A worgen racing about on the deck heard him, sharp ears swiveling. He loped over to the side of the ship and leaned over, waving one of his powerful lupine arms. “Majesty! We’ll send someone to—”
“Retreat! Now!” Varian shouted. If they stayed and fought the kraken, all that would remain of the once-mighty Alliance fleet would be a list of names and grieving families. “Those are my orders! Retreat, every last one of you!”
“We can send out a—”
“No! I’ll make it to shore, as will the rest of us,” Varian cried. “Take the ships and get to safety while you can!”
The worgen looked stricken and flattened his ears unhappily, but nodded. A few moments later, the Ocean’s Lady began to turn slowly to port—heading east, back home to Stormwind.
But the kraken would not let them. As Varian watched, unable to stop it, the kraken followed the fleeing ships. The Horde victory would be complete after all.
Varian arched his back and let out a primal howl of fury and grief. This could not—should not—be happening! There had only been four ships! And yet Garrosh had won again.
Varian would not, as he had reassured the worgen, go quietly ashore, to live to fight another day. He would have done so if the fleet had survived. But now—now there was nothing left. No hope. Only a glorious death, achieved while taking as many of the enemy with him as possible. The kraken would not feast solely on Alliance flesh.
He still had Shalamayne, and now he drew it, clutching it tightly. He looked around, searching for any Horde fighter who, like Varian, had found reprieve in a piece of a broken ship. There—there, a sodden tauren was clinging to a curved chunk of wood that looked like part of a hull. He was attempting to clamber up atop it but failing. Snarling, Varian sprang, catlike, landing squarely on the floating debris, and brought his blade down. Blood spurted up, pattering him and adding a copper tang to the salty taste that was in his mouth.
One.
The king of Stormwind searched for another target. At that moment, a shadow fell over him. He looked up and saw the silhouette of—
A dragon?
The water around him surged upward, taking on form and shape. It bobbed up and down on the waves, a blue-green being with a small head, baleful eyes, and two manacled arms. A water elemental—no, no, hundreds of them, all suddenly dancing atop the surface of the ocean.
They flung themselves on the kraken attacking the Alliance fleet. One of the monsters had surfaced so that its huge flat eyes were visible, and it let out a horrific, eerie wail as it was set upon by dozens of determined elementals. Varian suddenly leaped clear as a frantic tentacle slammed down on the water with an ear-splitting crack. Realizing he was safer in the ocean than on its surface, Varian filled his lungs and dove.
It was an astounding spectacle. The gargantuan kraken flailed with their massive tentacles while the smaller elementals swarmed around them. Incongruously pretty ribbons of dark red began to tinge the water as the elementals literally ripped the kraken apart. Varian swam away from the wreckage, into more open water. Another kraken struggled for its life, its sluggish brain no doubt more surprised than fearful that anything would dare to attack it. Still another floated on the surface, two of its limbs bobbing near it.
Varian’s lungs burned and he struck upward, swimming strongly. As he broke the surface and gulped in air, he was suddenly seized and borne aloft. He started to struggle, but a familiar voice called out to him.
“Varian!”
Of course—the water elementals… He turned in the grip of the blue dragon to see her clasped in the leviathan’s other forepaw. Her white hair was whipped about by the wind, and her eyes still had the strange arcane glow. But there was something about her—a sorrow, a resignation on her face, and yet a sort of peace that had not been there previously.
She pointed down, and he shook his head at the spectacle. There was not a single Horde ship, although he could now see that plenty of them were gathered on the shore, thinking to take the battle there if any stragglers survived. The kraken—fully eight of them—were no longer a threat. Their massive corpses bobbed on the waves, glistening in the sunlight. Varian felt a stab of loss as he saw how many ships the grotesque creatures had destroyed, but many yet remained.
Still obedient to Jaina’s will, the water elementals, tiny from this vantage point, awaited their new commands.
“You attacked the kraken,” Varian said. “Not Orgrimmar.”
“No,” Jaina said. “Not Orgrimmar.”
He smiled faintly. “You saved the fleet, Jaina. Thank you. And now, if this good dragon will set me down on one of my ships—on to Northwatch!”
27
The remains of the Alliance fleet sailed into the waters of the Merchant Coast unhindered. It seemed that Garrosh had indeed been taken completely unawares by the attack on Bladefist Bay, and the four ships that had attacked the fleet had been summoned from their no doubt relaxed postings at Northwatch. Without the kraken at its command, the Horde was no match for the Alliance fleet, damaged as it had been.
Still, that did not mean that the Horde would give up without a fight. There had been time to get word to those who manned Northwatch, and Varian’s ships were greeted by the thundering of cannons and catapulted boulders.
“Return fire!” ordered Varian. Obediently the volley of cannonballs from the shore was met by those from the Alliance ships.
Overhead, Varian could see Kalecgos approaching. The dragon dove, and Varian saw Jaina perched atop the broad blue back. Kalecgos opened his massive jaws and breathed blue mist, and suddenly the volley of cannon fire ceased.
The catapults and ballistae continued to press their attack. Varian rushed to the side of the ship, peering through his spyglass. He smiled.
Garrosh had been arrogant. He had left only a very few to guard this key site, so confident had he been that his blockade of port cities in Kalimdor would break the Alliance.
He blinked as he saw several Horde soldiers clamber into small boats and push out to sea. For a moment, Varian thought they were trying to flee—then he realized they were heading straight for the nearest ship.
“By the Light,” he muttered, “they mean to come aboard!”
It was suicide. He could not help but admire their courage, as troll and orc and tauren waved their weapons and shouted their defiance in the guttural Orcish tongue. Their bows and spells were not entirely ineffective, either—Varian saw several Alliance sailors topple to the deck with arrows in their throats, and others who were incinerated on the spot. The sails of the ship caught fire from a bolt that had killed one of the night elf sailors. Again the great shadow of the dragon fell as cold breath put out the flames.
And then, with no warning, dozens of water elementals formed at once. They rushed the small boats, easily overturning them, their manacled arms seizing the enemy and gleefully hauling the struggling Horde members down to a watery death. Other elementals swarmed ashore, targeting the attackers. There were cries of alarm and Varian saw a few orcs and trolls flee. But most of them stood their ground, snarling defiance and fighting to the last as arrows, cannon fire, and spells did their work.
There was silence for a long moment; then cheers went up from the Alliance vessels. Varian grinned, letting them enjoy this second victory, then shouted, “Ashore! The standard of the Alliance will fly once more over Northwatch Hold!”
Boats were lowered, filled with happy crewmen and -women. Varian frowned to himself, then looked up. Kalec was hovering overhead. Varian waved his arms broadly, then pointed to the shore. The dragon’s head dipped in acknowledgment. Varian hastened to one of the boats, to the honor and surprise of the crew.