Damned If You Do Damned If You Don't
The Legion was coming... Hordes of demons and unspeakable horrors were worming their way into this world, her world. Sylvanas Windrunner, a strong leading figure of the Horde... No... of the Forsaken. She grimaced at the thought of what had become a part of who she was. She was leading a faction of grotesque, undying beings, but that had not always been the case. She used to feel the light of the day, used to be a part of dedicated elves who fought to their very last breath defending their home. No longer was that the case, that had long since past and that’s all it was to her... a past she wanted to forget, but she could never let go even if she tried, and tried she did...
She stood alone near the head of the flying vessel, there were but only herself, and a small crew steering and maintaining the ship. She stood steady at the edge of the Zeppelin, peering out into the horizon. This... was her time. She had made the decision to be among the first to be a part of the upcoming war. A war that would destroy her... people... if action was not taken. This was a war she would have to face, even if she didn’t want to be a part of it, because in the end she would only be delaying what was inevitable... her death.
She had made so many mistakes in her life, yet she felt little to no shame. She questioned herself many a time if this was all worth it...and she still felt conflicted. Sylvanas closed her eyes in an attempt to calm her very being, succeeding she continued to press forward through her thoughts trying to reach a point of understanding. She was already destined for eternal damnation, and she had seen it and felt it first hand: she was scared. She would never admit that, but it was an unnerving thought that her time was coming to a close. She was the same in life, as she was in death. Even before Arthas had taken the warmth of the light from her, she had still made decisions that were similar in virtue to those she made to this day. Her soul be damned, she had always been dead...
Steering from her juggled thoughts she looked off to the West and saw Alliance ships off in the distance. The fact that they were Alliance didn’t bother her, because today it was a war that called to arms all able bodied beings of Azeroth; furthermore, if they all didn’t fight together to secure the safety of their people, they would all suffer. She may of been distrustful of many, especially as of now, but it didn’t matter because she knew there would little chance of foul play from either the Alliance, or the Horde during this time, and if there were, it would be purely idiotic.
She couldn’t make out much detail of the ships because of the high density of clouds at that altitude. She looked straight ahead of her ship and could make out the Broken Isles, but that wasn’t all. She could also see a high beam of green light shooting up high into the atmosphere. That was her destination. She would meet a large resistance defending whatever portal that allowed them passage into Azeroth. She would not allow the entirety of the Legion to cross over, she would kill every demon that stood in her way as she made her way to the portal. She clutched her unarmed first tightly, feeling nothing but hate seep into her very being. She would not tolerate this, she had to make a difference. In the middle of her juggled thoughts she finally noticed what was making way towards the Alliance ships. Cretins of flight were inbound and quickly approaching, there were thousands all bloating out a large portion of the sky. It was time...
She snapped her head towards the captain behind her, who was at the helm of the ship steering it towards their destination. “Captain get us nearby the head of their fleet. Now.”
The Orc captain dared not to question the Dark Lady and hastily followed her command. “Right away, your highness!” He reached out and grab a rope, pulling it he rang a large bell. Another Orc hastily appeared from out of the bridge of the ship, it was the first mate of the ship. The captain yelled out to him “Zek’tok turn the turbines to maximum capacity!”
“Zug-zug!” quickly he complied and turned a mechanism fully over to the right, allowing the turbines to quickly reach their potential, which in turn accelerated the propellers. He then quickly made his way below deck, presumably to turn the boiler valves to their maximum, allowing the turbines to stay at their peak.
Sylvanas just lied in wait. The ship was gaining on the fleet, the anticipation was killing her. Noise seemed to drown out around her, the fierce winds, the propellers, all. She kept focus on the fast approaching green light. Watching as the specs of flying demons grew ever closer.
Suddenly the ship made a break through the large abundance of the dark clouds, she was now upon the other fleet. But that didn’t immediately draw her attention. It was the total chaos happening in front of her view. Several green meteorites were falling out of the sky, infernals. Giant rock-like beings that held a green fel flame that in-cased their bodies, they were not to be trifled with. She noticed how many of them had crashed into the ships below her, eradicating many ships that floated on the water. Some even crashed into the flying vessels, not destroying them immediately due to the shear size of some of the Zeppelins. She took everything all at once, feeling no pity for those who fell to the destruction of the Legion. Right now she had to remain vigilant.
The ship now caught up fully with the main head of the Alliance fleet. She held her focus in front of her but she could feel eyes on her. Knowing full well who it was she tilted her head fully over to face him, King Varian. Sylvanas may of held a well deserved hatred of the human, but she did hold a certain amount of respect for the leader.
Sylvanas acknowledged him by nodding at him, then she returned her attention back to the scene. The flying cretins that were once at a reasonable distance, were now upon them. She held her bow out in front of her, daring any to try their luck. What she noticed however, was that none were attacking, she then looked over towards the Alliance fleet and saw that none of them were even touching any portion of the vessel, they just seemed to remain close and fly around it.
Why would... Her thoughts were interrupted when she saw a large infernal falling out of the sky heading straight towards the Alliance vessel. With the cannons from the Alliance ship all focused on the demons, none had aim concentrated on the fast approaching object, it was all a distraction.
She held her bow down and watched to see if any were making their way towards the ship she was on, seeing none she returned her gaze towards the spectacle when the infernal had finally crashed into the main cannon at the front of the ship. She watched as the infernal made its way to the deck of the ship, with one of its fel-engulfed appendages raised it attempted to crush the King. Varian quickly dodged and kept his momentum towards the edge of the ship, as he fell he quickly grabbed onto the edge attempting to climb back aboard. With his attention entirely on getting back up, he failed to noticed the fast approaching hand reaching up to swipe him down.
Sylvanas quickly drew her bow, and in a split second had already taken aim on the giant, she released and the arrow remained true to her intentions and made a direct impact on the arm, stunning the infernal momentarily.
With the heavy weight of the infernal still pressing down on the vessel, the ship tilted towards her Zeppelin and the rotating propellers were now cutting through the top portion of the head of her ship, and were almost upon her.
She made a hasty decision, and with her right hand gripping tightly to a nearby rope she sliced through it with the sharp shelf of her bow. The reaction was immediate and the rope quickly drew her up, narrowly avoiding certain death. With her altitude rising she used her momentum to propel her body to the other ship. With the infernals’ attention still on her she took two quick shots at it in an attempt to distract it long enough for Varian to make his move. Landing she grunted as she kept her momentum maintained as her body rolled forward. Wasting no time she draw her bow once more to keep the pressure up on the infernal. The infernals’ attention however, was no longer on her as it attempted to swipe at Varian once more. With the king already upon it, it was too late. He sliced through the lower appendage as it were made of flesh. The infernal reared in pain, unable to react to the next clean swipe made at its chest.
She watched as the infernal was finally knocked off the vessel, as it fell she saw what lied below it, the propellers that kept the ship mid-air. Knowing full well the ship would fall, she raced to the edge of the ship and leaped back onto her ship. She didn’t stick around to watch the fate of the King, she instead raced below the bridge of the ship, grabbed a parachute, and made her way back to the helm of the ship. Finding a suitable place to land below she pressed down, ready t-
“WAIT!” She heard from behind her, the captain was no longer steering the ship and was now standing behind her. Raising an eyebrow, she gestured him to speak quickly.
“I wanted to just say this: whatever happens today, it has been an honor fighting beside you.” He stood at attention and saluted her.
Curious Orc he was. From day one of him being in charge of watching over her, she had known he had fallen for her. She admired his dedication and loyalty towards her, but she never fully understood why he had become so loyal to her or why he fallen for her in the first place.
She merely nodded at the Orc, turned her attention back to the approaching land below her. She left him with one final statement... “Farewell, Cromush.” She jumped.
The wind was rushing all around her as she kept all her appendages beside her, allowing herself to quickly reach terminal velocity. She saw exactly where she wanted to land, a large rock was protruding out of the ocean, it was fairly close to the portal and had the a smaller density of demons compared to the rest of the inland. She would start there and work her way quickly towards the portal.
The first of the Horde and Alliance ships were just reaching the land, many of them were heavily damaged, some were engulfed in flame. They pressed on regardless, and many were already fighting the the assortment of the Legion.
Perfect. Not all the attention would be drawn on her, with a lighter load she’d more easily be able to trek on and march to the portal.
Sylvanas was now at a rather dangerous altitude to release her parachute, for most it would be too late, but her body would be sturdy enough to impact the ground without damaging her. She released the parachute and prepared for impact. She managed to land on the rock she first had her eyes set upon and quickly cut off the straps with her sheathed dagger. She had drawn the attention of a few felguards, the main infantry of the Legion. They were almost twice the height of her, yet they were fairly fast bipeds even with the heavy axes they held, but they were not fast enough. She drew her bow in a fraction of a second and took out two of them before they knew what happened. Others now had their attentions drawn to the new contestant and rushed towards her. None stood a chance, she landed almost every hit perfectly between their eyes. Only one managed to get close but by the draw it raised its axe above its head it had been killed.
Now many more Legion soldiers were rushing towards her, felguards, infernal, even those who owned the skies were now drawn to her. She remained calm and steady. ‘May my aim be true.’ She fired of several shots in a blink of an eye. She started with the quickest approaching and moved from there. A felguard slashed down at her, but she was already a step ahead of the demon and had quickly dodged by flipping to the right. Before it could even lift the axe she put an arrow in its temple. She heard a screech behind her, the flying cretin was mere inches from her. She gripped her bow with both hands and put all her weight into the bow. She sliced its head clean in half, but not without receiving a large gash on her upper right shoulder. She had a high tolerance for physical pain, a trait of being undead, and also because she was disciplined in her youth to endure through the harsh training sessions. She gritted her teeth and pressed on.
No other demons had managed to take a jab at her before they were shot down. During her concentration of warding off as many of the Legion as she could she didn’t immediate notice the figure below her vexing its way out of the ocean and onto the main land. Finally, peering down a split second before concentrating back on killing the demons she saw King Varian. ‘Good, with him around he’ll be able to greatly motive his own troops to make a hasty trip to the portal.’
“FOR AZEROTH!” Varian yelled as he quickly cut through the the horde of felguards that immediately rushed towards him.
The infernals that originally had their sights on Sylvanas were moving towards Varian. One raised an appendage and brought it down on the king. Before hitting him Sylvanas had once again stopped an infernal in its tracks by firing two shots, one struck its lower raised appendage, while the other struck its upper appendage. The shots only managed to chip the infernal, if anything. With its attention on her, Varian jumped and used both blades he wielded to cut deep into the infernal’s back. The infernal roared out in pain and attempted to turn around to face its opponent. Before it could move however, Varian had sliced both its legs off, causing the infernal to fall back. Eyes widening, realizing the mistake he just made, Varian tried to jump out of the way, but the infernal managed to get one last jab at him before it fell. It moved its appendage above Varian as he jumped, and had managed to crush down on his right leg. King Varian cried out as his bones shattered, his leg now bloodied and limp.
Meanwhile the other infernal was still closing in on the king and it was much larger than the other. Sylvanas was unable to grab the attention of the other one as she shot at it. ‘Dammit. If he dies now then this will only make matters more difficult.’
Looking for anything that could be used against the infernal she noticed a medium-sized flying contraption that was inbound.
The infernal was at Varian’s feet, and had lifted both its arms above its rocky body ready to strike down. Varian kept a determined face and raised his swords in an attempt to defend himself.
With Sylvanas’ wits about her she held her bow out in front of her and calculated her shot. She would need to be absolutely perfect. With the plane right where she wanted it, she released. The arrow sliced through the air with precision, within a moments notice it hit the knob of the propeller, stopping the slowing the blades to a stop and sending it tumbling down. The pilot screamed as he spun out of control, unable to eject out of the plane.
Varian saw the plane about to crash into the infernal, he quickly dropped his swords and crossed his arms to try to shield himself.
The infernal didn’t notice and was now swinging both arms down at the king, before the infernal crushed Varian the plane crashed right into its side and exploded, effectively stopping the infernal. It tumbled sideways and fell to the ground, hard. It didn’t get back up.
Sylvanas kept firing at everything that made its way towards her. She hastily made her way down the rock and rushed towards Varian. She stopped at the front of him and made quick work of the felguards that tried to make an attempt at the king’s life.
Only peering down at him for a second before returning to combat she could tell that his leg was in no shape to move around on.
The king stared at her for a moment, before attempting to raise his body up a little. The pain was almost unbearable, but he pushed through it and managed to get his back to lay on a large boulder. He looked back towards her spoke. “Why?” He asked.
Stopping for a brief moment, she turned back to glance at the king before answering. “If you die now, your troops will surely fall” she shot an arrow at another demon before continuing “and if they fall the Horde won’t stand much a chance.” Finishing with another arrow shot off as if to punctuate what she said.
“I can’t stand” as if to demonstrate he attempted to raise up, only for a sharp pain to jab at his leg causing him to fall back down.
“You don’t need to fight.” She looked towards Varian’s troops and nodded towards them. Varian followed her gaze, curious as to what she was getting at. “With you being alive you’ll be able to keep your men motivated.”
Varian didn’t say anything else, but he knew she was right. Now if he could just... There! An Alliance siege tank had been deployed and was slowly grinding its way towards the portal. A large portion of the demons nearby focused on trying to destroy it, but weren’t making much progress as the elite troops guarded it from all angles defending it. The tank itself was obliterating the large infernals that tried to destroy it, it even managed to destroy one falling out of the sky, shattering the infernal and scattering flaming chunks in all directions.
With the demons distracted, Sylvanas quickly caught the attention of one of the troops guarding the tank by aiming and firing near where he stood. It stuck right near the troops head. The soldier, along with his squadron noticed this and looked towards the direction the arrow was fired from. They were shocked to see their king fallen, with the enemy looming over him.
One of the troops shook out of his stunned state and made his way to the top of the moving tank, opening the hatch he caught the attention of the driver, and managed to get him to move towards where their king lied.
With their attention on their king, and the attention of the demons on them, Sylvanas now had a chance to rush the portal. Few demons remained on the outer edges of the shore as she stealthily made her way around the shore. She noticed that the plateau that had the portal on the peak was heavily guarded at all levels surrounding it. Sylvanas remained hidden behind a large boulder and watched to see if she could spot any patterns or weaknesses.
She wouldn’t be able to climb the plateau quick enough before a guard would catch her, especially since there appeared to be an aerial squad circling the outer edges. They were quick, and made complete rounds in less than a minute. This certainly was no easy task, but that wouldn’t stop her.
For the time being she turned her attention back to the battlefield to see the progress thus far. The siege tank continued to trek forward, but appeared to be heavily damaged and was under siege by an infernal. The elites were all dead, and she couldn’t spot Varian, dead or alive she wasn’t sure. Things were not going good, and without reinforcements soon they would meet an inevitable defeat. ‘Where in the hell is Vol’jin and his cavalry?’ As if on cue she saw several Zeppelins cutting through the air, quickly approaching. ‘It’s about damn time...’
Several turbo flying machines broke through and started mowing down several demons, imps, felguards, even infernals went down with the high powered rockets exploding on impact. Paratroopers descended down, many were medically trained to help any who were injured, even Alliance members surprisingly. The rest gathered around the first aids and killed any Legion member that came close.
Looking towards the main vessel she spotted Vol’jin, whom was prepared to make a landing with the ship. Landing he and several of his men, who were all an arrangement of different class, quickly caught up with other Alliance members and started to fight alongside them. Many of the Alliance members appeared skeptical, even a few looked like they wanted to deal some serious harm, all followed regardless. Vol’jin remained in the middle of the troops, chain healing all members and spreading afflictions on many of the flying cretins, causing them extreme agony as they fell like flies.
Turning back towards the portal she saw a few of the flying machines braving through some of the patrol units of the air. With them distracted she quickly made her way towards the plateau, choosing not to go into stealth, knowing full well that the flying machines would only buy her little time. Sylvanas only ran into a few imps, and a felguard along the way and they didn’t slow her down, not even a little. Finally reaching the plateau she saw only two of the machines were left soaring, and one of the planes had caught fire. She jumped from edge to edge making her way up. With the flying demons still busy she had found herself at the top, she saw that many of the guards had left to deal with the new threat. However, there remained a large portal guardian, bulky and carrying an dual-bladed axe. The demon was also quite attempt in fel magic as it casted several balls of fire at the flying machines. With his sheer size, he wasn’t quick at releasing the balls of flame, since none made their mark on the flying contraptions. Sylvanas could make quick work out of him, if it weren’t for the continueous spawns of demons appearing from the portal, all rushing into battle.
The main issue now finding a solution to shutting the portal down for good. Perhaps there was some figure holding the portal up constantly? She see anything that stood out to her, it was rather frustrating. She would need to remain patient, and watch for patterns that would eventually spring up.
Perking up, she could no longer hear the sounds of screeching, or the sounds that came from the engine and propellers of the flying machines, indicated that they had all been destroyed, or had fallen back. In her position, none would be able to spot her, not unless they could sense her, and nothing had trekked its way over to where she laid yet.
Bidding her time, she was able to take glimpses of the battle. From what she could tell the forces of Azeroth were slowly, but surely making their way to the portal. She needed to stop the abundance of demons from coming into existence, just in case the tides turned.
Then... She spotted him... Gul’dan was in the mist of several felguards who all stood at attention and surrounded him at all sides. She couldn’t spot him before with the constant flow of demons making their way out of the portal, but with a break in with the much smaller beings, imps as they were, she could finally see the customary skulls that surrounded him, peaking just behind one of the large felguards. He appeared to be in a state of meditation has he continued to cast warlock magic that was channeling into the portal. With his hands raised, and his eyes glaring green, he looked to be oblivious to the rest of the world.
Now, Sylvanas was no fool, she knew he had to still have some form of connection to the world, he had to know that there was a battle taking place, no way he’d let his guard down so easily. If she could just get a clear shot through, she might be able to knock his head clean off, and stop the cast. Hopefully he was the only being substaining the portal from Azeroth’s side, and it would cancel the connection completely.
With the moments that came in with the imps making their way through the portal, that would be the time to take a chance at getting Gul’dan. However, with the felguards, she didn’t have an clear shot regardless. She could possibly quickly kill the one that stood to the side of him, and take another shot at Gul’dan, but she didn’t know how quickly he would be to react, that and she would lose her cover, allowing the large quantity of demons to charge at her with vigor. She would not risk her death if she could help it. After what had happened before... She mentally shivered at the though.
No chances, no risky attempts... If anything, this did provide an interesting tidbit she could use. She could go back and alert Vol’jin, and plan her way around with some form of distraction... Volunteers? There had to be a few who would give their lives at a chance to combat Gul’dan himself, and stop the flow of Legionaires. Yes... She could have several groups come from every side of the plateau and charge the felguards that guarded Gul’dan, then she would have him. But, with the patrol flying around once more, with new members by their sides, they would be spotted. They could use another aerial distraction, and from there the plan would fit together.
Now, all she had to do was make her way back down... Looking up and watching the patrol she waited until they were on the other side away from her. She quickly lifted her bow, aimed, and fired directly at the one in the very back. She released, and.... direct hit. The other patrol stopped and screeched, furiously looking at all angles on the side she wasn’t on, looking for the culprit. Quickly, she jumped down from platform to platform until she made it to the very bottom, she made it, undetected. Sylvanas rushed along the shore once more, killing the small groups of demons that were along the way, before she spotted some of her Forsaken loyalists. Perfect.
Before reaching them, one had spotted her, alerting the others. They made quick work of the last group of the Legion that fought them, and made their way quickly to their queen. They all knelled before her presence. They were awestruck, unsure of what to say in front of their queen.
Taking charge, Sylvanas spoke quickly, “I have found the source of what has been keeping the portal maintained, and I have an idea of how to destroy it. I need troops to accompany me to the portal.” She looked from soldier to soldier, determining which ones could be of some greater use. With her eyes stopped on one peculiar member, who appeared to have the most determined look. “You.” Immediately the one called looked up, his face remaining the same, unchanged. “I need you to find who’s in charge in overseeing the turbo flying machines, and I need you to tell them that I will need a few volunteers that are willing to fight patrol units near the portal. If they question my motives, tell them I have a way to end this way quickly. If they can’t reason with you...” her gaze appeared dark, “use any means necessary to get a hold of those flying machines.” She noticed a slight grin forming on his face, but he quickly dissipated it, only the untrained eye wouldn’t be able to notice. It was slightly unnerving, but she was used to seeing this kind of behavior and just ignored it.
“My will is yours my queen...”
“Good, now make haste.” He bowed bowed before sprinting off back towards one of the main Horde vessels.
Looking at the others she immediately spotted her next pawn to use. “And you” she kept her gaze on the far most left of the group, who looked up to her queen in anticipation. “Go and collect any able bodied soldiers, preferably those who are adept in the ways of the shadow and are quick on their feet; also, if you come across a mage, they would be most useful.” She nodded in understanding, keeping silent. Sylvanas simply waved her off.
With the two bringing with what she hoped was viable resources, she waited, lost in thought. ‘This will be no simple task. There will be no room for error, and if something were to happen...’ she hated having to assume the worst, but knowing her past experiences, something was almost bound to happen, she just wasn’t sure what. Before she could contempt any failure that could occur a member in the group she had called over spoke up. “My apologies your highness, I don’t mean to pry... but why shouldn’t we just continue through the Legion with force? Our allies could benefit greatly with all our help if we continue now, how will this plan you have guarantee our success?” He had a cool intelligence that gleamed in his eyes. Bold as he was to question her, she answered with only slight annoyance. “There is only one being holding the portal intact, with him removed quickly it’ll shut off any additional troops from the Legion and we will only be left with what has crossed over” she looked over to the plateau with a frown and creased brows. “The sooner we dispose of the spell caster the more likely we are to win this.” Before the soldier could press on, one of the soldiers came back with hast and approached Sylvanas. The Dark Lady turned to him. “What is your report?” She asked.
“My queen, I was successful in gaining the support from several pilots, who have all agreed, but...” he looked at her nervously, and she frowned at him and prodded him to answer. He collected himself quickly. “They want to hear about this plan of yours, my queen.” He knelled again and awaited for an angry rebuttal.
“Fine... Where are they?” After questioning him, several of what she believed to be pilots, had quickly made their way over, all appearing slightly nervous, but also... anxious?
“Now that you’re all here, I will only say this once.” They nodded and listened attentively. Having all their attention and cooperation, she pointed over to the portal and waited for them to all gaze. “See those demons who patrol the air?” They all acknowledged her by either nodding or by simply stating “yes”. “I need you to keep them guided away from the edges of the plateau so they can’t spot us. If you can, try to also grab the attention of the Legionaries that are condensed on the platform itself, albeit by using the missiles to keep them all focused on you.” They looked at each other, before one spoke up being blunt. “This sounds like a suicide mission... There’s no way any of us will come out alive! There’s too many that guard the portal, and there are only nine of us.” Sylvanas didn’t speak immediately and turned her back on the group. Before another word was uttered by the group she finally spoke up. “I admit, you don’t have good odds” she turned back around to look at the group with what she hoped was sympathetic look, hoping to catch them off guard. “But... there are very much a good chances you will survive” Not really. “because with the versatility of the machines themselves, along with some good pilots...” They started to warm up to the idea she noticed, as they appeared to become more confident with each word. ‘It appears almost every sentient being I’ve met likes to have their ego boosted... Too easy.’ “You should easily be able to out maneuver any of the flying patrol, along with any fel fire blasts that may be casted at you. Also, if I’m not mistaken there’s an eject button if anything were to happen, correct?” They nodded at her.
Now with their egos boosted... “Will you defend Azeroth?” She choose her words carefully, wanting them to believe it was all for the cause of greater good. They all roared in agreeance spouting out “YEAH!” ‘Good... Now I just need... Excellent. Just in time.’ She watched the other soldier return quickly, with a decent sized squadron. They would do just fine...
She looked over the pilots once again, “Go and get ready. Make your way to the plateau in Fifteen minutes. Make haste!” They left quickly still cheering. Fools.
Shaking her head, she turned towards the new group. “I’ll fill you in with the same information I passed to the pilots.” She went on to describe her plan to the new group, all while dispelling any doubts that may of clouded their minds. “Don’t attract any attention, remain silent. We’ll take the route along the shore. Now let’s go.” Without waiting for a response she started to make a charge towards the shore, with a large group now following her lead. They made it to a concave near the plateau where she stopped them and beckoned them to remain silent and wait. She scanned the sky from back where the vessels where, and just waited... and waited. Her patience was waning thin. ‘Where the hell are they?’ She started to visibly grit her teeth. No one out of the group dared to ask, and choose wisely to remain silent.
Then, she spotted them. They had risen from the vessel, one by one. She started counting them off in her head. ‘Five... six... seven... Eight...’ she blinked, where was the ninth pilot!? They must of opted out! ‘Coward. This will buy us less time...’ She could only hope that they would last long enough for them all to reach the portal without being spotted.
She waved the group over, and stopped them again, waiting for the patrol at the portal to notice the incoming danger. Suddenly, a part of the patrol broke out unexpectedly early as the pilots hadn’t even come close to the plateau. She watched in shock as part of the patrol remained circling the plateau... She hadn’t counted for this... She watched as the pilots engaged in aerial combat, tackling them head on. One pilot met an unfortunate end as one of the patrol units decided to perch on the pilot mid flight and tear him apart. Unable to continue piloting, he crashed into the water, presumably dead. She wasn’t surprised to see that the demon had lived and was already making rounds to help his brethren, most of which had died. The pilots had all stuck together, none had decided to split off and reach the portal. Luckily, they had fended off the rest, with only minor damage here and there to their contraptions. They were now making their way towards the portal. The rest of the patrol noticed that their brethren had fallen, but did not deter away from the portal... ‘What are they up too?’ she thought, determining what exactly they could do.
Meanwhile the rest of the team were still heading toward the portal. They held a v-shape formation, with their leader at the helm.
“Look there!” A member from her group suddenly yelled pointed towards the plataeu. Sylvanas immediately took notice of a group of fel imps found their way to the edge.
Taking a hold of her bow, she reacted to the new predicament immediately. She fired two shots, they split through the air with deadly acceleration. Less than a blink later, both landed on target, taking out two prominent fel imps readying to cast, as they fell the other imps surrounding them ignored their fallen brethren and let loose a series of fire bolts. Not watching to see if any landed on the aircrafts, Sylvanas took notice of ledge the imps stood upon, and noticed that they were on a particularly unstable surface near the edge. Taking her bow she lined the shot up, let go and watched in anticipation. Landing on the ledge, nothing happened at first... But then, with a rumbling sound, a part of the cliff broke off. She watched as all the imps fell to their doom.
With the flying machines drawing near the cliff, and the patrol still not breaking their patrol around the plateu, she make a quick decision.
“We must go, NOW!” She didn’t wait for the others to respond and ran to the next checkpoint: the bottom of the plateau itself. She took note of the most stable part of the plateau’s edge at the top, and started her way up as silently as possible. Then she stopped, realizing something. Looking back down, she found that her “crew” was preparing to make their journey up, and were circling around the plateau to come from every side they could manage. ‘This could be troubling’. She thought as she realized that having the entire crew make their way up would only worsen matters if something were to go wrong. Her eyes glinted as she gazed at one particular member of the group that could be useful in this situation, if they’re skilled in their class. “You there!” She pointed at an undead, who quickly looked up to his queen, the others stopped momentarily as well to see who she was motioning to. “Do you know how to create a demonic gateway?” She asked, hoping this to be the case.
The undead warlock slowly nodded “Yes... However, my queen. It could be risky creating it from this distance. There’s a chance that once one steps through the portal, they may not... well... Make it out the other side.” The others in the group glanced at each other, visibly unnerved, some more than others. Sylvanas ignored them. What were her options? She could have him follow her up to the top, and have him summon one individual at a time, but that would be too risky in of itself, as time was of the essence, and they’d be quickly snuffed out by the Legion that stood ready at the top. She looked back at the battle that took place. She could tell who was pushing who back now, as it seemed more of a stalemate. ‘Dammit.’ She had no time for this, she made a quick decision. “Make it happen, and do it as soon as the aircrew open fire once more on that patrol. I want all of you to step through as soon as that gateway is up. Got it?” The group nodded, although most seemed unsure if anything.
This would not do. “If any one of you backs out, I will personally kill you, I have no time for games. So take the risk which has a chance of keeping yourself alive, or guarantee your demise. Your choice.” The group looked up at her, stunned, if they were unsure before, they weren’t now. Good.
Not turning back around she kept climbing to the top, and stopped every time the patrol went overhead. Finding a crevice near the top, she used it to wait for the aircrew to open fire on the patrol, and wait for that portal to open. She was at a good position to take any shot she needed to if any of the patrol had sensed her, or if one of her group decided to back out...
Suddenly, the patrol deterred from their path, and quickly flew to the remaining aircrew. She watched as the they open fired immediately. She glanced down to see that the gateway was being summoned, and watched as a green ball of light went above her and went to the top of the plateau. It was finished. She made her last few steps to get to the top, and glanced at Gul’dan and the felguards that surrounded him. Keeping low, she saw the Warlock’s portal behind the stone foundation of the portal that let the Legion through. Good, none had spotted it.
The patrol was still distracted, now all she needed to wait for was the group to charge through the portal and distract the felguard that stood around Gul’dan.
She glanced back down, seeing that they were running through the gateway, but none were making it out through the other... ‘Dammit all! This only complicates thin-’ her thoughts were interrupted when she heard a battlecry, one had made it, and they were charging headlong into the demon army. The orc raised his weapon and brought it down, only for him to be completely eviscerated and then decapitated by two of the head felguards. His head soared down the plateau. Sylvanas brought a hand slowly to her head and rubbed her temple... One makes it, and it happens to be the dumbest one of the group. Fantastic. Now she’d have to go back down and-
A few fiery wisps spouted out the gateway, then she saw more figures stumble out of the gateway, some appearing disoriented. She fired a shot near the foot of the group to grab their attention. Having it, she head up her hand to signal them to wait. She wanted them to go in as soon as the next small break of Legionaires coming through. With there being an opening, she lowered her hand and nodded.
The team charged around the portal with a battlecry. The warlock and the mage stood behind. The mage froze many of the immediate Legion in place and began casting frost bolts and slowly others down. The warlock summoned a voidwalker pry away any Legion that drew near him as he began casting his incinerating spells.
With the felguard’s formation protecting his side from her team, Gul’dan was now less guarded from the position she was in, behind the portal. Now was the time. She lined up her shot, waiting for the last felguard to make its way out of the portal, and out of her line of aim. She fired. Time seemed to slow down as the arrow whistled through the air, she watched it drawl near him. It broke. She blinked. The arrow snapped in two midair before hitting Gul’dan. A feeling of dread washed over her body. She lifted her bow again quickly firing as many shots as she could, but to no avail, none reached him. She heard a dark chuckle, and saw the glint of red eyes glancing her way.
“I must say Sylvanas, I didn’t expect you to fuel the Legion. You have my thanks. This is a great deed you have done today.” He lifted his right hand, the felguards that stood to his side, stepped back. He held a palm out towards her group, and watched as he drained their souls quickly. Their ghastly shrieks filled the air, as their bodies started to crumble into dust. She grimaced and attempted another shot, only for her body to become stuck.
“You know, you had better odds not bringing others with you.” She felt a tug on her soul, and her body as she dragged across the stone. She gritted her teeth, trying to resist, but no matter how hard she willed herself, she only felt more fatigued as she struggled.
Gul’dan elaborated. “Did you believe I wouldn’t expect such an attack? Although, I can’t say I wasn’t expected you to be a part of such a foolish attempt at first. But I can’t complain, seeing as it will only help the Legion further.” He grinned wickedly, obviously enjoying her futile attempts to break from his grasp. “It’s too bad you won’t get to see what the Legion has in store for this world, but I suppose I could leave you with a few ideas for you to dwell on during your eternal damnation.” His red eyes lit up brightly as he waved his hand over her, and slowly tugged on her soul, weakening her, as to destroy any odds of her breaking free.
Sylvanas never felt such rage enter her very being. How could she be so foolish?
“Your soul is strong, it will fuel the portal with the others you brought quite nicely. The Legion will turn this world to cinder, not that you will care seeing that the only thing you ever cared about was yourself. Although... That couldn’t be entirely true, could it? Why would you foolishly risk yourself? Why didn’t you just hide in the shadows like the bug you are? Maybe we would of spared you if you had agreed to join our ranks? Oh well, I suppose you-”
“Never.” Sylvanas was looking straight at him with the intensity that could melt through any metal.
“Hmm? Never what your... highness?” he put heavy emphasis on the last bit.
“I would never serve the Legion. I would kill every imp, felguard, and dreadlord alike that fell into my sights” She kept her gaze upon him, showing that she meant it. If she was going to die, she woul- eyes widening, and gasping she felt her body being quickly drained.
“That’s nice. To be fair, I never really meant it anyway, not that you didn’t know that. You were too much of a threat to begin with, but now? Heh, it’s funny, I was expecting a better fight from the Banshee Queen herself. Enjoy your stay in Hell. Who knows? If you couldn’t find peace in life, maybe you’ll find it in death.” He chuckled at that last part. His red eyes grew brighter and brighter, and he lifted his other hand towards Sylvanas.
Wisps flew out of Sylvanas’ body quickly, the pain was unlike any other. This was it... She had no way of returning to this world. Even with there being a few Val’kyr that remained loyal to her, and could resurrect her, there was no way to do so with a body that turns to dust and a soul that has been drained...
Her body started to crumble and her eyes started to fade, the pain still as unbearable as ever. She Fell to her knees feeling no strength to stand. Her will could not save her. She couldn’t lift her head, her thoughts started to become jumbled...
One last thought invaded her mind as she faded.
‘I’m... sorry... Alleria...’ Nothing.
