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Khadgar couldn't believe his eyes and barely remembered to flap his wings and stay afloat. The summons he had received had mentioned the Dark Portal turning red and a few strange orcs with brown skin instead of green slaying those sent to greet them. Survivors said they called themselves the Iron Horde. Even with that ominous, familiar name nothing could have prepared him for what he now saw.
It was like the First War all over again.
The dusty red earth of the Blasted Lands was dotted with the brown skinned orcs, their numbers swelling as he neared the Portal until the ground seemed to swarm with their black armored forms. Splitting the crowd were various machines of war, strange immense cannons the like of which he had never seen and smaller machines that bore the marks of goblincraft.
Where had these orcs come from?
Alarmed he wheeled, turning his raven form towards Nethergarde Keep. He could see it smoking even from here and his heart ached for what he would find. Over twenty years ago he'd proposed building the stronghold and lived there for a time helping to keep watch over the Dark Portal should the Horde, the old Horde, ever return. Two years in this desolate place praying the Portal would remain shut.
Now the proud walls that had helped defend against the old Horde's second incursion lay in shambles. The forge stood but still and silent. The barracks had been burnt to the ground and he could see the quartermaster's corpse run through in front of it. The central fort stood, a pile of dead Nethergarde warriors, mostly humans, piled haphazardly in front. Iron Horde orcs crawled over everything.
He had known people here. The grief in his heart spiked to fury. He longed to land and blast them all back to wherever they had come from but he knew that would be wasting time. Instead he smoothed his feathers and turned towards the Portal, intent on inspecting it to determine what the Iron Horde had done. He landed on the massive archway of the Portal itself, examining its magic. Strange. The dimensional anchors were intact; the Portal should still lead to Outland. Puzzled he followed the old links of fel and arcane power and found something new between them. Something gritty.
Time magic. Someone had hijacked the other end of the portal and whatever Outland was on the other side of it was not the one he knew. Even worse the magic was being fueled there. He couldn't close the Portal from this side. There were very few mages capable of such a feat and Khadgar suspected he knew exactly which one to blame. Flaring his wings, he dropped from the archway and glided towards the Alliance camp, hoping to touch base with Maraad before he left. As he flew he saw a dark-haired gnome on a low hill, dressed in the black leathers of SI:7, peering through a telescope towards the Portal herself. In his haste he almost missed the two orcs creeping up behind her.
He dived immediately, determined to save at least one person today. He landed, returning to human just as the first hulking orc grabbed the tiny gnome's hair. He raised a hand, drawing arcane power to him and released the blast. It caught the orc full in the chest as he finished slicing open the gnome's throat.
Light damn him!
A low chuckle came from behind him. "Too slow, mage," the second orc said in his native tongue. He barely had a moment to look surprised before he caught Khadgar's second arcane blast.
He had failed.
"Pazerp!" a voice called frantically. "Pazerp!" A blue haired lavender skinned night elf in black leathers crested the hill atop a nightsaber, hand flying to her mouth as she saw them. "Archmage! Oh no..."
Khadgar shook his heard at her sorrowfully as she dismounted. "I was a moment too late. Your scout is dead." He turned to look out over the swarming Iron Horde. "This is worse than I could have imagined. The Iron Horde invasion has begun. Take a look for yourself." He gestured to the gnome's telescope, still on its tripod. The night elf stepped forward and she turned pale at what she saw.
"I must inform Maraad at once," she told him. Mouth fixing in a grim line she bent to gather up Pazerp.
Khadgar nodded. This would save time. "And I must tell King Wrynn. Keep alert, agent. Dark times lay ahead." He returned to his raven form and took wing.
He should message the Horde as well, those descendants of the old Horde that had first invaded Azeroth over twenty years ago. The old Horde had nearly wiped out all known civilization when it had arrived and neither modern Horde nor Alliance could ignore this new Iron Horde now.
Whenever it was coming from.
It was like the First War all over again.
The dusty red earth of the Blasted Lands was dotted with the brown skinned orcs, their numbers swelling as he neared the Portal until the ground seemed to swarm with their black armored forms. Splitting the crowd were various machines of war, strange immense cannons the like of which he had never seen and smaller machines that bore the marks of goblincraft.
Where had these orcs come from?
Alarmed he wheeled, turning his raven form towards Nethergarde Keep. He could see it smoking even from here and his heart ached for what he would find. Over twenty years ago he'd proposed building the stronghold and lived there for a time helping to keep watch over the Dark Portal should the Horde, the old Horde, ever return. Two years in this desolate place praying the Portal would remain shut.
Now the proud walls that had helped defend against the old Horde's second incursion lay in shambles. The forge stood but still and silent. The barracks had been burnt to the ground and he could see the quartermaster's corpse run through in front of it. The central fort stood, a pile of dead Nethergarde warriors, mostly humans, piled haphazardly in front. Iron Horde orcs crawled over everything.
He had known people here. The grief in his heart spiked to fury. He longed to land and blast them all back to wherever they had come from but he knew that would be wasting time. Instead he smoothed his feathers and turned towards the Portal, intent on inspecting it to determine what the Iron Horde had done. He landed on the massive archway of the Portal itself, examining its magic. Strange. The dimensional anchors were intact; the Portal should still lead to Outland. Puzzled he followed the old links of fel and arcane power and found something new between them. Something gritty.
Time magic. Someone had hijacked the other end of the portal and whatever Outland was on the other side of it was not the one he knew. Even worse the magic was being fueled there. He couldn't close the Portal from this side. There were very few mages capable of such a feat and Khadgar suspected he knew exactly which one to blame. Flaring his wings, he dropped from the archway and glided towards the Alliance camp, hoping to touch base with Maraad before he left. As he flew he saw a dark-haired gnome on a low hill, dressed in the black leathers of SI:7, peering through a telescope towards the Portal herself. In his haste he almost missed the two orcs creeping up behind her.
He dived immediately, determined to save at least one person today. He landed, returning to human just as the first hulking orc grabbed the tiny gnome's hair. He raised a hand, drawing arcane power to him and released the blast. It caught the orc full in the chest as he finished slicing open the gnome's throat.
Light damn him!
A low chuckle came from behind him. "Too slow, mage," the second orc said in his native tongue. He barely had a moment to look surprised before he caught Khadgar's second arcane blast.
He had failed.
"Pazerp!" a voice called frantically. "Pazerp!" A blue haired lavender skinned night elf in black leathers crested the hill atop a nightsaber, hand flying to her mouth as she saw them. "Archmage! Oh no..."
Khadgar shook his heard at her sorrowfully as she dismounted. "I was a moment too late. Your scout is dead." He turned to look out over the swarming Iron Horde. "This is worse than I could have imagined. The Iron Horde invasion has begun. Take a look for yourself." He gestured to the gnome's telescope, still on its tripod. The night elf stepped forward and she turned pale at what she saw.
"I must inform Maraad at once," she told him. Mouth fixing in a grim line she bent to gather up Pazerp.
Khadgar nodded. This would save time. "And I must tell King Wrynn. Keep alert, agent. Dark times lay ahead." He returned to his raven form and took wing.
He should message the Horde as well, those descendants of the old Horde that had first invaded Azeroth over twenty years ago. The old Horde had nearly wiped out all known civilization when it had arrived and neither modern Horde nor Alliance could ignore this new Iron Horde now.
Whenever it was coming from.
