Anduin

Part 5 of the Valkyrie Six


Melara still couldn't meditate on the force, which had always helped her to regain her serenity in the middle of any situation. But at least she could practice levitating objects with the force now.

The group had recruited a group of new Vaegir recruits from the village they rescued. Then they moved to the north, passing by a Vaegir noble's army but nothing else on the way north.

Before they came to the sea, they saw the smoke and fire. There was smoke rising from two of the castles in this area of the Vaegir kingdom. It looked like the town at the waterfront was burning as well.

They didn't find the sea raiders they were looking for, but they did stumble upon a large battle between an Orcish army and some unknown force.

"Its the Stormwind army! Or a contingent of their forces at least. How did they get here?" Aliaga said.

They decided to help the Stormwind army fight off the Orcs.

When they were transported into the field battle, Melara noticed that those Stormwind forces were composed of two groups. One group were mounted and wore heavy armor and shields. The others were on foot and had staves like Aliaga's.

"Strangers! We appreciate the help, but be wary, the warlocks of the Horde have joined forces with the warg riders, foot soldiers and goblin riflemen. Don't be afraid of the warlocks' summoned demons, attack them and destroy them without pause!"

"Anduin? How did you get here?" Aliaga shouted.

"After this fight is done, we can parlay. As much as I wished to not fight, the Orcs are destroying this land and its people. So we must fight. For Stormwind! For the Light!"

The Paladins trotted forward at a slow pace and the staff bearers followed behind.

"Guards and Recruits, form up a line. Extend the Stormwind lines. Everyone else, get in the second row and get ready for battle. Sophella, I want you on point to take out any of these demons. We will provide ranged support. Alendria, find out if they need healing support," Valeraine said.

"Half their army is composed of priests who can heal as I can. My focus is split between Holy and Shadow, whereas Anduin and his army is an army of the light," Aliaga said.

"Stay in the group then. Lets keep up with them!"

The two armies marched side by side, the Stormwind forces being more numerous, with two rows of ten for the mounted group and another two rows of ten for the priests.

The Wargs rode ahead of their support, intending to end this quickly. There was one rider that was particularly stout and seemed to be leading the group.

Melara picked up the largest rock she could with the force, and flung it, missing the Orc but battering his warg, causing the leader to tumble off of it.

Sophella moved out in front of the first line forces. Valeraine focused on backdrafting while Melara used another flung rock to throw another rider off of his warg.

Alendria was firing arrows at the riders and Isseria was waiting for them to get into range. Aliaga started smiting the riders approaching their army.

Meanwhile, the priests were attacking with massed Holy spells, including smite and Holy Fire. The mounted forces drew their blades and the smashing, horrifying collision of forces happened next. Sophella personally was fighting the downed enemy leader, and Melara went invisible and skirted around the edge of the fight. The enemy leader was holding his own and resisting the Stone fists of Sophella while actually inflicting some damage on her, but when Melara showed herself, flashing her lightsaber back on and slashing into the Orcs' side, he was done. After a few more combined strikes from Sophella and herself, the leader was done.

The rest of the Orc forces were approaching. Melara and Sophella bypassed the enemy warg riders left and went right for the warlocks' demons.

Melara appeared behind a large demon who was glowing in bright and dark splotches of green. The demon hit her pretty hard but she slashed back at him. Some kind of draining magic hit her, and she threw a rock at the warlock in question.

Sophella fought against three demons as Melara slipped into hiding again, only showing herself when she slashing a warlock through the abdomen. The infantry orcs had been distracted and were fighting Sophella, so Melara took some hits and was bleeding, but she managed to shred the enemy warlock forces. With each warlock she killed, another demon disappeared, until Sophella was only facing orcish infantry.

Sophella was in bad shape, so Melara started flinging stones and force pushing the orcs away from her.

Anduin had reached their position and used some massive area of effect spell which both healed Melara and Sophella and caused heavy damage to the Orc infantry.

Sophella's mud pots power had caused the infantry to be slow and take fire damage as they stood near her. And the three of them together managed to wipe out the two dozen infantrymen left.

The infantry and warlocks on the far other side of the formation were still standing, and after a brief respite, Andiun said, "Come on, there is still more to do."

Melara had no idea what was happening in the fight against the cavalry units, or how the rest of their forces had fared.

The enemy infantry and orcs were not positioned to fight their flanking attack, and Anduin took out one warlock while Sophella once again attracted the anger of their enemies.

With concentrated fire and attacks, sneaking and surprising the warlocks, Melara was able to assist Anduin in downing the rest of the dark summoners. The orcish infantry and warg riders tried to flee, but Andiun used a wide area spell, causing most of them to collapse unconscious or dead, and Alendria at last picked off the last of the orcs with her bows.

"Where were the riflemen?" Anduin pondered.

Sophella dismissed her armor, and Melara put away her lightsaber.

Alendria came up to them. "Valeraine and Isseria had to take up our front lines when you went after the warlocks. They took some knocks. Aliaga helped to rally the Stormwind forces. The warg riders are pretty fierce."

"Let's return to my army's camp so we may be introduced," Anduin said.

After a quick healing process accelerated by so many priests and healing paladins, Melara and the others went to the Stormwind camp.

-o-

"I confess, I didn't expect to find a priestess from Stormwind out here beyond those who traveled with me. I didn't expact to see anything but bloodlust after the first week we've had," Anduin said.

"None of us are native to this place either," Aliaga said. "Something strange is happening, as if rifts from entirely different universes are appearing. Instead of gates from different worlds there are gates from entirely different sorts of universes.

"Sophella is from a world of so-called superheroes and supervillians. Many of them can fly, and jump huge distances, and they have access to things far beyond what we can imagine.

"Melara's world has gigantic ships flying in space, many thousands of times larger than the Exodar. There, magic is called the force and is something very rare.

"Alendria's world has entirely different types of magic than ours, although their society is somewhat similar, they haven't seen the kind of threat from afar we have seen. They understand magic at another whole level, and they can teach people to be better than things.

"Valeraine's world is kinda like ours, except once again the magic is different, and only elemental magic is available, but the kinds of things it can do are very flexible.

"It seemed like Isseria's world is similar to Sophella's except without the superheroes, but there is magic, it's very rare.

We don't know much about our camp friend Bodahn's world, or this world."

"If Azeroth has come to this world in part, do you think threats and allies will come from these other worlds as well? These giant ships from Melara's world could be used as forward bases and places to launch raids from."

"It would only take a small fleet of ships from my world to destroy this world or control it. Hopefully it doesn't come to that. My "world" as you call it, is actually many worlds embroiled in a war between the Republic and the Sith Empire" Melara said.

"There are some worlds in our universe. Only two that we know about, being Dranei or Outlands after its destruction, and Azeroth itself. But all of our peoples are from Azeroth."

Valeraine said, "This world we're in now, its unpleasant, full of conflict and people being taken advantage of. And if we run into a larger Orc force separately, we might be defeated and abused ourselves."

Anduin nodded, "As much as I prefer peace, it's looking like the best path to peace is to bring more people under our banner, and to start bringing villages under our protection. It would seem the Swadians are already upset because of your response to their raiders. What would you propose? Those who I command are used to working as part of larger groups. I've been a priest more than a commander, despite my surname."

"I propose that you place me in command in the field, but you would be the ruler for all diplomatic and sovereign functions. We need a new banner, a new name that reflects where we come from, and what we stand by?" Valeraine said.

"I propose the Alliance of Worlds. My own people can still say they are serving the alliance, and it accurately reflects who we are. And I agree with your plan, as long as your own people agree to join my banner in this way," Anduin said. "I'm not sure if, or when, we are returning to our respective worlds."

"Six?" Valeraine asked. "What are your thoughts on this?"

"This sounds like a good agreement. We need to make it clear that no one is to pillage and raid villages as they have been doing. Make it clear that we have come to provide safety and security for civilians all over," Aliaga said.

"We need to be ready to bring in more groups if they come. If both friends and enemies of your Azeroth have showed up, Aliaga, that I suspect we'll be seeing friends and enemies from all of our worlds," Melara said.

"Keep our friends together and our enemies split up," Sophella nodded. "If we see some of the worst villains of my city here, I shudder at what would stop them. Lord Recluse..."

"I'm not sure who would show up from mine? The FBI doesn't seem that threatening in a world so unlike their own."

Sophella looked at Isseria quizzically. "Hey, this is the first time we've found something in common between our worlds. The FBI division for super-hero affairs monitors heroes in Paragon City. The FBI is your enemy?"

"Hey, I bet the FBI is different in your world. In mine, I was forced to do a job for a criminal or be killed, and then the gangster tried to kill me anyway. The FBI came after me for that job. I didn't have any other choice!" Isseria said.

"I'm not sure who would count as enemies from my world. There have been so many who came and went," Alendria said. "And really, I was never powerful enough to consider them my own enemies. I've always been a rather weak fighter compared to the other people I knew. Maybe the Sand Elves? Oh no, what about the Gorbesh Army?" Alendria said.

Anduin pondered at all the different members of the six and how different they were.

"So is it settled then?" Anduin asked.

"Bodahn? Will you follow up if we join Anduin's group? Soldiers of Vaegir, will you follow us?" Valeraine asked.

"Always, milady. And if a new banner is what you need, Sandal's been waiting for your group to desire something crafted finely. What about it, your highness?"

"How much would such a master craftsman charge, Mr. Fedic?"

Valeraine turned to the Vaegir soldiers.

"My mother was beaten, dragged from her home and taken by one of the Sea Raiders," the Vaegir guard said. "I'm with this new Alliance of Worlds. But if you want to be able to parlay, I recommend you take a castle or town to plant that flag on."

The others were much the same.

"What value can we get from the armor of the orcs we faced earlier? Would that be enough to make up the different. Or Valeraine, do you have 1800 coin to cover this cost?"

Bodahn said, "The Six can pay 600 coin, the rest will be covered by the armor and weapons recovered."

"We'll take it," Valeraine said.

"The Vaegir soldiers made a good point though. We need a settlement of our own before the kingdoms of this world will even consider us worthy to talk to."

"The Orcs have already taken Rivacheg from the Vaegir Kingdom. It would be right if we took it from the orcs for ourselves. We need a greater force to attempt to take it however. The Paladins are not particularly skilled in sieges, as fierce as they are in the open field. These Vaegir recruits would seem to be our best bet."

"Start crafting that banner, Bodahn," Valeraine said. "Lets visit all of the villages that still stand in Vaegir and Nord lands. We can pick off any sea raiders or orc raiders as we go."

So they packed up the Human Alliance camp, and merged their camps together into one, and then took to the field again. The Nordic kingdom was nearby, so they gathered recruits from both the Vaegir villages and Nord villages. Two villages had already been wiped out as they went past them.

They didn't run into any orcs, and the sea raiders were either dead, or had already fled, so it was that there newly increased numbers were arrayed at a training field in the Nord kingdom.

It was time to train up these new enlistees.

Melara and Valeraine taught them melee combat. Alendria taught them archery. The paladins practiced mounted fighting with some of the new Vaegir recruits.

Over three days of steady training, they developed the new recruits into three branches: a small mounted vaegir force to supplement the Paladin cavalry. A decently sized force of archers who could shoot back against enemy archers on the walls as they stormed Rivacheg, and a force of fourty more melee infantry types to climb the ladders and battle it out on the walls of the town.