Disclaimer! I don't own Wow. Blizz does, and your soul too.
***Arathi Highlands – Stromgarde Keep ***
I glanced out at the assembled Horde army from my position over Stromgarde's main gate and swallowed hard. The orcs here were more numerous than when they had assaulted Stormwind. Still, as large as they were, they did not blanket the ground. Sure, they covered the immediate area around us, yes, but we were still able to see grass and uncovered patches of land. I would take that as a win for us.
Idly, I wondered where the rest of the Horde was, but I didn't have time to worry about what was happening out there; I had to first survive what was in front of me. Scanning the assembled horde again, I noted that the orcs were completely green now. I remembered seeing some brown orcs before, but it seemed like their corruption was now complete.
True to my prediction, the Horde did not attack right away. Instead, after seeing our castle, they gave us a two-day grace as more orc grunts streamed in. To my chagrin, it looked like they had rudimentary siege engines like catapults and battering rams, and they were building more. Thankfully, those two days also allowed me to draw up a rough battle plan and give our craftsmen time to reinforce all of the gates. Of course there was no way in hell we were going to let them pound away at our gate unmolested. They would have to clear out the defenders for that to happen and the only way to take the wall was over our dead bodies.
"Sylvie," I spoke to the elf next to me. After seeing her not minding my nickname for her, I kept on using it from then on. "Do those look like goblins to you?"
There was another patch of green out there, much smaller than the orcs. At first, I thought they were peons, but upon seeing them stand side by side, it was easy to spot the difference. The smaller green creatures were only up to knee-height to the orcs.
The elf next to me squinted and nodded. "I haven't seen one in person, but they do appear to match the description of those greedy creatures."
"I want you and your rangers to prioritize any goblins that might have a large barrel on their back or maybe metal balls," I said. "If you can somehow infuse your arrows with fire, it would be best for you guys to hit the barrels."
"I shall prioritize them then," Sylvanas said before she signaled something to her rangers. After traveling together, I had eventually realized that those signals were the elves' sign language and not war signals like I thought before.
I wasn't expecting the goblins, but using my knowledge of them from my previous lives, I knew their strengths and weaknesses. Left unchecked, the little bastards were as prolific as the gnomes. If the gilnean had guns, then the green cunts had explosive powders for sure.
Better safe than sorry.
Heck, If we were lucky, Sylvanas might be able to detonate one of their suicide bombers while they were in a dense pack of orcs.
"They're coming," Sylvanas warned. "No signs of the warlocks you told me to look out for."
"Looks like they want to try to brute force it first," I said. The elf's eyes were much better than mine and so, true to her words, the mass of green started to move.
The lowlands around the castle coupled with the sixty-foot wall of Stromgarde would make it difficult for any attackers. Heck, there were even two mini lakes in front of the keep that would make movement hard. Unfortunately, these lakes didn't hug the walls and left a lot of spaces before the castle. Maybe it was an unfinished moat project or it could just be a natural part of the environment, though none of that mattered now.
Galen had turned command of the city defenses over to me, putting me in charge until the siege was over. I had the militia act as backups while working on other surprises for the Horde. Even though Galen also wanted to give me the royal guards as well, I refused. Who knew if there would be another Garona-type assassin sent after us? Better to err on the safe side.
My mind returned to the present where an air of nervousness pervaded. I should probably do something to dispel it.
"Sons and daughters of Stromgarde! Of Lordaeron! Of the Kingdoms of the North!" I shouted, allowing the Light to enhance my voice. "The Horde is coming now to test our mettle and resolve!"
I looked around and drew my sword, adding some holy magical glow to it so that it was shining obnoxiously bright.
"Together, we will make them fail this test!!" Time to finish it off. "Stand firm and fear not! Trust those by your side and we shall prevail! For the Alliance!"
"FOR THE ALLIANCE!"
I smiled as I saw the soldiers standing a bit firmer, their shoulders more squared with renewed resolve in their eyes.
"Those were heartening words, Callan. If a bit short," Liadrin told me from my left. "With your guiding hand, the Light will see us through these dark days."
I turned to the hot elf priestess and nodded at her. She was very important to my plans for surviving the siege. Thankfully, there were a few dozen priests in Stromgarde and from the surviving villagers, giving us a nicely sized healing force.
"They're going to be entering my rangers' killing range soon," Sylvanas informed me.
"Liadrin, Sylvie, you know what to do." I gave my final orders to both women. Without any more words needed, they left my side and allowed me to concentrate on the Horde army moving closer to us.
It was time to start.
"Archers at the ready but hold!" I commanded.
I heard my orders being repeated up and down the line. The orcs choose to face us fully at the front and not flank us. Initially, I had expected them to surround the castle and climb in from every angle. It wasn't until I learned from Knight Commander Archer, a native of Stromgarde, that on the flanks of the castle, the lowlands sloped toward the sea. That meant the orcs needed to climb higher and on shittier terrain just to set their tools. That was good to hear, but I still left the militia to guard those sides just in case.
They came at us from three directions. The bulk of their army was charging right down the middle road, while a smaller but still sizable ground force weaved around the small body of water in their way. That might not seem like much, but it prevented them from blanketing us in one large blob. More importantly, it also made them easier targets.
"They're within the archers' range now." My right hand for this battle was the surviving Alterac lieutenant from a few days ago. His identity shocked me, but I chose to focus on the matter at hand.
"Hold!" I reminded my archers along the walls.
Now the orcs were closer, the familiar appearance of the orc grunts could be made out, especially since the gear was standard for all orc grunts. Viking horn helmets with bare torsos and big axes or mauls in their hands. To my paranoia, there didn't seem to be any signs of warlocks or wolf riders which made me anxious. As they got closer, I could make out their banners. One had a crescent moon on it while the other was a saber on a red flag. Chills went down my spine as I remembered that those belonged to Ner'zhul, the Shadowmoon and the Burning Blade clans respectively.
Well, shit.
Thankfully, the two flags didn't make up the majority of the banners which means I wouldn't be facing the full might of both. There were other banners, but I couldn't recall any of them from the relevant lore from my old-world experience.
"Ready!" I spoke up as there was now a good-sized chunk of the orcs in our killing field. "LOOSE!"
A moment after I swung my sword down, hundreds of arrows fired into the orcs' mass.The majority of the arrows struck the orc's centermost formation that was streaming toward our gates. Some of the orcs that were struck by the arrows fell off the main road and slid into the water. They wised up pretty quickly and lifted up small bucklers to defend themselves.
Because I didn't want to have any slack in our firing, I split the archers into two groups. The second group could only fire after the first group shot their arrows. In that way, a constant stream of arrows kept shooting down into the sea of green. Unfortunately, orcs were tough. It would take more than an arrow or two to kill an orc.
Now, the orcs weren't all melee; they had range too. Sure enough, the familiar spear throwers raced ahead of their army with long wooden spears cocked back in their hands. They threw it as hard as they could, but our walls were much too high enough where gravity made it more difficult for them to 'shoot up' at us. Many of their spears just grazed the wall underneath our battlements. Those that did make it through were easily deflected by our defenders.
Eventually, they began to bleed through our archers harassment line. Time to let them know that if they wanted to even attempt these walls, they needed to be baptized in some fucking fire first.
"Catapults!" I bellowed as I pointed my sword to the area behind me. "Release!"
On my pre-planned signal, dozens of catapults had their payloads of wood and stone set on fire and then flung over the walls, smashing into the orcs gathering across the mini lakes. The ball of fire crushed several orcs outright and continued to roll forward, killing even more. Others exploded, sending their fiery shrapnel into the orcs around them. The violent assault, paired with the constant harassment of our archers, began to litter the ground with dead and wounded orcs.
Something that was not rendered in the game was the little platforms for the castle defenders to push their catapults up onto, allowing them to fire from an elevated position that could reach further. The only drawback was that it was a fixed position that only had a tight forty-five-degree arc.
I learned only after being given overall command that the Trollbane family kept their castles well supplied in case of a siege and had been doing that for generations. In fact, a good portion of their budget was allocated to such an endeavor. Was it out of a generational fear of the Troll Wars or their fellow human nations?
Honestly, I couldn't say.
Whatever it was, it made me more optimistic about holding out for a few weeks. The only thing I wished I had more of was crude oil, but the raw materials to make arrows and catapult payloads were plentiful for now. Armed with that knowledge, I wasn't too afraid of being wasteful.
From my position over the main entrance of the castle, I saw a large battering ram, reinforced with thick wood, slowly being rolled up the path. Standing at a good twenty to thirty feet tall was a large arch structure weaved together by long wooden logs. Its purpose was to support the large log that would act as a battering ram hanging at its center. The log in question had a massive metal wolf head with the Horde omega symbol branded on it, swaying slightly. I wondered if the goblins helped the orcs with this or if it was something they created on their own.
On either side of the contraption were two lines of ogres pushing it forward, stomping heavily with each step. Every other row had an ogre with a large but crudely made wooden shield held high to protect them from arrows.
The worst part was that there were two more just like it being pushed to the side gate, but thanks to the rough terrain they were much slower. Unfortunately, we didn't have time to booby trap the road leading to Stromgarde's direct gate. Heck, I would have settled for fucking up the road, if there we had just one more day to prepared.
"Falconcrest!" The Alterac officer's with the surprising identity turned out to be the future leader of the assassin group called the Syndicate. "Signal to Group "C" to prepare to fire at the following angles on my signal."
"Yes, my lord!" the man shouted. He then turned to wave two lion flags to convey as much to the catapult crews.
I wasn't sure if fate was fucking with me but to meet Falconcrest here wasn't something I was prepared for. In the future, this noble would be a thorn in the side of Stromgarde and was partly responsible for bringing it down. Sadly, that was all that I knew of him since I never played a rogue. Yet for a future bad guy, I couldn't see through him. At least with Blackmoore, I knew what sign to spot for shadiness. Falconcrest, however, gave nothing away and always answered me with respect and politeness.
"Ready when you are, my lord," Falconcrest informed me.
I nodded before watching the orcs weather through the arrow and catapult barrage to close in on the wall. Then, to my surprise, each began to take something off of their backs. Before my very eyes, the orcs snapped the latter together like Earth's Lego blocks. It took me a moment to realize it was part of a ladder.
'Fucking goblins!' Creative little shits.
"They're going to climb the wall!" I warned them. "All sections, ready yourselves!"
The orcs used the same tactics they did when I fought them at Redridge. They would climb on top of each other in clumps and then lift the ladder with their great strength. I was ready for it this time.
"Don't let them latch onto the wall!" I ordered as the orcs' ladders began to fall towards the wall. "Liadrin! Do it now!"
All across the walls, I felt the Light's energy being used, indicating that the stamina buffs were being given out. I was able to easily take care of my sections. Then right afterward, I threw out as many 'Power Word: Shield' as possible before the orcs' ladders hit our walls and unloaded clumps of orcs. Imbuing my sword with the Light, I swung at the first falling orc I could reach and sent him right off the wall.
"Soldiers of the Alliance!" I roared after my first strike. "Send them back!"
Already, the nearby soldiers swarmed the first wave of orcs, pressing their shield and stabbing at the orcs. The orcs tried to push us back with their brute strength, but humanity wasn't that weak in this world. Using teamwork, they helped the man in front of them, supporting them from the back. Pretty soon, we cleared off the initial orc assault that made their way onto the wall. Then, using that same teamwork as earlier, shields were locked together to force our way forward to push the ladders off the wall.
Of course, that was not the end of it; more ladders came, allowing new waves of orcs to get onto the wall. However, the strength of the defenders was still fresh and so, the soldiers matched the orcs' brutal savagery with courageous valor. I myself was side by side with the dual-wielding Falconcrest, killing orcs with my Light-enhanced strength. Many of the orcs' eyes widened in surprise at being overpowered by a smaller human, but by the time they recovered, it was too late.
"They cannot take the wall so long as we hold firm!" I shouted my encouragement as I ducked under an axe swing and charged forward to sink my arcanite sword right into his guts.
"Lok'tar Ogar!" Another axe swung toward my back.
"Shield!" I uttered the power word just before the axe struck my back.
"Hurrgh?" The orc strike was much weaker than Zul'jin so it didn't pop my protective holy-powered bubble.
I pivoted one-eighty and swung hard at the orc's neck, lobbing his head off. "Lok'Tar my ass!"
I instantly blocked another strike and fought my way to the ladder to push that one off.
"Shield. Shield. Shield. Shield—" I used the power word liberally on my soldiers as I passed by, fighting my way from ladder to ladder.
I did not dare look away to glance at the other fronts, and I didn't need to. If there was any real problem, then a trumpet would have been sounded to catch my attention. That allowed me to tunnel vision against the orcs who were beginning to recognize that I might be too much for them.
"My lord, their battering ram is in range!" the future Syndicate leader shouted to me.
"Send the signal for group C to fire!" I shouted back even as I had an orc pinned to the wall with my shield and was thrusting my blade into him relentlessly.
I felt the heat of the catapult's payload arc over my head and crashed into something beyond my vision. More of the fireballs followed by panic shouts and cries of pain from our enemy.
"Clear!" one of the sergeants nearby shouted. That meant that the orcs were no longer trying to climb up on his section. This reprieve allowed me to look over the wall and see that we had killed quite a bit of orcs that were piled up at the foot of the wall.
My gaze went out further to see the large siege engine that was being pushed by the ogres was heavily damaged. At least half of it was on fire, and there were gaps where the ogres had been, replaced by scattered fire and broken stone. That was probably where one of our catapults' payloads had struck. Good, it would take time and effort to get that battering ram up and running again.
Now, I was able to look over at the other fronts and assess our situation. It was pretty good so far; the orcs had climbed the walls, but they hadn't overwhelmed them and had instead been sent off by the defenders. Some of the orcs had fallen to their death inside the walls and unfortunately, a few of ours had died the same way as well.
My eyes continued to scan the walls to look for any sign of weakness that I would need to shore up. The east and west sides of the castle showed no sign of assault, confirming the difficulty of setting up a proper base to attack from. Then I checked on the priests assigned to each section and saw that, while they were still good to go, the casting of the power word was starting to tax them. It was, however, difficult to properly assess them from this distance.
Finally, my eyes landed on Sylvanas who turned just in time for our eyes to lock. She already had an arrow nocked and, without even needing to look, released it beyond the wall before nodding at me. In other words, she and her rangers were fine.
"Here comes the next wave, my lord!" Captain Falconcrest warned me.
The man's sword was bloodied with orc blood, but he looked ready for more. He didn't fight the orcs with power but instead, tricked them to death. He would weave through orc swings and wait for them to expose their soft spots before striking. The man also wasn't above stabbing engaged orcs from behind either.
He was a born rogue.
"Alright, boys and girls," I shouted. "You heard the man! Let's give our guests a warm Lordaeronian welcome!"
There was some jeering laughter from the soldiers around me before they roared as one in affirmation.
I looked out from the battlement to see the final arc of a fireball smash into the battering ram. The battering ram, which had been on its last leg, collapsed like a house made of match sticks. Loud cheers could be heard along the wall for those who saw the sight. The added bonus was that the destroyed siege weapon was now a flaming hindrance for the orcs on the main road.
Taking a quick peek at the other two battering rams, I saw that they barely moved from their previous position. The terrain was playing havoc with them, and that was a blessing that I was very grateful for.
'Now, we just need to hold on like this for a few weeks and everything will be fine,' I thought. 'No biggie...'
"They're loading up on the ladders again!" the future lord of assassins called out.
Nodding, I swung my sword as the orcs jumped onto us again.
+++ Orc Encampment +++
Ner'zhul watched for the better part of the day as his warriors attempted to take the wall of the human fortress. He would not be foolish like Blackhand was when he attacked the Draenei and the humans to the south. The reminders of those days made him shudder as he recalled how tens of thousands of orc warriors had been killed by the Draenei magicks. Crystals that the orcs never gave much thought to were used to kill a warrior on the spot from a distance. Worse, their ancestral spirits refused to help them, abandoning them to the Draenei's mercy.
As much as Ner'zhul loathed to admit it, when the spirits abandoned them and their shamans lost their power, Gul'dan had brought both salvation and damnation with his warlocktry. Their people lost themselves in the promises from Gul'dan's power and gave up their proud spirits. Their once noble clans were now twisted, perverted by Gul'dan's demon masters. It wasn't until all of the Draenei had been slaughtered that Kil'Jaden, the demon that took the guise of his wife and tricked him, had left them.
They could still call upon the demons but only lesser ones answered their calls. Because all these demons knew how to do was cause destruction, they could do little about the clans' food problem. Ner'zhul had tried at the time to desperately reconnect with their ancestral spirits, but all he received was cold silence for his attempts. In the end, the once mighty Horde became a dying race with few noble orcs clans left. Once they finished butchering the last of the creatures around them, their food source would have been completely depleted and all that would be left was for the clans to turn upon one another.
Then Gul'dan brought news of a new world. A world rich and teeming with life with a far inferior foe guarding its treasures.
Ner'zhul bared his teeth at the human walls before him as he remembered the news of how the Blackrock clan had been all but gutted by human magicks. What more, Gul'dan himself had been reported as injured or dead. Ner'zhul had tried to search for his former apprentice, but Doomhammer was too cunning by half. Grom and he would come to a conflict one day, the old shaman knew. The Warsong chieftain was a hot head, but thanks to Blackhand's Folly, he was receptive to advice for caution.
The result? Victory after victory. The two powerful dwarven nations that stood in their way? Both were now broken at their feet, cowering behind their great halls. Their flying cousins? They were currently being systematically hunted down by Kilrogg One-Eye and the goblins armed with the land dwarves' own weapons. Finally, the human army that sought to bar their entry? Scattered to the wind.
But, Ner'zhul reluctantly had to admit, they had been formidable. Drowned in numbers by the Horde as they were, their magicks had proven to be deadly. This was the first time Grom's Horde had faced human sorcerers and many paid the blood price for it.
So, as to not repeat Blackhand's Folly, Ner'zhul had intended to test the humans' defenses. To see just what kind of sorcery the humans cowering behind their walls had. He baited them with a full third of his forces, just to make the humans feel threatened. Yet, there were no signs of ice storms forming over his warriors nor birds made of fire assaulting his position. They are only fighting with their martial strength, and that made Ner'zhul smile.
The old orc held out his hand and soon a small sinister-looking fire spirit appeared. He had never expected that, in this world, the spirits would answer his calls again. That there would be another path to communing with the spirits. No longer would he be at the mercy of their ancestors, to beg for power.
No.
Now… Now, they commanded the spirits and even encountered like-minded spirits that were bent on conquest. The Dark Iron Dwarves had been surprised at his people's mastery of Shamanism. They thought they could bargain for more power by slowing their teachings. Ner'zhul could only smile when he recalled their faces when they realized he had contacted their master.
The Firelord and his allies were more powerful than any spirits he had ever communed with on Draenor. It was with that power that he would bring Gul'dan and his warlocks to their knees. For now, he intended to scourge the human defenders with the powers granted by his Firelord ally.
"Dentarg," he called upon his ogre servant. "Tell the shamans to begin the ritual. We will destroy the human defenders by nightfall."
The ogre magi bowed his head and went to do as Ner'zhul instructed.
+++ Stromgarde Keep +++
"My lord, to your left!"
The warning was unnecessary as I already had sensed the attack. I turned and blocked the orc's axe before stabbing my sword right into his unarmored face. Then I quickly whirled around in time to cut another orc on the shoulder that was attacking a nearby footman. My strike caused the orc to reel in pain, but more importantly, it gave the footmen a chance to shove his sword into the orc's bare chest. Satisfied, I turned to the source of the orcs, the ladder leaning on the crenel of the battlement.
An orc face popped up in between the ladder rung which I immediately punched him and bloodied his face from my Light-enhanced plated fist. The orc was sent reeling off, and before the next orc could climb up, I pushed the ladder off. Soon enough, all of the ladders in my sections were pushed off, allowing us a momentary reprieve as the orcs consolidated their forces down below.
The battle had lasted from the early morning well into the day. Every hour that passed by allowed the orcs to adapt to our defenses. Though not all for the better, some of the braver ones approached our wooden gate and started to cut into it.
'Were they hoping to create a small hole?' I wondered at the sight. It was futile because behind the first heavy wooden gate was, surprise surprise, another heavy wooden gate!
I motions to a few archers in my area and pointed to the orcs down below. "Get them off my damn gate!"
The archers leaned over and within seconds all of the orcs that had been cutting at the gate were now doing their best impression of a pincushion. Satisfied at the sight, I tossed out a few discreet flash heals making those who were injured became well again. Unfortunately, I couldn't do mass resurrection due to the orcs' constant assault. How many soldiers could I have saved if I had a way to battle rez? Thankfully, with our healers and Liadrin working her ass off, the death toll was only in the high hundreds instead of thousands.
The healers set up a rotation to regain their stamina so that they could keep casting their healing spells. They were the safety net for our soldiers, and we needed to keep them fresh. I also had the footmen rotate every three hours when possible or if there was enough of a lull. The challenge was hard, but a siege of this magnitude was a marathon, not a sprint. We just needed to outlast the other side. In fact, most of the soldiers around me were new and fresh troops. Only I had been on this wall all day while the original defenders had rotated out. Even Falconcrest was forced to take a break after the last Horde offensive. The man had protested, but everyone could see that he was on his last leg.
The yellow of the sun was beginning to tinge orange, showing us that it was going to set soon. We just needed to hold out until then since no one would be dumb enough to assault the walls at night. At least, not when we haven't received that many casualties. The small reprieve allowed me to scan the conditions of our defenders again. There were no weaknesses in any sections that I could see, though I couldn't imagine that they would hide their issues at a time like this. I looked behind me toward the castle and saw volunteer civilians tending to the wounded or cleaning the dead.
Enjoying my nice little breather, it suddenly struck me that something felt off. It took me a moment to realize that no more orcs were currently trying to attack the sections under my purview. In fact, after scanning the walls to either side of me, beside a few pockets of orcs, most of the sections had idle defenders. I quickly looked over the walls to see the orcs' forces pulling back.
"They're retreating, milord!" a Stromgarde sergeant shouted in joy after he got a look. "We did it!"
"They're not," I rebuked the man harshly. "They would have sounded a horn if that was the case."
"Pardon, milord," the soldier apologized. The man was twice my age, but he acted as if I was that intimidating to him.
"They're up to something," I mused.
"We've beaten them back!" someone from a different section shouted in joy. "WE DID IT!"
"SILENCE!" I commanded. Something was not right. That was when I felt it, something odd was in the air. Something that made my skin tingle.
"Callan!" Sylvanas sounded alarmed. "The sky!"
My eyes looked up to see a low black cloud slowly forming over our heads. It was an out-of-place weather phenomenon on a cloudless day. Worse, it was growing at an incredible rate, becoming gradually larger. This was clearly a magical attack, but, surprisingly, not one powered by the Fel.
However, it wasn't arcane either. Arcane had a different way that it suffused the air. The growing cloud above us felt suffocating and wild, like a gathering storm. As if to confirm my words, thunder cracked loudly and lightning could be seen dancing along its body.
"It can't be..." I said in disbelief. However, an errant lighting bolt shot down and struck a group of defenders on the wall.
"What in the Light's name?!" some of the footmen around me exclaimed in shock.
I knew what it was. That wasn't done by a warlock; it was elemental magic. There was a fucking shaman!
How did the fucking Horde have shamans again?!
"Liadrin!" I roared. I would worry about the new information later. For now, it was time for action. "As we planned!"
I knew the Horde had magic. Unfortunately, my side did not. That did not mean we would be helpless before it. That was because we had priests. We might not have the magical offensive capabilities to trade blows with the Horde warlocks, but we could weather their attacks. If there was one thing the Light was good for, it was defensive spells. The healers all around had their hands extended toward the sky and as one, we uttered a single power word.
"BARRIER!"
Pockets of golden domes of translucent holy light were formed all along the walls. The people behind us in the castle would take refuge in their stone houses. Moments later, an absurd amount of lighting bolts shot out from the sky. The flash from the sheer volume of lighting forks was so blinding that it illuminated the entire area as far as the eye could see.
While there were a few stray bolts that struck the interior of the city, the brunt of the lighting strikes fell onto the defender. I grunted as I felt the bolt dance on my dome but gritted my teeth and held firm. When the strike was over and my vision returned, I couldn't help but exhale in relief at what I saw. The walls were smoking, and there were even some burnt spots, but the dozens of domes were still glowing like a defiant beacon for all to see.
We didn't get away scot-free, I noticed two gaps in the wall where charred armor remnants were scattered. The priest there could not hold up against the attack so his dome collapsed. However, the majority was still up and strengthening by the second. My barrier by far was the largest by a wide margin, and that was where the next series of lighting barrages seemed to focus on.
Unlike the game, the real-life version of the barrier spell worked based on your ability, reservoir of Light magic, and most importantly, intent. Pretty much, the more you had, the more you could endure. Thanks to my template and maybe my personal growth, my reserves were huge, and I gladly took on the brunt of the attack. The lightning storm continued for a few more terrifying moments before it stopped completely. In that barrage, I could see a couple more barriers had collapsed, but the majority still held up.
"Hold it steady!" I shouted for all the priests to hear. Even though the lighting strike had stopped, the dark clouds over us had not dissipated yet. The orcs' shamans were not done with us yet.
I looked through my translucence barrier to where the orcs had retreated and saw a long orc with a white-painted face emerge. He had what looked like human skulls hanging around his neck while in his hand was a staff that exuded a sinister aura. The tip of the staff had three elemental orbs consisting of earth, storm, and fire circling it. Our eyes met for just a moment before he turned to the sky and made some weird motions with his staff.
"Sylvanas!" I roared. "Shoot the orc with the painted face!"
I saw an arrow whistling out from our walls, but just before it could strike the shaman, a blademaster's sword whipped out and sliced through the shaft. Sylvanas fired several more times in rapid succession. However, the blade master and other warriors who were encircling the white-faced orc prevent all of them from getting through. Undeterred, the future banshee queen kept firing her arrows even knowing that they would be deflected.
Suddenly, the shaman stopped his ritual motion and pointed his staff at one of the barrier domes on the wall. This time, instead of a barrage of lightning strikes, there was one singular bolt, only much, much larger. The bolt crashed into the farthest dome to the east, and to my horror, made the barrier pop like a balloon before bathing the area with death.
"By the Light!" my men shouted in fear.
"Hold firm!" I shouted to the discouraged defenders. "The Light is with you!"
I wracked my brain on what I could do and wondered if I could even survive a magical strike like that. That was when I noticed that there was no immediate second lightning strike. I quickly turned to see the shaman again doing his hand-waving shit with his staff again. After a few moments of watching the orc I came up with a wild theory.
Could it be that the massive storm could not be carried out by a single shaman. If that was the case then it must have been the work of several shamans working together in tandem to create such a storm. I realized that the teamwork abilities must have been a shaman skill that transferred over when they converted to warlocks. It explained why the orcs' warlocks were so much better than human mages at weaving spells together.
Before I could tease out more of my thoughts, the shaman stopped and pointed his finger to the right side of the wall at another dome. Once more, another massive lighting bolt fell onto the smaller dome and blew up everyone huddling underneath. I could feel the soldiers on the wall were on the verge of running for shelter. No matter how brave, no one wanted to wait for their death like this. However, the moment we abandon the wall and sought out shelter, we would be fucked.
'Think, think, think!' I forced myself to try and come up with a solution.
I couldn't recall if priests ever worked together in tandem like this but that didn't they couldn't, right?
"He's going to aim again soon!" a soldier near me said fearfully.
"Fuck it!" I roared. Do or die time. "Liadrin! Priests of Lordaeron! STRENGTHEN MY BARRIER!"
Liadrin was the first to drop her barrier at my words. Not a moment later I felt a wave of power and an influx of Light presence surrounding me. I knew what the Light felt like, it was powerful, but what Liadrin gave me was condensed Light, I would even say refined. I instantly weaved her offering to the barrier and saw the barrier extend to twice its size.
"Brothers and sisters!" Liadrin shouted. "Believe in Callan and pour your faith into him!"
I wanted to correct her but suddenly I felt the area become saturated with refined holy light. I quickly reached out mentally and weaved it all into my barrier just in time for the lightning bolt to strike down on me. I gritted my teeth in pain and felt like my body was about to be ripped apart. So, to counter that, I pour more of the Light into me while weaving the refined Light magic into my barrier.
Just like that, the attack ended and I felt the pressure ease off of me. When I recovered enough to look up, I saw the barrier had encompassed most of the wall now and even part of the castle's living area. More importantly, it held.
"M...milord..." I heard a reverent whisper near me.
'That a fucking huge barrier!' I thought and felt something dripping from my nose. I looked down to see several droplets of blood falling to the ground.
I looked out at the shaman and saw his shocked expression. The shock did not last long before it twisted in fury. He violently shook the staff around as if wanting to hurt the air before him. Then, with a roar, he pointed at me with his staff and the mother of all lighting bolts fell from the dark clouds.
My eyes were momentarily blinded by the brightness of the clash even as I buckled under the powerful spell. It felt like my barrier was about to be ripped apart. Desperately, I realized I didn't need such a huge dome and began to direct the excess energy that wasn't doing anything to the spot where the lighting bolt impacted. The lighting bolt wiggled and danced all over the top of the dome, doing its best to force its way through. Yet, I persevered as I took more of the barrier's excess energy and focused it onto a single shielding point.
I heard murmurs of concern from the soldiers as the dome seemed to lift away from them, leaving them exposed. They must have noticed by now that the lightning bolt had not moved away from where it initially attacked. My theory was that controlling an elemental attack of this size was not easy. Wherever that shaman had first struck was where the subsequent lightning bolts would go, though that was still only a hastily constructed assumption.
I was close to letting go of the holy barrier due to my reserve rapidly running dry but forced myself to endure the relentless elemental assault. Then, just as I felt like there was no more I could do, the assault stopped. What more, the storm cloud that was hanging over us dissipated. Stunned silence hung not only over our walls, but also over the orcs down below as well. My legs felt like jelly, and I was on the verge of falling, but I knew that I couldn't afford to be seen collapsing like this.
"Don't let me fall," I whispered desperately.
Immediately, two footmen stood behind me, grabbing onto my armor and keeping me upright. I then raised my sword high and staggered forward before making eye contact with the orc. Then pointing my sword at the white faced orc, I put on my best sneering expression.
"Is that the best you got?!" I taunted.
As if providence was on my side, the orc suddenly swayed and collapsed onto his knees. That only lasted for a second before an ogre rushed forward to support him back to his feet. Our eyes locked, and we both knew who had the better of whom. I couldn't let this chance pass up and eeking out the last of my strength, I turned to the soldiers behind me and raised my sword.
"For the ALLIANCE!"
+++ Orc Encampment +++
Ner'zhul felt the shame permeate his warriors as the humans' thunderous cry of victory rang loudly over their walls. His show of weakness had sapped their spirit for the day. They would recover tomorrow, but he was their leader, and he had shown weakness while their enemy's leader stood tall and proud.
Quietly, Dentarg helped him back to the shaman's makeshift spirit lodge.
Ner'zhul had not imagined that the Draenei magick user that Gul'dan had tried to assassinate was here, nor did he realize just how powerful the humans had become. Upon entering his tent, he saw many of his dark shamans shivering on the floor. The spell normally wouldn't do that to them, but he had forced them to give more of themselves to destroy the golden dome.
Yet, they had failed, and this was the price of their failure. It would take days for them to recover. Perhaps, had he had more shamans with him, he could have broken through, but they were spread out amongst Grom and Fenris' forces.
"Dentarg." Ner'zhul hated how weak his voice sounded at the moment. Yet his ogre companion said nothing, waiting patiently for him to speak. "To the east, there are large stones imbued with elemental power. Bring them to the camp."
"As you command, Ner'zhul." The ogre bowed before he retreated.
Ner'zhul shakily grabbed a cup of fermented elekk milk and drank deeply as he stared at a certain area of the human's wall.
TBC...
AN:
For off thanks to Icura for helping me with this! This could not be done without his help!
Secondly special thanks to all of the patron supporter. It helps us in ways you don't even know! Much love and appreciation!
The siege has officially began! The orcs shamans teamwork converting to shamanism was a thing that was superior to humans conjurers/mages according to Khadgar. So I showcased that here. Initially I was gonna do a different format but decided to do a Day 1 instead all the readers can be in the trenches, so to speak. I hope you guys enjoyed it, I did a bit more minor adjust from the sneak peek on patron to make it smoother. Now, sit back, strap in, cause here we go!!!
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Finally, as always C+C welcomed, discussion eternally appreciated!