Auriana
The first thing Auriana saw as she emerged from the portal was a stray fel fireball hurtling towards her face. She had little time to do anything but gasp, and she likely would have taken the full brunt of the spell had Ridley not grabbed her by the shoulder and yanked her back behind the cover of a nearby shop front.
"Look out!"
Auriana swore under her breath as her head spun and her left knee hit the cobblestones – though, in fairness, a bruised knee was a damn sight better than a melted face. A little voice in the back of her mind that sounded an awful lot like Varian tutted at her in warning, and she took a deep breath to steady her nerves. It seemed the effort of holding her magic in her current state had dampened her ordinarily sharp reflexes, and left her more vulnerable than she would have been under normal circumstances. She would have to be careful.
"Thanks," she muttered, shooting Ridley a sidelong glance.
As much as she despised feeling dependent, she could still appreciate a job well done.
"What else is a bodyguard for, Your Majesty?"
Auriana sighed. "If I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times – just call me 'Auriana'. It's simpler."
"Actually, it's the same number of syllables," Ridley countered smoothly. "Your Majesty."
"I… hmph."
Auriana opened her mouth to argue, only to swiftly shut it a second later as she realised Ridley was right. She supposed she could have suggested 'Auri', but she then imagined the Royal Chamberlain having a fit at someone non-familial addressing the Queen of Stormwind with such familiarity.
With no witty retort or clever comeback, then, Auriana instead decided her only recourse was to focus on the task at hand, and she cautiously peeked her head out from behind cover. She felt Ridley shift behind her, mimicking her movement, and together they made a swift and silent assessment of the current situation.
Judging from the wooden sign flapping overhead – Trias' Cheese – they had emerged on the southern side of the Trade District, not too far from the Valley of Heroes and the city's main gate. Given her present condition, Auriana hadn't really had the wherewithal to aim her portal with much accuracy, and she'd largely crossed her fingers and hoped for the best.
For an all-too-brief moment, Auriana had held out hope that the situation was all some elaborate prank, or that the guardsman who had raised the alarm had been lying... but of course, she was never that lucky. From her vantage point, she had a clear line of sight down the main promenade towards the Trade District's central square, to where a small army of demons was wreaking havoc on Stormwind's citizenry. Most of the demons she could see were imps: small and annoying, and dangerous in large numbers – though not nearly as dangerous as their larger cousins.
Unfortunately, Auriana could also see at least four slavering felhounds, and one enormous, hulking felguard. Several members of Stormwind Guard were doing their best to contain the demons and evacuate as many civilians as they could, but they were rapidly being overwhelmed. Not only were they forced to contend with the demons themselves, but dozens of panicky citizens falling over one another as they tried to escape.
In short, it was a riot.
"Ridley…" she started, though her intended warning was, apparently, unnecessary.
"The felguard," Ridley agreed, correctly intuiting Auriana's next words. "On it."
Ridley was a good eight inches taller than Auriana, with correspondingly longer legs, and she quickly outstripped her charge as they left their cover behind and took off down the cobbled street. What Auriana lacked in speed, however, she made up for in range and pinpoint accuracy. As soon as she closed in on the trade square proper, she threw both hands forward and unleashed a barrage of razor-sharp ice lances into the nearest group of demons.
Six icicles flew. Six imps died.
Ahead of her, Ridley shoulder-charged the felguard, using her speed and her lower centre of gravity to knock the monster sideways. The felguard hit a nearby wall with a resounding crack, though it quickly recovered its footing, and turned its axe on Ridley with an outraged bellow.
Auriana had no time to watch their subsequent duel, however, not when there were felhounds about. Bred by the Burning Legion to hunt spellcasters, felhounds were drawn to magic like moths to a flame… and Auriana was a veritable bonfire. She was certainly far more tempting a prize than some poor, terrified civilian, and sure enough, four eyeless, reptilian heads turned towards her, eagerly seeking the source of so much delicious magic...
Just as she had hoped.
The pack of felhounds immediately abandoned their current targets and moved into flanking positions: two on Auriana's left, one on her right, and one straight ahead. The long, whiplike tentacles that protruded from their backs quivered in voracious anticipation with every step; swaying back and forth in a slow dance that was as grotesque as it was mesmerising.
Despite their obvious hunger, however, the beasts moved with slow, deliberate calm as they waited for the perfect moment to commence their onslaught. They may have been eyeless, but Auriana had no doubt that they possessed supernatural senses far beyond those of ordinary creatures. They knew exactly where she was, and they would come for her the very second she blinked for half a second too long or shifted her weight an inch in the wrong direction... though she did not intend to permit them the first strike.
Auriana braced herself, ignoring the spike of pain that lanced through her temples, and with a speed that few spellcasters could rival, enveloped the rightmost felhound in bonds of swirling arcane energy. It gnashed its razor-sharp fangs as the magic tightened around its belly, but it could do nothing to resist as she wrenched back her arm she hurled it clean across the square. Its violent magical trajectory sent it flying into its packmates as they abruptly leapt, and all four of them went down in a tangled mess of teeth and spines and tentacles.
The fel beasts let out outraged squeals as they struggled to regain their footing, though Auriana refused to give them time enough to recover. Frost rapidly coalesced upon her fingertips, and the ground shook beneath her feet as she called down a furious hailstorm upon her foes. Razor ice met demon flesh and the felhounds crumpled, their last, piteous whines echoing off the stone walls of the surrounding buildings.
Despite the seriousness of the situation, Auriana found herself fighting back a mad grin. She certainly would have preferred to have been wearing her mage armour and well-worn boots in place of a dress and a crown, but otherwise she felt more like herself than she had in weeks. With the felhounds down, she was free to throw herself fully into the chaotic fight raging its way across the square, her pain and fatigue numbed by a healthy dose of fury and adrenaline. She was well aware that she would pay the price for her efforts later, but for now, at least, her magic burned hot and strong as she danced along the well-worn edge between chaos and control. This was what she was made for, and she would make damn sure that every demon in the city knew it.
Auriana's arrival did not go unnoticed, either. The Stormwind City Guard rallied quickly to her position, recovering from their initial surprise and reforming into a more organised defense. It was clear that none of them had reported for duty that day expecting to repel an all-out demon attack, but they responded to the challenge with bravery and commitment.
"The Queen is here!"
"For Stormwind!"
"Long live the Queen!"
Auriana's first priority was the safety of her citizens. While it was tempting to lose herself in the heat of the battle, she adjusted her naturally aggressive strategy in favour of containment and control. Whoever had sent the demons to attack Stormwind had been smart – the Trade District was heavily populated at this time of day, and was the perfect target for someone aiming to cause as much chaos and as many casualties as possible. She therefore focused her efforts on protecting civilians as they fled, clearing escape routes and running interference on any demons who tried to chase them down. Ridley stuck to her like a shadow, always just off Auriana's flank, and together they cut down demon after demon after demon.
As often happened when she was fighting, Auriana soon lost track of time. She was well aware that she was tiring faster than normal, however, even with her blood up and her rage simmering, and she was eventually forced to duck down and catch her breath behind the stone fascia of the steps outside the Stormwind Counting House. Ridley, too, was panting heavily, her once immaculate armour stained with dirt and her sword slick with demon blood, though her eyes were still bright and her expression keen.
"There's so many of them!" she gasped. "I feel like I've killed hundreds, but they just keep coming."
"We need to find the summoner," Auriana growled, flexing her hands in irritation. "Demons don't just appear out of nowhere, and if we don't find their master soon, they'll just keep coming."
"Alright, then, how do you summon a demon? What do they need, what are we looking for?"
Auriana was no fel sorceress herself, but she had fought both with and against enough warlocks to know the basics.
"Individual demons can be summoned directly from the Nether, if you're strong enough," she explained. "But to summon this many, this quickly? You'd need a portal."
"I feel like someone would have noticed a giant demonic portal opening in the middle of the city…" Ridley snorted.
Now that they were in the thick of it, she seemed to have lost some of her usual formality; a state of affairs that Auriana greatly preferred.
"It wouldn't have to be too big, relatively speaking - look at the demons. Our mystery warlock is summoning felguards and imps, not doomguards or annihilan," she countered. "But you're right, they would need privacy enough to cast the spell. They'd need to be close by, too, if the Trade District was the intended target…"
She frowned, her mind racing as she considered all the potential places one might be able to hide a warlock portal within easy striking distance of the Trade District. Unfortunately, everything that came to mind was either too public or too far away…
A sadistic, shrieking laugh abruptly cut through Auriana's thoughts, and she poked her head up over the stone stairs to see a small group of civilians had been pinned against the wall of the Trader's Hall by a pair of humanoid demons with bat-like wings, cloven-hooves, and feminine faces that were as cruel as they were beautiful.
"Sayaad," she hissed. "Dammit."
As the Legion's foremost torturers, sayaad specialised in exquisite pain and slow deaths. They revelled in fear, and were clearly enjoying the way their captive prey cowered beneath the cruel lash of their whips. Among the group was a small girl who couldn't have been more than six or seven years old, and an older woman who looked like she was about to have a heart attack. The group had clearly tried to flee into the stone tunnel that led towards the Mage Quarter, but had been cut off by the twin sayaad, and were now subject to the demons' petty torments.
"Hunting for that portal might have to wait a minute…" Auriana muttered, nudging Ridley in the side. "Look!"
Fortunately, the sayaad were the kind of demons who preferred to play games than kill swiftly, which gave Auriana and Ridley time to intervene.
"Agreed." Ridley brushed the sweat from her brow with the back of her hand, and readjusted her grip on her sword.
Auriana was not carrying weapons of her own, but she, too, mentally steeled herself once more for the fray. "See if you can't draw the demons away. They're too close to those people, if I start throwing spells I'm just as likely to hit friendlies."
"It would be my pleasure."
With a burst of fresh energy, Ridley broke cover and charged, sprinting across the cobblestones towards the demons with her blade at the ready.
"Hey! Uglies!"
Ridley's shout was crude, perhaps, but effective – both demons immediately turned, their sharp features contorting into identical expressions of supreme offense. Evidently, in addition to being prodigiously cruel, they were also rather vain.
Not to be deterred for long, the taller of the pair snapped her whip forwards with a feral snarl, the barbed leather snapping hungrily at the exposed flesh of Ridley's neck. She had been expecting the move, however, and caught the lash with the broadside of her sword; twisting the blade up and around and yanking the sayaad off balance.
The demon stumbled down the stairs of the Trader's Hall, suddenly graceless… and directly into Auriana's line of fire. She snapped off three frostbolts in quick succession, viviciously pummelling the sayaad into submission and wiping the sadistic little smirk from her waspish face. Auriana didn't risk a more powerful spell, not wanting to hit the cowering civilians by mistake, but her rapidfire assault was more than enough to keep the demon distracted and off-balance while Ridley brought her blade up and around and cleaved its head clean off.
Enraged by her sister's death, the second sayaad let out an ear-splitting shriek and charged, the echo of her sharpened hooves ringing off the well-worn stone stairs. She, too, went for her whip, but Auriana was faster. She blinked beneath the whip's fall as it cracked in the air where her head had once been. At the same time, she called forth a blade of wickedly sharp spell-ice, and with a ferocious warcry, thrust it through the sayaad's neck at point-blank range.
The demon maven crumpled at Auriana's feet, but there was no time to rest on her victory. As much as she would have appreciated some more time to catch her breath, two sayaad were just about the least of her problems. The front of the Trader's Hall was open and highly visible – a positive design feature under normal circumstances, but not a place where one wanted to be standing in the midst of a pitched battle.
"Move!" she bellowed.
Auriana grabbed the nearest civilian by the shoulder of his coat, and dragged him down the stairs behind her. She did not want to risk leading the group out into the chaos of the square, and so she instead shepherded them along the outside wall of the Trader's Hall and into the narrow alley that ran behind.
With any luck, they would be able to double back behind the main attack force and sneak out towards the Mage Quarter, or even escape along the canals and north towards Cathedral Square… but it was not to be. Out of the frying pan and into the felfire, the harried group stumbled towards the main street at the rear of the Trader's Hall, only to soon realise that they were cut off in both directions.
Auriana swore. The nearby demons were occupied with the Stormwind Guard and had not yet noticed her little group, but it was only a matter of time. She and Ridley were perfectly capable of fighting their way through, but in doing so, they would leave their new charges vulnerable. It was difficult enough to fight the Legion's monsters without having to worry about tripping over a terrified civilian or catching one with a stray spell. She needed to get them off the streets; needed to find somewhere they could lay low while she sought the source of the assault…
"There!" Ridley cried, pointing. "That shop!"
Once again, she seemed to have read Auriana's mind.
"Inside!"
With Ridley's help, Auriana none-too-gently ushered the group across the way and into a nearby barbershop – much to the surprise of the single gnome stylist cowering inside – and sealed the door shut with a hastily constructed ward. It wouldn't hold forever, but it would at the very least buy them some time, and allow Auriana another moment to catch her breath. The pain behind her eyes was growing worse by the minute, but she didn't dare let go of her magic, fearing that if she did she would be unable to call on it again.
Auriana rested her forehead on the smooth wood of the door with a sigh, though she permitted herself only a few seconds reprieve before she straightened once again. She lifted her chin as she turned around, hoping to project an aura of calm confidence, but the little group all seemed too shell-shocked to pay her much mind. The old woman had barely made it five feet before collapsing into the nearest barber's chair, though the others seemed to want to put as much distance between themselves and the door as was possible within the confines of the small boutique.
"Are you all alright? Is anyone hurt?"
Oddly enough, the young girl was the first to recover her sensibilities. Her terrified countenance brightened as she finally spied the crown still perched on Auriana's head, and her jaw fell open in amazement.
"You're the Queen!" she squeaked. "And you're glowing!"
Auriana wondered if she might not look rather terrifying to a child, with her dress soaked in demon blood and her eyes alight with arcane fire, though the girl appeared more curious than disturbed. Her awed exclamation also served to draw the attention of the group far more effectively than Auriana's questions. All eyes immediately turned towards her, and those still on their feet stood up straighter. A few even made clumsy attempts to bow, but Auriana waved them off.
"Ah… that's right. I am. And… and what's your name?"
"Maisy," the little girl said smartly.
Given that Auriana had no siblings, and had spent most of her life shunting from one battlefield to the next, she'd never spent much time around children. Certainly not young children, in any case, and she wasn't quite sure how to respond to the miniature human standing before her.
"Maisy. That's a pretty name," she ventured, hoping some friendly small talk might help to keep the girl calm. "You can call me Auri, if you like."
Auriana held out her hand for Maisy to shake, only to realise a half second later that it was rather ridiculous for her to be shaking hands with a child only a few years past learning to walk, and she awkwardly turned her palm downwards as if she had been intending to smooth her rumpled skirts all along. Demons she could handle, but a wide-eyed, expectant child? She was completely at sea.
"I like your name, too." Maisy cocked her head to one side. "But you're very short. I thought queens were tall?"
A harried young woman with a nasty cut across her cheekbone stumbled her way forwards, and hastily attempted to shush the little girl.
"I‐I'm sorry, Your Majesty, I… she's my daughter, you see, and she's only six, she doesn't…"
"It's quite alright," Auriana insisted. "Really. After all, she isn't… wrong."
Despite the throbbing in her temples and the chaos still raging outside, she found it difficult not to laugh at the contrast between the little girl's guileless expression and her mother's mortified flush. It didn't help that she could feel Ridley at her side, practically shaking with her own repressed amusement, and she pointedly turned the conversation back to more important matters.
"Ah… were any of you in the Trade District when the demons first appeared? Did you see anything unusual or out of place prior to the attack?" Auriana asked, fervently hoping that one of the civilians might have seen or heard something that would lead her to whoever had summoned the demons.
"Not me," a portly male dwarf supplied. "I was just standin' there tryin' ta decide what to have for me lunch, when next thing I know the square was full o' demons!"
"We walked straight into it," Maisy's mother added, brushing a nervous hand through her daughter's curls. "We were in the bakery, and then one of those… those things came bursting through the window…"
"I… I saw something," a draenei woman offered, her tendrils twitching, "Or… perhaps not, I am unsure. It might have been nothing…"
"Please, go on," Auriana urged her. "The smallest thing might prove to be important."
"I went to visit my sister this morning – she works in the Old Town, you see. I did not see anyone summoning demons directly… but I thought I saw a dwarf man in the canals, under one of the bridges leading back to the Trade District."
"In the water?" Auriana repeated.
Between her poor hearing and the draenei's thick accent, she wondered if she'd somehow misheard. Unlike shaman, or perhaps even druids, warlocks had no particular affinity for water, at least none that she was aware of, though her long, strange career had taught her never to rule anything out.
"Yes! I remember, because I thought it very odd. What business would anyone have in the canals? My sister says there are all sorts of fish and even creatures down there…"
"Are you sure he wasn't a fisherman? Or a city worker?" Ridley queried.
"No, no. I come to the city often, I am familiar with your uniforms. He was wearing caster's robes, I am sure of it." The draenei woman let out a delicate sniff. "And I doubt they came cheap – I would not have wanted to get them wet, had they been mine."
Auriana exchanged a glance with Ridley, who shrugged. It wasn't much to go on, but it was the only lead they had.
"Which bridge? You said you were returning from Old Town, correct?"
There were quite literally miles of canals snaking in and around the streets of Stormwind, and about as many bridges connecting the city's various districts.
"Yes. I took the southernmost bridge. The one near the flower shop."
Auriana nodded. She knew the bridge in question. It was close to the outer wall of the city, a little ways off the main promenade, and not nearly as well trafficked as some of the bridges closer to the city centre. If one were trying to conceal an illicit portal within striking distance of the Trade District, it was as good a place as any.
"Well, it's a start. Thank you."
Auriana gestured silently to Ridley, who immediately moved towards the door and readied herself once more for the fray. She was keenly aware that every minute they spent in the barbershop was another demon loose on the streets of Stormwind, but she couldn't leave without first doing what she could to ensure the people she had rescued remained safe.
"Is this your shop?" she asked, turning her attention to the gnome barber.
"I… I work here, y-yes..." he stammered.
His eyes were wide and unfocused; an expression Auriana knew all too well. His bald head shone with nervous sweat, and he was flushed from his nose to the tips of his large, batlike ears. He was clearly teetering on the edge of panic, and it would only take the slightest nudge to send him over.
"And what's your name?" she asked, more gently.
"Je… Jelinek Sharpshear," he managed.
"Well, as we've established, I'm Auriana," she said, prompting a very small smile. "And I need your help to protect these people. Do you have a back room? A basement even? For storage?"
Sharpshear swallowed as he struggled to maintain his focus. "A… a back room, I… yes… yes, of course…"
"Get everyone inside," Auriana ordered, her voice kind but firm. "Barricade the door with anything you can find, and do not come out unless you hear the city bells ring the all clear, or someone from the Guard comes to evacuate you."
"Queen Auri? You're leaving?"
Auriana felt a gentle tug on her skirts, and she glanced down and to her right to see Maisy staring up at her with eyes as wide as saucers.
"I need to go back outside and fight the demons," Auriana confirmed, "But while I'm gone, I need someone brave to take on a very important task…"
Maisy's eyes widened even further as Auriana reached up and removed her crown, and placed it carefully on the little girl's head. It was a little big, though perhaps not as much as it might have been if sized for a woman larger than Auriana. Maisy let out a reverential gasp as the fine metal touched her hair, and went very still, as if she feared the slightest jolt would send it tumbling.
"Could you keep this safe for me?"
"Y-yes," Maisy stammered. "I'll be so careful, I promise."
"Thank you."
Auriana gave the girl a clumsy pat on the shoulder, wincing inwardly at her own awkwardness. She doubted one was meant to pat a child the way one might pat a puppy, but Maisy seemed to appreciate the sentiment well enough as she very carefully tottled off after her mother to the safety of the barbershop's back room, her hands raised around Auriana's crown to prevent it from falling.
As soon as the little gnome barber had closed the door to the back room and turned the lock, Auriana cast another quick ward. It wouldn't prevent the civilians from opening the door from the inside, but it would repel any demons who tried to force their way in, at least for a time. Not that it needed to last forever – just long enough for Auriana to find the portal and the City Guard to get the melee in the Trade District under control.
"Ready?" Ridley reached for the front door handle with her left hand; her sword gripped keenly in her right.
"I… no, wait."
Auriana paused as she spied a pair of barber's shears resting on a nearby workbench. As much as her new dress was a considerable improvement over her usual queenly wardrobe, it had still not been made for the rigours of proper combat. She could hardly afford to trip over her own feet while fighting, and so she reached for the shears and hacked away at the top of her skirt until she was able to pull the entire thing free. Underneath, she was wearing plain woollen leggings - not something she would normally wear out in public, but a damn sight easier to manoeuvre in than a dress. Stormwind's populace had far more important things to worry about than her skinny legs, in any case.
"The girl's right, you know," Ridley observed, as she watched Auriana detangle the fabric from about her thighs. "You're titchy."
Auriana shot her bodyguard a withering mock-glare, and tossed the remains of her skirt to one side. "I think I preferred it when you were calling me 'Your Majesty'. Come on."
Ridley grinned and shook her head by way of reply, but their shared moment of levity was short lived. The moment she eased open the door so that Auriana could cautiously poke her head outside, they were assaulted by the din of a city still very much in chaos. The fighting had intensified during their brief time in the barbershop, and the nearby street was now teeming with more demons and soldiers than she could easily count.
"It's going to take us forever to fight our way through, and I need to find that summoner now," Auriana grumbled, taking great care not to speak too loudly or otherwise draw the attention of the demons.
"I can't see an easy way around…" Ridley observed, standing up tall and sticking her head out the door over the top of Auriana's shoulder.
"Me neither."
Auriana bit her lip. She couldn't afford to keep wasting energy fighting lesser demons. If she was going to take on a powerful warlock and whatever demons they had protecting them, she needed to preserve what strength she had. Which meant getting out of the Trade District as fast as possible…
"Although…" she started, a plan slowly forming in her mind, "Perhaps I could sneak past, if I had a distraction…"
Ridley scowled. "My job is to protect you, not…"
"I can protect myself," Auriana growled, cutting her off. "And the sooner I can find the summoner, the sooner we're all safe."
The two women stared one another down – or rather, Ridley stared down. What Auriana lacked in height, however, she more than made up for in stubbornness. Ridley would have had a better chance of wearing down the stone wall behind them… and she clearly knew it.
"Majesty…"
"Please," Auriana added, her tone softening. "We're running out of options here. Don't make me beg."
A terrified scream split the morning air. Ridley grit her teeth.
"... alright. But when King Varian puts me on trial for high treason – assuming he doesn't outright kill me first – I expect you to offer me a robust defense."
Auriana grinned, and nodded her acceptance of Ridley's 'terms'. "Deal."
"What do you need?"
"I need you to draw the fighting a little ways back down the street towards the square so I can sneak past. The Guard should be able to help you…" She glanced back over her shoulder. "I could try to make it out the other way, but…"
"No, you're right," Ridley conceded. "If you're heading towards Old Town, it's faster to go straight through. I'll do my best to clear a path."
"Thank you. And… good luck."
"You too… Majesty. Give 'em hell."
As Ridley sprinted off down the street to throw herself back into the fight once more, Auriana pulled her magic around her like a cloak; warping and twisting the air so that she was completely concealed from view. Of course, being invisible didn't mean that she was incorporeal – she was just as susceptible to being hit by a blade or a spell as she would have been were she visible. There were also some species of demon who could see through simple invisibility, or who did not need to rely on sight to find their prey – which was why she needed Ridley to provide a distraction.
Auriana gave her bodyguard a few seconds headstart, her hands shaking with pent-up adrenaline as she waited until Ridley had well and truly drawn the demons away from the centre of the main street before she slowly and carefully crept her way past. It wasn't in her nature to sneak around in the shadows, but it was certainly a far quicker and less risky strategy than trying to fight her way out of the Trade District.
Still… it was downright difficult to resist one's natural instincts, especially for someone as deeply driven to the fight as Auriana. With every step she took she was tempted to stop and throw herself back into the fray, but she knew she was best used hunting down the source of the problem. More guardsmen had entered the square as word of the attack spread across the city, and she was confident that they could soon get the immediate threat under control. Her focus had to remain on the greater threat, no matter how much it killed her to pass by her people in need.
Auriana allowed her invisibility spell to fade away as she slipped into the tunnel that led out to Old Town and turned south. The streets around the Canal District were eerily empty; an already quiet part of the city now utterly deserted as people had fled or locked themselves indoors. Thankfully, it seemed that most of the fighting had been contained to the central trading square and surrounding laneways, though she knew it wouldn't be long before the demonic chaos spread… unless, of course, she could find and destroy the portal.
She walked slowly past one of the many fishing pontoons that dotted the canals and down towards the towering ramparts that marked the city's border, looking for any sign of demonic activity. If not for the faint sounds of fighting off in the distance and the sonorous warning bells still tolling overhead, it would have been a beautiful but otherwise unremarkable morning. No gargantuan demonic gateways dominated the streetscape, and there was not even the slightest whiff of charred sulfur in the air to give her direction – there was just… nothing, save for the sheen of sunlight glinting off the white stone of the city walls and the faintly briny scent of the canals.
Auriana let out a soft huff of frustration, not sure where to turn next, when a flaming imp abruptly leapt up onto the parapet of the southernmost bridge. She immediately flattened herself behind a nearby tree as the ugly little creature gave the air an experimental sniff; its pointed, fleshy nose quivering in a way that she found profoundly unnerving. Fortunately, the demon seemed unaware of her presence, and after a few moments contemplation it jumped back down onto the street and skipped off towards the Trade District. Her fingers twitched, but she allowed the demon to leave without interference, lest she give herself away. One lone imp was not the problem.
A minute passed, and then two, but no more demons appeared. If Auriana hadn't known any better, she might have then concluded that the little imp had simply materialised out of thin air… but its appearance on the bridge, of all places, was a vital clue. She found it difficult to stay still, but she bit back her impatience until she was certain that she wasn't about to walk into an ambush, then carefully stepped out from behind the tree and walked up onto the bridge.
Nothing seemed immediately off, but Auriana's instincts sang out in warning as she made her way to the centre of the span. The draenei woman had specified that she'd seen someone down in the water, which meant… Auriana leaned over the side of the bridge as fair as she could without falling headlong into the canal, and let out a soft grunt of acknowledgement as she saw the tell-tale black curves and fel-green shimmer of a warlock portal lurking just below the surface.
Clever.
Whoever was responsible for the attack on Stormwind had submerged the demonic gateway in the canal waters beneath one end of the bridge. The water in this part of the canals was about eight feet deep – not so deep that it might have inhibited the use of the portal or rendered it ineffective, but deep enough that it was well concealed from any casual observers above. If Auriana hadn't specifically looking, she certainly would have missed it herself. She guessed that the portal had been constructed sometime late last night or earlier that morning, and then left hidden until it was needed.
Auriana straightened, and cracked her neck from side to side. Her body was starting to stiffen from the strain of her magic, and she was uncomfortably aware that she was operating on borrowed time. She had found the portal, at least, though she was not so foolish as to believe that the accursed thing had been left unguarded. Whatever the warlock's ultimate intent, their plan hinged on being able to summon as many demons as possible, and they certainly wouldn't leave their best means of doing so without protection.
Of course, the warlock likely wouldn't reveal themselves without direct provocation. At the moment, they had the advantage – they simply had to watch and wait as their demons rampaged through the city. Logically, then, they would not want to risk drawing undue attention to the location of the portal… and so Auriana would have to bait them out.
She took a deep breath, and began to channel a spell designed to sever the portal's connection to the Twisting Nether and tear its physical form apart. In addition to the necessary spellwork, she also added an uncharacteristic flourish, an overexaggerated light show that ensured she would be seen. If her hunch was right, and she was being watched, the warlock would have to intervene to stop her; if not, she would succeed in destroying the portal… either way, she would be another step closer to securing the city and preventing further chaos.
Sure enough, however, Auriana soon felt, rather than heard, a presence somewhere to her left. She was not as sensitive to the magic of warlocks as she was to that of other mages, but she knew the acrid bite of fel well enough. A shiver raced up her spine, and for a moment she was back on Draenor, fighting her way through an entire coven of warlocks hellbent on reducing the universe to naught but ashes…
Focus.
"Hello," she said, lowering her hands and turning to face the new arrival. "Lovely portal you've got there – although I don't suppose you'd be so kind as to call off your demons…?"
A dwarf warlock stared back at her, his bushy brows cocked in mild surprise – he clearly hadn't expected Auriana to detect his approach so quickly. He was tall for his kind, with ruddy brown skin, sharp, honey-brown eyes, and a bulbous nose. His tattoos and the gryphon feathers woven through his dyed blue mohawk marked him as a Wildhammer, though no doubt he had forsaken any bonds of clan or country in order to pursue the fel arts.
"Can't do that, lass. We've got a job ta do."
"We?"
"Aye. Ye better get away from that ther' portal if ye know what's good for ye."
A second voice. Dwarven, but female this time. Auriana glanced to her right, and saw a second warlock slowly stalking her from the other side of the bridge. The dwarven woman's auburn hair was a more natural colour than her companion's, though her tattoos, eyes, and uncannily similar nose suggested that they may have been related in some way.
"Now, now, Dae, don't be rude," the male drawled. "That there's a queen yer talkin' to. Mind yer manners."
So they knew who she was. Interesting.
"You have me at something of a disadvantage," Auriana said calmly, as if they were discussing something as mundane as the weather. "You know who I am, but I haven't the slightest idea who you are."
"Ah, what's in a name?
As he spoke, the male warlock took a few steps forward onto the bridge proper. His companion wordlessly mirrored his movements on Auriana's other side, until they were each about twenty yards away from her current position in the centre of the bridge. Neither moved quickly, but there was a subtle hint of menace in their coordinated advance. They meant for Auriana to know she was surrounded; meant for her to be afraid.
She refused.
"Perhaps you're right," she said, shrugging. "I certainly don't need to know your names to have the pleasure of defeating you."
"Oho!" the male dwarf crowed, his eyes gleaming at the promise of a fight. "I think ye'll find tha pleasure will be all ours, Yer Majesty. Not every day we get ta challenge someone of your esteemed reputation. We've heard rumour that yer one of the finest magical duellists alive. That true?"
"Yes," Auriana confirmed, without any false modesty. "But in about, oh, let's say… two minutes, no-one will be able to say either one of those things about you."
"And what if we surrender?" the female asked, the singsong tone of her voice suggesting that she had no intention of doing so, though the question seemed to amused her nonetheless.
"You brought demons into my city. I have no mercy for you."
Auriana's threat wasn't strictly true - she preferred to capture rather than kill, if possible, though she suspected that the warlocks would not give her much of a choice. She had tangled with their kind before, and she knew them to be a fantically single-minded sort of people.
"Two minutes, you say?" the woman laughed.
"One for each of you," Auriana confirmed, matter-of-fact.
The male warlock smirked. Clearly, neither dwarf believed Auriana's claim.
"Ye might want ta check yer calculations there, lass. No one's that good."
"Yer also very much alone," the female dwarf added. "Never understood the appeal of bein' a mage, myself. Aye, ye have plenty o' power, ta be sure, but me? I like havin' lots o' friends…"
She thrust her left hand skyward, and muttered some dark incantation. The air around her crackled with power, and with a roar like distant thunder, a colossal ball of black stone and green flame materialised in the air above her and crashed down onto the bridge.
Well, that complicates matters.
Nearly fifteen feet tall and burning with unholy fire, the infernal was one of the Legion's most terrifying creations. It was a living siege weapon – brutal, mindless, and made solely for destruction – and Auriana knew it wouldn't hesitate to pummel her into dust if given half a chance. Even at a distance, she could feel the terrible heat radiating from the construct's body, and she began to fear she had underestimated her opponent's strength. Under normal circumstances, she wouldn't have been quite so concerned, but she was surrounded and well outnumbered, and worst of all, she could still feel her magical strength rapidly waning.
"Alright, three minutes, then," she amended. "Shall we begin?"
Auriana did not wait for a reply. Her life now depended on her ability to separate the warlocks and end the fight quickly before they could properly turn their numbers advantage against her. Her fingers still burned with the residual energy from the spell she had intended to use to destroy the portal, and she channeled it into a concentrated burst of power… though not at the two warlocks, or even at the infernal, but rather down into the stone bridge beneath their feet.
Light, I hope this works…
The bridge was strong and well made, but it was no match for a sharply focused blast of arcane magic. It immediately collapsed into rubble, and all four of them – Auriana, the two warlocks, and the infernal – went plunging into the water.
Although Auriana had been expecting the drop, she nonetheless knew a moment of pure panic as she impacted the water and her world turned upside-down. She tucked her knees up to her chest and covered her head with her hands as chunks of debris splashed down around her. It was difficult to see through the murk, and she had no idea which way was up or down. The world around her was all of a sudden eerily quiet, and all she could hear was the frantic pounding of her own heart and distorted splutter of the infernal's corefire.
The infernal…
Auriana kicked out and righted herself in the water, using the faint glow of the demonic monster to orient herself. She couldn't immediately see the two warlocks, though she was willing to bet that she had recovered her senses far faster – assuming they were still alive. She had been expecting the bridge to collapse, and even then, she had been thoroughly discombobulated by the fall. For the dwarves, it would have come as a complete surprise, and Auriana hoped that her unexpected act of destruction would buy her enough time to deal with the infernal before the warlocks regained their wits.
The gargantuan demon may have been a terrifying, unstoppable force on land, but it was far more ungainly in the water. It was tall enough that it could easily keep its head above the surface, but it could not move with any sort of grace or efficiency. That didn't stop it from trying, of course, and Auriana was suddenly very glad for the fact that she had ditched her skirts back in the barbershop as she frantically dove under the enormous stone fist that snatched at her from the briny dark.
Anyone else might have panicked, though Auriana oddly never felt more focused and in control than when she was fighting for her life. She twisted away from the infernal like a slippery fish, and readied a spell. While the infernal's core still burned brightly, even below the surface of the water, the environment favoured Auriana's magic far more. She could feel the ebb and flow of the water sliding in and around the animate stone that housed the demon's core, and with a swift, forceful extension of her will, she ordered that very same water to freeze.
Infernals were, fundamentally, rather dull creatures – all brawn and no brains – and it took the thing a moment to realise that the temperature around its core had begun to drop. It made another furious, clumsy attempt to reach for Auriana, but it was too late. The glacial onslaught of her magic had already taken hold, and she held on doggedly until every last spark of the demon's heart was consumed by solid ice.
The remains of the infernal sunk to the canal floor; the once-terrifying behemoth now little more than a useless pile of rocks.
One down.
Auriana kicked up towards the surface and gulped down a greedy lungful of air, before diving back down into the canal depths. She had a significant advantage if she could keep the fight contained beneath the water – felfire didn't burn as hot down here, and while her movement was also hampered by the water, she was willing to bet that the daughter of a Kul Tiran sailor could outswim a pair of aerie dwarves…
… unless they found her first. A nasty curse abruptly slammed into Auriana's back, and a second later, she felt a hand close around her ankle like a vice. A frisson of atavistic fear raced down her spine, and she twisted around to see the snarling face of the male warlock glaring up at her; the vivid blue of his hair visible even beneath the turbid water. His curse had not caused Auriana any physical pain, but she could nonetheless feel it leeching away at her already waning strength. He was clearly smart enough to realise that his felfire was less effective underwater… but he didn't need a spell to drown her.
With a savage grunt, Auriana lashed out not with her magic, but with her free leg. She clenched her teeth in bitter satisfaction as her foot connected with the vulnerable flesh of the dwarf's face, and she felt his nose break. The water between them immediately clouded carmine, and the dwarf's hold on her ankle mercifully released. She kicked out again with both feet, this time hitting the dwarf mid-chest, and used the impact to propel herself backwards through the water like a torpedo.
Auriana's momentum sent her shooting past the sunken portal, and she was struck by a sudden burst of inspiration. Her own strength may have been flagging, but the magic maintaining the portal burned bright and hot. It thrummed with forbidden power; power that could be used to summon demons from across the stars… or be turned back on its creators.
Where before Auriana had attempted to dismantle the portal safety, now she simply sought to tear it apart as quickly as possible – after all, it wasn't as if she had to worry about damage to the bridge. All portals, whether crafted by mages or warlocks or anyone else, were subject to the same fundamental physics. They relied on a delicate balance between competing magical forces, and while it required skill and precision to unravel one properly… it was child's play for a mage of her strength to simply disrupt one…
Auriana tapped into her simmering rage and channelled it into a burst of raw, unshaped power. The water around the male warlock churned violently as he raised his potent magical defenses, but she paid him little mind. She couldn't see the female dwarf, either, but with any luck her plan would take both warlocks out of the fight.
The unrestrained spell hit the portal dead centre, much to the visible confusion of the male dwarf, who realised far too late that Auriana hadn't been aiming for him in the first place… and detonated. Unable to contain the additional magic, the overloaded portal warped and collapsed in on itself in a spectacular burst of green fire.
Unfortunately, the implosion was far more violent than Auriana had expected. She immediately lost sight of the male warlock as he was consumed by a cloud of magical debris, and only just managed to project an arcane shield of her own as the resulting shockwave slammed into her like a battering ram, sending her tumbling over and over through the water. It was impossible to tell up from down, and Auriana grew increasingly light-headed from lack of air as she struggled against the roiling current produced by the death of the demonic portal.
It was only with a colossal effort that Auriana finally managed to claw her way upwards to break the surface with a needy gasp. The fresh air was sweet balm for her tortured lungs and aching body, but she was given only a few seconds' of reprieve before a burst of hot fire lanced across her shoulders. She cried out in pain and spun about, to see that both warlocks had survived the portal implosion, and were now staring at her with murderous intent as they treaded water about thirty feet away. If the situation hadn't been so dire, she might have almost been impressed by their resilience – though she would have much preferred if they'd done her the common courtesy of dying.
"Tha' hurt, lass?!"
Auriana winced. The male dwarf's nose was leaking dark blood, and the female… well, a crushed nose would have been the least of her problems. She had apparently been close to the portal when it had overloaded, and the right side of her face was now a charred, pulpy mess. All of her earlier cockiness had vanished, replaced by a cold, implacable fury that was made all the more terrifying by the horrific wounds to her face. She must have been in agony, but it seemed raw hatred was enough to keep her in the fight.
"I bet ye think yer real clever, don'tcha?" she slurred, her strong accent distorted even further by her ruined mouth.
"I gave you a chance to surrender," Auriana said evenly. "You declined."
"Yer going ta die slowly, Yer Majesty. And when we're done flaying yer corpse, we're going to string you up from the bloody walls!"
Auriana didn't outwardly react or show fear, but she was well aware she was in serious trouble. She had just about hit the limits of her endurance, and she knew she wasn't able to counter both warlocks if they worked together. Her trick with the bridge had kept them separated long enough for her to take out the infernal, but the fact that they had both survived the destruction of the portal – albeit with the female gravely injured – was a considerable complication. She was painfully aware that she only had one good spell left in her, and even then… there was a fair chance that casting again would do just as much damage to her as it would to the warlocks…
Not that she had much of a choice.
As the two dwarves raised their hands in perfect unison to call down a storm of unholy fire, Auriana closed her eyes and exhaled, pushing all the air from her lungs and using her hands to drive herself down into the depths of the canal as fast as she could go. A wave of heat washed over her from above, just about boiling the water on the surface, but Auriana pushed through the pain, and channeled every last ounce of strength she possessed into one of the powerful frost spells she had ever cast. Her magic exploded outwards in all directions, instantly displacing thousands of gallons of canal water and freezing it solid. She concentrated the greatest force of the spell on the warlocks in front of her, shoving her way past their magical defenses and driving merciless ice through the scant resistance of their vulnerable flesh.
The initial spellburst contained enough raw power to kill the warlocks a half-dozen times over, but Auriana continued to channel until she was almost at the point of collapse. There would be no second chances – she had to make sure they were dead, because if they weren't…
Despite her best efforts, however, Auriana could not maintain her spell forever. As it finally fizzled out, she found herself standing – not floating – on solid ground at the bottom of the canal. She had displaced a section of water about forty feet long, and sent a dozen towering spikes of solid ice climbing into the air. The tallest was a jagged spear rising nearly thirty feet above the remains of the shattered bridge… and impaled upon it were the lifeless bodies of the two warlocks; the now-tattered hems of their robes flapping in the breeze like morbid flags. A forlorn fish flopped nearby.
Auriana closed her eyes, and let out a wistful sigh as the last of her magic faded away. She didn't bother trying to hold on, knowing that she had well and truly reached her limit. She supposed she ought to move, or attempt to climb out of the canal, but she wasn't entirely sure she could take a single step without falling over, let alone ascend a wall that was twice as high as she was tall… and so for a moment she simply stood, soaking wet and shivering in the cool morning air…
"Your Majesty…?"
A vaguely familiar male voice abruptly cut through Auriana's weary stupor, though whether it had been minutes or hours since her battle with the warlocks, she honestly couldn't tell. She opened her eyes, and saw her bodyguard peering down at her over the edge of the canal wall.
Ridley was nursing a clearly broken arm across her chest, though she seemed more concerned by Auriana. She was obviously not the one who had spoken, however, and with a start Auriana realised that there were at least a dozen soldiers standing a few paces back on Ridley's left, led by none other than General Hammond Clay and Mathias Shaw. As loyal and well-trained as they were, Stormwind's General and Spymaster must have joined the fight the moment they'd heard the warning knell of the city bells. Both men were dirty and bloodied, though neither seemed to have obtained any critical injuries.
"Your Majesty?" Shaw echoed. "Are you…?"
He let the question hang in the air, unspoken, as his striking green eyes raked her critically from head to toe.
"I'm fine."
It was a lie, and not a very good
one. In truth, Auriana felt as if she'd been clubbed over the head – repeatedly – but she wasn't in the mood for fussing. She just needed a few more moments to catch her breath, and then the world would surely stop spinning…
"Are you alright?" she asked, with a pointed nod at Ridley's broken arm.
"Got a little cocky with a felguard," Ridley admitted sheepishly, "But there's no need to worry, Majesty, I heal fast."
"The Trade District is under our control," Shaw added, "Thanks in large part to the efforts of your bodyguard. She's a fair hand with a blade."
"I know." Auriana gave Ridley an approving nod, then turned her attention over to General Clay. "And what of the rest of the city?"
"Secured, for the most part. I mobilised the full garrison the moment we heard the bells, though it seems you have faster means of moving yourself about." Clay gestured to the frozen corpses of the two warlocks, frozen high in the air above. "I was fighting with a squad near the Stockades when we saw your magic. I take it these are our troublemakers?"
"Yes. Or what's left of them, in any case."
Auriana shook her head in profound disappointment. She was no stranger to death, but that didn't mean she liked killing. Taking a life was never a small thing, and she hated that she had once again been put in a position where she'd had no choice but to defend herself with lethal force.
"It seems hard to believe that two dwarves could have caused so much damage alone…" Ridley leaned out over the edge of the canal to get a better look; wincing as the small movement jostled her broken arm.
"They were both master summoners," Auriana explained. "Warlocks with that much power and experience can summon their own personal armies, if given enough time."
"And I see they did a number on the bridge, too…" Clay observed, pointing.
Auriana coughed. "Ah… no, actually, that was… um… me."
Clay and Shaw exchanged a look.
"General–" she added quickly, before either man could comment on her little piece of civic restructuring, "– have your men conduct a sweep of the city for any remaining demons. I may have destroyed the portal, but that doesn't mean there aren't a few stragglers. When you're certain the city is secure, you can have the bellsman ring the all-clear."
Auriana frowned as she imagined Maisy and her mother, cowering alongside their fellow citizens in the basement of the Trade District barbershop, and a fresh wave of rage flooded her chest. Her people deserved to feel safe in their own city, and she was furious that she had failed to keep the peace – and on her very first day of solo rule, no less. She had failed them, failed Varian, and the thought made her sick to her stomach.
"Double the guard overnight, too," she added, fighting to keep her voice steady. "No-one so much as breathes in this city without your knowledge, am I making myself clear? At this stage I'm not ruling out the possibility of an encore performance."
Clay nodded. "Of course, ma'am. I'll see it done."
"And Shaw –" she continued, her gaze shifting to the Spymaster, "I trust you'll conduct a full investigation. I want to know how this happened, and why. And more importantly, are there any more of them? In my experience, warlocks rarely work alone."
Shaw folded his arms across his chest. "Did they say anything before you died?"
Auriana followed his line of sight back towards the dead warlocks, and shook her head.
"No. We mostly traded insults, and then…" She gestured to the shattered bridge and half-frozen canal. "The woman answered to 'Dae', though I'd wager that's not her full name. If I had to hazard a guess I'd say they were related in some way – siblings, perhaps cousins – but nothing they said indicated they wanted anything more than to inspire fear and chaos…"
"Seems an odd thing to die for," Shaw mused.
His expression was outwardly neutral, but Auriana had long ago come to recognise the particular glint of his eyes that indicated his mind was actually racing. No doubt he had already come up with a dozen different theories of the attack, and was planning how each might be investigated.
"I agree, but they certainly didn't hesitate to start a fight," Auriana said grimly. "I assume they thought they could best me…"
"Could they have mistaken you for a member of the City Guard, or merely a concerned citizen?" Clay wondered, thoughtfully resting a hand on the pommel of the warhammer. "I have enormous respect for the mages who serve under my command, but it's my understanding that your skills with magic are something else entirely…"
Auriana appreciated the compliment, but shook her head in disagreement nonetheless. "No, they definitely knew who I was."
"Then they would have to have known it was a losing battle. Your reputation is well-known – and well-deserved," Ridley argued, the pride in her voice echoing sharply off the stone walls of the canal. "King Varian's, too, had he still been in the city. Stormwind is no easy target."
Auriana had to agree. "Even if I didn't take to the field myself, they wouldn't be able to stand against the full force of the City Guard once the element of surprise had been lost. As you said, Ridley, they're only two dwarves. Whether it was me or someone else, they had to know we would stop them eventually..."
"Perhaps they were simply mad, then," Clay suggested. "I would imagine it to be a common affliction amongst those who practice such dark arts."
Auriana shrugged. He wasn't strictly wrong, though she still wasn't sure that it was a sufficient explanation. In her experience, warlocks may have been dangerous and power-hungry, but few of them were actually insane.
"I suppose that's always a possibility, though I'm not… I'm not willing to risk the city's ongoing safety on that assumption…"
Auriana touched a hand to her throbbing temple as she spoke. Something about the whole situation that bothered her, though she couldn't quite put her finger on the source of her trepidation. Everything was wrong, and she very much doubted that a pair of dwarves had decided to attack the seat of the Alliance's power on a lark. She was finding it difficult to properly articulate her thoughts, however, and every word she spoke felt thick and heavy on her tongue.
She also had a nagging sense that she was forgetting something, and her heart just about dropped down into her stomach when she realised what it was…
"Oh, Light. Anduin…" she gasped, more to herself than anyone else, though the walls of the canal amplified her utterance loud enough for the assembled soldiers to overhear.
"Aha! The Prince is quite safe, ma'am, not to worry." One of Clay's soldiers stepped forward and snapped off a quick salute. "My apologies, Your Majesty, General, I don't mean to interrupt, only I just came from the Cathedral District myself. Prince Anduin is doing a wonderful job with the wounded. He has a real knack for that healin' stuff, doesn't he?"
Auriana didn't bother to hide her relief. Bad enough that Varian's city had been invaded on her watch, she didn't need to be responsible for getting his son killed, too.
"Yes. Yes, he does. And thank you, Lieutenant‐" She squinted up at the soldier as she struggled to recall his name.
Auriana had always made a concerted effort to remember the names of all the people directly assigned to her service, though it was a touch more difficult as Queen. Stormwind Keep was staffed by a roster of hundreds of guardsmen and servants, and it was a challenge to keep all the names and faces straight. She was reasonably certain, however, that the young officer was one of the guards normally assigned to the Keep's third guard shift; his name coming to her in a sudden rush of recognition.
"Ah… Farley, isn't it? No – wait – Berley?"
"Ah, y-yes, ma'am," Berley confirmed, sounding both surprised and flattered by her recollection. "Well remembered."
"If you're uninjured, Lieutenant, perhaps you could assist me further, and relay a message back to the Keep? Inform the Royal Guard that the immediate threat has been contained, and have them send a missive to Varian in Ironforge by the fastest means available."
Auriana paused, choosing her next words with great care. While she knew, intellectually speaking, that the demon attack had not been her fault, she couldn't help but to feel responsible, and she was loath to go crawling to Varian less than a day after he had left.
"They are to inform the King of the attack, but they are to make it abundantly clear that the situation is well in hand. There's no need for him to return to Stormwind. Anduin is safe, as am I, and both relief efforts and a full SI:7 investigation are underway."
Clay and Shaw exchanged another telling look.
"Ah… Majesty…"
It was not an entirely unreasonable command. If Varian were to abruptly cut his trip to Ironforge short, it would send the message that the city was still in imminent danger, and could inspire further panic… though Auriana was well aware that the order had a touch more to do with her pride than concern over the morale of Stormwind's citizenry. Varian would never judge her for asking him to return, but she sure as hell would have judged herself.
"Did I not make myself clear?" she asked, thrusting her chin forwards in a way that she hoped made her appear more intimidating… or as intimidating as one could be when one was soaking wet and standing on the bottom of a canal, in any case.
"I… yes, Majesty."
Clay nodded a somewhat reluctant confirmation to the young Lieutenant Berley, who immediately took off in the direction of the Keep… albeit via a different bridge than the one Auriana had destroyed.
"And Prince Anduin?" Shaw prompted gently.
"He can stay at the Cathedral for the time being. You'd probably have to drag him off kicking and screaming, in any case," Auriana concluded. "Although I would appreciate it, General, if you could spare an additional squad for his protection. If anything seems amiss, he is to be escorted back to the Keep immediately."
"Of course." Clay gestured to another one of his men, who followed off in the direction that Lieutenant Berley had gone. "We should get you out of that canal, too, I can't imagine you're terribly comfortable in those wet clothes…"
The General knelt down on the edge of the canal, and extended the hilt of his warhammer down as far as it would reach so that Auriana could grab hold. The moment she moved, however, she was overcome by a wave of dizziness so strong that it took every last bit of willpower she possessed to stay on her feet. Even then, she stumbled forward, and she tasted acrid bile in the back of her throat.
"I… ah…"
"Your Majesty? Auriana?"
The last thing she remembered was the sound of Mathias Shaw calling her name, before her chest abruptly constricted, her knees buckled, and the world went black.
