Chapter 1: The Decision

Thrall is walking along the forests among the newly formed coalition between the humans, orcs, trolls, dwarves, elves and taurens. The night-elves, after defeating the demons and losing their immortality, disappeared back into the forest. Leaving the coalition to fight the undead by themselves.

Thrall looks up into the sun and feels the aura of life around him, then continues on to the meeting area, suppressing any small scuffles between the horde and the alliance as he goes.

He arrives shortly after Jaina and Cairne. “Welcome, Thrall,” says Cairne, “we have much to discuss.” Jaina looks at them both then begins, “The night-elves’ abandonment puts the undead at an advantage, we won’t be able to withstand a direct assault soon.” “Then we must find another way! We can not let the scourge claim this land as well!” protested Thrall. Cairne looks around at the forest before slowly saying “If we stay here we will die, we must make an unexpected move, and a swift one.” All three begin thinking over the problem and for some time none of them said anything.

While Thrall and Cairne thought of how to cut off the undead’s gold supply, Jaina’s thoughts travel led down a different path. She thinks back to when Arthas and her were young, uncaring of the great conflicts being fought. Suddenly, she knows what they must do, but they are interrupted when a footman runs up, to announce “We have assembled a large force of sorceresses, priests, and witch doctors! The undead will fall before our might!” All three stare at him as if he were some sort of idiot until Cairne stamps his foot and says “Fool! After Patch 1.05 magic units won’t have near as much attack damage! We’ll be sitting ducks, go train some melee units!” The footman stammers something like “Allurbasesarebelongtous”, regains his balance, and runs off.

With the footman gone, Jaina explains her plan “The undead are controlled by the Lich King. If we were to kill him there would be chaos among them! They would have no leader, no guide, and they would descend into madness!” Thrall and Cairne agree with her, and they decide they must travel to Northrend and strike at the heart of the undead. “We set sail for the Overmind in the morning!” began Thrall “Err, I mean, the Lich King, Northrend!” Jaina looked at the forest and thought aloud “I just hope the night-elves can hold back the undead without us.”

Chapter 2: The Voyage

Thrall, Jaina, and Cairne walk up to a goblin laboratory and are greeted by two goblins. “We need some stuff”, states Thrall, “and we want it cheap.” The goblins smile at each other before replying “Cheap eh? Well sure! But I don’t know if I’ll be able to pay for my son’s treatments...” Cairne gives a false laugh as he takes a menacing step towards the goblins, who back up a few paces out of fear, and says “You’re going to give us fifty zeppelins and your we are going to pay you no more then two thousand gold pieces and one thousand wood!” The goblins huddle together and begin whispering for a few seconds, then reply “Three thousand gold, one thousand wood, and no less. We woudl rather die then be cheated of our money!” Jaina interrupts Cairne before he begins and proceeds to pay them. With the new zeppelins, they return to their camp. “I didn’t know you were so temperamental Cairne.” quips Thrall. “You can’t take any risks with goblins”, spat Cairne “they’d kill you and sell your body if they could.”

They arrive at camp with the zeppelins and begin loading the troops. Suddenly, the eastern wall of trees falls and a mass of undead charge into the camp! “Ignore them! Get in the zeppelins! Air support to the zeppelins now!”, ordered Thrall. “Take out the gargoyles!” shouts Cairne, as he sends a massive shockwave into the mass of death, “We must protect the zeppelins!” The troops finish loading with few losses and lift away from the ghouls below. “The crypt fiends! Kill them!” shouts Thrall “We must escape!” But the air forces are too busy fighting the gargoyles to come to their aide. Several crypt fiends come forward and launch webs at the zeppelins, bringing them down the ground and into the clutches of the ghouls. “Filth! Priests, dispel, now!” commands Jaina as she cracks a ghoul’s head open with her staff. The priests begin dispelling the webs and the zeppelins are able to lift away to safety. As the last of the gargoyles are destroyed, the air support returns and unleashes a rain of fire onto the undead, forcing them to retreat.

“How did they know!? They came when we were at our most vulnerable position!” complains Thrall “That is it! I have had ENOUGH of these f------g hackers! That replay is going straight to Hacks@blizzard.com!” Jaina laughs and says “Oh please, we all know they won’t look at it, there’s no way they look at all the e-mails they must get!” Cairne looks at them both and says “What are you talking about exactly??” Thrall and Jaina turn and seem to fumble for words, then raise their shoulders and look out at the scenery. “Well then... to Northrend!”, shouts Cairne “the undead shall suffer!” The zeppelins sailed off into the horizon, heading from peril, into peril. Suddenly, one of them begins losing height, Thrall swears and begins yelling out orders.

Chapter 3: The Nerubians

After several days of travel and not a few zeppelins “converting” into boats, the coalition arrived at Northrend intact. Jaina looked out at the icy mountains ahead, wondering what lay within them. But Cairne, as well as a large portion of the soldiers, was looking at something else. It looked like there was an army of crypt fiends attacking the rest of the undead! “Look over there!”, pointed Cairne, “Have the undead turned on themselves?!” Startled, Jaina looked over, and would have laughed had the situation not been so dire. “Unload all the men!”, she commanded, “We must stop the undead from destroying those ... crypt fiends!” She knew telling them that the Nerubians were crypt fiends was risky, but there wasn’t any time to explain. A few soldiers said a few choice comments, but they were quickly silenced by their companions.

The zeppelins landed on the shore and the coalition surged into the battle, spreading the undead before them with ease. The undead seeing their new enemy, realized the danger of their position and retreated. “Do not attack the nerubians!”, shouted Jaina, “They only look similar to crypt fiends!” The two factions were now face to face, and the slightest move could destroy any hope of peace. “Nerubians? What are nerubians?” asked Cairne. “A spider-like race, I’d heard rumors of them before, but I assumed they were only crypt fiends” answered Jaina.

Thrall stepped forward to the largest Nerubian, threw down his axe, and said “We are the coalition, we have come to fight the undead.” The nerubian looked at him strangely, then began speaking, or what probably was most likely speaking to them. “Hisscrackenborkkrelmck”, it said. “I think I can help.” volunteered Jaina, who began drawing runes in the air. After a few moments she said “Alright, try talking now.” Thrall repeated his message, and this time the nerubian answered “We are the nerubians, we are the owners of land this! We also fight the undead, but we are few of what we used to be, and our dead have been defiled for use by our enemy.” “We do not want this land, we simply want to destroy the undead for their crimes.” replied Thrall. The nerubian seemed to think for a moment, and said “You come to fight the scourge? Then perhaps you allies are. Come with us, we will bring you to our city if you wish to come.” Thrall simply nodded, which seemed to make many of the nerubians jump up and begin hissing. “Thrall..”, cautioned Cairne, “They might not know what nodding means... you might want to stop.” Thrall looked at the hissing nerubians, and said “Oh err... we’d love to come to your city, lead the way!” The nerubians seemed to relax, as did the coalition, and they set off after their new allies.

Chapter 4: Greed

As the coalition followed the nerubians, far off to the north, a lone figure walked through Ashenvale. He looked around in disgust at what had been ignored through countless years. “Fools, they leave the one thing that can save them, in fear of it!”, he muttered, “But I will restore this power unto my people! I will raise us to new power!” He began jogging tirelessly on legs that were not truly his. “They were almost lost because they didn’t use it, and they continue their errors!” he muttered, “I must show them true power! All will bow to us!” He then set off at a run, heading for the World Tree.

Tyrande was standing alone by a tree, her mount be her side, praying to the goddess to give the Night-elves strength for the coming conflict. Before she completed the prayer, Furion emerged from the surrounding growth and waited patiently. “I fear we may falter.” he begins, but is interrupted by Tyrande almost immediately “We will not! We will survive as we have for millennia, the undead will not triumph!” Furion looked at her sadly, before saying “Our scouts report that the human and orc forces have left Kalimdor, we are on our own again.” Tyrande started at this, but regained her composure quickly, “Good riddance, the trees will no longer be defiled by them.” she argued, “Although they fought valiantly in the final defense, they fell while we survived!” Furion looked at her strangely “Perhaps I was right about our becoming attached to immortality... You are acting oddly Tyrande.” Tyrande was about to answer him, but an archer ran into view “Priestess! We have sighted a demon heading for the world tree at amazing speed! He will reach it withing the hour!” Furion and Tyrande both leapt to their feet “We mustn’t let it reach the well!” warned Tyrande, “Come Furion, we must run quickly!” Furion didn’t answer for a moment, deep in his own thoughts “FURION!” she shouted. “Hm! Oh yes! Run! Run!” he stammered.

The lone figure was increasing his pace as he went, he must reach the World Tree before they could stop him, he had to free them from deception! “The World Tree is the key.” he thought, “The key to our control, it is ours! OURS! We must use it!” He ran for what seemed to be five minutes, then emerged into the blast zone. “What is this?!” he said, he had heard of the defeat of Archimonde, but this was.. Incredible. It took him only a few moments to be by the tree’s side, to be closer then ever to his goal.

“We are too late! It has already reached the tree!” yelled Tyrande as she and Furion entered the blast zone, “We must stop him!” Furion stopped for a moment, concentrated deeply, and called upon nature for aide. The demon was suddenly covered in thorns, and began thrashing at them, they would not hold for long. They covered the distance to the tree just as it freed itself. “Furion?” it said, “Brother! You are here to see the beginning of a new age!” Furion started, then said “Illidan! What has happened to you!? Are you so corrupted that you would force magic upon us?” Illidan looked at them and began “Without this power we will not stand against the undead, you can not stop me! I have gained so much, but there is so much more. Right. Here.” Furion looked at him, unsure what to do, before stating “Illidan, if you try to destroy the tree, we will stop you. We will not let you have the Well of Eternity!” Illidan looked at him and laughed “Do not fool yourself brother, you are already too late.” Then he waved his hand, throwing Furion and Tyrande far away.

Chapter 5: Power

It was his at last! He had waited so long to feel its touch again.. Only an insignificant tree in his way. He stepped up to the tree and raised his fist, before driving it fully into the heart of the World Tree. The ground shook as he twisted his arm around, damaging the tree even more. Suddenly, the hole he had created closed in on his arm! “What is this!?” exclaimed Illidan, “Release me!” He pulled and tugged with all he had, but the tree would not release him. “You dare challenge me!?” he shouted at the tree, “I will burn you to the ground!” With that said, he bathed himself in flames. The tree immediately began to burn, the flames fueled by demonic powers consuming it with impossible speed.

“No! The tree is burning!” cried Tyrande, “The fool! He will destroy us all!” Furion looked out at the rising smoke and felt sorrow, mixed with rage, for his brother. “There is nothing we can do now.. The World Tree will fall.” he said. Tyrande responded “We can not let him do this! We must-” “We can do nothing!” shouted Furion, “He used almost no effort when getting rid of us, all we can do now is watch.” Tyrande was nearly overflowing with rage, but she held her ground and looked out at what was left of the World Tree.

Illidan watched as the last bits of the tree covering the well burned away. He walked slowly towards what he had wanted for so long. As he reached the edge of the shimmering waters, he kneeled down and placed his hands into the pool. He felt a tingling travel up his arm and into his chest, to spread through his entire body. Unable to contain himself for any longer, he drove his face into the water and began drinking deeply. Power he had never fathomed surged through him and he felt his conscious grow and expand as he drank. After he had his fill, he raised himself and appraised his new abilities. He twitched his thumb, and a massive explosion destroyed the rest of the fountain. No one would gain his powers, it could not be allowed for there to be any stronger then he.

When the destruction of the Well of Eternity occurred, Tyrande and Furion were knocked off their feet, which was rare for night-elves. “He is mad!” cried Tyrande. “He destroyed the well..” noted Furion, “At least some good has come from this.” Tyrande looked at him, then to the well, and wondered what would drive someone to destroy the thing he desired most. “He took what he could and made sure no one else could have it...” continued Furion, “He is corrupt, he must be stopped at all costs!”

Illidan continued to marvel at his new powers, at the ease with which he could move about, at how quickly his mind worked now. He could even sense other minds within his own. He began sifting through them immediatly, discarding irrelevant information and learning all the while. The undead were much weaker then he had thought, in fact- “What is this?!” he cried aloud, “This power.. It is beyond even mine!” He quickly attempted to search more deeply into the mind which he had sensed, but he couldn’t seem to enter it as he could others. Suddenly, a massive voice filled his head “Do not attempt to challenge the Lich King fool!” Illidan realized he was on his knees, and raised himself. “I will not be swayed be your puny powers!” he raged. “You are a foo! None challenge the frozen throne! My power is dwarfed only by the might of the legion!” Illidan was infuriated, no one could exist who was greater then he! It would not be allowed! He vowed on the spot to shatter the frozen throne, and set off for Northrend.

Chapter 6: A New Ally

Thrall hurried after the nerubians, their speed was surprising and even the orcs were showing signs of wear. As bad as it was for the orcs, the humans were nearing their limit and beginning to fall behind. He was about to ask the nerubians to slow down, but before he could all of the arachnids stopped, with the orcs nearly pilling in to them. The large nerubian turned and announced “We are here.” Jaina walked up to Thrall, gasping for breath “Thank goodness, I don’t think I could’ve gone on for much longer.” “The entrance is directly in front of me.” continued the large nerubian, “Simply step up, you may be disoriented at first, but it pass will.” With that, he stepped forward, and vanished. As she stepped through, Jaina marveled at the ingenuity of the nerubians, setting up a portal like this took large amounts of effort, not to mention maintaining it.

The air shimmered around her and a tunnel materialized around her. She walked up to the large nerubian, and asked “Thank you for your hospitality, I doubt we would have had the faith to allow a new race into our homes.” The nerubian looked away from her “We are desperate, and the undead do not make allies.” Cairne appeared from the large crowd beginning to accumulate behind them “Perhaps you two should move ahead. Starting to need more room back there.” he informed them. They immediately began walking down the cavern “Much better.”, continued Cairne “I would like to thank you, ... you haven’t told us your name yet, what is it?” The nerubian looked at him “You would not be able to pronounce it” he declared, “You give may me any name you wish.” Cairne nodded and began thinking of names he could give to a spider.

Thrall hurried through the crowd, looking for Marn and Jaina. He had become separated from them after entering the magical portal. “Typical of magic.” he grumbled, “Too close to being demon powers to ever do much good.” He finally caught a glimpse of them and caught up, just in time to hear Cairne call the large nerubian “Marn”. “What kind of a name is Marn?” asked Jaina, “I would have preferred Joe myself.” Cairne stamped his foot and answered “Marn was my father’s father. Great warrior in his time.” Thrall jogged up to them and asked “The nerubian has the same name as your grandfather?” Jaina laughed and told him it was only a nickname. The nerubian, however, looked pleased with his new name and urged them to hurry to the main cavern.

Jaina’s jaw dropped as she saw what the nerubians had built. This place was enormous! “Oh my lord!” she whispered, “It’s beautiful!” The cavern was at least as big as a castle, and decorated lavishly. There were patterns made of web hung everywhere on the walls, which glinted with silver and gold. On the floors, and on the ceiling for that matter, there were hundreds of dwellings of strange architecture. “The buildings” noted Thrall, “They seem to look similar to the undead’s.” Marn answered hotly “I think you mean the undead buildings have architecture nerubian in them!” Thrall apologized, and they continued onward.

“Your men can use the unoccupied homes to rest and sleep, we will provide food if you need it.” said Marn. “You are so generous.” replied Jaina, “I hope we may repay you someday.” “If you help us fight the undead, you will have no debt to us.” countered Marn, “We march again at sunset, please ready be.”

Chapter 7: The March

The next morning the two armies marched off together, heading for the frozen throne to slay the Lich King. “The ground is beginning to become blighted.” noted Jaina after an hour, “We must be getting close to the scourge.” Thrall replied “I was hoping we would be closer before we had to do battle, but it appears our luck did not hold.” Jaina looked ahead and sighed, and didn’t speak again.

Soon they began to see the tops of undead buildings coming into view. The orcs accelerated, eager for battle, while many of the humans hesitated. “Onward!” cried Thrall, “Do not slow your pace for the dead!” Suddenly the undead were directly upon them, shouts of rage and fear filled the air quickly as the two factions clashed. Thrall stopped and calmed himself, summoning the spirits of fire and earth. The ground shuddered and burst below the main part of the undead army, a flow of magma erupted out, killing hundreds before returning below, as quickly as it had come.

Unfortunately, the undead had their own spell casters. Dozens of soldiers were frozen in place, as they exploded in showers of ice. Their warriors were back before they even hit the ground, and completely loyal to the undead. Skeletons rose out of their ancient graves among the armies, but priests stepped forward and dispelled them as fast as they popped up. Any other army would have fallen instantly to such chaos, but they had fought so many times it was almost second nature to forget a friend as he fell... then kill him when he rose again.

As the front lines met it became apparent the coalition would be victorious, the undead were falling like a player who didn’t mass magic! As the undead front line was crushed into the ground, the rest of the undead turned and fled. “Don’t let them escape!” shouted Jaine, “We can’t let them regroup!” Raiders threw dozens of nets, and sorceresses slowed the retreat. The coalition quickly overtook the fleeing undead, and laid them to rest forever. “Victory!” shouted Marn, “Victory!” shouted the troops. The orcs stamped their feet, the humans raised their swords, and the nerubians... wiggled their legs. They were well on their way.

Meanwhile, Illidan had begun his own journey to the frozen throne. He had thought it over, he did not wish to destroy the frozen throne, simply to possess its power as well as his own. He knew the lich king dwelled within the throne, the king’s voice was constantly chattering in his head, distracting him eternally. “QUIET!” he raged, “Give me peace!!” The lich king laughed in his head, and continued his rambling. Illidan couldn’t block him out.. But that wouldn’t matter soon enough. The ocean was passing beneath him and Northrend was coming closer with every step.

Tyrande and Furion had watched Illidan leave, and guessed at where he was heading. “He goes to destroy our enemy!” argued Tyrande, “We should leave him be until his task is done!” Furion shook his head and replied “Do not be foolish, my love, he will become a greater threat then the undead if he succeeds. We must follow him.” So they set off for the nearest goblin laboratory, deciding to leave their beloved Kalimdor to the undead to stop Illidan.

Chapter 8: Dark light

Thrall yawned loudly, the coalition had camped out for the night, although it was likely no one would sleep. The night had a strange peacefulness to it, the stars twinkled friendly, the ground was comfortable, and there wasn’t blight or undead to be seen. Suddenly, one of the night watch yelled out a warning. Everyone jumped up, adrenaline pumping, only to see a harmless critter saunter in. It wasn’t the first time this had happened, but it couldn’t be helped. A grunt killed the critter and ate it whole, it wouldn’t bother them again.

The following morning, after a night which had dragged on for a very long time, the coalition continued on, slightly revitalized but still lagging. “Take heart!”shouted Cairne, “There is no need to slow down!” His voice was strengthening in itself, and everyone drew on it. They continued on for hours, tirelessly marching across the frozen plains. Suddenly, there were large flashes all around them. “No!” yelled Jaina, “A trap!” The army seemed to freeze around them, only Thrall and Jaina were left moving, Cairne and Marn were standing like stone statues nearby.

“We are doomed!” moaned Jaina, “The undead can strike at any moment.” “Hahahahahaha”, an all-too-familiar voice chuckled, “Worried, Jaina?” Thrall and Jaina turned around, to see Arthas standing next to them. “Your army is safe... for now.” he continued, “I’m only here to warn you, turn back, before... you go too far.” He gave a devilish grin and grabbed Thrall, who quickly knocked him to the ground. “Stay off me, traitor!” growled Thrall. “Arthas!” pleaded Jaina, “How can you be so evil? You aren’t yourself anymore... please, stop this!” Arthas brooded for several moments, before answering “I am of the new order. Do not try to sway our will.” Then walked off, fading oddly as he went.

As soon as he had left, everyone around them sprung to life again, as if nothing had happened. Thrall ran over to Cairne and told him what had happened while Jaina relayed the information to Marn. They all agreed to continue on, there was no turning back now. They continued to plan while they jogged, a surprisingly difficult thing to do. Jaina was pondering at why Arthas had hesitated after she had called out to him. Could there still be hope for him? Or was he only playing mind games with her, trying to confuse her, make her hesitate to kill him? If so he was being a fool, Jaina would not stay her hand against what could be one of the greatest evils they were facing.

She shook herself out of it, as Thrall concluded that they should be cautious in the future. It had been a long day, and it looked as if the night would be longer. “Time for another sleepless night.” said Cairne, “We can not do this forever, the troops need real rest.” All agreed, but saw no solution to the problem, so they decided to do the same thing as the previous night. A nerubian walked up and said something about “Whosyourdaddy”, but Jaina dismissed it, knowing a simple word could never protect them.

Illidan stepped onto the snow, felt it melt between his feet. He had traveled swiftly, the Lich King was close. Nothing mattered anymore as long as he stopped the voice in his head, nothing mattered except possessing the throne. He did not care of the humans, orc and nerubians ahead or the night-elves following behind. The voice had to be stopped! He lost control for a moment and let out a roar of rage, only to fall back into sanity. It would be a long night.

Chapter 9: Mind games

He took another step forward and the voice in his head seemed to double. This was not possible! He, Illidan the almighty, would not be stopped by a mere voice! Another step, another flash of rage. He wouldn’t be able to control them soon, the rage was slow but unstoppable. Another step, another shout nearly reached the outside. Another step, he punched his arm directly through the nearest tree. The voice was all, it was a spiral from which ee could not escape. It had no end or start or middle or sense, it was a hole to which all was drawn and nothing escaped.

He knew he was on the brink of insanity, and he had every intention of staying sane, of taking the next step. He raised his foot for the next step, then he slipped into insanity. He whirled around, looking for anything to kill, to hurt in some way. His vision was blurred, he cursed it and clawed at his eyes to force them to behave. He suddenly felt pain, but where had it come from?! He made out a blurred figure in the corner of his vision and charged at it. He slashed at it, tearing chunks of flesh from it’s hideous body.

He beat and tore until the rage ebbed. He began to think straight again, at least as straight as anyone being prodded by a thousand sticks could be. He looked at the rock in front of him and wondered what had done so much damage to it, it was charred and had obviously been disturbed recently. His memory returned in bits and pieces and he realized what had happened. “Damn you!” he shouted, “Get out off my head!” As if to illustrate his point he smashed the rock in front of him into tiny pebbles.

As if to mock him, the voice seemed to enhance itself, to grow in his mind. “Get out! Get out!” he screamed as he clawed at the ground, “I can not take it!” The voice grew even more, he felt as if his entire mind was filled with senseless babbling. There was no direction, no sense to his talking, it seemed to seethe and twist, burning at him.

“The pen beats the sword yet again.” mocked the voice, “Pitiful Illidan, so strong in body, but so weak in mind.” Illidan felt his body tense up at hearing his tormentors voice, “Leave me alone!” he pleaded, “I’ve had enough!” The Lich King gave a chilling laugh “But I enjoy talking to you, pet. What would I do if you were not there to torment?” Illidan’s body shook, it was the strangest thing he had ever felt, fear, it was so unreal to him. He had never understood it, but he knew now it was a horrid feeling. He fell to his knees, looking at the sunset, wait, hadn’t it been morning a few minutes ago? He looked around but saw nothing familiar.

“Please.” he pleaded again. The Lich King gave yet another laugh, then continued his speech. He grabbed his head and moaned. However, some part of him was still urging him on, he got up and began to lurch towards his destination yet again. His feet crunched some pebbles on the ground, he wondered where they had come from, then took another step. Then the next one, and the next.

Chapter 10: The First Final Step

Thrall woke up, he felt a sudden irrational fear and jumped to his feet. He looked around and saw nothing, calmed down and felt amazement at the fact he had slept at all. It had been a full week since they had landed, and everyone was so exhausted sleep was possible, even here. He sat back down as the sun began to rise. Normally he would have watched with awe, but the scenery here perverted the spectacle. Light began to crawl over the horizon, illuminating last night’s battlefield.

He raised himself to his feet and gave a large yell to wake anyone else who had managed sleep. They were close to the Frozen Throne now, it was very possible they would reach it the next day, or even this one. The coalition’s numbers had been chopped at least in half by the continuing conflict. It was amazing considering the undead’s former power, the temporary defeat of the demons had apparently taken away a massive chunk of the undead’s might.

As they began to march again, Jaina ran up and said “We’ll probably be there today, the worst of it.” Cairne looked at her with a dull expression “Only hate can kill hate.” he replied, “In all my years I have not seen so much death.” Thrall tried to cheer them up without success, it was hard to ignore what had been happening. Marn came near and said “Do not look sad so, the moral is important.” Jaina immediately turned her frown upside down, Cairne did not need to, as a Tauren was an encouragement wether or not he was happy.

They were in what appeared to be only another barren, snowy plain when the undead swarmed in. They came from all sides, trying to pincer the coalition. The usual skeletons popped up, while the usual priests took care of them. Cairne raised his axe and cleaved an undead abomination in two, which didn’t help much, as poisonous gases burst out of it nearly knocking him unconscious. He then turned and used his hoof to crush a ghoul’s head. Jaina, meanwhile, was calling down a blizzard on the undead, the large shards of ice ironically killed an enemy lich. She then called on an older spell, the fireball, and a path of death appeared in the undead ranks.

However, their efforts were in vain. The undead were gaining ground, and the coalition was falling. Thrall saw Cairne fall, only to rise again more powerful then ever. It looked as if their march was done for, the melee line was about to break and the archers behind wouldn’t stand a chance. A few moments later, the front line fell and the undead swarmed in. Marn fell under the onslaught, along with the last of the Nerubians. Thrall, Cairne, and Jaina managed to find their way to each other, they would fall together.

Chapter 11: That Predictable Chapter

Furion looked ahead at the undead swarming about. Something wasn’t quite right, they were moving almost as if ... “Furion!” exclaimed Tyrande, “The humans and orcs are battling the undead! We must help them!” He looked over at her, fully aware of the implications of charging into a battle with two races they had literally thrown out of Ashenvale. But he knew they could not stand by and let the scourge kill them, so he shouted “All sentinels! Forward! We go to save our old allies!” He heard many of the nearby archers mumbling about ‘tree haters,’ but his command was obeyed quickly and they reached the battle in a remarkably short amount of time.

The undead were moving towards them like more like a wall of decaying flesh then an army, Jaina knew she was doomed. Her heart was beating a mile a minute when the wall of flesh stopped, so close she could make out the flies crawling around the ghouls’ bodies. She knew who would appear next, but it was still a small shock to see Arthas walking out of that wall as calmly as if he were on an afternoon walk.

“So,” he began, “you didn’t listen to me.” This was too much, she couldn’t stand to see him this way, she began to weep silently. Arthas did the impossible and appeared more confident at the sight of tears. “I knew you wouldn’t listen.” he continued, relishing every word, “I knew you would underestimate us. Did you think we were going to let you walk up to the frozen throne and destroy it?” This can’t be Arthas, she thought. How can it be? He was so good before. It was as if an unseen force guided his actions, as if he were nothing but a puppet. “But now you will pay the price for your ‘bravery’!” continued Arthas. She dropped to the ground in anguish, it wasn’t right for someone so pure to be controlled. Arthas gave another smirk and began “Now you will-” sssssss-twap! An arrow struck a nearby ghoul, killing it instantly.

“What the f-“ Ssssssssss-twap! Ssssss-twap! The scourge, which had been very intent on killing the remaining human and orc forces, had been blind-sided by the sentinels. “Bastards!” growled Arthas, “Keep them here! Kill anyone who moves!” Jaina had no intention of moving, an honorable death wouldn’t help the world’s fate. Thrall tensed himself to leap, but Jaina stopped him, much to his disapproval. They watched as the undead turned slowly and launched themselves towards their new prey.

The undead were normally quite fast on the ground, but with Arthas among them, they seemed to be over an obstacle before they reached it. But as fast as they were, an archer could let loose two arrows for every step. It was haunting to watch how quickly the undead were dying. The scourge was taking massive losses, but it was gaining ground, bit by bit. Before long they were face to face with the opposing front line, an impressive army of treants transported from Kalimdor as well as the druids of the claw supported by the usual mob of huntresses.

“Burn, filth!” cried Tyrande as she relished in the death of the monstrosities. Furion was becoming increasingly worried about Tyrande, her temper was growing every day, but there was no time for worries now. A lich began casting Death and Decay on a nearby group of archers, they simply laughed at the tickling sensation it gave off and shot a multitude of arrows into the black heart of the lich. Arthas, who happened to be beside the lich as he died, charged towards the night-elves.

Chapter 12: Man or Metal?

He struck at whatever it was, only to find nothing. He saw something else in the never-ending nothingness and stumbled forwards. He reached it and raised his hand to touch it, only to find nothing once again. This was madness! This place was an infinite world of lies and deception, where was he? He suddenly had the urge to look at himself and raised his hand, only to find... nothing. He had no hand, there was only a nothingness withing nothingness. A slight blur within a blur that wasn’t a blur, this wasn’t his hand! He felt a jolt of fear run through- a battle appeared around him, strange women were shooting at him- Nothingness, but it was not quite as empty as before, there was something... something different now, hope returned to his heart.

Arthas charged forward, weaving through dead corpses as he went, intent on dealing death to all who opposed. He closed the distance between him and a large Druid of the Claw and struck at the furry warrior. The druid fell quickly before his might, as did many others afterward- So cold. The throne, his prison, was around him again- he stopped in mid-swing, what had just happened? The young boy had regained his mind for a fraction of a second, but why- Cold, so very col- What was happening?! He began to shiver, it felt as if the throne was still encasing him. He lowered Frostmourne and looked at it, there was two dents in the otherwise perfect blade. Perhaps it was- a third arrow struck the sword and he was forced into his cell for the third time.

Tyrande fired a third arrow at Arthas, she couldn’t believe she had missed the first shot. However, Arthas was acting very odd now, she had struck his sword twice, three times now. Every time she hit it he twitched violently. Perhaps the sword was somehow connected to him, but there was only one way to find out. “Aim for Arthas’ sword!” she commanded, “Destroy Frostmourne!” Furion glanced over at her, puzzled, but although Tyrande was different, she was still sane.

Arthas heard Tyrande’s order and looked over to see an army aiming at his precious weapon. Fear shot through him, the feeling was strange to him, he didn’t want to be in the throne anymore. He started to pull the sword behind him, trying to protect it. Unfortunately for him, the sentinels had already fired off what was probably the largest volley aimed at a single target in known history. A solid wall of enchanted wood and metal flew towards him, a massive whistle filled his ears. He managed to get his mount between him and the wall, but his sword was-

He was back in the throne, cold and despair seeped into him again. Why hadn’t he returned to Arthas’ body yet? More fear, he didn’t want to be here. The throne was so confining, why couldn’t he keep his well earned puppet? He tried to reach Arthas again, but without success. He gave a mental sigh, he would find another puppet, in fact he had one in mind at the very moment.

Thrall watched as Frostmourne shook from a well aimed barrage, it began to bend under the continuous fire. He prayed for it to shatter, he swished his arms lightly and called upon the spirit of air. It rose up inside of him and inquired to what he wanted. “Destroy the sword,” he pleaded, “it has hurt thousands and will continue to do so.” The spirit of air paused for a moment, then a huge ‘whoosh’ sound indicated a vacuum forming around Frostmourne. The blade began to stretch outwards and contort violently. Thrall covered his ears, expecting the shriek of metal being torn apart, but no sound came. Even as the blade shattered into a thousand bits.

Chapter 13: New Beginnings

He reached over and touched his hand, it felt cold, numb, and dead. Was this his body? It seemed so... different from the last time he had seen it. What had happened? And who were these purple women shooting at him?

Shoving his thoughts aside, Arthas looked at his surroundings. The undead surrounded him on all sides! He went to raise his hammer but soon realized it didn’t exist. However, he had other ways of fighting. He felt deep within himself for that special place, the one spot where shadows could never reached. He raised his arms above his head and began to chant softly. Beams of light shot down from the sky, dazzling anyone on the ground for miles around, and struck corpses all over the plains. He smiled at the sight, there was a lot of death being undone. Men, who had been dead moments before, opened their eyes and filled their lungs with air. To Arthas’ shock, orcs, and spider-like creatures were also waking and stumbling to their feet. Though this troubled him, he had faith that whatever he revived would be worthy of such a gift.

Jaina watched in awe as her comrades came back to life. Arthas was standing in the middle of it all, his arms raised and a smile on his face. She was filled with happiness and suddenly had the urge to be by Arthas’ side. She struck out at the nearest creature she saw, a large undead dog whose skull made a satisfying squish as her staff smashed into it. Thrall and Cairne joined in beside her, killing their captors with a swift, haunting grace. Free, Jaina rushed over to Arthas, who had smartly created an impressive glowing shield around himself.

“You.. You idiot!” she laughed, completely ignoring the ongoing battle. “Where are we?” responded Arthas, taking her by surprise. “We’re in Northrend of course!” she replied, acting and feeling like she were five, “Or were you not paying attention for the past few days?” Arthas simply gave her a confused look before running off to fight the undead, he had a duty, afterall. Jaina, realizing she should probably tell someone Arthas wasn’t evil anymore, teleported over to the night-elves.

“Priestess!” cried a nearby hippogryph rider, “The dark prince has revived the human and orc armies!” Tyrande stopped in mid-shot at the news. “What?” she exclaimed, “Are you certain?” The rider knew the priestess didn’t want her to repeat the message, to do so would be an insult. So she simply pointed towards the very obvious spears of light and then to Arthas. Realizing that destroying Frostmourne may have been a very wise decision, Tyrande cried out a simple “Sentinels! Focus on the undead forces!”

Tyrande was reconsidering shooting down Arthas when a numbness passed through her. She found herself unable to move a single muscle, she hated being targeted by that damned spell. A moment later Jaina appeared amid a flash of blue light, explaining her view of the events. “The blade was the only thing holding-” Tyrande interrupted Jaina’s explanation of magical possession with a wave of her hand. She was busy sniping ghouls at the moment and this could wait. “Just don’t kill Arthas!” pleaded Jaina. “We will try not to injure him.” replied the priestess, slightly annoyed. Jaina realized she wasn’t wanted and went off to help finish what little was left of the Scourge. She, as well as many others, would have many a question for Arthas.


Chapter 14: Double-edged Sword (or is that Double Edged? :l)

It was the night following the battle. Thanks to Arthas there weren’t many sad faces, but the priests were still running around, healing the wounded. Jaina was sitting next to Arthas, Thrall and Cairne nearby, but Marn hadn’t been seen since he had fallen in combat. Campfires flickered with a friendly glow all around, but they did little to ward of the darkness. The Night Elves had left after the battle, but that didn’t mean they weren’t still lurking in the shadows.

“I don’t remember much. The last clear thing in my mind is heading off to stop the orcs from pillaging a village.” explained Arthas, “After that everything starts to become increasingly muddled.” “That’s probably when he started taking control.” commented Jaina. “Yes, but who is he?” pondered Cairne, “And will he try again?” At the ‘try again’ Arthas shuddered slightly. “I don’t think he can... when he took control the first time, I was in doubt about my teachings.” confessed Arthas, “But now I have complete faith again.” Cairne nodded, satisfied with the response, and said “So that only leaves who it was.” Jaina thought for a few moments before answering “That isn’t important for the moment, as long as Arthas stays himself we should continue our quest.” All agreed on this, and they began to discuss the strategies they could use.

He lay quietly within the dirt, listening to the fools converse. They were completely unaware of his eavesdropping. He moved his head slightly, the dirt parting around him as easily as if it had been water, they had begun to discuss things of actual value and he needed to hear. “Last time, the undead cut through our front lines quickly, perhaps we should ... ” Wouldn’t they be surprised when their enemies countered their strategies perfectly. A sudden movement, one of them had stood up and was walking. His senses told him it was the heavy one, Cairne, and it felt like he was going to pass right over him: not good.

Cairne continued walking, thinking of what they had just discussed- SMASH! His face hit into the ground. He’d tripped over a gopher hole! He laughed inwardly at the fact. He’d been away from his home for only a few days and he was already tripping over holes. He got up and began to walk again then stopped, puzzled. He hadn’t seen any other holes here, and most of the wild life here was large and furry, hardly the hole-digging type. He walked back to where he had tripped, there was definitely a hole there, and something was moving inside of it.

“Thrall!” he shouted, “Come look at this!” A moment later Thrall was beside him, asking what was wrong. “Look at this.” said Cairne, pointing at the hole, “What would make a hole this big?” Thrall thought for a second before answering “Let’s find out” He then smashed his foot directly next to the hole. “SSSSSSSSSTWER!” A hideous cry came from within the hole. Thrall stomped again, and a moment later Marn was in front of them.

He looked around wildly, the fools had found him, he had to get away. “Marn?” asked Thrall, “What are you doing?” Cairne put his arm out to stop Thrall “That’s not Marn.” he warned. Deciding not to give them a chance to figure out what was going on, Marn used his new found skills to shoot a line of spikes out and stun the imposters. Before anyone knew what had happened, he was gone.

THE END, fuckers

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