The Vortex Pinnacle (Part 9)

Chapter 6 - Asaad, Caliph of Zephyrs, The End

Mahruqwa pulled his mace from its holster as he turned the final corner, and finally saw the adversary they had been chasing for so long. Asaad was waiting for them in a giant alcove at the end of the path; the end of the spire. Winds raged around his giant frame as he beckoned towards them, shouting.

“You tread upon the sacrosanct! Mortals have no place amidst the clouds!”

“No time for chit chat, Asaad. You’ll regret ever stepping foot in our world!”

“Let’s end this, then! Al’Akir, watch as your loyal servant destroys these interlopers.”

Mahruqwa paused his charge suddenly, cocked his arm back, and hurled his mace straight at Asaad with incredible force. He dodged the blow easily, but turned to watch as it sailed past him into the wall. Rafni ran past him, directly towards Asaad, and her mace began to glow brightly. She thrust it at the distracted djinn and Light came crashing down upon him, stunning him momentarily. A blue circle appeared beneath Asaad as Fallanos, arms outstretched into the air, cast down a blizzard that slowly began to freeze the djinn in place as Angrun unleashed a hail of arrows directly at him. Right before they made contact however, Rafni’s spell wore off. Asaad waved his arm at the arrows and a slice of wind deflected them all, and crashed right on top of the nearby paladin. She raised her shield defiantly, blocking it, and stood her ground, but the djinn just laughed.

“Oh, I hope this isn’t all you’ve got. At least make it interesting for me!”

“Angrun, every arrow he deflects is a distraction for us. Keep looking for a weak point. Rafni, get out of there now, you did what you could. Fallanos, if you have any tricks up your sleeve, save them, we need to catch him off guard. Troll…where is the damn troll?!”

He caught sight of the swift rogue running straight past Asaad, towards the wall. Instead of turning though, he leapt up and began running up the wall. To keep Asaad distracted, Mahruqwa unleashed a burst of diseased ice shards straight at him. Another wind blast knocked them clear away, but the troll slipped unnoticed. As he ran up the wall he grabbed Mahruqwa’s mace and launched himself towards the back of Asaad’s head. He didn’t have the same strength the death knight possessed, but the mace still made a satisfying crunch as it connected with its target. Asaad howled with pain and anger as he turned around to face his attacker, but the troll had already vanished into smoke, and the mace clattered to the floor. Mahruqwa ran up to it, but the djinn was closer and reached down to knock it away. Right before Asaad grabbed it however, three arrows pierced his hand. It bought Mahruqwa just enough time to slide past and retrieve his weapon.

“Well, you wanted his weakness? I think the poor fellow can only focus on one thing at a time.”

For once, Fallanos ability to piss off everyone around him might actually be useful, he thought. Asaad turned towards the mage and unleashed a bolt of lightning directly at him, but he simply teleported a few feet to the side and waved cheerfully.

“ENOUGH! I’ll fry you all where you stand! Al’Akir, your servant calls for aid!”

The winds circling around the djinn began to spark as he ascended into the air, arms outstretched.

“He’s going to electrify this entire room, what now?”

Mahruqwa and the rest turned towards Fallanos.

“What do you think I can do?!”

“You’re the magical one, think of something, quickly!”

Their hair began to stand up on air as the electricity intensified around them.
“Ah…ah…ah…WAIT! Mages aren’t immune to their own powers; we simply protect ourselves from them. If he’s going to call down lightning on this entire place, then he’ll have to have a barrier around himself, or he’ll be toast as well. Get underneath him, now!”

As they all launched themselves directly below Asaad, Mahruqwa called out to the mage.

“How sure are you of this?”

“Sure? Are you kidding me? I just took a guess!”

Before he could respond, lightning crashed all around them. Fallanos had been right; the lightning struck a barrier around Asaad but not touching him. They were just lucky that the protection extended all the way to the floor. The storm died down and the five of them quickly scattered all around Asaad, readying their weapons. The towering djinn seemed surprised that they still stood.

“Clever mage…very clever. But your quick wits won’t be enough to save you!”

“Please, don’t compliment him, or we’ll never get him to shut up.”

“No need to thank me Rafni, I didn’t just save all our lives or anything.”

The troll suddenly reappeared directly in front of Asaad and threw two smoke bombs directly at his fact. The djinn instinctively sliced them like everything else, but it simply spread the smoke all around him. Angrun took advantage of the moment and rapidly shot several arrows at their adversary. Before he could even hope that they had connected however, two giant fists emerged from the smoke headed directly at the hunter. Mahruqwa threw Angrun back and blocked the fists with one outstretched hand. His armor cracked all the way to his shoulder, but it still held. His other arm quickly swung his mace up and smashed Asaad’s fists away. Even with his blood shield, Asaad’s attack had nearly knocked him clear off his feet, and his arm felt numb. In his weakened state, Mahruqwa wasn’t sure how many more hits like that he could take. His arm began to glow brightly as Rafni attempted to repair any damage that had been done. Meanwhile, Fallanos was taking advantage of his ability to teleport by darting around Asaad, flinging barrages of insults and fire at him. The troll was trying to get close enough to assault Asaad with his blades, but whenever he was within striking distance Asaad summoned a vortex of wind around himself. Mahruqwa realized how it important it was to keep the pressure on Asaad, and not let me regain his footing. Promising himself to apologize to the troll afterwards, he reached out with the very last of his unholy magic and gripped the troll’s soul. Instead of pulling him closer however, he quickly jerked the troll around in a circle and used the momentum to fling him right through the shield. Whether or not the sudden and intense pain had caught him by surprise or not wasn’t evident, as he immediately began stabbing away at Asaad with his daggers.

“INSECTS! VERMIN! YOU SEEK TO HARM ME?”

With arms outstretched, Asaad knocked them all to the ground with a violent burst of wind. The djinn raised his fist, gathering electricity, and slammed it to the ground. A giant nova of electricity spread across the floor and Mahruqwa braced himself for a shock, but there was no pain. He couldn’t help but laugh at the failed attempt.

“Even when we give you a free hit, you cannot hurt us. That’s the difference between us. Between our levels of power. You’re outclassed, pure and simple.”

Surprisingly, Asaad began laughing as well.

“Indeed? Your arrogance will be your undoing! Al’Akir, I beseech you, lend me your powers once more!”

“Get under-“

His sentence was cut short as he collapsed face first into the ground. His feet wouldn’t move. He pushed himself back up quickly as he turned towards his comrades, who were all picking themselves up off the ground as well.

“What is going on?”

“You tell me, magic boy. My feet are stuck to the ground.”

“That lightning attack! He’s trapped us to the ground!”

Fallanos quickly teleported a few feet away, which seemed to free him from the spell. He ran towards the troll and began pulling as hard as he could, but the trolls feet were bound to the floor.

“Everyone, magic can dispel the effect! Use anything you can think of!”

Mahruqwa quickly summoned his anti magic shell, and felt the energy dissipate from his feet, freeing him. Rafni cast a bubble around herself and ran underneath Asaad. The troll dispersed himself into shadow and melded next to her as Fallanos and Mahruqwa joined him into safety.
“He has another trick up his sleeve, it seems. We need to finish him as soon as we-“

“Angrun! He’s still out there!”

Mahruqwa’s heart dropped at Rafni’s cry, as he turned around and saw Angrun struggling against the magical bonds.

“No, no, no! Rafni, do something!”

“I can’t, I can only shield people from physical objects! Pull him in!”

“You just used it on yourself, what are you talking about?”

“That’s a spell that can only be used by masters of the Light, I can’t cast it on anyone else! PULL! HIM! IN!”

Mahruqwa reached out, but there was no connection. He was completely exhausted of all unholy energy, and all the blood magic in the world couldn’t protect Angrun from the gathering storm. He looked at Rafni with despair, and they both turned to Fallanos and the troll.

“Can’t you do anything? CAN’T EITHER OF YOU DO ANYTHING?!”

Fallanos, pale, simply shook his head as he turned towards Angrun. The troll rocked back and forth on the ground, muttering rapidly to himself, eyes closed tightly. Mahruqwa cursed to himself.

“Fine, I’ll just rip his damn legs off and pull him in!”

As soon as he turned however, two arrows pierced his armor and pinned both of his feet to the ground once again. He looked up and saw Angrun reach into his quiver and pull out Gavin’s arrow.

“No, friend. You’re too slow, and my legs are firmly attached. You said it yourself. No heroics.”

“Don’t be an idiot, Angrun! We can get you out!”

The energy was reaching its apex, but the hunter’s voice never wavered.

“Mahruqwa, I ask of you one favor. I don’t want to be in stories or songs, but please. My son. I’d have you tell him of our bravery here. Of the honor of the Horde. Of victory.”

“NO! SOMEONE, DO SOMETHING! DO IT NOW!”

Mahruqwa turned to the group, seething in anger, but the crackle of electricity crushed any hope he had. He looked back at Angrun, who seemed to be surrounded with energy of his own.

“Promise me, Mahruqwa! Teach my son the true meaning of lok’tar ogar!”

The phrase, used over and over in the Horde. "Victory or death." So often that its members sometimes lost sight of its power, its meaning, its message. One orc, staring death in the face, staring at it and smiling with an arrow strung, that’s what it meant. That’s what honor was.

That is what it meant to be Horde.

“I promise you, dear friend. He will know of what you’ve done here today, I’ll make sure of it. Every orc, tauren, blood elf, troll and Forsaken will hear your tale, I swear it.”

Right before the storm commenced, there was a brief moment when Angrun was still visible. He was still smiling.

“VICTORY!”

The four of them stood together, side by side, and saluted him.

“LOK’TAR!”

“FOR THE H-“

The lightning came crashing down, cutting off Angrun’s final battle cry. The blinding light cut him from view, but they saw the glint of his arrow soar through the air. A bolt of lightning struck it, and it burst into flame. Time seemed to stand still as the flame slowly unfurled into the form of a hawk. They stared, amazed at what they saw, as the hawk took flight straight for Asaad. Then the moment passed, and the flame bolted straight through the djinn. The storm ceased instantly as the djinn cried out in pain, shuddering. His entire body caught aflame, and the fury of wind swirling the platform could do nothing to abate the fire. Within a matter of moments, the powerful Asaad, Caliph of Zephyrs, was reduced to nothing more than ash, and a feather floated slowly downwards.