Turning the Tide

Ballistae, arrows, and boulders rained down on the Orcs from within Lordaeron. The Orcs was effective, but unfortunately, the sheer number of orcs was insufficient to halt Orcs advance. Ballistae couldn't target those already close to the walls, allowing the Orcs to safely scale the ramparts and ram the gates. Although the gates remained sturdy, they were bearing the brunt of the impact. The Orcs grinned wickedly as they scaled the walls, climbing as high as they could. Orcs were impaled or shot down before reaching the top, but some managed to breach the walls and begin attacking the guards. The first wave of attacks was quelled, but more Warrior surged forward, their corpses now piling up, providing cover for the Orcs as they scaled the walls, giving them footholds and weapons before they could attack the guards.

"This isn't working!" Terenas shouted. "We don't have enough men to break them like this! We need reinforcements!"

"Turalyon's army is outside, but his men can only harass the Horde. If we want to repel them, we must make a big commotion."

"Can you use your magic to deal with them?" Terenas asked.

"Yes, but it won't be of much help," Khadgar replied, glancing down at the situation below the walls. "I can kill some at once. I can also summon storms, but that won't work, and it will deplete my mana."

The old King sighed helplessly after hearing this, as if nothing was on his side.

"The gates are beginning to crack!"

Terenas shook his head frantically, trying to ignore the shouts. He was now distracted, his eyes fixed on the increasingly unfavorable battle. He reluctantly admitted that there was no need for him to stay; the focus now was on the city gate. He thought for a moment, then turned, bent down and descended a short flight of steps from the city wall, then walked along a narrow path against the wall. At the end of this path was a small staircase, which he climbed up to another section of the city wall, but this section was directly above the main gate.

He felt the heavy impact even before he reached the city walls. The tremor made his teeth chatter and shook the heavy stones. He looked down and saw the Orcs ramming the front gate with a thick tree trunk. Even before he came here, he could feel the gate shaking with each impact.

"Hold on," he shouted to the soldier standing beside him. "Call some men to hold on."

"What shall we use, Your Majesty?" the young officer asked.

"Anything," Terenas replied. He looked beyond the walls at the countless Orcs attacking him and preparing to destroy his Orcs. Behind them, he saw the gleaming metal on the lake. Then he learned that Turalyon had taken over with his forces and was preparing to attack the Horde. Terenas hoped this would be a brilliant attack, at least relieving the pressure here.

"We're about to take them down!" Doomhammer grinned; victory was within reach! Although before, no matter how many Warrior he sent, they couldn't breach Lordaeron's thick walls, now the gates were severely deformed from their relentless assault. Once the gates were breached, his Warrior could flood in, slaughter the remaining guards, and raze the city to the ground. With this stronghold, along with Quel'Thalas's, they could quickly conquer the rest of the continent, driving the humans to the coast and into the sea. Finally, this continent would belong to the Horde, and they would end this war and begin a new life.

Doomhammer leaned against his hammer, watching his soldiers pound the city gates once more. "If only the Ogre were here, "Doomhammer thought, "Those huge creatures could easily scale the walls and chisel holes in the thick stone with their weapons." He wondered why Gul'dan, Cho'gall, and their clan hadn't arrived yet; he hadn't seen a trace of them.

"Doomhammer!" He glanced around and saw one of his soldiers leading another Orcs toward him.

"I brought a fellow who calls himself a Dragonmaw Clan."

Orgrim glanced at the man behind the soldier, waved him forward, and guessed that he was a messenger from Zuluhed.

"I am Grot Deathstrike of the Dragonmaw Clan. It is an honor to meet you, Doomhammer."

"The Dragonmaw Clan? Any news from Zuluhed?" Orgrim asked, hoping the Dragon Knight would arrive soon. These behemoths could destroy the gates with fire and wipe out the city's guards, then the city would be theirs for the taking.

Grot shook his head and replied, "I bring news about the Alliance. The Alliance of Quel'Thalas has arrived here and is currently behind us."

"What? Zuluhed couldn't hold them off?" Orgrim stroked his chin and shook his head. "No, that's not important. The Alliance's army in Quel'Thalas suffered heavy losses, and they don't have many men left."

"But they will attack your rear, and if we focus all our attention on the front, it will give them an opening," Grot said, then recalled what Nathanos had once told him.

"You're right, these disturbances are indeed making it difficult for us to concentrate." The Great Chief nodded, then glanced around, spotted someone, and called out with a cold laugh, "Blood Maw!"

Death Knight, completely black, approached him. Grot suddenly felt uneasy; this guy exuded a chilling power.

"What are your orders, Doomhammer?"

"Take your men to the back and be careful of those humans who are planning to ambush us."

The Blood Maw Demon laughed hoarsely, "Their leader Turalyon, I will offer you his head, Doomhammer."

"That's good!" He smiled with satisfaction, then suddenly heard horns sounding in the distance behind him. "It's the horns of the Elf! They're coming from Lordamere Lake; they've taken it over," a Troll warned.

"Annoying ants," Orgrim muttered. "Grommash!"

The Warsong Clan chieftain stepped forward, awaiting the Great Chief's orders. "Send your men and the Death Knight together, and then slaughter them all."

"It is an honor," roared Grommash, and the other Warsong Clan Orcs cheered in response.

On the hillside

Nathanos, standing atop the tree, saw that the Orcs had already divided their forces, and they were all cavalry. Orgrim was shrewd; cavalry indeed had limited effectiveness in siege warfare.

"Has Orgrim not noticed Grot's identity?" he wondered, this didn't fit his plan. His initial plan was that after releasing Grot, the Orcs would inform Orgrim that the Alliance had appeared in the rear, but the Horde's Great Chief wouldn't worry about that; he understood the disparity in strength. However, things would be different once Orgrim discovered Grot's identity. He would definitely ask Grot where his dragon was, because at this point, the Red Dragon's importance would be magnified infinitely. With just one dragon, the Horde could easily destroy Lordaeron's defenses. But Grot would certainly not dare mention to Orgrim that he had been captured by humans and that he had let the Red Dragon escape. Doomhammer would kill him. He would definitely make excuses, the best reason being that the Red Dragon had gone out of control. Then Doomhammer would suspect that the Dragonmaw Clan was in trouble, and if the Red Dragon was out of control, it would definitely attack the Horde. That would be very bad news; Orgrim would have to reconsider the situation. He would at least have to send someone to confirm that the Red Dragon was still in the Dragonmaw Clan's hands before he could confidently continue his attack on Lordaeron. Of course, this was only part of Nathanos's plan. Perhaps Orgrim was already preoccupied with the impending victory. For him, conquering Lordaeron was more important than anything else. Thinking of this, a question suddenly arose in Nathanos's mind: where were the Dragonmaw Clan? Logically, once the Alliance army appeared here, the Red Dragon should have arrived as well. Why? Why was there still no movement from the heavens?

"Could it be that the Dragonmaw Orc are really in trouble?" Nathanos was annoyed by his miscalculation but also somewhat relieved. If the Red Dragon couldn't get here, the outcome of the war would be hard to predict.

The Orcs attacked day and night, fighting from night until dawn, both sides testing their endurance. Nathanos didn't know how long the war had lasted, but he knew that the soldiers on both sides were nearing their physical limits.

"Great Chief, Gryphon. Lots of Gryphon. The situation isn't good over with Grommash," Rend said as he ran to Orgrim's side.

Doomhammer had just sent out a new batch of siege soldiers, and he was getting tired of Lordaeron's defenses these past few days. Now he had to face harassment from his rear.

"Gryphon? Try to shoot them down with arrows and spears, and send the Troll who are still with the Horde army with you; they are excellent archers. Then..." Orgrim suddenly remembered, "Right, what about the Red Dragon Knight? Where is the Dragonmaw Clan? Why haven't they arrived here yet? I completely forgot to ask Grot."

Rend was also a little puzzled, but he shook his head, indicating that he knew nothing.

"Great Chief!" a soldier pointed to the sky, Orgrim looked up. A dark figure was flying towards them.

Could it be Gryphon? He thought with disgust. These guys were already difficult to deal with in Sin'doran, but they had given him a real hard time in Quel'Thalas.

The shadowy figure grew larger and larger, its body long enough to be clearly not a Gryphon. As it drew nearer, Doomhammer heard cheers erupt from his soldiers. A dragon! What great news!

The dragon landed some distance from the river, and as soon as it touched the ground, a burly Orcs leaped off the saddle on its back. Doomhammer slung his hammer behind his back and strode over.

"Where is the Doomhammer?" the Dragon Knight shouted. "I have something I must tell him!"

"I'm right here," Doomhammer replied, and his soldiers automatically made way for him. "What's wrong?"

The Dragon Knight turned to face Doomhammer, Doomhammer remembered seeing him before. He was a trusted confidant of Zul'hard, a very capable Warrior, and said to be one of the first to dare tame a dragon. Togus, yes, that was his name.

"I bring you a message," Togus said. A strange and complex expression crossed his broad face. Doomhammer could see anger, confusion, and even shame and fear in it.

"Then tell me," Doomhammer replied, stepping into the circle formed by the Red Dragon's tail. The others understood this was a warning and stepped back, allowing him to speak privately.

"It's Gul'dan," said Togus, who was very tall, almost as tall as Doomhammer, but he dared not look Doomhammer in the eye. "He has escaped, or rather, betrayed us."

"What?" Doomhammer finally understood why Togus had that expression on his face. In his rage, he felt his blood boiling. His hand gripped his hammer handle so tightly that the metal almost cracked. "When? What happened?"

"Shortly after you left," Togus admitted, "He and Cho'gall took their men and sailed into the Great Sea, heading south." Now he looked up, his fear replaced by rage. "Then another Dragon Knight noticed them from the sky. He flew down and asked them why they were going the opposite way, but Gul'dan killed him with his evil magic. I witnessed it. I wanted to chase after them, but I knew I should inform Zul'hard, who told me to come to you immediately."

Doomhammer nodded. "You did the right thing." His words reassured the Dragon Knight somewhat. "If Gul'dan had killed your men, he wouldn't have hesitated to kill you either, and we wouldn't have been informed of his betrayal."

He grinned, "I knew he wasn't trustworthy. He took the boat away?"

"The vast majority."

"Why don't you track him from the air?" Doomhammer continued to ask.

Togus sighed urgently. "That's what I'm about to say. Zuluhed has withdrawn from Grim Batol. I've heard there are serious problems within the Dragonmaw Clan, but I don't know the specifics!"

Doomhammer frowned. "Damn it!" He slammed the hammer into the ground. "Of all times."

Just as Togus was waiting for the Doomhammer to give the order, another Orcs ran towards them. It was Salbeck, the young second-in-command of the Blackrock Clan. The dragon tail beside them was lashing the ground restlessly, so Salbeck stopped some distance away from it.

"What's wrong?"

"Something's happened," Salbeck said. "The mountain road is blocked."