"Target is in sight," Kelvin said as he landed on the ground. "Take a quick breath. We'll strike after we get in touch with the others."

Dal'bin jumped and landed next to Kelvin, and with a silent nod, crouched down. The two could see a large pump draining water out of Marshlight Lake. It was designed similarly to the giant water pump in the middle of Serpent Lake that the two passed by earlier although this one was much smaller and didn't rise above the mushrooms that surrounded the land. The water pump was a device unlike anything Dal'bin had seen before and didn't resemble the typical engineering of gnomes or goblins. The naga must have made it themselves.

Thinking of the naga, the water pump was guarded by dozens of the serpent-like creatures that swimmed through the different channels into the lake. Dal'bin had faced the naga twice before when sailing the seas of Azeroth and knew what they were capable of. He even heard that a naga sea witch drove the Darkspear Tribe from their home, leading them to join the Horde. Even though the scout had cut off any emotional connection he had to his old people, the reason he thought of that was because he knew how powerful they were. It was best to stick to the land and away from the river and lakes however they could to deny the naga their natural advantage.

Although Dal'bin and Kelvin were quick with their travels, they had the longest distance to cover. There was no doubt that the others had made it to their respective pumps by now. The slowest of the group had a boat to navigate the river channels without any difficulty while the rest were quick on their feet. While Dal'bin rested, Kelvin took out a stone from his pocket. The quartermaster had explained that the magic within the rock would allow the group to communicate with each other although this was the first that Dal'bin would see it for himself.

"Message," Kelvin said and the stone started to glow green. "This is Kelvin. I've made it to Marshlight Lake alongside Dal'bin. We are in position to attack."

"Good to hear," Oliktalv's voice echoed from the stone. "Colben, Salin, are you both still in position?"

"That's right," Salin confirmed. "Finnal and I are ready to begin the attack!"

"It's been a while since I've gone fishing," Colben laughed. "Let's do this."

"Start your attacks immediately," Kelvin commanded. "End."

The stone stopped glowing after Kelvin spoke the command word. The troll stood up from the ground and took out his spear, ready for battle. Kelvin took out one of his shortswords and wielded it in the hand that didn't have his makeshift grappling hook. The two nodded at each other and ran along the border of Marshlight Lake, approaching the pump that was draining the lake. The troll steeled himself for the combat ahead.

One of the naga sentries spotted the group and called out an alarm. Kelvin fired his grappling hook at the naga responsible, which proved to be a surprisingly capable weapon when it pierced into the enemy's throat. The gnome retracted the hook back to his wrist and let Dal'bin take the lead as three naga warriors wielding tridents swam up to the surface, ready for battle. There were spellcasters towards the back and emerging from the water but the troll didn't have to worry about them. Kelvin extended the sharp dagger from his grappling hook, using it as a whip to target enemies from afar. Dal'bin had to give the gnome credit for being surprisingly deadly with what little he had to work with.

Dal'bin blocked one of the naga's jabs and returned with his own, his speartip piercing through the warrior. He hoisted himself off from the ground with his spear, kicking another warrior in the head to daze him. The third naga tried to attack but Dal'bin was quick enough to pull his spear out of the first warrior and used the shaft to block the hit. With a whirl of his spear, the pommel struck the second warrior again and cut the third across the throat, ending his life. The scout turned toward the final opponent, who was still dazed, and impaled him to finish him off.

"Keep them off of me, Dal'bin!" Kelvin ordered. "I'm going for the pump!"

With a nod, Dal'bin pulled his spear free from the fallen naga. With his free hand, he picked up a trident and threw it at another sorceress, ending her life while she was busy casting a spell. The bolt of ice missed Kelvin, who dashed towards the pump and its piping. The gnome carried the enchanted seed in his pocket so it was up to him to disable the device. Dal'bin stood on guard and used his spear to fight off and kill the different naga warriors that tried to fight him. He took a few cuts but knew that his regeneration would heal them in a few minutes. What worried the scout was that there were more naga than they originally saw. The extra help could be reinforcements but he didn't think reinforcements would be able to make it as quick as this.

After jabbing his spear through a naga's skull, Dal'bin's head perked up when he heard the giant pump making a whirring sound that didn't sound good. He looked over his shoulder briefly to see that the pump was disabled with vines bursting from its pipes. Kelvin dashed away from the pump and narrowly avoided a lone naga warrior that got through Dal'bin. The warrior's trident embedded itself into the ground and the gnome ran across the shaft of the weapon. With a slash of his sword, Kelvin tore through the warrior's throat. He jumped off of the fallen naga and landed on Dal'bin's shoulder, light enough that the troll didn't have to struggle.

"We're done here," Kelvin said, extending his grappling hook so the rope was loose. "It's time to leave."

"Easier said than done," Dal'bin grunted as he blocked another attack. "Dey be comin' from all over."

"We weren't expecting this many so soon," Kelvin thought out loud. "Move forward. I'll cover your weak spots."

Dal'bin followed his orders without complaint. He pushed through, quickly dispatching of another warrior, and dashed. The scout steered clear of the rivers as he was able to see more of the serpentine warriors racing through the channels. Any that tried to attack from the river was dispatched by Kelvin's grappling hook. Yet, it quickly became clear that there weren't a lot of places he could escape to. There were simply too many naga in the area, too many for what they had expected. Dal'bin thought of a way to get out of their predicament, and knowing of their enemy weakness, came up with an idea.

"Da mushrooms!" Dal'bin called out. "They can't get us if we can climb!"

"Good thinking!" Kelvin said and retracted his grappling hook. "That one there will do! I'll need you to hold onto the grappling hook when I make the shot!"

Kelvin pointed towards one of the taller mushrooms with his grappling hook and fired the dagger. After a few seconds, the gnome tested to see if the line was secured and gave a nod of approval. He took the device off his wrist and gave it to Dal'bin. Although it was a tight fit, the troll forced the device on his wrist and twisted it so that the hook retracted. He gritted his teeth as he was pulled off the ground, accelerating toward the mushroom. The gnome still had much work on his device if it was going to be less painful.

The grappling hook didn't land at the top of the mushroom but it was close enough that Dal'bin was able to grab onto the underside and started to climb up. His time spent in his homeland made such a task easy. The troll and gnome soon founded themselves on top of a smooth surface that felt uncomfortable. Dal'bin figured that they were safe and moved to the edge, watching the surrounding land. Kelvin took out his communication stone, ready to get in touch with the rest of the group while they were safe.

"Message!" Kelvin said, activating the stone once again. "The Marshlight Pump has been disabled. What is everyone's status?"

The stone was silent.

"I repeat, what is everyone's status?"

Dal'bin grew tense when no one responded and was quick to find out why that may be the case. He could make out movement below in the rivers, counting dozens of naga. The scout walked around the edge of the mushroom, seeing that this was the case with the other directions. There was nowhere in Zangarmarsh left to go without running into a naga.

It was clear that the naga were waiting for an attack on the pumps.

"Grah!"

Belara looked over her shoulder as she and Oliktalv ran from the pump at Umbrafen Lake, which was successfully disabled. Her eyes went wide to see that her companion had fallen to the ground with a trident impaling through his right leg, thrown by one of the defending naga. Another warrior slithered up to deliver a finishing blow to the fallen orc but Belara was quick to throw one of her daggers that landed between his eyes. The dark ranger ran up to Oliktalv, who struggled to get back up from the ground with his swords still clenched in his fists.

"Do you think you can walk?" Belara asked, knowing they didn't have much time before another warrior showed up.

"No," Oliktalv said in a low tone. "I'll hold them off."

Belara sighed, and against her better judgment, shook her head. "Get your arm around me. We're getting out of here."

With a grunt, Oliktalv wrapped his arm around Belara's back and she stood up, supporting him. He had his other hand free to fend off another naga that attacked, blocking his trident before decapitating the warrior. The dark ranger focused on carrying her injured ally away from the battlefield. It made sense for her to leave him behind since she wasn't strong enough to carry him and fight. She could reasonably make it back to the Cenarion Expedition by herself given the circumstances. Yet, Belara knew that Oliktalv was important to the group's morale and they would be better if he lived.

That is assuming everyone else was still alive by the end of the day.

Seeing that the naga were trying to cut off their escape, Belara turned away, traveling south toward the mountains. Right now, she was more worried about surviving than she was making it back to the others.

Per Colben's instructions, Balthar stayed in the rowboat and let his captain do all of the fighting. It was slow work but eventually the undead knight was able to cut his way through the naga and disabled the pump. Balthar sighed in relief and figured the least he could do was get the rowboat to Colben so that they could escape together. He had gotten used to rowing during their short trip and was able to slowly navigate the boat toward his companion, who contended with naga that emerged from the pool he stood in.

Suddenly, the rowboat turned over, and Balthar screamed out as he found himself submerged. He was able to swim toward the nearest spot of land but felt something grab onto his foot. The priest in training looked over his shoulder to see a naga had grabbed his foot and that another was emerging, trident at the ready. Balthar closed his eyes, hoping that his death would be quick. He opened them when he heard the naga screamed and with the one holding onto his foot letting go. Both of his attackers had fallen, their heads scorched with fire.

Balthar turned to Colben, whose burning hand was still extended toward him. Yet, he wasn't holding out as three naga were grappling him with more joining in. The undead warrior did his best to cut through and burn away the opposition, but for each naga he killed, another was quick to replace. Balthar could only stand by and watch, knowing that there was very little he could do to save Colben. The undead knight looked him in the eyes and screamed out a command.

"Get out of here kid!"

Colben fired off two more fire bolts that flew harmlessly away before the naga forced him underwater. Balthar let his fear overtake him and ran as fast as his legs could carry him in no particular direction. He wondered if he was holding back the others in the Vanguard, and now, he knew for sure that he was. Colben had to fight to keep him safe and it got him killed. Balthar wasn't sure what to do but knew that he had to keep running.

Finnal gasped when she fell to the ground, covered in a thick net. She tried to cut her way out with her daggers, and when that failed, she shifted into different animals. Yet, it didn't matter if she transformed into a cat, a bird, or a sea lion, she wasn't able to break free. The druid could only assume that the net was enchanted with magic to ensure that whoever it entered couldn't escape. Two warriors swam by her side, ensuring that she couldn't escape. Finnal let out a sigh, at least taking relief in the fact that they were able to disable their pump.

Salin fought fiercely, and although it was clear that he wanted to save Finnal, there were simply too many naga. Yet, the blood knight wouldn't be caught so easily. He ducked away from nets thrown at him and even used his trident to deflect one harmlessly into the water. About a half dozen warriors had fallen by his feet as he found himself surrounded. Although Finnal wanted to tell him to run, she knew that Salin wouldn't. He would stubbornly keep fighting as long as she was a prisoner.

Then, a lone naga warrior called for the fighting to cease. Salin stood his ground, taking deep breaths to recover. He was still surrounded but Finnal could tell he was glad for the break. Then, the elves both heard the sound of metal clanging as footsteps approached. Finnal turned toward the sound that came behind her. The new arrival was a fel orc with bright red skin, dark armor, and a heavily scarred neck.

Brak'thur, previously known as Deathrunner, let out a guttural roar of hate at the sight of Salin.

A/N: Another update, and now, things aren't looking too good for the Vanguard. Also, it's about time that Brak'thur returned.

In other news, I was able to find some old notes from different character's perspectives. I hope that by using these notes, I'll be able to keep up with this series. I'll have to look over the notes to be sure.

Until next time.