Greetings my friends, and other associated readers of my work! Another fantastic week awaits, and here is the promised chapter. Socials in the profile, twitch youtube, discord etc., please visit those if you feel so inclined, it would help me greatly, not to mention give you that much more of a glimpse into my (twisted) mind... Without further pontification, we carry onward!
Chapter 130
A Glimpse of the Future
Draco steered his gryphon easily enough. After mastering the wild spirit of a Dreadsteed of Xoroth, he had found that most natural creatures of Azeroth were exceptionally easy to work with by comparison, and had developed the patience to compromise with whatever beast he may need to ride for any given situation.
Here, the skill was exceptionally useful, as Jaina, Shaw, and nearly twenty other Alliance soldiers and adventurers flew with him northward, skirting around the airspace around the Kalimdor Horde's base at Thrallmar, and into the wide void that separated Hellfire Peninsula from the Netherstorm.
"It shouldn't take us more than a few hours to arrive near to the Keep," Shaw had said before they departed, further instructing that if they were attacked, that they needed to scatter and continue forward with all speed.
Far to their left, Draco spotted movement, and turned to see a large company of flying creatures, Dragonhawks, if he recalled correctly, flying south. On their backs were heavily armed Blood Elves, and the surge of magic around them told him that it was an attack force from the mad Prince.
For a moment he feared they were coming to circle around and attack their group from the rear, but the Elves passed by with a fixation that indicated they had business.
Pulling his gryphon closer to Jaina's, Draco shouted over the sounds of the beasts, "Where do you think they're going?"
The Sorceress looked for herself, before shaking her head, "No way to tell," she called back. "But it is good for us, less protection around Kael…"
Draco was about to say more, but Shaw butted his way in, actually forcing Draco to pull his gryphon away from Jaina's, "We're making good time," the Spymaster said, "Judging from their direction, those Elves are heading toward the center of Hellfire…"
The implication by the leader of SI:7 against Draco and the Dark Horde was obvious, but they said nothing more regarding it while in the air.
Draco fretted about what Shaw had said the rest of their journey. He knew that Nobu'tan wouldn't have joined forces with the Blood Elves, at least without good reason, but the alternative to that was that they were going to attack the Citadel, which raised even more questions.
Soon enough, their group of twenty entered the purple storm of the Netherstorm. The location immediately around the floating, crystalline structures was swarming with more elves, preventing them from setting any manner of camp close to their target.
Fortunately, Shaw had already suspected this outcome, and had several backup locations planned for their forces to muster.
Following the spymaster's mount, Draco wheeled away from the Tempest Keep, turning toward a shattered human village on the edge of one of the floating chunks of land.
Landing in a clatter of talons and wings, Draco looked around at the floating elementals of pure arcane that littered the village.
The center focus of magic seemed to be the tower, but how it radiated from everywhere was disconcerting. "What happened here?" he asked.
Jaina landed shortly after him, and looked around as well. "Clearly this is the work of their mana-based weapons," Shaw said, "but it will serve our purposes as well."
He turned to Draco," Get those portals open, and let's get our forces here before we're discovered."
"Yes, sir," Draco said, only somewhat sarcastically, before turning away to prevent Shaw from an angry response. Tapping into the Fel, Draco started weaving together a tear through the Nether back to Stormwind. Jaina also started to channel a portal of arcane.
Each opened fully and soldiers started to pour through from Azeroth, including more gryphons and riders to ferry their soldiers up to the Keep. The majestic birds didn't seem pleased at the extra-dimensional travel, and ruffled their wings irritatedly.
"Now we just need to get our assault group past their defenses and into the Keep itself," Shaw said, after the last of Stormwind's army had crossed through.
They had only twenty or so gryphons to take them up to the Keep, and Shaw had been meticulous in who was to come with them and who would be part of the diversionary attack on the ground. Several dwarven mortar teams had been assembled to bombard the smaller satellites and put pressure on Kael'thas' army to ignore the group going inside.
The ground force started off back toward where the fortress waited, while Draco threw his leg back over the saddle. The twenty gryphons took to the air, slowly circling over their ground forces, keeping an eye out for the Blood Elf forces, to make sure that they were not ambushed along the way.
Once the fortress was in sight, Jaina hefted her staff, and started channeling her mastery over frost magic, and pulling on the ambient magic of the storm-riddled area.
The encamped elves around the ledge closest to Tempest Keep looked up, just as the massive snowstorm started. Great blocks of sharpened ice flew down, impacting the dead ground, and throwing many from their feet in the advent of the Alliance army to charge down to them. Draco started to channel the Fel, ready to lend his magic to the aid of the army down below.
"Save your energy," Shaw said, interrupting Draco, "We will need all we can muster once were inside the fortress."
With all eyes on the battle on the ground, the group of twenty landed on the crystalline structure of the floating stronghold, and quickly made their way to the entrance.
The gryphons were already turning about as they dismounted; taking back to the sky to attack the enemy from above if they attempted to retreat into their place of strength. Draco drew his wand, keeping his eyes ahead and flickering at any possible source of movement.
It was strange that the entrance of this place was so deserted, and he felt that some manner of trap was afoot. Clearly, Shaw was of the same mind, as he held up a hand for complete silence. Many of their number were SI:7 Agents, and obeyed their spymaster without question, stalking forward in the shadows to scout their route ahead.
Unfortunately, it seemed that both Shaw and Draco's intuition was correct, as fighting broke out down the narrow corridor from their position. Rushing forward, they arrived in time to rescue the lead vanguards of the Stormwind agents, who had encountered a large number of elite Blood Elf warriors, paladins, and magisters.
"Anar'alah belore!" one of the lead Elves shouted, before being silenced by an arrow loosed by Shaw himself.
But the elves had heard the cry, and charged to contend with the Alliance force, falling like savages on the shields of the footmen and adventures. Mages and other spellcasters started to counter the projectiles hurled at them from beyond the clash of the melee, and Shaw's agents drew bows and started to send volleys of arrows over to support the magical attacks.
Draco threw a few spells to aid their assault, but conserved his energy. Despite the clear animosity that Shaw had for him, the man meant every word he uttered. If he desired Draco's magic saved for later on in their struggle, there was a plan that the master spy had in mind for it, and Draco knew better than to not abide by that plan.
Still, he was itching to get more involved, even as they started to push forward, driving the guards back and trampling their fallen bodies as they shoved their way out of the corridor and into the first large chamber.
The sudden increase in light was surprising, but Draco paled as he spotted the source of the immense brightness. A phoenix, immense and vibrant, circled the vaulted ceiling of the chamber, flames trailing in its wake.
Suddenly, he knew for a fact why Shaw had wanted his dark magic saved from being squandered beforehand. It would take a great level of darkness to diminish the strength of this massive beast of fire and light.
Catching the eye of the leader of SI:7, Draco shared a nod of understanding with the man, and raised his wand. The combination of Fel corruption and the dark curses of his homeworld sent Draco's magic seeping out into the air like a black miasma, lingering over their enemies and eating away at their magical armor like acid.
But the most effect was the reaction of the phoenix. When the cloud of darkness drifted up to it, the creature shrieked in agony, a high pitched wail as it rushed to the ground in an attempt to escape the corrosive effect.
Hovering just above the ground, the massive bird shot flames in Draco's direction, through the ranks of the Blood Elves, even as Jaina raised a wall of ice around their forces to protect them from the fervent heat. The surprised cried of Kael'thas' forces erupted all around them as they were burned, but the enchanted ice was melting as fast as Jaina could bring it forth, meaning that they would have to face the angered creature sooner rather than later.
"Spread out!" Shaw ordered, and the SI:7 agents scattered, followed by the other Alliance warriors and support casters. Draco followed Shaw and Jaina as they went to a ramp on their left, which sloped gently up to a second level and gave a much better vantage of the room as a whole.
The phoenix was not giving up however, and tried to pursue them, only to be blocked by the vanguard of the Alliance, their shields making a metal wall in front of the massive bird. It lashed out with talons and beak, trying to break through, but the warriors were unyielding in their physical strength, and the black miasma overhead prevented the bird from attempting to take flight once more.
As a signal from Shaw, a barrage of ranged projectiles and magic rained down from all sides, slamming into the vibrant plumage of the creature and pushing it to the side as its wings fell out of their natural rhythm of beats.
From beyond the thick walls, Draco could hear the beginning of explosives detonating on the outside of the flying fortress. The bombardment had begun. While they did not expect the tactic to be too effective on the main structure, they still had to hurry now, as the Elves were most likely going to take the threat more seriously and fight even more ferociously to protect themselves and flee.
After a second barrage of spells and projectiles, the phoenix crumpled to the ground, bursting into flame that consumed it completely, smoke rising to join the miasma in the air. But the magic that remained around the ash pile of a corpse worried Draco.
It was highly unlikely that the creature was so easily defeated, and that was confirmed when the ash swirled away, being guided by magic to the far balcony, where a regal elf had appeared, jewels sown into his flame-red robes.
"Kael'thas…" Jaina confirmed, even as the Elf glowered at the attacking Alliance forces.
"First the Scourge decimated my homeland," the Elf said, almost muttering to himself as the ashes collected in his outstretched palm, "nothing of my homeland remains, but ash and sorrow… then the Alliance, those who ought to have been our faithful allies, betray my people, and seek to destroy what little remained. Now you've come to finish the job Garithos attempted so long ago?"
His eye briefly glanced over Draco, but the Elf seemed to be searching for something else, "I sense something, elusive…" the princes' emerald green orbs locked onto Jaina and he frowned, "Even you would turn on us, Jaina? I had thought our old friendship would stand for something, even after you chose your precious Lich King in training… But no matter…"
More ranks of Blood Elf warriors appeared, flanking their prince and taking aim at the Alliance force. "Edo-enah Quel'Thalas!" Kael ordered, and his minions charged, throwing themselves eagerly into the fray as the battle resumed.
Draco knew who his target had to be, the reason Shaw wanted him so fresh and ready, and took aim with his wand. But, there was something off about this Elf, something that prevented Draco from getting a clean shot. It took a moment, but concentrating intently, Draco saw what was hidden. Three emerald orbs of fire hovered around the head of the Elf prince, holding some manner of protection or illusion as they slowly orbited around his head.
Still, now that Draco could see them, he could deal with them. "Avada Kedavera," he intoned, hoping that the spell would split past unnoticed of the Elf or any of his guards.
Alas, that was not to be the case.
One of the emerald orbs altered its trajectory, in line with the prince glancing at the oncoming spell. It shattered on contact with the death curse, dropping like a stone and rolling away, only part of it blasted into nothing.
Whether Prince Kael'Thas was aware of how close his life was to ending, he did not show it, but rather gestured back at Draco, flames in his free hand. "By fire be purged!" he intoned, throwing a flaming sphere of magic at the warlock.
Draco dodged easily, and smirked at the Elf. When the prince didn't respond, Draco turned, slowly realizing that he had not been the target of the burst of fire.
Under the dispersed ashes from the phoenix was a glowing egg, now surrounded by the Blood Elf's fire, and pulsing as it started to hatch.
"When the flames settle, we shall see who still stands," the prince said, already turning to leave as the fiery beast shot into the air, screeching in its rebirth and spewing fire in all directions.
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Nobu'tan stepped through his portal to Hellfire Citadel, looking out over the rampart to see the attacking Blood Elves. It was not a sizable force, but for the defenders that they had left in order to muster all available forces for the coming siege of the Black Temple, they may have posed a threat.
But how little the denizens of these worlds thought of the Black Harvest, and their reach to move soldiers where they willed.
With Magtheridon subdued with promised of devastation and death at his hands, the warlocks of the Shadowmoon clan had been free to train and experiment with the portal magic that Nobu'tan had perfected, and now showcased their mastery of the skills.
Across all parapets and open causeways along the Citadel, portals tore open, admitting scores of Dark Horde warriors, who charged at the Blood Elves to defend their fortress on this dying world. Nobu'tan watched in pride as his forces quickly took the upper hand, as far as the fight on the ground was concerned.
In the air, the Blood Elves currently still held dominion, their Dragonhawks able to evade all ranged attacked with ease in the open air.
But that advantage ended when the massive roar sounded from the central platforms atop the citadel. Nobu'tan smiled as he saw the newest member of the Dark Horde: The Fel Drakes. The last spawn of Onyxia, left behind in Blackrock Mountain when the Broodmother and her brother were destroyed, the Black Drakes had long resisted fully committing to any action in favor of the Dark Horde, fearful of their brood's destruction.
But eventually, through careful persuasion and wearing down their resolve, Nobu'tan had convinced them that the best route for protecting themselves was to drink of demon blood and embrace the powerful rage of their species. Now they were true juggernauts of Felfire and destruction. Mounted by a Dragonmaw warrior, specially trained to work with their mounts, half a dozen Fel Drakes took to their air, green flames trailing in their wake.
The Dragonhawks scattered, even as the sizably larger Drakes cut through their ranks like knifes, flames and projectiles firing after them as the air battle commenced. With a ground-shaking clatter, another Fel Drkae landed beside Nobu'tan, and Warchief Nek'rosh grinned.
"Magnificent, aren't they," he said, and Nobu'tan could only agree.
The Fel Drakes and their riders quickly shattered the resolve of the remaining airborne Elves, and drove away the support for the remainder on the ground. They would be slaughtered soon enough, their supposed assault turning to a preamble for what would befall the Black Temple.
"Are our forces nearly through in the lower levels of the Citadel?" Nobu'tan asked.
"It will be completed within the hour," Nek'rosh replied.
"Good," Nobu'tan replied, "I want these Elves to see the forces that they challenged before they are destroyed utterly. As soon as the clans are assembled, we move out."
"As you wish, Grand Warlock," Nek'rosh replied.
"This will be a major step toward challenging the status quo of Azeroth…" Nobu'tan commented, sharing a smile with the orc at his side, "We shall show them that the Dark Horde is far more powerful than they ever imagined."
For the remaining hour, Nobu'tan watched the toying battle before him, as the Elves were slowly whittled down to a timid fraction of their original forces. Defeated and broken yes, but enough left alive to take tiding of what they would witness back to Kael'thas in the north.
A waving a signal flags was the only warning Nobu'tan had before the great gates of Hellfire Citadel started to grind open. The ground thrummed with the beating of drums, keeping his armies in step as they marched forward.
Banners lifted to the air, held by those deemed too young or inexperienced to actually fight, fluttering in the Nether winds and boldly showing the symbols and colors of each clan represented in the Dark Horde's army.
Then the whining blare started.
Nobu'tan was not familiar with the instrument that Yaxley had so proudly showed him, even as he trained a large contingent of the youth of the Dark Horde to play it, but the sound it made was enough to give him a good impression of the effect it would make on the other races of this world.
The army marched forward as the music started, the bagpipes created from the imagination of the Black Harvest member keeping a steady flow of the tempo for the drumbeat. That there had been hundreds of youth from each clan willing to participate in any fashion, rather than be left behind on this venture had certainly worked in Yaxley's favor.
Using an Eye of Kil'rogg, Nobu'tan appreciated the looks of terror that crossed the Elven faces as they witnessed the unleashing of the Dark Horde, in full glory and might as they turned away from their tiny battle and marched toward the south, and the entrance of Terrokar Forest.
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Lord Voldemort, striding at the head of his clan atop the horse he had claimed from Karazhan, could only raise an eyebrow at the impression that the blaring of bagpipes in the ranks of their army caused.
He had not heard the instrument for many years, and suddenly for it to return with a literal vengeance was something he had not expected in a hundred lifetimes.
Yaxley himself was nearby, each of the members of the leading Council of the Black Harvest splintered throughout the army as they marched, and Voldemort turned to him. "Not exactly what I had in mind when it was mentioned that you had some manner of project to do with this march," he admitted.
"Call it a labor of love," the former Death Eater said, smirking back, "It bolsters the army's size, and gives the youth of the Dark Horde an opportunity to serve without putting them on the front lines of danger, endearing their love of our leadership and keeping them as safe as possible."
"But to have them all trained with that instrument so fast…" Voldemort pressed.
"They may be enchanted to cover some mistakes of the player…" the man admitted, shrugging, "the effect was more important, and they will learn soon enough."
"Were the banners also part of your plan?" Voldemort asked, gazing up at the fluttering flags that the youth of his clan held. A Killing Curse-green sword on a field of black apparently was the chosen colors and symbol of his clan, although Voldemort was certain that they never had officially created such a thing.
"You know how the saying of old went: "Boldly go forth, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners…" Yaxley replied, "Those clans of ours which had no such symbol, the youth compiled their knowledge and created them. It felt appropriate to give them such a task, and increased their feelings of involvement.
Voldemort smirked at that. Yaxley had always had such a romantic streak to his methods. To see his employ under Nobu'tan put to such a manner was somewhat inspiring, even to the former rival of the younger warlock.
They circled around the far side of Honor Hold, the Alliance fortress, where more of their forces would join them from Zeth'Gor, and the Death Knight saw many eyes watching them from the fortified walls of the other faction.
"Well, we are certainly turning heads with this little event." He surmised, which had Yaxley beaming.
"All is as intended for furthering the power of the Dark Horde, and ourselves through that union." The warlock said, reveling in the pride he felt for his idea being so fruitful in striking their enemies with awe and terror.
Gazing around at the youth that comprised the Blightbringer Clan's drummers and piper section, Voldemort couldn't help but feel a twinge of pride himself. The young ones held themselves in a manner that did not compare to their elders. While the old warriors were marching in a plodding step, knowing that they faced potential doom, the youth held their head's high, proud of their clans, and marched brightly, their instruments flashing with the flourishes and techniques they had been taught.
"This will change the future of the Dark Horde forever," Voldemort predicted, "No longer will the future generations feel the same shame that their predecessors do when it comes to war and bloodshed."
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Varian was startled as a footman tore into the chamber where he had been with Anduin, teaching his son the political connection between the various hamlets and shires that made up the Nation of Stormwind.
"Your Majesty!" the man cried, fear etched on his face, "The Dark Horde is on the move."
Varian's blood froze in his veins. Surely they weren't insane enough to attempt to encroach on the boarders on his lands, "Where?" he demanded, dropping the map he had been holding and striding toward the footman.
"Outland, Milord," the man reported, "They've marched in force from Hellfire Citadel… its, hard to explain the sight."
Varian thought quickly. "Take me there," he said finally, gesturing at Anduin to remain where he was.
The footman saluted, turning smartly and leading Varian out of the room and toward the small private garden within Stormwind Keep. An Honor Hold Mage was there, keeping open a portal to the devastated land. Even through the portal, Varian could hear a strange sound, like a whining blare. Others were looking from other parts of the Keep in curiosity, but Varian was the only one to actually enter the portal to Outland to find out.
If anything, the strange, nearly-musical sound only grew louder when he entered the portal. All around the walls, soldiers were climbing whatever they could in order to see something outside their walls, and Varain slowly moved through the ranks. Thankfully, being King of Stormwind had its advantages, and many cleared the way for him as he passed. Danath was on the wall already, and glanced at Varain as the King approached, before nodding out into the waste of the Red World.
Varian turned to look, and his eyes momentarily went wide. He had know that the Dark Horde boasted a large army, it was clear with the number of allies and territory that they had and held, but to see them all laid out in a massive line, stretching around Honor Hold and still pouring forth from Hellfire Citadel, it was something different.
There had to be nearly ten thousand of them, marching in orderly lines as a steady drumbeat matched their footfalls, echoing across the land. And the strange blaring kept going! Many of the soldiers had their hands over their ears, trying to block out the whine that had to be some manner of musical instrument.
"Do you still think we can have peace with them, seeing what they are capable of now?" Danath said, nearly shouting over the din, "They make open threats of their power…"
"Do you think," Varian said, quiet enough that Danath had to lean closer, "that we can afford to have war with them, for the very same reason?"
It took nearly an hour before the army finally passed out of view, and that was considering their rather brisk pace for an assembly of that size. Varian knew that whomever they were marching to face was in for some vicious fighting, and was just glad that it was not the Alliance.
Now seeing the full might of the Dark Horde for himself, or at least as much as they had willingly allowed the other factions to see, he was greatly reconsidering any concept of making war with them for any reason.
At best, the fighting would be a terrible battle of attrition, and they clearly had forces and to spare if losses were heavy. Varian could not say the same for his own people. He had no desire to see any unnecessary loss of life, and peace was a much better option in his view, if it could be possible.
Nevertheless, Nobu'tan himself had much to answer for, and Varian knew that there was no amount of hearsay or eyewitness accounts that would sway the Dark Iron dwarves from making claim on their ancestral mountain.
Just as soon as he had the situation under control, Varian once again felt as though Nobu'tan had dumped yet another flaming mess on the leader of the Alliance.
"I almost pity whomever they are going up against…" Danath said, breaking the tense silence that had overtaken Honor Hold when the insidious blaring of the Dark Horde's horns had finally passed out of earshot. "I can't get that blasting music out of my head…"
"I do not think I will be able to forget it anytime soon either," Varian admitted, turning to descend the wall and return to Stormwind. He had much to think about, and wondered who he could turn to for advice regarding this terrible matter, and its constant complications.
Emerging back in Stormwind Keep's garden, Varian looked toward a guard, "Send for The Shiv," he commanded, already walking for his own private study. Shaw was not present, and he had need for an elite spymaster to determine the best path ahead, as well as to send out SI:7 agents to watch this massive army of the Dark Horde, and see just what they were capable of.
Varian had seen numerous covered wagons, some of which he presumed were the Dark Horde's special siege weapons, capable of hurling ordinance farther than anything they had knowledge of. If they could get a close enough look, perhaps the engineers of Ironforge could reverse engineer one and determine how to create their own for the Alliance, or at least devise a way to effectively destroy them.
"You called for me, your Majesty?" the lieutenant of SI:7 said as he arrived shortly after Vairan had settled himself.
The King of Stormwind was still uncertain what made this goblin, out of his entire race, loyal to the Alliance and their interests, but if Shaw trusted him, then Varian would do so as well.
"I have an assignment for you and your agents," he said, and the goblin grinned widely.
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Jaina whirled as the Phoenix rose into the air once more. She had suspected that the creature wouldn't remain defeated for long, but now as it screeched in fury, she wasn't sure if they had the firepower to put it down once and for all.
Jaina had already guessed Shaw's plan was to use Draco and his darker magic to try and counter Kael'thas directly. As a former member of the Kirin Tor, and having sat on the Council of Six, the Blood Elf Price would be relatively aware of what any living mage or warlock was capable of, and therefore naturally the strange magic from another world was their ace to throw Kael off guard and defeat him, which meant that Draco and his magic must be protected until the crucial moment.
That left Jaina to the task of getting them to wherever Kael had fled to. Clutching her staff in both hands, with the conflict raging around her, and she searched inward to find the cold place where she drew her magic from.
It was there, the frozen place that only had grown with the tragic events of her life. She opened her eyes, seeing the world through the glimmering hue of Arcane magic, and threw her power outward.
A vortex started, icy wind flowing in a rushing circle, expanding outward and upward. The ice-ridden tornado grew rapidly, forcing the fighters on both sides to withdraw or be caught up in the flying icicles, but the phoenix was not so lucky.
Crying sharply, the great bird of fire was sucked into the vortex of razor-sharp crystals, ice pelting it from all sides, and much of it latching onto the fiery plumage, attacking on both a physical and elemental level.
Once enough of the enchanted ice adhered to the phoenix, the weight of it tore the bird from the air, where it landed with a crash amid the Blood Elf forces.
"Alliance! Attack!" Jaina shouted, and another volley of projectiles tore into the Elven ranks. Seeing the former members of the Alliance fall to their weapons tore at Jaina's heart, but Kael'thas had proven to be a threat not only to the Alliance, but Azeroth as a whole, and she would do what had to be done to protect their world.
Once the lines of Elves had been weakened, Jaina started for the downed phoenix, conjuring a massive spike of glacial ice. Even as the defenders started to regroup, Jaina let the missile fly, sending it careening over their heads and into the chest cavity of the mighty bird.
A single piercing cry and the phoenix burst into flames a second time, but the ashes of its form blew away in a magical wind, revealing the glowing egg that hid its rebirthing abilities.
Draco leveled his wand on the pulsing egg, and said another one the strange incantations that Jaina could not understand. A sickly green bolt of energy launched outward, forking like lightning until it struck the egg, and caused the living thing to explode in a fiery burst, ending the phoenix once and for all.
The remaining Elves scattered, falling back into the flying fortress at the death of the fiery bird they defended, allowing the Alliance to take control of the chamber and plan their next move.
"Well done," Shaw said, already directing his agents to scout ahead, "With the Prince's pet taken care of, eliminating him will be significantly easier."
"Now that we have a moment to breathe, perhaps you will elaborate on your plan somewhat, for the rest of us?" Draco said, annoyed.
"Too many ears here," Shaw replied, but Jaina sensed there was more to his reasoning. The fact that the spymaster of SI:7 didn't trust anyone affiliated with the Dark Horde, even Lady Malfoy, was common knowledge to those in the upper circles of Alliance leadership, and that was manifesting itself here.
"I would also like to know what is to be expected of us, actually," Jaina intervened, seeing that Draco was getting ready to have quite unkind words with Matthias.
Shaw sighed, glancing at her in a defeated way, and elaborated. "As you no doubt have already guessed, the magic of Azeroth is common knowledge to a mage of Kael'thas' caliber, and therefore the best way for us to defeat him swiftly and decisively is to present him a challenge that he is not prepared to fend off."
"My specialties," Draco replied, and Matthias nodded.
"While you focus solely on Kael, Jaina and I will keep his advisors, and any others that try to interfere out of the way, and isolate the mad Prince so that you can take him down. We cut off the head of the serpent here, and the rest of the body, spread throughout Netherstorm, will collapse on its own." He said swiftly, already checking the corners of the room for spies.
"Quick, efficient, and devastating; it just might work," Draco said, nodding in agreement.
"Quite," Shaw replied, eyeing Draco carefully, "Lady Proudmoore, if you'd take half of our forces, and go up this left passage; we shall lead the rest to the fight and converge on Kael'thas' position." He added, turning back to her, "If we corner him, there'll be only one option left for him."
"Stand and fight," Jaina said, unnecessarily, but she felt the need to voice the unspoken threat looming in the air.
Matthias nodded, already starting away to split their forces into two groups. As he departed, Draco watched the spymaster, easily sensing the distrust. "I guess he wants to keep his eye on me or something," he joked blandly, "must think I might try to teleport away in the middle of a fight…"
"It's his job to be overly cautious," Jaina replied, torn between defending Shaw and acknowledging Draco's frustration at the blatant distrust.
"Still, it makes me wonder what else my family must do to earn the trust we have freely given by living in your city, by being open with many of our secrets, and fighting time and again for the Alliance, and Azeroth as a whole."
Jaina had no answer for him, and soon the assembled force was starting toward the ramps up to the elevated platforms. Nodding solemnly to Draco, Jaina turned away to follow her contingent. There was much left to accomplish here, and fretting about Matthias and Draco would be nothing but a distraction.
With Kael'thas clearly out of his mind, Jaina knew that there would be something sinister ahead of them, and focused her mind to preparing a battery of spells to counter any threat that might arise as the Elven Prince fought to protect his flying fortress.
They encountered nothing terribly out of the ordinary on the upper levels. Several groups of defenders threw themselves on the Alliance forces, and there were a pair of arcane golems, but it was nothing that they couldn't handle.
At a fork in the passage, several of SI:7's agent revealed themselves, gesturing for Jaina and her force to turn onto the ramp leading further upward, "the Prince awaits with his advisors and guard in the area above," one of the agents said, "if we hurry, there will be little chance for any of them to slip out the other passage, or else prepare any sort of trap or spell to stop us."
"Let's move," Jaina called, leading the way as they fought their way up the ramp to the large observation chamber above. Some of the final soldiers turned to flee into the room, but Jaina caught them with a blast of icy wind, freezing them solid as the Alliance force entered, mirrored on the far side by Shaw's group, cutting off any escape for Kael and his advisors.
"Energy. Power… My people are addicted to it... a dependence made manifest after the Sunwell was destroyed." Kael'thas said, greeting his foes. "Welcome to the future. A pity you are too late to stop it. No one can stop me now! Selama ashal'anore!"
