Chapter Summaries

Gath'riss led the Fourth Legion's desperate defense against the Undead Scourge at the Sepulcher Front, holding the line even as casualties mounted and gargoyles attacked. Detheroc nearly killed him, but a death knight intervened, and the dreadlord recognized the knight's sword as Apocalypse.

• Gath'riss and the Fourth Legion held the undead back with help from Dalaran's battle mages, who used fire and magic to defend the narrowed frontline.
• Gath'riss ordered the mages to stop a gargoyle assault, and they deployed a scaled-down Anti-Air Array that brought the creatures crashing down.
• As the undead surged forward and the line faltered, Gath'riss charged into the enemy and fought on until he was the only soldier left standing around him.
• Detheroc battered Gath'riss down and tried to hypnotize him, but Gath'riss resisted the spell.
• A death knight in Black Skeleton Armor seized Detheroc with Death Grip, and the dreadlord recognized the Blood-Red Greatsword as Apocalypse.

Dick arrived with two thousand paladins and led a flank attack that shattered the undead formation, giving the Fourth Legion a chance to counterattack. As Gath'riss’s men charged, Dick sent his deputies to support them and headed toward the woodland, where Detheroc faced the wielder of Apocalypse.

• Detheroc recognized Apocalypse and feared that it could permanently kill him, then prepared to fight its death knight wielder.
• Wounded and surrounded by risen, Gath'riss recalled his home and gave the Fourth Legion his final order to charge as reinforcements arrived.
• Dick brought two thousand paladins through portals and led them in repeated charges against the undead, splitting their army and destroying its ranged ranks.
• Dick ordered Abbendis and Korfax to support the Fourth Legion’s counterattack and sent Liadrin to search for Gath'riss.
• Dick rode toward the woodland to confront the dark presences, drew the Fire of Justice, and asked Anveena to release the seal, but she warned him against going closer.

Dick entered the woodland and fought a death knight wielding Apocalypse, while Sedelock watched for a chance to claim the runeblade. After Dick and the death knight both appeared weakened, Sedelock attacked and was killed by a hidden Holy Light Flail as Apocalypse devoured his soul.

• Dick strengthened himself with holy power and entered the dark woodland to investigate.
• Sedelock fought the death knight, trying to exhaust him so Apocalypse would overwhelm its wielder.
• The death knight struck Dick as he emerged from the trees, but Dick blocked the blow with Divine Shield and recognized Apocalypse.
• Dick and the death knight battled fiercely until the death knight knocked him down and prepared to finish him.
• Dick released a burst of silvery light that shattered much of the death knight's armor and left him apparently weakened.
• Sedelock tried to kill the death knight, but the knight seized his claw and a concealed Holy Light Flail struck Sedelock, allowing Apocalypse to devour his soul.

Dick watched Uther slay Detheroc and transform Apocalypse into its powerful Death's Verdict form, then destroy an Infernal meteor threatening Woodland. Uther left alone, while Dick recovered rare Demonbane metal from the ruined battlefield and departed.

• Dick saw Uther drive Apocalypse into Detheroc, whose dying attack summoned seven Infernals from the sky.
• Dick struck Detheroc while Uther trapped him with his wings, but two meteors escaped before the Dreadlord died.
• Uther flew up and shattered the Infernal headed for Woodland with Apocalypse, and the blast devastated the area.
• Dick saw Apocalypse transformed into Death's Verdict and watched Uther leave without joining him.
• Dick found seven pieces of Demonbane metal where Uther had knelt, stored them, and left Woodland.

Dalaran came under siege after Arthas's undead army exploited a breach in the city's defenses, but the Eye of Dalaran raised a barrier that annihilated attackers and repelled Arthas's strike. Tichondrius demonstrated that the shield could be strained, then departed after threatening Arthas, who ordered Kel'Thuzad to prepare the Cursed Mages for a siege.

• Dalaran's mages evacuated citizens after a meteor became an Infernal and Arthas's undead army surrounded the city.
• Antonidas activated the Eye of Dalaran, raising a shield that annihilated more than a thousand undead.
• Arthas struck the barrier with Frostmourne, but it repelled his attack and shattered hundreds of undead.
• Kel'Thuzad explained that the barrier could not be overcome by draining its power from outside.
• Tichondrius dented and stretched the barrier, insulted Arthas, and left through a Spatial Rift.
• Arthas ordered Kel'Thuzad to have the Cursed Mages prepare for the siege.

Rhonin assessed Dalaran’s defenses as Arthas’s undead besieged the city, while Dick responded to new threats in Silverpine Forest and prepared for Dalaran’s likely fall. The chapter ended with Dick ordering Liadrin to prepare for a journey to gather stronger forces.

• Rhonin watched the undead assault Dalaran’s Violet Barrier and recognized that the dome’s concealed weakness lay beneath the city, though he still sensed an unexplained threat.
• Dick received news that Arthas had besieged Dalaran and that worgen had appeared in the Black Forest, then declared martial law in Silverpine Forest.
• Dick sent Abbendis and her soldiers to establish a defensive line against the worgen and assigned Korfax to guard the route into Hillsbrad Foothills.
• Dick warned Abbendis that the worgen curse could spread and ordered her to prevent it from reaching Silverpine Forest.
• Dick judged that Dalaran might fall despite its preparations and told Liadrin to prepare for a long journey.

Dick and Liadrin traveled to Alterac Valley, where the Stormpike Dwarves and Frostwolf Orcs were fighting over territory. As they arrived, a major battle erupted on Battleground Plain, with both sides launching cavalry charges.

• Dick left Erigor and Miss Whitemane in charge of The Sepulcher's defenses, then traveled with Liadrin toward Alterac Valley.
• Stormpike Dwarves welcomed Dick and Liadrin at Korl's Dagger and held a banquet in his honor.
• Aikman guided Dick and Liadrin on armored Gryphons into Alterac Valley, where they saw Battleground Plain.
• Fandral Staghelm prepared three thousand Dwarven troops to face the Frostwolf Orcs led by Warlord Galvan.
• Balinda Stonehearth sounded the charge, and Dwarven ram riders collided with the Orc Wolf Riders in a bloody battle.

Dick flew into Alterac Valley to stop the Stormpike Dwarves and Frostwolf Orcs from wasting their strength in battle. As Balinda gained the upper hand against Galvan and Drek'Thar prepared to intervene, Dick descended from the sky blazing with Holy Light.

• Balinda used a Storm Bolt to knock Galvan down, then pressed her advantage and nearly killed him.
• Marshal Fandral and Drek'Thar prepared to intervene, but both looked up as golden flames descended from the sky.
• Aikman told Dick that Fandral and Balinda had gone to war with the Frostwolf Orcs, so Dick sent Liadrin with Aikman and flew toward the battlefield.
• Dick ordered Anveena to remove the seal, then leapt from Swiftwing with the Fire of Justice and surrounded himself with blazing Holy Light.
• Dick vowed to stop the fighting and descended toward the battlefield like a dragon.

Dick interrupted Balinda’s attempt to kill the wounded Galvan by crashing onto the battlefield in a devastating burst of Holy Light. After surviving Vanndar Stormpike’s attack and knocking him back, Dick faced both armies and demanded to know who else would challenge him.

• As Balinda raised her axe over the helpless Galvan, Dick fell from the sky and struck the ground between them, unleashing a storm that knocked down soldiers from both armies.
• Drek'Thar and Vanndar Stormpike tried to reach the impact site but were driven back by the blast, while Dick emerged from the crater and activated Avenging Wrath.
• Vanndar Stormpike charged Dick with Mortal Strike, but Dick met his axe with his Holy Hammer and held his ground.
• Dick fought Vanndar at close range, then used Holy Shock to blast the dwarf away without killing him.
• Dick planted his warhammer, looked over the stunned warriors, and shouted, "Who else!" as the battlefield fell silent.

Dick Tang halted the fighting between the Frostwolf Clan and the Stormpike dwarves and urged them to join forces as Dalaran faced an undead siege. At Stonehearth Outpost, he explained the danger and began questioning Drek'Thar about the power of demons.

• Dick Tang confronted Drek'Thar and Vanndar Stormpike, warning that demons threatened Dalaran while undead besieged the city.
• Vanndar and Drek'Thar agreed to a temporary truce and arranged to meet at Stone Hearth Outpost after tending to their wounded.
• Dick traveled with Vanndar to the outpost and reassured him that the Silver Hand did not blame Ironforge for failing to aid Lordaeron.
• At the outpost, Dick told Drek'Thar, Vanndar, Balinda, and Galvan that nearly five hundred thousand undead and demons surrounded Dalaran and proposed joining forces to rescue its mages.
• After Balinda questioned the need to help Dalaran, Dick asked Drek'Thar whether he had witnessed the might of a great demon.

Dick warned the Frostwolf Orcs and Stormpike Dwarves that Arthas sought to summon demons, gaining the Frostwolves’ support while the Dwarves awaited proof from Quel’Thalas. Beneath besieged Dalaran, Maitil discovered that Arthas had flooded a cavity under the city, and the resulting collapse let Lake Lordamere engulf Dalaran as its Violet Barrier vanished.

• Dick told the Frostwolf Orcs and Stormpike Dwarves that Arthas was seeking a way to summon demons into the mortal world.
• Drek’Thar pledged the Frostwolf Clan’s help, while Fandral Staghelm asked for time to persuade the Stormpike council.
• A guard reported that Sunstrider messengers had arrived through a Portal, and Dick said their arrival would provide the evidence the Dwarves needed.
• Maitil investigated a growing pool in Dalaran’s sewers and discovered a vast water-filled cavity beneath the city.
• Maitil warned the Council of Six that Arthas had hollowed out the ground beneath Dalaran and flooded it from Lake Lordamere.
• Dalaran collapsed as lake water poured into the city, sweeping away nearby undead and causing the Violet Barrier to flicker out.

Arthas and Kel'Thuzad used Anub'arak's tunnels to collapse Dalaran and flood it with Lake Lordamere, letting the Scourge invade the devastated city. Antonidas stayed behind to confront Arthas, and the Archmage gained the upper hand in their opening exchange.

• Anub'arak and his nerubians completed tunnels beneath Dalaran while Arthas waited for the lake water to fill the cavity.
• Arthas struck the ground with his Runeblade, triggering a collapse that sent Lake Lordamere flooding into Dalaran.
• The flood devastated the city, trapping its mages and preventing them from escaping with teleportation spells.
• Arthas confronted Antonidas and demanded the Eye of Dalaran, while Antonidas sent Krasus to help the others flee.
• Antonidas evaded Arthas's sword strike and engulfed him in Lava Fireballs, gaining the advantage in their battle.

Dalaran sank beneath Lake Lordamere as the Scourge overwhelmed its defenders, while Antonidas fought Arthas until Tichondrius and Kel'Thuzad joined the battle. Trapped and outnumbered, Antonidas unleashed a final burst of magic as Dick hurried toward the fallen city to rescue the surviving mages.

• Landarock led a squad through the flooded ruins, hunting nerubians and searching for other surviving mages.
• Antonidas used time and fire magic to batter Arthas across Violet Square, despite Arthas's attacks destroying much of Dalaran.
• Tichondrius ambushed Antonidas, and Kel'Thuzad arrived to join him and Arthas in surrounding the archmage.
• Antonidas accepted that he was trapped, set down Dalare's Eye, took a final puff from his pipe, and unleashed flames and time magic.
• Dick saw the golden-red light rise over Dalaran and urged his forces to move faster so they could rescue the mages.

Krasus and Dalaran’s exhausted mages fought desperately against the undead, with Rhonin and Vereesa facing death as their defenses collapsed. Just as the survivors were about to be overrun, Dick’s allied forces arrived by gryphon and launched a counterattack.

• Krasus rescued fleeing mages with dragonfire while Ansirem maintained a frost stairway and Rhonin, Landarock, and Drenden organized the survivors.
• Anub'arak ambushed Krasus, pierced his wing, and forced him into a brutal fight on the ground.
• With Krasus unable to protect them, Rhonin and the mages endured repeated undead assaults until their magic ran low and Vereesa was wounded.
• Rhonin used his remaining power to signal the gryphon riders, who bombed the undead surrounding the mages.
• Dick sounded the horn, rallied the Northern Frontier champions, and ordered them to charge the undead.

Dick led the Three-Race Alliance in a costly evacuation of Dalaran’s surviving mages, rescuing more than four thousand before the force escaped the undead. The survivors learned that Antonidas had died, while Dick recognized that the Scourge’s devastation was only the beginning of a wider catastrophe.

• Dick and the allied cavalry charged through the undead to reach the surrounded mages, while Sylvanas searched for her sister Vereesa.
• Sylvanas found Vereesa wounded in Rhonin’s arms, then organized the survivors into a defensive line and ordered the evacuation preparations.
• Dick led another charge to rescue nearly a thousand mages approaching from Archmage Ansirem’s position, but the force could not reach Archmage Drenden.
• The allies drove the Crypt Lord underground and began retreating with the mages protected between the paladins and the Steam Tanks.
• The evacuation force escaped after losing five Steam Tanks and nearly a thousand people, and Archmage Ansirem reported that Antonidas had been killed.

Dick and Sylvanas witnessed Kel'Thuzad, Arthas, and Tichondrius summon Archimonde, who effortlessly destroyed Dalaran and hurled its foundation toward the outpost. With Dick's Silver Hand straining to fight and the survivors stunned by Archimonde's power, Dick wondered how the world could resist the Burning Legion.

• Dick asked Sylvanas to ride with him toward the Dalaran Plains because he felt uneasy, while she continued to lament Vereesa's devotion to Rhonin.
• In the ruins of Dalaran, Kel'Thuzad used the Eye of Dalaran and the Book of Medivh to summon Archimonde with power from Arthas and Tichondrius.
• Archimonde emerged from a rift, and Dick's Silver Hand grew violently hot as he struggled to restrain it from fighting.
• Archimonde lifted Dalaran into the sky and crushed it, then threw its inverted foundation toward Dick, Sylvanas, and the assembled leaders.
• After the foundation crashed nearby and shook the earth, Dick warned the survivors that Archimonde and the Burning Legion were the enemies they would have to face.

Fifteen days after Dalaran's destruction, Dick addressed the leaders of the Eastern Kingdoms at a conference to unite them against the dark power threatening Azeroth. Meanwhile, Tyrande prepared the Night Elves to fight the demons and considered alliances, as Dick looked toward the coming war in Kalimdor.

• The leaders of the Eastern Kingdoms gathered at Light's Hope Chapel, where Dick urged them to stop hesitating and confront the dark power threatening the world.
• In Kalimdor, Barnes Huijin reported that demons had overrun parts of Ashenvale and all of Azshara, and that their target was the World Tree.
• Tyrande ordered the Sentinels to withdraw to central Ashenvale and said she would awaken the druids and ancient demigods to help fight the demons.
• Barnes proposed cooperating with the Warsong Clan and other orcs; Tyrande agreed to send envoys to the orcs in Durotar and assess whether humans in Dustwallow Marsh could join them.
• As the Eastern Kingdoms conference descended into arguments, Dick sat beside the grieving young lady and looked east toward the next battlefield.

Dick led the First Expeditionary Force toward Mount Hyjal to fight the approaching Demon War, while Thrall received a formal invitation from a human force in Dustwallow Marsh and rode to meet them. The chapter ended with orcs and humans approaching their first conference since the Orcish Wars.

• Jaina mourned Antonidas, and Dick comforted her as the Kul Tiras fleet carried their expedition across the Great Sea.
• Dick took command of the 13,000-strong First Expeditionary Force and ordered it to advance toward Mount Hyjal.
• Thrall worked alongside the orcs building a new city in Durotar.
• A troll messenger delivered Thrall an invitation from the humans, and Thrall decided to meet the First Expeditionary Army.
• Thrall and Varok set out with orc warriors on war wolves toward the human fortress in southern Durotar.

Dick met Thrall at Northwatch Hold to negotiate peace between the humans and orcs while warning him about the demons invading Kalimdor. The talks ended with Dick agreeing to help the Warsong Clan repel the demons by noon the next day.

• Dick and Jaina met Thrall and Varok Saurfang at a secluded headland near Northwatch Hold.
• Dick asked Thrall to stop the orcs from harassing the Northern Fortress and offered help against the demons.
• Varok and Erigor exchanged threats, bringing both sides close to fighting before Dick and Thrall ordered them to stand down.
• Thrall agreed to stop wolf-rider scouting if the humans halted their expansion, and he described the demons' invasion of Ashenvale.
• Varok challenged Dick to prove his sincerity by helping the Warsong Clan hold the Barrens, and Dick agreed to act by noon the next day.

Dick explained why he was tolerating the orcs, then privately admitted that Thrall reminded him of Arthas and Kael'thas. As the demon invasion devastated the Warsong Clan, Grom nearly gave in to the Dark Whispers before Dick's Stratholme Regiment arrived to rescue the orcs.

• A Syndicate rogue reported that the orcs had withdrawn to the troll village by the sea, and Dick ordered his scouts to avoid a clash unless provoked.
• Dick told the commanders that he spared the orcs to prevent another war in the Eastern Kingdoms, protect Theramore's future, and let the orcs bear some of the cost of fighting demons.
• Jaina visited Dick as a mana image, and Dick said Thrall reminded him of Arthas and Kael'thas before she kissed him good night.
• After eleven days of fighting demons, Grom and the wounded Warsong Clan were cornered near the Barrens, and the Dark Whispers tempted Grom with restored strength and the promise of sparing his clansmen.
• Dick and the Stratholme Regiment charged the demons while mages and priests split the enemy ranks and healed the orcs.
• Varok helped Grom evacuate his wounded, called the human knights allies for now, and led the Kor'kron Guard into battle to support them.