World of Warcraft: The Shattering: Prelude to Cataclysm Page 0,114
news is, they are gathering all their resources and warriors there and not attacking us on the road.”
Baine nodded. “They think Thunder Bluff impossible to claim and that any challenge on the road will be a waste of Grimtotem lives.”
Stormsong snorted. “You should have seen Gazlowe’s face when he read the list. The matriarch and her followers will be in for a very great surprise.”
The reinforcements from Sun Rock Retreat were not numerous, but they were apparently very swift. They were already waiting for Baine when he approached the path that led westward from the Southern Gold Road toward Mulgore. His heart lifted as a cry of welcome went up, and he could make out the chanting: “Baine! Baine! Baine!”
“Listen to them,” Hamuul said to him quietly. “You bring them hope. Your plan is audacious and risky,” he admitted, “but that is precisely why I believe it will succeed. You have your father’s steadiness and your own imagination, Baine Bloodhoof, and you will be victorious in this battle.”
“I pray you are right,” Baine said. “If we fail, I tremble for the fate of our people.”
Thunder Bluff, once filled with the sounds of raucous celebration, was now silent. The first victory, won by stealth in the night, had been fairly easy, but the Grimtotem now were preparing to fend off an army headed by a very popular leader, not slaughtering slumbering victims. Thunder Bluff was an excellent place for defense, and they could handle a long siege. Still, Magatha was not looking forward to it.
It had been foolish for Baine to be so open about his approach. Perhaps it had won him a few more followers, but it had also given his enemy time to prepare. And Magatha had not wasted the opportunity.
Scaling Thunder Bluff was not impossible, but it was very difficult, especially for tauren and even more so if said climbers were expected. The lifts were key—and if they were rigged to explode at the push of a button, as the engineers of the tribe were working on doing, it would be a challenge for Baine’s troops to do anything other than camp at the base and wait it out. And if things were timed correctly, the explosion might also take several of Baine’s followers with it. Magical methods of infiltration, such as portals, were already warded against.
And it would be a long wait. The several days’ notice that Baine had given them had enabled the Grimtotem to bring in a great quantity of food and other supplies. She had recalled all her people from Bloodhoof Village and the unsuccessful Sun Rock Retreat attack to defend this, the capital. Yes, the more Magatha thought about it, the calmer she grew. Baine would be defeated, as his father had been, and her stranglehold on the tauren would be certain.
She drifted to sleep in the lodge that had belonged to Cairne Bloodhoof. Her pleasant dreams were interrupted by a sudden flash of brilliant light and a roll of answering thunder that shook the very earth. Rain sluiced down on the lodge as Magatha bolted upright, snorting. Another blinding flash of lighting. A shaman and a tauren, Magatha was no stranger to storms. But this one had a powerful fierceness to it. She sniffed and listened, senses alert. Perhaps she was imagining things. Still, she had not lived this long by ignoring her instincts, and so she threw on some robes and a cape to guard against the torrential downpour.
Magatha squinted as rain pelted her face, peering upward. The sky was black and gray, with thunderclouds blotting out the stars. Nothing unusual. This place was called Thunder Bluff, after all. Satisfied that it was nothing more than a particularly violent storm, she reached to slip the hood further down over her face.
And then she saw it. It emerged from its cover, as garishly colored as the concealing thundercloud had been subdued, an airborne ship with a bright purple balloon hovering over it. Then came another … and another. She gasped with the crash of recognition.
“Zeppelins!” Magatha cried.
TWENTY-NINE
No sooner had Magatha uttered the word than ropes were lowered from the sides of the zeppelins, and several tauren, orcs, and trolls shimmied down them. Such was the surprise that many of the enemy were able to drop safely to the earth before the Grimtotem could gather guns and bows to defend themselves.
Once on the ground, the enemy rushed to attack. Three of them were heading directly for Magatha. Fully awake now, she frowned and