Enjoy guys.
The smile that brought its way onto Fila's face was difficult to shake and to be honest, she had very little intention of doing so. She knew that most of her feelings were not her own, what little was left of them at least. But at the moment she couldn't find a means to care, why would she? For the first time in a long while, ever since she was freed from control, she was having fun.
She blocked the wide swing from the undead and kicked forward, her armoured boot completely shattering what was left of her enemy's kneecap. It fell to the ground, landing on all fours and she smirked as she raised her sword and brought it down over the beast's neck.
She turned quickly, without even watching the head fall. Knowing that many of her allies were already leaving the chapel and moving into the chamber around the base of the ice spire that at its peak held the frozen throne. She ran forward with everyone else, not finding it hard to see that both Korth'azz and Zeliek were leading them. Lady Blaumeux was a little further back from the others, in the middle of their large group.
Fila saw that one of the small number of Orcs among them 'Trarn' if she remembers correctly had an undead skeleton pinned against the chamber door frame with his own hand, his large grip wrapping around the skull completely. With a little more pressure, the bone was crushed and the rest of its bones fell to the ground with no further issue.
"FORWARD NOW MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS!" Zeliek shouted as he raised his sword into the air.
'Ever the Palidan' Fila mused to herself as she and everyone else sprinted forward into the large chamber. The first thing she noticed was of course the large shard of Ice that took up most of her line of sight, though it may look like it. It wasn't ice. It was a shard of magic taken directly from the Twisting Nether itself, pulled from that realm and slammed into the cold ground of Northrend, When Arthas had taken his place on the top of it he had his Citadel built around it.
There were two walking paths that bent around the large spire on either side and from the planning she knew that the entrance was on the other side them. Without any words spoken between them, the group split in two and each moved down one side. They were all ready for what may be waiting for them, but Fila found herself shocked to see that there were none, the chamber was empty. Only a selection of large bones pressed up against the base of the spire.
It was so unexpected that it caused them to pause for a moment, none of them liked this, not even a little "Don't freeze, Ta me ya bastards!" Koth'azz shouted as he stopped in front of the chamber entrance "Warriors in front shooters behind?" he ordered.
The sound of his voice snapped the others out of their confusion and moved them back into action. They all sprinted as fast as possible to fill in the entrance of the chamber. Just in time as well as Fila was to be positioned near the back, as she placed her weapon away and reached for her back, taking out her rifle and taking aim. She could see a large horde of undead running towards them, she could make out a handful of Death Knights there as well.
Like many others, she fired her weapon over the heads of those who were in front and took no small amount of pleasure as the rounds of plasma went through multiple of the weaker undead bodies at once. The larger and more warrior-focused among their number stayed in the front acting as both large shield walls using their armour to protect themselves but also just as deadly as the rest of them due to their large sword. It did look odd to see orcs with swords instead of the axes that many of them use but from what she has seen there was very little to complain about.
The reason many people prepared axes for swords was that axes are able to do much more damage because the blade is more localized to a single area, when a sword strikes at armour, the damage spreads out through the armour plates and one would be able to swing it with much force because there is only a small shaft that one can swing with. Axes on the other hand have a lot more force to them because they can be swung with a better grip, which combines with a larger more localised blade and from there you have a good weapon but put it in the hand of a large person and it's a monster of a thing.
The good thing about these plasma swords was that because the blades have had little trouble cutting through anything so far, the need for a better grip hasn't come up yet so the Orcs don't seem to mind at all. Based on what Fila was seeing. They seemed to be enjoying holding the blade with one hand and punching any undead that get to close with the other.
And they were doing well, for now the line was holding but Fila could look forward to the end of the chamber and she could see the large gate that acted as the main entrance to the Citadel begin to open. She couldn't stop herself, as she saw the number of undead rushing towards them, almost crawling over each other like a wave. The feral smile came onto her face before she could stop it, the desire for battle and death was only growing.
Based on what she was seeing, the others were not firing any better "NO!" the sound of Zeliek shouted as he raised his sword, and a beam of holy light shot down on top of him. As the light washed over them all, Fila was able to regain control of her mind and remember why they were her "DO NOT ALLOW YOUR GREED AND CORRUPTION TO TAKE OVER!" he continued to shout "WE ARE NOT MINDLESS MONSTERS. WE ARE FREE MEN AND WOMAN!"
The way he shouted seemed to not only resonate with her but the others as well. As he yelled, Fila remembered where she came from, her friends, family before she was taken and turned into a slave. What would they say if they could see her now? She has wondered that more times than she would like to admit, being honest, she was afraid of the answer.
But thinking about her old life was able to calm her down and remind her why she was here. The smile left her face and she continued to aim at the largest targets she could find, her rifle fired along with everyone else. So far the plan was working as they expected, the undead were launching themselves at them with no plan or strategy. Those who were humanoid fell to a single round from their weapons, their feral bones and weakened skin not able to stand up to them. Those that were larger, and better armoured took multiple shots. The few Nerubian present were able to tank the shots escaping death with singed armour plates. Only to find themselves cut down by the great blades of those in front.
While she didn't allow herself to lose her focus, she could admit that so far, this was going well. At least until she heard it, it was hard not to. There was a loud scraping behind her and she could feel the pull of necromantic magic that was stronger than any she had felt before. She and many others turned around to the large bones that were once lying on the ground pressed up against the base of the spire and started to move.
They span in place, swirling around each other as they were lifted up into the air, forming into the shape of a large body "BEHIND!" she shouted and was pleased to see that many others turned to see what was happening but not all of them did, knowing that they would be overrun if they didn't deal with the attacking hordes.
They didn't wait for whatever this thing was to finish whatever it was doing and many of them started to fire their weapons at it. Though much to their shock, even at the higher power setting, the rifles didn't do much damage to this large body.
After a few seconds of firing the body of this thing had finished forming. It was massive, at least fifteen meters in height, with a large ribcage that held what seemed to be the source of its magical power. It didn't have legs as it seemed to balance on a cone-like shape made of bones and no doubt using magic to keep this large body upright. The most striking thing to notice about this enemy was the four large appendages that spread out from its back that looked like the bones from wings without the skin to keep them together. It held four skulls all pushed together at the top of its ribcage and in its two large arms rested a large battle axe that looked like it would have little trouble destroying their bodies even with their armour.
"Well, this is unexpected" the voice of Lady Blaumeux sounded next to her and Fila turned to see the mage taking steps in between her and the others who turned to face this new threat. She gripped her staff in both hands and Fila could feel the magic being channelled through it "Well don't just stand there" she said turning her head to face her "Kill the fucker!" she ordered as she fired her magic at this skull monster "Keep it away from the chock point! Move forward"
Being one of the former horsemen, following her orders came easily enough and she along with many others charged forward against the undead monster.
"HOLD THE LINE!" the voice of the archdruid shouted out all around the front, being carried on the wind in front of them, pushing his voice across all those who stood in the first few defence walls, allowing everyone to hear him despite the sounds of battle happening all around them.
The two armies met in the middle of the first field in front of the black gate and as expected they won the first charge. The wave of undead found themselves trampled by their superior armour and skill. Though their numbers were so numerous that whatever physical advantage the forces of Horde and Alliance made over the Scourge, meant very little.
As their force smashed into the Scourge, they killed many of their number but then they started to slow down and now they were stopped. Stalled in place as their shield walls tried to push further but couldn't, they met the first line where the Death Knights stood and their necromantic magic was boosting the lesser undead and making their march forward even harder through the use of cold waves pausing them in their movements and Plagues that they tried to not breath in.
Large shield walls were in the front of their lines, and just behind them were lines of pikes and spears that were doing the best they could but when the Scourge troops could shrug off most wounds that would kill anyone else, it was proving even more difficult to push them back. Behind them was where he and his fellow druids stood, they used their arts to aid their allies as best they could. They made the ground under the Scourge open and swallow them, they kept the cold of the north from affecting them so badly, and they brought great winds to the walkways of the Black Gate causing all enemy arrows to go wide and miss them, even knocking some of them off in the process.
But this was doable, they just needed to hold the line long enough for the big guys to give them the opening "INCOMING!" another voice shouted, this one was not his own. No, it was the one lone human present who was not an undead. The Archdruid heard the sound of Alexandros Mograine come from somewhere on his left, though it was difficult to tell how close or far he was. Not that it really mattered at the moment, the druid turned his head upwards to the sky.
He saw them quickly enough, it was a collection of five blue dragons that flew in a type of arrow formation as they slowly started to dive towards them. Malfurion could see the Scourge doing everything they could to stop them, large magical blasts, storms of arrows and even other dragons that held the same necromantic taint as the rest of them. But it didn't stop them, the blue dragons were masters of magic without equal and were easily able to either display the magic attacks or create a shield around themselves for protection, the arrows simply bounced off the thick scale hides. As for the flying attackers, the blues were not alone. They had an escort.
The druid and he suspected many others did as well, that those undead dragons that tried to attack their living counterparts found themselves intercepted by a collection of red and green dragons that either attacked them first with powerful breath attacks or charged into them with their physical bulk. Their path was clear "BRACE!" he shouted, doing the same as he did before.
As one of the entire front line took a knee, creating a wall with their shields, those behind them carried pikes, spears, and halberds jammed them into the ground and braced the blades against them, acting as reinforcement so they wouldn't be pushed back.
This would be a terrible idea in any other battle but this would only be needed for a couple of seconds. Malfurion did what everyone else did and braced himself up against the one in front. He watched as the dragons reached their lines and used their power, their mouths opened and one blue fire shot forth. It was a wave of death that eradicated all that it touched. He felt the heat of the flames even behind all this cover and the twenty or so meters ahead of them, if they had been closer the flames would have done just as much damage to them as well as the Scourge.
Wave moved past them and they went back up into the air, no doubt the join their kin. But the damage was done and they could push further now. At least a third of the enemy line was just wiped out and they had to press the advantage before they lost it. As one their line moved back up and renewed the attack, this time with much more success, though the Scourge still pushed against them just as franticly as before. They were losing now but if they could hold them for long enough it would be enough for them to be reinforced and they were back to square one.
They needed to punch a hole. So that's what he would do. Drawing on the all-too-familiar feelings of anger and wrath. He pushed the change onto himself and into a new form. His muscles grew, his face elongated and he fell to all fours. His mind changed into something less rational, more primal, more instinctual. His mind was still there, he was still him but he was different.
"RRRRRROOOOOOAAAAARRRRR!" He bellowed a roar as loudly as he could and charged forward into the horde that was trying to delay them. They stood in their way and they were going to pay the price for it! Those who stood around him quickly turned as his large form took over and were quick to step aside as he charged forward so they wouldn't get trampled by his wrath and crawls.
As they moved, what was left of the Scourge front line charged through the opening. They were not thinking of how or why, their dead minds were too far gone to allow them to think about why an opening was allowed to happen without a good reason. Which resulted in the most to move to be crushed, clawed and bitten. Malfurion's new form was so toughened that the spears and swords that were used to attack him hardly broke through his fur.
He pushed further and turned, starting to charge down the enemy lines and free up the resistance that the others were facing. He was not alone in this, he smelt it before he saw it. Those who followed the path of the druid and came with him to this frozen land of ice changed into their wrathful forms as well. None were as large or fearsome as him but it was enough, as they joined him, the first line of the Scourge found themselves beaten down, torn asunder and destroyed by them.
As they finished the Scourge reinforcements had only now reached them, for a moment the Arch Druid worried that he wouldn't have been able to withstand so many undead. But then he felt all of the Forsaken form around him and charge forward, ready to meet the Scourges charged with their own. Their lines were larger than the enemies now. When they were beaten he and the other druids would work to bring down either the Black Gate or make a hole large enough for them to get through and continue the assault.
His large wings folded in as he dived into the ground, the walkway of the first black gate buckled as his claws dug into them. Those small undead, both middles and Death Knight that manned the wall, firing arrows and magical attacks found their feet being unable to keep them upright due to the force of his feet shaking the metal with his landing.
The former mortals scrambled as they tried to turn their attention to him. What a pitiful attempt at battle. Malygos spread his wings and straightened his form to be as large as possible before the smaller beings, he opened his mouth and pure magical energy shot out. Much like fire, it melted through bone, skin, armour and everything else. He walked forward across the top of the gate, killing all who stood in front of him.
As he moved, not stopping his attack for a moment. Causing the metal, he was standing on to melt. Molten metal dripped from the top of it and landed on the heads of the enemy that were on the ground. As he stopped his attack, he did not stop moving forward. Making his way across the bridge and towards the ramparts of the Citadel proper. His old advanced and experienced eyes could see hundreds of undead souls manning them, preparing for an attack. Against what, he did not know but what he did know was that he wouldn't allow it to happen.
Until someone beat him to it "Your torment is at an end. Go to the Shadowlands in peace" the powerful voice of his sister spoke and he looked up to see the red dragon queen fly low to the ground and open her mouth. Red hot fire shot forth and engulfed the walls of the Citadel, burning all who came into contact with it.
Her words fell on death ears as the Scourge who survived the attack quickly turned their attention to her and tried to bring her down, to very little effect of course. Not allowing himself to be distracted the aspect of magic continued to move forward. He was killing all who came into contact with him, as he neared the end of the first gate and reached the outer walls of the Citadel. His head flinched to the side as a magical attack hit him above the eyebrow if this had landed on his sisters or brother then it would have done much damage to them, but he was a true master of magic, to use it against him was never going to end well.
He turned to where the attack came from and saw several collections of the undead march towards him, at least three hundred from what he could see. They were mostly mindless but he could see many of the more capable Death Knights. He didn't speak to them, what would be the point?
He let a roar escape him as he charged forward towards them. Bright runes appeared above his body and they fired blasts of Arcane and flame towards the Scourge. Softening them before he could reach them "TRAITOR!" a voice of familiar sound reached his eyes and his head quickly turned upwards. He only caught sight of it for a moment before a large undead dragon charged into him and while he was strong, his legs proved unable to stand against such a sudden strain.
His large blue body fell and rolled as the two bodies bit and clawed against each other. He was unable to stop himself from falling from the wall and down towards the soon-to-be battlefield behind the first black gate. The Aspect of Magic's body crashed against the ground, crushing all the undead that seemed under him. Malygos rolled further, fighting off the large form that had collided with him, using his own strength and power. He bit down on the bony neck of his attack and turned his whole form, swinging his attack around him and throwing it away.
He cared not for little ants that slashed and hammered at his feet as he rose to his true height. He let out a loud roar that echoed throughout the contained field between the first gate and the second. The force of the sound waves was enough to knock those in front of him to the ground, he watched with narrowed eyes as the skeletal form of his attacker rose from the ground with a size that was only slightly smaller than his own.
She was by far the largest undead dragon that he had seen since the five of them first waged their battle against Galakrond. Answering his call, she rose to her feet and leaned forward, she spread her wings and let out a roar of her own. That was when Malygos recognised her, not from her looks but the scent of her magic. Sindragosa, his once prime consort and greatest child. One who flew by his side when they were betrayed by Deathwing. One whose name he refused to say. If he were younger, he would have felt a great deal of sadness at seeing his long-dead child being brought to this horrific state of undeath. Still, now he was an angry bitter old man who was in no state to get emotional over seeing more crimes of the Scourge "My child! Fallen so low!" he bellowed as he ran forward towards the undead abomination.
Those Scourge foolish enough to get in his found themselves trampled by his feet, those who fired magic at him found it very ill-effective against him. While smaller in number, the large abomination creatures that were nothing more than stitched-together mortal beings lumbered towards him but with a simple swipe of his claws and tail, they were sent flying backwards "The wayward father, finally crawling his way out of the hole to embrace the new master" she snarled back to him as she charged herself.
The two huge draconic beings met in the middle of the soon-to-be battlefield, they neared and both rose onto their hind legs, his front claws locking onto each other as their heads collided with each other. Sindragosa was pushed back and she turned as she moved, twisting around and forcing Malygos to lose his balance and almost fall over. He used his wings to push himself into the air and keep his balance, he moved away and their claws separated.
His feet dug into the ground as he landed. He waited not for a single moment before he charged forward towards his former consort. Something Sindragosa matched with her fury, the two met in the middle. She made a move to bite him but he slashed her head with his claw, knocking it to the side. He was about to follow up with a breath attack of magical energy which would surely damage the mostly decayed form but before he could she kept on spinning and knocked his head with a powerful stroke of her tail.
He moved forward with the intent of biting down on her neck, before he could however he was knocked off balance by a combination of arrows, magical attacks and large hammers and claws to his legs by the undead that were circling him. He only just recovered himself before he looked to his primary concern, to see her large jaws open and lunging towards him. He brought up his right claw and swiped her head again and he felt his large nails dig into her exposed bones and rattled her skull. In the small moment she appeared to be dazed, he stood on his hind legs and raised both his front claws, ready to bring them down her head and end her suffering.
Before he could he looked up and three more much smaller undead dragons lunged for him, the first landing on his shoulders and digging in with claw and teeth. The second hovered in the air in front of his head and fired the disgusting necromantic magic at his head while the third dive-bombed his back leg forcing him to stumble and fall onto his side. Letting out an angry roar he quickly started to pick himself back up, making sure to kill all those who stood around him, not willing to let this attack go unpunished. He turned his head and clamped his jaw down on the one who was still digging into his shoulder as best as it was able. Most of the small things body fit into his mouth and when he applied the pressure from his jaw, its bony form snapped into many small pieces.
While most of it was still in his mouth, he twisted his head and opened his mouth. What was left of its small form flew through the air and smashed into the dragon hovering in front of him. It proved not strong enough to stand up to the attack and it broke into many different pieces before both now completely dead dragons fell to the ground. Before he could turn his attention back to the one he needed to kill. She came to him.
Sindragosa charged into him, her head collided with his chest and pushed him backwards, he wasn't able to stop until his back his the black metal wall that cut him off from his mortal allies "You have grown weak with age Father" she snarled at him as she shoved her head upwards, her horns digging into Malygos's chin as she did. Before he could recover, she came back and bit her jaw down on his neck. Sharp and jiggered teeth dug into his scales and nearly breaking through them in the process. Malygos is the aspect of magic and one of the most powerful dragons in the world but his wayward child has been greatly enhanced due to her now undead nature. She no longer feels pain, her very presence spreads the taint of undeath that requires one's power and focus to ignore.
Not willing to take this attack without fighting back, Malygos acted. As he was pushed up against the wall, he didn't need to worry about balance. With his right claw he reached up and placed it on the head of his wayward child, the sharp nails digging into her skull. Not that she cared at the moment, thinking that if she could break the skin on his neck, she would be able to infect him with the plague. Killing him and no doubt raising him to their side.
"No child" he bellowed back and he used his other claw and reached up towards his former consort's neck, with very little in the way of skin and scales to stop him. There was no way to stop him from reaching for the top of her spine that connected her head to the rest of her body "Simply wise enough to recognize the best moment to take advantage of a crippling weakness" the aspect of magic snarled back to her as he moved both arms.
The pressure on his neck dissipated quickly as she realized what he was doing and tried to pull away. Not that he would let her of course, his claws dug in further to her skull, he could feel the few remnants of brain matter left to brush up against the tips of his nails while his other hand clamped down harder onto her spine as he pulled. The magic keeping her 'alive' may be powerful but it was a common rule that any undead, from the most powerful to the least, still needed the most basic of body functions to move.
The aspect of magic let out a mighty roar as the top of Sindragosa's skull caved in and the spinal collum shattered into pieces. He watched for a single moment as his former consort's eyes widened slightly before she let out a final breath, her body falling limp and moving to the ground. He let loose his grip on her and her body fell hard, crushing those who were standing just behind her.
Before he could even take a breath after such an intense battle, a loud explosion rang out beside him and as he stepped away from the wall and landed back on his strong legs, he watched as the Black Gate itself flew through the air as his sister Alexstrasza moved just behind it, her body engulfed in fire. No doubt having just used her own body as a battering ram to knock the gate down.
He let loose another roar of anger at the charging Scourge army as he ran forward towards them, ignoring all the pain he was feeling. Knowing that the mortal army now sprinted forward beside him, for now, the plan was working and the bulk of the Scourge army definitely had their focus on them on the outside. He just hoped they provided enough of a distraction as possible.
The last chapter was all Kal and Mograine inside the citadel so this one was the outside, seemed fair. Now let me know what you think, I know I'm not the best when it comes to large-scale fighting so I hope this was passible. Next chapter we fight the lich king and end the scourge so that should be fun.
Next Story update: A New Origin