This is a short-story I wrote for a class, way back when I was 12 or so (lol, middle school). Kept it (kept everything...), added to it, and here it stands.
Basically, how am I doing? Anything strike you? (Keep in mind, of course, that was quite a few years ago; hopefully I've improved. :P)
Part1
- - - - - I cant believe this, you quietly mutter under your breath.
What was that? said the bearded dwarf next to you.
Nothing, nothing, you quickly dismiss him. You are on a large, yet cramped zeppelin full of dwarves, humans, and some elven priests. Out in the sky surrounding you, you spy several gryphons with dwarven riders, a few gyrocopters, dragonhawks with elven pilots, and at least two or three other zeppelins crammed with the fighters of the Human Army. All around you are footmen with gleaming swords, rifleman with hooded cloaks and long-barreled rifles, knights with whinnying horses dressed in armor, and Antonidas, (an-tu-ni-diss) the Head Archmage of the Kirin Tor in Lordaeron (lordurawn). Lordaeron, your homeland, is the top half of the continent on which the humans dwell. The Kirin Tor is a society of wizards that reside in Dalaran, (Daw-lu-rawn) the wizards capital city.---Only an hour or so ago, you remember saying your goodbyes to your wife, Diana. Dont get killed out there, Arthas, she yelled out as I boarded the zeppelin via rope ladder. I wont, Diana, I yelled in reply as the zeppelin started to take off. I love you! she cried as the zeppelin flew away from the village
A terrible stench awakens you in a flash. What is that awful smell!? you cry out. A rifleman called Marlin, one of your dearest comrades since the Academy, answers, Tis the blight of th Undead. The sparkle so often visible is no longer in his eyes. Marlin had lost almost his entire family to the ravaging Undead.
Part2
- - - - - The stench is growing thicker now. It almost fills the air, like a putrid fog. Now you can see the blight on the ground far below. It is a dark purple ooze ridden with the bones of numerous species of animals, and occasionally excreting jets of noxious gases. It covers the surrounding landscape like a blanket; only its a blanket of death and disease. People all around you explode into comments. I think Im about to faint Lovely stuff, isnt it? Id like to meet their decorator! Hey, it looks like my wives cooking! Wait a second, maybe thats were she got it from Antonidas immediately takes action to calm the people. In a regal voice he said, Quiet down, everyone! We are entering the vicinity of the Undead base! Silence soon followed.
The silence ensued until then zeppelin came to a sharp halt. Im not going any further! screeched the goblin pilot. OK, everyone, time to get off, commanded Antonidas. The stench soon grows unbearable the farther down the rope ladder you climb, so you wrap a handkerchief around your mouth and nose. As you jump off the rope, your feet sink and make a slight depression in the sick blight. ---All around you is destruction. A ruined farmhouse with blighted crops smokes in the distance. Far, far away, almost out of sight, are the towering structures of the Undead. No details can be seen at this far away. As the other zeppelins unload, you get a pretty good idea how large the Human Army is. There were all four heroes, or generals. There was the holy Paladin, the magical Archmage, Antonidas, the dwarven Mountain King, and the fiery elven Blood Mage. There was everything from humans to dwarves to elves. The sky above you begins to fill with numerous gyrocopters, gryphon riders, and dragonhawk riders. A gryphon screeches, and a large nut and bolt falls down on your head. Ow!!! you exclaim even though you have a protective helmet. Sorry, down there! calls a dwarf from a gyrocopter. Can I have my piece back please? Youve always been known to have good aim and a great throwing arm, so you pick up the bolt, carefully take aim, and then throw. It hits its target exactly, knocking the dwarf cleanly off his ride, and he plummets down and THUMPS onto the ground. Immediately everyone around takes action to help the injured dwarf. You start to chuckle, but it is stopped short by the view you see in the distance. Look! you cry out. The dwarf back on his plane, everyone turns around to see the Undead army advance slowly upon their position.
Part3
- - - - - Its the most hideous sight youve ever beheld. Ghouls, regular people that have crossed the threshold into truly being undead, walk with long claws and long, sharp teeth just itching to chomp something. Crypt Fiends, huge Nerubian spiders with a human torso and two clawed arms, covered in bandages. Screeching Gargoyles, flying swiftly with only death in their wake. Necromancers, with flowing black robes and tall, black staffs. The ethereal Banshees, translucent, and horribly loud. The dreaded Meat Wagons, large, wheeled contraptions that stank of death and collected newly killed corpses. It fired such corpses with a catapult arm that held in a grip of nails a slimy, mangled human body. Most terrifying of all, the Frost Wyrms, huge behemoths resurrected from the great Blue Dragons when they died in their arctic graveyard in the north. From their enormous maw, the shot forth a freezing blast of icy breath, enough to freeze a man solid. But even all these horrors combined did not equal the hideousness of the last creature in the group. Or should I say, creation. It was the Abomination, a huge, hideous being comprised of mix-matched stitched-together body parts. Three powerful arms held a butchers knife, and two huge metal hooks on chains. A huge hole in its stomach revealed ribs poking out and vile bloody entrails dragging on the ground. And the whole thing was swathed in a cloud of flies and the vile, fetid gases of disease. It is the most unholy, putrid, vile, terrifying thing you have ever seen in your life.
And its all coming towards you!
Part4
- - - - - Immediately the Archmage casts a spell to ward off the stench. People all around you moan in horror as they watch the sickening army advance upon them. Now they are close enough to have their heroes be seen. The Death Knight, atop his skeletal mount, hefted a mighty runeblade. The Lich, a skeletal being hovering just above the ground with a long dress that branched off at the bottom and a ceremonial headdress adorning his eyeless skull. These ferocious sorcerers wield frost magiks to their complete advantage. Then the Dreadlord. Strangely similar to the vampire, this embodiment of evil had a great canopy of bat-like wings, huge sharp claws, and deadly, vampiric fangs. And last, and probably worst of all, the Crypt Lord. Rampaging juggernauts of decay, these insidious behemoths once ruled over the dread Nerubian spider kingdom. Now in undeath, they serve the Lich King, the supreme ruler of the Scourge, with unwavering loyalty. Their massive frontal scythe-like arms send a chill down your spine. Ugghh. You hate spiders.
You charge forward with a resounding battle cry that echoes from warrior to warrior. You immediately engage a wayward ghoul in close-quarters combat. Fortunately, your hard iron suit protects you from his feeble blows, and in a few chops of your blade, the ghoul lies dead at your feet. All of a sudden, you start to get brushed by insect legs, almost tickling you. But this is no laughing matter. As the insects leave your flesh, they bite at you painfully. You look up and see two giant spideresque crypt fiends. Even when under attack, you are paralyzed with an intense phobia of spiders. Especially large, undead, Nerubian spiders. Thankfully , though, pair of stalwart knights gallops up and pierce the crypt fiends with their long, shiny lances. You watch with great satisfaction as the crypt fiends wriggle helplessly in their last death throes.
Part5
- - - - You charge forward again, your vigor only slightly sapped, and deftly dodge a gargoyles blast of energy, when your foot suddenly goes into a pothole in the blight, sinking grossly till all you could see was the rim. Most unfortunately, a damaged meat wagon rolls forward and, ignoring the footmen chopping away at it, fires a bloody corpse at you. You see your life flash before your eyes, ending in a slimy, bloody splatter, when a powerful bolt of magic blasts the projectile out of the air! A second such bolt destroys the meat wagon in one fell attack. Thanks! you call out, as you see Antonidas rear up on his horse and proclaim, Your very welcome. Arthas. How he knew your name youll never know. And you probably never will. Because at that moment, you see your friend, Gerard. Suddenly, he is frozen solid and killed instantly by a frost wyrm. Noooo!! you bellow. Now you look at the war you are fighting, not just your own personal battles. You see many of your friends and comrades falling in battle. As you are looking around, you are too distracted to notice the lone skeleton warrior approach you. When you do look, however, its too late. You see the skeletons sword stab at your midsection, and as you fall to the ground, dead, and bleeding, you catch one final glimpse of the holy Paladin raise his hammer and a holy light shine forth from the heavens and engulf him.
Part6
- - - - - You are, awoken, by a blinding flash of bright light. Are you in, heaven??? You are alive and well again, and for a second you think you have crossed over. Then you remember your wound, and think, Am I bleeding to death? You quickly check the spot where you were impaled, but you see nothing but new, pink flesh! No dried blood, and even when you press on it, you feel no pain! Somehow, youve been healed! Maybe I am in heaven! Unfortunately, with a quick glimpse at your surroundings, you see the battle raging ever fiercely on and the vile blight squelching beneath your metal boots. Now you remember! The Paladin! What was he doing? You turn around to watch him. You see that he still has his arms raised high, hammer in hand, and a heavenly pillar of light is shining forth upon him. But your attention is drawn momentarily away from him. Because about 30 feet above him you glimpse the holiest apparition you have ever witnessed.
Part7
- - - - - It was a massive angel, clad in divine armor, sporting a pair of feathery wings that were outstretched. It was hovering gently over the Paladin, colored entirely in a bright gold. A huge sparkling blade was clenched tightly in both hands and positioned vertically, pointing towards the heavens above. The heavenly being swung its massive saber in a wide arc, and in a flash of blinding celestial light, vanished into the sky above. You quickly glance around now. You see most all of your comrades, having been dead only a few seconds ago, similarly dazed at the blinding light and alive once more! Of course! He was using Resurrection! You shout for joy, and you shout once again, once you see the Undead Dreadlord with a look of absolute disbelief on his terrorizing face.
Your joyful outburst is stopped short by a sudden confrontation with a dreaded abomination. You hack and slash, deftly rolling away from its hefty butchers knife, but an erstwhile hook-on-chain snags you around the middle and flings you over the creatures mangled, overgrown shoulder. You are hurt of course, and you sit there, bleeding slightly but not fatally, and nursing a bad -looking scrape on your left side above your hipbone. But as you watch on, you are surrounded in a yellow glow! And your wound almost immediately heals up and stops oozing blood! You look up to see a priest healing you with his mystic abilities! Thanks! you call as you get quickly to youre feet. The holy Priest just nods and turns around to heal another of your comrades.
Part8
- - - - - It seems that many of the men are having trouble taking down that accursed abomination. They had several knights, footmen, and priests at it, but they were having some trouble. As the Paladin uses Holy Light, because that ability can hurt Undead units as well as heal live ones, and the abomination starts to look weaker, you rush forward and hack at that being until finally, it falls. You manage not to get covered in the creatures vile blood. You run forward once more and a small ghoulish army with a few crypt fiends mixed in greets you. With the help of a few knights and some gun-toting rifleman, you all manage to take them down, with only the loss of one rifleman and knight! But any loss is a bad one, as you soon discover with the Undead. In a few moments, necromancers wave their black magical staffs, and then the warriors you had once thought of as allies had become skeleton warriors and skeletal mages! They dragged themselves up from the corpses of your friends, plucked their own swords and staffs from their backs, and proceeded to charge forward at you! You quickly defend yourself against the coming onslaught, when all of a sudden, the flame-wielding Blood Mage casts Flame Strike, engulfing the skeletal army in a huge pillar of flames! You watch in utter relief as the bones of the deathly warriors and mages blackens and cracks, and as most all of them fall to the ground in bony heaps. The remaining survivors slowly hobble forward, and are simple prey for you and your friends gleaming weapons.
To Be Continued.
