by Milton Garby
They waited a few moments longer, then Barab nodded. "Alright, let's go! Tarod, you guide us but stay in back or I'll tan yer hide!"
"Got it!" their shadow priest said.
Following Barab, the four of them left their little alcove in the crumbled stone and got a good look at the devastation Sara had already wrought. There were cracks in the walls and small craters in the floor. The fel cannons in the front gate were scraps, and a few doomguard weapons had clattered to the ground, bent crudely and tinted violet. From their room, another hallway went on to the main area of Grim Batol. Sara had warned them not to look at her, but it sounded as though she'd already gotten decently far ahead, for Barab didn't hesitate when he led them on.
The central chamber of Grim Batol was an enormous cylinder that dug deep into the earth. Metal bridges criss-crossed precariously over a magma pool which painted their undersides orange. The area was boasted even more airspace than Ironforge, originally intended to allow for easy gryphon travel. Hammer and forge emblems clung to every corner, to the floor, and to the banners, but the presence of the Legion was overwhelmingly obvious.
Tarod hadn't been exaggerating when he said there were far too many demons. Winged demons filled the air, making use of the open space to fly in patrols. Walkways descending into the depths were crowded with various lesser demons practically shoulder to shoulder. There was an enormous variety. Everything from imps to shivarra, though none of the 'upper' level demons such as eredar or annihilan were visible.
Despite her warning not to look at her, Leira caught a glance at Sara. She was making her way across the precarious walkways, surrounded in her green barrier. Bolts of purple lightning blasted from her hands, as did green skulls. The human tossed her hands into the air, and an orb of death energy coalesced above her. Leira wasn't sure why at first, but a moment later the reason became clear as, from the orb, three twisting death rays scythed across the hoards of felguards. Sara slowly pushed her way forward, and though it looked like she was having difficulty, Leira assumed she had it well in hand.
"That way!" Tarod hissed. "To the right, into that hallway!"
"Got it," Barab confirmed, leading them into one of Grim Batol's many side passages.
Even the hallways were designed to allow gryphons to fly, but to Leira's despair she found that minor demonic portals had been constructed even here. These weren't the grasping hands from the earth that the Legion's main transporters took the form of. Rather, they were a simple ring of felsteel hoisted upright and leaning against the walls with waves of green light in their middles.
She took a deep breath and charged at the closest one. Her legs pounded against the ground as she sailed past her companions, and only a moment later she'd arrived at the closest teleporter, bashing it with her armored side hard enough to both dislocate her shoulder and to dent the portal. The light inside died, and the pain caused a flash of hot anger to rush through Leira. She held on to that anger. She focused and turned it towards the demons. She tried to imagine what harm they were doing. How many people were huddled in basements, praying an infernal wouldn't land on them, how many innocent men, women, children, even babies they had killed... !
A moment later the others caught up, and a burst of Saynna's nature magic around Leira healed her shoulder. With the four of them combined, they started making good progress down the hallway, smashing any Legion portals they came across.
Now and then demons got in their way, either emerging from the portals or from around a corner to go fight Sara. Usually they could take them by surprise and rush them down, but every now and then they came across more perceptive soldiers, and they had to bitterly battle. But with Barab's command of the Light, Leira's furious swings with her double two-handed weapons, Tarod's dark magic and Saynna's healing powers, none of the demons' tactics would avail them.
They went down a few staircases, and Tarod guided them through countless intersections. Now and again they had to hold and wait for Sara to catch up, lest they get ahead of her and have to face the brunt of the Legion on their own. Leira tried to avoid looking in the direction of Sara's sounds of destruction, and instead focused on keeping her blood boiling. As long as she was angry, she could sunder plate armor and hack off the heads of void terrors with ease. As long as she was angry, her Old God glyph made her skin like chain mail.
As time passed though, they found they needed to pace themselves less and less. It was clear to her what had happened: the Legion sent their strongest available after Sara, and now that she had cleared through them she was speeding up. Leira had to smile; Sara had come a long way in terms of fighting ability. She made a mental note to tease her about it later.
Eventually, the four of them arrived near Khardros's Anvil, Grim Batol's answer to Ironforge's Great Forge. Rivers of lava poured from the ceiling, and a vast walkway filled with demons went in an arc around it. Leira's group was in the alcoves above, nervously watching the frantically milling gan'arg, mo'arg, and felguards. Not long later, Sara came in through one of the gates. It was hard to make out anything from so far away, but Leira couldn't miss the shield of green energy, or the similar emerald power blazing around both her hands. Sara's skin was bright red though; Leira hoped her endurance could hold out.
But she didn't linger: Sara had said to avoid looking at her, and if she had then that meant at least one of the spells she was using had friendly fire. Leira ducked below the alcove's raised ledge and listened to the symphony of demons getting blown apart.
Until suddenly, it stopped.
The sound of battle hadn't progressed out the other gate. It just... came to a stop, letting the clamor of dwarven machinery fill the air. Cautiously, they peered over the ledge, and Saynna stifled a gasp at what they saw.
Sara was still fine, she hadn't died. The human was in a caster stance with her left arm out and her staff affixed to her back, along with a corona of death energy around her outstretched hand. That magic was being pointed at a towering, blue-armored dreadlord. The two of them weren't fighting either. Judging by his hand gestures, the dreadlord was speaking to her, and Sara was silently taking it in.
Leira, of course, couldn't hear what was being said. The demon clenched a fist and leered menacingly at Sara, then made a sweeping gesture that ended with him drawing a claw across his throat menacingly. To her confusion, Sara swayed like a fern caught by a spring breeze. The reincarnated god blinked and looked down, grimacing as if she was faced with a difficult problem, or a decision.
The dreadlord continued to speak, whispering some unknown poison into her best friend's ears and Leira wanted so badly to jump down there and skewer him through the head while he was distracted, but held herself.
Something appeared behind them with a thrum. At once, all four of them wheeled around to see their intruder. It was a floating eye the size of a gnome, perfectly spherical and green like acid. Toxic clouds clung to its surface, and in its center was a narrow cat-slit of orange, with veins stretching across its surface. The Eye of Kilrogg stared at them for a moment longer, then released a small burst of fel energy and vanished.
"Aw hell no!" Barab shouted, springing to his feet. She followed his example; they'd been discovered. "Run for it!" he shouted, charging ahead down the corridors Tarod had described. Leira nodded. She heard the dreadlord make some sort of bellowing command, but then a blast of purple magic engulfed him, and when it ended there was nothing left, not even the armor that would've been left behind by a dead dreadlord. Sara had started to run, so Leira followed her example.
They almost instantly came across stairs and bolted down them. But no sooner had the four of them reached the bottom than they were assaulted by a trio of doomguards, brandishing barbed scimitars and grinning too wide at them.
Barab was there first, slamming into one with his shield, the other with a holy hammer, and consecrating the land to grab the attention of the third with righteous fury blossoming forth from him. Tarod was already casting his afflictions on the left one, leavi
ng Leira to charge the one on the right.
She was fast, but it was faster. The moment she was in range it swung at her hard, and the blade caught a weak point in her armor. It hit her skin, but she was so pissed off it bounced off her skin and left her with little more than a paper cut. Then her sword and axe crashed upon its right wing, completely severing it.
The demon wasn't deterred, and she instantly realized her mistake when it focused instead on her, not Barab. Oh well, these things happened. Not everyone was fooled. She readied her weapons and began clashing with the doomguard's dual scimitars. At first it looked like she'd overwhelm the demon through the sheer weight of her weapons, but then it snarled some disgusting demonic words and a burst of darkness engulfed Leira. She nearly collapsed on the spot. Her legs were noodles, her arms limp, she'd been nearly crippled on the spot by the magic. When it next swung at her, she blocked it with her sword and bit her tongue to avoid screaming as pain shot through her limb.
The pain helped her focus though. Gritting her fangs, Leira pushed back, with her mind blazing as she searched for the next angle to attack or the next place to block. She cut off the other wing and stabbed a deep wound beneath the doomguard's sundered armor, but then it cast something else at Leira.
A blue skull appeared over her head.
By then though, the cripple spell wore off and she killed the wounded doomguard easily, then helped the others. In record time they'd killed the doomguards and ran on. A shimmering barrier of the Holy Light formed around Leira, but a moment later it imploded as a shock of something horribly cold struck her heart in an attempt to kill, coincidentally at the same time as the blue skull vanished. But then the warmth of druidic magics wrapped around her and she was back on her hooves like nothing had happened.
They left Khardros's Anvil behind in record time, following Tarod's instructions to reach the lair of the dreadlord - if said dreadlord was even going to humor them by going there - while Sara kept up with them at a frantic pace. Leira didn't look at her, but she did occasionally feel her Old God magic lapping at her back like cold slime.
Soon enough, as they descended closer to the armor-broiling heat of the magma below, Sara came upon a stairwell that let her reunite with them just before they could enter the tunnel Tarod claimed was the nathrezim's hideout. Sara didn't exactly descend the stairs though; she seemed to half stumble, half fall down them. Leira was there in a flash, grabbing the human as her barrier flickered out before she could crack her head on the patterned floor.
"Hey there, you alright?" she asked. The human's skin was as red as a tomato and she was positively drenched with sweat. Her muscles vibrated softly beneath her skin, and her eyes were unfocused.
In response, Sara retched. Then, as if moving underwater, she grabbed one of the mana potions on her belt and chugged it. She retched again, but held it down and drank another mana potion.
And another.
... and another.
After five potions, Sara moved away from Leira. "Thanks," she croaked through a dry throat. "Damn it, remind me never to do something like that ever again." Sara took a swig of her waterskin to hydrate herself, practically pouring the water over her face.
Saynna approached, her arms already alight with nature magic. "Are you alright, Sara? Do you need healing?"
Sara recoiled from the swirling plasma like it was fire, but relented and nodded. "I didn't get hit with any weapons, but a few curses slipped through and they nearly knocked me off the side a few times," she admitted. A flash of a regrowth spell hid her for a moment, and when they could see Sara again she shivered. "Also, I'm out of mana potions now," she admitted, looking at Barab. "If you want me to erase a dreadlord we're gonna have to weaken him first."
"Ah, that's fine," the armored paladin explained. "Standard nathrezim tactics: Spread out around him, poke anyone who falls asleep, and immediately prioritize any friends he brings in." He paused then added, as an afterthought, "Oh, and watch your backs. Don't need any of you getting snuck up on. Now move in!" he ordered.
Leira fell back to walk with Sara as they entered. Despite the mana potions and healing magic, Sara still looked half dead. "Hey," Leira said. "You did good back there. Like really good. All that training finally paid off, huh?"
Sara obviously tried to stop it, but she saw the human crack a smile. "Yeah, I guess it did. Kinda low on magic though. If it's the Varimathras I don't know if I even can erase him."
"Hey, don't worry about it!" she said, clapping Sara on the back. Unfortunately, with her armor and Sara's exhaustion, the human nearly fell over. "Err, sorry. But like I said, even if you can't erase him we can always just hurt him, badly." They rounded a corner and a gargantuan chamber came into view, filled with deactivated portals and uncountable dwarven weapons thrown into lazy piles.
"I guess," Sara said. She snapped the fingers on her left hand, and her shadowy barrier reformed itself. "I think he's the dreadlord I found in the forge actually. Teleported away, too, so we'll have to be careful."
"Right," Leira said.
Then, a whoosh of arcane surrounded Sara. A moment later, her barrier vanished. Leira jumped away while Sara came to a startled halt. "What?!" the human asked, making everyone stare at her as Sara eyed a felhound hidden in the corner. The demon licked its fangs, and dribbles of Old God magic seeped from its fangs.
Then a dreadlord appeared behind Sara.
It was enormous, far taller than it had seemed from a distance. But now, it absolutely dwarfed her and Sara. Claws like shortswords. Fangs like daggers, and wings that could blot out the sun with plate armor that Leira could hide inside. With a single fluid motion the dreadlord brought its claws up, swung down, and with a burst of gore they erupted out of Sara's chest.
Leira stumbled back in horror as the dreadlord lifted Sara into the air. The human made a sound like a deflating balloon, feebly grabbing the claws and trying to dislodge herself. Then, with a grunt of effort, the demon spun around and flung the human deep into the chamber, his claws ripping out of her side gruesomely as he did. Sara rolled to a stop and did not stir.
Varimathras didn't give them a moment to take in what had just happened. He charged into Leira and swept her aside with his giant claws, knocking her into the wall.
Then they were upon him. Tarod took a moment to kill the offending felhound while Barab charged him, calling down the Holy Light. Like he'd ordered they spread out, but Leira felt like she was moving in slow motion. Had this dreadlord really just... just...
Time sped back up, and Leira saw red. She roared and charged the dreadlord, leaping heroically halfway there. She arrived at the back of his armor, between his shifting wings, and drove both her sword and axe into his back. Varimathras roared and swung around, wrenching her free and sending her through the air. While she was airborne he thrust both hands at her, and an enormous blast of insects and fel energy sent her flying into the wall.
She didn't acknowledge the pain, or how she'd landed beside Sara's body. She was up and intercepted the fight again.
Her sword flew and her axe sundered. Barab purified the land and judged the dreadlord while Tarod frantically wove as many magics as he could in a vain attempt to pierce the nathrezim's shadow resistance, and Saynna had shapeshifted into a treant to keep up with Varimathras's hideous power. Shadow novas to blast them back, life drains to sap Barab's essence. Sleep spells, burning infernals. Then Varimathras leaped into the air and curled up, wrapping his wings around himself. Leira tried to cut off one of his hooves, but he vanished...
... and reappeared behind Saynna, who'd since shifted back into a night elf. Her glowing eyes went wide a moment before the dreadlord impaled her from behind, just like Sara, and tossed her away. She was dead before she hit the ground.
With her gone, Varimathras had an easy job shredding apart Tarod. The priest's cloth armor offered no resistance, none of his shadow spells had managed to stick, and both she and Barab couldn't reach the dreadlord fast enough to stop him.
; Three down.
He didn't focus on her next, he didn't think she was a threat and she made sure to carve a gash down his thigh for that, but without any of their spellcasters it wasn't long before the demon's claws tore through the dwarf's armor and lacerated the flesh beneath.
Leira had the presence of mind to help him. She bowed her head and called out to the Light to mend him. A flash of light over Barab and a blue sigil in front of her own forehead confirmed that she had successfully bestowed her gift upon him, and the paladin had also called to the Light to shield himself with an unbreakable barrier.
That was right. With the power of the Holy Light, they would purge this darkness and avenge -
Barab's shield flickered out, and Varimathras ran him through.
"OH FUCK NO!" she roared, launching herself at the dreadlord. That was it. That was IT! This dreadlord thought he could show up on her planet, killing her people, massacring her friends?! It was time to disabuse him of that notion!
His claws rent her armor in moments but bounced off her skin like it was titanium. She timed her next strike to parry his left hand and then swiftly overpowered him and cut the claws into harmless nubs.
"Grah!" he grunted, vocalizing for the first time. "Impudent mortal..." Varimathras flapped backwards to stand over Sara's corpse. For a moment Leira thought she saw something glimmer around the human, but she ignored it and instead charged the dreadlord head on.
He sent a shadow bolt at her. Leira was moving too fast to dodge, but the laughing skull just splashed around her head like it was water. Varimathras's carrion swarm spell pushed her back a step, but by then she was already there and she stabbed him through the gut as quick as she could with her sword, while sundering his armor with her axe.
She was a tornado. She was an executioner, a siegebreaker, a bladestorm. She cut and sliced and spun, leaving rended wounds, or punctured eyes, or maimed legs in her wake. From time to time her fury ebbed and the dreadlord shocked her with darkness or cut her and drew blue blood, but that would remind her of what he had done and then she was nearly indestructible again.