Rynov’s hands rested on his brother’s shoulders as he looked at him with a smile on his face. “I...am sorry to have to cut our reunion short, brother, but-” He walks over to the windows. The armies preparing to march were in view of the tower. “We have pressing matters to discuss, Radimir”
Radimir put his hand up and shook his head. “I have a faint idea of what’s going on. I can see them troop movements and I heard the blasting in the valleys. We’re going to be on the defensive, aren’t we?”Â
Rynov nodded at his words. “We are. I came her-”
“The dream, right?” Radimir spoke before he could finish. The mage nodded, taking the look of shock in Rynov’s eyes as confirmation. “I’ve been having it too. And I have something I must do. But I will join you later, I promise”Â
Rynov’s eyes peered at Radimir for a moment. He crosses his arms and nods. “You have free reign to do whatever you need to do. I just didn’t want you to die in this tower, alone”
Radimir stood in silence before he nodded once again. He walked up to Rynov and hugged him once more. “We will see each other again, but time is of the essence. And we will have more time to talk, I hope. If Father or Raygus doesn’t cut me down on sight” He quipped, rather wryly.Â
“I’ll vouch for you. I always told them. It wasn’t you in there. Even after our battle. They wanted to execute you. I wanted to keep you here for the off chance that you came out of your madness and-” Rynov said before he was interrupted
“You were right. My...mind was not my own. Or more like...I was in the back of the mind. I could see everything but couldn’t control anything. After I heard that you died, I completely lost it. It wasn’t until later when I saw you that I knew you survived, and by then there was no going back. As much as I fought it. But that’s in the past. We are wasting precious time. You go join the defense. I’ll do what I must do”
Rynov wanted to talk more, but couldn’t argue with his brother’s logic. He hugged his brother one more time before patting him on the back and sending him on his way. Radimir hopped on one of the horses and rode off.Â
Rynov didn’t take much longer to mount Kazimyr, patting the black horse’s neck before making a clicking noise. With that, Rynov began his ride back to Highnest.
As soon as he arrived, he rode up to his Marshal, looking at Raygus, and then back at the crowd. Night Elves, by the look of it. He thought the grove had been evacuated already? Why weren’t they with the others?
One of them stepped forward, a younger female. “Lord Ravensteel, please. Your Marshal insists that we join the other refugees but..” They visibly clenched their fist. “We will not hide in a hold while others die for us. We’ve already lost one home. We are not losing another. We want to fight!”Â
Rynov looked at the refugees, then back at Raygus and nodded. “I won’t deny them. We need as many defenders as we can get. If you can fight, you are welcome among our ranks. Report to the forges. We have extra armor and weapons at the ready. You will march with me at dawn” Rynov looked them over. They had been such valuable settlers in his lands. They loved their new home as much as any of the others who lived here. And now they were ready to possibly die for it. Rynov sighed as he left them and moved towards the keep. He himself had to get ready. The forges and siegeworks were working overtime. Engineers and smiths were hard at work or different projects for the coming battle. He definitely had plans for this battle, but didn’t want to play his cards all at once. But he wanted to ensure that they were ready for anything. And they would be. He was sure of it.
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A cacophony of screams and terror filled the air as the battle raged on around the gnome and those of her company, falling under the banner of the Grand Alliance. She had not been called to arms, but had volunteered for this. There was no time for her eyes to gather in the horrors around her. Mists were kept at a constant swirl about her person, erupting from her marked palm and outward into those that needed rejuvenation and healing. She had left all behind for this war: her home, her beloved Manuel, her family that was Ludlow Vineyards. She would not let her fears win and over take her now.
[[NSFW below the cut. Mentions of blood/gore/war for once in a Sprankles story. Also LONG READ!]]
Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a stampeding Tauren. He looked to be of the Highmountain clan with his moose like antlers and larger, more imposing build. He was snorting out of his nostrils, charging towards her with a large warmace high above his head. “Oh no you don’t!” Sprankles squealed out and leapt backwards gracefully, sliding with one foot behind her and the other poised at a bent knee in front of her. Her hands were posed like the striking heads of vipers, ready to defend herself and those around her from the hulking man beast.
“Hiiiiii-yah!” She shrieked out again, allowing her opponent to close the gap between them, Sprankles sliding between the breadth of room between his hooves, using the force of her chi to sweep her leg directly into the weak point of the Tauren’s ankle, sending him sprawling forward and Sprankles coming out on the other side of him. She wasted none of the momentum she had gathered, leaping on the Tauren’s back and lining his leathers with a more deadly version of her glitter bombs, as well as whacking him hard on the back of his head with her staff.
In one quick flip through the air, she distanced herself as the dazed bovine adversary slowly lumbered to his feet and snorted again, giving a great roar in her direction out of anger. But it was for naught, for as soon as that roar left his mouth her bombs exploded. She just remained in her defensive stature, not feeling one ounce of remorse for the beast man as his body pulled apart and ripped in several directions, a spray of blood and gore cascading about him mixed with a heaping amount of glitter as well. It was.. quite the sight to behold, leaving some of her comrades baffled and utterly confused at the glittery demise they just witnessed.
Sprankles gave a soft, “Hmph.” and nod of her head as she went back to keeping the soldiers around her alive and well, weaving in and out of Horde foes as the Alliance pressed forward towards Lordaeron. More screams erupted and interrupted her heavy flow of chi, causing her eyes to look above her, widening behind the goggles that made them appear bigger than what they were anyhow. She nearly froze before her feet began to pull her backwards out of the line of fire, her instincts to run registering before the call to fall back was.
By the droves undead soldiers poured out of the dilapidated city wearing gas masks and carrying horrid weapons filled with some nasty green substance. It was all too soon as Sprankles realized what it was; Blight. And now, it was being shot from catapults from over the walls of Lordaeron, smashing and breaking onto the ground to plague the area. Sprankles watched in utter disbelief as the Banshee Queen launched such a vicious defense, sacrificing Horde and Alliance soldiers alike to raise as terrifying skeletal figures. “Shamblers...” Sprankles muttered, gathering her wits to deal with any that came her way as death ran at her boot heels, as she intended to keep several steps ahead of it.
“Go! Go! Go!” she squealed to those around her, maneuvering with great speed and precision to be one so tubby around her middle. While she could, she held the intention of getting any of those yet touched by the horrible plague as far away from it as possible. She forced her concentration, going from one target to the next with her healing mists, at least keeping them alive enough to escape, though more extensive healing would be needed after they all made safe passage, for that she was sure of.
All hope seemed to be lost, and Sylvanas seemed to have bested their King once more, just as they were all about to be swallowed up in Blight, Sprankles knelt on the ground and was ready to make peace with herself and pass on to the next world if there was one. But that moment didn’t come. She just sat there as a sudden chill hit the air around her, causing her to peak one of her eyes open and look around. “Huh?” she mused to herself, jumping upright and turning to face the battlefield once more. “Its all frozen..” she murmured, suddenly seeing a large shadow come over and block out the waning light above her head. Her mouth suddenly fell agape as her magnified eyes took in the large belly of a ship floating with the pure arcane energies only one of the most powerful mages in all of Azeroth could possess. “JAINA!” she suddenly squealed, only hearing tales of the sea’s daughter and of her terrible plights. “Look everyone! ITS JAINA PROUDMOORE!” she shouted again, tugging someone’s cloth sleeve beside her, only to realize it was one of those skeletal things, its bony appendage breaking off into her hand. “O-Oh..” she said in a bit of surprise, giving a shrug of her shoulder and raising the bone arm upwards so that she could wave at the ship with it that passed over. “Hello, Jaina!” she called out, not caring whether or not her voice carried, she could at least tell others she encountered that she had indeed greeted the great Lady Proudmoore in the midst of battle.
Within the distance she faintly heard the commands of the King, shouting up to the mage and her ship, now seeing commanders of all armies leading their people towards Lordaeron once more. It was time. They would now take Undercity and Anduin would throw Sylvanas from her decrepit throne. The troop of monks that all agreed to march for the war began to move out as well. They cut, chopped, punched, kicked and beat their way through the masses of horde still trying to fend them off, though finally, the walls of Lordaeron were breached and they found themselves within the courtyard, greeted by droves of Darkspear trolls. It would appear they were not making it to the throne room anytime soon.
It gave her great pride that King Anduin did not stand idle behind them, nor did he rush recklessly forth and fight for them. No, he stood with them in the fray, leading them towards victory with the Theramoore Archmage’s aid. “ONWARD!” she heard the gruff cry of Genn Greymane call out. Still, she focused her healing, glancing side to side as she shot just a touch of it towards their King, hoping it was received by him. “You will live forever, my boy.” Sprankles whispered in gleeful excitement, always finding herself weak in the knees at the sight of the King, though such things remained only in her dreams, far away from knowing ears, especially those of her boyfriend Manny. Though right now she couldn’t think too hard on his amazing posterior and how his plate armor hugged it just right, she had to keep her focus.Â
Some Darkspears got to close to her, and they quickly realized that gnomes were naught to be trifled with, especially pink-haired, overly energetic ones that were covered in glitter. She threw some of the metallic sparkling substance into the eyes of one trolless, causing her to screech out in surprised and pain. “EAT BATTERY ACID, YOU TUSK MOUTHED NINNY!” She shouted out, having laced this particular glitter with the hazardous acid of batteries from various machines in her home, causing a corrosive effect, leaving the troll blind and unable to defend herself. She didn’t kill her, allowing others to do that work for her, instead she began throwing her volatile glitter into the eyes of any foe she saw, Forsaken included, flesh was flesh, no matter how much it was decayed. They still suffered the consequences of her sparkling wrath.
The companies did well at keeping those at bay that tried to block the king’s path through to the throne room. Hell, they had fought an azerite machine and blight. A few trolls and other horde weren’t going to matter much to the majority of them. It was then she saw his beautiful shimmering blonde hair move out of sight to where the Banshee Queen waited. She took a moment as trolls began to drop like flies around her, doing a victory dance in the middle of the battle field. “We won it! Oh, yeah we woooon it!” She called out as she then tossed some of those deadly glitter bombs into the swarms of Horde still pushing through to the defense of the Forsaken city, each one exploding in a rain of substances she’d rather never tell anyone about.
Such an immense feeling of hope and victory was short lived though. She heard the wail of the Banshee queen as she burst through the roof of the Throne room, soon landing upon a floating Zeppline high above them all, making her escape. Whether Sylvanas saw it or not, Sprankles put her two fingers in front of her eyes and then pointed them at the undead witch. “Lookin’ at you, Windrunner. You can’t keep running forever.”
(( @mannydrazleblast @ludlowvineyards for relevance and mentions ))
He knew. Or he had suspected for sometime. That the madman imprisoned in the tower was not truly his brother but...something else. Something darker. The few times he had visited his brother bore no fruit in terms of rehabilitating the man. But..today felt different. He felt as if he was being called to the tower.
Every night was the same dream. A realm not of Azeroth. It was blurry, but he caught glimpses. The night sky, the smells of fall and winter. A sense of tranquility. A voice. Regal in nature. He never saw a face, but from the edge of his vision, a pale blue hand pointed him in the direction of the tower
“You must go”
“He must be freed”
“Only together will you survive”
It was a voice that Rynov felt as if he had known for eons
Rynov rode towards the tower on his horse. He hadn’t told anyone. It was merely a hunch. He was following what his dreams were telling him. They would have thought him a madman. But today was different. Every time he went to the tower, there was a sense of dread and misery in his heart. That feeling was gone today, instead he was filled with hope.Â
He dismounted, approaching the tower as he looked at the two men who had guarded it. The Lord nodded at the both. “You are relieved of your duty. Go rest at the castle. We will need you tomorrow” The men looked at him for a moment. He raised his hand, showing the signet ring that rested on it, as well as leaning into both of their ears and muttering two different words to them. They immediately nodded at the Lord, and moved towards their steeds. Within a few moments, they were riding down the trail to Highnest.
Rynov took a deep breath and stepped forward, pressing his hand against the barrier. With his touch, the barrier began to dissipate, and with it, the charms that nullified any magic within it. The Lord entered the tower. It wasn’t the worst place to be imprisoned. If anything it was glorified house arrest. He had provided the tower with a sizable library. An easel with a few canvases to paint on. He peered around the bottom floor. Radimir was nowhere to be seen, but..
It certainly seemed as if he’d been using the space. New paintings hung on the wall. Books were on the tables, some still open. It was a mess. Which was new. Every time he had come before, things seemed almost the same. As if no one lived there. Rynov’s fingers ran across some of the books, peering at what his brother had been reading. It seemed as if his brother had been catching up on recent history. He left things as they were and glanced at the staircase. Surely Radimir knew that he was here. Rynov decided not to waste anymore time. He made his way up the steps, his icy blue eyes peering into the room he had entered. His brother was sitting on a stool, an easel in front of him. Painting.Â
Rynov's eyes began to water as he saw the painting from just over his brother’s shoulder. It was a portrait of their mother, beautifully painted on the canvas. It had been so long since he had seen her, he had almost forgotten what she looked like. Or he had forced himself to forget to stop the pain.
Radimir’s hands had a flurry of snowflakes around them as he himself began to tear up, having gone years without being able to use his magic. He turned to look at Rynov. His eyes were no longer those soulless eyes that Rynov had grown to remember, but the vibrant green they had been before. No words were spoken as the brothers moved towards each other and embraced. Radimir’s face buried itself in his brother’s shoulder as his arms wrapped around Rynov’s back. Rynov’s arms wrapped around his brother’s shoulders, reassuringly patting the man’s back. They pulled away and both of them looked at each other. Radimir opened his mouth. And spoke the truest words he had spoken in years
“It’s good to truly see you again after all these years, brother”
Silence filled the room as the door to the council hall closed. Nobles sat in their chairs, anxiously casting their gaze at the head of the table, where their Lord sat. He glanced over to the man to the right of him. “Marshal Starkov. Is that everyone?”
“Yes, my liege. All of your bannerman are accounted for” Starkov replied, gritting his teeth slightly. Some had taken their time, it had seemed.
“Good. Then let us get started. I’m sure all of you know why I’ve called you here” Rynov pushed his chair back and stood up, crossing his arms as he peered at the many faces that look right back at him. “The Scourge” He paused. “You have all heard the reports coming in from Stormwind, as well as a few of the cities around the world have been attacked, even overrun at times, barely holding back the tides of undead”Â
Many of the nobles solemnly nodded their heads. But kept quiet.
“We’ve evacuated the outer settlements and brought most of the settlers and commoners into the safety of the mountains that surround us. Luckily, we’ve minimized casualties. Picked off the groups of undead that wander the lands around us” He grimly looked forward. “But we must prepare for what is to come. We still hold the Five Forts that block the passes to Highnest. But for how long?” He looks towards a rather burly man, who appeared to be covered in soot and grease. “Nikolai. I trust it is done by now?”
A moment passed as radio chatter was heard from the man. He spoke back, and then returned his attention to his Lord with a nod of confirmation.
“We have pulled back our forces from four of the Forts. And set off the demolitions to close off the passes. Leaving us with only Fort Rasmus as our way in and out of the valley” He moved to the table, resting his hands on it as he leaned over it, peering at his bannermen. “At this moment, most of our forces are marching towards Fort Rasmus, or have already arrived. My rangers report that the Scourge is amassing into an army. I have no doubt that they’ll be moving towards Rasmus. And that they’ll reach it sooner, rather than later”
He stood up once again, looking at the men and women in the room. “Those of us that can fight will join them in by tomorrow morning. Those who cannot will remain here and continue the evacuation efforts. A number of troops will be stationed here and will start to build defensive structures outside of the castle, should we need to fall back, time is of the essence, and we will want to be prepared”
His hand clenched as he finished speaking. “I already lost my home once. I will not lose it a second time. I promise this to you, my fellow Lords. I will fight to my dying breath to defend our lands. And I hope you will do the same, for we fight not just for ourselves, but for our families, our people and all of those who will come after us”Â
Rynov pulled his blade out it’s sheath, raising it high. The people around the table stood, the sound of blades unsheathing echoing through the hall. All stood. And all spoke in unison. “For Highnest! For Alterac!”
Rynov turned towards Starkov and his father as the men dispersed, exiting the room after their rallying cry. “Marshal Starkov, I’ll leave any further preparations for the battle to you. Get these men and women prepared to move before dawn. Father, I want you to assist him in any way you can. And then stay here to conduct the defense of the castle”Â
His father, Rasmus, leaned against his cane with a nod. “You can count on me, my son” He turned towards the Marshal and placed his hand on the man’s shoulder. “Raygus. You’ve been my son’s closest ally for as long as you’ve known each other. Make sure he doesn’t do anything too reckless out there”Â
Raygus Starkov, as taciturn as ever, merely nodded. A man of few words, but of great action.
“As for myself, I have some...delicate matters I must attend to” He says, peering out the window towards a tower in the distance. “Good luck to you two. Stay safe and stay alert. I’ll need you both now, more than ever” He patted both of them on their shoulders as he left the room and went onward to his next task.
