Aaron Rosenberg - Tides of Darkness

"Well, it's good to know I haven't forgotten how," the rider announced as he swung one leg over and dropped from the saddle. "Thank you," Terenas heard him murmur to the gryphon, which cawed in reply. Then the wizard turned, his short white beard visible now, and Terenas recognized him.

"Khadgar!" he said, reaching out and clasping the mage's hand. "What are you doing here, and on such a creature?"

"I come bearing good news," the old—seeming mage replied, grinning. He looked tired but otherwise well. "Turalyon and his forces are just the other side of the northern valley," he informed Terenas, gratefully accepting a wineskin Morev offered and taking a quick swallow. "We will attack the Horde from behind and draw them away from you."

"Excellent!" Terenas clapped his hands together, pleased for the first time in days. "With the Alliance army here we can attack them from two fronts and batter the orcs between us!"

"That was Turalyon's plan," the mage agreed cheerfully. "Kurdran loaned me the use of this gryphon so I could reach you and coordinate. I am just grateful I still retain the knowledge Medivh gave me on how to handle one."

"Come," Terenas told him. "My servants will see to the gryphon—they will get it water, and I am sure we can find something for it to eat. Let us talk about what Sir Turalyon thinks we should do next, and how we can make these foul orcs rue the day they dared raise arms against our city."

"Charge!" Turalyon led the way, hammer held before him like a lance, spurring his horse up out of the water and onto the bank and toward the massed orc army. Many of the orcs were still concentrating on the city walls, which they had yet to dent for all their ferocity, and only a few heard the sound of his horse's hooves and turned to look. One of those opened his mouth to shout a warning, but Turalyon's hammer caught him full across the jaw, shattering it and snapping his neck from the force of the blow. The orc dropped and Turalyon's horse trampled him.

Behind him rode the rest of the cavalry, and the foot soldiers were marching after them, having crossed the plain north of the city. Now they advanced upon the Horde, which turned to meet them.

And that was when the city's ballistae fired, raining arrows and rocks down upon the orcs' backs.

Turalyon led his mounted soldiers into the Horde's front ranks and through them, circling around and back again. And then the city's defenders struck a second time.

The orcs milled about now, unsure what to do. When they faced the city the Alliance soldiers struck them from behind. When they turned toward the soldiers the city guard attacked them. They had yet to breach the walls and so they couldn't retreat into Capital City, but they couldn't get to the lake on the plains and the mountains without first going through the Alliance soldiers. No matter which way they turned, orcs died.

Unfortunately, the Horde had bodies to spare. A row of massive orc warriors marched forward, weapons at the ready, and Turalyon was forced to pull his riders back. The elven archers released a volley of arrows that rained down upon the orcs, felling many, but new warriors took their place at once. The orcs began throwing themselves at the Alliance army, forcing them to backpedal or be crushed beneath heavy orc bodies, and step by step Turalyon found himself and his men pushed back toward the water. Once they were out of reach half the remaining Horde soldiers turned their attention back to Capital City itself. They hurled themselves at the walls, quickly exhausting the city's supply of oil and rocks and gravel and other items to drop on attackers.

The ballistae could not be aimed at anyone up against the walls, not without doing more damage to the city than the invaders could, and so the orcs were now safe to scale the walls and batter at the gates. Thus far the gates were holding, but they were taking a terrible beating. And orc warriors were reaching the ramparts and pulling themselves up and over, grinning. Most were blocked and stabbed or bashed as they reached the top but before they could climb over, but a few made it and began attacking the guards, throwing them into disarray and leaving gaps in the wall's defenders. The first wave to climb over all died, but more followed them, and now the bodies were piling up and providing the orcs with some cover as they scaled the walls, giving them room to plant their feet and ready their weapons before attacking the guards.

"This isn't working!" Khadgar shouted to Turalyon as they backed their horses across a rough bridge the orcs must have built to traverse the lake. "We don't have enough fighters to overwhelm them like this! We need to try something else!"

"I'm open to suggestions!" Turalyon replied, battering a lunging orc with his hammer. "Can't you use your magic against them?"

"Yes, but it won't do much good," Khadgar answered, stabbing his sword into an orc that came too close. "I can kill them but only a few at a time. I could summon a storm but it wouldn't help, and it would leave me too drained to work more magic later."

Turalyon nodded. "Let's get the men back across the lake, and hold this bridge!" he told his friend, brandishing his hammer again even as he used his shield to knock an orc into the water that flowed beneath them. "Then we can wait until they've lost interest in us and attack again while their back is turned."

Khadgar nodded, too busy defending himself to speak. He hoped this new plan would work. Because otherwise the Horde would simply burn the bridge and keep pounding on the city gates until they collapsed. And once the gates went they were inside the city and would be impossible to remove. Khadgar had seen the orcs take a city once before, at Stormwind. He did not want to see it happen again.

"The gates are starting to give way!"

Terenas shook his head as if that would make the cry go away. He was too busy to see for himself, however. An orc had climbed the wall not far from where he stood watching the battle below and was advancing on him now, grinning widely enough to show its sharp tusks and swinging its heavy warhammer in slow arcs. Terenas reluctantly picked up a fallen sword, painfully aware that he was no fighter.

Someone appeared at his side, and he recognized Morev with some relief. The guard commander carried a long spear, and jabbed at the orc, forcing him back. "You should go see the gates, sire," he said calmly, poking at the orc again. "I will handle this." On the orc's other side Terenas could see several other guards approaching, two of them also armed with spears.

Accepting that he was no longer needed here, Terenas gratefully laid down the sword and turned away. He ducked down a short flight of steps within the rampart, coming out near a small guard's armory, and from there took a narrow walkway along the wall. It ended at a short stairway, and he leaped up the steps and onto the ramparts again, but now just above the main gates.

He could feel the heavy pounding even before he reached the rampart's edge, rattling his teeth and making the stones shake. And looking down he saw them slamming a thick tree trunk against the front gates. Even from here Terenas could tell they were shuddering from each impact.

"Shore it up," he told a young lieutenant standing nearby. "Get some men and shore up the front gates."

"With what, sir?" the young officer asked.

"Anything you can find," Terenas replied. He gazed out past the walls, at the untold number of orcs gathered there against him and his city. Beyond them he saw the glitter of metal on the bridge, and knew Turalyon and his forces had retreated to that distance so they could plan their next move. Terenas just hoped it was a good one.

"We have them!" an orc shouted, and Doomhammer grinned. Victory was within his grasp! The walls of the city still stood firm no matter how many warriors he hurled at it, but the gates were beginning to buckle from their constant ramming. And once those fell, his warriors would pour into Capital City, crushing its remaining defenders and sacking the city. With this and the elven forest as bases they could spread across the rest of the continent rapidly, driving the humans back to the shores and finally into the sea. And then the land would belong to the Horde, and they could end this war and start a new life at last.