A World of Warcraft Fanfiction
Prequel to "Afterlife"
For every legend and their heroic feats that are spread across the continents of Azeroth, there are humble beginnings. They might not be a glorious start; in fact they could be as bad as it can begin with. But as they progress with life, they slowly mold and sculpt into the life as heroes and heroines. And of course, the legend of "The Unlikely Five" shares the same similarities. And this, is how it all started.
Escape?I remember everything, from the beatings of innocent men and women, framed because of a suspected "plague", and the interrogation of information from stronger men of the location of other cultists, and finally, the burning of most prisoners in the pile. The rest of the prisoners were sorted out, most were women and children, and I watched as the women were picked by the higher ranked officers and dragged into the keep, and the children were given weapons for them to "defend" against the hungry ghouls outside of the Monastery, only to be eaten alive, torn limb from limb by these savage monsters. Sometimes there might be survivors from the prisoners, and they would be immediately shot at by the lookouts in case he/she might turn undead.
I watched it all, I can hear something inside me broke and fell apart, but I don't know why. I looked at the other soldiers, but they just looked away and continued with their daily business. I stood at the courtyard looking at the half-eaten children one last time, before another crusader pulled me back into the keep.
I am Alfred, a Scarlet Crusader and stationed at the Scarlet Monastery as the newest recruit.
I never knew who my parents were, but I was raised at the fortress town of Tyr's Hand. Since birth, I was trained by many veteran paladins and bishops; about the arts of combat, the discipline of the light, and the vile evilness of the Scourge just outside the borders. I had few friends in the community, as the other initiates always looked at me with a disgusted look and spat "Halflings!", I didn't know the phrase until I asked Bishop Tuchman, he told me that some of the children born here does not have parents that lived in the shelters of the Scarlet Crusade. The women brought in from the outside were not always executed, some were taken by the higher powers and had to perform "rituals", which will impregnate the victim and gave birth to children that rumored to have both the power of the outside and the light, but this is highly unacceptable by the Order, and the mother would be quickly executed. And the children that were left would be trained and watched by the Order, and were all branded "Halflings".
I finally acknowledged my past and asked who my father was, but the bishop quickly pushed me out of the room and shut the door, and I continued with my life, but I did not expect the horrors later in my life.
And here I am, in the distant outpost of the Scarlet Monastery, a small foothold in Tristfall Glades for the Order and the training academy for new crusaders. And by the time I arrived at this outpost I am already having doubts of the Crusade's extreme methods. It all happened during my hard trainings as a cadet, but this is a whole different story.
I walked up the marble staircases back up to the foyer, and a tall man stood at the midway of the passage, casually leaning on the wall.
Kajet, my only friend in the Crusade. He is also a "Halfling", but his bright demeanor and disciplined mind earned him a lot of reputation, adding that he is a talented fighter; standing 6'3 and using a strange two-handed weapon called a 'katana'. It is a one and a half metre long curved blade, and I never understood how his thin blade could parry a broad claymore. He fought with both agility and ferocity that even Scarlet Commander Mongraine had a draw against him. He is truly the perfect man that everyone looks up to. He is now the captain for an elite team in the Order named "Crusade's Phalanx", specializing in hunting down elite Scourge and Forsaken groups.
"Hey Alfred! How's your time at the Monastery? You should be getting used to the massacre outside, it happens in a daily basis, even though most of the time the forsaken soldiers are the ones out at the slope." The forsaken incursions have been getting more frequent in the past two weeks, and sometimes they sent better infantry than normal grunts. The guards are getting tired from the constant invasions.
"Certainly not a pleasing time. Shouldn't you be on your mission shortly?" I casually asked, my mind is still full of the innocent people that had been slaughtered, some even by my hands.
"I certainly do, but the Scourge wouldn't mind waiting a few more minutes, I really wanted to catch up with my old friend!" Kajet patted on my shoulder; technically he slammed his palm on my shoulder plate, producing a loud crack amidst the silent halls of the Monastery. He grabbed my shoulder and kept walking along the corridors, saluting to the nearby guard and walked straight into the living quarters.
I signed off my shift on the guard roster and gave my badge to the next in shift, than walked out with Kajet, he did not don any armor on, but only brought a ceremonial sword and wore the red Scarlet Crusade uniform. We walked and laughed softly about various types of Scourge and what they could possibly cook up to feed their grunts. We continued walking to the Raven Quarters when a lady came out from the shadows of the pillars and walked up to us.
She is Adriana Bloodspear, cousin to the Chief Assassin Bloodspear and the lieutenant of Crusade's Phalanx, she is a very beautiful individual and a ferocious combatant, but she is also very cold to everyone but Kajet, I suspect a secret relationship but this is yet another story.
"Kajet! Where have you been? I've been looking all around the Monastery! Oh! You've been with this wimp again, how many times I've told you not to side with these cowardice worm ever again, they are as useless as a headless ghoul!" She never made sense with her insults, I breathed a heavy sigh and waved "Yeah yeah whatever, I am going back to my quarters so I will see you after your mission." I walked off but Kajet took hold of my shoulder, he looked at Adriana and said "I will be at the Armory in a moment, I think you can wait while me and my friend will discuss something private at OUR quarters." He stared at the girl intently; she backed up a little with blushed cheeks and said "FINE! Whatever!" and she stormed off into the halls. I looked back at my friend and said "Are you sure that is fine?" He looked at me intently and said "Yes, I have something important to discuss with you.", and we walked into our living area.