A book, recently bound, is found in a bookshelf near the meeting table, the title of which is curiosly titled, "The Adventures of a Paladin". It also has an alternate title in parentheses, the title there being "The History of Alenki".
The young man ran from the warlock, sobbing at the dead body that he created with his own hands. He knew one thing; he had to get away from the old warlock, cackling and appearing to chase after him. The man jumped into an alley-way, rushing past all the garbage and rats, hurrying towards the main road where there would surely be roads leading from the city.
As he exited the alleyway, he turned to look back and see if the warlock was chasing him. Immediately, he struck a very solid object and fell to the ground, shaking his head to remove the stars from his vision. "Young man…are you all right?" The voice reverberated, as though it was full of power. The young man looked up, and tears entered his eyes at the magnificent sight. It was a man who obviously was full of the Light, bringing it with him wherever he went. He was a paladin. "Please! Please…help me! There was a crazed warlock…he was chasing me…I was learning…please…help…" Suddenly, the boy's vision spun as he felt himself drop to the ground.
Gavinrad the Dire smiled calmly and asked the young man who ran into him if he was all right. The young man seemed to stumble over his words before finally losing consciousness. The paladin reached down and touched the young man's shoulder, cleansing him of the magical effect casted upon him, frowning. "Such a foul type of magic...so who could have caused it?" Gavinrad looked towards Lordaeron Keep, deciding that he would send a message with a courier about the predicament. Lord Gavinrad bent over, pulling the young man over his shoulder, carrying him to his estate.
The young man awoke to a warm bed, new clothes next to him, and the paladin staring out the window. Trying to move, the young man realized his arm was broken and cried out slightly. The paladin turned around, looking at the young man. "Are you okay, young one? You took quite a tumble. " The paladin walked over and held out his hand calmly, allowing the Light to flow between his hand and the young man's arm, mending his discolored arm.
"Wh…why did you help me? You're a paladin, so you can surely sense the taint surrounding me…" The young man breathed out, looking down at his fists, clutching the blanket and each other. "You seemed quite frightened…so I'm guessing your master wasn't such a good one, boy. You must learn that the dark is not to be tampered with…and who better to teach you?" "Alenki…Alenki Sighait. That's my name." Gavinrad blinked once as he processed the name. "Sighait? Of the House of Sighait?" Alenki nodded, keeping his gaze on his fists clutching the blankets. "Ah…that would explain that, wouldn't it? Well, Alenki, my name is Gavinrad the Dire."
Alenki looked up, surprised at the name. Gavinrad smiled and nodded. "Yes…that very one Gavinrad. I plan on training you, if you'd like. You have the making of greatness, Alenki." Alenki returned the smile. "Yes, sir! I'll gladly train under you. Will…will that remove the dark taint from me?" "The Light removes all darkness, correct? Then yes, Alenki, it will." Alenki reached over and began putting on the clean clothes, feeling their warmth.
Lord Gavinrad got up, looking over to the castle. "I'd like to take you with me into Lordaeron Keep. I'm sure Lord Terenas will be ecstatic to hear that one of his favored knight families survived the plague." Alenki smiled and got up, looking around the room, feeling somewhat odd. "Here…your first weapon as a paladin." Gavinrad brought forth a wooden hammer. Alenki looked down at the hammer, feeling slightly awed at the fact that he was about to undertake the salvation of his own soul. "Now then, let's get moving, hmm?"
Gavinrad walked out of the room, and Alenki followed him quickly, after strapping the hammer to his back. They reached the streets, the sunlight blocked out by clouds that never seemed to clear. They walked into the keep, passing by the Lordaeron Infantrymen and walking into the main chamber, kneeling immediately. King Terenas II looked forward to Gavinrad, smiled, and then looked down to Alenki. His eyes scrunched for a moment before his face lit up. "Little 'Lenki? Is that you, boy?"
Alenki smiled, embarrassed at the nickname which seemed to persist, and nodded. "It is I, my lord, Alenki Frederick Sighait, here to serve you and train under Gavinrad." King Terenas sighed and nodded, looking at Gavinrad. "My son…he has not returned as of yet. I worry that the emissaries may have run into trouble while trying to sail for Northrend. Not many ships have made it up there." Gavinrad nodded. "Do not worry, my lord. He is not so far gone that he would not listen to the reasoning of his own father."
Alenki sighed, remembering Arthas as the very eager, very dedicated man he once was. Then, his memories of Stratholme returned, and Alenki was almost shaking in rage. He remembered walking outside of the expansive city to clear his mind of an odd dream that had been plaguing him, of a strange elf with purple skin who practiced some strange sort of magic involving nature. When he returned, there were very few people left, but he watched as Arthas and some of his men burned the house Alenki was staying in down and then proceeding to kill the men who had inhabited, including Alenki's Knight-master.
After seeing what became of those who had ingested the plagued grain, he realized how lucky he was to get punished to not have any food that night, after pulling an incorrect strike in combat practice that almost beheaded his master. Alenki breathed in and out slowly, looking up and realizing that both Gavinrad and King Terenas were staring at him. "I apologize for my behavior, sirs. I was just…remembering the culling."
King Terenas nodded, sighing softly. "I honestly have no idea how Arthas could've done that." Alenki nodded. "Gavinrad, please take care of young Alenki here. He is quite important to all of us, being the last of the Sighait line." Lord Gavinrad nodded reverently, noting his responsibility with pride. "I will not fail you, milord." Gavinrad bowed to Terenas, and Alenki immediately bowed as well. They both left the audience chamber, Alenki feeling happy that the king had recognized him and that his training of The Light would soon commence.
You note that the book seems to skip a few months, and suddenly start on the next chapter with no notation.
Alenki ran through the plague-stricken forests at Lord Gavinrad's behest. He turned for just a moment as he heard Gavinrad's voice ringing out in the odd daylight. "I can't believe that we ever called you brother! I knew it was a mistake to accept a spoiled prince into our order. You've made a mockery of the Silver Hand!" Alenki stopped running, walking slowly back to where he started at. He saw Gavinrad standing on one side, with four footmen nearby, all of them battle-readied. Alenki smiled, remembering the strength Gavinrad had with the Light. Suddenly, a dark bolt flew forward, striking Gavinrad in the chest. The smile faded from Alenki's face as he watched Gavinrad fall to one knee, gasping for breath. Suddenly, ghouls rushed forward, content to fight with the footmen. Slowly, a skeletal mount drew close to Gavinrad's gasping form.
Alenki gasped, wishing all this to be a dream, something that he would wake up from, but he knew from the moment Frostmourne sunk into Gavinrad's head that this was no dream. Alenki immediately ran, cursing the noises he made while running. He heard the sound of something rushing over leaves and hazarded a glance backwards, regretting it immediately. Two ghouls had picked up his trail and were rushing after him, their tongues hanging out of their mouths, slightly decayed.
Alenki kept on running, willing the Light to give him enough strength and speed. Finally, Alenki approached the gates of Andorhol, keeping himself moving until he saw Lord Uther the Lightbringer, standing and talking to two other paladins. "L-lord Uther…Lord Gavinrad…dead…Arthas is here…" Uther looked down at Alenki, shocked to hear all of this. "All right, men, you heard him! Get ready! We will hold him here…we will destroy this scourge!"
Alenki turned before Uther could stop him, intent on continuing as his master instructed him. Alenki would not stop until he reached a safe haven. As he continued to run south, he ran past Tarren Mill, noting the burial mound and continuing through the Arathi Highlands. Finally, Alenki reached the bridge into the Wetlands, a known safe haven of the Bronzebeard Dwarves. As he neared the bridge, he saw some guards standing next to it, looking at Alenki curiously.
Out of breath, Alenki breathed words out that were barely comprehensible. "Scourge…Kel'thuzad…remains…" After uttering those words, Alenki passed out, crashing into the ground with an audible thud. Before completely losing consciousness, he could hear the guards rushing forward to check on Alenki.
When Alenki next awoke, he was in a warm bed in a large stone house. He looked around, noting a fireplace and a stairwell leading up. Alenki got up, looking for his hammer. As he picked It up, he felt dizzy and sick, the memories of the past day beating themselves back into his head, through his thoughts. He wavered for a moment before catching himself, looking up and discovering a gnome staring at him, her pink hair contrasting with anything Alenki had been ready for.
"Ah…er…um…" Alenki could only stutter, not even able to work his mind enough to get words to form. The gnome giggled. "You should sit down, you know. You're really in no shape to go anywhere for a while." Her voice was higher-pitched than most little girls he remembered from his childhood, which made him smile slightly. "I…I have to get moving. Gavinrad…he told me to keep going south…to speak to the good people of Northshire Abbey."
"Ah…so that's what your goal was. How did you plan on getting there? There are mountains in all directions, surrounding us. Without a griffon or very good mountain-climbing skills, you'd likely die." Alenki sat there, dumbfounded at the thought of mountain-climbing. The gnome giggled again. "You can ride the Deeprun tram, you know. It'll take you straight to Stormwind. From there, I'm sure you can get directions to Northshire Abbey"
Alenki nodded, smiling. "You're right…I could do that. Thank you for your assistance." Alenki sat up, willing himself to stay up. The gnome looked a bit worried at first, and then hugged his legs. "Be careful, paladin. There are dark forces at work now…and you may be caught in the middle." Alenki looked down at the gnome, seeing her sad eyes glancing back up to him. "Erm…well…if you want, I can come visit you regularly. It's the least I can do for you after you've given me the ability to rest and recuperate for this one day."
The gnome smiled at him, nodding quickly. She helped him down to the Deeprun station, getting him on the somewhat busy tram. "Take care, paladin!" Alenki smiled and waved, feeling the sudden tug of the tram pull him from Ironforge. Finally, he was about to start his own training…with the Light moving through him as it had, he had become a paladin, worthy to wield a hammer and redeem others with the Light.