Before setting out on this commando mission, Varrus took stock of his current skills that would help him infiltrate the enemy lines.
His Illusion tree was comfortably resting at 100, giving him access to an advanced, Master tier invisibility spell, Shroudwalk.
Under Shroudwalk's effect, Varrus was invisible until the skill was broken by a strong amount of contact, like striking someone with a weapon. However, this spell turned Varrus into a straight up menace, because as soon as Varrus broke stealth, it would automatically make him invisible again, up to 5 times.
There were also a few other Illusion spells useful in a stealth scenario, however, the most impactful perk was Silent Storm, which made all of his spells silent.
Outside of that, Varrus had taken some time during the last 2-3 weeks to train in his Sneak skill.
There wasn't much time since he was busy with a hundred other things, but he had managed to raise it up to level 56.
Fortunately, he didn't have to duck walk/squat to engage stealth, as the Skyrim UI interpreted stealth as going purposefully undetected. However, given the sharp hearing of the Elves, this was a particularly difficult ability to increase.
Thankfully, Varrus accidentally discovered a foolproof means to level up. His wife had been insistent that they practice parenthood, as she wanted to be better than both of their parents. Varrus had agreed, and had unwittingly found himself dragged into playing hide and seek with the orphans that had been adopted into House Vandercross.
And so, it was through a harmless childs game that Varrus unwittingly grinded his Sneak tree.
It really did make a difference too.
The basic perk, Sneak Mastery, increased his stealth capabilities by 30%.
His footsteps were lighter, and when he deliberately wanted to remain hidden, the children had said that they could be looking in his direction, but couldn't see him. It was like their brains registered that an object was there, but that he blended in, like just another piece of furniture.
It was only when Varrus moved, or made noise, that this imbalance broke, and the children could then easily identify him.
In terms of perks, there were quite a few that amplified his damage.
Demolition Job increased Destruction spells dmg 1% for every point in Sneak (52%) or a staggering 2% for runes.
Infiltrator made his footsteps and armor 75% more silent. Add onto that with the spell, Muffle, and he was virtually, completely silent as he moved. Which, given he was no Navy Seal, or professional assassin, made up for his lack of experience.
And of course, with the various perks he had unlocked, there was a damage modifier on weapons, but daggers specifically dealt 202% more damage, on top of the 2x damage modifier of a sneak attack!
Needless to say, Varrus had a thorium dagger prepped, and ready to go for this mission.
There was only one hang up Varrus had, and was making him nervous.
“How are we going to tell where each of us is, if we're invisible?” Varrus said in concern to Syra.
Syra glanced at him in bemusement, then handed him a rusted knife that had a well-worn, crude bone hilt.
‘This knife had clearly been used alot’ Varrus thought to himself, based upon the groove on the handle.
Syra slowly closed Varrus's fingers around the handle, and gazed at it longingly for a moment, before directing a meaningful smile at Varrus, and taking a step back.
Varrus felt like there was some important message conveyed in that look, but he was a simple man, not some Grecko scholar intune with the currents of a maiden’s heart!
“What's this then? Sorry for being ignorant, but besides hiding my magic, I'm not very well versed in clandestine activities.” Varrus said, confused.
“It's my first weapon. I gouged a Troll's eyes with my thumbs when I was 8, then cut his head off with his own weapon.” Syra boasted with a look that screamed ‘praise me.’
Varrus had learnt of her backstory, and felt pity for this broken woman he called a wife, but at this point, he could only find her expression to be adorable.
What a big ball of murderous love!
“Thank you for the gift, that was quite the achievement.” Varrus rubbed the side of hers face with the back of his hand. “But, how will this let me know where you are while we are invisible?”
“The dagger is a bound item. If it is near, I can call it to me at any time. I can feel its presence. With it in your possession, I'll always know where you are.” Syra stared unblinkingly into Varrus's eyes, and an unsmiling, flat expression.
Varrus nodded along. Of course, in WoW, you could bind gear, making it unequipable by others. He had learned about its practical effects when he paid Dakkar a visit in the dungeons. However, he had never conceived that this style of magic unique to Warcraft could be used in such a novel way.
It just went to show that the natives of this universe weren't stupid if they could create, and innovate magic to have multiple uses.
Besides this newfound revelation regarding binding magic, Varrus found himself in a pickle. He didn't know how to bind an item, and was caught in an embarrassing situation.
A brief silence ensued, in which Syra meaningfully glanced at the dagger, then back to Varrus.
‘Oh shit, she must want a similarly deep meaning object from me!...but I've only been here for something like 3 months, and use magic for all my kills!’ Varrus slightly panicked, as he worried he would make Syra sad that he couldn't reciprocate with an equally meaningful gift.
She may be crazy, but he didn't fear didn't fear his life over this one. However, that didn't mean he wanted to hurt her on an emotional level. People were finicky, and he was a complete amateur at managing relationships. What would a woman, no, what would Syra want in this situation?
‘Fuck, what gift do I give to a murdering lady like this? Furthermore, it had to be a gift symbolizing my deep love and affection for her?!’
Varrus racked his brains, thinking deeply. Did he even have anything bound to him in the first place? Because as far as he remembered, he never learned the magic to bind an item…no wait, there was one thing!
Pulling a big green head out from his inventory, Varrus presented it to Syra with baited breath.
“Hey mon, watchu doin keepin me locked up like dat? Comon, Zul’Jin ain't so bad! Just keep me out, and we can be friends, yeah? Anyting but the darkness!” The former chieften of the Amani Trolls spoke quickly, before Varrus retied a string around the Troll's jaw, shutting him up.
“Oh, Varrus, it's perfect!” Syra grabbed Zul’Jin by the hair, and placed the crying Troll's head into her mageweave bag.
“Ahh-haha…Sorry I couldn't get you Drathir Dar'Khan, but his head is still on display at-oomph.” Varrus nervously began to explain, but got glomped mid sentence by Syra.
Pulling him in for a tight embrace, Syra shared a big wide smile with Varrus, then tugged on his hand.
“Come on, come on! We can't stand around here all day! I have to find a flower to press in my diary!” Syra said with the kind of excitement a kid would have when they're going to the local lake, beach, or amusement park.
She then pressed away from him, and entered stealth. Light shimmered and rippled around her form, then a second later, Varrus only saw thin air.
“Let's go!” An energetic, disembodied voice called out from Varrus's side.
Varrus rolled his eyes. Only his wife could be so enthused about the prospect of murder.
Tossing Shroudwalk over himself, Varrus followed after Syra out onto a muddy plains.
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
The soil, which had been warped gray due to the Death magic, was now a slurry due to the rainwater, and reminded Varrus of cement.
All around them were a sea of zombies, and skeletons.
Analyzing their current formation, they seemed to be waiting for something, and were silently idling as Varrus and Syra slipped through their ranks.
Their current stillness was great news for Varrus, and it made moving past them rather simple. However, something was rotten about this scenario, and it wasn't their smell.
Narrowing his eyes, Varrus compared the Undead down here on the plain, compared to those who were currently assaulting the main gates.
The zombies going on the offensive were slobbering, screeching, hungering monstrosities.
However, the orderly zombies and skeletons down here remained quiet, and lined up in rows.
Glancing once more at the cliff face, a light bulb went off in Varrus's head. Someone was planning on flanking Tranquillien by climbing up the cliffside!
“You’ve stood still for a long time, is everything alright?” Syra whispered in his ear.
“I'm fine, don't you find the current set up to be out of place?” Varrus queried.
“Hmm, you're right. My husband sure is smart to recognize the difference. If I was the enemy commander, I would have them scale the cliff just as the barrier broke, that way, the dragonhawk knights would be too distracted to interfere.” Syra said in a speculative voice.
Varrus nodded along, then realized he was invisible, and stopped the foolish movement.
“I agree. Destroying those ziggurats is our top priority, however, I don't want to leave this Horde unattended to. There must be somewhere between 20-50,000 Undead lined up over here.” Varrus speculated.
“Now we're talking.” Syra whispered huskily, and she very gently ran her hand along Varrus's inner thigh, giving him a spine tingling sensation.
Her movements were so subtle, so soft, that they didn't break invisibility for either of them. The thrill of being caught whilst in the middle of an Undead horde had Varrus experience both panic, and thrill.
Stamping down on any lewd thoughts, Varrus took a deep breath, then looked longingly to the side, only to catch the rotten face of a zombie, killing any desire he felt at the moment.
“Ahem, do you have any ideas? If we caused any disturbance amongst this crowd, it would be sure to draw the attention of the Scourge's Heroes and Elites.” Varrus said in concern.
Although he wanted to nip this bud ahead of time, and eliminate the threat to their rear, that didn't mean he wanted to risk it all taking out what ultimately amounted to a large group of trash mobs.
The twin ziggurats were the real prize. Eliminate them, and the town shield protecting Tranquillien would be secure.
“It's simple, do you see those twelve necromancers? The ones equipped with scrying orbs? We kill them, swift as lightning, then, with no one to report on the situation, you cast that Frenzy spell on these neatly lined up regiments. Then, pandemonium will erupt in their ranks. By the time the Heroes arrive, we'll be long gone, and this will serve as the perfect distraction while we destroy the ziggurats.” Syra succinctly laid out her plan. However, the more she spoke, the more fervent, and thrilled she sounded.
Varrus raised his eyebrows, once more impressed by Syra's tactical acumen.
It was a simple plan, but there was no need to overly complicate things.
Cause chaos, then skedaddle on out of there.
“Right, let's begin.” Varrus whispered.
“...”
Varrus was about to say something else, when he saw the head of a necromancer suddenly fly up into the air.
Syra briefly became visible, in response, the skeletons who had been neatly lined up mindlessly stared at her.
Varrus could sense murderous intentions wafting off of them, yet they maintained their formation.
He wanted to laugh out loud at the absurdity! In preparing to make this assault upon the cliffside, the commander of these Undead must have explicitly ordered them to hold perfectly still!
Whoever was controlling the Scourge on this front was no RTS god, like Arthas or the Lich King. Instead, they were dealing with a novice who commanded his units to go to a point, only to idle!
Syra flashed a wide grin towards Varrus, then disappeared as she entered stealth once more. Using the speed of her enchanted gear, she had slain 5 of the necromancers by the time Varrus had slipped his thorium dagger into the back of his target.
Varrus approached the back of a black robed necromancer, and slowly raised his dagger. He noted that it was a human, and based upon the symbols on his robe, a member of the Cult of the Damned.
Peering over the cultist’s shoulder, he saw a live feed of the attack on the gates from the Scourge's perspective.
Allatrocx was raining down constant fire, and Rho'dan was busy smashing countless trash mobs with his shield, and cleaving any zombie he came across with ease.
Varrus noticed that the Highborn wore smiles, and overall, their morale was quite good.
This made Varrus realize that whoever the Scourge commander was, they may not be godlike micromanagers, but this plot to lure the defenders into a false sense of security was quite insidious.
Varrus wanted to cluck his tongue at the situation, but held himself back.
Plunging his dagger forward, the crimson thorium blade easily pierced the necromancer's black heart-like a knife entering butter-then in one quick motion, Varrus retracted the blade, and decapitated the black robed man.
As soon as he had murdered the cultist, he became visible, however, thanks to Shroudwalk, he was invisible again within a second.
Repeating this motion two more times, Varrus noticed that all of the sub-commanders responsible for this area had been eliminated.
“Good work! My beautiful wife took out 9 by the time I slew 3!” Varrus chuckled.
“If it were anyone else stealing my kills, I'd teach them a lesson.” Syra replied sweetly.
“Ahem, we must be swift about taking out these zombies before anyone notices the necromancers and their absence.” Varrus pulled at his collar, and changed the subject.
“Good, good! I wish I had a picture of Tenris's face when he discovers his super secret assault force is killing themselves due to infighting!” Syra’s bell-like laughter resonated across the silent field, flaunting the fact that there was no one to report on their actions.
“For once, I agree. I didn't meet with Tenris much, but he seems like a twat.” Varrus figuratively poured some gasoline on the former Crown Prince.
“I can't wait to press a new flower in my journal. Ah, can you collect his head for me? You know, he was my most ardent pursuer.” Syra said, implying Varrus should take care of it.
Varrus shivered at the request. People in RPG's, especially WoW, had a serious obsession with collecting heads.
But it was what it was. In this bananas crazy world, collecting a head from his wife's enemy was the equivalent of checking downstairs for a robber back on Earth.
“Alright, stand back. I have little control over this spell, and while I'm sure you would resist it, I'd rather not chance having you lose your mind and attack me.” Varrus said, shooing Syra away.
When he felt her move to a distance he deemed safe, Varrus began to determine where he should stand for his spell to take the maximum effect.
The Undead had clustered themselves into groups, where they had lined themselves up 100 across, and 100 back. There were 4 of such clusters made up of various ghouls, zombies and skeletons, making up about 40,000 Undead in total.
Between each row, there was just enough room for a man to stand. It was in such a scenario, that Varrus found himself standing in the middle of a cluster.
Bringing his hands down, Varrus once more cast Mayhem upon the Undead.
He then rapidly Blinked out of the formation as the Undead turned upon one another, and began to viciously gnaw on bones, or rip each other in half.
Varrus repeated this process several more times, thankful that there were no mages to dispel the effects, or mentally dominate the Scourge forces.
In little over 10 minutes, half of the flanking force had been decimated
Varrus nodded, satisfied with the destruction he had wrought upon the damned.
“I once did something similar to a pair of minor Troll tribes. There is nothing more satisfying than watching your enemies tear themselves apart.” Syra said as she reached behind Varrus for a hug.
Varrus noticed that neither of their invisibilities had broken…
Biting his lip, Varrus pushed down on his bodily urges once more. However embarrassing would it be to lose a battle because he couldn't keep it in his pants?
Varrus blindly groped around, and finally felt the smoothness of Syra's face.
“You are a naughty little minx, my dear, taunting and teasing me at every turn now that I cannot see you. I think the Lady Vandercross has grown bolder when she goes unseen.” Varrus kissed her all around the face before finally finding her lips.
He felt a tongue enter his mouth, and a hand squeeze down on the tip of his dick, confirming his suspicions.
Who knew? Syra had an invisibility kink!
Varrus pulled away lest he stiffen any further, he then flicked Syra on the ear, exactly where she was sensitive, eliciting a moaning from her.
Knowing that she was hot and bothered put a smile on Varrus's face. She was always the one teasing him, it was time for a little payback!
He then ran towards one of the ziggurats in good cheer. When his life wasn't in imminent danger, these risky escapades behind enemy lines were quite thrilling!
Other couples went to the movies, or out to a fancy dinner. With him and Syra, well, they were unique. Instead of the movies, they stealth killed vile necromancers from behind. Instead of fancy dinners, they pranked an entire army.
If this wasn't love, then Varrus didn't want to find out what was.
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