Much thanks to those who've reviewed, messaged, and commented over the last two weeks, it is appreciated! This miniarc is nearing its completion, and I am pleased to say that, overall, it was a successful experiment with following a single character for multiple chapters on end rather than bouncing perspectives periodically. Naturally i will return to that once the miniarc ends, but It tells me important information that may relate to future works. R&R, and enjoy! ~F
Chapter 127
Hyjal's Heights
If Soridormi was pleased with his willing acceptance of her request, the dragon did not show it.
Taking the two vials in her hands, the elven-seeming creature concentrated, shutting her eyes as the twin containers of water started to glow. "The power contained in even this small amount of water from the Well of Eternity is incredible," she said, "I can see clearly into every moment in time linked to Hyjal… the creation of the second Well of Eternity, Illidan's imprisonment, the enchantment of the World Tree, and… yes!"
Soridormi's eyes snapped open, shimmering with time magic, "The Battle of Mount Hyjal. The way is open!" she said, even as magic flared around the chamber, shattering the gates and barricades that stopped the three exits from the chamber. "We must make haste, the timeline is not safe," Soridormi added, starting toward one of the entrances.
"This passage will take to the Alliance encampment during the battle. Lady Jaina Proudmoore leads the Alliance remnant in holding the lowlands from the Scourge onslaught. You will need to infiltrate their fortress, and assist in whatever way seems best to you. Keep your eyes open," Soridormi admonished Nobu'tan as he approached; "I suspect strongly that the Infinite Dragonflight will attempt to weaken the defenders of the battle, or else kill the young Sorceress."
"I understand," Nobu'tan said, nodding.
"Once they have held out as long as they can, and Jaina and her forces retreat, I will summon you back here, to use the other gates and head off the Legion's assault at every major point in the battle." Soridormi explained, even as Nobu'tan walked past her into the new passage.
"So I will see you after the first stages of the battle are over then," Nobu'tan affirmed, "So be it."
Without another word, Nobu'tan stepped into the vortex of time that he found in the passage, and turned slowly in the swirl of time, before his feet found solid ground once more. Looking around him quickly to get his bearings, he discovered that he was on the slopes of the very mountain after which the battle was so named, and the high walls of an Alliance fort rose up by him.
Humans, elves, and dwarves rushed about in a hurry, moving supplies from their rear lines to the front, while soldiers in full regalia lined up toward the south, where the only road on the ground sloped downward and out of sight.
"Make haste!" a voice called, and Nobu'tan turned to see a much younger Jaina Proudmoore giving orders to her soldiers, "the Scourge will be upon us soon, and we need every available warrior and armament ready for them."
Keeping his eyes averted from the young Sorceress, Nobu'tan approached the front lines of their defenders. Footmen, Knights, a contingent of Dwarves with long rifles, and Elven sorceresses and priests kept a watchful vigil over the southern gate, waiting for their undead foes to make their appearance.
As subtly as he could, the warlock swept the lines of soldiers with wizarding magic, trying to sense out the specific aura of the Infinite Dragonflight. If he could rouse them from their hiding places before the battle officially started, it would make things much easier.
Unfortunately, it seemed that the meddlers in time were not willing to be part of the fighting itself, as none of the frontline soldiers were disguised in any way.
He was about to turn and start exploring the rest of the fortress, when a long note sounded from father up the mountain. It was a horn, low and resonating in the earth as it blared over them.
"Prepare!" Jaina called, and Nobu'tan heard the rattle of the dead as the first waves of ghouls started over the small hill and into the base. Archers in towers fired volleys down at the lumbering undead, but many were too fast and evaded the projectiles as they leapt on the shields of the first lines of footmen.
"For the Alliance!" Jaina cried, entering the fight herself, conjuring a pair of water elementals to fortify her warriors. For a brief moment, Nobu'tan just stared as the Sorceress of Theramore unleashed her knowledge of ice magic on the enemy. Great blizzards of massive ice shards rained down, skewering countless undead, even as Jaina hurled molten orbs of fiery destruction, supported by her warriors.
Nobu'tan snapped himself out of his trance at the prowess of the young Mage, and turned to hurry through the rest of the camp. The first forays would be safe enough without him intervening, and that might give him the time needed to roust the Infinite Dragonflight from hiding.
He swept the rear part of the base, aside from the rear post guards and a train of laborers hauling supplies in from out of the base, there seemed nothing out of place here. Knowing that he had to have missed something, and that time was of the essence, Nobu'tan stopped walking, and crouched.
Quickly tracing a small runic circle into the ground, he muttered Latin spells and grasped the Elder Wand tightly in his hand. Nobu'tan had to find these imposters quickly, wherever they were, and there was nothing swifter for locating an unknown target than the enchantments of his birth world.
The magic leapt into the air, unseen by any who was accustomed to the magic of the wizards of earth, and spread out over the entire Alliance base.
Turning his attention to those around him once more, Nobu'tan quickly glanced from side to side, trying to find someone, anyone, who the magic he had released seemed to collect on, finding and attaching itself to the aura that he sought.
Finally, he spotted a small congregation of laborers, and a few guards, in a secluded side portion of the fort. His spell clung to them heavily, and from their mutterings, it was clear that they were completely unafraid of the advancing demonic army.
"So, even here, we meet again," Nobu'tan said, boldly walking up to the knot of disguised dragonkin.
For only the briefest moment, it seemed as though they would try to deny the truth that they all knew was obvious for Nobu'tan to see.
"Meddler…" one of the footmen sneered, "You will die here, and none will mourn your death…"
"You first…" Nobu'tan bit back, already conjuring fire in his hands.
The disguised humans threw away their illusions in a flash, swords and magic unleashed against the warlock. Nobu'tan flew into a frenzy, allowing a shield of green-tinted flame encircle him, absorbing the spells that the Dragonkin tried to hurl at him, while the Aetish struck out to intercept the enchanted blades of his foes.
Covered by the sounds of battle from the front gates, Nobu'tan held nothing back at eliminating these fools quickly, even tapping into the Fel to launch explosive bolts of pure chaos magic. Anything left would be pinned on the Legion, and therefore there was no point in trying to limit himself.
Unfortunately, it seemed that the Dragonkin he had found were nothing more than scouts, and they fell quickly before the brutality of the Fel-wielding warlock. Leaving their smoldering ruin, Nobu'tan returned to eh center of the encampment, even as a chilling voice echoed from outside the base.
"The Legion's final conquest has begun! Once again the subjection of this world is within our grasp. Let none survive!" came the icy words as a Scourge Lich came into view, necromancers and their fodder undead swarming around him as they joined the intense fray at the gates of the Alliance encampment.
Nobu'tan started toward the battle, standard flames in hand and ready to counter the dire spells of the lich, when the thundering of pawed feet over the grass turned his head.
A line of Night Elves thundered past, led by a massive Frostsaber. And atop the hulking cat was a very familiar elven High Priestess. Tyrande Whisperwind looked the same as when Nobu'tan would officially meet her years from now, and her ire was once again turned toward those who would destroy all of Azeroth.
"Anu'dora!" she shouted, even as several massive glaive throwers rumbled into range and opened fire on the Scourge lines.
Nobu'tan paused, allowing the Night Elf reinforcements to pass by him, and figured that even now the battle was still well in hand that he could continue to search out the Infinite Dragonflight and remove them from interfering with the history of Azeroth.
Even as the Lich at the gates started throwing great bolts of frost magic, Nobu'tan moved to the other side of the Alliance fortress, following a hunch that the group he had found were nothing more than scouts, and that others lay in wait for a more sinister purpose.
The undead push was starting to force the defenders back, and occasionally one darted through, starting to chase the laborers of the Alliance and harass the supply lines keeping their soldiers ready.
Nobu'tan briefly paused to incinerate those with fire, while still looking for any sign of ill will within the defenders ranks. It was unlikely that the dragonkin assassins would try to impersonate agents of the Legion, and as Nobu'tan watched another group of knights join the fray, he sensed their presence once more.
Looking quickly, he spotted one of the knights on a collision course with Jaina herself, the Sorceress unaware of the blade coming for her neck.
Quickly warping portal magic around his hands, Nobu'tan caused an arcane portal to open up behind Jaina, right in the path of the Knight and leading back toward Nobu'tan. The armored warrior tried to avoid it, but his momentum on horseback carried him straight through the magical gateway, and into a boulder-sized fireball of Nobu'tan's, which sent the mounted warrior flying from the saddle.
"Is this really the best you could muster?" Nobu'tan spat at the fallen figure, which quickly shifted into another of the dragonspawn, along with his mount, and charged to attack him.
Before either could reach him however, the pair of dragonspawn was struck down by a blazing bolt of arcane magic.
Nobu'tan whirled, wondering who had interfered, and widened his eyes at the old man he saw before him. "Hello again, young warlock…" the clear voice of a much older Medievh said.
Nobu'tan started to open his mouth in protest of the man's presence, but Medievh shushed him. "I do not wish to know anything you have to say regarding your presence here. I can only assume, as you still have Aetish, that you are wandering in time, fighting these same creatures no less… While Lady Proudmoore, Warchief Thrall, and the Night Elves battle the Scourge and the Legion for the survival of our world, we shall go and protect them from influences outside their own time…"
How the man was able to so quickly grasp the situation, without even a word from Nobu'tan, the warlock did not know, but their abrupt silence was broken as the Lich was defeated in a hail of arrows and dwarven gunshot. "You have won this battle, but not… the… war!"
Medievh glanced at the front lines, even as Tyrande and her forces started to withdraw. "They all grew up so fast, and came together right when the world needed them most." The man said wistfully.
"Am I allowed to speak anything yet?" Nobu'tan interjected, somewhat put out that the old Guardian had dominated any attempts for Nobu'tan to even comment.
"So long as you do not speak of the future, young warlock, you are free to do so…" Medievh replied, also sarcastically.
"Your assumptions, as I am sure you already know, are correct. These creatures, members of the so called Infinite Dragonflight, are trying to meddle with time to unravel all of Azeroth…" Nobu'tan explained quickly, hoping to head off any attempt for the old mage to interrupt him.
"Ah, so I am to guess that both now and back in the Black Morass are not the only times you've fought them…" Medievh said, scratching his short beard.
"Correct," Nobu'tan affirmed, "I do not know their goal here, but judging from that last attempt on Jaina's life, they are trying to kill the leaders of the defenders, and secure the Legion's victory…"
"A victory that I already highly suspect does not come to pass, by your presence," Medievh said, his eyes twinkling in an irritatingly familiar way for Nobu'tan, "Naturally they won't be victorious, but if aided in such a manner. The loss of any of the faction leaders would be downright devastating…"
"Yes, and so I am going to defend each encampment leader as the battle progresses, and lend what aid I can in things start to turn sour." Nobu'tan said, shrugging as the Guardian already seemed to be thinking ahead of how to accomplish his task.
"They will all be as this one, I presume?" he asked, "the same magical signature…"
"As far as I know, they have been," Nobu'tan affirmed.
"Good, that is good. It will make things a bit easier…" the Guardian replied, waving a hand and conjuring a small orb of Arcane magic to him, "I have limited power since we last met… death has a funny way of destroying not only your pride, but your strength in magic as well… but this will aid you greatly."
The orb floated over to hover around Nobu'tan, "It has been enchanted to seek out the same signature of magic, and should guide you faster and more accurately to your prey, should they be near."
"What are you going to do?" Nobu'tan asked.
"I am needed elsewhere, working behind the scenes to pull all the strings of this battle together," Medivh said, "I trust you to fulfill what you intend to do… you remind me of myself, quite a bit in fact, and in that I find a great deal of comfort."
Nobu'tan had no words for the eccentric Guardian, even as the man tapped his version of Aetish on the ground, transforming into a raven and taking flight. For a split moment, the warlock glanced at his own staff, wondering if he could accomplish the same feat.
A topic for research later, but before he could even dwell on that further, the arcane wisp that had been granted him from Medievh flared a sinister red and floated off away from Nobu'tan.
Even as another wave of undead launched their attacks, swarming over the blasted and iced over walls, Nobu'tan scrambled after the orb. The enigmatic little sphere barreled straight into a knot of peasants, who looked up stupidly as Nobu'tan rushed through them after it. The orb was leading him to the rear of the fortress, far away from the fighting at the front.
When Nobu'tan finally caught up to the orb, he spotted a full battle group of dragonspawn, uncovered; trying to demolish the supply lines of the Alliance forces. Peasants were running, and the guards left here were already slain.
"Enough…" Nobu'tan said, seething. "Enough!" he roared, seeing one of the dragonspawn run down a frightened man, freezing the creature in place with a gust of frigid wind.
"You foul creatures, traitors to time itself…" Nobu'tan growled out, allowing his ice-cold hated to take form, as icicles formed around him, sharpened and pointing at the foes before him, "Enter the oblivion that you seek for the rest of us!"
Thrusting both hands forward, the warlock sent the volley of razor-sharp ice spearing forward, cutting and piercing every dragonkin in sight. They fell in droves, caught off guard by the haste and brutality of the attack, but Nobu'tan staggered as well.
He still hadn't fully recovered from the intensity he had used in protecting Arthas, and while the ambient magic of Hyjal itself was strengthening him, it was not fast enough compared to the drain his spells were taking.
The orb bobbed next to him, the arcane returned to its usual purple hue, and Nobu'tan knew he had some time before he had to act again, and he retreated into the fortress once more. Finding a peaceful corner, he conjured food and water with the arcane, wincing at the taxation to do so, but eagerly consuming the items, allowing the restorative powers of the mana-enriched food and drink to revitalize him.
Carefully, he watched the battle as it slowly spilled into the fortress from the gate. Jaina and her forces were fighting with all they were worth, but ground was being lost as the undead swelled with every wave of attackers.
There seemed to be no end to their ranks, and just when Nobu'tan started to rise, ready to at least contribute some of his refreshed power to the battle, another horn blared at the rear gate.
"Anu'dorini Talah!" cried a male Night Elf voice, and Nobu'tan turned to see a druid riding a pure white stag, followed by another bout of reinforcements from higher up the mountain.
This one was someone he did not know, but the Elves seemed to respect him as much, or more, than Tyrande in their fervor to follow into battle.
"Tor falah-no dorah!" the druid shouted, pointing his staff at the advancing lines of undead, mixed with felguard and felhunter demons, even as a pair of massive ancients entered the human base. The hulking trees waded into the fray, scattering undead as they attacked with root and branch.
Despite their lumbering size, the trees were effective in devastating the attacking forces, even as the druid conferred with Lady Proudmoore.
But all paused in the battle as a new voice boomed over the hill to the south, sinister and deathly in its calmness. "You are defenders of a doomed world. Flee here, and perhaps you will prolong your pathetic lives!"
Nobu'tan shuddered at the voice of a somewhat familiar Nathrezim. Anetheron, second in command of all Dreadlords that served the Legion, came into view, leading another wave of undead and demons into the battle, and raised his arms skyward. "Earth and Sky shall burn!" the Dreadlord cried.
A dozen infernals fell to the earth at his call, slamming into knots of united defenders and buildings alike, before the Fel golems rose up to fight. Nobu'tan suspected that at this time, the tide had turned against the forces of the Alliance and their Night Elf allies, and he would be needed to step in and assist.
Drawing the Elder Wand, Nobu'tan hefted the staff of Aetish, and turned on his heel, apparating to the front lines of the fighters, before blasting the closest demons and undead with hexes and arcane magic alike.
"Arise defenders of Azeroth!" he shouted, rallying the soldier around him in the melee, "Fight for your lives!"
Swinging both artifacts around him, Nobu'tan conjured a roaring swirl of fire, directing it to encircle the humans and night elves in protective barriers, and incinerate the undead and demons that dares to come into contact with it.
On either side, he spotted forces being led by the strange Night Elf druid, as well as Jaina, taking advantage of the distraction he was causing, trying to circle the attacking force and engage Anetheron directly.
Moving his arms in a complicated sigil, Nobu'tan steered the torrent of flame into a beam of concentrated power, scorching everything in wide arc in front of him, and opening the way for the soldiers around him to push forward.
"Pestilence upon you!" Anetheron cried, unleashing a swarm of hungry bats, coated in the magic of darkness native to the Nathrezim. At the same time, several abominations mounted the hill and started into the melee, swinging their heavy cleavers and chains wildly to do as much damage as possible, uncaring if they hit friend or foe.
As one, Nobu'tan, Jaina, and the Night Elf leader raised their staffs, and a shower of ice, fire, and lunar flares crashed down from above, enveloping the torrential swarm from the air, as well as striking down random ghouls and necromancer on the ground.
The chaos raged for several long minutes, and Nobu'tan struggled to push his division forward, taking command effortlessly with his magic. He dared not reveal any of his powers as a warlock before the Dreadlord, but through both Arcane arts and wizardry, he could tip the scales just enough to keep their momentum forward, even if it was slowed to a crawl.
"You all look so very tired…" the Nathrezim said, even as he unleashed a magically created gas, which Nobu'tan sensed immediately would put any who came into contact into an enchanted sleep.
"No friend, this will not come to pass!" the Night Elf shouted, conjuring a gust of wind, blowing the enchanted vapor to the side. Jaina and Nobu'tan added blasts of frigid air as well, dissipating the attack quickly and keeping as many as they could from getting affected.
But in the moment that they had to react, Anetheron vanished from sight. Nobu'tan looked around wildly for the Dreadlord, and turned quickly as he heard the shrill scream from their rear. The vampire-demon had teleported, one claw now planted deep in an Elven Priest's chest. "Scream for me…" he said cruelly, even as the High Elf expired from blood loss.
Dropping the corpse, the Nathrezim started on the others, "Pity, no time for a slow death," he said, almost playing as he chased down his next victim, a dwarven gunner, and decapitated the short creature.
In a rush of lightning-fast reflex, Nobu'tan apparated behind and above the Dreadlord, already swinging Aetish even as the focus shimmered with Arcane might.
He struck Anethron between the neck and the shoulder, the staff of the Guardian flaring to full strength and blasting the demon to the side.
Even as he fell, Nobu'tan was already launching into his next attack midair. Curses and hexes flew from the Elder Wand as he landed, covering the Nathrezim in long, deep cuts and crushing various regions with bone-breaking strength.
Despite this, the demon was not even close to defeated. Rolling quickly where he was thrown, Anetheron recovered to his hooves and lashed back with surging Fel flames of his own.
Nobu'tan snapped a wizarding shield into place, not even pausing as the demonic fire splashed around him, and whirled Aetish in hand. Torrents of snow and ice pelted the demon from behind, shredding the webbing of his wings and causing the Dreadlord to howl in pain.
Instead of retreating, as Nobu'tan had partially hoped, the demon sunk in, intensifying the flames that slowly started to eat away the magic of his shield.
"Your hopes are lost, little mage…" the Nathrezim sneered, "The swarm is eager to feed upon the likes of you."
Nobu'tan felt his energy wavering again, and the shield started to collapse upon itself. Within moments it would shatter completely, and he would be forced to reveal his true form in order to survive.
Thinking quickly, Nobu'tan tilted his head, coming up with an unorthodox solution. He leapt backward, even as his allowed the shield to fall. The flames swarmed in where he had been standing, before launching outward to pursue him.
But Nobu'tan lifted Aetish, which had so fully become accustomed to the Fel flowing through its form, and slammed the staff upright into the ground. The dire, green fire roared into the presence of the staff, and opening all his ability with the Fel short of tapping into his own, Nobu'tan allowed the staff to drain the violence from the flame.
The Fel was pulled into the staff, absorbed as quickly and hungrily as it was presented, even until the staff was glowing with stored magic.
"What madness is this?" Anetheron said, ceasing his attack as Nobu'tan closed his hand around the sparking staff of the Guardian.
"Your end on this world…" Nobu'tan said, thrusting the staff back at the demon, and releasing all the stored power, along with a torrent of his own Aracne magic. The combined energies surged white as they rocketed outward, striking Anetheron in the chest and hurtling him backward.
The energy depleted rapidly, and Nobu'tan sank to his knees, thoroughly worn at the levels of magic he had channeled through him in the battle.
But the Dreadlord was far worse off than he. Anethron fell, only managing to stop a face plant by one burned claw.
"The clock..." he growled out, blood seeping from his mouth with every word, "is still... ticking."
Rearing back, the demon cried out, a howl echoing across the foothills of the mountain, as he burst into a cloud of bats, and vanished.
Turning back, Nobu'tan gazed past the awed looks of the rank and file troops that were coming to help him, to where Jaina and her force was still trying to hold off the surging waves of the Scourge.
"Don't give up!" she called, even as she summoned a pair of hulking water elementals, "We must prevail!"
But try as they might, it seemed that the totality of the attacking force had come upon them, and they were being quickly pushed back.
From the corner of his eye, Nobu'tan spotted the Guardian's orb flash red once more, even as a dark shadow sped toward the Sorceress.
"No!" he shouted, instinctively throwing a gout of green fire at the specter. The dragonspawn, illusioned as an Night Elf sentinel collapsed to the ground, shifting back as it writhed under the torment of the Fel-empowered fire.
Jaina had not seen, but many of the soldiers now backed away from Nobu'tan. The Sorceress however, was busy with her own casting. A massive wall of ice exploded into being at the entrance of the fortress, ensnaring many of the undead that tried to enter, and sealing the way for others from attacking.
"We have won valuable time," she called to her forces, "Now we must pull back, to Thrall's encampment up the mount, go!"
Quickly, the soldiers of the Alliance started to gather up whatever they could carry in arms reach and depart, fleeing up the slope out the back entrance of the Alliance fort.
Jain had the priests gather the wounded around her, and started a massive field of Arcane teleportation. Nobu'tan kept back, aloof of their movements has he watched for anything out of the ordinary. The undead were hammering on the ice wall, trying to break through and devour the fleeing Alliance forces, but to little avail.
There was a rushing of wind, and Jaina vanished with the last of her forces. Nobu'tan breathed a sigh of relief. That was one stage of the battle which for now was kept from being utterly demolished.
He still had to find the leaders of the Infinite Dragonflight however, and end them to release the timeline back into the control of the Bronze Flight, and that would mean making his own way back to the Kalimdor Horde's fortress.
"You've done well so far, young warlock," Medievh's voice said, even as the Guardian of Tirisfal appeared, shifting out of his raven form, "and I suspect you will also be going up the mount with the others."
Nobu'tan spotted the opening vortex of time magic, and beyond the caverns with Soridormi beyond, beckoning to him, "I will, after reporting back to the Bronze Dragonflight and getting further assistance to where my enemies are hiding, if there is any to be found."
Medievh nodded, also glancing at the vortex of time, "Then I will save what I have to say until later. Good luck to you, and I will meet with you again soon."
The Guardian shifted once more, taking to the air as a great cloud of gargoyles started to blacken the sky, all heading up the mountain.
The ice started to crumble from its defensive barricade, and Nobu'tan rushed for the time portal, even as the Scourge started to break through and rampage through the deserted buildings, looking for prey that would not be there to find."
The time gate closed after Nobu'tan exited, breathing deeply to regain what energy he could. "I must say you're everything that the others had reported," Soridormi said, "That is one of the portals dealt with, the first stage of the battle preserved as near to how it should be as possible."
"But no sign of the leader of the Infinite Dragonflight there," Nobu'tan added.
Soridormi nodded, "Yes, I doubted that whomever it was would present themselves to you so quickly, but come, the second stage is about to begin, and the Horde's fortress will be besieged next, with the Alliance refugees holding there alongside their hated foes."
Nobu'tan frowned, but the dragon continued, "You'll have to manage the peace between both factions as well as hunt for the Infinite Dragonflight this time, as I cannot see them fighting so well alongside each other this early in their shaky peace."
Nobu'tan nodded, "I really could use a moment to regain my strength…" he commented, and the dragon glanced at him.
"Take this," she said, handing him a gem that pulsed with magical energy, "It's not much, but should keep you going until you can get to the top of the mountain. The well of Eternity there will be more than able to replenish any magical power or physical strength you have lost fighting."
Nobu'tan nodded, siphoning out the magic from the gem, until it was dull and lifeless. Soridormi had been right, it wasn't much, but better than nothing at all. "I thank you," he said, turning toward the next portal, and stepping through to the center of the Horde encampment, just as the Alliance forces arrived from below.
Jaina and the wounded Alliance forces teleported in moments later, appearing in the rear of the camp, where shaman and troll doctors rushed to aid the injured humans.
Nobu'tan felt the familiar presence of Thrall, and turned to see the shaman approaching Lady Proudmoore, speaking quickly and quietly with her, before his face set into a grim frown.
"Make ready, for the Legion's approach!" he bellowed, his voice booming over the noise of the fort, "Lok'tar Ogar!"
Nobu'tan turned toward the entrance of the Horde base, and heard the thunder of many feet as their enemy approached. However, as the first row of ghouls came into view, the ground beneath them suddenly exploded upward, leaving nothing but a puff of dirt and smoke.
The assembled warriors cheered, but Nobu'tan was confused. As the approaching wave came at them, more explosions ripped their line apart, leaving only a ragged group of badly damaged ghouls for the Horde grunts and spear throwers to defeat by the time the dead reached them.
"Replace the mines, prepare for the next wave!" Thrall shouted, and Nobu'tan finally understood. The Horde had conspired with their goblin allies, bringing out explosives to hide in the ground approaching their base. Clearly they had been armed remotely once the Alliance had arrived, in preparation for whatever came afterward.
With the mines covering the ground in front of them, that left only the air as a major threat, even as gargoyles started to swoop down from above.
Torrents of lightning flew upward in response, from many of the troll and orc shaman that attended the Horde of Kalimdor. Watching these spell casters, Nobu'tan could see their power, and wished that more of the Dark Horde had such supporting magic on their side. Some of the forest trolls and ogres had mastered it, but the orcs of the Blackrock and Dragonmaw clans had all but abandoned the arts, and the Fel orcs had no such magic available to them either.
Snapping back to his task at hand, Nobu'tan spotted Medievh's orb already starting to glow, and leading him toward a rear portion of the base, toward the road leading up to the peak of the mountain.
Outside of the barricades, which were unmanned on this side of the camp, Nobu'tan spotted several unmasked dragonspawn, already channeling their time magic to open vortexes and summon more of their kind.
Apparently they were thinking to launch their own assault on the rear of Thrall's base while the Kalimdor Horde dealt with the Legion.
"Oh I don't think so…" Nobu'tan said, grateful that his energy had been somewhat replenished by the mana gem that he had been given. Fighting this many would have been difficult after Anethron.
The first few dragonspawn turned at his shout, just in time to see the balls of fire strike them, sending embers scattering and interrupting many of the portals.
Still, the attack sparked the wrath of the Infinite spawn, and they surged toward Nobu'tan, even as several towering hulks emerged from the remaining portals.
In a flash, Nobu'tan summoned several water elementals to aid him, before copying Jaina's tactic from her base, and raising a wall of ice to block of part of his enemies, cutting his number of current foes in half. Still there was around two dozen for him to contend with.
Magic started to explode around him, and Nobu'tan was forced to shield himself as the casters among his enemies started to focus him solely, while the melee opponents engaged his elementals.
The tactics of these dragonspawn was improved from every other time that Nobu'tan faced them, and he wondered if they were some manner of elite strike force. It made sense, given their strategy of outright attacking both Horde and Alliance armies directly.
Nevertheless, Nobu'tan fought back, sending torrents of flame and spikes of ice arcing back at the dragonspawn, reinforcing his elementals with wizarding magic to boost their fighting capabilities against the enchanted weapons of the enemy front line.
He had cleared about a third of those on his side, when the ice wall shattered, sending shards spraying back at Nobu'tan and opening the way for the rest of the dragonspawn to move through a narrow gap in the wall.
Most of the ice was banished by his shields, but a few of the larger shards survived to scratch the warlock's face and arms, but he ignored the pain, pushing through it to keep fighting.
This army could not pass him into the base, or else all could easily be lost.
"Hold them back!" Thrall's voice boomed from the opposite side of the fort, rallying his soldiers, "Do not falter!"
Nobu'tan chose to indulge in the words, and set himself against these foes. He may not be one of the Kalimdor Horde, and not even a fully ally of them. Still, he would fight for the defense of Azeroth, regardless of the enemy being demon, mortal, or dragon.
"If you want to annihilate time itself, you will go through me first!" Nobu'tan shouted, empowering his words through the Fel, and summoning a trio of spikes out of the ground. They rocketed through the breach in his ice wall, impaling many and pushing the horde of foes back for a time.
Quickly, Nobu'tan snapped the Elder Wand about, the killing curse flying from his lips, and green death sprayed across the assembled mass, mowing them down as fast as Nobu'tan could speak. He had only managed to get the level under control when the rest of his wall came down.