Before long, everything turned to chaos. Walking through the gates was surprisingly easy, the resistance amounted to barely anything as we powered through into the city, but things didn't stay that way as the sun shined on our faces once more. Very quickly, blasts of elemental power stroke at us, forcing the group to scatter as if being bombarded from the sky.
Fire and thunder surrounded us, impacting on flesh and dirt alike as the dark shamans barring our way forced the elements into compliance, woe of those who were too slow to avoid them. Then a brave warrior, shouting for all his worth, jumped right in front of them and the mayhem turned into controlled, disciplined concert, as we were allowed to regroup and provide a proper battlefront to the two behemoth-like beings in our path, while reinforcements trickled in behind us to perform their assigned duties. As the meat-shields performed admirably, I kept looking for an opening, one single opportunity to strike hard and decisively against our present enemy, but no such chance presented itself, as no matter how many arrows I put in their direction they were always one step out of my aim while simultaneously keeping the melee fray in control. Amazed as I was, I didn't notice until almost too late the gout of lava flying straight towards me.
"Gah! Curse you!" I bellowed as the pain clouded my mind momentarily, my hands unlatching my now overheated pauldron, letting it fall to the floor as I hissed and tested the motion of my arm, confirming that I was still in fighting shape. With fury brought from the pain, I jumped into motion once more using all of my energy in trying to bring down these beasts that called themselves orcs. Eventually, a killing strike was made and the sword of a warrior was now sticking half-way into the head of one of the shamans, blood gushing out of the wound freely as unintelligible gibberish left his mouth, and war cries were heard loud and strong over the din of continuing battle. Enemy reinforcements ran into the fray from the innards of Orgrimmar, intent on stopping our advance before any more could be made, and the now-enraged shaman was mercilessly striking at anything in sight, with the two berserkers surrounding him barely able to keep him occupied.
In order to avoid getting trapped between opposing forces, I ran into the fray where our grunts were keeping the enemy cannon fodder distracted, bow on my back and daggers blazing on every strike as I made my way to the other side of the chokepoint we had put ourselves into. Suddenly, a surprisingly skilled enemy warrior was onto me, and I had to pull every stop in order to remain alive, the gigantic axe in his hands surely my weight or more, I dreaded parrying and thus weaved my way around his strikes, terrified of the uneven terrain hindering me and making me die without accomplishing anything yet.
Strike after strike, left, right, hack from topside to a left sweep, his pattern slowly came to mind and a counter already forming itself, on the second repetition I jumped into action, his bellow giving me no pause as i bashed the pommel of my left dagger against his temple and stabbed my right one into the gap in his armor on the chest, straight towards the liver.
"Al diel shala, orc," were my parting words as the stunned and bleeding orc, left with a shredded liver, could do nothing more than listen and wait for his end, throat swiftly slit and my path continued, seeking the perceived safety of stacked numbers against ever growing enemies, and then everything a fierce, loud war cry that only the lungs of a grown orc could produce, pierced the din of battle sharply calling the eye towards the Dark Shaman, who was now deeply wounded and clearly in a blood-lust induced haste, berserk strength powering his spells as one by one those impacted began to die. Totems dropped once more, and a dark mist surrounded him weakening those who breathed it in, and those who were hit by glancing shots afterwards were covered by a darkness that seemed to absorb light and not let it out, crawling over their armors slowly towards the uncovered flesh of faces beneath helms. Deciding something had to be done and my eye catching another marksman doing the same, I reached for my bow once more and prepared a perfectly aimed shot, gathering much of my energy in it, intent on piercing the armor and striking the heart, which surely should be weakened enough by now to work.
As the first, fired by the other marksman impacted, another war cry was bellowed and promptly I released my own shot, which pierced straight into the heart of the now fatally wounded but not yet defeated shaman, and in the throes of his battle rage, he gathered all his power and we were reminded why this one was called the Earth Breaker, as Haromm made the ground shake with the force of a titan and scattered the troops remaining in the area, enemy and friendly alike, with bits of the surrounding stone cliffs falling down upon unsuspecting victims too preoccupied with maintaining balance to look up, and then, the ground exploded as a slab of stone shot out beneath my feet, and sent me flying into the air away from the closest pocket of allies I had left.
Impact was hard, and along the way about half of my quiver had emptied itself as I flailed upside down and tried to hold onto as many as I could, chinked bits of my armor sticking outward and falling off, revealing bruised flesh and cuts along porcelain white skin, blood drips falling slowly from wounds not deep enough to be dangerous, but tender nonetheless, and along with the couple of broken ribs, it all amounted to the pain usually reserved to the loss of a battle.
But the battle was not over yet. Wincing, I stood up, and bellowed the agreed upon keyword for the rebelling forces, "Darkspear, Rally on me!", the cry drawing another hiss from my lips as it intensified the pain of my cracked ribs. Shapes stood up from the rubble and I was only able to afford a quick glance to each to confirm allegiance, wary of an enemy sneaking up on me after having revealed my position. A flash of what I recognized as kor'kron armor and seconds later an arrow was already heading to the unprotected face of the unfortunate orc female, who had stood up a few paces too close for my comfort, stabbing through the temple and ending her life as swiftly as it had flew. A quick headcount of those bearing our mark that swarmed towards me had given me pause, only ten? Anar'alah, this just gets better and better.
"Status report!" was my command, raking my eyes over the soldiers surrounding me and surverying the field around between each one I looked upon, wary of sudden encounters. Amongst us remained three warriors, the marksman who assisted me in the killing shot who seemed better off than I was, a mage who looked like she had lost all hope with the look in her eyes, a paladin who jumped at any sound, extremely wary of his surroundings and a thin looking man with two daggers, one in his hand and the other in his waist, who could only be a rogue by the looks of him.
This rogue, had another man draped on his shoulder who was profusely bleeding out of his nose, and he had all the signs of a bad concussion, while the only healer among us strode quickly to fuss over him in order to get him back into fighting shape.
"This one has a broken leg," spoke the rogue, referring to the one draped on his shoulder, "And the warrior over there looks about ready to keel over."
A glance in the direction given confirmed the words, as the warrior in question was using his polearm as a crutch to remain standing, exhaustion marring his face, but awareness firmly present in the eyes of this silvery haired orc, a veteran then, from the days of Thrall… I'm glad of his presence.
After a quick deliberation in my head, I spoke clearly and with all the authority I could muster, "Prepare to move out as soon as possible, we'll find other groups along the way." Then, drawing on my limited experience with command, I continued, "we must not stop now, or else the ones who have died already will have died for naught."
"For the horde," spoke the tired warrior, and then a bright flash of light from the priest in our midst enveloped him, the veteran once more standing on his feet after it faded, readiness all that could be seen on his countenance. In turn, the priest, exhausted by all the energy spent prior and now this recent bout of calling for her light, dropped to a knee while panting as if she had ran ten miles in less than ten minutes.
Deciding quickly, I addressed the other warriors in our group, those who seemed weary but strong enough to keep going, and spoke; "You two, take her to the rearguard, if she goes along with us in this state she will only die. That is unacceptable."
Nods and a quick chorus of "Yes, First Sergeant" met my orders, and swiftly one of them took hold of the frail elf and his undead companion kept guard as they began their trek to the gates once more.
"The rest of you," I addressed, "Move out!"
And thus it began anew, our feet finding the way quickly amongst the rubble fallen from over our heads in the direction we were briefed to, straight towards the cleft of shadow along the beaten paths of the Drag, now void of any citizens and peons, discarded tools laying hither and yonder in sign of a hastily beaten retreat. Surprisingly, no resistance was found in our way, and with my sharp eyes I noticed the presence of a sole orc amidst a group of kor'kron soldiers. Thrall, then. Must be.
With the thought, my drawing arm raised up bow in hand and an arrow ready to fly in assistance of our prior Warchief, my fellow marksman following suit beside me and the rugged warrior who was with us charged ahead, eager to once more fight beside his erstwhile leader. Within moments the fighting was over, the surprised group of Kor'kron proving unable to defend against the two pronged assault, and my ragtag group rushed ahead to present readiness to the senior officer present, that being Thrall himself, and await orders.
"Advance with caution," Were his words, "we must reach Ragefire Chasm quickly, or our attack won't succeed."
Orders given, he continued down at a run and we followed behind into the cleft of shadow, the sight of marksmen perched in the nooks of the stone cavern atop our heads not surprising me, I notched and arrow and fired, swiftly switching to a new target after the previous one put his head down to avoid death, and I was mimicked by those who could do such things while the rest swiftly barged into the waiting mob of kor'kron soldiers waiting for us at the bottom.
Thrall remained behind, at the entrance, as we wandered inside after the last of the foreguard fell, the first sight I came to was the visage of General Nazgrim awaiting us, grim resignation in his face as he stared us down.
"So, it has come to this." He sentenced, roaming his eye over the gathered warriors who came in front of him, "Together, we have learned and grown over the years, and now we find ourselves face to face on the battlefield." He sighed, and carried on, "Do not think I will go easy on you, nor do I expect any quarter. What we do now, we do for the Horde, both of us."
The old orc who had so far followed our orders walked forwards to the head of our numbers, and spoke, "You and me, Nazgrim, for the Horde of Thrall, I will bring you down." He rushed ahead, and with a bellow of "Lok'tar Ogar!" he faced off against Nazgrim in single combat.
"It is an honor to finally face you in combat, Vrogak!" He shouted, in between parries and blocks, feints and counters with his axe against the now named Vrogak's poleaxe, "Lok'tar Ogar, for Honor, and for the Horde!"
At this point, more Kor'kron soldiers charged ahead, and Thrall finally came into the picture by calmly walking among us and sending a Chain Lightning at those who ventured too far towards us. "Go, clear a path ahead!" was all he said before he continued onwards, more kor'kron coming by the second in waves, as the cries of "Kor'kron, with me!" came from Nazgrim's fanged mouth.
Those of us left went across the field, taking down the soldiers who remained in our path to the chasm, and rushing past Nazgrim whom despite his attempts to stop us, could not really spare his concentration from the current fight long enough to be do so.
Inside the chasm, the heat was stifling and the silence disconcerting, everyone making their best attempt at not making any sort of noise, for we were diving straight into the hornets' nest to make leeway for those coming behind us, in-so-far as we did not get bogged down and slaughtered. Although a real concern, this was quite unlikely as of the five of us remaining, three were trained infiltrators and as such could scout ahead and keep the group silent and unseen, while the rest trailed close behind and kept their presence at the bare minimum.
So far, everything was going well, as we had made our way to the Kor'kron barracks without being spotted, the decision made was to silently take out as many soldiers as possible before we were inevitably discovered, suicidal as that may be, but it was what was needed to do for the future of the Horde itself, if our life bought hundreds, perhaps even thousands, then it would be completely worth it. May we be remembered as those who dared strike ahead as the anvil, while the main force would be our metaphorical hammer, striking at the back of the distracted enemy and swiftly taking victory from them.
Choice made, the group was split, and positions were ordered. The paladin was to move in last, and call the attention of as many as he could in the center area of the barracks, while those of us who could remain hidden moved and placed explosives wherever helpful to prevent reinforcements from leaving their quarters. The mage would then use her control over frost to rain sharp, deadly icicles on the soldiers who would inevitably surround the paladin while he protected himself by invoking the powers of the light. A fool-proof, anti-murphy plan, as the simplest always tend to be.
The corridors were not empty, but they were also not crowded. Dimly illuminated by fires placed sporadically the broad passages had plenty of shadows to lurk upon, I was saddened that I could not bring my wolf with me, he surely would have relished the fighting that would happen here soon. I had taken the right-hand corridor for myself, as well as the attached wing for me to explore and disable as much as possible. The ruckus began and with instincts borne from survival and reflexes forged from experience, I pressed myself flat against a darkened stretch of the wall, energy coating my body to blend in as much as possible, so long as I did not move, I would not be spotted, and not too son was I finished with my movement when barely seconds later at least 10 soldiers rushed out of the corridor I was heading to, and swiftly slinked inside after they passed.
This corridor was slightly more illuminated than the last, the shadows sparsely covering the walls from the opposing braziers providing light to the space, I was in search of the second in command, the legionnaire stationed here as overseer for the barracks, in order to cut off the chain at one of the nearest links. Nazgrim was up there, hopefully dead by now, and now it was his turn. At this thought, I tried to bring up his name from my memory, and was not surprised at drawing a blank, for all my service with the Horde forces, I was never in extended contact with Orc officers, my stations were usually commanded by the Sin'dorei or the Forsaken, and my contact with orcs was limited.
Lost in my thoughts, I hadn't payed as close attention to my surroundings as I should, I could almost berate myself for the rookie mistake as I was now in very close proximity with a group of seemingly off duty orcs, some were wearing armor, some were not, but their wickedly sharp weapons were still close to hand and they would be rested enough that my wounded, weary form should avoid any and all contact possible. Deciding to backtrack, I raked my eyes once more around the gathered to make sure I was not seen, and just as I took the first step back I saw it happen, there was one orc staring straight at me and my movement had called me out.
"More intruders!" came the warning, and the leisurely paced orcs changed gears into the wicked war-machines they truly were, large axes and swords coming to bear and the rush of locating the intruder began, I had been seen already, and thus the only option remaining was to fight.
Standing up from my crouch and nocking an arrow in the same movement, I took immediate aim at the one who had spotted me, his uncovered head as easy a target at those who were with their chests bared, but vindictiveness guided me to take the one who endangered me out first, the arrow flew, and another came up to replace it as I switched targets in the nick of a second, no sooner had the first struck as the second had begun its flight, but that was all the time I was given before they managed to close up into melee range.
This quickly devolved into a frenzy fray for me, as I tried my best to remained out of their reach by closing in and attacking, my poisoned dagger flashing and slashing while my bow remained firmly grasped in my left hand, sometimes lashing out to create distance or strike at a vulnerable face, taking out teeth with its solid metal frame.
However, my wounds were catching up to me, out of 12 starting opponents after about twenty seconds two were dead, and three were in the floor either unconscious or on the way to the grave. I dreaded the thought, but I was conscious that I began to slow down, fatigue turning my armor heavier than it felt before, sluggish movements beginning to intertwine themselves with the swift and vigorous ones that preceded them. In a last bet, I lashed out at the closest orc, smashing into his guard with all the subtlety of a bull but with the suddenness of lighting, and slashed at his throat, the small respite of the body placed between me and the rest enough to coil down my legs and spring backwards in a powerful leap. The shower of blood had stained my hair, not concerned any more with staying clean from my kills, and my armor was likewise covered with my face splattered but thankfully remaining out of my eyes, my vision unimpaired so far.
Ragged breaths came out of me as I focused once more, the orcs moving once more towards me with all the speed they could muster, my hand deftly pulled four arrows and as I had done before, notched them all spread enough to fire in the same general direction, but still spread. The idiots had made this easy, charging in a haphazard line side by side that was not quite even, but close enough for this to work. I released, and those four who had charged ahead were struck, shots finding purchase in uncovered necks, chests, and arms, inflicting debilitating if not outright lethal wounds, a particular orc had pulled the arrow lodge in his throat swiftly after impact, and a jet of blood sprouted from the opened gash surprised him and took him off balance, bowling into the floor without any air coming to his lungs. Another two fell similarly, one struck on the eye and another in the heart, while the last shot missed entirely, to my dismay. Reacting as swiftly as I could in the time it took him to swerve over his fallen companions and smash aside a table, a poisoned arrow was in my hand and nocked towards his form, a hiss escaping me as the effort of firing so quickly after the last brought fresh agony from my wounds.
The shot was true, and the impact on his shoulder although it gave him no pause, it spread the venom quickly enough to give him ten more seconds to live. As he got to me, I leaped to the side on the downward hack of his axe but devoted no more attention to him as he was now as sure as dead, devoting my attention to the remaining two threats, one of them circling me and the other seemingly torn between charging and doing the same as his companion.
This was not how it was supposed to go!, my panicked mind provided me, as the last two of my opponents faced my concentrated scowl, and just as suddenly as I had sprung upon their ally, they both came to an accord and jumped me from two sides at the same time. I will not die here! I refuse to die here!, was all I could think as my dagger once more slid into my right hand, and with a swift flick it was flying towards the face of the orc facing me, impact was swift and as soon as I saw contact I swirled around, and in the split second I took to find him, he was already in front of me, sharp, deadly sword headed straight towards my stomach, and I knew there was no time to dodge this one.
If I will die, then you are coming with me, orc!
As it pierced into and through my stomach, through the space I know my liver occupied, I reached into my quiver one last time as my left hand let my bow drop to the floor with a clang, I bit through the pain and with a snarl and a shout I plunged the arrow, with all my energy left, straight into his eye. The arrow exploded upon contact with his eye socket, shredding through his skull and showering me and his remains in gore, as his body dropped limp and I fell with the sword harshly embedded into mine. Impact brought another wave of agony as the sword was pushed out and moved inside, a sharp gasp escaping me as the end came, too slow for my taste, as even if I could take much more, it was pointless if I could not go on. I knew I could not get up from this, perhaps not even a priest could do anything swiftly enough to save me, and with each time more ragged breaths my vision darkened, and my senses dulled.
A flash of motion caught my eye, and my arms made pitiful movements that would have been lighting swift but now were sluggish and useless, as if underwater, and the sight I came upon surprised me greatly. A dark clad elven form was before me, walking swiftly towards my fallen form, and even if I had the time to say anything, the blood choking my throat could not have allowed me to.
"You will do well as one of us," She said, red eyes shining from underneath her hood, and I knew this one was from Sylvanas's Dark Rangers, "We will see each other again soon. Suffer well, Sister."
She pulled the sword out, the sound of it clanging harshly against the floor muted by my dulled senses, and grabbed me in a hold onto her shoulder, my last sight was that of hers grabbing my bow as everything faded into darkness.
AN: A bit more happening this time, and the first plot device has fallen into place. I reckon at least some of you had expected something like this, but if I took you by surprise then all the better! Also a bit longer than the last, reviews appreciated, specially if you have any mess-up to point out to me.