That night, Kardel and Magina spoke of the matters of the war over a hearty meal of venison and roast ox that they had hunted earlier that day. Kardel turned out to be a chef of remarkable talent. He had prepared the venison and roast ox almost perfectly. The smells and tastes of the roast ox with black pepper and the venison meat that was carefully tendered was a new and fantastic experience for Magina.

Magina learnt from Kardel that the Sentinal was in dire need of help as the Scourge continued to grow in numbers as they continued their march to the world tree like a plague.

Kardel explained that he had received a letter of plea from the Furion, Magina's father(although Kardel didn't know it yet) for Kardel to join the ranks of the Sentinel.

"I am planning ter leave for the Sentinel camp situated at the area surrounding Mount Hyjal an I would be more than happy ter have ye come along wit me." Kardel hinted.

"I can't ..I have a task to complete," muttered Magina, making his decision.

"Aye, I respect that its yer own decision..it's just fer a good cause you know, saving the world.."

Magina smiled, this old dwarf certainly had a great spirit and he respected him as a friend.

"An just ter inform ye, the death knight that was about ter kill ye and that demon ye were bout ter kill..they are with the Scourge," Kardel knew his words had striked true.

Magina spun around, frowning. "If what you say is true, Kardel my friend, then I will come with you..I have some unfinished business to take care of..."

***

Bradwarden was shouting orders aboard his ship while steering his swaying ship. The wind was roaring and the sea was churning up waves three times the size of their ship. The entire fleet was suffering from broken masts, rudders, torn sails and injured centaurs. The rain was pouring in torrents as lightning streaked across the sky.

Thunderclaps sounded so often it was hard for the

crew to hear commands issued by their warcheif.

"WE HAVE COMPANY!" Shouted Stronghoof over the howling wind.

Two unknown ships were gaining advantage from behind the fleet.

"HOLD THIS FOR A SECOND!" Shouted Bradwarden to one of his officers, passing the wheel to him.

Taking out a telescope from his waterproof bag, Bradwarden observed the ships. Definitely the Scourge. They knew...they knew...

"MEN!! PREPARE FOR BATTLE! SIGNAL THE REST OF THE FLEET! CANNONS AT THE READY!" Bradwarden ordered.

The two tiny Scourge battleships were no match for an entire fleet of warships.

What Bradwarden didn't know was a more dangerous and deadly threat was waiting below. The creature was waiting in the calm depths of the ocean as it watched the battle unfold above. It's orders were direct and simple, watch the battle from below

and follow the ship. Destroy all the moment the ships reached Cape Danger..

The creature smiled a sinister and evil smile..it would be a massacre.

Chapter 4 - Confrontations

Furion sat alone in his room, thinking. The dim lighting of the room cast long shadows along the walls, very little light sifted through a little crack on the wall.

The old Prophet sighed. He had been fighting the forces of evil for far too long. "I need a vacation," muttered the Prophet to himself even though he knew it would never happen, it was still fun imagining it. Perhaps when this war was over and if he survived, he would retire for good..

Bending down to reach within a sack on the hard stone floor, he retrieved a blood red orb. It shimmered with a pleasant warm glow. The orb was created centuries ago within the very core of the sun. It came down to Azeroth in the form of a fiery meteor that was later found by Furion.

It was the Ultimate Orb

Furion muttered a few incantations and touched the orb with his index finger. Suddenly, like a leaf falling into a still pond, the surface of the orb rippled. The red mist within cleared and revealed what Furion had intended to see. Among the orb's mystical powers, Furion found the orb's sight the most useful. It had helped the Sentinel thwart many of the Scourge's attempts to creep up on the Sentinel undetected.

The orb revealed the vast army of the Scourge of over 10 thousand in number, marching tirelessly towards their final destination, The World Tree.

Furion knew finally this day would come, the day that would determine the fate of Azeroth, the outcome of the battle would determine the future of the world as they knew it.

The great Prophet focused once more on the orb, muttering another set of incantations, this time, the Ultimate Orb glowed a vivid blue.

"What is your status, Jakiro?" Furion spoke to the orb.

"The entire dragon flight is ready to leave at your signal, great Prophet." answered a mysterious voice that came from the orb.

"Good, begin your journey to mount Hyjal, our base camp, hurry. We will be needing all the help we can get. The Scourge are on the move.." commanded Furion, cutting the psionic connection the orb had created between him and Jakiro, leader of the elemental dragons.

A steady knock on the door made Furion start.

He carefully placed the orb back into the sack before turning his attention to the door. Getting up, the Prophet stood six feet high and looked formidable.

"Enter." He called, swiftly he moved his left hand in a horizontal line, causing the door to swing open. A tall and muscular night elf walked in steadily, surveying Furion.

"Sir, the archers and all of the men are ready and waiting for your orders," the night elf said, bowing slightly.

"Ah Sven. Good timing, I was just about to summon

you here.." Furion's voice trailed off.

"Ready yourselves, you and your battalion will march tomorrow morning at daybreak to Fort Natharion where you and your men will aid Nurmengraff and his dwarves defend against the first wave of the Scourge army. There will be reinforcements arriving later this week to assist you. Until then, you will take control of the fort as General." Furion informed Sven.

Frowning, Sven wondered if they could hold off the Scourge for that long a period of time. "How many of the undead does the first wave consist of."

"According to our Drow Ranger who is currently on spy duty, around 3000 of the undead will be swarming Fort Natharion by nightfall, 3 days from now," Furion knew it was suicide but what could he do. He could not afford to send Purist Thunderwrath as his greatest General was needed here.

Nodding, Sven left the room, noting that it might be the last time he would ever see Furion again.

***

Within seconds, the two scourge battle ships had caught up and were flanking the centaur fleet.

A harsh, loud cry echoed from one of the battle ships.

The undead cannons started firing rotting carcasses at such power that some of them broke gaping holes in the hulls of the ships in the centaur fleet. The carcasses that landed on the ships, however had contained plague and soon many of the centaurs were poisoned and ill.

"FIRE AT WILL" Screamed Bradwarden.

The order was repeated from ship to ship, passing the message to the entire fleet. The centaurs loaded and fired their cannons without stopping.

The two Scourge ships soon were destroyed. One had burst into a huge fireball while the other shattered and sunk to the bottom of the ocean.

Bradwarden looked at his sick and tired crew. They had been affected by some disease that the rotting carcasses were carrying. "Damn,"Bradwarden muttered. "Those sneaky undead ships were ready

to die because their real mission was to weaken us..and they succeeded.."

Stronghoof gasped at the reality of his chieftain's words.

"We will have to get to the Sentinel camp as soon as possible, set a course heading for the Mirage Strait, near Cape Danger. It is a short cut and could save our men's lives." Bradwarden told Stronghoof. He knew the area was exceptionally hard to steer a ship through as the bottom of the strait was shallow and filled with sharp boulders the size of houses. He had heard many tales of brave sailors entering the strait and never returning.

Slowly, the fleet steered heading to the strait.

Below them, the monster followed swiftly, swimming faster than any ship could sail.

Hours later...

The centaur fleet reached the strait. The channel was so narrow that each the ships had to enter one by one. Already, 3 centaurs had died from the

mysterious illness and time was running out for the others.

Bradwarden surveyed the rocky, barren cliffs of the channel. Not even an animal in sight. It was weird. At this time of the year, the animal's would be out mating as it was spring. Yet, the area was devoid of all life. Something was amiss.

Suddenly, an ear piercing screech came from above. Looking up, Bradwarden almost lost his footing. Not less than eighty naga warriors were jumping down from the cliffs onto the ships. It was an ambush.

Weapons clashed as the centaurs and the naga locked in combat. Cleaving two naga warriors in half with a single blow, Bradwarden heard a loud crunching sound from behind.

Wheeling around, Bradwarden saw a giant sea monster, the size of a ship jump out from the foamy sea. It twisted once in the air and landed straight onto one of the ships, breaking it in half.

The distracted Bradwarden didn't have enough time to react when he saw a huge trident come swinging at him from his blind spot. It struck him at full force

in the chest. Despite his amazing fortitude, Bradwarden flew a few feet in the air before landing on the deck, crumpling at the impact.

Chapter 5 - The Dawn of War

"NOOOO!!"Stronghoof roared as he saw his chieftain collapse onto the deck. Kicking his current opponent on the face, he swiftly used the blunt edge of his axe to shove the stunned naga warrior off the ship onto the jagged rocks below.

Rushing at the naga that had struck Bradwarden, he raised his battleaxe high in the air and brought it down onto the back of the naga that was busy barking orders at the other naga. This was surely their leader. The gargantuan naga warrior was twice Stronghoof's size and as huge as Bradwarden. Dozens of battle scars could be seen on his hide, proving that this naga had lived through many battles before.

CRACK

The edge of Stronghoof's axe had chipped off. The naga merely grunted and turned around to face his

adversary. Stronghoof was dwarfed by the giant. Swinging its mighty trident of huge proportions, it started an offensive on Stronghoof.

Swinging hard left and right to block the naga's blows, Stronghoof began to tire. This can't be...I won't die like this...not by a foul beast like this...

Without any warning whatsoever, the naga warrior stabbed at Stronghoof's unguarded midsection. It punctured his stomach and his vital fluids started spilling out from the gaping hole.

"AARGH!!!! " he staggered, the world swaying, threatening to black out any second. Death was imminent, it was a question of 'when', not 'if'. Summoning up his remaining energy, he picked up his battle axe.

The naga grinned at him. This young centaur would not be a total waste of time after all. Slardar really loved a worthy opponent. Those weak night elves that he fought so frequently were so boring.

Roaring, Stronghoof charged. "TODAY, YOU DIE LIZARD!!! LONG LIVE BRADWARDEN! LONG LIVE CENTAURS!!!" Gaining speed, he galloped at the

naga with his axe raised. He would die with pride knowing he tried his best and died protecting his brothers.

Swinging his axe, he aimed at the neck of the naga, hoping to decapitate it. Sneering, it blocked the blow with its trident. That second, it realised it had underestimated the centaur. The trident snapped and Stronghoof bashed his face.

Stronghoof continued swinging and hacking at the naga. Black blood was pouring out of the wounds Stronghoof had inflicted on it.

Suddenly, Stronghoof felt a strong arm grab hold of him. Closing his eyes, he knew it would be over soon, he smiled knowing he had done what he could. Slardar mantained his vice-like grip on the oddly calm centaur. With the might of a god, he swung Stronghoof at a jagged cliff. The resounding crack brought a smile of satisfaction to Slardar's face.

Bradwarden saw the entire battle unfold in front of him but he couldn't do anything to help his brother but was totally immobilized by the shock of the bash.

A tear trickled down his cheek. "You will not die in vain, Stronghoof."When Bradwarden rose, a red fog clouded his vision. The pain of losing his comrade was too much to bear. There was only vengeance.

Slowly, he walked to the naga, holding his axe firmly.

Turning, Slardar wiped spittle from the corner of his maw and picked up what was left of his trident.

They stood immobile for a few seconds, squaring each other up, each daring the other to make the first move.

Slardar made a sudden strike, jabbing hard at Bradwarden, hoping to impale him. Bradwarden kicked the trident aside and pounced on the surprised naga. Swinging hard, he hacked at the deck around the naga.

"Foolish centaur, your strength is impressive but your skill at your weapon is laughable." the naga growled.

"It is you who is the fool," smiled Bradwarden.

Pouring all his energy into a singe blow, Bradwarden used his ultimate technique that never left opponents alive when he was done. With the force of a meteor, his axe came down. The axe cut right through the startled naga, from the shoulder to its tail. The force of the blow was so strong it splintered the deck below and caused tremors to rock the ship.

The part of the deck that Bradwarden had hacked away earlier shattered. The body of the naga dropped onto its comrades below that were in the midst of battle.

Bradwarden jumped down into the hole and crushed the body of the naga leader. The force of his fall blasted a few naga warriors away, stunning them. Bradwarden charged at the remaining naga, swinging at them and cleaving many of them instantly.

After he was done with them, Bradwarden leaped back up onto the deck. Glancing around, his eyes finally found his target. The giant sea monster was destroying the remainder of the fleet.

Bradwarden smiled. He had a sea monster to slay.

Bradwarden charged.

***

Northrend

Abbadon stood with his closest friend and fellow general, Kel Thuzad the lich. Both of them stood atop a mound of earth watching their army of 3000 march slowly to their destination. There were ghouls, abominations, meat wagons and skeleton warriors. It would be a glorious battle.

They had a fort to destroy and it would fall to the might of Northrend. After this, no one would dare oppose the Scourge, no one.

***

Magina trudged through the snow with Kardel as they slowly made their way to Mount Hyjal.

So far, their trip had been pretty uneventful apart from the occational group of kobolds that they came across. Kobolds. Small barbaric creatures that often hunted in small packs, they were no better than the undead. Though, they were easy prey to Kardel's

rifle and Magina's moonblades.

"How much further?" Magina panted..his breath fogging.

"We are close, aye, I saw one of em Sentinel outposts a mile away." Kardel's teeth chattered from the cold.

"Well, do you think they will greet us warmly?" asked Magina, his brow furrowed.

"Perhaps, perhaps not, I heard that the Sentinel's defences are very tight and the blasted canons will fire at any bloody thin they see so its best we proceed with caution," grumbled Kardel.

"Well then, lets go and face whatever they have to throw at us," Magina smiled.

"Indeed."

Chapter 6 - Strategy

They said that the few hours before the real battle begins is the hardest obstacle for even the mightiest

of warriors.

They were right.

Sven, the sentinel champion that had been sent to aid in the defense of Natharion was asleep.

He was having a nightmare. This nightmare had occured repeatedly ever since he and his battalion reached the fort...

Men were falling from the eastern and western flank, the line of defense that they had put up was finally crumbling as they continuously fought off the onslaught of the scourge.

Dead in the middle of the mass of raging ghouls was a warrior.

A warrior like no other, with silver shoulder length hair and an ice cold stare, he seemed oblivios to the battle that was taking place around him.

His wandering eyes found what he was looking for, a red skinned swordsman who was cleaving opponents apart like butter.

With a deadly calmness, he rode his horse up to the warrior and unsheathed his sword. A sword like no other, it glinted maliciously and had a frosty blue glow that emmnated from the sword itself. The red orc did not even know his end was near.

"No!"

Sven awoke with a start.

Beads of sweat were trickling down his face and his neck. "It's just a dream, it is just a nightmare," he assured himself quietly.

Suddenly, there was a sharp rap on the door.

The rouge knight donned his battle armor called out "Enter."

At the sight of the soldier standing in front of him, Sven slumped back onto his bed.

The red skinned swordsman looked a Sven " Sir, are you alright? I am Yurnero, colonel of the fort."

Regaining his composure, Sven stared at the swordsman and replied "Colonel Yurnero, you now

must report to me and me only. The scourge will be on us by today, we have to work out a proper strategy to defend this fort for as long as we can."

"Yes sir, follow me to the planning room. We have set up the scenario."

"I'll be there in a second..give me ten minutes."

Sitting back down on the bed, he pulled out a huge and heavy halberd. It was well polished and had deadly spikes running up along the edges. He admired it and recalled the battles he had been in.

Standing up, he strode out of his quarters and headed to the planning room down the hallway.

***

A rock the size of an ox came rolling through the air at Magina.

Hurling himself sideways, he dodged the huge projectile that slammed into the ground, leveling a few trees.

"The sentinels really pack some big firepower aye,"

Kardel yelled, firing repeatedly at another rock that was heading at Magina.

At the seventh shot, the rock shattered, showering Magina with gravel.

"Are ye allryte?" Kardel laughed.

"I'm okay..you couldn't have destroyed it earlier?" he was a bit shaken.

Kardel smiled.

A whistling sound alerted them of another rock heading their way. While Kardel jumped out of the way and rolled on the dirt, Magina jumped on the rock.

More rocks were flung at him. Using his sharp reflexes and energy sight, he could anticipate the rock before it even came. Slowly, hopping on the rocks, he advanced to the outpost. There was a small barracks and it was guarded by a big tower-like tree that was hurling the rocks with great speed and force.

Jumping from boulder to boulder, he jumped at the

tree and started hacking at one of its woody arms. It was the only way to disable it.

The creature stopped throwing the boulders and started swiping around, attempting to get a hold on Magina and hurl him to his doom.

Swiftly slashing and hacking, Magina did not notice the arrow that was flying swiftly at his head.

BANG

The arrow snapped in half and fell harmlessly aside. Magina turned back for a second.

Kardel smiled from below and yelled "I got your back."

Finally, he cut through. The tree groaned in pain as its branchlike arm fell off. Magina knew it would not do any permenant damage to the tree as being a plant, it could regenerate.

Jumping down, Magina was surprised when he faced not less than twenty arrows pointed at his face.

Kardel had been caught too and was struggling "Get

yer filthy hands off me."

"Who are you and what to you want," came a sweet yet firm voice from Magina's right.

He glanced to his right and was stunned to see an elegant and beautiful night elf priestess. Moonlight seemed to radiate from her face as she stared at him.

"You do not seem like the undead, in fact, you remind me a lot of those demon hunters. And your friend over there, he's a hill dwarf, a talented one at that," She nodded at Kardel's rifle.

"I am Magina and my friend here is Kardel. We come to join the sentinel. "

The priestess smiled, she liked the look of him.

"Oh and your tree is hurt," Magina pointed at the giant tree.

"It's okay..It will grow back," the priestess said.

"I knew that."