The High Elves of Quel'Thalas had a trump card: their mage corps, Blizzard's Bastard. These mages were nothing like the gentle, frail figures they appeared to be. Their deployment gave the Vilebranch Trolls inside Shalvalsa a thorough taste of fire and ice.
More than 150 mages emerged from among the rangers in scattered groups, finally taking their positions five or six yards ahead of them. Under the cover of the rangers' arrows, they began chanting spells. There was a reason they had waited until now to step forward.
The Vilebranch Troll defenders in Shalvalsa had previously been too scattered. To keep the spellcasters safe from the troll javelin throwers and make their attacks as effective as possible, the elf rangers first had to blanket the city with Rain of Arrows. This suppressed the Vilebranch Trolls so thoroughly that they dared not show their heads, while also forcing them to huddle together in clusters for shelter from the Rain of Arrows. After all, there were only so many places that could shield them from countless volleys of arrows.
Clouds gathered overhead, completely blocking the sunlight trying to reach Shalvalsa. Dark clouds blanketed the entire city, and concentrated Arcane Magic energy gathered with a terrifying pressure. Ominous Thunder Formation rolled ceaselessly through the sky above Shalvalsa.
Boom, boom, boom! Amid the rolling thunder, countless sharp blue Ice Shards and blazing red fireballs pierced layer upon layer of dense black clouds and fell into Shalvalsa.
Shalvalsa had already become a sea of flames under the Air Force's bombardment. Now the few surviving wooden houses caught fire in swathes. Their wooden walls might have stopped arrows falling like rain, but how could they stop the rain of fire descending from the sky?
The trolls crouching behind high walls might have avoided the rangers' arrows