Thanks to those who reviewed the last chapter! Many good comments, and high hopes for the future. Please enjoy the next, and as always, R&R! ~F
Chapter Fifty Eight
Blackwing's Lair
Draco felt somewhat nervous as they climbed the interior of the mountain, set off on their next great adventure to retake the last and highest points of the spire. Not only did the new equipment that Nobu'tan demand for them all sit strangely on his body, heavily prepared to defend them against fire and flame alike, but Lucius was in perfectly good spirits.
Draco was not comfortable with his father heading straight back into the fray so soon, especially since the man had died, and Draco was still rather shaken that such an event had transpired. For a few deadening moments, he had been the head of the House of Malfoy, and he had no idea what he was to do, how he would continue their line or care for his mother.
It was something that he had not as of yet expressed to his father, due to their lack of time to do much aside from rest from the previous ordeal and prepare for the next, but it was at the top of his list of things to discuss the moment they could.
Still, as they marched along to an upper chamber recessed in the walls of the mountain, he wondered if he would have the option, or if Lucius would perish again, and this time there be no quick-thinking healer to start the ritual to restore his body and bring him back to life.
So, he stuck close to his father as they approached the massive red orb, set in gold and gleaming as the massive group of Stormreavers approached. Nobu'tan, at the lead, explained that the orb would react to them only because Warchief Rend Blackhand had set several of his guards to work it for them, the grey-skinned orcs nodding as he mentioned them, and the warlock proceeded to give them instruction on what to do as they arrived on the other side.
"From what I have gathered, the first chamber is a large hatchery, so we will congregate in the corridor just before it, and prepare our battle lines in the event that it is heavily defended. There is little reason that they would leave eggs unprotected, so expect heavy resistance. Do not destroy the eggs however, dragon eggs are highly volatile if not taken out in a specific manner, what we need to do is secure whatever items are within, and see if there is a means for us to dispose of the eggs quickly and without rupturing them, or else even our new protections will not save us."
Draco felt his heart clench at the thought of such a quick and fiery death, but Nobu'tan nodded at the orcs next to the orb, who then placed their massive hands upon it. One by one, their forty-man assault team stepped forward and touched the orb, vanishing in a pillar of fire.
Draco was unwilling to release his father's hand, but with a reassuring squeeze from Lucius he allowed his father to touch the orb alone, quickly followed by Draco himself. The corridor was just as Nobu'tan had described, and the warlock was already deep in concentration, clearly scouting ahead with an eye of Kil'rogg. "It's not as defended as I expected," Nobu'tan was saying as he meditated for the spell, "only three orcs using an orb of domination to control the hatchery keeper, clearly the only one able to disturb the eggs without fiery results."
"What is your plan?" Teg'Ramm said, the ogre mage having a keen insight into the workings of their leader, and clearly could tell that Nobu'tan was already scheming their attack.
"I want one group to go straight for that control orb, I will take it for us and have the dragonkin start destroying the eggs safely." Nobu'tan hastily explained, "I doubt that we'll have long before reinforcements arrive however, so I want the others to spread out and keep them off of both myself and the dragonkin while it works. Once the last egg is gone we will turn and slay the beast as well before moving on."
Draco nodded, understanding the rather simple and straightforward plan. Voldemort, Teg'Ramm and a few of the Fel Centaur took the lead with Nobu'tan, even as they prepared to charge out and take the small rise with the orb.
"Now!" Nobu'tan yelled, and together they burst into the room, leveling spells and ranged attacks at the trio of orcs by the orb. The leader seemed to lose control and focus, and the Dragonkin roared as it started to stomp down its side of the room, its four legs swaying its entire misshapen body was it lumbered toward them.
There was a thunderous crack, and Nobu'tan appeared behind the orcs, immediately taking command of the orb by placing a hand upon it, and a beam of blue magical energy shot out and struck the dragonkin, which froze in place instantly, before slowly turning and plunging a claw into one of the closest eggs, the flames of its boy charring and destroying the unborn creature within.
Even as the now controlled dragonkin started slowly around the room, going from egg to egg as quickly as its body allowed, Draco, Lucius and the other spread out around the edges of the room, noting that there were many openings that could easily allow man sized figures entry from locations unknown.
Lucius and Draco ended up on the platform, each flanking Nobu'tan as he concentrated on the orb, and they watched carefully for signs of advancing enemies, when an alarm seemed to sound from somewhere deeper within the spire, and a great movement of many bodies started.
"Here they come…" Draco announced, noticing a small twitch from Nobu'tan in reaction. He was aware, but unable to act or defend himself.
The dragonkin was about halfway through the room when the first squad of Blackrock orcs appeared, seemingly confused at the sight of so many of their fellows attacking their section of the mountain, and for their moments of indecision they suffered, as a barrage of spells took them down before they had a chance to decide what to do.
The following groups made no mistakes however, but charged in and started attacking the dragonkin, attempting to prevent it from destroying the eggs, or at the least slow it down or sever the mental connection it had to the orb.
Wand drawn, and curses on his lips, Draco allowed his magic to flow freely, along with the power of the Fel, and rain destruction down upon the entire group, uncaring if he harmed the dragonkin as well, so long as the beast was not killed in the process.
Unfortunately, the taxing power of the orb seemed to eventually overwhelm even Nobu'tan's strong mind, and the warlock staggered back, breaking the connection with only a few eggs left, and the dragonkin roared in rage and pain, turning upon them with a vengeance.
"He'll detonate the eggs if we kill him before they're gone!" Nobu'tan shouted, and Draco ran through several options in his mind. He could jump to the orb and try to wrestle control of the beast himself, but the last remaining eggs were next to them on the platform. If he failed, the dragonkin would be upon them swiftly, and he wasn't willing to risk losing his father or anyone close to him again.
"What if we vanish the eggs?" he said hastily, using a curse to slow the dragonkin as it started toward them, fury in its eyes.
"Do it! Quickly," Nobu'tan shouted in response, leveling a blast of chaotic magic at an orc that was charging in from higher up the spire.
Spinning, Draco prayed to the old gods of his people as he pointed his wand at the nearest egg, hoping that it wouldn't react to the magic he cast as he uttered the incantation for the vanishing charm.
The egg glowed brightly for a moment, before fading from existence completely, leaving nothing but the settling dust that had covered it to fall to the ground. Sighing in relief, Draco went to work on the last two eggs, vanishing each slowly and carefully as the battle raged around him.
"It's done!" he shouted as the last one vanished with a tiny pop, and Teg'Ramm bellowed a challenging roar as he charged headlong into the Dragonkin, unleashed from trying to keep the beast alive at last.
The entire group of forty turned as one upon the massive reptilian creature, pouring torrents of magic and enchanted steel upon it, flaying its hide from its body in their vengeance to destroy it utterly. The remaining orcs, seeing the cruelty in their foes upon the dragonkin, fled in all directions, disappearing into the many holes and passages beyond as the beast fell in a heap, its black blood flowing across the stones.
Even as it lay dying, Teg'Ramm brought a massive hammer down upon the beast's head, ending its pitiful life with one thorough, crushing blow. Nobu'tan breathed out a long sigh, and the rest of them relaxed from the spur of battle, recovering what strength they could for the moment, even though Draco knew that they still had quite some ways to go yet.
He almost wanted to roll his eyes when some of the others, goblins mostly, discovered small caches of treasure that had been left here, presumable by the orcs that were controlling the dragonkin when they arrived, but they quickly stored it away on those who had the most space in their packs, preparing swiftly to move on before too many reinforcements could be put in place against them.
The passage ahead was short, and the flurry of movement that erupted as they entered as disturbing to Draco and their first few others inside. Granted, he was minorly distracted from the fleeing forms that he later registered were goblins. The source of the distraction was lying in the very center of the room, dominating all space with its massive bulk.
From its gleaming crimson scales, Draco could only presume that it was not part of the same obsidian faction that surrounded the mountain, especially since the massive dragon seemed to be in pain, shuddering from the beam of magic that shot into it from some figure in a shadowed section of the room.
"Ah, the Heroes… you are persistent, aren't you?" the figure said, stepping into the light and revealing it to be some sort of man, although Draco could tell that something was drastically off about this human, "Your Ally here attempted to match his power against mine...and paid the price. Now he shall serve me, by slaughtering you."
Turning to focus on the red dragon, the man continued, "Get up little Red Wyrm, and destroy them!" The man vanished in a plume of black smoke even as the dragon obeyed, muscle shuddering with what Draco thought was every ounce of resistance that the beast could offer.
Even as he readied his wand, and wondered how they would face off against an animal so large and powerful, the dragon shocked him by speaking, "Too late, friends! Nefarius' corruption has taken hold... I cannot... control myself."
Unsure of what to make of this, Draco glanced at Nobu'tan, wondering if their leader had any clue of what they could do, but Nobu'tan held firm, his grasp on his staff unfaltering. "I beg you, mortals… FLEE! Flee before I lose all sense of control! The black fire rages within my heart! I MUST… release it!" the dragon continued, its eyes wheeling wildly as it attempted to shake off some force that was binding it to the will of another.
Draco glanced at Nobu'tan again, hoping they weren't thinking of fighting such a creature once he lost control, and spotted what he had missed the first time. Nobu'tan was chanting under his breath, already preparing spells and traps for the beast once it fell to the domination around it. Looking back, he found that Lucius was already preparing likewise, weaving fire protection charms around them and readying his deadliest curses for battle.
Draco hastened to do the same, even as the dragon spoke a third time. "FLAME! DEATH! DESTRUCTION! Cower, mortals before the wrath of Lord... NO… I MUST fight this! Alexstrasza help me, I MUST fight it!"
But it was no use, there was a massive roar as the beast succumbed to the maddening control that was being influenced over it, and rose up higher still, flames pouring from its mouth in an attempt to incinerate several of them, but by the time it had done so, their massive force had already encircled the beast, attacking it from all sides. The dragon fire slammed into the shields and barriers that were erected to protect them, and while Draco felt the uncomfortable rise in heat, there was no hint of scorching or fire on his skin, and he knew that they were safe for the moment from the flames. The massive claws, teeth and tail on the other hand were another matter altogether, and they started to move as the whip-like cord of muscle slammed into the ground where they had been standing, slinging spells as they went from wand and the Fel.
Dodging to the side, Draco noticed a passage leading to a ramp and the balconies above. "Father, this way," he said hurriedly, leading Lucius and a number of their other casters toward the upper landings, well out of range of the flashing claws and teeth of the dragon.
From there, they were able to settle down a heavy barrage of projectiles onto the dragon, aiming for whatsoever place they could find a weakness. Lucius leveled his wand on the eyes of the great dragon, muttering a curse that Draco did not know, and watched as the beast staggered back, closing its eye where the spell had struck and shaking its head vigorously. "Conjunctivitis curse," Lucius explained as the battle continued, "very powerful against the eyes of a dragon."
The dragon however seemed to disagree with the positivity of the statement, as it raised its head to eject more flames at them, and Lucius seized Draco by the front of his robes to dive behind a pillar as the flames washed around them.
"Nefarius' hate has made me stronger than ever before! You should have fled while you could, mortals! The fury of Blackrock courses through my veins!" the dragon bellowed, rampaging around the lower section of the room as it fought with their forces, spells and blades striking it from every direction.
From several directions, bolts of pure chaos flew at the dragon, slamming into the sides of its head, knocking the beast to the ground, even as several goblins and Veela pounced upon it, talons and daggers flashing as they stabbed for the soft flesh beneath the scales.
Draco spotted Teg'Ramm push Nobu'tan aside as the tail flew out again, sending the ogre magi flying heavily into the far wall, a massive dent in the stone remaining as the ogre staggered back into the fray.
The battle raged on for what felt like a lifetime, and Draco spotted that the goblin priests and shaman were having a hard time running around to keep everyone on their feet, even when the dragon started tapping into its own magic to try and make them burn from within.
"We need to end this quickly, before we're overwhelmed," Draco shouted over the roars of the dragon.
Lucius nodded, raising his wand and taking aim, waiting for the massive head to roll around and display the remaining eye. The tail end was facing them at that moment, and at Draco's shout it lashed upward at them, and Draco knew what he had to do. Even as it collided heavily with the ledge they stood upon, Draco darted up, leaping onto the dragon itself, and ran for all he was worth up the spine, toward the head.
The dragon felt the impact and added weight instantly, and started to shake and jerk, trying to throw Draco from it, but he determinedly kept his balance, dodging the flapping wings as he crossed between them.
Only when he reached the base of the long neck did he have to stop, as the Dragon reared up and turned, facing him with its one good eye glaring balefully, fire forming in its open mouth. But Draco only smirked, even as his father's spell impacted the remaining good eye of the dragon.
Head rearing back as the fire poured harmlessly into the ceiling, Draco leapt from the dragon's back, dodging the stamping legs and thrashing tail as he retreated to the cover of fellow Stormreavers.
"It's blind, go, kill it now!" he shouted, and the others surged forward, several of the Fel centaur carrying a great chain between them to trip the powerfully muscular legs of the dragon. It fell with a scream of pain, several enchanted barbs within the links gouging deeply into its flanks as the chain was whipped under it.
With a great shudder the dragon attempted to rise once again, but the centaur, ogre magi, and their other melee fighters leapt upon it, beating the creature down every time it attempted to rise. Opening its great maw wide, the dragon attempted to unleash its flame upon them all, but Nobu'tan was prepared, pouring a torrent of Fel magic into the beast as soon as it swung open its jaws.
Clearly the inside of the dragon was not as heavily defended as its outside, as the beast's head slammed into the ground from the sudden attack, and it lay quite still, dying slowly as the group of Stormreavers backed off in case it renewed its strength and attacked again.
But, listening to the last words that it uttered, softly in a slowly dwindling voice, Draco knew that the battle here was over, and the dragon was defeated. "At last the agony ends. I have failed you my Queen... I have failed us all..." it murmured, lips around it massive teeth barely having the strength to move, sightless eyes closing for the last time.
After it finally expired, Nobu'tan turned from where he stood, taking a quick stock of their group, and smiled. Draco looked as well, and noted that there were only the barest of minor injuries, the preparations they took against the fire of the beasts having done well in protecting them, in addition to the restorative magic of their priests and shaman keeping them up and moving from the more devastating attacks.
Slowly, they picked their way around the rubble and fallen dragon and climbed the ramp that Draco himself had taken midway through the battle, rejoining Lucius and those who had followed, who were unharmed, which caused Draco to relax all the more, although his father seemed to have other ideas.
"What on earth were you thinking," he shouted, rushing forward and scooping Draco into his arms, the younger man flinching at the sudden embrace, "leaping onto a dragon like that was insane, I know I've taught you better than to do such reckless things."
"And yet that distraction was the exact thing we needed to finish it off without further harm to the rest of us…" Draco muttered in response, knowing that his father had to see that such a maneuver was a well-planned and weighed risk that Draco had taken, albeit rather spontaneous. Lucius held Draco by the shoulders, looking him dead in the eyes, "Never do something that risky again, what would I tell your mother if I lost you?"
"About the same thing that I was already working on for the last moments when we fought the elemental lord…" Draco deadpanned back. Lucius reacted as if physically struck, but released Draco, looking pained, and Draco knew that his father understood that Draco was more adult that he had first given his son credit.
"As important as such discussion is," Nobu'tan interjected, "we do have quite some ways to go, and the longer we wait the more our enemies have time to prepare for our arrival."
"Yes, of course you are right, my Lord," Lucius said, recovering quickly, but sending a look at Draco that stated flatly that they still had much yet to discuss at another time, and turned to follow their leader onward. Draco merely hoped that there would still be a later for them to discuss matters, unpleasant or otherwise.
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Voldemort watched as the group of united warriors pressed forward, still deep within his own thoughts regarding the entire matter of their purpose here. True, he could agree that the orcs that they were aiding had promise, their leanings toward destruction and ruthlessness were admirable, but at the same time he could sense that there was a deeper reason for why Potter wanted to ally their group with them.
Granted, with large foes like the dragon they had just faced in the land, it would make sense to want to band together with as many allies as possible, much like the history of their home world had mentioned of the middle ages, where wizard and muggle alike strove to live in harmony to protect themselves from the rampaging magical creatures that roamed the lands without care for humans or their lives.
It hadn't been until more modern ages that the Ministry, after its formation during the Renaissances and the trickling off of anti-magical tendencies in muggle as a whole, that the tide of free range magical creatures was greatly stemmed, mainly to preserve what species were left after the muggles went on their great hunts to eliminate the most dangerous ones that they could find.
Still, even with all the evidence that pointed to a tactical and logical reason for this pursuit of the mountain fortress, Voldemort couldn't shake the feeling that there was a more personal reason behind their being here specifically. True, he was not part of the inner circles of the warlock's people, nor was he too privy to their true purpose or why the demonic Legion had their eyes on this world, and sent them ahead to do… something… but he had several pieces wherewith to form his own ideas of why they were here.
Naturally, the Legion wanted something regarding this world in particular, as was evident in how casually they had treated the invasion of old earth, but whatever that was remained a mystery, and Voldemort suspected that even their leader was unaware of what that reason might be.
The dragonkin in the next chamber swarmed them as soon as members of the Stormreavers came into view. But their forces were more than prepared, and with an assortment of strategic maneuvers forced their way into the room, driving the beasts back and slaying them. Coldly, Voldemort himself pressed on ahead in the main attack group, ready to carve even more of the black blood, which seemed to be the only rush left to his corpse of a body.
The next room however, was confusing. A long hallway, leading to another ramp-like staircase lay in their way, with hundreds of tiny dragon whelps of various colors, all seemingly ill and contained to the ground, some with chains about their necks as dozens of pillars throughout the chamber poured some sort of noxious fumes into the room. The orcs and black dragonkin that wandered the room monitoring the whelps seemed unaffected, but the magic that rippled off of them indicated that they had some sort of protection from the effects of the gas.
Those that were living halted, waiting for their leader to see what they ought to do, but Voldemort could easily do what the living could not, and trudged ahead, raising his weapons gleefully. Stepping into the room properly, the fumes seemed to attempt to swarm around him and constrict his movement, but being dead already, he suffered very little in the slowing of his joints. Nevertheless, he allowed necromantic energy to flow through him, hastening his reflexes and allowing him to dash ahead to the nearest cluster of foes, which was taken aback by his speed in their precious slowing gases.
Blood flowed as a result, and Voldemort gratefully smashed the pillars as he moved from group to group, ignoring the whelps that were too ill and immobilized to do more than litter the ground in his path. Even still, he refused to be a complete monster and simply stomp on their skulls as he passed, as there may be some use for them once freed from the gas.
The congregation of the living waited as he stormed around the room smashing every pillar, and once the gas vanished away, they pressed onward, taking the ramp and finding themselves at the end of a second hallway much like the first, with the exception of the massive bipedal black dragonkin at the far end, protecting a lowered portcullis that prevented passage into the room beyond.
"We need to clear much of the room so we have space to engage him," Nobu'tan called from the back, and Voldemort resisted rolling his eyes, instead taking what delight he could in being the old only able to freely move through the noxious fumes, charging each knot of enemies that he encountered, knocking down pillars as he went. The casters in their group shot spells as more, and soon enough there was a clear area for them to proceed into the room properly, just as Voldemort violently choked the life from the last orc enemy that dared to attempt to hinder them.
Still, they had only just managed to clear their space and move in before the massive dragonkin took notice, and advanced to meet them in battle, a large spear spinning from hand to hand as he charged.
Hurriedly, the Stormreavers formed a battle line, even as the hulking form smashed into their melee fighters. Voldemort circled around to the back of the beast, letting his death magic flow through his weapon as he swung thrice into the unprotected flanks of the dragon-like creature.
Bolts and spells pelted the beast from multiple sides, and it roared in anger and frustration, swinging the spear in a wide arc in front of him, hitting multiple of their allies at once. Voldemort knew that having the creature able to focus on more than one of them at a time was not wise, and so he channeled as much of his dark power as he could, stabbing the creature in the leg and drawing its attention as much as he could to turn and face him alone.
Soon enough the beast complied, turning from the rest of the assembled group and endearing to try and stamp Voldemort into the ground first. That was its biggest mistake, although it did manage to unleash a wave of fire that shoved many of those closest to him away. Several Fel missiles streaked through the air and slammed into the beast's head as Voldemort parried the whirling speartip with his sword.
Then he met the clawed foot head on, and went flying backwards, slamming into the gated exit of the room with a resounding crunch. Even though he felt no pain at the impact, Voldemort knew that severe damage had been done to his frame from the blow. The beast wasn't quite done with him yet however, and was rapidly closing the distance between them, even as Voldemort picked himself up from the ground, grasping the sword hilt with bones held together only by the dark magic that had animated his body, and little else.
The beast reared up before him, preparing to skewer him with the spear, when a massive projectile slammed into the small of its back, causing the dragonkin to fall backwards with a roar of pain. Voldemort spotted the ogre mage, Teg'Ramm, having just thrown one of the other enemies' weapons with all its enhanced and brutish might into the dragonkin, stunning it with the force of the strike from the flying weapon.
Voldemort took his opportunity, leeching the life force of the stunned dragonkin, even as he staggered closer, and raised his sword high. Necromancy surged around him, and he brought the blade down swiftly, severing straight through the toughened scale armor, shattering bone and slicing through flesh and sinew.
The beast gurgled out its final breaths as the blade of Voldemort's weapon dug deeper and deeper, black blood pooling across the stones as the beast released its own weapon to try and throw Voldemort from it weakly, but between the deathblow and his own leeching of the life force of the creature, it stood no further chance.
The beast died, hands flopping uselessly to the ground as all its strength left it, and Voldemort stood triumphant over its corpse, high off the power and essence he had consumed from the once proud and livid creature.
The others dashed past, many of the ogres start on prying the portcullis up to open their way to the next chamber, while goblins scoured the room, pocketing anything that wasn't tied down and looked even reasonably valuable.
Voldemort turned to find Potter watching, the red eyes gleaming with something that spoke of pride, and the former Dark Lord was instantly disgusted with the younger human. For him to even consider himself greater because of what he had done to Voldemort was a lie that he was telling himself, and in due time the Death Knight would remind him of that, brutally and without remorse.
The portcullis was throw upward and stuck there, revealing the path ahead, and the massive chamber with more dragonspawn, and even goblins wearing various muggle scientific equipment. There were also other orcs, and even some beings that appeared near human in appearance, but more graceful and with pointed ears.
The Stormreavers charged in, and Voldemort allowed himself to be swept up by the longing for the taste of life energy once more. There would be time enough to contemplate his revenge when the mountain was secured.
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Lady Katrana Prestor was disturbed in mind over recent events. Although it was true that she detested the female visitor that had come to Stormwind Keep, practically swept her enchantments aside and persuaded both the prince and the Regent Lord to aid her people, and all but saw through Katrana's disguise, there were more pressing matters than the interference of a single mortal.
Within her personal chamber, Lady Prestor was able to shed the identity of the human female, even if she was still trapped within the form, and allow her mind to dwell on things of greater value. The Black Dragon, Onyxia, was terribly distressed about the state of affairs with her brother, Nefarian, and Blackrock Mountain.
If there was some new clan of orcs there, actually capable of clearing out the lower halls of the dwarven menace, then that in and of itself was a good thing, but she worried about the state of their plans if the Dark Horde grew in enough strength to throw off the current head of the Black Dragonflight.
Her brother was supposed to be created a secret chamber specifically for her use in the mountain, for her role as Broodmother, to lay and birth her eggs so that their Dragonflight would not go extinct, as much as Alexstrasza and the other Dragonflights would wish it to be so. She had an obligation that superseded even her work here weakening the Alliance and persuading them to openly war with the Horde of Kalimdor, and that was the survival of her brood. If Nefarian fell, it would only be a matter of time before she was discovered, and she would have to make certain that she had a place to retreat to and defend herself. But the paining thought was that Nefarian had already started moving many of her eggs and broodlings into this secret vault, and her desire to check up on them was terrible.
Focusing her thoughts upon her brother, Onyxia initiated a power that was nearly exclusive to the dragons alone, communication across massive distances. 'Brother, what is going on at the mountain,' she demanded, yearning to know what the cause of all the disturbances was. 'News has already reached Stormwind of the defeat of Rangaros, and this new clan of orcs that have joined with the son of Blackhand.'
There was no reply for the longest time, and Onyxia grew distraught at the idea that her brother had already fallen, but she knew that it wasn't so. Members of the immediate family of the Aspects could sense each other, and knew of the deaths of one of their brood mates like a pain through their own heart.
No, Nefarian yet lived, but was either occupied or ignoring her, which both were highly possible. This angered the Broodmother, and she would have set out for the mountain immediately, if not for the matters that she had here in Stormwind Keep where she would have gone suspiciously absent from if she departed immediately.
So long as her brother lived however, she knew that he would defend her clutch with his life, as the Lord of Blackrock mountain cared greatly for her happiness, even if he was selfish at times, and he knew the importance of making sure that the Black Dragonflight had its chance to return as a world power once again.
Still, even as she prepared the illusionary human form wherewith she wore to deceive the eyes of Stormwind for the next public appearance that she was expected to make, Onyxia couldn't shake the feeling that something was dangerously wrong at her Brother's stronghold, and she ought to go there as swiftly as she could.
Fingering the small stone with the Black Dragonflight's symbol upon it that she kept, a means of transport directly to the secret chambers that her brother was preparing for her, she considered the option of teleporting there in person just to find out what was going on. It was not as though she lacked means to get to and from the mountain swiftly and in secret, but still… any absence of a Lady of Stormwind was noted, especially one of such power and influence as Prestor, and she'd rather not throw all that she worked for away just on the chance that something was wrong.
She would wait and see if her brother responded to her, and if he didn't by the end of that day, she would teleport and extract the specifics from whatever lackey she found. The appearance of a fully grown Black Dragon Matriarch tended to get the job done when it came to demanding answers from anything smaller than her, which few things weren't when Onyxia was in her fully revealed form.
Smirking at a plan well tended and prepared, Onyxia fitted the mask of Lady Prestor back firmly over her mind, and departed her room, heading down to the main parts of the Keep, and whatever other demands on her time that awaited her there.
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Teg'Ramm did not understand what the various groups of goblins, orcs, dragonkin, and the tall effeminate creatures that Nobu'tan identified as elves, were working on at the various labs around the large chamber, but as their forces butchered all those that resisted, and captured what others surrendered, primarily goblins that were pressed to give up at the end of knives and other weapons held by their kindred among the Stormreavers.
Nobu'tan waited in the center of the room for their forces to be finished ravaging the labs of all the valuables that were present. However, the warlock was not paying attention to the looting, but rather the ramp that led ahead to the next chamber. Teg'Ramm turned to look, and widened his eyes as he spotted the black drake slowly flying down toward them, more closely hovering than actually flying.
"We have incoming!" Teg'Ramm bellowed, snapping the Stormreavers out of their fervor of taking valuables and refocusing them on the approaching threat. The drake bellowed and start approaching faster, but after the massive red dragon, a much smaller drake was not much of threat in comparison.
Granted, many of their members were sporting rather nasty burns once the drake was slain, and their Shaman and Priests had their work cut out for them in purifying and mending the wounds caused by the dark fire. Nobu'tan urged them all to move onward, ascending the large ramp and finding the next large laboratory chamber, where once more the members of their clan charged the room, slaying and capturing what they could, both in item and in prisoner.
Teg'Ramm had an extra eye for the area up ahead, and he could see that there were two additional Black Drakes there, waiting and seeming napping as they guarded the highest tier of the laboratory area.
The sounds of their battle however seemed to be more than enough to rouse them, and the two drakes turned their searing eyes to glower down at the mass of Stormreavers, balefully flexing their wings and claws as they rose and took to the air.
The flames that they sent ahead of them down upon the assembled Stormreavers were more than enough to catch their attention, although it seemed several fell with grievous wounds from both the flames and the distraction as they fought the remaining workers. Even a few newly made prisoners took the opportunity to break free and fight once more, causing them to be partially surrounded as the drakes sped down the ramp toward them.
Teg'Ramm brought the end of his staff down hard on the shoulders of a charging elf mage, crumpling the smaller form as he raised a hand, conjuring a shield of Felfire to ward off another breath attack of one of the advancing drakes. He had the disadvantage of being one of the largest of their assault group, and therefore stood out more than the others, making him a prime target more often than not, but Teg'Ramm was more than willing to take the aggression of their foes if it meant that Lord Nobu'tan was safe.
Storming toward the advancing drakes, firing spells of pure destruction as he went, Teg'Ramm slammed bodily into the searing scales of one of the two, knocking it from the air and sending it to the ground, tail and claws flailing. Tough ogre hide that he had, the vicious claws still found much purchase on his hide, and the burning trails of lacerations all along his arms and torso were quite painful, but Teg'Ramm had experienced far worse.
Pinning the creature's head with the end of his staff, the ogre mage conjured a Fel fireball, and brought down along with his fist onto the creature's eye socket, relishing the screech of pain that the drake made as the powerful spell collided with its sensitive eye.
Its fellow wasn't about to allow Teg'Ramm to simply pummel the captured drake so easily, and started to swoop at him, but a volley of spells and arrows daunted its approached, even as others of the Order of the Black Harvest arrived, summoning various demons to held grapple the fallen drake and allow Teg'Ramm time to fall back and receive healing to his many wounds.
Some would scar, he already knew it before the healers even mentioned it, but it was irrelevant to him, as they would serve as badges of honor for his service to his master, and he would wear them all with pride. The demons tore apart the felled drake, even as the other attempted in vain to chase them off, before a well place bolt of chaos struck the flying one in the wing, tearing the appendage apart and sending it spiraling to the ground in a heap.
The fight was more or less over after that, the newly downed drake falling to the axes of Felguards and the stampeding hooves of the Fel Centaur as they rushed over it to ascend the ramp beyond.
The final tier was quickly looted, and their prisoners replaced with those who had been cowering on the top level, hoping that the drakes would have protected them. A final set of three massive bipedal dragonkin awaited at the far side, blocking entrance to a final chamber, which held, to Teg'Ramm's amusement, a tantalizingly large lever at the far side, which more than shouted the word trap across the room.
These particular dragonkin were far harder to slay then the previous, some method of magically altering their scale to reflect spells of flame, even Felfire, off them harmlessly. The steel weapons and pure chaotic energies of the Stormreavers was unaffected however, and the creatures fell in due time, dishing out very little pain and injury in exchange, which was quickly healed and mended without any trouble.
When all the looting was completed to everyone's mutual contentment, they gathered alongside Lord Nobu'tan and the others of the Council in the far chamber, where the human's disguised as orcs studied the tempting switch. There were two large gates on either side of the room, only one of which Teg'Ramm assumed led to their destination.
"It's undoubtedly a trap," Lucius stated flatly, with Lord Nobu'tan nodding in agreement.
"But to proceed onward, we must take the first step, and spring the trap," the younger warlock replied, grasping the heavy lever and heaving it to the side, and the gate to the right flew upward.
