Many thanks to those who've reviewed the previous chapter, it's all be very supportive! Please enjoy the next chapter, and if you haven't, check out the profile page for links to my other online stuff (Discord, Twitch, etc...) ~F
Chapter 141
Assaulting the Plateau
Lor'themar quickly saw to the secret shipping of Kael'thas' body back to Silvermoon. Mad and treacherous though he had been, Kael was still crown prince of Quel'thalas, and deserved to be buried with his father and the rest of the Sunstrider ancestors.
Nevertheless, with the Dark Horde operating so openly, and the Alliance now storming the beaches of Quel'Danas, the Regent Lord felt that the Blood Elves' grip on their holdings was quickly slipping.
The only thing that could be worse, as much as he hated to admit it to even himself, was for Sylvanas to show up with her Forsaken. As allied as she had once been to the Blood Elves since the opening of the Dark Portal, the Banshee and her forces had all but vanished from Eversong and the Ghostlands, moving to the southern areas of the Plaguelands to try and expand their own regions.
But the situation here was very tense. Matthias Shaw was strutting about as though he owned the whole isle, issuing orders to his own forces, as well as that of the Shatter Sun Offensive, capitalizing on every resource to start pushing back against the Legion horde surging from the Sunwell Plateau.
Even now the man was standing at the forefront, barking orders at his men, even as another wave engaged them, Felguard and Terrorfiends leading the way.
Having witnessed the brutality of Kil'jaeden's personal warriors, Lor'themar expected a bloodbath between the two forces, but the shimmer of magic in the air dashed all thoughts of a prolonged conflict.
A nether gate, clearly the work of a Dark Horde warlock, tore open over the advancing demons, and a massive, Fel emerald crystal simply dropped into their midst. Eyes widening, Lor'themar pulled out of the line of sight as the crystal, already violently pulsing with magic, erupted upon impact.
The concussive blast made even the enchanted stone of the building shudder slightly. When Lor'themar circled the pillar he had hidden behind once more, his jaw dropped. Where the Legion force had once been, there was nothing but a smoking crater now. The Alliance and Shattered Sun forces were flat on their backs from the concussive wave, and even Shaw had been knocked from his feet.
The man recovered quickly enough, swearing loudly to try and determine the source of the explosive crystal that had been dropped so close to them. Not that there was time for any great search, not with more demonic forces already moving to take up the position lost by the explosion.
But the continued shimmer in the air indicated that their foes would not be given such a chance, as more crystals were carpeted over the battlefield leading up to the rear entrance of the Sunwell. The Regent Lord could only watch in horror as the delicate landscape of Quel'Danas, already damaged and worn from the battle just to keep the demons here was torn asunder from subsequent explosions.
Still, the devastating effect worked to eradicate all of the demons in the immediate area. The way was clear for whoever assembled their forces first to take the fight to those actually holding the Sunwell.
"Farstriders!" Lor'themar bellowed, getting the attention of all Blood Elf archers in the area, "Anar'alah belore!"
The sound of the universal Thallasian war cry was enough to motivate them all into a hastily organized charge. Many of the archers leapt down from the tops of buildings and from balconies, cutting through the ranks of the Alliance, still busy recovering from the first explosion, and dashing for the entrance of the Sunwell.
They would not permit the Alliance to take the glory of their birthright, holding some kind of debt over them that had been used to leverage them into their ranks back in the Second War.
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Nobu'tan landed hard, catching himself before taking a look around. The telemancy orb was not the most gentle or accurate means of transportation. Still, it was something beneath the notice of the Elves holding the Sunwell, or the demons that they served.
The gift that they had deployed between the united forces of the Alliance, Kalimdor Horde, and army of Shattrath, and the demons trying to break out had worked surprisingly well that none were paying attention to the small, blown out building settled in a sheltered nook of the upper walls of the outlying structure.
It was a close as Nobu'tan dared to take them to the Sunwell itself. The chaotic energies, twice mutated by death and then the Fel would cause too many ambient issues with transportation magic, and that was a risk that Nobu'tan wasn't willing to take with those who had followed him into the belly of the beast.
Nevertheless, they were past a fair number of the defenses that had been set up by Kael'thas' forces and Kil'jaeden's demons for the attacking armies. Let the other fools take on these initial challenges, the continued diversion would only do more to help the Dark Horde strike force move closer to the demon lord's location unobstructed.
Still, there would be other obstacles. "Let's move," Nobu'tan said quickly, as Teg'Ramm brought up the rear of the small group of five, signaling for them to move toward the nearest source of Fel power.
There was a massive source behind them, out in the outer courtyard, but Nobu'tan had no wish to encounter the Pit Lord Brutallus again so soon, especially since his blood was still coursing through many of the Dark Horde's most powerful fighters.
Granted, Nobu'tan had carefully gathered all the Fel Horde's stocks of Magtheridon's blood, and that would prove to be far more beneficial in the long run.
Still, he was seeking the next largest was ahead, although the closer he drew to it, Nobu'tan realized that it was actually two signatures, each as closely similar as to be easily mistaken as one. There was only a single pair of demons with that level of Fel power, that Nobu'tan knew of that matched this signature.
But before they could confront the Eredar twins Alythess and Sacrolash, there was a shimmering elven barrier blocking their way. "These runes are not familiar to me," Nobu'tan said, seeing the glowing lettering covering the arch over the magical barrier, "It seems older than anything happening around us now, so I must conclude that these are part of the original defenses of the Sunwell."
Teron stepped forward, his runeblade in hand, and traced the arc made by the runes, "If this is the case, then they are active because of the foreign magic surrounding the Sunwell itself. Gul'dan had long been enamored by the magic of this land." He added, glancing back at Nobu'tan. "High Thallasian," he said, stating the language, "Agamath is the word inscribed here."
"All magic can be undone," Nobu'tan recounted, speaking from some of the earliest lessons that Gul'dan had given him, "and that which can't, can be overpowered and broken."
Drawing the Elder Wand, Nobu'tan focused on the array of runes generating the magic for the barrier, and pooled all the magic he could summon through the directing focus. A golden beam of magic rocketed out of the end of the wand, striking the shimmering blue of the runic barrier, the power hiding behind the little lights was immense. Nobu'tan was actually taken aback; the runes were tied directly into the strength of the magical font deep within the structure, nearly impenetrable by outside means.
But nearly wouldn't stop the heir of the greatest warlock on two worlds. The flux between the damaged Sunwell and the Fel magic trying and turn it into a portal for the Legion was weakening the barrier ever so slightly, and that was the chink in the metaphorical armor that he would exploit.
Unleashing a torrent of pure Fel magic into the shield quickly intensified the shimmer of its resistance, as well as physically heating the area around it. Not to be deterred, Nobu'tan continued raising the pressure. Eventually the shield actually changed color from blue to gold, and then shifted to red in several places of greatest weakness.
"Strike the weak points, and the shield will shatter," he ordered, and a hail of necromantic and Fel magic flew out in response from his companions. Their aim was true, striking four different points of weakness in the shield.
The barrier flared white, and imploded with a rush of wind and power, the expended magic was drawn away instantly by the ritual down in the deepest regions of the Sunwell. Still, the way was cleared, and Nobu'tan was brimming with excess magic still in preparation to fight the Eredar sisters, who were both powerful warlocks in their own rights.
"Be on your toes… We aren't alone," he warned, unstrapping Aetish from his back and stepping forward.
There would be no point in trying to conceal them, and therefore Nobu'tan allowed his illusion to melt away in a flash, and spread his aura of Fel power throughout the room.
From the shadows of the chamber, the embers of power that were the Twins betrayed their presence before they spoke. "Misery…" Sacrolash chanted, almost reverent in her channeling of the Fel.
"Depravity…" Alythess replied, assisting her sister with their chant to seal the room in Fel power and spring a terrible trap.
"Confusion…" Sacrolash continued, even as Nobu'tan started to mumble to himself in the Latin of his homeworld. He had heard enough about these two to know that they wouldn't toy with their food unless they felt overly secure in their power. That was not going to be the case if Nobu'tan had anything to say about it.
"Hatred…" Alythess added, stringing the darkness of Fel magic into the spell, even as Nobu'tan called upon the arcane, gesturing with his hands for the others the spread out. There would be a hellish conflict once the spell succeeded or failed, and with what Nobu'tan planned their rage would be heightened and directed perfectly at him.
"Mistrust…" Sacrolash paired, adding shadowy illusion. They were trying to bind the exits and bath the entire area with their own magical signature. Nobu'tan grinned. Countering that would be the easiest part.
"Chaos…" Alythess purred, relishing the increase of Fel magic, blissfully unaware that Nobu'tan was already spreading his own aura into and through their own spell. Sometimes, those far more brilliant in a field, even magic, became arrogant and overlooked the subtlest things.
"These are the hallmarks…" Sacrolash affirmed, sealing her half of the spell, right around Nobu'tan's own magic.
"These are the pillars…" Alythess added, and Nobu'tan felt the magic try to lock around his own power, and laughed as he wrenched it back.
Like dragging the carpet out from under an unstable fool, the spell collapsed as the added magic from Nobu'tan was ripped away, shattering any sealing barrier that was trying to keep them inside this place.
"Watch as your magic crumbles before my fury!" Nobu'tan countered, leaping forward into the chamber, allowing his wings to spread in a show of strength and Fel, in order to attract all attention toward himself from the Twins and away from his allies as they waited for the two Eredar to make their locations known.
Not that it too even that much to enrage them both into showing themselves. With a shriek of indignation, Alythess charged out of the shadows, flames already launching from her clawed hands. Sacrolash remained in the darkness, trying to support her twin with illusion and shadow magic. Conjured illusions of the fire red Eredar scattered around Nobu'tan, trying to disguise from which angle the real attack would be coming from.
Still, Nobu'tan merely erected an arcane shield around himself, before using a wide-arc cutting curse magnified by the Fel, slashing through the illusions as quickly as they were appearing. Still, more were appearing at a rate that would soon fill the entire chamber with copies of the Fel sorceress.
What was more, Nobu'tan quickly realized that the spells hurled by the mirror images were very real, and very dangerous, as they were impacting his shield with a far greater level of power than he had initially suspected.
Then a wave of death magic washed over the room, shattering many of the illusions and stymieing the power of the Fel in the room, coating it all with a sickening miasma of necromantic power.
Teron and Voldemort leapt into the room, cleaving through the other illusions and aiding Nobu'tan in trying to single out where the real Eredar was hiding. The fact that the Twins had so willingly fell into the defensive meant that they were already scheming for another tactic after their attempt to seal the room failed, and Nobu'tan wasn't prepared after withstanding the surprise counter assault of the Twins.
"Come Legion, serve your masters!" one of the Twins yelled, and from the sides of the room massive Fel imps spilled into the room, gleefully attacking anything and everyone in sight. Those could be dealt with, Nobu'tan knew, but even as his master over the Fel warned him to dodge to the left, a bigger threat smashed through the ceiling. The hulking abyssal, the greater form of infernal, rose up with orange flames and started a mad dash through the room, setting anything in reach ablaze.
Teg'Ramm hurled himself into the fray, his toughened hide repelling the demonic flames of the construct, and bludgeoning the creature with his fists, which had been warped and made claw-like by the Fel.
Only with the excess light from the many fires did Nobu'tan finally catch sight of the real Twins, gleefully watching the chaos from near the doors beyond where the Dark Horde had entered this chamber. A secret hand gesture and Nobu'tan could sense that the sharp eyed Blaise was aware of his unspoken orders. He would handicap Sacrolash while Nobu'tan took on Alythess head on.
A jet of red stunning magic, guaranteed to fail, sailed from the Elder Wand and struck the wall next to the Eredar, serving as an excellent personal challenge. "You wish to test your might against me, little warlock?" Alythess crooned, allowing flames of Fel green to envelope her hands, even as she stepped toward him amid the chaos of the battle around them.
"I will not be denied me vengeance, least of all by one of Kil'jaeden's lackies," Nobu'tan shot back, already on the attack. Fel fire leapt from his hands. He had issued the challenge, and only a match of mastery over the Fel would be sufficient to settle such a duel.
So there, in the midst of a chaotic battle, the two strong warlocks engaged in a symphony of Fel and flame, to prove whose rage burned brighter.
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Shaw swore again as his soldiers lagged behind. The blasts of the damned Dark Horde's surprise attack on the Legion ranks had prevented the Alliance from taking the initiative in assaulting the Sunwell, and now both the Blood Elves and the Shattered Sun Offensive had leapt into the fray, pressing into the structure with the Stormwind forces in hot pursuit.
Most of his men were still shaken from being rattled by the concussive blasts. Shaw couldn't rightly vent his frustration and anger on them. But if they were to regain any of the momentum over the situation that they had held they would need to get moving, and retake the forefront of the battle.
Luckily, it seemed that the fighting just inside the first courtyard of the Sunwell structure was fierce, and both Horde and Shattered Sun forces were being contended with greatly with the loyalists of Kael'thas and their demon masters.
Still, with both forces splitting the attention of their mutual foes, there was a channel straight up the middle of the battle, where the defenses were weakest, and a well placed charge would break the enemy's line and provide the Alliance an opportunity to take the lead in the attack.
"Press through the center, attack!" Shaw commanded, "Break the enemy lines and push forward!"
The footmen obeyed, charging the center, where the Elves' lines were weakest, followed by the SI:7 agents with ranged weapons to completely overwhelm the line.
With a cumulative shriek of rage, the line fell apart, allowing the Alliance to push through and continue on momentum past the two flanks and into the next courtyard.
Unfortunately, more of their foes awaited them there, along with a trio of hulking constructs. These were not the typical arcane golems, but crackling with Fel magic and featuring spikes and an extraordinary amount of green.
Shaw sighed in exasperation. In all his frustration to get ahead of their rivals, they were now headlong into their enemies, and their small lead they regained in the previous courtyard would be completely lost.
Unless...
The leader of SI:7 grimaced, knowing that what he was already planning to go with would rightly anger the Blood Elves, but to quickly destroy the force in front of them, he had little choice in the matter.
"Shiv, you still have those explosives of yours?" he asked, and the goblin, a close friend who owed his life to Shaw from multiple occasions, grinned from ear to ear.
"You know I still have them… what needs blowin' up?" Shaw's lieutenant asked, and the Spymaster nodded at a series of colossal statues that lined the elegant walkways of the upper structure.
"I need those to come crashing down on our foe as they approach," he said, already gesturing at the foot soldiers to form ranks and prepare to meet an enemy assault.
The Elves were wasting no time, already charging with their blood knights and other warriors, Holy magic shimmering off of their bodies. Shaw had already been forewarned about the aggressive abilities that the Blood Elves had developed in their desperation after first losing the Sunwell, and spies in the Horde led by the Shiv had affirmed that they had held a captive Naaru in Silvermoon, until recently, and had used the creature to keep themselves afloat with their magic addiction.
Still, their stolen magic was strong, but not nearly as strong as a landslide of rubble as the nearby statue came crashing down on top of them. Suddenly their attacking force was cut, quite literally, in half. The golems additionally were blocked from approaching to support their infantry forces, leaving the remaining flank exposed to the Alliance counterattack.
Adventurers and Stormwind Mages started blasting the golems with magic, safely protected behind the rubble, while the infantry and the SI:7 agents tore through the Elves' shattered attack force.
Thanks to the involvement of the Shiv and his special weapons, the Alliance were already mopping up the last of Kael's forces in the second courtyard by the time the Horde's Elves and the Shattered Sun joined them.
"Nice of you to join us," Shaw said, turning to the Regent Lord of Silvermoon, and smirking at the one-eyed Elf.
If looks could kill, Shaw would be a pile of ash instantly. But he merely laughed it off, even as the Blood Elf got a good look at the destroyed statue. Knowing that he would be really mad once he understood that, Shaw turned away, yelling at his men, "Alliance, we move forward!"
From here, the pathway led up to the outer walls, and circled around in a long, unnecessarily elegant loop before returning toward the central structure. Cursing the excessive flair of the High Elves and their architecture, Shaw urged the Alliance forces into the lead, even as the three strike teams pushed forward, reaching the upper platform that led into the satellite buildings.
The problem was twofold. Firstly, the path was incredibly elongated, and seemed to be intentionally designed to prevent a ground assault, perfectly playing into the Legion's design of a fortress to delay any attack until they accomplished whatever dire magic they were playing at.
The second… was a dragon…
The shimmering blue scales seemed to be darkened by some other magic, which in and of itself wouldn't necessarily be unusual, but the fact that it was here, resting amid the battle and chaos around him, was plain unnatural.
The dragon rose to its feet, bellowing a challenge before speaking in a strained common. "No longer will I be a slave to Malygos! Challenge me and you will be destroyed!"
And yet, at the same time as the dragon prepared to fight them, Shaw felt the strangest sensation, like something foreign trying to reach out and touch his mind, desperate and in pain.
Shaking off the sensation, he gestured to the captain of the Alliance guard that led the footmen contingent. If they had no choice but to fight in order to proceed, then fight they would.
At their sides, the Shattered Sun and the Blood Elves also prepared for battle, but the more magically inclined seemed hesitant at facing off against this dragon.
"I will purge you!" the dragon roared, arcane magic wafting from his wings as he reared up, before charging like a bull into their midst, trying to separate the various factions and divide their forces around him.
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Blaise used the noise of the battle to shroud him from detection. Shadows were scarce, because of the literal firefight between the red-skinned demoness and Nobu'tan, alongside the hulking abyssal and the many fireballs thrown by the chorus of imps, but he managed to slink along under the notice of the other, blue-skinned, Eredar.
She was overly focused, weaving shadow magic to maintain the fighting prowess of her twin and their reinforcements, and would be therefore easy prey for Blaise to assassinate.
But, as he was about to get in range to leap at the demon from the shadows, he paused. Suddenly, he twisted out of the way, only the slight giggle of another hidden foe warning him before the pair of whips cracked where he had been standing. A pair of succubi stepped into view from thin air, their magic cloaking them from sight.
"Oh, you're in trouble now…" one of the seductresses said icily.
"A pity too, you look simply delicious…" the other added, eyeing the orcish illusion that Blaise wore.
"I hate to disappoint you both, but my lord demands passage and your mistress hinders us… therefore, she must yield or die, and so will you…" he threatened, fingering his daggers and already silently casting spells to enchant them with Fel and flame.
"You think you are strong enough to contend with the Deciever?" one of the succubi questioned sardonically, while the other just giggled sickeningly.
"I know we can defeat all your masters, and as you have chosen to withhold me from my goal, consider yourselves warned," Blaise said, before thrust forward, magic dancing off his weapons.
His strike was so swift, that the nearest demoness couldn't respond fast enough. A long, cruel line was drawn across the scantily clad female, and she cried out in surprise and pain. But her wails intensified as the curse etched into the blades activated, wracking her in even more intensity.
The second was a touch faster, and the whip snapped up in defense, catching the dagger before it would jab into her. The sinew and leather that were infused with Fel parried the blade as easily as metal, and Blaise had to apparate out of his exposed position to avoid getting lashed in the face on the following downswing of the demon's weapon.
Reappearing above the battle, Blaise started to quickly fall back to the ground. In a flash his hand darted into his robes, exchanging a blade for several capsules of specially prepared explosives. "Taste this…" Blaise muttered to himself, showering the pair of demoness with a handful of the capsules.
Apparating again, he landed a few feet away from the pair, even as the explosives rained around them, causing a dozen micro-explosions as they made contact with stone, flesh, or whatever else they touched.
Each of the demonic seductresses shrieked anew as their hides were set on fire, dancing around on their hooves as they tried to put out the small patches of lit oil on their bodies.
Dashing at them again, Blaise leapt over the first, leaving a dagger lodged in her skull, and slashing as he landed in front of the other. The downward arc of his blade connected with the second demon's neck at the clavicle.
Each was a pile of smoldering Fel-ash by the time Blaise recovered his weapon and was again stepping purposely toward the blue-skinned Eredar once more.
The demon raised her hand, already preparing an attack to launch at Nobu'tan from the shadows. That was not going to happen, and Blaise hurled one of his blades right into her hand.
The Eredar screeched, her spell backfiring as the semantic component was disrupted, the bolt of shadow splintering into multiple directions, ineffectually scattering around the room.
"Sacrolash!" the firey red Eredar fighting Nobu'tan, screamed, turning to look at her twin.
That was a mistake, one that Nobu'tan was quick to capitalize on. A lash of flame seared across the other demon, overpowered as the magic launched by the Grand Warlock was when he felt that his friends were threatened.
"Alythess!" the blue-skinned demon shouted, "Your fire burns within me!"
"No, it doesn't really…" Blaise said, smirking as he watched the hand his dagger had pierced. The flesh was already melting from the limb and working its way up toward her body.
Nobu'tan straightened himself, brushing soot from his robes, and waved a hand that radiated with a majestic control of the Fel. The imps around the room froze, shrieking as they were banished in a flash back to the Nether.
The abyssal shuddered as its core was drained of all power, and crumbled to rubble, even as Teg'Ramm shouldered his way through the collapsing golem.
The red-skinned demon was already burning away, and Nobu'tan approached, looming over the other sorceress, even as the Eredar knelt, working what magic she had into preventing Blaise's devouring curse from eating more of her body.
"What are Kil'jaeden's defenses," he demanded, even as the demon struggled to contain her rage and hatred.
She failed, sputtering in fury as she railed at them all, "You will burn, the Legion will consume this world, and I will see that your agony is eternal for what you've done to my sister! I… AH!"
Nobu'tan made one gesture, applying pressure to the sorceress' magical defenses, straining her power and giving Blaise's curse more ground. "I will not ask again. You will answer, or you will find yourself with your sister, after a very slow, painful death…"
"I will tell you NOTHING! Traitor!" she spat, and Nobu'tan sighed.
"I had hoped to deal with this situation civilized… but if you insist," Nobu'tan said, his frown slowly shifting to a sadistic grin. With a small twist of his wand, the level of magic pressing down on the Eredar magnified.
"Kil'jaeden will end you all!" she wailed, stubborn in her defiance even till the end. Nobu'tan said nothing more, simply leveraged his considerable magic down on her reverses, and let Blaise's curse do the rest.
It was not pretty, it was not terribly quick, but inevitably she died in terribly agony, her form withering into an ashy husk. "Take her jewelry, it all is highly powerful in the Fel," Nobu'tan ordered, as soon as any grasp of life left the body.
Blaise obeyed, even as the Grand Warlock turned away from the dead demons and crossed the room to another arcane barrier over the doorway.
As he stripped the husk of anything magical, Blaise listened in as the ancient Death Knight, Teron, approached and started to translate the elvish runes around the doorway. "It is just as the first, Nobu'tan, more powerful and labeled as Rohendor."
Blaise did not know much about this Death Knight, aside from him being a figure from Nobu'tan's past, one whom he had a great connection with, but beyond that he was a complete mystery. The fact that the Shadowmoon clan had rallied around him spoke of his power, and the fact that he alone of the many old allies that Nobu'tan had spoken fondly about still lived, after a manner of speaking, meant that he was tenacious.
The wisdom and patience in his speech made perfect sense why Nobu'tan valued his guidance. "This gate will require a touch more subtlety than your brute forcing of the first gate. They are adaptive, and will not fall for the same trick a second time." He was explaining, coaching the Grand Warlock through dismantling the ward keeping them from progressing.
"Might I suggest the clawed-shadow technique…" the Death Knight recommended, and Nobu'tan was already nodding before the sentence was completed.
Blaise was confused. That particular shadow technique was part of the same spell that Nobu'tan would use when opening a warlock portal, but the application was, as far as he knew, very limited. The claws could only manipulate Fel or shadow magic, and with the barriers being completely arcane they wouldn't…
And then it hit him.
The barriers were not pure arcane, not with the Fel ritual going on somewhere further into the Sunwell proper. And just as he had realized, when Nobu'tan conjured the tiny claws, they tore into the barrier as effortlessly as they rent the tears in space for their portals.
In a flash of brilliant blue and green, the barrier collapsed under the pressure, and Nobu'tan laughed. "Your power continues to astound even me, young pup," Gorefiend said, the undead almost sounding caring in a strange, morose way.
The others were more than ready to get going, and Nobu'tan wasted no time getting their procession moving once more. The death of his highest ranking servants would certainly have forewarned the demon lord they were rushing to stop, and with others hot on their heels.
Passing through the archway, they exited onto an upper walkway, which spiraled upward to the central building. For all intents and purposes it seemed that this was the final stretch before the pool of pure magic that was the Sunwell.
There was one small problem; a horde of demons clogged the way forward, all battle hardened and ready for anything. Apparently the death of the Eredar sisters was just the signal they needed to ready for battle.
"Well, they haven't spotted us just yet… we have time to form a plan on how to push through them…" Nobu'tan said.
"Perhaps we can be of assistance, my lord," another voice sounded, even as a Fel portal exploded into life. The five members of the Dark Horde whirled, weapons and magic at the ready as a small contingent of Blood Elves appeared.
But that was not completely accurate. They were once Blood Elves, but now they were… different, corrupted from the magical beings that they once were.
"You've absorbed a great deal of Fel power… are you slaves of the Legion?" Nobu'tan demanded, not lowering his hands from where they held back torrents of power.
"We were meant to be…" the leader said, bowing slightly to Nobu'tan, "but your slaying of the traitor Kael'thas freed us from the magic that would have bound us to the Legion. We owe our freedom to you and your Dark Horde, and we would be remiss in our honor to simply flee into the darkness."
"Who are you?" Bliase chimed in, watching the Fel green eyes of the leader.
"I am Valdris Felgorge," the Fel Elf replied, "and I am the one that these have turned to for leadership. But I cannot get what we need…"
"A viable source of Fel magic that has no terrible price tied to it," Nobu'tan supplied knowingly, and Valdris nodded.
"We have been changed, and I fear it was not for the better. Instead of a magic addiction that could be satisfied from any source, we need the Fel alone to keep ourselves from going mad and turning into savage beasts." The Elf explained, "Help us, and we will serve you."
Blaise was torn on the idea. On one hand, the Elves most certainly would be of use to them in dealing with the final push into the main building, as well as their knowledge of the island. However, at the same time, what they wanted in return was something that could end up being a permanent burden on the Dark Horde from this moment onward.
But one glance at Nobu'tan already told him exactly what the Grand Warlock was going to say.
"Those of us affected by the Fel must band together," Nobu'tan started, stepping forward a clasping hands with the Elf, "I would be a hypocrite and neglectful if I was not to offer a place in the Dark Horde to those who have been used by the Legion as we have been, and wish a chance to strike back at them."
"I thank you, Lord Nobu…" the Elf started, but Nobu'tan clearly had applied a great deal of strength to the handshake, as the Elf widened his eyes and tried to pull away.
"But I will warn you once," Nobu'tan said, his voice dropping all warmth in a flash, "betray us, for any reason, at any time, and we will utterly eradicate you. No one accepted into the Dark Horde, however high or lofty their standing, is immune to my wrath, understood."
The fear that crossed the burning eyes of the Fel Elves was amusing to Blaise, and they jerkily nodded, all regality momentarily forgotten. "Then we have an accord…" Nobu'tan said, releasing Valdris' hand and turning to look at the demons blocking their way, "So, what do you propose?"
"I, uh… yes…" Valdris stammered for a moment, massaging his hand as he joined Nobu'tan in gazing at the horde before them. "We've discovered a number of new abilities since our transformation, especially in relation to lesser demons such as these."
"You can bind them to you," Nobu'tan filled, and Blaise raised an eyebrow, relatively impressed. It would be an impressive ability to be able, innately, to bind demons into service without the need to extravagant ritual, or else make bargains with wild demons.
"More or less, bind them, banish them, manipulate them into fighting each other…" Valdris explained, "among other things…"
"And none of you were warlocks before your transformation?" Nobu'tan asked, the sparkle of interest in his eyes already started to distract him from their goal.
"Perhaps we had better postpone such topics until after we thwart the end of this world…" Voldemort said dryly, cutting through the potential banter and making Nobu'tan catch himself. If he was still in his human guise, Blaise suspected that he would have blushed sheepishly, but the gristly orcish beard hid any manner of magically replicated embarrassment from crossing his face.
"Of course…" Nobu'tan said, "Then show us what you and your people can do Valdris."
"As you wish, Lord Nobu'tan," the Fel Elf replied, signaling his warriors with a sharp whistle.
