The doors to the hall were flung open. Kalecgos stood in the doorway, swaying slightly, one hand clasped to his side. Behind him were two guards, who looked more worried about the blue dragon than the fact that he had entered the meeting room unannounced.
Jaina saw blood pooling beneath Kalec’s fingers. She rose and hurried toward him, even as he spoke quickly.
“The Horde is on the move,” he said. “They are heading south and will be here in only a few hours.” As Jaina slipped an arm around him, looking up at him worriedly, he said, more for her ears than anyone else’s, “It’s not a serious wound. I came back to warn you. To help.”
“I don’t know that any of this is a concern of the blue dragonflight,” Rhonin said. Others who did not recognize Kalecgos on sight frowned slightly as the realization struck.
Jaina first addressed Kalec, then the assembled company. “Kalec—let the guards take you to our doctor and healers before you do anything else. You can brief us when you return.” To the others, Jaina said, “We may recently have been at war with the blue dragonflight, but everyone here, including the Kirin Tor members, must know that Kalecgos has never sought to quarrel with the younger races. He was key in the defeat of Deathwing, and we are honored and frankly lucky that he is willing to help defend Theramore.”
Rhonin’s gaze flickered from Kalec to Jaina, and then he nodded. “We could use it,” was all he said, but it was enough. The other members of the Kirin Tor ceased their muttering, and even some of the generals were nodding.
“Let’s be honest,” said Redmane, chuckling. “A great blue beastie up in the sky in addition tae all o’ the rest o’ us might rattle Garrosh more than a wee bit.”
It was settled, then. Jaina turned to Kalec. His wound was obviously more serious than he wanted her to know, but there were many gifted healers stationed here in anticipation of the battle. He would soon be well enough to join the fight.
“It’s going to be all right, Jaina,” he said. He smiled gently and spoke quietly. “Don’t be afraid.”
Jaina gave him a smile of her own. “I’d be foolish not to be afraid, Kalec,” she said, speaking just as quietly. “But I’ve been through battles before, battles that were a lot… harder, personally, than this one for me to bear. Do not worry. I will protect Theramore without shying from what must be done.”
Admiration lit his blue eyes. “Forgive me,” he said. “You are perhaps more battle-hardened than I, Lady Jaina.”
Her smile ebbed a little. “I pray I will never be hardened,” she said, “but I am no stranger to it, either. Now go. We’ll fill each other in upon your return.” As one guard escorted Kalec to the priests, Jaina turned to the other. “Send a missive to Stormwind immediately. Varian must know that the attack is about to begin.”
The sense of urgency that had been present since before the arrival of the generals and the fleet was now even greater. As Jaina predicted, Kalecgos, though drained from his ordeal, was quickly healed, and he briefed everyone on what he had seen. Thanks to him, they now knew which route the Horde had chosen. Fort Triumph, which lay northwest of Theramore, had been notified as soon as Theramore had known of the planned attack. They would put up a good fight, and it was likely that the Horde would not want to waste its resources, troops, and energy attacking a site that was not its intended goal. Hopes were high that the brave men and women at Fort Triumph would be able to inflict damage and slow the approach of the Horde while not being utterly devastated themselves. It was a risk that was unavoidable.
Plans were translated nearly instantly into orders. The ballistae and other siege weaponry were moved east toward the gates of Theramore. Riders were dispatched to Sentry Point, slightly north of the city, with instructions that when the Horde was spotted, they were to send warning immediately. Captain Wymor and his soldiers were ordered to hold back the Horde if they could—and retreat to the city if they couldn’t, where others would join them.
The gates would remain closed unless the Horde beat them down. Wymor understood.
Sixteen battleships turned and sailed out of the harbor. The Starsword would likely return too late from its mission of mercy to be of any help. Like the Horde fleet, they stayed in their own waters—barely. There they waited, the plan being to destroy the Horde fleet once the battle began so that the threat would be completely removed. Three remained in the harbor, a last line of defense against encroachment from the sea. Everyone hoped they would not be necessary.
It was midday when the first rider came.
He wore no armor, only ordinary clothes spattered with mud and blood, no doubt to spare the horse upon which he galloped. Even so, the steed heaved and foamed as it clattered up to the northern gate. The guards stationed there assisted the shaking man as he all but slid off the animal, which seemed on the verge of collapse itself. As they caught him with as much gentleness as they could muster, his cloak fell aside. They realized that the blood belonged almost entirely to the dark-haired, bearded rider, who struggled to speak.
“F-Fort Triumph h-has fallen,” said the rider, and then said no more.
And so it began.
The Horde army was now augmented with blade throwers, ballistae, and catapults carved in the likeness of mighty eagles. Alliance weapons, to be used on the Alliance. Many of those who marched also bore other, more gruesome trophies to remember the battle. The trolls, in particular, seemed delighted to decorate themselves with fingers and ears.
Doubtless the poorly named Fort Triumph had thought to make a stand that would cripple the wave of Horde flowing south toward Theramore. They had grossly overestimated their own abilities and underestimated those of their enemy.
War songs were sung. The drums were beaten, and the creaking of the massive engines of war—some of Horde design, others Alliance—provided its own unique music.
The Horde had surprised Northwatch Hold and had taken it thanks to that. Now they came to their next target, proud of their numbers and their power, fairly shouting their presence as they marched southward. Theramore had had days to prepare for the attack; its residents had also had nights likely spent sleeplessly, fraught with nightmares about the Horde pouring through their gates.
Fear, too, was a weapon.
The beasts of the Barrens gave them a wide berth, and those zhevra and gazelles that ventured too close were slain to feed the hungry troops. Their numbers formed into a thinner line to navigate the narrower road through Dustwallow Marsh, and the hot sun now filtered through the tall, mossy trees. Past the ruins of the Shady Rest Inn, they halted at a crossroads with paths that led to Theramore Isle, Mudsprocket, and Brackenwall Village. Here, Garrosh divided the army in half. He would take command of the forces that would head north, to be reinforced by new recruits from the village—more orcs and even ogres, who would bear down on Theramore from the north.
Malkorok would lead the remaining troops along the road toward the east.
The two arms of attack would meet at Theramore; they would meet for victory and crush the city between them.
Malkorok and his soldiers marched deep into the heart of Dustwallow Marsh and into the Quagmire, ripping down the banners of the Alliance and grinding them into the mud with laughter. Their path, once blocked by Theramore soldiers and weapons of war, was open, as they had expected.
Nor was there sign of the Grimtotem, also expected. Word had likely spread of the approaching troops, and those cowardly tauren—despised by Alliance and Horde alike—were lying low.
“Our approach has doubtless been heralded,” said Malkorok. “I will send some runners ahead and we will proceed with—”
He was interrupted by the sound of furious growls. No fewer than ten beasts suddenly charged out of the marsh, where they had been concealed by the many rounded hillocks and low-hanging branches of trees. Two warlocks, a mage, and a shaman went down, barely able to speak two words of a spell. The rest were locked in close-quarters combat as claws shredded flesh and massive jaws crunched down on windpipes. Before the attack of the shapeshifted Alliance druids could even register, more than a dozen Horde fighters dropped stone dead in their tracks, felled by knives in the back wielded by unglimpsed foes. Other animals now rushed from the concealment of the swamp, creatures of the arctic or of the desert, which should never have known this dank climate yet were here and harrowing the Horde.