Many thanks to those who reviewed, asked questions, and generally showed interest in the previous chapter! I greatly appreciate it all, and highly encourage everyone to continue to ask questions and speculate on events and plotlines that are yet to come. Without further ado, the next chapter I present! ~F
Chapter 125
Time Meddler
Nobu'tan stiffened at the presence of the towering drake, even as it settled into a low hover over the frozen battlefield. The beast's command over the flows of time had momentarily surprised him, and the charm the Bronze dragon had given him felt heavy in his hand.
Still, he'd rather not use it until he had absolutely no choice. "What I do is of no concern to you. This event will stand forever, and you may only look to your predecessor for evidence of what you hope to accomplish in facing me," Nobu'tan threatened, nodding toward the still frozen and impaled corpse of the previous figure to challenge him personally.
The drake seemed unfazed by the grisly sight, and huffed a short puff of sand-like magic from its nostrils. "So be it…" the drake said, "You have been warned."
With a roar, the creature took to the sky, wheeling high above the treetops, even as bolts of magic and power rained down from the beast's mouth.
Nobu'tan could feel the heavy power of the time-based magic within these attacked. Not wishing to even guess what may happen if one of them struck him directly, Nobu'tan removed the illusion shrouding his demonic wings, and kicked off from the ground with his Fel strength.
Taking the fight to the air, he was more confident that he could out maneuver the larger drake, and unleashed a torrent of arcane missiles as he darted past the beast's side.
Even as the drake turned to face him, Nobu'tan smirked, snapping the Elder Wand in a complicated pattern.
The negation hex, magnified by the arcane power flowing through him, struck the ground around his battlefield, dispelling the time-lock that the drake had placed over it, recommencing the battle as though nothing had happened to halt it.
"You magic is nothing compared to ours, petty mage!" the drake roared, swinging around in a wide arc to face Nobu'tan.
"I think you'll find that I am full of surprises," the warlock retorted, aiming the Deathstick at the flying creature, and incanting arcane magic.
Purple magic flared to life all around him, projecting a barrage of missiles and ordinance comprised of pure magic, bombarding the scaly hide of the drake.
The Infinite drake roared in surprise and pain, even as it wheeled away, trying to evade its much smaller and more agile opponent.
But Nobu'tan was about to let the beast escape so easily.
In all his experience fighting dragons, he knew their weaknesses quite well. Nimbly circling the dragon once again, Nobu'tan dived at the exposed webbing of the left wing. His hands transformed into claws, and Nobu'tan tore at the weaker, unprotected flesh that kept the beast aloft.
Panicking, the dragon tried to roll, but Nobu'tan dug in and held on, sliding from the momentum and tearing larger rends through the sensitive webbing. Within moments the limb was useless for its intended purpose, and the dragon started to spiral down to the ground in a barely controlled fall.
Leaping as the beast hit the ground, Nobu'tan hovered for a moment before touching down a short distance from the thrashing dragon.
"You should have left when you had the chance…" the dragon muttered, even as Nobu'tan approached, sensing that the creature had fractured internally from the fall.
"I will not have some half-dead dragon tell me where and what I shall do…" Nobu'tan retorted, even as the raging battle died away in his ears, focusing on the words of the dying dragon.
The beast laughed, "My death means… little… Your days are done here…"
"Old fool…" Nobu'tan muttered, sensing that the creature had departed this plane of existence. Still, there were a great many portals and their keepers left to destroy, to protect the Guardian and reestablish the flow of time as it should have been, so Nobu'tan returned to that work.
With a steady supply of demons at his command combating the armies of the Infinite, Nobu'tan was able to circle around and start slaughtering the portal guardians one by one, until only a single portal remained.
But even as Nobu'tan turned his attention to that portal, something massive emerged from it, revealing a full adult Infinite dragon. Judging by size alone, it was clear that this creature had lived far longer than the small one Nobu'tan had only recently defeated, and would be that much more deadly.
"The time has come to shatter this clockwork universe forever! Let us no longer be slaves of the hourglass! I warn you: those who do not embrace the greater path shall become victims of its passing!" the dragon bellowed, even as a wave of time magic washed out from it, freezing only the demons and elementals that fought for Nobu'tan, but leaving the dragon's own forces free to act.
They bore down once more, ignoring the time-locked forces, and made the mad dash toward Medievh's location.
With a sharp snap of apparition, Nobu'tan was in their midst, the future version of the staff of Aetish flashing as he allowed raw magical energy to flow free through him. Waves of arcane magic physically pummeled those that drew too near, throwing them aside like toys hurled by a rampaging child.
Spinning out of range of one of the dragonspawn's swinging blades, Nobu'tan slammed the staff of the guardian down, its base cracking deftly against the ground, and unleashing a torrent of Fel into the ground itself.
Within moments, spikes of corrupted earth rocketed up in all directions, creating a bulwark against the advancing Infinite forces, as well as impaling many of those about to assault the Magus' shields.
"You will not pass," Nobu'tan commanded, allowing his magical power to shine off of him like an imposing aura. "I will destroy any and all that approach!"
The dragon huffed, advancing like all the others to face off against the Grand Warlock, "Let us see what fate lays in store then…" the dragon said arrogantly, even as it reared back to swipe a massive claw at Nobu'tan.
Dodging backward, Nobu'tan drew out the token that he had been given, and threw it into the air, hoping that whatever aid the Bronze Dragonlflight sent would be worth the effort.
A trio of Bronze drakes appeared in a shimmer of time magic, roaring their challenges at the massive opponent. "Remove the time-lock over my forces!" Nobu'tan ordered, and the drakes scattered, spraying the battlefield liberally with their sand-like breath, and returning his forces to this time, allowing the horde of demons to rejoin the fight.
"No one can stop us! No one!" the Infinite dragon roared, turning his attention to the drakes, even as the other spawn resumed their battle against Nobu'tan and his demons with fervor.
Tapping into the darkest aspects of the Fel, Nobu'tan jabbed two fingers toward one of the larger dragonspawn blocking him from pursuing the Dragon, and unleashed a bolt of crimson death.
The struck creature shattered internally, body splitting apart in a gore-filled heap, even as Nobu'tan vaulted over the crumbling pile, blasting another spawn that turned to face him with raw arcane.
The dragon had already cornered one of the Bronze Timekeepers, and roared as it blasted the smaller dragon with its own breath, "Your time is up, slave of the past!" the dragon bellowed, even as it forced the Bronze Drake to slip back into the flows of time.
The dragon looked back, as though taunting Nobu'tan to try and interfere with its internal strife with the other dragons, which cause the warlock bristle. "Underestimate me at your folly, dragon," he said, "I've already defeated all your forces up to this point, I doubt there is much for you to throw at me that I cannot overcome!"
Whether the dragon heeded his threat or not, Nobu'tan couldn't be sure, as at that moment another trio of Infinite spawn tried to jump him from behind, forcing the Stormreaver warlock to contend with them rather than the dragon.
While a swift barrage of spells obliterated those hindering him, Nobu'tan was not fast enough to prevent the defeat of another of the bronze drakes, even as the Infinite Dragon snuffed it from the time stream.
"Enough!" Nobu'tan bellowed across the battle, letting his vision swim with the fury of the Fel within. The dragon only barely turned as the power within the warlock became manifest, pouring from his vision like twin beams of destructive energy.
The dragon roared as it was struck, and any of the combatants that were caught in the midst of the beam were disintegrated instantly.
"You will face me, dragon!" Nobu'tan challenged, hefting Aetish high and summoning a pillar of arcane might down on the hulking creature.
The purple and blue energy slammed down on the dragon's back, forcing it momentarily to the ground, before it struggled back to its massive claws, clearly in pain and rattled from the torrent of magic.
"We will triumph! It is only a matter of time," the dragon said, even as it stomped toward Nobu'tan, raising its head back to breath upon him.
Smirking, Nobu'tan gestured, and caused one of his many water elementals to slam into the front claw of the dragon, changing like the others into a spear of ice. The surprise attack worked, piercing the limb and sending the dragon dangerously off balance as it tried to exhale on the Grand Warlock.
Another blast of arcane magic sent it collapsing to the ground, where demons waited to pounce upon it
The beast's roars quickly transformed into baleful cried of pain as the Legion's warriors hacked it to pieces, quickly setting it on its own path into the Nether. With their leader defeated, and the final portal shuttering itself to a close, victory was assured.
The mop up took less than a few minutes after that, as the demonic horde that Nobu'tan had summoned churned over the last vestiges of the Infinite Dragonflight's forces.
Soon the battle was won, and Nobu'tan felt the blast of Fel magic as the portal was completed.
Turning to look as the mighty gateway to Draenor hummed to life, he spotted Medievh approaching him, stepping carefully through the nest of corpses.
"I am grateful for your aid, champion," the Guardian said, "Now, Gul'dan's Horde will sweep across this world like a locust swarm, and all my designs, all my carefully-laid plans will at last fall into place."
With a simmer of magic, orcs started to appear out of the portal, clustered around those who were clearly their leaders. Despite their younger features, Nobu'tan spotted the three Blackrock warriors that became instrumental in the Horde after the fall of Stormwind, when he himself would be among them serving Gul'dan. Orgrim Doomhammer, future Warchief after he betrayed and killed his chieftain, looked about at the carnage with a critical eye, while Eitrigg and Saurfang were less concerned with their surroundings, organizing their warriors and scouts to prepare for the groundwork of a base camp.
"Orcs of the Horde!" Medievh called, returning to the base of the portal. "This portal is the gateway to your new destiny! Azeroth lies before you, ripe for the taking!" the orcs were taken aback that a human would come so near so quickly upon their arrival, but Saurfang was the first to recover.
"Gul'dan speaks the truth!" he shouted at the other Horde warriors, who comprised several different representatives from the major clans, "We should return at once to tell our brothers of the news! Retreat back through the portal!"
Nobu'tan wished he could have remained longer, perhaps witness the advent of his old master into Azeroth, but the sudden burning in his pocket where the Bronze Dragonflight's talisman lay told him it was time to depart.
Already he spotted several more timekeepers working their magic to restore events to their proper, canonical order, and took his leave through the swamps.
He paused however, when a raven swooped in front of him, transforming back into the shape of Medievh. The Guardian looked curiously at Aetish in Nobu'tan's hand.
"Ah, so I see… you are not from this time, but rather from some future after I am gone from the world…" he said, stroking his short beard in thought.
Nobu'tan was not sure what to say, but the man waved his hand dismissively, "Do not worry, I am well aware of the Bronze Dragonflight, and their control of the time streams, something had to have gone awry with those strange creatures attacking while I opened the portal. I can tell that events needed to play out this way for some grander, future purpose. But don't tell me anything," he added, forestalling any attempt for Nobu'tan to even open his mouth, "There is no fun in knowing what the future holds. I suspect that we will meet again in due time, or through some means we will, if you holding Aetish is any indication. We will have plenty of time for questions and answers then, young warlock…"
The Guardian turned away, lifting his own version of Aetish, "Until that time, I will bid you farewell, stranger from distant lands and a future time." In a flash, the man was gone, replaced with the small raven as it soared out over the trees and to the northwest, where Nobu'tan knew Karazhan lay.
Shaking all thought of the Guardian from his mind, Nobu'tan returned to the cave, and met with Sa'at once more, returning the small token he had been gifted.
"It is done," the dragon said, accepting the item and nodding. "Hard though it may be to understand, but the opening of the Dark Portal is one of the great events needed for this world to survive what was to come later. Indeed, if the orcs never make it to Azeroth, the Alliance would never form. Eventually civil war will break out, further weakening the human kingdoms. And ultimately, the Burning Legion would invade Azeroth, destroying it in the absence of any defenders."
Nobu'tan nodded, saying nothing. He already had a personal reason for making sure that the portal was opened, but the dragon didn't need to know that.
"Andormu will be waiting for your next assignment, do not delay," Sa'at said, gesturing into the cave, "there is much yet to do to stop the Infinite Dragonflight."
Nobu'tan did as instructed, lingering only a slight moment when he felt the surge of Fel energy blossom into existence back in the direction of the Portal. That was it… the moment Gul'dan set foot on Azeroth. Nobu'tan forced himself to keep walking away from his master, to not give in to the urge to turn and sprint for the portal and the orc that would not yet know him.
He refused to slow his methodical steps until he was back in the caverns. "Congratulations on succeeding against overwhelming odds," Andormu said, smiling, "We had already saved half of the time streams that are currently threatened, only two more are currently being jeopardized. Come, now, this way."
Nobu'tan was led to another time stream, which shimmered with the banner of the old kingdom of Lordaeron in the vague distance. "This timeway had at one time collapsed and only recently reformed," Andormu explained, "The result was Stratholme of yore. What could possibly be happening inside?"
"I presume that someone of your people has already been sent ahead?" Nobu'tan asked.
"Yes, Chronormu is there waiting for you to follow. I suspect she will know a great deal more of the situation." The dragon replied. "The Infinite are clearly going to try and prevent Prince Arthas Menethil from following the path that led to him descending into madness and destroying the city… a tragic tale, but unfortunately the one that time wrote. We cannot allow our enemies to change it, however painful the memory of it is."
"I understand," Nobu'tan said, stepping into the strange convergence of time. As he walked, the cavern floor suddenly became wooden, transforming into the basement of some human structure. And there, waiting for him, was Chromie, sitting atop a barrel with her small legs bouncing back and forth.
"Good to see you again," the little gnome said.
"The Infinites are attempting something unusually subtle for them. They are trying to hide the evidence that will lead to Arthas deciding to cull Stratholme." Chromie explained. "Their agents have used illusionary magic on the plagued grain shipments in the nearby countryside to make them appear normal. I need you to find the hidden grain, and use this Arcane Disruptor on the shipments. Arthas' men are looking for plagued grain, and should find it quickly with the illusion gone. Meet me near Stratholme's entrance, north of this place, when the work is done."
"There's just one other thing," Chormie said, gesturing at Nobu'tan. "We're going to disguise you, just for the sake of not causing unnecessary chaos… I'll make you look like one of the Mages of Dalaran, part of the party that Arthas brought to inspect the grain, that should make it so no one challenges your presence here…"
"I presume restricting my magic to the Arcane would be of benefit to that end, then?" Nobu'tan asked.
"I was hoping you'd catch on. Granted, the time stream should be fine no matter what you choose to do, but for the ease of your mission, I feel it would be far easier to play the part, don't you?"
"I suppose so," Nobu'tan agreed, feeling a bit more grateful for this dragon to actually bother explaining some of her plan, and offering assistance rather than throwing him into the situation with nothing.
Handing Nobu'tan the strange arcane device to check the grain with, Chromie jumped off the barrel and lifted her hands, "Whenever you're ready, I'll teleport you to the surface and we can get to work."
"I'm ready," Nobu'tan said, unsure what to actually expect outside, but past the point of caring. If his presence was to just be erased from history as he worked to prevent its destruction, it mattered little what he did, so long as he completed his mission.
"Almighty then, here we go!" Chromie said, and in a flash of swirling sand, Nobu'tan felt himself transported from the dark basement to the sunny surface behind the building.
Nobu'tan smell the fresh air of the northern reaches of the human kingdoms, having not set foot in that place, as it once was, for years. It was so strange to think that this place would become an undead forest of towering mushrooms and ghastly undead.
That was when he noticed the disguise that Chromie had enchanted him with.
The little dragon had some luck with her, it seemed, as Nobu'tan could have sworn that he looked like a much older version of himself as an apprentice back in Dalaran.
"Curious," he said, taking out the small devise and started to probe it with his fingerings, wondering how to get it to actually work.
Pressing one of the small, multi-colored buttons, the thing let out a small whirring noise, starting a small light on it to start flashing slowly. Perplexed, Nobu'tan turned the device this way and that, trying to understand what he had done.
As he aimed the object toward the front side of the building, the little light started to flash a hair faster. "Ah, I see," Nobu'tan said, momentarily noticing that his own voice was different in his ears, likely also due to the Bronze dragon's magic.
Still, he now understood the purpose of the object he was given. It would lead him to these plagued crates of grain, and reveal them for what they were.
Emerging from behind the building, Nobu'tan was suddenly aware of the small village that he was in. The humans labored merrily, caring nothing for the world around them, and seemingly oblivious to their impending doom, according to the tales that Nobu'tan had heard regarding the fall of Lordaeron.
Quickly approaching one of the other houses, Nobu'tan pointed the object at a crate bearing one of the seals of the old kingdom, and with a flash the perfectly healthy grain withered and turned a sickening green.
The rot of it was palpable, and Nobu'tan backed off swiftly, caught off guard by the fact that the peasants were unaware of the change, only a few of the villagers even acknowledged him, and those that did only sent him the briefest of nods before averting their gaze. Apparently the Mages of Dalaran held a lot of power, and the symbol of the Violet Eye was intimidating to the laymen of these outer villages.
Silently, Nobu'tan thanked Chromie for her foresight, and made his way through the village, locating as many crates of the diseased grain as he could. The magic of the device was such that it revealed every one of them for what it truly was. Making his way to the far end of the village, Nobu'tan noticed the cobbled road leading through the trees, up to the walled city to the north.
Was that the place that the dragon said to meet? Nobu'tan had not been here, at least not until all the devastation had taken it and made this place a bastion for the Scourge and their undead. Still, he figured it was a solid lead of where to go, and headed in that direction.
Soon enough, more soldiers, bearing the deep azure of Lordaeron's colors were found, milling about as they waited for additional orders. And there, perfectly ignored by the passing humans, elves, and dwarves, was the gnome Chromie, sitting on a low fence and waving at Nobu'tan.
"You have done well, friend," Chromie said brightly, "the plagued grain was exposed to Arthas' troops, just as it was supposed to be."
"Can… can they see you?" Nobu'tan asked.
"Don't worry about that," the dragon in disguise said dismissively, "you mortals only ever see or hear what you want to, and rarely do you pay any attention to the gnomes, especially this far north at this time. I'm as invisible as I could be without using magic. But listen carefully, there remains more to be done…"
"The Infinite Dragonflight is not likely to give up so easily. I cannot be certain of what they're up to, but something tells me we haven't seen the last of them today." Chromie said, to which Nobu'tan nodded. It was very likely indeed, after all the meddling that Nobu'tan personally had put toward foiling their plans across time.
"In just a moment," Chromie explained, looking back toward the crossroads where the Lordaeron soldiers waited, "Arthas will face a desperate dilemma, and make a momentous decision."
Suddenly, Nobu'tan felt a very real chill run down his spine. Even after all the things he himself had done, he knew what was about to befall this city, and had hoped to be very far away when it did, but the somberness in the gnomish voice held little comfort.
"I needn't remind you how much is at stake," Chromie said seriously, "I must call upon you to accompany the Prince in his culling of Stratholme. Arthas must make it through Stratholme alive and you must see to it that he defeats Mal'Ganis!"
"You know what you are asking of me?" Nobu'tan said, "All those innocent people…"
"Are already dead," Chromie said, the mirth in her voice completely evaporated, "don't lose focus now, all these events have already happened, you are just ensuring that history doesn't unravel by making sure everything happens as it should. Just reach and defeat Mal'Ganis, and I will meet you there to do the rest."
The whinny of horses drew their attention, "Here comes the Prince, prepare yourself." Chromie said, before jumping off the fence and casually walking away.
Nobu'tan turned, watching as the young Prince of Lordaeron made his appearance. The soldiers seemed to truly idolize him, more than just in a military sense, as the paladin strode through them towards the gates of the city.
A far older paladin, as well as a very young Jaina Proudmoore, also arrived and approached the
Prince, all well within earshot of Nobu'tan.
"Glad you could make it, Uther," Arthas said in a displeased huff.
"Watch your tone with me, boy." The old warrior shot back, calling out the impudence, "You may be the prince, but I'm still your superior as a paladin!"
"As if I could forget," Arthas replied, "Listen, Uther, there's something about the plague you should know..."
But what exactly the young prince knew was lost as the man looked over at the nearest villagers from the city.
"Oh, no…." he breathed. Even Nobu'tan turned to look, and raised an eyebrow at the perfectly normal-looking humans. He then turned to look back at the prince, starting to understand. "We're too late," Arthas said, still staring in horror at the people of his lands, "These people have all been infected! They may look fine now, but it's just a matter of time before they turn into the undead!
"What?" the older paladin demanded, eyes widening in shock of what he was hearing.
But the prince wasn't done with the shocking statements, "This entire city must be purged." He said solemnly.
Nobu'tan reached into his robes, gently brushing the Elder Wand and muttered a spell to himself, one that allowed his vision to expand into the range of magic and its auras. There was a way to accomplish this with the Arcane as well, but the wizarding magic was much more subtle and with these figures here, along with the warning from Chromie, he wasn't taking any chances.
What he saw explained everything. Not only was the prince right, as a fog of ghastly undeath magic lingered over the villagers all over the city, but it encircled the prince himself as well, mixed with something else that Nobu'tan couldn't place. Some form of madness was taking hold from an unknown source, and if not for the fact that these events had to be preserved, Nobu'tan would have interfered instantly to uncover the truth.
Uther was not responding well to the Prince either, "How can you even consider that?" he demanded, "There's got to be some other way."
But Arthas was past reasoning with anyone, Nobu'tan could tell from the way the young man frowned as the older paladin spoke. "Damn it, Uther!" he shouted, "As your future king, I order you to purge this city!"
The master paladin grew still for a moment, as if slapped, before his tone dropped and became extremely cold, "You are not my king yet, boy! Nor would I obey that command even if you were!"
"Then I must consider this an act of treason," Arthas muttered.
"Treason?" Uther yelled, and even though who were out of range for the beginning of the conversation turned to look at their leaders in confusion "Have you lost your mind, Arthas?"
"Have I?" Arthas replied, and Nobu'tan knew that it was a fact "Lord Uther, by my right of succession and the sovereignty of my crown, I hereby relieve you of your command and suspend your paladins from service."
"Arthas! You can't just—" Jaina started, but the prince cut her off.
"It's done!" he demanded, sneering at the older man, "Those of you who have the will to save this land, follow me!" he yelled to the soldiers all around, before adding, "The rest of you... get out of my sight!"
There was a great deal of confusion and muttering, and a large number of the blue and silver heralded knights and foot soldiers departed, unwilling to participate in the bloodshed of their own countrymen. Personally, Nobu'tan was surprised that any stayed at all.
Watching the lines of soldiers abandon their prince, Uther turned back to the young man, "You've just crossed a terrible threshold, Arthas." He said, before he too departed.
After a few moments of dithering, even Jaina Proudmore turned away. Nobu'tan felt his respect for the woman grow at the way she kept her head high as she made her choice not to give in to the prince's madness.
"Jaina?" Arthas said, shocked that even she would turn on him.
Jaina stopped for a moment, without turning around. "I'm sorry, Arthas. I can't watch you do this." She said, and Nobu'tan could hear the constrained pain in her voice. She had loved him, the warlock surmised, and now he had broken her heart.
In a flash of blue, the Sorceress teleported away, leaving Arthas, Nobu'tan, and the rest of the princes men.
The princequickly took stock of his forces, briefly pausing at the depicition of the violet eye on Nobu'tan illusioned robes, before nodding to himself.
"You men," he said to a large number of the remaining foot soldiers, "Take positions here, and I will lead a small force inside Stratholme to begin the culling. We must contain and purge the infected for the sake of all Lordaeron!"
The Prince then pointed right at Nobu'tan, "follow me, Mage of the Kirin Tor, for what must be done."
Nobu'tan said nothing, merely nodded and followed as Arthas led his soldiers across the bridge and into the city.
"Father," the prince said, as he set eyes on the street of people before them "forgive me for what I must do."
He then turned to his men, "Everyone looks ready. Remember, these people are all infected with the plague and will die soon. We must purge Stratholme to protect the remainder of Lordaeron from the Scourge. Let's go."
Arthas strode forward to the first nearby citizen, who was trying to help another who had fallen, already turning green from the plague.
"My Lord, help this man, he is ill," the Stratholme citizen requested.
"I can only help you with a clean death." Arthas responded, cold and detached, as he lifted his warhammer high.
"What? This can't be!" the man said, raising his arms in fear as the hammer swung down, crushing the man under it.
All activity in the street stopped, even as the citizenry all turned to see their prince in his act of murder. "Oh, no..." one of them said, before the entire street started to panic, fleeing to their homes in terror.
"That was just the beginning." Arthas replied, sending a bolt of Holy Light into another fleeing human, slaying her instantly.
In a flash of Fel fire, a Dreadlord appeared at the far side of the cramped street. For a moment Nobu'tan almost reacted on instinct and attacked, but he quickly realized that it wasn't a Nathrezim he was familiar with.
"Yes, this is the beginning." The Dreadlord said to Arthas, "I've been waiting for you, young prince. I am Mal'Ganis."
Waving his arms wide to indicate the city, Mal'Ganis continued, "As you can see, your people are now mine. I will now turn this city household by household, until the flame of life has been snuffed out... forever."
Arthas yelled back at the demon, "I won't allow it, Mal'Ganis! Better that these people die by my hand than serve as your slaves in death!"
The dreadlord laughed, teleporting away in a sickening overuse of the Fel, even as Scourge forces started to appear out of alleyways and around corners, smashing their way into buildings and slaughtering the people as quickly as they could shamble.
"Mal'ganis will send out some of his Scourge minions to interfere with us." Arthas said, turning back to Nobu'tan and the rest of his force, "Those of you with the strongest steel and magic shall go forth and destroy them. I will lead the rest of my forces in purging Stratholme of the infected."
Against these forces of undead, the human soldiers didn't hold back like they had with their own people. The footmen rushed forward, eager to drive back the skeletons and ghouls, while dwarves with long rifles and High Elves with the Holy Light supported them from range.
Knowing what constraints he had for himself, Nobu'tan kept to the most basic of arcane magic, bolts of purple energy and torrents of frost and fire, tinted with only the faintest of Fel green. Knowing what these undead would go on to do to his people fueled his magic sufficiently to not need the Fel, and quickly the Lordaeron force pushed past the T-junction and started to clear out the city.
Unfortunately, they were too late to stop the citizens from turning. Zombies poured out of the buildings from all sides, filling the streets and throwing themselves on the shields of the Alliance soldiers.
From the far side of the city, something exploded, and great gouts of flames took to the air. The city had caught fire. The more pressing was the overwhelming stench that was coming from the same direction. Nobu'tan knew what was coming before the grueling sound of the mashed abomination could be heard.
"Play time!" the creature bellowed, its mismatched voice ringing through the close knit buildings.
They would be overrun in moments if Nobu'tan didn't act. A blast of fire leapt from his hands in all directions, giving their soldiers time to step back into formation and be healed by the clerics of Quel'Thalas that were with them.
"Quick thinking Mage," Arthas said, appearing with them once more, hammer aloft and the Holy Light singing around him.
Just then the creature appeared from the billowing smoke of the burning section, "New toys!" it declared, starting to charge toward them, meat hooks swinging in its grotesque hands.
"Stand your ground!" Arthas yelled, already allowing himself to swell in magical power as he rushed forward to meet the hideous creature.
Nobu'tan knew he could have destroyed the beast utterly on his own, but allowed himself not to grow impatient. The longer they spent fighting the Scourge, the less likely that the Infinite Dragonflight would have time or opportunity to strike at the young prince from the shadows.
Still, Nobu'tan couldn't help the desire to be rid of the undead quickly, and fired off two massive boulders of flame, striking the creature in the head while it contended with the paladin.
The creature roared, whipping a hook around its head and throwing it toward the soldiers in the back, defending Nobu'tan and the casters from attacks behind their force. A footman screamed as the hook pierced him, dragging the man away to the waiting mouth of the creature, which opened wide to receive its prey. This fight had just begun, it seemed.
