smiled a little as she rolled onto her side and quickly slept. He took up his post at the bottom of the bed in a chair. At times the living seemed to forget they were and seemed to work to the point of exhaustion.

Varian and Shaw reached the rock face. Varian looked up mentally looking over the amount of hand and toe holds as Shaw and Hastings tied ropes about the women. The night elf, Rayne Shadowsteppe, moved up the wall like a lithe spider. Calia was slower, but no less agile as she scaled the rock face, finding hand and toe holds that would never have supported a male such as Varian.

They reached the top just as it was becoming dark. Fireflies danced in the bushes near the waiting men as the women tied the ropes off. Rayne looked over and gave a low whistle to Shaw. The guild master nodded to Varian and started up a rope. Hastings climbed on the rope. The ropes were again lowered once the two were on the top ledge. Varian climbed up next, thanking the Light for his years as a gladiator and having the upper body strength to pull himself up. The rogues were much faster at their task and he noted as three hands offered themselves as he reached the top, that two had climbed up while he was climbing.

He sat down on the ledge a moment looking down at a glowing pit below them. A pit of the death that had been killed and were burned to prevent them being risen as undead. The gruesome task of some of the captured Defias in exchange for safety was to break up the bones and ash in order to keep the bodies separated and unable to be made whole again.

Once all the rogues were up, Varian noted that the women had jumped across the gap between the ledge and the rock outcropping where the women stood. It was a very narrow pass and would not be easily found. There was only a crescent moon this night, a helpful lack of light for their task. Since no lights were being used and the rogues were using their dark adapted sight to maneuver, the undead would not be alerted to the single man gap that they would leave the safety of the shire.

Brink vaulted across and Rayne caught him from slipping. They chuckled softly and then moved around the great spikes jutting up to keep the undead out. A large rock and a gully blocked the path from view and would not be able to be scaled. The group slid down the gully. Small stones followed, but the sound of falling rocks was lost in the middle of the sounds of the night. Coyotes, cicadas, and owls all made noise to muffle the rock fall sounds.

Once on the ground the group divided into seven. Varian was partnered with Shaw and he noticed though the shadowy forms were hard to see, all the groups were within sight of each other. Hastings and Brink moved ahead to be alert to scouts, look-outs, and other dangers.

Varian and Shaw moved along silently and passed a large fresh bear carcass. Brink's handiwork was on its skull where his small stiletto had been driven through the animal's brain killing it instantly. Varian looked at Shaw whom was moving quickly along the path between the trees.

A growl caused Varian to turn. Without a moment's hesitation he drew his twin short swords and whirled decapitating the skeletal guard that had spotted them. It dropped to the earth with a dull thud. Shaw looked down at the bones and looked at the King. He nodded and they continued on.

They only had to kill eight guards and shift their bodies to prevent discovery before they made it to the water. Brink and Hastings went ahead and returned an hour later with news that the Scourge commanders were in the glen beyond Goldshire, and the Dreadlord Balnazzar was on a small island of Crystal Lake. He seemed to alone reading some texts.

Varian nodded. Though Balnazzar would be harder to reach undetected, he would be their main target. They all heard a groan and crunching sound. The gates were beginning to cave to the abuse of being hit.

"We are running out of time." Varian said.

Shaw nodded. He quickly drew in the sand the plan. Three groups and they would loop around to the mountain side of Crystal Lake through different routes. It would take all their skills to move about undetected.

Varian followed Shaw who moved about and then lifted his hand sharply. The group froze. Two skeletal mages walked by within feet of the group. The rogues turned their faces away so the light from the patrol's torches would not shine off their faces.

Shaw took a breath and the moved again. Every few yards they had to stop due to movement. Shaw knelt down by the edge of the lake waiting for the other parties to join him. He looked up across the mist of the lake. There was no sign of the Dreadlord, but perhaps he was behind a tree.

The other groups were just arriving as a deep voice growled behind them. "Did you really think, I would not notice a group of living approaching me?"

Varian and Shaw whirled as did the others to face the great winged demon. Balnazzar had stolen the life of Grand Crusader Saidan Dathrohan, the onetime superior, and friend to Highlord Tirion Fordring, whom had sent him into exile. Tirion had vowed to see the dreadlord dead. Varian looked at the demon grimly. He would send the breastplate to Tirion when he was done with his monster.

The rogues appeared all about him and he chuckled hollowly. "Others have tried and failed to exterminate me." He looked as Varian dropped his facial cover and crouched ready to attack. "Ah, the King of the Alliance, himself! What a pleasure it will be to take the lives of these whom serve you and then possess your body as I did Dathrohan." He smiled watching Varian before him. He was toying with the King, his deep voice silky. "Know that when I do, I will take equal pleasure bedding that beautiful wife of yours, over and over again, and perhaps sire a demon on her." He leaned back on his hooves. "I will kill you and take the ultimate prize, all that you hold dear as I did with the Grand Crusader. I made his body murder his friends and helped others kill their own loved ones. You stand no chance, but fear not, your wife will not die. She will be my Queen and I will mount her as often as I can. Perhaps the new age will bring back the Burning Legion and from your wife's womb..."

Varian growled in rage as his eyesight went blood red. This demon would die and now. He would not live to see the sunrise let alone know the soft feel of his wife's skin. "Never monster!" He growled. He launched himself at the demon leaping through the air and landing before him slicing downward with his weapons.

The Dreadlord was not expecting such an offensive attack at first, but Varian engaged him.

Shaw and the others attacked as well. The demon fought them back roaring and causing several to cower in fear. Varian stood up and circled. The thought of this monster touching his wife let alone knowing her as he did made his blood boil. He forced himself to channel the rage he felt so he could fight as he had as a gladiator.

Shaw watched as the Dreadlord turned slightly and shot a magical bolt from his hand. Hastings cried out in pain and fell to his knees. Calia jumped in to protect him. The demon laughed and focused again on the king though he was bleeding in several areas from the quick blades of the one-time gladiator.

Varian would not escape unscathed and winced as the demon-lord's claws ripped through his leather armor. He fleetingly thought about his plate armor and then shook his head. Shaw applied poisons to his weapons and passed them to the other rogues. The poisons slowed the demon's movements and Varian was able to gain the upper hand.

The demon lifted a hand and three undead humans appeared before him. Varian winced recognizing the leader, a female, Scarlet Commander Marjhan. She stood in her former armor. It hung on her once proud form and Varian watched Shaw shift to engage her.

The brittle lips parted and she smiled grimly as the two turned to the rogues leaving Varian to deal with the dreadlord. The demon smiled and lifted his hands. Varian side stepped the blow, but he knew his reserves would not last forever. He prayed the assassins would be able to deal with the undead Risen.

"I will kill you or die trying." The undead woman said, her voice hollow.

Shaw nodded grimly. "This time I will make sure you stay in the ground."

Hastings was dying, but Calia was fighting one of the two men who had been summoned to the demon. The elf fell and Brink took his place beside the young woman looking up at her with a fleeting look of reassurance.

The three undead soon feel to the blades of the rogues and they again turned to aid the King. The dreadlord seemed surprised, but quickly covered it in a fear spell and a hard attack.

It was sometime later when the demon fell to his knees looking up at the tall human king who stood over him. Black blood oozed from the demon's lips as he glared up, defiant to the last. "You will not win this war…" He said and Varian sliced his weapons in two directions decapitating the dreadlord.

A loud crack was heard and the armor seemed to be all that was left, a husk of the once prideful demon. Varian took a breath and dropped to his knees as the pain and blood loss finally came to him. Shaw dropped to his side as did Calia.

"Your majesty?" Shaw asked.

"I will be fine." Varian said. He heard something and shifted to face the new opposition, but instead he noticed that a skeletal mage was standing watching them. He was large and he them lifted his hands to cast. Varian prepared for the blow that did not come.

A harsh piercing cry made the living human cover their ears in pain as the scourge lord screamed. Varian looked up. The being had cast a portal and the undead were walking through the portal. Varian blinked. It was over.

Painfully, he rose to his feet. The scourge were leaving and the scarlet crusaders who had been risen as the Risen were now lying dead about the town and area of Goldshire. The demon could no longer control and animate them and so they at long last were freed and could rest in peace.

"We won." Varian said looking at Shaw. "It worked."

Shaw nodded and turned to do what he could for the fallen. In the end three of the party died. Calia was left without a husband, but Varian nodded to her. She was handling it bravely. She had suffered much loss in her life and he would see her safe and secure.

The small group walked to the gates of the city noting portals were everywhere and the undead seemed to have no wish to engage them. Varian held his arm to stem the blood as he looked up at the splintered gates and partly destroyed walls. It would take work to restore the damage.

The light of the new dawn was rising and Varian took a deep breath of the cool crisp air. Stormwind was safe and now he and the people could rebuilt and modify what they needed to do. The queen would be returned soon. All would be well, all would be…

Varian dropped to his knees again and gasped in pain.

The last face he saw was the beautiful golden framed face of Helene and Shaw as he dropped backwards and oblivion took him.

Helene nodded to Shaw as she looked back at the gryphon. Her step father was injured, but he would survive. She would see to that. The city was safe and would rebuilt. It was a glorious day for the Alliance, though the cost would have to be tallied as would a higher form of currency, lives lost.