Adult-FanFiction.org : Games

Dawn of the Dragon	By : RotSeele Category: +S through Z > World of Warcraft Views: 3875 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own World of Warcraft. I do not make any money from this story.

Chapter List
- 40
- 41
- 42
Forty-One
Anduin dodged to the side as Tyrannia's mace-like tail swung around him, bowling over the Orc warrior that had been about to cave in the boy's skull. Anduin ducked under Tyra's belly, ran a hand over the torn scales on her underside to heal the wound there, then ducked out of the way as she launched into the air to fly another salvo against the enemy. Anduin lifted his staff to block a sword blow that would've cut him in two had it landed, then heard the sharp whistle of an arrow seconds before the shaft embedded itself in his attacker's throat. He quickly jumped back from the flailing warrior and retreated to where Shalya stood, nocking another arrow.
"Nice shot," said Anduin. "I think you might've actually grazed my ear."
Shalya smiled and gave Anduin a peck on the cheek. "Don't be silly. Your ear's perfectly fine."
Anduin laughed and looked across the battlefield, looking for his father.
After they had arrived in the most audacious way, the Dark Horde had taken one look at the destruction Tyrannia caused and the smartest began to turn tail and flee. Some kept on fighting until it became apparent that they were fighting alone against a very pissed off dragon, a very pissed off troll, a very pissed off human warrior, a very pissed off Worgen, and a very pissed off, if not downright homicidal, human Mage. Plus three teenagers who weren't exactly slouches themselves when it came to combat.
Anduin had spent most of his time tending to the wounded, drawing upon the inexhaustible Light to heal the worst wounds, while Shalya and Wrathion had proved backup in the form of fireballs and arrows, and sometimes, fireball arrows. That last had been Wrathion's idea of fun, and Shalya had indulged him because, well... She wanted to see what would happen. Most of the Dark Horde just turned and fled at that point, but some had decided dying here and now was more preferable to whatever was waiting for them if they ran. A good number of warriors and Dark Shamans had avoided fighting Varian, Vol'jin, Genn, and Jaina in favor of going after Wrathion, Anduin, and Shalya, only to meet their doom at the claws of Tyrannia, who was harrying their forces from the air with molten earth from her maw and her sharp claws.
That wasn't to say they never were attacked. Just a few minutes ago, a team of Orc warriors and Dark Shaman had overwhelmed the line behind which Anduin and the others were, and had swarmed toward Anduin, Shalya, and Wrathion with all the fury they could muster. Shalya had dispatched three with quick bow shots before she unsheathed her two swords and caught an attacker in the gut with her left hand blade, simultaneously cutting off the orc's arm at the elbow. Anduin had thrown shields around his friends, and Wrathion had launched a serious salvo of fireballs into the fray. Between the three of them, they had cut down a third of what had come after them.
Now they were standing guard, as much as they could, helping the wounded escape the battle, picking off the few attackers that were still trying to go after the retreating Alliance wounded, and the three teenagers - or rather, three teenagers and a young dragon.
Anduin spotted Varian in the midst of a small circle of warriors, fighting to bring down an elemental one of the Dark Shamans had unleashed. He wanted to throw a shield around his father, but knew that doing so would only distract Varian from his task. Besides, Genn was there watching Varian's back, so Anduin knew he wouldn't have to worry overmuch. Still, Anduin had only been in battle with his father a few times before, and it still made him worry that only one Wrynn would come back alive - and it wouldn't be Varian.
Tyrannia flew overhead in a tight circle before she came in to land. Her sides were heaving as she fought for breath, and she was licking her maw as if the scales around her lips were dry. Wrathion looked up at her. "I would've thought the blood of your enemies would slake your thirst."
"You're young, but you're still an idiot." Tyra replied. "Bad blood only makes you sick. I, for one, don't like being sick."
Anduin turned to heal a gash in her right foreleg. Their sudden, surprise entrance had bought the Alliance time to turn what would've been a sure defeat into a rout with the promise of victory. Varian and the other leaders had stared at Anduin and his group for a long, uncomfortable minute, then Varian shrugged his shoulders and replied, "As long as you clean up after it."
Tyra had promptly growled, launched herself into the air again, and let loose a tongue of fire that had seared several Dark Shaman and their warriors to ashes. "Clean that up." Tyra snarled at Varian.
"I like her," said Vol'jin.
And so the battle's favor had turned toward the Alliance and Horde, and the Dark Horde had been slowly beaten back. Those that didn't flee were caught between the Alliance forces and the Frostwolves, and those that fought died. It was looking like they were going to win. But, as Anduin well knew, the leader of the Dark Horde had yet to reveal himself, and there was no sign of Go’el or Athena, or those that had gone with her. The battle wouldn't be won until they revealed themselves, because Khargol wouldn't stop until he either had victory in his grasp or he was dead, and Karidormi wouldn't allow Athena to fail, nor did he think Athena would allow herself to be defeated. But until either or any of them showed themselves, the two sides would keep fighting until there was no one left to fight.
Anduin heard a cheer go up and looked to see his father and the other leaders standing in a semi-circle around what looked to be a fallen Dark Shaman. The Orc had been pierced through the breast by Shalamayne, and Varian was just removing the sword. Those of the Dark Horde that hadn't been running before now turned tail and began to run, going deeper into Alterac to the mountain trails and hidden vales where they could recover and regroup. Shalya's bow twanged one last time and a warrior fell, her arrow piercing his back. Anduin looked at her, and she gave him a small smile.
"I could do that." Wrathion said, almost complaining.
Shalya offered him her bow. "Want to try? There's a few left."
Anduin saw it in Wrathion's eyes - how much did he value his hand? - then he turned and raised his hand. The earth beneath the fleeing warriors' feet began to bubble until it finally burst with magma and flames, incinerating the warriors to ash and blackened bone. "See?" Said Wrathion with a smile. "Told you I could do it."
Shalya rolled her eyes but said nothing. She slung her bow over her shoulder and looked at Anduin. "Should we go join them?"
That was exactly what Anduin had been considering. He studied his father, studied the retreating forces, and decided that they could make the small trek from their position to the adults', stopping, of course, to tend to the Alliance and Horde who hadn't made it off the battlefield. "Let's go," Anduin said.
Tyra shifted into her human form and stretched as they headed down toward Varian, pausing when Anduin found a wounded warrior. He spent a few minutes healing each one, with Shalya, Wrathion, and Tyra keeping silent guard. Each warrior gave Anduin a nod of thanks, then those who could got to their feet to shuffle off, or to help those who couldn't get up get off the blood-soaked ground. It was slow going, but no one complained.
When Anduin reached his father and the others, he saw something akin to approval in Varian's wolf-like amber eyes. Then he saw his father look to Shalya, and something flashed across the king's face that Anduin wasn't sure he wanted to interpret. Instead, he slid his hand into Shalya's, and felt her fingers close around his. Varian's left brow creeped up a little higher on his forehead, but he said nothing, so Anduin took it as a good sign.
"An' let dat be da last of dem." Vol'jin spat. He nudged the corpse at his feet with a toe. "Bad enough dey got us runnin' around, tryin' ta stop dem."
"Hopefully they are stopped now." Jaina replied, her voice holding a hard edge. "We have enough to deal with in the aftermath of Garrosh's reign."
Genn made an agreeing noise. "Perhaps we should-"
Whatever he'd been about to say was drowned out by a terrible roar. Anduin looked toward the retreating line of Dark Horde and felt his skin crawl. They had stopped retreating. Now what was left of their forces was gathering together, feet stomping, weapons ringing against shields, war cries filling the air.
"Now what?" Asked Wrathion, raising a hand to shield his eyes.
Tyra cursed. She took a step back, and Anduin felt a rush of air as she assumed her draconic form. "It looks like the battle just took a turn for the worse."
"How so?" Wrathion asked her. "We still outnumber them at least five to one and-"
Two roars broke over the din the Dark Horde was creating. Wrathion's crimson eyes went wide and he turned to look at the sky. So did Shalya and Anduin. Two more roars echoed the first ones, and Anduin felt a knot form in his stomach.
"De Dark Horde has dragons?" Vol'jin questioned in disbelief.
"No," said Anduin, "they're not real dragons. They're golems - elementals trapped in the shape of dragons. There's only one Dark Shaman who's capable of such a feat. We faced three of them on the Outland side of the Dark Portal, and it took all of us to bring down even one."
Varian turned to look at his son. "Who's powerful enough to create that many?"
"Khargol." Anduin looked at his father. "The leader of the Dark Shamans we've been fighting here. He started everything - Go’el’s affliction, this war, everything - all so he could bring Garrosh back to power."
Wrathion clenched his fists and his lips drew back to bare his teeth in an almost sinister smile. "He even had the balls to send his minions after me, to eradicate the remnants of my kind in Outland."
Varian exchanged glances with the other leaders around him. Then he looked at Anduin. "And it took you and how many dragons to bring them down?"
"Five. And one of ours was the size of an Aspect."
Jaina lifted a hand to shield her eyes from the glare of the sun. "They don't look that tough. I could defeat one of them."
"That still leaves the other." Pointed out Shalya. "And how do you expect to reach them? Fly? You've exhausted much of your mana in the fight before we arrived, and just as much after."
Since Jaina didn't refute Shalya's words, Anduin figured his aunt didn't want to admit the girl was right. Anduin looked at his father. "I don't know how long it takes to make one, but if Khargol is here, then he's probably making more. Those two will provide distraction, as well as the army he's going to order to charge our lines. We're weakened from the losses we suffered from the earlier fight; without help, I don't think we'll have any other choice than to retreat."
"I'll take one out." Tyra said. She flared her wings in preparation to take off. "Wrathion will take out the other."
The Black Prince looked at his older sister in surprise. "I will?"
She looked at him. "You're the only other dragon we have. I can get you up there, but after that, you have to jump on the one I'm not fighting and try to kill it. All you have to do is switch back to your true form to survive the fall."
Anduin looked at his best friend. "She's right. We have to stay to hold the line."
"And what about Khargol?" Asked Wrathion. "If he's making more of those things, we have to stop him."
"We have to find him first." Varian said, his voice a growl as his eyes remained riveted on the two approaching golem dragons. "Anduin, I'm leaving that up to you and your friend there." He gestured at Shalya. "She seems to be a capable hunter."
"Shalya," Anduin said, putting emphasis on her name, "is as good a hunter as they come."
"Then get moving." Varian ordered.
A battle cry echoed the roars of the two golem dragons now streaking down toward them. Beyond, the regrouped Dark Horde began a charge. Tyrannia let out a challenging roar and launched into the air with Wrathion clinging to her neck. Varian, Vol'jin, and Genn let out battle cries of their own, echoed by the line of Alliance warriors behind them, and raced to meet their enemies. Jaina was the only one who hung back, her hands half raised as she sought mana to cast a spell that would hopefully aid her allies.
Anduin and Shalya paused long enough to watch the two sides clash, then raced along the battlefield, avoiding as much fighting as they could. They managed to skirt the worst of it, and slipped into the snow-covered forest that hadn't yet felt the bite of the Dark Horde. There, Shalya paused to kneel by a ice-slicked stream, touching the very tips of her fingers into the water. Anduin watched her while also watching for any stray Dark Horde, his grip tightening on his staff as he watched the tree-line that did nothing to muffle the sounds of the fighting going on beyond.
Shalya stood suddenly. "This way. "
"Did the river tell you that?"
Shalya smiled. "Not exactly. Just under the ice I saw something that shouldn't have been."
"What was that?"
"The current going the wrong way. Shamans use water for healing. The worse the wound, the more water is needed to heal it. If Khargol's here, and he's making golem dragons, I'm assuming he failed in turning Go’el to his side."
"Why assume that?"
"Because if I had someone as powerful as Go’el under my command, I'd use him as my final attack instead of making what was left of my forces attack and using golem dragons as air support."
Since he couldn't argue with her logic, Anduin said nothing. He followed her wordlessly up the streambed. They traveled quickly and almost without incident, but the times they did encounter someone, Shalya's bow twanged faster than Anduin could cast a spell. Each hit was a fatal one, and often happened before the enemy could give a cry of alarm. They quickly ran across the path left by the Dark Horde they took out and ran to the edge of a clearing where they spotted four Dark Shaman surrounding another.
Shalya grabbed hold of Anduin before he could head out into the clearing and announce they were there. "Wait."
"Why?" Anduin asked. "They're not paying attention to us. We could get in there and stop them before they even knew we were there."
Shalya shook his head. "Look again."
Anduin turned his attention back the five Dark Shaman and felt his blood run cold as he watched an elemental dragon haul itself out of the ground and spread its wings, intending to take flight. Anduin rubbed his jaw. "Okay. We do this your way, then."
Shalya smirked at him. "Khargol is the one in the center. He looks wounded pretty badly, so their attention is focused on healing him while he works on making those. If you can mind control one, I can shoot the other. That will cut the healing down by at least half. More, if I can take out the other two before they manage to put up shields."
"Can you do that?"
"If we make them think there's more of us out here than there really are, we might have a chance."
Anduin nodded. "On your signal, then."
"Wait for the first shot."
Shalya slipped away into the forest, a shadow among the trees. Anduin looked toward the group of Dark Shaman, waiting for Shalya's first shot. He took a deep breath and began to prepare his dark spell, so that it would be ready when Shalya attacked.
When the first Dark Shaman jerked, Anduin unleashed his mind control spell on the closest startled Dark Shaman. It was a struggle to take him over, but Anduin managed to take control and signal Shalya with the Dark Shaman's hand before she put an arrow in him. Anduin forced the Dark Shaman to draw his dagger and turn toward his surviving companion. The Dark Shaman shouted something that Anduin couldn't understand, but he was saved from stabbing the Orc when an arrow sprouted from the shaman's throat, spraying blood everywhere. Shalya emerged from the trees and trained an arrow on Khargol. Anduin also emerged, hanging back as far as he dared. Shalya, too, was staying a bowshot's distance from the leader of the Dark Horde.
Khargol only began to laugh. He raised his head, showing blood-stained teeth. "You think you've won? You think because I lie here, on my death bed, that you and your filthy Alliance and traitors have claimed victory?"
Since Shalya's response was to put an arrow in Khargol's shoulder, Anduin kept quiet as well. The newest injury did nothing to stop the Dark Shaman's laughter. Instead, it only made it seem more hysterical. Then Khargol raised his hands, and Anduin felt himself blasted off his feet as the earth rolled beneath him. He hit the ground hard on his back and lost control over the Dark Shaman with the unsheathed dagger. Immediately, the Dark Shaman turned toward him and began to lope toward him, dagger raised high. Anduin raised his hand and unleashed a pulse of light that momentarily blinded the shaman, allowing Shalya, who'd also been knocked off her feet, to recover enough to put an arrow in his back.
Khargol continued to laugh. "You won't win." His words were accentuated by the golem dragon, who had now turned its attention to Shalya and Anduin. Its diamond teeth glinted in the sunlight. "I will see Garrosh returned to power. I will see you all destroyed. And no one, not even the Earth Warder or any of the Aspects, or any race, will see me fail!"
The golem dragon let out a terrible roar and attacked.
- 40
- 41
- 42
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Dawn of the Dragon