Saturday, July 11, 2009

The First Battle: 5 - Durotar and the End

The zepplin made good time, with favorable winds, and the dusty, hot lands of Durotar soon came into sight. The hot, steamy night of the jungle had given way to a cooler, drier night of the desert. The Alliance, eager and ready after their flight, prepared to jump from the zeppelin as it neared the tower.

Orgrimmar glowed in the night, smoke from bonfires billowing out and up into the night sky. Seona was surprised at how big it looked from the air. She had little time to enjoy the view, however, as the zeppelin came to a halt at the docking tower. A roar from below caught her by surprise, and she yelped. Orcs, trolls, and other members of the Horde poured from the city fully aware that the zeppelin wasn't carrying friendly passengers.

Many of them, she saw, wore the same colors. She quickly asked Gildaroy who they were.
"Nyx," she replied, then grabbed her hammer and leapt from the zeppelin. Seona protected herself from harm using holy Light and jumped after her, soaring through the air to the ground below. She ran, then, charging with the rest of the soldiers from Grom'gol into the fray.

Within moments, she blacked out.

.: * :.

She was no match for the hardened Horde warriors. Nyx and their allies seemed to be unending, their numbers so overwhelming and great that with numbers alone they pushed the Alliance back all the way through Razor Hill, a small Horde outpost on the road to Orgrimmar, and to the river and across into the Barrens. Seona awoke in the dirt, vague and hazy memories of a grey world, and realized that she had nearly died. Every bit of her hurt, and she counted bruises as she tried to stand.

Realizing she was soon going to be behind enemy lines, she quickly called Caliburn to her and in a flash of Light he appeared. That was no doubt highly visible to the enemy, she thought, and grabbed onto his saddle to hoist herself up, urging him to start running even before she settled.

She caught up with the other Alliance soldiers and crossed the river, narrowly missing being bitten by a river crocolisk. They hissed loudly as she and Caliburn plunged past them through the water and up onto the Barrens bank. The other soldiers of the Alliance stood there, nursing wounds and bandaging up their comrades.

Beaten but not broken. They stood their ground, regrouping and fighting off the Horde that soon surged across the river after them. Seona, knowing that she couldn't face the Horde warriors in her current state, stayed clear, blessing the Alliance fighters and healing when she could. On occasion, she'd try to destroy one of the Horde totems that their shamans planted to give them strength and speed. A bad idea, in the end, as she was, yet again, struck down from behind.

When she awoke this time, the Alliance morale was gone, too many had fallen, and it was time to make a strategic retreat. The loud, gnome mage, now called all to her as she created a portal to Theramore isle, warning those that were near that she couldn't hold it open forever. Just as she did, the Horde returned, regrouped and in even greater numbers than before. The few Alliance left now stood no chance whatsoever. Zappie, knowing it was futile, shouted one last warning, and stepped through her portal, knowing that soon enough it would close behind her.

Seona and most of the other members of the Kingship hadn't been close enough or in time. The horde stood there now, and the portal was closing anyway. They turned and ran. North, ever north they went, along with other soldiers. Lord Cendall stayed behind, buying them some time as they made their way up to Ashenvale, to Astranaar. They staggered into the town, the Night Elves stationed there tending to wounds and giving them some measure of safety.

Lord Cendall wasn't behind them. The Kingship stood, waiting, at the archway into the town, hoping to see him on the horizon. Nervous, they began wondering where he had gone, a few even saying they'd turn back, go get him. Then, there he was, his loud motorcycle coming up the road. They were all bruised, all beaten.

Thanking them for their service, he dismissed them, telling them to get some rest. Saluting Lord Cendall and then sighing with relief, Seona reached into her saddle bag for her hearthstone, activating the magic that would take her back to the Hinterlands where she'd get a nice malt beer and a warm bed under the mountains. As wild as the Hinterlands were, they would be tame compared to this night.

_____________________

((Note: These events happened (with some literary liscense, of course) during the Strands of Fate storyline run by Al'shar lo Dor'ano, an RP guild on the Emerald Dream US server. More specifically, it has to do with the Prisoner Transfer that occured during that storyline, where Al'shar was going to move a Nyxian ambassador for trial, when things got rather out of hand. ;) All in all, I had a blast, and all of the above happened over a few hours at night one evening. It was much more fun than questing in the Hinterlands, let me tell you. Still, I desperately am trying to level Seona up to 80 so that the next time something like this happens, I won't be a bump on a log, I'll actually be able to do some damage back.))

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