(Written by Sielic)

The walls were lined with soldiers, the Alliance represented across the board. Night Elves drew their famous bows alongside Dwarves with their rifles. Gnomes hastily constructed contraptions of war while Draenei meditated and walked along the lines, blessing the Alliance soldiers in the name of the Naaru. Worgen and humans milled about, a variety of weapons in the versatile races� hands. Anxiety swarmed among the army that gathered, yet they waited.

    The Horde�s lines came into view, though distorted by the heavy fog rolling in. An imposing view to be sure, but the Alliance stood on the walls as impressive as ever. The black and red and brown of the Horde clashed with the blue, gold, and white of the Alliance and Theramore. Guards stood beside soldiers, human besides Draenei and more. A united front, determined to drive back the Horde, and prevent Theramore from falling.

 

    “Stand ready, Eric.” Sielic nodded to the Guard as he passed. “Watch your aim, Thomas. Emily, keep them safe.” He spotted them all along the walls and down in the court yard. Men and women he had been training with long before Theramore was under threat, but doubly so since the warning came. He was proud to see them standing ready, and he saluted at each one he passed, whispering words of encouragement.

    Sielic prowled along the walls, quietly taking a secluded place beside one of the small towers. Nimbly, he sprang up to the top, drawing forth a rifle gifted to him long ago by an old friend, Kilaara. It was the only gun he used, disliking most of the others. He looked down the sights towards the approaching shapes in the mist. Like the rest, he waited for the order to fire.

    Soon, the ambush party lead by Pained had returned to Theramore. Sielic barely caught sight of Kanta and nodded, glad he had returned safely. The Horde attacked soon after, and the order was given. Bullets and arrows flooded the sky in volleys as the Horde began to take up positions. The return fire from the Horde at the north gate was sporadic to start, but began intensifying as more Horde took up positions.

    Sielic could hear the Lion�s roar as Taldrus encouraged the men down the line. The battle was nothing if not a terrible din, with noise echoing from mortars and rifles. Even the thunk of arrows driving into bodies echoed in Sielic�s ears. As such, he did not hear, but felt the north gate splinter and fracture. He looked around for a Shaman, earthquakes being their specialty. His sights zoomed in his sight on an Orc in robes, the shot left the barrel as the gate gave way. Sielic fell from atop the tower, barely clinging to the edge. 

    Sielic landed, crumpling and rolling along the ground. When he sprang up, the battle raged around him. The swords and axes clanged against armor, shields, and other weapons. Sielic barely managed to get himself upright before an Orc charged at him, a heavy axe swinging down. He parried but the battlefield shifted and Sielic was paired with a Forsaken soldier. He stabbed hard into the Forsaken�s cranium before it had a chance to react, and then a large Draenei stepped into the melee and swatted him away with a Light-blessed mace.

    Sielic took a minute to register the battle reports coming across the guildstone. He broke from this engagement to steady himself and catch his breath. He needed to fight on his terms. As shadows surrounded him, he circled back up to the top of the wall. A few men and women had drawn daggers and were getting ready to drop off the wall into the thick of the group of casters that had formed at the rear of the combat. He saluted the group, and they descended quickly.

 

    Sielic spotted a few of the Guards dropping down, drawing the slender daggers they had begun learning from him. They grouped up after landing, And Sielic lead the few of them. He looked behind him and made a count of his group of six. He looked up and caught a signal from Thomas who still had his bow and was firing from above in support. Eric and Roy flanked him with three Alliance skirmishers that he did not know. They darted forward, and blades quietly sliced through the air and found themselves in the backs and across the necks of the first line of casters. The first wave fell quickly beneath quiet blades and claws. Roots surrounded and constricted many of them as a few of the Alliance soldiers revealed their Druidic talents. 

 

    Sielic stepped into the Shadow and found himself behind a Tauren Priest. With claws, he scrambled up the surprised Tauren, bringing his dagger around and slitting her throat before she could react. Around him, the call went up that something was amiss. Dead Orc Warlocks and a scant few Mages and Shaman had fallen. Forsaken and Blood Elves outnumbered the Orcs, and the Tauren and Trolls were almost absent from the force present. Fire began to rain around him, a Blood Elf must have decided that a few scorched Horde corpses was worth the destruction caused amongst the small Alliance force.

    Sielic smiled as he looked out towards the Marsh. He saw the second wave of fighters moving in and knew that he was trapped with the rest of the group. The casters were important to disable though, and they had achieved much of that. Sielic twirled a blade in his hands and sprang around those Horde around him. A knife easily slid into a Blood Elf�s ribs, another quickly drove into the neck of an Orc. A particularly well-preserved Forsaken crumpled as the Worgen�s strength smashed the pommel of the bagger into his cranium and crushed it in fury.

    Sielic�s fur was scorched, and his body was covered in minor lacerations and terrible bruises, but he remained in motion. Adrenaline ran too high for him to notice. At last count, only five of the group were still alive by the grace of the Light. As two Blood Elves paired off with him, blades gleaming with blood of his fallen comrades, Sielic knew that he had to either escape or die here. He fended off the two slender blades while dodging and parrying what he could. As one slipped past and tried to drive hard into his abdomen, the Shadows swarmed around him and he slipped away. He collapsed behind the Alliance lines, the large Draenei from before had stood out and made a perfect target to step to.

    Sielic watched the Draenei wade into the combat, swatting away Horde after Horde. The lines rallied around him, and Sielic struggled to stand. The adrenaline had begun wearing off, and he grimaced in pain. He saw a Blood Elf circle around the Draenei, swords posed to take him out quickly, and Sielic threw his blade. It thunked into the back of the Elf�s skull as if it were made of wood. Sielic smiled as the fatigue overtook him. He slept as if dead on the battlefield, only disturbed some time afterwards when the earth quaked around him. 

    When he woke, he had been gathered with the injured. His wounds were bandaged and treated and he looked around. A few Templars had gathered in the area, and Sielic spotted Jarrick, Sigmar, and Rynarth. He grinned. It looked like the Alliance had won. Sielic looked up into the sky, thankful for being alive and barely spotted the airship. Something detached from the bottom and Sielic struggled to stand up. He patted his pouch and brought out the techno-portal that he had tinkered with and built. Determination flared in his body, and he sprang forward, activating it. He caught Rynarth by the shoulder and forced him through, Sigmar barrelled through a moment later, followed quickly by Jarrick. Sielic went to grab anyone else he could, but Jarrick�s hand had caught his and he was yanked through at the last second. Behind him the portal closed and an explosion rocked all of Theramore and everyone caught in the destruction was ravaged and destroyed in horrific and torturous ways.

    The four landed softly, and the first noticeable thing was the cold. The second was the snow that raged around them.

    �Snow…?� Sielic wondered, �It was set… for Stormwind…�

    The four looked at each other, and each went for the guildstone at once, requesting help and trying to check in. All four stones were dark, and remained silent. It boded ill for the companions.

Author Jarrick
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