The paladin left the portal. Around ruined and many dead draenei reigned. Some, however, survived. At least the paladin hoped they would thaw someday.

— Nerubs should not be here, but be careful anyway,, — Amberis said.

All four heroes moved quietly and accurately as far as possible. Amberis every time with the help of distant vision checked what awaits them next, and chose the safest ways. But soon there were no such ways left. Judging by the words of Amberis, the Undead deliberately blocked all the roads leading to the shelter of the magician. And with every minute the blockade became stronger.

— I don’t like it, — Amberis said.

— Check the death knight! Faster, — the idea suddenly struck the paladin.

The shaman’s gaze again went to heaven. She froze, and only weak hand movements supported this spell. Suddenly, horror appeared on her face. She jerked her head sharply, turning her gaze back to the team.

— A knight with a nerub go to Lassara! And they already know where we are and block all the way!

— Damn! Great covert operation! Well? Are we going for a breakthrough? — Asked Bolingar.

— All over me. — Сommanded the icy tone of the Riverey and rushed forward.

Now no longer had to lurk in the shadows of the night. Now you could safely go ahead. The forces of the undead are evenly distributed along several roads leading to the magician, moreover, Hassara certainly could not pull all the nerubs army from the entire city in a few minutes. If hurry, they will still have time to break through the blockade of the undead.

Having adjusted their path, the group continued the campaign. But beyond the next turn, they were waiting for a strong disappointment. The passage was blocked by a web. The paladin grinned and threw a torch into the web. And already with a contented face, he wanted to go further, as suddenly his torch, crashing into the web, immediately went out.

— I can burn it, but it will take me a while.” This network has enchanted fire protection. But I think I can break through them, — said Amberis, inspecting the web.

Leaning toward the ground, she thrust her fingers into the dirt, gathering it in a lump like snow. Literally in front of the paladin, he turned into a red-hot magma ball. Raising it almost to the level of her head, she sharply threw it towards the web. The network caught fire. But soon the fire again subsided.

Drimurr made a mysterious movement of her arms, and the web sparkled for a second.

— There is no more protection there. Try again, — said the priestess.

Amberis again began to raise another lump of earth, when suddenly a screaming was heard everywhere. Nerubian weavers dug out from under the ground! Amberis this time instantly changed goals and launched a red-hot lava directly into the nerub. Magma covered his head, slowly spreading over it and burning it alive. Unpleasant death.

— Ambush! — Shouted the paladin, grabbed the hammer and rushed to сrash the skulls.

But his past battle experience taught him nothing. Nerubian weavers still nimbly dodged his blows. Although the paladin did not hit them with a hammer, they did not have time to prepare a powerful spell. And their weak magical blows did not penetrate the protection of the paladin. Soon, most of the Nerubians ended their lives with an arrow in their heads, some of them still writhed from a lightning strike. Well, one of the most sluggish Nerubs was nevertheless destroyed by the paladin’s hammer. Having made her way through the first barrier, Amberis raised her head again and fixed her gaze on the sky.

— Damn it! — said Amberis, not taking her eyes off the sky. — So she will overtake and get to Lassara before us!

— What the hell are you waiting for? — Riverey cried out, grabbed Amberis by the shoulder and dragged forward, preventing the shaman from even finishing the long-range spell.

Soon, a small town hall built by people appeared in the distance. This quarter was given to the allies of the alliance. That is why, in addition to the exodar ruins with a huge crystal on the roof, there were also farms, barracks, taverns and other buildings familiar to the paladin. Unfortunately, they burned much better than the stone houses of the draenei, and only coals remained of them. However, closer to the town hall a couple of pristine towers remained.

Another barrier. This time a whole army of undead blocked the way for the heroes. Their tight formation completely blocked the way further. One nerub stood out among them. He was wearing several gold jewelry, as well as some kind of golden crown on his head.

— My lady does not wish you death. I give you one last chance to turn back,  — the Nerub said.

The Riverey, without losing a second, immediately shot an arrow at him as the final answer.

— Good. So be it, — said the Nerub when the hunter’s arrow ricocheted off the magical field surrounding him.

The paladin again appreciated the strength of the enemy, but this time did not rushed into the fray first. The enemy was stronger than them, but also in no hurry to attack. Apparently, their task was not to miss them, and not to kill. This wait could last forever. Which, in general, was necessary to the Nerub.

— However, — the Nerub paused, — your meeting with the knight is beneficial to the prince. Go, — with these words the Scourge troops parted before them.

Unbelieving in their own eyes, the heroes slowly and carefully passed through the Scourge army. But not one of the Nerubians disobeyed the order. The rest of the undead also stood quietly, only tapping their bones. It seems that all this detachment was completely commanded by one single Nerub.

— It was a guardsman, — said Drimurr. — The most devoted warriors of the nerubians nobility. They are skilled warriors, some of them also possess magic.

The paladin recalled that the Nerubian prince did not really love his patroness.

 

Now, none of the Nerubians prevented them from moving forward. There is very little left. The Riverey rushed forward. In the twilight forest, this aspiration nearly killed her. But no one had time to call her, and she sped forward. Having run out to the square near the town hall, the paladin shuddered. They are late.

Lassara fired at the death knight with a continuous barrage of magic arrows. But Hassara managed to hit every arrow with her blade, rotating the sword at an incredible speed. So fast that the sword began to merge with the purple arrows, which, when they collided with the blade, flew in different directions.

Hassara seized the moment and sent a skull of dark magic to Lassara. But the magician repulsed him with a slight wave of his hand.

As long as Lassara is strong enough to support the spellfire, the death knight will not budge.

 

The Riverey already wanted to shoot an arrow at Hassara, but was immediately bogged down in close combat. She was surrounded by three guardsmen. And she obviously could not cope with them. Without hesitation, the paladin rushed to the rescue of the huntress. But right in front of him two more guardsmen dug out of the ground. All the forces of the priestess went to keep the shield on the Riverey, which now got the most damage. The guards were really strong opponents. One of them managed to interrupt every Amberis spell, and she had to engage in melee combat. Now no one could help Lassara. All were connected by battle.

— Give me the medallion and get it over with, — Hassara growled again.

— I do not have it! — cried out Lassara.

Gradually her magical attack came to naught. And Hassara moved a few steps closer to the mage.

The Riverey grabbed two short swords from behind and swung them sharply, inflicting two blows from different directions at once. The guardsman did not expect this and missed both hits. Scarlet blood poured from his body in a plentiful stream, and he collapsed to the ground. The onslaught is weak. Amberis was finally able to stun her opponent and cast a spell. Suddenly her mace took on a new menacing look. Where there were magma spikes, a burning lash now hung. It was her turn to attack.

 However, the battle with the guards was clearly delayed. And the magician ran out of mana.

With these words, the Nerubian prince Azar descended from the slope, on which there was a confrontation between the mage and the knight, to the square.

Together, the group was able to kill another guardsman. As soon as the current from the lightning bolt passed through it, three arrows and a hammer hit stuck into it.

Hassara slowly approached the magician, easily reflecting her shelling. Realizing that the arrows would not stop the knight, Lassara broke off this spell. Hassara triumphantly waved her blade, preparing with one blow to end the battle, but the magician immediately disappeared, appearing behind the death knight and applying a new spell. An impulse of icy energy swept across the earth, freezing everything that it could reach.

Hassara’s paws burned with green fire. Protective runes of the anti-magic shell glittered on them occasionally.

However, Lassara still had trump cards in her sleeve. Sharply spreading her arms to the side, Lassara created another impulse that simply threw the death knight away. Hassara rumbled through the door of the town hall. But not even a second passed before she, with a fierce howl, rose again on her paws and rushed off to the attack.

Fury blinded the Knight. Lassara hardly dodged the monstrous swings of the blade. But suddenly a clawed paw gripped the mage’s throat. Hassara finally caught her and was getting ready to drive the blade into her body, when suddenly an arrow knocked the blade out of her clawed paw.

The Riverey was ready to fire again, but the prince knocked her down with a bone claw.

Lassara was able to free herself from mortal grip. With another impulse, she sent her blade flying. The sword flew into the wall of the town hall and stuck into one of the logs. Lassara was ready to celebrate the victory. But from a punch in a plate glove, she collapsed to the ground. Hassara lifted her above her, holding her by the throat, and threw her right to the broken door of the town hall. Without losing a second, she rushed after her sword. As soon as Hassara was able to pull out the blade, she instantly turned around and reflected the lightning bolt flying into her.

When the knight again attacked the magician, Lassara again disappeared right in front of her. Hassara spun around and slashed with a blade. Her blow broke the magician’s staff into two parts. Lassara staggered from such a blow, losing her balance.

Blood spurted from the mage in a plentiful stream. Hassara drain all the blood from her, quenching her monstrous thirst.

Soon Lassara, exhausted from the loss of blood, collapsed to the ground. And she whispered softly:

Her eyes went out.

«No! He could not allow her to die! He let her down! ” — flashed through the paladin’s head. Bolingar’s hands trembled, filled with sacred light. The paladin’s hammer shone brighter than ever, it glowed like a bright star. His eyes burned with a golden divine light. Bolingar rushed to fight the death knight, but then Azar blocked his path. But now for the paladin it was only a temporary hindrance. Constantly, he continued to hit the prince with a hammer in righteous anger, while Azar could only go into a full defense.

Hassara finally turned her gaze to the battlefield, almost all the guards were defeated. And now, Prince Azar was the only one who separated her from the righteous anger of the heroes.

Hassara lifted her hands to heaven, and they shone with a blinding cold.

The rising dawn again plunged into darkness. Night reigned. Snowflakes fell from the starry sky. In the distance, a chilling roar was heard. The blizzard intensified.

— Oh no! — exclaimed Amberis.

The blizzard dispersed, and an ice dragon appeared at the call of the knight on the battlefield.

Recovering from shock, the heroes attacked the dragon with their entire arsenal. But he was not harmed by arrows or magic. The paladin did not even dare to approach such a monster. As she prepared for a new shot, Riverey noticed that Hassara seemed to support the spell. And if you stun her, the dragon will weaken. She shot the next arrow at her sister, but Azar managed to close Hassar with his impenetrable shell.

The ice dragon took a deep breath and exhaled the icy flame, freezing anyone in its path. No one managed to escape from this attack. The paladin took refuge behind his cloak, but alas, the fur cloak did not help him protect himself from the powerful magic of ice. The huntress instantly turned into a block of ice; the shaman tried to defend herself from magic, but her weak protective barrier was instantly destroyed. All three turned into ice statues. And only the priestess was able to repel such a powerful blow. The paladin, although it was frozen and could not move, but he heard and saw everything perfectly. Drimurr was clearly much stronger than an ordinary priestess. It closed immediately with all the protective barriers known to him: All kinds of shields flickered around it, overflowing with a multitude of colors. In the blinding light that emanated from her, it was clear that she was able to impose several types of barriers on herself at once. With every wave of her hand, she sent enormous fireballs at the dragon, and from the ray of the sun hit him from heaven. A monstrous stream of magic emanated from Drimurr, a continuous barrage of fireballs, magic arrows, moon and sun rays, and many more fireworks. It seemed that Drimurr now used in general all kinds of magic that is on Azeroth. Her speed was amazing. If even the archmage needed to create a ball of fire for several seconds, then she would launch all this into the dragon instantly. Explicitly not expecting such a pressure of magic, the dragon began to retreat. An anti-magic carapace appeared on it, but even after a few seconds it began to crack and collapse.

Surviving guards began to creep up to Drimurr. But she sent them flying with one powerful magical impulse.

For the first time in his life, a paladin noticed fear and horror on the face of a death knight.

The dragon breathed air once more and rushed down the distance to the Drimurr, opening its mouth in front of it and emitting an icy flame. Tongues of flame completely swallowed her. And in this flame a new being appeared to them. Phoenix! Extending its wings forward, he created a barrier of pure flame so bright and scorching that everything around him began to melt. Bolingar felt the ice begin to crack from the heat emanating from the phoenix. But the dragon was not inferior to the fire bird: its icy breath slowly but surely broke through the wall of fire.

The phoenix feathers flared. Once again, he was completely covered with flames: his whole body exuded a fiery aura.

Bright fiery ray against vs ice breath of a dragon. To the paladin came a wild crack of a flame hissing from contact with ice. Two eternally opposing elements collided in the air, not inferior to each other in strength. But the phoenix was stronger. His ray of fire approached the dragon, prepared to incinerate him at any moment. Suddenly, a shadow flickered over the fire bird: a wave of the claw and the phoenix collapsed to the ground. The dragon immediately attacked him and at point-blank began to freeze him to the ground. Only when the ground nearby froze, did the lizard retreat, giving everyone a view of the empty block of ice. Phoenix has disappeared.

Hassara stopped supporting the spell, but the dragon did not disappear. She slowly approached the hunter.

— Damn it, River! Stop bothering me! Forget about me at last! Everything! There is no longer that family and never will be! Do not return the past!

Hassara exhaled heavily:

— Listen, sister, I don’t want to harm you, much less kill you. But you constantly frustrate me with all plans and only interfere. You have to say thank you to me, that I’m just letting you go, but you will climb into battle again. You are stubborn. Hah You know, River, and we really can revive a family. I can convert you, I can do it already. But I will not do it by force. I do not want to see you as a limp puppet. We will rule together! Think about it. As you can see, I’m not such a monster. As a sign of favor, I will spare not only you, but also your other companions. But if you refuse, I beg you: do not get in my way. Otherwise, sooner or later I will have to come after your soul.

Hassara sighed again heavily:

— You don’t know anything about my goal. Maybe this is for the best. It is a pity that my visit here was in vain. Lassara didn’t really have a locket. So my search will continue. I’m sure you have a lot of questions, but that’s all I can tell you. Just don’t bother me — that’s all I ask of you. But I’m sure you won’t listen to me, so we still will meet.

With that, Hassara ran her clawed hand over the hunter’s icy head.

— Do not be sad, sister! She added in a cheerful tone.

Now Hassara went to the ice statue of Bolingar

— Ah, my favorite, but unfortunately, not the smartest paladin. Why did you get involved in this? You are a mercenary. And this is our personal business with our sister. Do not get involved in this.

Hassara unfastened a bag of gold coins from her belt and threw a paladin to the ice statue.

— I hope I won’t see you again

Going around the statue of the paladin, Hassara went to Amberis.

— Tell me, Amber. Was the life of the mage worth all these deaths and destruction? We could do with just one death.

Now, Hassara went to an empty block of ice.

— And who are you, my feathered friend, I’ll find out, too, — she said thoughtfully.

The death knight looked at them all, as if saying goodbye.

— Azar! Gather troops. We are leaving. — Hassara shouted, climbing onto her mount.

Next
(Episode 9)