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| Details |
| Author: | Alli |
| Summary: | A 7th Legion team of the 2nd, 5th, 9th, 11th, and 13th EUs works together with a Cobalt team including Alliza, Alysson, Colson, Cressidha, Estel, Mordecai, Dane, Jocoza, Thalstan, Tadget and Velrin in the final assault to put an end to Nefarian's cruelty. Along the way, they make an unexpected friend. ~6200 words. |
| Rating: | M for Mature 17+ |
The 7th Legion and Cobalt forces have regrouped, and everyone has been resurrected and healed as needed after the grueling fight against the three-headed dragon. Pip Quickwit is (happily? sadly?) nowhere to be seen - he’s been sent on a un-hijackable gryphon straight back to Stormwind for debriefing. There is only one door left in the Vault, the one to the right of the entrance. Nefarian may wait inside.
Velrin takes in deep breaths to steady herself. She holds her new weapon close at hand and focuses on the task ahead of her.
Cressidha seems quietly relieved to no longer be covered in bile and has not lost her momentum for violence.
Mordecai, on the other hand, is hanging back near the rear of the group. That last fight went very badly for him, and his hands are shaking. He looks at the door like he's not quite sure whether or not he wants to go through it.
Siege Engineer Kerlo Quarterflash, nearby, happens to notice Mordecai's shaking hands and approaches him.
"Don't lose heart," Q says in a half-whisper, smiling warmly. "We've been through the worst of it, and you made it. We're close to victory now."
"Congratulations on your engagement," Mordecai says to Kerlo, and blushes faintly. He has apparently had that phrase lined up for some time and it was not the phrase he meant to actually say. "Um, I mean, thank you. I'll try not to."
Kerlo laughs, but in delight, not mockery. He gives Mordecai a soldierly pat on the… mid back. It's as high as he can reach, even as tall a gnome as he is.
Jo stands near Kerlo's unit, seeming a little nervous after seeing him in so much peril in the past few rounds of combat.
Atley, who has been here the whole time, would've totally shoulder clasped Mordecai but Kerlo beat him to it.
Thalstan is a unbiled as he can be, but there may be some bits stuck in his hair for weeks. He seems a little annoyed by that, but ready to move on to the next fight.
"There is only one door remaining," comes the gravelly voice of High Commander Halford Wyrmbane of the 7th Legion. "To the right of the entrance there. Nefarian may wait inside."
It's good that he's been reading along.
Captain Fairdale moves towards the door without any particular expectations. Nefarian could be anywhere, really.
As the team moves cautiously into the room… looks like Nefarian is not here after all! Inside is what must clearly be a laboratory, the dark decor of the Vault surrounding beakers and chambers of reddish liquid. A large dragonkin creature stands protectively in front of a massive cauldron.
The dragonkin looks up at the attacking force filing in and cries out in a high-pitched voice tinged with fear and anxiety, “There can be no disruptions! Mustn’t keep the master waiting! Mustn’t fail again!”
“Indeed not,” answers Nefarian’s irritated voice from… somewhere. Where is he? “Maloriak, try not to lose to these mortals! Semi-competent help is SO hard to create.”
"Maloriak!" Tadget cries, for some reason.
Estel says to Alysson, "Whatever he's making in that giant cauldron, probably don't drink any of it, yeah?"
"I don't think I need to tell you what to do here," High Commander Wyrmbane growls a bit wryly as the team approaches the cauldron. He points his massive sword toward the dragonkin, in case they do need some guidance.
Thalstan looks up in surprise and, oddly, with some sympathy, "That's him? The Malory fellow?"
"So it seems, so it seems," says Tadget. "Welp. You heard the big guy." She unsheathes her daggers.
Maloriak quickly turns to his cauldron and grabs a vial filled with red liquid. He tosses it into the cauldron, red smoke curling up as he cries, “Mix and stir! Apply heat!”
Flames writhe around his head and hands, and he turns back to the soldiers. He focuses on Cressidha, and she is suddenly wreathed in flame.
"HEY!" Tadget shouts, clearly offended by his choice of targets. No sympathy is left in her whatsoever, and as she has no way to help Cressidha, she settles for charging at the dragonkin and preparing for some stabbing.
Cressidha pulls her mage ward up over top of her ice barrier, and looks at the flames eating through them. Awkward. She tries to put them out with a cone of cold.
One of the 7th Legion healers sends a ray of Light to Cressidha, to help with the flames.
Maloriak then turns to Tadget and a cone of flame erupts from his body, engulfing her and anyone nearby if they don't flee quickly enough.
Thalstan tries to dodge back and out of the way, and the flame glances off his shield.
Tadget is a fast little mover, but she still gets her rear end pretty crispy-fried. "HEALS!" she yells out.
Estel bubbles Tadget and buffets her with a beam of healing light on demand.
"NICE!" Tadget yells, and then poof, she is nowhere to be seen.
"Fellow seems quite eager to kill us all," Thal mutters, looking at where Tadget was. He calls back to Wyrmbane, "We heard of this fellow when we were investigatin'. Word is, he used to be a human alchemist, till Nefarian kidnapped him."
"You sure the fellow wasn't secretly a dragon?" Alysson asks, attempting to attack the creature. "'Cause he looks a bit dragon-y now."
Maloriak looks frustrated, and he raises his hands into the air, arcane power sparking painfully between him and every attacker.
"They… said…" Thalstan grunts, his armor doing little to protect him from the magical sparking. "Nefarian… improved… him."
"Ow ow ow ow!" cries Tadget, appearing as sparks target her. This battle is not going great for her so far.
Cressidha snaps her fingers in a Z-formation to counterspell whatever Maloriak's doing.
Maloriak seems confused, disoriented, and he peers at the mage like he's seeing her for the first time. He isn't, he just set her on fire like thirty seconds ago. He might just be surprised she's not on fire anymore.
“Enough fire!” Maloriak cries, tossing a blue vial into the cauldron, from which chill air now emanates. “How well does the mortal shell handle extreme temperature change? Must find out! For Science!”
"How about 'for science,' you stop doing science on us?" Alliza protests, turning up her heat and launching fireballs at him.
"No, can't stop. Master is watching," he says sharply. Maloriak now has an icy cold coating his hands and body, and he quickly turns to the nearby Alysson and encircles him with frost. The pain of the cold spreads, reaching out to hit anyone nearby.
Estel reacts quickly, surrounding Alysson in a Shield. "If he's watching, he ain't doing it from here."
"Your master's a [redacted]!" Tadget yells, trying to find a spot safe from the frost magic.
"Yes, he…! Uh… he… Master is great," Maloriak stammers, looking up like maybe a dragon will be swooping down. No dragon is swooping down. Maloriak turns now to Jocoza and freezes her in an ice block. The ice chains to two 7th Legion soldiers and anyone else nearby. Jo is frozen mid summoning a pyroblast, her hands out in front of her.
"Break them out!" Wyrmbane barks.
Thalstan shoves at Maloriak with his shield and then charges for the ice blocks, hacking carefully with his axe with an eye to not hitting the people inside.
Alliza stops for a small moment to consider whether or not launching fire at frozen allies is a good idea, but… then she shrugs and does it anyway. Good luck, unfortunate ice cube people.
Captain Fairdale places a [Hand of Freedom] on Jocoza.
Thalstan ducks out of the way as a fireball whizzes past his head. He reaches up to see if his hair is singed. Fire, bile, his hair is having a hard day.
Jocoza makes a squeak of surprise, and nods to Captain Fairdale. "I'm used to being able to turn that off."
The axe and fire free the other two soldiers successfully.
“But wait, I have my own minions,” Maloriak says, a touch of desperation in his voice. He hits a lever, and nine lumbering forms are freed from chambers against the wall. “What they lack in intelligence they make up for in ferocity! My failings will be your downfall!” The misshapen creatures swarm towards the attackers.
"What the…" Thalstan says, turning from where the ice blocks were to face the new enemies.
"The hell are those things?" says Tadget. She attempts to stab one.
It is very stabbable. I mean, it fights back. But it is not immune to stabbing.
"Hey, they're wearin' pants!" Alysson exclaims, moving to engage the new enemies.
"Have you considered running away?" Estel suggests, focusing on Alysson within the midst of the pack of strange creatures. Shadow emanates outward from him, sapping the strength of the constructs.
Aberrations move to engage Tadget and Alysson, swinging heavy arms at them both. The cluster near Alysson begins to falter as the shadow starts to take hold.
Tadget dodges and weaves; it's like trying to stab air. Not that you can't do that in Azeroth. Tadget has definitely done that. Meanwhile her daggers keep coming down in quick one-two succession, poking the aberrations full of holes as best she's able.
"Me? Run? Run where…?" Maloriak says, watching his minions fight with a distracted air. Then he seems to make a decision, and he runs back to the cauldron. Maloriak tosses a green vial in and cries, “This one's a little unstable! But what's progress without failure?”
The cauldron explodes, sending green slime flying around the room, coating everything, aberrations and soldiers alike. So much for cleaning off the bile. It seems to soak into one’s armor leaving a peculiar light and vulnerable feeling. On the plus side, it looks like it’s doing the same thing to the aberrations. They are now considerably more stabbable, but so is everyone else.
Thalstan sighs deeply as his beard is coated with slime. He moves in to assist Tadget and Alysson with the aberrations, cutting one down easily (likely due to the slime) as he moves into place between them.
Jocoza looks down at her dress in surprise, and then she shrugs and continues flinging fire at the constructs, careful to dodge dwarves and gnomes and humans.
Cressidha watches slime drip off her ice barrier as she calls down a blizzard on the constructs.
"I dunno, home?" Estel tries. "Where're you from!"
"Why is this place so gross?" Alliza complains. "Please do go home so I can charge you for my laundry bills."
Jo looks over to Alliza and smiles encouragingly. Or it might have been encouraging if her face wasn't covered by slime. "It's just the cost of adventuring. Don't ask me how many dresses I've ruined."
Maloriak stares at Estel, limping back to the cauldron. "I am from… don't remember. There is… only this." He sets one scaly hand on the cauldron, and then seems to find his rails again. He recites, as if reading from a manual, "When pushed to the edge, results may become unpredictable!”
This time, he doesn’t use a vial at all, but gestures and causes fire to erupt in a line across the floor, bisecting the room. Anyone who doesn’t leap out of the way risks being ignited, and where the fire passes it leaves a burning path. It will now require some dexterity to go from one side of the room to the other.
Quarterflash ends up on the opposite side of the fire from Jo, a situation that clearly distresses him.
Jo looks across at Kerlo and clearly considers blinking to him. Then she shakes her head. It's too risky.
Maloriak looks around frantically, trying to see what else he might do. He hits a lever, and all the chambers at the sides of the room open. “Too early, but no choice… They must be tested! Face now my prime subjects! Meet the brawn to my brains! Prime subjects, devour them!”
Nine more aberrations and what looks like two awkwardly-built drakonids lumber into the room, split almost evenly on each side. Maloriak doesn’t wait to see what will happen with the minions and quickly summons a pulsing sphere of ice near Kerlo.
Thalstan, on Jo's side of the fire, nods at Kerlo and takes up a position to protect the gnome's lady. He slashes through aberration after aberration.
"Get away from that thing!" Wyrmbane yells, pointing his sword toward the pulsing ice sphere. "It looks unstable!"
Mordecai Shields Kerlo, giving him a sudden boost of speed.
Kerlo gets as far away as he can, as fast as he can, without outright abandoning his unit. "Thank yooooou!" Kerlo calls out as he zooms by.
The orb floats almost lazily around one side of the room, a slow but deadly menace.
Avrayia's spirit bear grabs an aberration in its teeth and flings it into the flames dividing the room in half. The aberration burns.
Estel calls, "Just surrender, yeah? You're a prisoner, we're here to kill your master, have some priorities."
Maloriak huddles by his cauldron throughout all the chaos he has unleashed.
Tadget's blades are a blur as she stabs aberrations. Staberrations.
Aberrations are sliced. They are also diced.
"No one… can beat… the master…" Maloriak says, and then grabs the cauldron with both hands as green, poisonous energy pulses out of him, seeming almost without his volition. Still, it hits everyone in the room, each second, on top of everything else that's happening. "Unstable…" Maloriak croaks.
"Look, we're all a little unstable!" Tadget says. "That's no excuse to do evil crap!"
"I was… a genius…" Maloriak cries, and his eyes glisten with something like tears. The waves of poison cease.
Prayers of Mending chime between the injured. Mordecai calls up group healing spells. He's not a fan of poison.
"Call off the giant iceball, buddy," Estel requests, pointing at the ice sphere rolling after Kerlo.
"This doesn't have to end in your death!" Kerlo pants. "There could still be a place for you somewhere! Somewhere not here!"
High Commander Wyrmbane looks like he really thinks this needs to end in the guy's death. But he doesn't command it.
Not yet, at least.
He seems to be watching for something.
Maloriak covers his drakonid face with his hands and sits by his cauldron. The ice sphere dissipates, but the aberrations are not actually controlled by, well, anything. They're still attacking.
"There is no place anymore. I know I am a failure," Maloriak says. "Everything I do twists, goes wrong. It is hard to think."
Tadget continues staberrating.
Thalstan does his best to keep all the constructs at bay so the people can do their surrender work.
Cressidha continues picking off the aberrations.
High Commander Wyrmbane reacts to the change in the drakonid's posture and the dissipation of the ice sphere, striding toward the miserable creature with an air of command that is stern, but not cruel.
"If you will stand down and let us defeat your master, and you interfere no further, I will ensure that you are questioned without cruelty and given a safe place to recover from your ordeal. After that - well that depends on you."
Estel approaches Maloriak carefully. "Look, it can only get better from here, yeah?"
"Sure as [redacted] couldn't get worse!" Tadget yells between stabs.
Maloriak looks up at Wyrmbane and Estel in confusion. "Why are you trying to help me? I set your people on fire."
"There is always redemption for those who seek it," says Wyrmbane. It would have sounded better in someone else's gentler voice, but the sentiment remains.
Estel shrugs. "And now you're done setting us on fire, yeah?"
Maloriak straightens a little, a light of something like hope in his eyes. "Maybe life could be better? I will agree. No more fire."
Estel smiles at him. "Great. My name's Estel. I'll come check on you later. For now, we gotta go kill your master."
From somewhere nearby, Nefarian scoffs. "Congratulations! Allow me to grant you a title befitting the amazing achievement you just performed! Henceforth, you shall be known as the Redeemers of Stupid, Incompetent and Disappointing Minions!" It sounds like Nefarian is shouting from the central area of the vault.
"Holy shit, a dragon gave me a title," Estel says, deadpan.
Jo giggles. She can't help it.
Atley regards Maloriak with a glare of disgust and disdain, idly glancing back and forth between him and Wyrmbane, but he doesn't speak up. Instead, he raises his gaze, dirtied sword and shield, and looks towards the central area of the vault.
Commander Wyrmbane ignores Nefarian's trash talk and makes a great show to Maloriak of sheathing his enormous sword, which is pretty ceremonial, as he was not the one doing most of the actual killing today. "13th EU, I need all of you to stay behind and guard the prisoner until this is over."
Maloriak watches him with something like awe. A person in charge, with a big weapon, who doesn’t want to hurt him. How novel.
"But sir —" protests Lt. L'Evel, for there is no glory in prisoner-guarding. He wilts the second Wyrmbane turns his gaze on him, though, and then salutes crisply. "Yes sir!"
Maloriak keeps one scaly hand on his cauldron, like maybe it's a kind of security blanket, and he looks hopefully at the 7th Legion soldiers. "I hope you win. If you don't it will be… really bad. For me. And you."
Lt. L'Evel immediately appoints himself chief drakonid babysitter. If he's not going to gloriously defeat Nefarian, he's going to do his BEST at prisoner guarding.
"Call me Max," he says to Maloriak, settling in.
"Hi Max," the drakonid creature says with a toothy smile. "You can call me Malory?"
"All right Malory," says Lt. Max. L'Evel of the 7th Legion. "Just sit tight. Everything's going to be fine."
"Move out!" Wyrmbane barks at everyone but the 13th. "That bastard has nowhere left to hide!" Out comes the giant sword again, pointing their way forward.
Atley up-nods and marches in the directed way forward. Thunderfury crackles, sending stray flickers of electricity down the edges of its blade like striking vipers, perhaps feeding on or mirroring the emotional state and readiness of its wielder.
As the soldiers move back into the central section of the Vault, they can see Nefarian standing on a balcony in human form with a shimmering shield surrounding him, across the central pool of lava. He is inaccessible. What the army can access, though, is an orb fluctuating with greenish fel light.A large humanoid handprint is embedded on the surface of the orb. A soft green glow seems to pulse within.
Velrin advances along with the main force and stands at the ready.
Cressidha looks wary.
"I volunteer!" Alysson says excitedly, seeing the handprint on the orb. That means they touch it, right?
Atley scowls and tentatively stomps over to the ledge, keeping his distance from the orb, to peer down at the lava. He snaps his gaze towards Alysson, pointing his sword. "Hold fast. Not yet."
Alysson sulks a little, but stays put.
“What’s wrong, ‘heroes’?” Nefarian asks smugly. “Not willing to take that final step to face me?”
"I am…" Alysson mutters.
Atley gnashes his teeth and shifts his gaze back towards Nefarian, thoughts of Stormwind burning passing through his eyes. "Good of you to greet us in your human form! It'll be easier to mount your head on a pike once we're through."
Wyrmbane glares across the lava and nods to Alysson to proceed. "Whatever game he's playing, we'll play along long enough to get him in sword range. Be on your guard."
Alysson brightens. Permission! He moves to touch the orb.
Nefarian gives forth a deep, bellowing laugh, far too deep to come from that small human form. The lava drains from the chamber below, revealing a decorative floor where the body of a dragon lies, chained to three pillars. The dragon does not look black-scaled, exactly, but instead has a dark purple tint. Darker than the Twilight Dragons.
Mordecai traces a [Fear Ward] over his heart and looks at his allies with alarm.
Atley lifts a bushy brow, lips parting, teeth clenching in recognition. "It's her."
"That's the dragon that was in the Keep," Alliza observes. "Disguised as Lady Prestor."
Lord Victor Nefarius laughs again. “The heroes have made it to the glorious finale. I take it you are in good spirits? Prepared for the final battle? Then gaze now upon my ultimate creation! RISE, SISTER!”
The purple dragon twitches once, and then again, and then rises back into life, the chains falling away. There’s little intelligence in her once cunning eyes, but this is Onyxia, sister to Nefarian.
“Behold the Broodmother, Onyxia, REBORN! Perhaps my finest work,” Nefarian says with obvious delight. He seems not to register at all the desecration of his sister’s body by this experiment. Perhaps he does not see it as a desecration, since something similar was done to him.
Atley lightly shakes his head with disgust, glare hardening. His knees lightly bend as he looks to Wyrmbane for command.
"Listen, buddy, I get bein' attached to your sister an' all, but I think this is a bit much," Alysson says.
Velrin bares her fangs and holds her blade up at the ready.
“My dearest sibling, do you hunger? THEN FEAST UPON OUR ENEMIES!” Nefarian cries, transforming on those last words into a massive black dragon. He takes to the air, rising out of reach into the rafters of the lair, and several soldiers gasp as they look up and see him winging by the hanging bodies of dragons of each of the flights.
Clumsy with her newness to unlife, Onyxia rises into the air. She does not rise far, and merely circles the chamber below.
Wyrmbane glares at the two dragons, one out of reach above, one out of reach below. Put Onyxia back to rest, and then we’ll see to her brother. Priests, mages, assist in the descent."
Atley audibly cracks his head left and right, and gives Thunderfury a single spin in preparation.
"That's all well and good," Alliza says, starting to spread slowfall around as ordered, "but how are we getting back out?"
Cressidha tosses a bundle of feathers up into the air.
Atley jumps off of the ledge, aiming approximately for Onyxia's head.
Jo starts casting slow fall on soldiers as they move towards the edge of the pit.
Wyrmbane casts a dark gaze up at Nefarian. "When our work is done, we won't be trapped. The mages have portals."
Velrin leaps down without hesitation. She can handle heights.
Onyxia opens her maw and breathes out, but what emerges is not fire, not exactly. It is tinged with the same dark purple as her flesh, some kind of shadowflame. Still, it burns like fire, directly for Atley if he doesn't dodge out of the way.
Thalstan drifts down, a sturdy dwarf unaccustomed to being quite so floaty.
Jo drifts down as well, looking to position herself at Onyxia's side. This is not her first dragon fight.
Atley grits his teeth and tries to fall shield-first, throwing his weight to the side to do his best to dodge the strange fire.
Estel bubbles Dane mid-air.
"Can't the big one just… stay up there and, I don't know, breathe on us?" Alliza asks. "Oh, fine, FINE, whatever, I'll jump into the dragon pit. Ugh." She follows the others. "Just don't say I didn't tell you so if he makes the lava come back."
When Thalstan touches down, he moves over towards the dragons jaws, moving in just as the gout of shadowflame ends to distract the creature until Atley can take her attention back.
Atley sways back to try and get in close range to swing Thunderfury down at Onyxia's left horn with a roar of exertion.
Onyxia snaps at Atley and then jerks her head back, evading the blow. Then, suddenly, her body seems to spark, as if with electricity. Lightning branches out from her sides, lancing through those in melee who thought the side of a dragon was the proper place to stand.
Jo blinks back and away sizzling a little.
Atley lands, only to get zapped. He raises his shield and sword, slowly stepping back.
Velrin wreaths herself in shadow for a few seconds and the lighting arcs around her.
Mordecai parks himself close to one of the structures that Onyxia was previously shackled to for some reason, where he can dodge behind it if need be.
Nefarian flies by overhead and drops six bundles of what appear to be shadowy bones, scattered among the room. He cries, “See how the shadowflame animates their bones! They fight at my command!”
The bones knit themselves back together with that same dark purple power and rise, moving to attack.
Wyrmbane looks at the constructs, and then at the dragon. "Warriors, keep those distracted. The rest of us, focus on the dragon."
Thalstan looks at Atley. "You take the dragon, aye? I'll get the bones."
Estel attempts to shackle an animated skeleton.
"Right!" Atley charges in to slash at Onyxia with another bellow of exertion, being in no way subtle with his aggression and threat.
The shadowy construct stills in place, gleaming shackles holding it. The other five move toward Thalstan.
Velrin has chosen her quarry and she keeps her attention fixed on Onyxia. She darts in and out of combat delivering brutal slashes.
The dragon snaps at Atley and lets loose another gout of shadowflame.
Atley forms a one-man shield wall and tucks his head underneath it, letting the L of the crest of Lordaeron take the brunt of this strange shadowflame.
Captain Fairdale calls out to the 7th Legion, "Priests, chain the undead!"
Three more skeletons are shackled by various units' priests.
Just as her fiery breath stops, Nefarian swoops in to land next to his sister, releasing his own arc of shadowflame breath as he does so. His own body may not be enshrouded in purple shadow, but this close it is clear that he is, in fact, a reanimated black dragon, not the originally living one. Nefarian lashes his tail, hitting anyone unlucky enough to be nearby.
At his proximity, Onyxia seems to vivify further, her slashes at Atley redouble in speed and strength.
"The dragons!" Wyrmbane snaps, pointing his sword at Nefarian. "Draw Nefarian away from his sister."
Thalstan jogs back to the dragons, most of the constructs having been trapped by shackles of Light. "Sir Atley, which dragon will ye keep?"
In the meantime, the constructs begin to collapse to the ground, one by one, as if the power that is animating them is running out.
"I've got her!" Atley snarls, getting rocked with each slash, barely managing to muster his strength to raise his shield in time for the next one. He rapidly backs up, trying to lure Onyxia away, with himself as bait. "That's it — that's it —!"
"I'll keep the loudmouth," Thal nods, slashing with his axe at Nefarian and slowly drawing him away, to the other side of the arena.
"Plan hasn't changed," Wyrmbane shouts. "Bring down Onyxia!"
A coil of shadowflame from Nefarian engulfs Jo, and she loses control of herself. A dark portal appears at the edge of the room, and she begins walking towards it slowly. There’s a sense in her mind that she could break free, but also a whisper that promises power. More and more power, the longer she submits. Jo continues to walk towards the portal.
Nefarian laughs. “Mortal minds… So easily manipulated.”
"Captain!" Velrin gives Onyxia one last good slash before she sprints toward Jo.
"Captain Sparkwire!" Captain Fairdale attempts yet another [Hand of Freedom].
Jo stares straight ahead, still moving towards that black rectangular portal.
Velrin uses her free arm to try and scoop up Jo and keep her from getting closer to the portal.
Jo blinks, shaking her head, as Velrin touches her. "What was I doing?"
"Nefarian was manipulating you. We need to stay focused!" Velrin says firmly. Then she slips away as quickly as she came. She appears suddenly behind Onyxia once more and continues fighting.
Atley can only keep an eye on Jocoza in his periphery in between blocking and dodging Onyxia's strikes, frequently retaliating with some of his own.
"Right, yes, the dragon," Jo nods. There's a shimmer of shadowflame over Jo's form as she turns back to the dragons, and her next fireballs burn noticeably hotter than before.
The undead Onyxia is beginning to look rough from the attack, but she does not seem to register the damage or the pain. She sparks again, and there’s a moment of time where people can get out of the way before the electricity arcs out at her sides. The electricity is much stronger this time, leaving one 7th Legion soldier who didn’t move quickly enough unresponsive on the ground.
Atley sees a moment, and leaps forward, driving Thunderfury up and through the bottom of Onyixia's jaw, punching through the roof of her mouth, pinning it shut. The dual-tips of the blade split her middle, forward-facing horn in half. "Strike now!" he booms.
Velrin closes in without hesitation. She darts from one spot to the next in the blink of an eye, each time laying on a vicious cut before moving on.
Jo shoots an empowered fireball directly into Onyxia at the command.
The 7th Legion and Cobalt forces strike at her on command, and the combined assault proves to be too much. The reanimated body of Onyxia, once Lady Katrana Prestor, falls once again to lie inert on the floor of the chamber.
Nefarian snarls with rage. “Curse you, mortals! Such a callous disregard for one's possessions must be met with extreme force!”
He is probably talking about his sister. Wow, what a jerk.
Nefarian rises again into the air, and lava begins to flow back into the chamber, moving smoothly over the floor. The only high ground is on the three pillars that once held Onyxia’s chains. Nefarian swoops over and drops a chromatic dragonkin each pillar, which each promptly start casting something that can’t possibly be good.
Atley rips Thunderfury out of Onyxia's skull, and turns just in time to see a chromatic dragonkin starting to cast. He raises his shield and 'bashes' whatever the incoming spell might be, sending it right back. "Get to high ground!"
Jo and Thalstan quickly each rush to one of the pillars, clumsily struggling to climb up.
Mordecai climbs onto the pillar he was right next to this whole time and slaps the dragonkin in the face. "Stop!" The Light resonates through the Holy Word, interrupting the dragonkin's spell.
Wyrmbane gets on top of one of the pillars and shouts in agreement, "Get everyone to higher ground. Kill these dragonkin. We need to draw Nefarian down to us again."
"You got I told you so rights!" Estel shouts to Alliza as she begins levitating people.
Many of the gnomes look relieved to be levitated above the lava.
Atley forces himself up a pillar and moves to drive Thunderfury through the torso of the slapped dragonkin, throwing his weight behind it.
The dragonkin crumples and slides off into the lava.
"Mages, hunters," Wyrmbane calls. "Those who can reach, keep your focus on the dragon. The rest of you, finish these creatures off."
Atley hastily sheathes Thunderfury on his back to reach down and help anyone lower climb up, offering them a hand.
Jo takes note of the instructions, and turns to unleash a fireball on Nefarian. He is indeed not so high as to be out of range.
Thalstan slashes through the dragonkin on his pillar, which falls to the lava.
Nefarian targets Atley and a shadowflame spark settles over his form, starting to glow hotter and hotter. “I hope you can swim… in molten lava!”
Wyrmbane looks at Atley, and notes the growing glow. "Sir Atley, get away from the others. Priests, Paladins, shield."
Estel doesn't need to be told twice. She infuses Dane with a [Pain Suppression] spell and then throws a barrier over the people who are on her pillar with her.
Cressidha keeps her focus on the dragon.
Atley growls with pain, and hastily rushes over to just the edge of his pillar, shield raised likely in vain towards Nefarian as he waits it out with the help of others.
The spark detonates, striking everyone on the pillar with him.
Then, after a powerful strike from Cressidha, Nefarian roars. Electricity arcs from his body to hit everyone. The pain is intense.
Mordecai screams.
Jo cries out, and then traces a mana ward. She's running pretty low on mana.
Nobody liked that.
"Healing," Wyrmbane calls. "Keep your heads. Be prepared for what may happen next!"
Nefarian snarls at the people who persist in surviving all his attacks. “I have tried to be an accommodating host, but you simply will not die! Time to throw all pretense aside and just… KILL YOU ALL!”
The lava begins to flow out of the room, as Nefarian swoops in to land. Then he breathes out a burning shadowblaze spark that arcs through the air and lands on the body of one of the bone constructs. It lurches back to life as the fire seems to catch on the ground and slowly spread. Nefarian laughs and yells, “Flesh turns to ash!”
"Oh, those again," Thal says in irritation. He drops down from his pillar and looks over to Atley. "Let's end this."
Atley leaps down from the pillar with a heavy 'clang,' and locks eyes with Thalstan. He charges towards the lumbering undead dragon simultaneously with his dwarven comrade.
Thalstan tries to run fast enough to keep up, brandishing his axe and rushing into the fight.
Nefarian is indeed done playing. There is no clever quip or mockery from him this time, just shadowflame and tooth and claw.
Mordecai remains on his pillar, healing whoever he can from here.
Jo remains on her pillar, funneling fireball after fireball into the dragon.
Atley goes for the jugular, literally, slashing with a tireless fervor. [Ardent] "Watch that tail! Bring him down!"
Everyone gives the fight all their remaining strength, and Nefarian slowly collapses to the ground. His resonant voice sounds oddly hollow as he says, “Defeat has never tasted so bitter…”
He falls still.
Jo waits for a moment, like maybe he'll reanimate again.
He doesn't.
Wyrmbane looks around at the troops, those still standing and those being resurrected. "Well done. We've done what we came here to do, and the Alliance will be safer for it. We'll make certain this time that it will not be possible for the enemy to reanimate them, that Nefarian and Onyxia will never again pose a threat to our kingdom."
He nods to the mages - Alliza, Jo, Cressidha, and the others from the 7th Legion. "Some of us from the 7th will handle the situation here, but the rest of you are free to return to Stormwind."
Atley catches his breath with one last heavy sigh before he puts his shield and Thunderfury away. "Sir," he growls with a tone of finality, and one last salute. He looks to Jocoza for command, before his searching gaze shifts to Mordecai.
Jo moves over to her Cobalt comrades. "I'll stay here as long as Kerlo does, but you all don't need to wait for me."
Mordecai's hands are shaking, and he is still on top of the pillar. It's a good spot to see people to heal them. He sits down on the edge, dangling his feet over the side, and fumbles through his bag for feathers to levitate himself down to safety.
Atley gives Jocoza a nod before he finally gets a shoulder clasp in on Mordecai, giving him a briefer shake than he might normally. "All in one piece, then," he observes, or reassures, before he nods to the portal.
Mordecai smiles weakly at Dane. "Mmhm."
Jo looks up at Mordecai, her eyes sharpening with worry. "You and Colson will be home soon. It's over."
The Scarlet Bride kneels by the fallen member of the 7th Legion, resurrecting them.
Atley nods and looks over Nefarian for a long moment before he ducks his head and steps through the portal.
Mordecai nods. "Are you all right?"
"I am, I think," Jo says with a nod. "As long as I don't still have any of that shadow on me. And you, will you be?"
Mordecai passes a Dispel Magic over her just in case. "I don't see any lingering. I, um. I will be. Yes. Thank you."
"Good," Jo says, smiling at him. "That's good. I'll go find Kerlo now. You take care."
Thalstan makes sure to find Tadget after the fight, to confirm she's come through safely, before he takes a portal to Stormwind.