Chapter 172

Varrus was psyching himself up for the assault on Stratholme. Time was short, and Telonicus had begun a countdown. 

“Deployment in 5 minutes.” The dry analytical voice resounded in the war room, and boomed out down to the square below. 

Before Lor'Themar, Rho'dan, Karwl, Jan'alai, Liadran and the rest set out, he was preparing to bombard the city shield with a fierce deluge of raw power. 

If he couldn't break it, then at the veryeast, he wanted to create a distraction. Then, he planned on casting an environmental spell, so he could obfuscate his allies' advance. 

What they were about to do would carry great risk, and be similar to the storming of the beaches during D-Day. However, it was necessary to take Stratholme quickly. The longer this siege ran, the more time the Dreadlords would have to consolidate the surrounding lands. 

After this, initial outburst, then Tess, Syra, and himself would wait. Once the first wave of soldiers walked through the barrier, then they would enter at the same time near where they entered. 

Initially, Varrus had wanted to teleport down near some woods on the opposite side of Stratholme, and enter from the south, where there currently was no combat. The theory was to go where the enemy wouldn't be distracted. 

However, Tae'thelon had smugly educated him on the fact that the mage-or mages-maintaining the barrier would notice such an entry. That to remain undetected, it was best to go in at the same time as the troops.

“Deployment in 3 minutes.” 

And so, Varrus found himself waiting within the war room. He was confident that both him and Syra would complete the mission with few hiccups. But Rho'dan, and Lor'Themar were in mortal peril. 

Closing the gap whilst powerful ziggurats were focused on you was not easy. Furthermore, there would be the overwhelming size of the Undead horde to deal with. 

Clucking his tongue, Varrus wished he could go down, and fight with the men. If he destroyed the ziggurats, then they could rally together. With the air defenses down, Quel'Vanar would be free to fly within the city limits. However, to cross Stratholme's shield, the flying fortress would have to go very slowly, and disable its own, otherwise, it would cause a crash. 

“Deployment in 59 seconds and counting.” 

Gripping Syra's hand tight, Varrus gave her a kiss on the lips, and nodded to Tess. 

“Let's do this quickly and efficiently. There is to be no hunting for specific targets, collecting mementos, or playing with weaker opponents. We disable the shield, plant the Mana Stones, and get out. Once the city is purged, then we can celebrate.” Varrus seriously intoned to both Tess and his wife. 

“...maybe just a few targeted kills, like if I see someone who was a real asshole noble?” Tess asked questioningly. 

Syra squeezed Varrus's hand, clearly agreeing with Tess's request. 

“...okay, maybe one or two, but that's it. The faster we are, the less lives are lost. Please try to be mindful of that as we enter the city.” Varrus pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. 

He swore, the more the disciple spent with the master, the more she became like her. 

Syra had been porting to Gilneas frequently these last three months, and often taught her all sorts of things. 

Varrus couldn't exactly be mad, because it was nice for his wife to have a friend, hobbies, and an outlet that didn't involve him. It also gave him time to grind, finish paperwork, and shoot the shit with Kael, Rho'dan, or Lor'Themar in his freetime. 

He didn't realize how much he valued being alone until he became married to a psycho woman who he suspected had murdered dozens of women who had tried flirting with him. 

Shaking his head, Varrus began to lock in. The countdown was in the final stretch. 

“10, 9, 8-” 

“Now, now, Telonicus, no need to be so dramatic. There is no need for anyone to go anywhere.” A sophisticated woman's voice said. 

Breaking from invisibility behind the chief engineer, Faedra held onto his hands, and cooed into his ear. Her bust pressed against his back, and she blew a hot breath in his ear. 

“...7, 6-” The nerd ignored the temptress, and kept his focus attached to a scrying orb. 

“Really now?” Faedra-for the briefest of seconds-dropped the sultry act-then looked down at Telonicus's dry, unchanging expression with curiosity. 

It was as if a cat had just discovered a new plaything, and was intrigued. 

“Sorry dear, but there really is no need.” Faedra sighed, and placed a palm on him. 

A small flash of white Arcane energy left her hand, silencing Telonicus, making him unable to cast any spells. 

“Faedra, explain yourself.” Varrus raised a hand, Telekinesis at the ready so that he could hold her in place. 

“Late is the hour, Lady Greathollow. Your services were neither asked for, nor requested. You have violated this place of national security, and assaulted a member of the Convocation. Knight-Lord Dranarus, arrest this vagabond.” Kael was far less forgiving of Faedra's intrusion, and was having none of it. 

“As you command, Your Majesty. However, I feel that there is something you must know about Lady Greathollow.” Dranarus nodded to Kael, then pulled out his glaive. 

“Ooo, a fight with the quiet bitch, let me join!” Jan'alai stepped forward, and thunked her club with into her hand with a wide grin. 

“Whatever it is can wait until she is in a prison cell, and out of my war room, Knight-Lord, do I make myself clear?” Kael icily intoned, a subtle pressure leaked out of him, pressing down upon all those nearby. 

Varrus raised his eyebrows at this sudden development. Turning on his Magical Sight, Varrus was surprised to learn that the aura Kael’Thas was emitting was similar to his own. 

They were both at the entry levels of the Demigod tier. 

Power aside, what really interested Varrus was Faedra's seeming lunacy. Just what was her plan? How did she expect Kael, or the other members of the council to react? Her reputation was big amongst the older generation, but to Kael, she might be nothing but a children's tale. 

Perhaps he had been too lenient with Faedra, that despite how much Varrus despised her at times, how much he hated her for what she did to Syra...as fucked up as it was, she was still family. 

At the end of the day, as dubious as she was, and how often she was afk from past battles, she had been a net positive. 

However, Kael was in the right here. 

Faedra had seriously fucked up their scheme, and this delay would be sure to affect morale. 

If he was a soldier, and was told he was going to prepare, as he was going to charge in 5 minutes to meet the enemy, he would psyche himself up. To suddenly have that action halted within the last 10 seconds…he would 100% be pissed! 

So whilst he wanted to defend Faedra a little bit, he couldn't blame Kael whatsoever. Maybe some prison would be good for her. 

Looking down at Syra, to gauge her reaction, he discovered that she was softly chuckling? 

“Syra?” Varrus questioned incredulously. 

“Oh, they underestimate my mother. She won't be going to prison, you'll see.” 

“This is your mom?! Should we help?” Tess said from the side, completely missing the subtext that Syra was leaving Faedra to handle everything herself. 

For Varrus's part, he shook his head left and right at Tess, then silently looked to see how things would develop. 

His mother-in-law was kind of mental, perhaps she could surprise him yet again. 

Whilst Varrus was busy introspecting, a group of 10 other high-tier Elite Spellbreakers flanked Dranarus. Their combined power was enough to kill a weaker Hero. 

“I have waited a long time for this day, Faedra. I never expected to capture you whilst Kael’Thas was King, but fate makes fools of us all.” Dranarus said as he created a box-like formation with his Spellbreakers. 

A spell then left the Knight-Lord's lips, and the area began to be locked out of mana. 

Varrus was surprised to learn that-even though he was more than 15ft away-his connection to the Sunwell had become suppressed. 

“Fate, fate, fate. So many people curse it, or claim to be on its side. Philosophical fools who take no credit for themselves rely upon fate.” Faedra scoffed, and taunted Dranarus. 

“Enough stalling, Faedra. Release Telonicus, and come with us quietly. Do not make me do this.” Dranarus said, steel entering his voice, and the threat of violence finally making itself known. 

“Oh this old thing? He is quite the interesting toy, now isn't he? I might just figure out how he ticks, but that's for another day, I do believe we are here for something else. Hmm, what was it?” Faedra playfully questioned aloud to herself, and tapped her chin in mock thought. 

Dranarus advanced slowly, yet moved like a predator. The Knight-Lord was within a few steps of Faedra, and was poised to strike. 

“Enough games, Faedra. Last chance to go out with a full set of teeth and your dignity.” Dranarus growled. 

“I have some interesting recordings regarding dignity and your mother, but that can wait for another day, no, we were here for something else. The whole point of this little suicide mission was to pop the barrier. Well, check your scrying orbs, it's gone pop.” Faedra retreated a step, interposing Telonicus between her, and a red-in-the face Dranarus. Upon saying her last word, she especially emphasized it into her own scrying orb. 

Varrus, following along with everything Faedra was saying, looked at one of the display screens in the war room, and pointed at it. 

“The shield is down! The enemy shield is down!” Koren shouted like a child that was shouting the time that school ended. 

“Knight-Lord…return to my side. Lady Greathollow. Your services are appreciated.” Kael was quick to act upon this new information, and recalled Dranarus. 

The young King briefly wore a sour expression on his face at the swift development, but credit where credit was due, Kael’Thas didn't act with his emotions. 

Faedra broke protocol, and messed up the plan. But she also performed something incredible. 

If a monarch or any leader punished such meritorious acts of insubordination, then no one would want to take risks for him going forward. In fact, Varrus could see Kael wanted to punish her, but doing so in front of the assembled Heroes and Elites would cause all sorts of untold drama. 

From Varrus's POV, Faedra was a crafty bitch for pulling off such a ballsy maneuver. In one action, she secured her safety, a seat at the table, and the renewed respect of everyone present. 

If she pulled off shenanigans like this on the regular, Varrus could see why Faedra had become such an influential, non-governmental actor within Elven society.  

During this introspection, Syra squeezed Varrus's hand, and looked up to him with a face filled with smug superiority. 

It was as if his wife was saying to him ‘see, I was right, and you were wrong. Nee-ner-nee-ner.’ 

Well, Varrus made up that last part, but Syra was looking pretty full of herself. 

“Yes, yes, my beautiful wife knows best.” Varrus tiredly praised Syra as if he had suffered a grievous victory. 

Even though he should be celebrating right now, and immediately acting upon Stratholme's lowered shields, he couldn't feel a little regret that Faedra had once more wriggled her way out of taking an L. 

Meeting the raven haired beauties eyes for but a second, Faedra inclined her head at both him and Syra, and moved to stand by Syra's side. 

“I heard I will be a grandmother soon. You two have made me so proud~ and what's this, the young Queen Greymane, I cannot wait to see what you can do. My daughter's teachings are a reflection of my own.” Faedra babbled on, all the while signalling to everyone else she was firmly within Varrus's camp.  

Varrus idly noted Tae'thelon going red in the face, and expressing some sort of jealousy to Telonicus, but he really couldn't care less about any of this nonsense. 

The fact was, Faedra had brought the shield down. 

Now was the time to capitalize! 

Varrus was about to exit the tower, and conduct his scorched earth Mana Stone operation, however, the super structure began to shake even more than before! 

“Tae'thelon, unhand our chief engineer! Telonicus, what is going on!?” Varrus was quick to question the man. 

Pulling up a series of screens, Telonicus showed them. 

Thick waves of Death energy were coalescing from the tainted earth towards the ziggurats. The energy waves of the ziggurats then flowed to the central floating necropolis, like smoke going up an oven funnel. 

From there, the necropolis would launch thick purple beams at Quel'Vanar with an extreme amount of force. 

“Hmm, this is no worry. Our shields can easily withstand this. I'll simply readjust a few ratios..” Telonicus muttered to himself. 

“They're flying straight for us!” Koren, once again, seemed to be the only one who was paying attention, and warned. 

Opening his eyes wide, Varrus noticed that the Sky Marshal was correct! Dozens of Necropolises-each the size of your average department store-were coming in for a direct collision

No, not collision! 

Those bastards were so desperate, they could only go on offense. They were going to do what Lor'Themar had planned to do against them! 

Pulling up his scrying orb, Varrus hastily called Rho'dan, and also raised his voice to the rest of the room. 

“The Necropolises plan on entering our barrier! To land and deposit troops on Quel'Vanar! Everyone, garrison the buildings, erect a perimeter around the central square, create choke points to limit their numbers advantage. 

Prepare for battle!”