Thanks for the reviews! Life is getting crazy as the school years starts up again soon, and while that seems like it will cause problems, it might also realign my schedule and finally give me the kick i need to write in a orderly manner and at a set time, which can only be a good thing, yes? Anywhom, on with the chapter! Read and review, and as always, enjoy! ~F
Chapter 159
Aspect's Fall
Draco had come to one important conclusion, even as he fought against the Aspect of Magic deep within his realm. Malygos was completely and totally insane.
Even as he tried to rip through the line of mages that stood against him, the dragon ranted and raved, primarily in the language of dragons, but occasionally in a manner that the mass of assembled mortals could understand. Draco however, had taken time to utilize the same spell, taught to him and the others from earth so long ago by Nobu'tan, to start unraveling the complicated tongue of the dragons.
He had no hope to speak it himself, but soon the blasts of magic and roars started to make sense, and while they did not transmit words precisely, the general feeling was present. Malygos was fiercely desperate to prevent magic from running rampant across Azeroth anymore, and filled with immeasurable fear over something that didn't translate well.
His motives aside, the rest were innate rantings about events from thousands of year prior to the rise of the Dark Horde, something about a 'Dragon Soul' which he had no reference to comprehend.
The more important problem was the sheer level of damage that the dragon was doing to their assembled group. Because of the haste in which they had come to this place, the combined Balefire ogres and Kirin Tor had no priests or shaman among them to provide healing magic, and the assault force was growing weary.
The ogres were taking the brunt of the punishment, but were hanging on enough for the others to trade a fair number of spells with the massive dragon, until Malygos was forced to relent. "I had hoped to end your lives quickly, but you have proven more… resilient than I anticipated." he said, trying to salvage his control amid the frustration of how the mages had kept their footing from his personal assault. "Nonetheless, your efforts are in vain."
Flares of magic all around them signaled that reinforcements for the blue dragon had come, and from a myriad of portals various races in mage robes came into view, floating on disks of pure magic as they prepared to release a volley upon them.
"It is you reckless, careless mortals who are to blame for this war." Malygos said, almost as though trying to convince himself of the fact than the rest of them.
"We'll never survive a barrage like that," Jaina said, drawing close to Draco.
"There is something I can do, that may level the field and restore our mages somewhat," the warlock suggested, "but you won't like it."
"I fear we have little choice but to go with whatever you have in mind," Jaina said, resignedly, "withdrawing and allowing Malygos to continue with whatever plan he's up to is an unacceptable outcome."
Draco nodded, and readied himself, waiting for the flying foes to draw closer. "I do what I must," the Spell-Weaver bellowed, "and if that means your extinction to stop the Burning Legion from taking our world, then SO BE IT!"
Malygos withdraw, flying well out of range of their spells and trying to rain magic down upon them as his forces dove in, the mortal traitors from various mage communities trying to pick them off.
As soon as a large knot of them drew together for a strafing run, Draco released his spell. From the repertoire of the withering powers of the Fel, Draco had always wondered why there was no way for one to transfer life energy from one target to another. Sure, plenty of warlocks could siphon the life force of a target into themselves to mend wounds, but little even showed interest in healing another with the same power.
But for one born on earth, with a magical core and a curious mind that wouldn't relent, figuring out the secret a short time ago, but not being in a position to effectively utilize the technique.
Now however, in their desperate hour, Draco had little choice but to give it a shot. Extending one hand toward the approaching group of flyers, Draco grasped the life force from their bodies and pulled with the Fel, and green Fel energy leapt from their bodies, halting their attack as they were paralyzed by the sheer agony of the act.
The life energy poured into Draco in waves, refreshing him and giving his body ample strength, even after the length of their fight thus far. Pointing his other hand at the most wounded of their ogre magi, he carried the foreign power out and funneled it into the ogres as swiftly as he could acquire it.
The mages rose up, their wounds mending before Draco's eyes, and their limbs suddenly spry and strong again, and their minds quickened to apply their magic to the battle once more.
Quickly, Draco altered his targets, draining their foes dry of life in order to refill those magi that were weariest, and keep their forces well energized and ready for whatever else lay ahead.
"You're right," Jaina said, shaking herself as the power washed over even her, "I didn't like that in the slightest."
"Desperate measures for desperate times," Draco countered, unapologetically.
With renewed strength, the Kirin tor and Balefire mages were able to hold their own against the mortal servants of Malygos, and even start gaining ground toward pushing them back from the large platform. Many fell from their hovering disks, and soon only a scant few remained to flee from their defense.
Draco turned, about to finish off the stragglers, when Malygos roared overhead, "Your hopes will be swept away!" and bombarded the entire platform with arcane power.
A prismatic shield erupted all around them, as mages combined their defenses to try and ward off the powerful assault, but Draco could see that their might was insufficient. Malygos had the entirety of the full power around them at his disposal, and until they equalized that difference, they could not overpower him.
Thinking quickly, he started preparing a nether gateway in the floor, facing upward.
"We can't retreat!" a Kirin Tor mage nearby shouted, thinking that Draco's plan was actually cowardice.
"Release the shield on my mark," Draco shot back, already thinking of where he would send the torrent of energy and opening another gateway to pair with the one beneath them.
Wand spinning in his hand, he started manipulating the energies under their shield, routing everything to flow into the gateway, "Now!" he commanded, and the mages stepped aside, opening their shield to the center of the platform.
The arcane burned a path through into the gateway, spiraling through the Twisting Nether momentarily before reappearing in the pathway of the crazed blue dragon.
"Gaaah!" Malygos vcreied, as his own attack was redirected at him from the side.
"The funnel of magic was cut off in a flash, and the dragon spiraled away, clearly nursing several powerful burns on his dulled scales. "ENOUGH!" he cried, and Draco felt an even larger building of magic around them. "If you intend to reclaim and use Azeroth's magic, then you shall have it!" the dragon threatened, leveraging the power, not on them, but the platform they stood on itself.
The enchanted stone stood no chance of resisting and broke away immediately, throwing them all into the endless void.
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Nobu'tan did not have time for these petty distractions. The Dark Iron dwarves had been a thorn in their side since Nobu'tan had returned to Azeroth. This would end, and he would make them fear ever to return to these lands.
"Show me where they are gathering," he requested of Garona. She would be instrumental in bringing him to the right location for his plan, and that would be where he could be seen by every dwarf that had entered their lands, as well as a clear view of the passage that they were using.
Garona simply nodded, and departed. She knew the secret ways to avoid detection both in the mountain and across the Searing Gorge. Nobu'tan would follow her closely with an Eye of Kil'rogg, just as Gul'dan had in the old days, and then teleport to her side when she was in position.
Sending out the tiny orb, it even took the Lord of the Stormreavers a few moments to discover the assassin as she made her trek through the dust and ashy plains of the gorge, heading west and north around the massive central pit. The Dark Horde still strongly held this area, and the Blackrock orcs had turned the pit into a place for cultivating wild beasts, both for food and riding.
The guards barely noticed the shadow of Garona as she darted around them, lending whatever innate and minor gifts in magic she had to blend with shadows and move nearly unseen by all others.
Soon she was well out of sight of any of the Dark Horde encampments, and into the narrow wilds of the gorge that simply had no use for their people, and there Nobu'tan spotted the small knot of concealed tents that were dwarven in make.
How it must have galled the dwarves to live in cloth dwellings, knowing that their mighty stone fortress was in the hands of others. Nobu'tan smiled at the thought, but waited for Garona to be on a rocky outcropping that was shrouded from sight, but near enough that if attention was brought to it could be seen by all.
A spin of his cloak and a small displacement of air, and at once he stood beside her, cancelling the magic to the eye as he took physical placement there. "This is all they've mustered to spy upon us?" he asked, not wanting to act until he could crush all of them at once.
"Yes," Garona confirmed, "They would have returned their scouts and spies for the time being, before gearing up other to take their places."
"Then let us be done with this nonsence," Nobu'tan said, rising to his full height and stepping toward the precipice of the shelf of rock overlooking the camp.
"Such a weak assembly," he bellowed, magnifying his voice with a thought so that all the dwarven ears could hear him, "I would have though the exiled sons and daughters of the Dark Iron clan to be smarter than this…"
Many of the warriors piled out of the tents, and those in the open dove for cover, clearly expecting an immediate attack, but Nobu'tan wanted them to hear his words before he unleashed his vengeance on them.
"Even now, as we of the Dark Horde battle to protect our world from the forces of the Lich King, you squatters start to creep back into the lands you rightfully lost to us, and dare to try and think yourselves in the right to work to undermine our unity against devastating foes?" Nobu'tan challenged, "I would have every right now to go to the Kings of Stormwind and Ironforge and demand penance for this intrusion at such a critical time, but I will take matters into my own hands…"
Nobu'tan throw his arms wide, and the jeweled scepter he had plundered from Kil'jaden flashed into being in his hand, "I will tolerate none of your aggression, nor recognize any claim you have on MY people's hard won lands. Take that message back to your leaders. These are Dark Horde lands, and we will defend them to the death!"
The Fel surged through the weapon, leaping at the chance to be used. Rifts tore open all around the encampment at a whim, spilling torrents of raw fire and Fel energy outward in a rush. The dwarves started to scatter, fear exploding as the Fel called out to the nether, summoning wild demons, eager to consume the free energy with no attached promises or oaths in order to feast upon it.
Even as they spilled out across the dwarven scouts and their ragtag band, Nobu'tan lifted his arms to the sky, calling down a torrent of infernal meteorites, annihilating the tents and all equipment that they had brought with them. He would not go out of his way to slay them all, but certainly wouldn't permit them to keep anything that they had brought into his lands.
He watched as they fled, scampering back through the tunnels that they had dug through the once collapsed corridor to their kin's lands, and waited for at least a few to make it through. Someone had to send tidings back to Ironforge. When he could tolerate waiting no longer, Nobu'tan aimed the scepter directly at the entrance. The immense power of the Nether came at his call, and for a brief moment Nobu'tan felt the all consuming power flood through him from the Great Beyond into the staff. It was the most intense sensation that he had experienced, as though he could conquer the Legion single-handed in a moment.
But it was all an illusion, grandeur forced upon those who experienced the overwhelming delight of the Fel infusion. And just as swiftly it left him, and the scepter greedily took all the energy he could pour into it, transforming and weaponizing it directly. A channel beam of the green energy shot outward, carving through stone, wood, and flesh as it sliced through the portion of the tunnel and the mountain around it, shattering the mountainside and causing it to collapse once more onto the tunnel, sealing the passage and beginning to melt the very stone itself into a solid mass.
Never again would dwarves seek to pass through this place, unless the dug a brand new tunnel from the wintery northern lands. And if they dared… it would be war…
A sweep of the scepter, and the wild demons were banished back to their domains, leaving only corpses of the dwarves behind. As soon as the power drained away, Nobu'tan felt himself sag inward, the scepter demanded a being of great inherent Fel power to wield properly, and Nobu'tan was not willing to commit himself to that level of Fel corruption, which even for his current state was a great deal more.
"It is finished," he said quietly, turning back to where Garona watched him in caution. Instantly he spotted her hands on her weapons, and knew that he must have been a sight to behold, momentarily lost in his rage as he had been.
"I am myself, Garona, you need not worry about any threat from me," he said, sighing as he gathered a tiny amount of Arcane magic to open a portal back to Blackrock, "I must return to Northrend with all haste, things were reaching a boiling point, our forces will need leadership when the forced of the Scourge decide to really attack from their gates."
Grona said nothing, but did release the hilt of her weapons, and stepped through passively as Nobu'tan tore open a portal to his personal chambers. Certain things were too powerful to use too often, and the scepter was something he dared not commit too much toward, lest he absorb too much Fel as a side effect and become even more like the Legion's servants he worked to destroy.
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Jaina didn't even have time to scream before they were thrust downward into darkness. The platform was demolished by Malygos. She momentarily wondered if she would simply fall forever, when she landed heavily on something warm and scaly.
A new swarm of dragons had appeared, bright crimson in color, with fire flaring from jaws and nostrils. "Now your true benefactors make their appearance…" Malygos said, seething as a massive red dragon appeared, opposing him as the smaller ones drew upward, many carrying the members of the assault force of mortals.
"But you are all too late! The powers contained here are sufficient to destroy the world ten times over! What do you think they will do to you?" the Spell-Weaver continued, before lunging forward to try and bite the Queen of the Red Dragons across the neck.
"Press forward mortals!" the Dragonqueen shouted, slashing back at the Blue Aspect, "we must defeat Malygos here if we are to protect Azeroth from untold devastation!"
The smaller red dragons leapt at their queen's orders, carrying the mages toward the Blue dragon, hurling fireballs of their own even as human, elf, gnome, and ogre pelted spells across the azure hide.
"Alexstrasa, I will teach your ignorant children just how little you understand of magic!" Malygos said, even as arcane magic flared off of him in all directions.
The dragon carrying Jaina veered left, spiraling out of the way of a large bolt of magic, but many others were not so lucky. Dragons fell into the void in scores, some of those carrying riders vanishing quickly in a plume of arcane power as the mage teleported them both away.
"We need to break his concentration," Draco said, he and his mount swooping past her, "target the eyes; it's a dragon's weak point!"
Jaina was not sure if the dragons appreciated that categorical description of a weakness, but nevertheless her mount accelerated to bring her upward toward the Malygos' head.
Draco circled around behind the blue dragon, even as Jaina threw frost magic into the face of the Aspect of Magic. The head turned, pulling away from the stinging icicles, right into the path of Draco and his mount. The red drake exhaled a torrent of flame, even as Draco's small wand flared with a silvery-gray streak of light.
Malygos roared, head swinging back as the blast of light struck his exposed eye, and the magic wafting from him diminished. "Meddlesome gnats, I will destroy you all!" he cried, but Alexstrasza was already upon him, jaws sinking into the long azure neck as she held him fast.
Screeching in pain, Malygos opened his mouth, expelling a concentrated beam of pure arcane, trying to flail about and strike as many as possible; however, the Dragonqueen sank her fangs deeper, allowing the mortals astride her children a chance to bombard the Blue dragon with all manner of magic, eventually wearing down the magical defenses that he had and forcing Malygos to still his magical blast.
"UNTHINKABLE! You mortals will destroy… everything… my sister… what have you-" the Spell-Weaver tried to speak, but was silenced by a deafening crack, even as the Lifebinder's jaws clamped tighter and broke the neck of her fellow Aspect.
Going limp in an instant, Malygos was dropped by Alexstrasza into the depths of the limitless void. "I did what I had to, brother…" she said sadly, watching the corpse as it shrank and eventually vanished into darkness, "you gave us no alternative…"
There was a powerful silence that fell over all assembled, dragon and mortal alike, before the red dragon spoke once again, "And so ends the Nexus War…"
It seemed that the Dragon wished to say more, but she looked over the ragged and wounded assembly around her, she just shook her head in weary sadness, "Return home to your people and rest… There are more challenges yet to face in the icy north, and you must be ready to face them…"
With a single talon of her claw, the Dragonqueen tore open a portal out of the realm of pure magic, granted passage for her children that bore the Kirin Tor, as well as the Dark Horde ogres, to return to Northrend and the isle of Coldarra.
Looking around as they emerged, Jaina took account of how many were still wounded, even after Draco wrenched the very life force of their enemies to mend wounds among their forces. Apparently the power of demons would work in the short run, but it still made Jaina's skin crawl at the thought of the demonic powers slaughtering countless to relieve the suffering of their mages. She would stick with the Holy Light or the power of nature for the mending of wounds, personally.
"We need to return to Dalaran, and see to these wounds quickly," she said, looking over at Draco, who himself had more than a few injuries himself. "If you'd do the honors, Lady Proudmoore, I feel myself rather raggedly thin on magical power at the moment," the man said, and Jaina acquiesced. Hopefully there were potions enough waiting for them when they returned to the Violet Citadel, and beds enough for the rest they would all need before the next disaster, if the Life-Binder was to be believed.
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Bolvar knew that they did not have the supplies, manpower, or time to truly lay siege to this first gate to Icecrown. If they were to have any chance of defeating the Lich King with minimal losses, they needed to provoke the former Paladin into a direct confrontation.
The Highlord of Alliance Vanguard had a plan. Whatever fragment of the human he had once been that still lingered in that undead monster, would contain the same pride that Arthas had in life. And once challenged, that pride would demand satisfaction. It was a petty, low-handed technique, but Bolvar didn't see any other choice but to demand that Arthas come forth and meet him in single combat.
They needed a bit more time, but there was a need for haste. The attacks on their Dark Horde allies were intensifying, and while they were strong and determined to hold their line, they would soon need reinforcement from both Horde and Alliance if they were to keep the Scourge at bay in the valley.
Their stronghold on this western spur was nearly complete, their engineers and workers taking double and even triple shifts to keep working around the clock to shore up every possible defense that they might need.
Across the valley, the Horde had been doing much the same, under the command of Dranosh Saurfang. Bolvar did not know this younger orc, but he had heard more than enough stories of the elder Saurfang to understand that this one must be a great leader, so be given such a large responsibility.
Still, it was not as though the younger Outland orc was without a great deal of respect himself. Even those orcs of the Dark Horde seemed to know precisely who Drannosh was, and who his sire was, and held both of them in well regard.
Still, the paladin felt that taking a contingent down to the front lines, if only to inspect and offer what aid they could was where he was needed to be. There were many that wanted to see what sort of defenses the Dark Horde were using to keep the undead at bay on their own, and more still that wanted to know precisely what was causing the constant blaring music that seemed to play nonstop since the siege started.
Taking a handful of the former, and less of the latter, Bolvar quickly marched two dozen of his elite guards and strategists to the bulwark that the Dark Horde had created so swiftly. The orcs, trolls, ogres, and other strange races that made up the central power of the Eastern Kingdoms gave them side glances as they passed through the sea of tents that were lined up behind the palisade wall that they had placed across the two ridge spurs. Bolvar took specific note that the sharpened spikes had been angles from pure verticality, so that the ends faced their enemy and offered another layer of defense for their camp.
Looking around deftly as they approached the command tent, the Alliance Highlord was puzzled that he did not see Lord Nobu'tan, nor any of the other main leaders of the Dark Horde. There were a fair number of the lesser clan leaders, but none of the overlords of the faction as a whole seemed to be in the camp. "Do the Lords of the Dark Horde trust their commands to be followed without them present?" he asked aloud.
"They do, when those who will enforce their wishes are still around," an orc said, emerging from the large tent. From the ornaments upon his armor, Bolvar could identify this orc as a member of the Dragonmaw clan, but the method that he carried himself, as well as an imposing, antlered helm that seemed to be some significant status symbol.
"We come just to make sure that the Dark Horde has everything they need, or if we can lend any aid in keeping the line," Bolvar said, and the orc considered him. It was clear that many orcs in Azeroth, especially those of the Dark Horde were unaccustomed to working closely with the same factions and being respected by those whom they had so vehemently fought against.
"I cannot think of anything that the clans specifically require, but you are free to move among our encampment, and if another clan leader has a need, fill it if you wish, but do not interfere. The various clans govern their own in ways you probably are not accustomed to."
"Thank you…" Bolvar said, subtly urging the orc to fill in his name.
"Nek'rosh," the orc said, already tired of human niceties, "Warchief of the Dark Horde."
"Thanks to you, Warchief," Bolvar continued, "we will watch ourselves and only offer what is requested by the other clan leaders."
"Highlord," one of the commanders said as they started mingling through the camp of the Dark Horde, "I do not believe that we will be very successful in trying to convince any of these leaders to accept our help."
"We may, if we know who to offer to first," Bolvar countered, spotting a familiar pair of faces. The hulking ogre, who was more or less the bodyguard of Lord Nobu'tan, as well as a clan leader himself, was passing nearby, one head fixated on his destination while the other was looking over their assembled delegation.
But before he could call out to the ogre, a bellowing groan started from the north, where the gate was located. Turning, Bolvar's heart sank as he saw the great gate opening wide, followed by undead spilling out in massive numbers, far greater than they had dealt with thus far.
"TO ARMS DARK HORDE!" bellowed a voice from the command tent, and the blaring instruments whined to a frenzied pitch. The ogre turned and stormed forward, clearing a path to the wall of spikes.
"After them, to battle!" Bolvar shouted, running to keep in the wake of the Ogre Mage.
Skeletons, ghouls, and other lesser undead poured out of the gaping maw in the wall, flooding the area before the Dark Horde's wall. Their Warchief was present, leading the defense of their position, even as projectiles sailed downward from both Alliance and Horde camps on the ridges, providing support as the Dark Horde mounted their defense.
"Feel the fury of the Fel!" the ogre bellowed, slamming his club-like staff into the ground and causing geysers of green flames to surge upward through the ranks of the Scourge.
Bolvar knew that this juggernaut would be the lion's share of the destruction among their enemies, and moved quickly to cover the ogre magic as he worked his demonic power. Light gathered around him, even as he slashed through the oncoming foes, bashing freely with his shield as quickly as he would attack with his blade.
"Back you mindless wretches!" he shouted, even as he and his guard surrounded the ogre warlock, buffering away the undead to allow the behemoth to cast freely.
A mountainous groan surged from the gate, even as hulking man-like creatures emerged, each of them towering over even the largest orc or troll that fought across the narrow valley.
Whether the ogre even noticed that paladins of the Alliance were acting as his honor guard or not, he did not give any indication, but focused on his spellwork, even as bolts of crimson and emerald lightning flew from his free hand, striking several of the hulking giants as they charged into the fray of undead, Dark Horde, and Alliance warriors.
Those struck fell in a flash, burning from within, while the others started to wreak havoc among the smaller warriors, their size and strength a keen advantage. Pointing at their next target with his sword, Bolvar pushed forward, charging the next giant as it turned to try and cleave him with a massive waraxe. The light fortified his shield as the metal plate deflected the blade with a resounding clang.
"Fight on brothers!" he cried, allowing the Light to surround him, bolstering both Alliance and Dark Horde fighter alike, and counterattacked the giant with a low cut to the ice-blue leg, sending it to the ground with a crash.
Despite this, the onslaught continued, and all the defenders of the siege started to lose ground, pressing back toward the Dark Horde palisade. Then, over the booming of Dark Horde drums and the blare of their pipes, a blast of warhorns sounded from the eastern ridge.
"Rise up sons of the Horde! Blood and glory await us!" a new voice boomed, even as the pounding of padded paws smashed into the ground at their rear. "For the Horde!" came the resounding cry, as the Horde of Kalimdor slammed into the enemy lines astride their war hounds.
Even as the young warrior leapt from his mount, his axe was already singing through the air and felled the downed giant. "I was wondering if you'd show up," Bolvar said, restraining himself from smirking at the momentary flash of indignation on the Mag'har's face.
"I couldn't let our proud warriors miss all the fun this day," he shot back good-naturedly, heaving back to cleave his axe through several new enemies that tried to fill the gap that the giant's death had created.
Between the three factions they now had the momentum to push the Scourge advance back toward the gate. Even as they mounted the steps once more, the jaw-like gate slammed shut, sealing off those undead that they were annihilating, and leaving the besiegers alone outside Icecrown's outermost defenses.
They were now in the perfect position for the plan, slapdash as it was, which Bolvar thought might work to end this conflict before more life was lost. Approaching the gate, Bolvar looked upward, and bellowed for all the undead, and through them their King, to hear.
"ARTHAS! The blood of your father; of your people, demands justice! Come forth, coward, and answer for your crime!" he challenged.
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Blaise removed his blade from the Gatekeeper's husk, taking the time to wipe the blackened sludge that was once the equivalent of blood for the spider-like race. The fight was not as even as the Nerubians had clearly thought, as Bliase had connections inside the Blightbringer Clan, and knew about their secret experiments regarding an anti-plague to slay Scourge undead, and had procured a small sample of it to use for himself.
The concoction proved very effective in its purpose, and the wounds that the assassin had inflicted burned the rotten and corrupted flesh, unable to be mended by their shadow magic, which worked even more into their favor.
With the gate guards defeated, the way was opened for them to proceed deeper into the lost kingdom of now undead spiders. Blaise led the way through the next archway, and out to a narrow bridge overlooking a deep chasm covering in endless webs.
Down far below, some manner of pitched battle was raging between the undead nerubians and some massive spider. Peering through the intersecting webbing, Blaise was surprised to find that the stalemate was extremely bitter, with the spider slowly gaining then losing ground, only to repeat the pattern as it slew more of the smaller undead attacking it.
"The gate has been breached! Quickly, divert forces to deal with these invaders!" some of the nearer spiders announced, ruining what chance to return to the shadows that the assassins of the Dark Horde had hoped to regain. But, in their haste to deal with two pressing threats at once, the nerubians cut their forces fighting the giant spider down too thinly, and it started to press through their ranks in its attempt to ascend.
"If we push through these fools, we may be able to use the massive beast as a distraction and escape around it," Blaise said to the others, many of whom were already drawing ranged weapons to pick off the advancing spiders from afar.
Blaise let several choice hexes and curses fly from his wand, joined with a few well placed Fel curses, and took out his own fair share of the undead spiders. Watching the massive creature bully its way through their ranks far below, Blaise saw their window of opportunity start to open.
"We must move, follow me!" he shouted, leaping from the rocky causeway, muttering a spell to control his fall as the slashed at the webs he was fast approaching.
His blade flashed with Felfire, severing the webbing despite its thickness and age. The other assassins and trolls had not hesitated, trusting in the power that Blaise represented to convey them safely.
Twisting to guide his fall, Blaise passed by the area where the massive spider advanced, throwing a cutting curse at one of the nerubians that started to turn toward them, severing its legs and allowing the behemoth to seize it with the massive mandible.
Spiraling through the next layer of webs, Blaise spotted a pool of deep water far below. Two quick swished of his wand, and a thrust was enough to cast a spell that would cushion the water at this distance, making it more than sufficient to break their falls without injury.
The splashes were deafening, but they were perfectly unharmed by the entry, albeit soaked through in the frigid water. Blaise swam to the egg-lined shore; long forgotten and desecrated from once must have been a hatching ground for the smallest of the spider kingdoms inhabitants. Casually drying them all of the water, Blaise looked around at the sad scene, before finding their path ahead, which led back into the heart of the underground city, toward what seemed to be some central point on this level.
Leading the way forward, Blaise found them all on another rising jut of carved stone, leading to a central platform the overlooked the entire city, even as it spread out in all directions, above and below. A figure waited, massive and hunched as though sleeping, on the platform before them.
Blaise had seen these larger type of nerubians before, and knew that they were tougher and more heavily armored than the rabble they had slaughtered on their way here, but there was something more to the one that barred the way toward the city from them.
"I was wondering you intruders would make it this far," the creature said, its voice low and rumbling, "but then again I'm not surprised. It was told that our foes were as ingenious as they were dangerous."
Noting that the creature was clearly undead, Blaise rested his hand on his daggers, and tentatively stepped toward it once, "Who are… or who were you?" he asked, wondering if they at last might find one of these Scourge minions that could be reasoned with. He was not holding his breath for that however.
The undead spider rose up, showing the faded gold outlining it carapace. "I was king of this empire once, long ago." He said, only the slight trace of pride remaining in the faded voice, "In life I stood as champion. In death I returned as conqueror. Now I protect the kingdom once more. Ironic, isn't it?"
"Then I am to assume that you will not simply let us pass…" Blaise said, knowing the answer before he even asked, but hoping to give his force a moment more to ready themselves for battle.
"No, that is not permitted." The creature said, almost in a bored voice, "None may approach Icecrown, and the Spider Kingdom will defend it secret ways till the last of us falls… Eternal agony is all that awaits you, even if you turn back now."
"Then you leave us no choice but to destroy you," Blaise said, drawing his weapons and waiting for the creature to attack.
"Even if you succeed here, there are countless more of my kin that will bar your way, and my King will not let me lie for long… I will simply return, and avenge myself of you. Nevertheless, I see you have made your choice… the Master's voice will call to you as well, in time," the creature said, even as it suddenly sprang forward with speed that Blaise had not at first glance assumed such a large creature could possess.
Diving to the side, he skittered out of the way as the massive creature lunged forward, the spike atop its head driving through the air like a spear. There was no doubt that the creature had been bred for battle, but even now, with its powerful armor and scythe-like forearms it was still a force to be reckoned with.
"Come forth, my brethren! Feast on their flesh!" the spider-king called, and more spiders emerged from the sandy ground around them. Weapons flashed from the group of assassins, and soon they were locked in a bitter battle with the forces of this spider-nest.
Again, the poison drafted from the Blightbringer's anti-plague proved to turn the tide swiftly, and Blaise found that regardless of the number of reinforcements the king threw at them, the assassins of the Dark Horde were able to cleave through them.
"Argh!" the massive hulk growled, even as Blaise scored a glancing blow to the carapace. The nick in his natural armored burned and surely caused pain even to those long dead nerve endings. "A pestilence upon you!" he threatened, even as the large plated shifted, exposing a pair of rapidly flapping wings.
But no flight was the objective of the undead beast, but rather the summoning of a swarm of smaller flying creatures. Blaise did not need magic to tell that their purpose was to devour the living and bring their life force back to the undead spider. Luckily, Blaise had been watching the magical development of Lord Nobu'tan with astudious eye, and had learned of a more advanced form of utilizing the Fel. Pointing with naught but a finger, he launched a bolt of crimson lightning, which annihilated one locust after another, protecting them from the flying menace.
