Lost Lion
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Volume 3: Chapter 10
*** The Great Sea – Off the coast of Khaz Modan ***
The salty sea breeze caressed my face as I stood at the bow of the ship, steadying myself with a hand against the wooden hull of the K.T.S. Katherine's Joy. Unlike the ship I had sailed on with Derek before, this was a true, old-school Kul Tiran naval vessel. The game never did justice to how large these ships really were; not even the British Royal Navy, during its Golden Age, could have built something this massive. Dwarfing Stormwind's largest ship, it was one of the anchors of Derek's fleet.
Speaking of Derek's fleet, I peered into the darkness of the night, willing myself to see the rest of it, but there was nothing, not even a shadowy outline. Yet, I knew they were there, hidden in the night: five Kul Tiran battleships of the same class as Katherine's Joy, accompanied by smaller, faster destroyer escorts. There was no light to give away their positions, but light wasn't necessary when you had people who could magically sense the location of each ship.
Tidesages were a game changer for naval navigation. Thanks to their connection to the sea, they could function as both radar and motor. Indeed, the tidesages of Kul Tiras could move ships on their own if needed. The bigger the ship, the more powerful the tidesage had to be to pull it off. That was why Kul Tiran ships still had sails; to give the tidesages a break. But in combat, they could make a ship turn and maneuver in ways that seemed impossible. It was thanks to them that we could execute our newest plan of attack.
Well… more like my plan, though the other commanders refined my ideas once I proved that the 'Barrier' could absorb the momentum of a cannon volley. That changed what needed to be done and instead of delaying Magni rescue, we all agreed to launch right away with Derek's Fleet. The only drawback to the plan involved the 'Barrier' spell itself.
I could hold it without a problem, but the other priests and clerics could only maintain such a powerful barrier for a few volleys at most. Many of my templars—former clerics—were spread out across other ships in pairs or trios to cover for one another. If all went well, our fleet would sail straight into the Goblin's Harbor and engage in battle.
Of course, nothing ever goes perfectly in war. But losing a few thousand was far more acceptable than losing tens of thousands, which would have happened with the original plan. Since I was the most powerful in wielding the Light, I was placed on the vanguard ship, set to be the first to poke into the hornet's nest. My job was to hold off the goblins' defensive cannons long enough for the other ships, with their weaker barriers, to sail in and overwhelm them. While we engaged the cannons, transport ships led by Saidan Dathrohan would storm the beach with the 1st and 2nd Alliance Legions.
However, at Derek's suggestion, we decided to approach the harbor under the cover of night, aiming to arrive just as dawn was breaking, well inside the Goblin's Harbor territory. Running in silence like this would have been suicidal on Earth, but once again, the tidesages made all the difference.
"Are we close?" I asked the tidesage at the bow of the ship. He was an old, bald man with a weathered face, his arms outstretched with water visibly and audibly flowing around his hands. He had told me his name earlier, but it didn't ring any bells.
"Almost, milord," the tidesage answered respectfully. "In fact, you should be able to see soon. Dawn is set to break."
As he spoke, the gradient of the sky lightened ever so slightly. The soft illumination revealed the shadowy silhouettes of people moving on the deck around me.
"Knight-Captain Aloman." I used her full rank due to the gravity of the situation. "Ranger-Captain Alleria. Get ready."
I wasn't alone on the ship—there were at least two hundred Alliance Legion soldiers and another one hundred and fifty Kul Tiran marines aboard. They would be disembarking while I maintained the barrier over the ship's bow. Only the Light knew how tough the goblin defenses would be. Not to mention, the goblins were famous for their liberal usage of landmines. I had warned everyone of these dangers, but still, the expected loss of life here was far less than if we had gone with the original plan.
True to the tidesage's word, the darkness began to lift slowly, and I could make out small dots of fire in the distance. Turning around, I saw the other ships a couple of miles behind us, maintaining a steady pace for safety. Exhaling in relief, I turned back to face the harbor.
"Alleria," I began, "the moment you can, give me an estimate of their numbers and see how many defenders are manning those cannons."
"Yes, Hierarch," Alleria answered, her tone equally serious. She, too, would be disembarking with fifty elven archers.
The plan was to secure a beachhead and work our way inland from there. Hopefully, we could push into the cannons' blind spots. After all, while the cannons were powerful, their movement was limited—they could only rotate vertically and horizontally within certain degrees, given how high they were mounted. Once our soldiers landed, it would be a matter of fighting our way to the towers and securing the cannons.
The dark sky gradually brightened. While there were still no yellow rays of sunlight, we could now make out each other's features. Alleria and Aloman stood right beside me, the former peering through a spyglass at the shore. It was amusing to see an elf using such a tool, but my thoughts shifted when Alleria turned to me with a bewildered expression.
"What?" I asked. "What did you see?"
"Most of the cannon emplacements appear to have no one defending them," Alleria said, disbelief clear in her voice. "In fact, many of the goblins seem to still be asleep."
'What the hell?' I thought.
"Where are their defenders, then?" Aloman asked, equally skeptical of what she was hearing.
"Most are scattered along the beach or in their makeshift town," Alleria replied. "I'd estimate their numbers at only a couple of thousand, at most."
I was confused by Alleria's report until a sudden realization hit me.
"Alleria," I said urgently, "do you see any signs of orcs? Don't mistake the hobgoblin brutes for orcs. They may be similar in size, but they're much wider around the waist."
Alleria refocused on the beach with her spyglass, scanning east to west. After a moment, she lowered the glass and looked at me.
"No," she replied. "It's just goblins and the hobgoblins you mentioned."
'Holy shit!' I couldn't believe I had overlooked something so obvious.
If the Laughing Skull clan was in charge, they wouldn't bother with mundane tasks like guard duty. They'd leave that to the goblins, and goblins, by nature, were lazy. In their corporate-style governance, they'd slack off whenever possible and wouldn't be diligent in their responsibilities.
"Holy shit!" I muttered, this time aloud.
"Callan?" Both Alleria and Aloman asked, concerned clear in their voices at my sudden curse. But I didn't respond right away. Instead, I looked up at the sky, which was slowly beginning to brighten with the first hints of gold peeking above the horizon.
"Alleria." I turned to the elf, a wild look in my eyes. "Tell me if they've spotted us yet. Hurry!"
Alleria's expression matched my urgency as she quickly did what I asked. After a few tense seconds, she turned back to me and shook her head.
Time seemed to slow down, and I found myself in that rare moment between tick and tock—a fleeting instant of clarity that very few ever experienced. Whether it was spotting a flaw in a chess game or solving an impossible equation, the bland term for such a moment was 'eureka,' but it felt far more profound. This was one of those moments—a golden opportunity staring me right in the face. A million thoughts raced through my mind, but one stood out: should I alert Derek and the others? Let them discuss and plan? But as I stared at the Goblin's Harbor, I knew wasting time in discussion would only cause us to miss this chance. I couldn't afford to let that happen.
This had to be done now.
"Tidesage!" I turned to the older man, my eyes full of urgency. "Get us to that beach as fast as you can."
"Sire?" The tidesage looked confused. "But that would take us out of forma—"
"I know," I cut him off. "I'll take full responsibility. But you will do as I command. Understood?"
My gaze locked onto his, and for a split second, I saw a flash of gold at the edge of my vision, like the blink of an old Earth camera. Whatever it was, it made the old man's face pale, and he nodded shakily. I could feel the energy gathering as the ship noticeably picked up speed.
As expected, the ship's captain sensed the change immediately and marched over. "Tidesage Davin, what are you—"
"Captain." I stepped in front of him, shooting a glance at the tidesage to signal him to not stop. Turning back, I fixed the captain in place with that same intensity. "Gather your marines, your crew—everyone—to the deck and prepare to anchor for landing."
"My lord?" The captain looked taken aback by my sudden shift in demeanor.
"You're all coming onto the beach with me," I told the captain, my tone leaving no room for argument. "Everyone—from the galley cooks to the crew in the lower decks. Everyone. Even you, Captain."
The captain's eyes widened in shock. "But what about the ship?"
"We're abandoning the ship," I said, feeling the wind pick up as our speed increased. "Anyone who stays on board will die minutes after we make landfall. Now get moving, Captain!"
"A-Aye, my lord," the captain stammered, still looking like he wanted to argue, but there was no time. Our window of opportunity was closing, and for once, being a high-ranking officer and a religious figure had its advantages.
"Callan—"
Alleria started, but I raised a hand and turned to Aloman.
"Get the soldiers on deck, now. Leave all non-essential gear behind."
"Aye, Marshal." Aloman looked like she had questions, but she trusted the chain of command and quickly set off to follow my orders.
I turned my gaze back to the goblin beach just as the sound of a loud gong echoed in the distance, followed by more fires being lit in the dim light of dawn.
"They've spotted us, haven't they?" I asked Alleria.
"Yes," Alleria confirmed, her tone sharp. "They're scrambling and moving chaotically to their defenses."
She narrowed her eyes, peering through the spyglass.
"Many of them are heading for the cannon emplacements," she added, her voice carrying a hint of concern.
While I couldn't make out the details Alleria could see, the outlines of the cannon emplacements were becoming clearer to me. It was just as Brann had described—twenty tower-crowned structures carved from the mountainside, all facing the sea. Between the jagged teeth of those towers were stolen dwarven cannons, their long barrels unmistakable. The fact that they hadn't fired yet, even though we were already perfectly within their kill zone, confirmed what my gut had told me all along.
The tower-crown emplacements were divided into two rows of ten. Ten on the left side of the harbor and ten on the right. Behind them, there must have been a smooth walkway of some sort, since there were no visible entrances beneath the towers. If each tower-crown had four cannons, that meant eighty guns were aimed at us. My eyes drifted to the center, where a series of pipes extended far into the water—likely oil pipes. Even in Azeroth, oil seemed valuable enough to warrant such heavy defenses. Speaking of which, the cannons weren't the only defenses. I spotted unfinished wooden hedgehogs, though thankfully, they were far from complete.
As the sky brightened, I could finally make out the goblins scurrying toward their defensive lines, just as Alleria had said. The beach defenses featured a series of incomplete barricades, rising higher as the land sloped up toward the coast. We would be fighting an uphill battle, but it was a manageable challenge.
"Marshal Lothar, the soldiers are ready!" Aloman shouted as the deck filled with knights, footmen, apprentice mages, and archers. They weren't alone; the lightly armored Kul Tiran marines had joined them, along with the ship's crew.
"It is done, my lord," the captain said. "On your command, we will drop anchor and lower the gangplank."
"We are nearing land, my lord!" the Tidesage called out, drenched in sweat from the exertion of moving such a massive ship.
This was it. Another gamble, but one was too good to pass up.
"Soldiers of the Alliance and noble sailors of Kul Tiras!" I infused my voice with the Light, letting it boom across the deck. "The enemy has foolishly shown us a weakness! Their cannons are unmanned, their night watch nonexistent. They are unprepared for war—"
Without turning, I pointed toward the beach behind me as the soldiers began to grasp the situation.
"—but we are!" I slammed a fist against my plated chest. "All of the sacrifices you've made up until now—the grueling training and the time away from your loved ones—has led you to this moment!"
I unsheathed my runeblade and filled it with the Light, making the runes glow gold for all to see.
"People will remember this day for generations to come. The day when the sons and daughters of Azeroth strike back against an enemy that has ravaged worlds to get here!" I roared. "For the Alliance!"
"FOR THE ALLIANCE!" they bellowed back in unison.
The soldiers' cries echoed around us, not as loud as I'd heard in larger battles, but within the confines of our fleet, it reverberated like a thunderclap.
"My lord, we're making landfall!" the tidesage cried, and with that, the ship struck solid ground, causing everyone to lurch forward slightly. I glanced at the water mage, who had an exhausted and shaken expression; he must have cushioned our impact with his magic, saving us from a harsher collision.
"Drop anchors and lower the plank!" the captain roared. Immediately, the crew of the K.T.S. Katherine's Joy lowered several wooden planks into the water off the starboard side.
"Soldiers of the Alliance!" I shouted as I secured my plumed helmet. "We're storming the beach!"
Without hesitation, I leaped over the rail, landing in the shallow water before the planks had fully descended. The cold water only reached my ankles as I waded forward, shield raised. Just as I did, I heard the soft ping of the goblins' arrows and bolts glancing off my shield, they were weak and ineffective at this range. I glanced down, seeing the spent shafts sink harmlessly into the water. The real danger would come from those cannons nestled in their high sound of heavy splashes behind me let me know that my soldiers followed.
"Shield wall!" I bellowed, raising my shield higher. Soldiers flanked me on both sides, their shields interlocking with mine.
"Shield wall!" Aloman echoed my command. "SHIELD WALL!"
More and more shields joined, expanding the formation until it was wide and sturdy. As we advanced, the rear soldiers raised their shields overhead, creating a layered defense against any aerial projectiles.
"Sailors of the Katherine's Joy! Stay behind the shield wall! Don't stray or break formation until I give the order!" I commanded, my voice sharp and authoritative.
"Callan! They're firing the cannons!" Alleria's voice carried a note of urgency as she spotted the movement up ahead.
"BARRIER!" I roared just as the thunder of cannons echoed across the battlefield.
The Light responded instantly, enveloping us in a golden dome. For a brief moment, the world seemed to hold its breath. The high-pitched whistle of incoming cannon fire pierced the air, growing louder with each passing second. Then, with a resounding thunk, something slammed against the shield wall, followed by the soft plop of metal hitting water. I glanced toward the sound and spotted the inert cannonball sinking harmlessly into shallow waters. The Barrier had drained its momentum, just as I had hoped.
Before we could all exhale in relief, another thunderous blast echoed across the battlefield, followed by a second, but no more after that. I was right—we had caught them off guard. Now was the time to ensure they couldn't regroup.
"Forward, soldiers of the Alliance, as one!" I roared, starting the marching chant. "Huah! Huah! Huah!"
The rhythmic chant was designed to keep the soldiers moving together in unison, maintaining lockstep with one another. One "huah" signaled the right foot forward, the next for the left foot. This ensured they moved in an orderly fashion.
"Huah! Huah! Huah!" The Alliance soldiers chanted in time with me as we advanced onto the rocky shoals. "Huah! Huah! Huah!"
"Kul Tiran marines, stay close and do not fall behind!" Aloman commanded as she took up position on the eastern flank.
"Huah! Huah! Huah!" The chant continued as we moved out of the water and out from under the protective golden dome I had conjured.
"Cannons volley incoming!" Alleria called out.
"BARRIER!" I bellowed.
Once again, a powerful golden dome materialized over us, absorbing the impact of the incoming cannonballs. The shots struck the Barrier, their momentum dissipating harmlessly. This time, there were six shots in total—two bounced off our shield wall, while the other two damaged the defenseless port side of Katherine's Joy. The goblin gunners must have mistaken the Kul Tiran ship for a fully manned vessel.
"Forward!" Aloman shouted, and the chant resumed.
"Huah! Huah! Huah!"
I lowered my shield slightly to create a narrow gap, allowing me to see the goblins in a state of panic. Some were arguing, while their archers fired chaotically at our seemingly impenetrable shield wall. We were halfway to the first barricade now, and it was time to address their range defenders.
"Alleria!" I called. "Take out their archers when I give the signal."
I felt a shift at the rear as Alleria's voice reached me. "On your command, Hierarch!"
"Center formation," I ordered, and the command echoed down the line. "V-Gap!"
Months of practice paid off as the center of the shield wall lowered and peeled away, forming a V-shaped gap. Alleria and her elven archers swiftly filled the opening, their arrows finding their marks with deadly precision. From my position, I saw goblins jerk back as if struck by an unseen force. Alleria and her archers managed to eliminate nearly a hundred goblins before they scrambled for cover under the return fire.
"Close the gap! Continue to push forward!" I roared as the shield wall closed, but not before Alleria fired one last shot, sending an arrow through the skull of an unlucky goblin. The thunder of cannon fire sounded from the left and right once more, but I countered it with another Barrier.
We were nearly at the barricade now, Katherine's Joy was taking heavy fire from the goblins to our right while the ones on our right continued to fall harmlessly off our shield wall. The goblins' dismay at our apparent invulnerability was audible. The 'Barrier' spell required more power with each blow it stronger the blow, the stronger the drain was on the caster. Cannons by themselves packed a huge wallop that would have been draining for any else I would imagine.
Even the most skilled priests like Allyson and Laura could only maintain such a powerful Barrier a few times before exhaustion set in. It made me appreciate the mastery of the Light that I had inherited from Anduin. Turning my focus back to the battle, I was relieved that with the cannons losing so much momentum, the splash damage was minimal. While the cannonballs still had enough force to kill, they needed to strike unarmored and defenseless targets to be lethal.
"Ready!" I roared as we closed in on the barricade.
Drawing heavily on the Light, I glowed with a golden aura. As we reached the barricade, I withdrew my shield and unleashed a series of charged Penance orbs through the gaps in the formation. Seven volleys of human-sized orbs smashed into the barricade, shattering the wooden structure and sending debris flying inward. The unlucky goblins caught in the blast were instantly way was clear; I had punched a hole through their fortifications.
"Forward!" I roared, charging ahead with my runeblade raised.
The muscles of the goblins race, the hobgoblins, wielded heavy clubs and axes were the first line of their defense and met us at the gap I created. I struck the first hobgoblin I encountered with a powerful blow that split his head open down to his chest. With a swift motion, I pulled my sword free and swung at another hobgoblin brute, crushing his skull before he even had a chance to raise his weapon in defense. Inspired by my lead, the Alliance soldiers surged through the broken gap with steely determination.
Despite being outnumbered, the sight of our disciplined, armored soldiers charging forward only added to the chaos among the goblins. Dozens of soldiers engaged the nearest goblins, many of whom were archers or pistoleers. The goblins further back, thinking that they were safe, were quickly proven wrong as Alleria's archers began their deadly assault, felling many from a distance. Some of the goblins attempted to fight us off, but most began to retreat to regroup in safer areas.
We couldn't allow them any breathing room; we needed to press the attack and keep the pressure on.
"Aloman!" I shouted, kicking a goblin archer in the gut and then stomping on his head to finish him off. I pointed toward the cannons' emplacement on the right side of the incline. "Break off with half our forces and rush the eastern cannon emplacement!"
Aloman nodded and roared, "Eagle Company, with me!"
"Alleria! Captain!" I called out, not bothering to watch Aloman and her forces move. "Take the Kul Tiran marines and our elven archers. Seize the entrance to the tunneled mountain. Do not let anyone escape to warn the Horde."
I gestured toward a large cavernous tunnel where the goblins had routed their oil pipes. If my instincts were correct, following those pipes would lead us to the gnomes' territory.
"Yes, my lord!" the Captain barked. "Marines! You heard Marshall Lothar! No one escapes."
Alleria gave a sharp nod and a whistle, signaling to her archers to push down the goblin center with precision.
That left me with a hundred Alliance soldiers. "The rest of you, stay close to me and watch each other's flanks!"
As if on cue, eight powerful cannon shots slammed into the area behind us, their explosive force reverberating through the ground. Had we been caught in those blasts, we would have been obliterated. Turning away from the near-miss, I glanced out to sea. With dawn breaking, the fleet was picking up speed. They must have sensed something was amiss with my plan. Before they could come into range, we needed to take out those cannons.
"With me!" I roared, charging toward the western cannon emplacements. "For the Alliance!"
A wave of goblins armed with short swords, spears, and miniature axes surged at us in a chaotic green tide. My eyes darted around, and I quickly calculated that they outnumbered us three to one. Whoever their commander was must have been skilled to rally them so effectively, especially considering their cowardly nature. However, behind them was the inclined steps leading up to the cannons, so the quickest path was to push through them.
Drawing the Light into myself I felt it surged like a raging tempest, but I wrestled it into focus. Just before my forces clashed with the enemy, I unleashed it. 'Halo' was one of my strongest Light attacks, with a significant area-of-effect component. Like its namesake, a ring of golden light erupted from me, engulfing the clumped goblins in holy fire.
"Argh!"
"Aaaaaaahuuuaaahhh!"
"No mercy!" I roared, swinging my Light-infused runeblade through a group of goblins, slicing them cleanly at the hips. My forces slammed into the injured, reeling goblins a moment later. "Kill them all!"
My soldiers swiftly finished off the wounded goblins and began engaging the regrouped ones. Though the goblins banded together in a desperate bid for survival they stood no chance as my forces hammered into them. Greatswords came down with deadly efficiency, smashing through the goblins' shield wall and killing its defenders.
The brutal efficiency of our assault proved too much for the goblins at the back of the line. I saw one goblin throw down his weapon and flee with his arms raised. However, it was futile; an elven arrow sprouted from his ears as he jerked sideways. I turned to see Alleria and the Kul Tiran marines securing the cavern entrance from the high ground, firing at any goblins attempting to flee in their direction. The Kul Tiran marines formed a wall of bodies, protecting our more vulnerable units.
Turning my attention back to the remaining goblins, it didn't take long before I breached their lines. The thunder of cannons was deafening now that we were so close. I instinctively knew they were targeting Derek; the goblins must have realized that if they couldn't fight us, they would try to stop the fleet's approach.
I needed to be faster.
"Break for the cannons and do not let anything stop you!" I shouted, giving my final order as I charged up the rocky hill, cutting down all the goblins in my path until I reached a flat, unnatural surface.
I quickly surveyed the scene. As I suspected, there was a pathway leading to all of the cannon emplacements. The goblins were skilled engineers, and their ability to carve rocks and create a makeshift road for easier movement was impressive. What greeted me now were not the goblins I had fought moments ago, but armored hobgoblins and goblins in prototype mecha suits.
"Stop him!" a goblin in an elaborate mecha suit shrieked in a high-pitched voice, oddly accented with what sounded like a 'Jersey accent' from Earth. "Five thousand gold to the first goblin who brings me his head!"
Money was a powerful motivator for goblins, and the previously hesitant mecha-suited goblins and hobgoblins rushed at me, eager to claim the bounty. I let the Light flow into me continuously, though it strained my body as it filled me up quickly since I didn't have time to measure what was needed. In any case, I planned to use it freely.
First, I hurled a Divine Star—a powerful orb of Light—that bounced through the confined space, burning the hobgoblins painfully and damaging their mecha suits. I wasn't finished yet; I unleashed a torrent of Penance orbs, mowing down the goblins charging at me and reducing them to charred husks at my feet. With my sword's runes glowing bright gold, indicating it was fully charged, I threw myself at the screaming goblins.
Their attacks were painfully slow compared to those of Grom Hellscream or an orc Blademaster. I easily parried the first hobgoblin's axe strike, letting my blade bounce off the axe to cut the wielder's head. A goblin mecha fist attempted to punch me with its sharpened mechanical claw, but I sidestepped the attack and thrust directly into the cockpit area. The mech unit fell forward, its pilot dead as I continued my assault.
"Kill him, you bunch of useless bums!" the goblin leader shouted hysterically, kicking a few of the mecha and hobgoblins forward. "Ten, no, fifty thousand gold coins for the first goblin to take his head!"
Once again, money motivated the braver or perhaps more desperate goblins to attack me. Empowering my runeblade, I swung with all my strength at an incoming mech unit, crushing the machine right down the middle. The pool of blood that leaked out made it clear that the goblin inside had met a violent end.
"Kill im or we're all dead, ya fools!" one of the hobgoblin brutes shouted as he charged at me. Like the others before him, he lasted only two blows before I sliced off both his arms and decapitated him with a finishing blow.
"Wait! I surr—" The goblin's words were cut off as my sword punched through the mech suit he was trying to talk from. With a swift motion, I tore it out and continued onward, fighting my way toward their leader.
Had they been in the open, they could have swarmed me, but in the tight and narrow walkway, they could only come at me in twos at most. My sword arm swung with deadly precision while my Light spells burned those who dared to stand against me. Before I knew it, I was standing in front of the goblin leader, who looked at me with wide-eyed fear. Then, to my surprise, he ejected himself from his mecha suit and fell to the ground in front of me, bowing and scraping before me.
"Boss!" the goblin groveled at my feet. "Spare me, please, boss! I surrender! Anything, no, everything I have is yours! Just let me live, please!"
I could end his life right then since he was literally offering his defenseless neck to me. As I considered it, I raised my sword and placed the tip against the back of his neck. This sent the goblin into a shaking frenzy, and his pants visibly became damp before my eyes.
"We've secured the cannons, my lord!" a soldier said in a strange tone. Pressing the blade against the goblin's neck as a warning not to move, I turned around and saw that, indeed, all of the tower stations had been taken by Alliance soldiers. In fact, I had been so focused that I hadn't noticed the sun was now up. "What about the other group?"
Without waiting for an answer, I saw that Aloman's side had also secured the cannon towers and had planted Alliance flags on each. Exhaling in relief, I looked to Alleria and saw that many goblins were being tied up in chains. They must have surrendered. It didn't look like any goblins had escaped. Alleria caught my eye and gave me a smart salute.
"We did it," I said with relief.
"Aye, my lord, you did!" the soldier said in an almost awed tone. Looking at him, I saw he was not the only one with such a borderline reverent expression toward me. "I've never seen a man move like you, sire! It was as if Tyr himself was reborn in you—listen, my lord, they're cheering your name!"
Cheering my name? That was when I realized that indeed, something was being shouted by the arriving soldiers on the beach. Many of them were facing in my direction, lifting their weapons high into the air and shouting a single word in unison. They weren't the only ones; on the decks of the ships sailing into the harbor, the soldiers and sailors were all shouting the same thing.
It took me a moment to realize exactly what they were shouting.
"Lothar! Lothar! Lothar!"
Looking around, I realized that because the tower's crown was uncovered, the fleet must have seen everything I did. Glancing down at my armor, I saw that it was drenched in so much blood that I looked more like a Stromgarde soldier than a Stormwind one. Suddenly, I felt very exposed as the men around me joined in the cheer, followed by Alleria's archers and the Kul Tiran marines, and finally, Aloman and her group.
"Lothar! Lothar! Lothar!"
"O-Oh."
+++ The Great Sea - K.T.S The Stormy Wave +++
Derek Proudmoore could only gawk in silent awe at what his friend had done. He had been perplexed and concerned when the Katherine's Pride, named after his mother, began to speed up and break formation. Yet, before they could mount a gryphon scout to intercept the Katherine's Pride, the ship had already made landfall, just as dawn broke to illuminate the coastline. It was then, with his naked eye, that he saw what Callan must have seen: a glaring weakness in the goblins' defensive lines.
The crow's nest confirmed that most of the goblins' cannon emplacements were empty, but it was too late to match the Katherine's Pride's speed. By the time they could signal the fleet, the goblins would have already been at their posts. Callan's force stood alone, but to everyone's surprise, his soldiers stormed the beach before the goblins could muster a competent defense.
From the distance, Derek watched as Callan's forces broke through the Horde's barricades, just as the goblins finally fully manned their defensive towers, but it was already too late for those beasts. Callan had already moved into the shadow of their cannons, rendering him nigh untouchable. In their fury, the goblins destroyed the Katherine's Pride, fearing that her bombard cannons were still active.
Callan should have been outnumbered and overwhelmed, but the speed of his forces allowed them to smash through the goblins' front line, leaving the enemy reeling from the ferocity of the attack. If it had been him, Derek would have gathered his forces and established a defensible position to harass the goblins, but his friend boldly split his forces into three, leading the smallest group himself.
"Is he mad?!" Modera, his lover, had exclaimed at the time. Truth be told, he shared the same opinion then. An opinion that they were forced to swallow when they saw Callan carve his way through the goblin ranks. His soldiers must have been slowing him down; he was speeding up as he steadily broke away from them and fought a path through the goblins, tower by tower.
The boldness and speed of Callan's attack demoralized the goblins on the opposite side of the encampment, allowing the Stormwind Knights to secure and neutralize the cannons. Perhaps awed by what they had witnessed, all the soldiers—even Derek's own sailors—began chanting his friend's name.
"LOTHAR! LOTHAR! LOTHAR!"
"Lothar, indeed," Derek said, a mix of pride and awe in his voice as he watched his friend.
He raised his arm, and with a wordless signal, the rest of the fleet began to speed up and make landfall. As the heir of Kul Tiras, Derek had worried about Callan's plan—to bank on the assumption that the Laughing Skull clan was acting alone. However, now with the two fully equipped Alliance Legions, they would be able to add enough pressure to create an opening for the dwarves of Ironforge.
"Look at him," a familiar voice said, breaking his thoughts. A voice that shouldn't have been on his ship.
Turning around, Derek saw his marines with their swords drawn and Modera, commander of the Dalaran forces, raising her staff, arcane energy crackling at its tip. Derek watched as the air shimmered, pulling back like a curtain to reveal a group of unexpected visitors. The intruders consisted of a male elf, a female elf sorceress, and a dozen human warriors—his personal bodyguards.
"Lord Lirath?!" Derek asked, shocked. What was the infamous bard from their camp doing here? More importantly, how had they snuck on board undetected, even from Modera? He would ask her later, but for now, he needed to know why Alleria's younger brother had stowed away on his ship. "Why are you on my ship?"
Lirath's gaze, which had been fixed on the beach, slowly shifted to Derek. A wide smile spread across his face.
"Why, to bear witness to the Alliance's heroic feats," Lirath explained before turning his eyes back to the beach, focusing on a particular figure. "And to immortalize them in songs for generations to come."
Had it been anyone else, Derek would have clapped them in iron and thrown them into the brig. However, this was Lirath Windrunner, son of the Ranger General of Silvermoon. His presence alone demanded a level of respect. Besides, it was too late to turn back now. They were about to anchor and secure this foothold. He could send a ship back with Lirath, but what if something disastrous were to happen?
"Then… we are honored by your presence," Derek declared. His marines, seeing their lord approve of the stowaway, sheathed their cutlasses and resumed preparations for the landing. He turned his gaze back to the beach, searching for the female elf—Alleria Windrunner, the elder sister of the elf who was now aboard his ship. Callan had told him how protective the eldest Windrunner was of her youngest brother, and now, Derek was bringing him straight into the heart of the war.
He heard she was a sure shot with her arrows; he hoped this wouldn't make him the target of her ire.
TBC…
AN:
First of all, thank you all thank you to Icura for helping me edit this! You da man!
Next to all my patrons thank you so much for your continued generosity. You guys are awesome and I continued to be humble by your support! Thank you!
Now onto this chapter, won't lie kinda nervous! Been a hot minute since I wrote a battle scene hopefully it came off well because, well, we in it now. The dwarven campaign is a go, and it would be a campaign. Unlike what happened with all of those defensive stands of Callan, this time he has to push into hostile enemy territory and take it from them. That is a different animal as I have to build a flow of battle and take into consideration the enemies real movement. Finger cross right guys? :D
On another note there is another hurricane barreling down toward my state this weekend. Here hoping I make it out unscathed!
Once again, please considering supporting us on patron at "icuraandvahn" , Thank you!
Finally, as always, CC and discussions are always welcomed!
