User:Jormungand01/The Fords of Thondroril

Southshore and Hillsbrad had fallen, and all Alliance forces there either killed or driven out. The defenders had been forced to retreat to the eastern bank of the Thondroril River, which flowed from Zul'Aman down through the Plaguelands and Darrowmere Lake, until it met the sea near Southshore. In its lower course the river was become wide and deep, yet still as torrentious as ever. It formed an impenetrable barrier which the Scourge could not cross, except at one point - the bridge by Tarren Mill.

Needless to say the Scourge was desperate to cross and take ultimate victory, and so both sides ened up concentrating all their forces at that one location. Due to its narrow width the undead could only cross one at a time, and this made them easy prey for the soldiers waiting on the other side. One man could effectively hold the bridge, slaughtering all undead before they had a chance to respond, with thousands more waiting to take over once he got tired. After several hours of sending ghouls to their redeaths, the lich Abrakkar the Wretched gave the order to halt, and summoned his generals to discuss new tactics.

The break in the fighting gave the Alliance a chance to try and bring the bridge down. Gnomish engineers began to lay explosives all along it, but before they had completed their task the attacks resumed. Mounted on some of the mightiest of the Frostbrood one hundred death knights plunged from the skies and came crashing into battle. Though the bridge was held the inner ranks of the Alliance army were dismembered, soldiers falling to the ground to escape the icy claws of the frost wyrms only to be frozen solid by their breath.

Still the Alliance held on, and for several weeks the two sides seemed to be locked in stalemate. But eventually a second bridge was completed to the south, undead flowed onto the eastern bank, and the defenders had no choice but to retreat and confront this new threat.