Chapter I
Anadelias Lightwarder trudged his way through the mist laden forest. The pestilent stench of death hung heavily in the air, as it usually did in these woods. The corrupted Plaguelands were not a place for the weak stomached. Even veterans of the Third War sometimes had problems with the smell whilst on their patrols. Thanks to the ingenuity of Anadelias' wife, he never had a problem with the smell. She had created a small charm that he could wear around his neck with her minor enchanting skills. When worn, the necklace gave an aura that smelt of freshly bloomed purple lotuses, thus negating most noxious smells.
As Anadelias continued on, a not-so-distant cracking noise broke the silence.
His patrol partner, another veteran paladin and long time friend by the name of Gavrin the Stout, turned to him with a wary look on his face. "What was that?" He glanced around at the similarly twisted and deformed trees trying to deduce where the noise had come from.
"Keep walking." Anadelias replied, a slight frown creasing his forehead. "They're trying to surround us."
Gavrin let out a small snort. "Bloody repetitive undead, why can't they make it interesting for a change?"
A small chill ran up Anadelias' back as they drew closer to the small clearing they usually stopped at for a rest on their patrol. "I think you might just get your chance today. Be ready."
Gavrin turned to Anadelias with a look of frustration. "Bah! A round at the tavern says it won't be."
Without skipping a beat, Anadelias retorted with a "you're on" and kept his attention directed forward.
He took no more than two steps forward before something shattered underfoot with a sharp crunch. A puzzled look crossed Anadelias' face. Normally in the Plaguelands, things made a wet, squelching sound when they were stepped on. He looked down to see that he had stepped on a weed, but for some inexplicable reason it had been frozen, explaining the crunch when he had stepped on it.
"Here, what do ya make of this?" he asked Gavrin.
Gavrin turned and kneeled next to the broken weed to examine it. He poked it with his finger before reaching his conclusion. "I've never seen anything like it in me life." He stood and looked around before something caught his eye. "Now, I'm no apothecary, but I'd wager it has something to do with that." Gavrin said, pointing to a tree branch that had several icicles hanging from it.
A concerned frown grew on Anadelias' face. "This is very strange."
Turning back to Gavrin, he noticed that the forest had now grown conspicuously darker around them, prompting him to action. Grabbing the spell book hanging from his waist, he opened it and flipped through several pages before he found what he wanted. Uttering a few words, the effect was instant; a great flash of light lit the surrounding area, throwing shadows behind trees and illuminating the paladin with an aura of light. The wispy mist that that been swirling about started to retreat from the bright light, almost as if it was trying to hide from it. Several shrouded figures that were close by made hissing noises when in the light and they retreated to the safety of the darkness.
"I got a bad feeling about this Gav; keep your eyes sharp and your hammer ready."
Gavrin merely grunted an acknowledgment in return.
Anadelias led the way, lighting the forest around them, which thankfully also kept the mysterious fog at bay, further increasing their vision. The more they advanced towards the clearing ahead, the more the temperature dropped. When the two paladins made it to their usual clearing, the temperature had dropped drastically. Mist started to escape from their mouths every time they breathed out, giving them an indication of how cold the area was around them.
"Ana, its colder here than bloody Northrend!" Gavrin complained.
Before Anadelias could answer, an evil, echoed laugh cut through the woods. Both paladins looked around to see where the laughter was coming from but could see nothing beyond the range of Anadelias' light.
"Actually, Northrend is somewhat colder than this." A hollow, almost ethereal sounding voice answered.
A figure cloaked in shadow just beyond the lit tree line stirred and began to move towards them. The mist followed and wrapped itself around the figure and swirled about, roiling along at the same pace. Then, when they stepped into the light and the mist stayed behind, unable to follow into the light, was the mysterious person revealed.
He was male, with a muscular build and stood of average height, clad in a set of dark blue, almost black armour from head to toe like an armoured carapace. Vicious spikes protruded from the large armoured pauldrons on his shoulders and there were skull patterns emblazoned all over the rest of his armour. The ground where he stepped iced over, creating a path of frozen boot-shaped patches behind him. Standing now no more than ten meters from the bewildered paladins, they finally realised who had been talking to them: a Death Knight of the Scourge.
"You've came a long way just to die, ya Scourge filth!" Shouted Gavrin, his voice filled with contempt.
"And you have a lot to learn of manners, paladin." The death knight condescended.
"What business do you have here dark one? Your kind has not been seen around here for some time." Anadelias inquired.
"Nothing that I shall reveal to you." With that said the death knight reached behind him and started to unsheathe his weapon. Anadelias and Gavrin looked on as he removed the massive sword.
The death knight thrust the runeblade's tip into the ground, almost as if showing it off to the two paladins. It stood over five feet tall and mist rolled off the wicked looking blade. Its razor-sharp edge and smooth surface made it seem almost elegant in appearance and was a startling contrast to the jagged runes that were carved deep into the blade. The runes themselves ran from tip to hilt and they seemed to glow with a faint blue light, almost as if emitting the chill of Northrend itself.
Gavrin looked to the death knight and shouted, "Before we purge ya from the land, what's yer name, filth?"
The death knight looked upon the paladin with disdain. "My name is Lord Soulbane, and it shall be last time you hear it!" Soulbane lifted his runeblade into the air and shouted a "For the Lich King" moments before the undead that were lurking behind him erupted from the shadowed tree line, rushing forward, some of them even charging on all fours in a frenzy to rip the holy warriors to shreds.
"For the Light!" was all Anadelias could manage to say before the wave of undead broke against the paladins. Gavrin's hammer swung left then right, smashing clean through rotting arms and decaying skulls. Unnaturally sharp nails clawed against his plate armour, snapping and breaking, unable to penetrate the thick truesilver. A quick thrust with the top of the hammer crushed a soft, unprotected ghoul torso, stopping it mid-step and Gavrin grunted with satisfaction as it toppled over, never to rise again.
With his grip never loosening and his focus never wavering, Gavrin held of the horde of animated flesh and bone at bay, never giving them ground.
Anadelias, while just as proficient with his hammer as Gavrin was with his, preferred to smite his foes with the power of the Light. Lowering his hammer, he slowly recited a few solemn, well-versed words and suddenly the ground beneath them was almost as bright as the sun itself. The consecrated ground was deadly to the undead unfortunate enough to be on it at the time. From their feet to their heads, they burnt to ash and were blown away in the cold breeze that cut through the woods.
An enterprising ghoul tried to jump down from a nearby tree branch onto Anadelias but just as it clawed at his shoulder armour, tiny golden lightning bolts arced to the attacker, cutting it to pieces.
Anadelias quickly whispered a small prayer to the Light, thanking it that its retribution was with him today.
Refocusing on the battle, the paladin stretched his arm outward with his hand pointing at a shambling zombie. He began to chant particular verses from the holy book that hung at his waist, knowing them by heart and having used them many times in the past. Every time he pointed at a different undead, his hand would glow with the golden hue of the Light and the undead would be caught in a searing holy fire and obliterating it instantly. Moving from undead to undead, Anadelias cut down the remaining horrors with ease. Gavrin crushed a few zombies that still persistently crawled along the ground with his mighty hammer and before long the only one that was left was the unmoving Death Knight, who was now alone on the battlefield.
Gavrin used his gloved hand to wipe off some on the zombie that had stuck to his hammer. "Hah, if that's the best ya got, you'd best be running away with yer tail firmly between yer legs while ya still can, filth." Gavrin said smugly.
Anadelias heaved his hammer onto his shoulder and it began to emanate a bright, holy light. "Surrender now, Soulbane, and I shall grant you a quick and merciful death."
Soulbane sneered at Anadelias' proposal. "Oh, should I get down on my knees and await my execution?" He looked at each of them individually. "I think you are both overestimating yourselves" he scoffed, confident in himself.
"So be it" Gavrin said, tightening his grip. He charged forward, hammer in the air, ready for a powerful swing.
Anadelias watched as his friend ran forward and frowned as he felt the ground begin to rumble. Having a good idea what this meant, he shouted after Gavrin. "Stop, it's a trap!"
Gavrin, already mid-charge was unable to stop in time as the ground exploded to his immediate left, a column of dirt and grass flying into the air, throwing him to the ground. From the hole, a crypt fiend burst forth, it claws raking at the ground where Gavrin had just been.
"Bloody hell!" Shouted a surprised Gavrin. He tried to shuffle backwards and get to his feet, but the agile crypt fiend was already on top of him, pinning him down with its front two legs.
Gavrin was able to move around enough to dodge the first thrust, but his reflexes proved to be his undoing as he moved right into the path of the second. The blessed truesilver breastplate that had protected him for years, thick as it was, was no match for the burrowing-hardened claws of the crypt fiend and they pierced the plate and sunk deep into his chest. His vision started to blur and go hazy. The last thing Gavrin saw was the head of the fiend burst into holy flame and disintegrate before everything turned to black.
"NOOOO" Anadelias shouted as he saw the claws sink into Gavrin's chest. He let forth with a burst of holy energy, instantly killing the beast and watched its twitching body fall to the ground. For a second he stood there, stunned, not wanting to believe what he just saw. He took a step forward, then another and finally broke into a run towards Gavrin's now still body. Coming to a stop beside his friend he dropped to his knees, his hammer falling to the red-brown dirt with a loud thump. He took Gavrin's head and cradled it in his hands. "No…no, no, no." A tear ran down his cheek and landed in the dry dirt, which greedily absorbed it.
"Such a waste of great potential." Soulbane said in a tone that rang of false sympathy.
Anadelias' grief and sorrow quickly turned to anger and manifested itself as vengeance upon hearing the death knight's hollow voice. Gently lowering Gavrin's head to the ground, he turned and drew himself to his full height.
"You."
"Me?" Answered Soulbane, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes you." Anadelias snapped.
"I can't see-" A horse whinnying in the distance made him pause mid-sentence. "-why you would blame me for his recklessness."
"You will pay for this dark act. There was no honour in what you did. I swear, with the Light as my witness, I will destroy you Lord Soulbane, Death Knight of the Scourge."
An arrogant Soulbane sneered at Anadelias. "If you think you can best me boy you are sorely mistaken" Soulbane raised his runeblade and adopted a defensive posture upon seeing the paladin bearing down on him with a vigour unsurpassed.
Anadelias left forth a mighty rage filled shout as he brought up his hammer from the side for a powerful uppercut. Soulbane brought his runeblade up and in a practiced movement deflected the warhammer just enough that it would swing short. Anadelias used the remaining momentum to twirl his hammer behind him then above for a powerful downward blow. Soulbane saw it coming and moved back just in time to watch the bright hammer fly through the air in front of him where he stood no more than a millisecond ago.
Seeing an opportunity, the death knight went on the offensive, swinging his runeblade from the side and up. The attack would have raked Anadelias from his waist to shoulder but he brought his hammer up in a block just in the nick of time. Soulbane followed through with another quick thrust aimed at his stomach, but Anadelias battered the runeblade aside.
Soulbane merely grunted in retort. "Come paladin; see if you can really best me."
Suddenly, the runes on his blade glowed bright blue and the temperature dropped a few degrees as mist once again roiled from the runeblade. The blue hue from the runes started to grow, moving over the surface of the blade and before long they encompassed the whole weapon.
Quickly, Anadelias raised his hammer, ready for the next attack, not having to wait long for it.
Soulbane took a stride forward and feinted to the right and Anadelias moved to block it just as he intended. With a speed that belied him, the death knight twisted the blade and swung it in the opposite direction, straight towards the exposed side of Anadelias.
Only years of combat experience saved him from receiving a killing blow. The paladin twisted his body with the runeblade, the golden armour deflecting the majority of the blow. One of the jagged edges of the runeblade still pierced his side and grazed the skin underneath. The intense pain that followed was the worst that Anadelias had ever felt. It was as if someone had impaled him with a spear of pure ice from the glaciers of Northrend and was pushing it deeper and deeper into him. A small gasp escaped his lips and he tried to bear the pain spreading throughout his body. Unable to do so, he dropped to a knee and clutched his side.
Soulbane looked down upon him, a look of twisted pity upon his face. "The pain, it is eating away at you, gnawing at your resolve. Even now, with the vaunted Light at your beck and call, you cannot stop it. The fever of frost will consume you whole, leaving nothing but a broken, frozen husk."
Anadelias gritted his teeth, trying to concentrate through the freezing pain. "I gave you an opportunity to surrender before and I am giving you one last chance to do so now."
An astonished look crossed Soulbane's face for a second before he suppressed it with a malicious smile.
"Now why would I do that? You are kneeling before me, beaten and at my mercy! Soon you will be dead and yet you seek my surrender?"
Anadelias spoke through clenched teeth. "I have given you two chances and you have refused both."
"So then pray do tell, o holy one, how will you save yourself and manage to defeat me?" Soulbane asked, his voice dripping of mockery.
Still down on one knee, Anadelias flinched in pain before responding. "The Holy Light rewards me with its use through my will, and my faith." He lowered his head, the strain of speaking clearly taking its toll.
Soulbane laughed at paladin before him and his hollow, echoic voice seemed to come from everywhere at the same time. "You are dying, paladin. The light of which you speak of so fondly has abandoned you! Nothing in your power will save you!"
A faint smile crossed Anadelias' face, unseen by Soulbane. "You are wrong, for I shall always have…my…FAITH!" As he shouted that last word, a bright, golden light exploded into existence, emanating from the paladin and blinding the death knight. As Anadelias began to rise from the ground, the golden light washed over his arms and legs and he stood upright, cleansed of the death knight's foul disease.
Unable to look directly at the paladin, Lord Soulbane threw an arm across his face to shield his eyes from the brightness. After several seconds he could tell the light was subsiding and lowered his arm to see what had happened. Before him saw a sight he had never seen before.
Anadelias stood erect, hammer in hand - glowing vibrantly with a golden-yellow hue. The bright light that had blinded the death knight now bathed the paladin and it almost looked as if he was wrapped in a faint sheet of pure light. The strangest thing of all that Soulbane could see was that somehow, the paladin who was near-death a second ago now had a pair of golden wings coming out of his back and extending above his head.
Soulbane's eyes widened as he realised that they too, were made of the same golden light that bathed the holy warrior. "No…it can't be…"
Anadelias wasted no time to talk and took two steps forward and swung his hammer at the death knight's shoulder.
A runeblade met him halfway and the blow was averted. Anadelias went in low for a crushing blow to the knees, but again, a runeblade blocked his path – exactly as he had hoped. Moving with a speed that was only possible due to the golden light that was still wreaking havoc with Soulbane's vision, he brought his right foot up, then down onto the broadside of the tip of the runeblade, driving it deep into the dirt and pining it there under his plate boot. Before Soulbane could free the blade, Anadelias raised him hammer above his head and brought it down with all his might onto the runeblade. Unable to withstand the momentum of the blessed warhammer, the runeblade broke into several pieces, letting out not a loud crack of broken metal, but a spine-chilling banshee-like screech.
As an astonished Soulbane stared at the broken runeblade pieces on the ground, he could see the runes' blue glow slowly fading to nothing as the hue dissolved altogether leaving only a dull, broken blade.
Rage welled up inside him as he heard the runeblade's death-wail repeat over and over inside his head. Shadows began to coalesce in his balled fists. Purple energy began to flare from the pulsating shadows as Soulbane drew upon the unholy magic that empowered him.
"You will pay for your transgression!" His voice had changed; it was now deeper and had the chill of winter about it.
Charging at Anadelias, Soulbane extended his arms and went straight for the throat. A hammer strike from now where suddenly came down upon his left arm, breaking it immediately with a sickening crack of splintered bones and crushed armour. Soulbane opened his mouth and let forth a bestial howl. The attack did not deter him in the slightest but merely provoked him further.
With his left arm hanging limply at this side, his right hand clasped the exposed throat of the paladin just under the chin. His hand, although surrounded by dark, unholy magic, still started to burn from the golden light that ensorcelled Anadelias. But the pain did not deter him in the slightest and he saw only a dark rage that would not be quenched until this damnable holy warrior lay dead before him.
So focused was he on crushing the life from the paladin with his own hand, that he did not see the hammer come up from below and hit him right in the elbow until it was too late. He suddenly lost all control of his hand and the fingers that were attached to the throat of the paladin started to pull back as his broken arm fell away. One of his fingers however, still frozen in their claw-like state, caught the band of the charm around Anadelias' neck and it snapped under the pressure. The charm fell to the ground and hit the dirt, undamaged. Soulbane staggered backward, several emotions flickered on his face at the same time, leaving him with an unreadable expression.
Moving silently, Anadelias brought his hammer out wide and then swung in, connecting with a hard crunch against Soulbane's skull-patterned armour and into his stomach. He flew backwards from the blow and landed hard against the plagued trunk of a nearby tree.
Anadelias gave him no quarter and was on him in a heartbeat. Before Soulbane could prop himself up, Anadelias stood with one foot on his chest to make sure he couldn't get away and leant down and put one hand on each side of the death knight's pale head.
"What do you think you are doing?" Soulbane said in an almost frightened tone.
Anadelias looked directly at him; his gaze bore straight into Soulbane's black, empty eyes.
"I am righting a wrong." Just as he finished his sentence, his hands began to glow with holy energy.
"Aaarrrggghh! It…burns!" Soulbane writhed in pain and tried to free himself, but Anadelias held fast, his determination to avenge his friend giving his hands an iron grip from which there was no escape.
"Stop it! Stop…it…NOW!" Shouted the death knight as the holy energy from Anadelias began to flow through him.
Anadelias replied unflinchingly with a dead serious voice. "Never."
Unrecognisable sounds came from Soulbane's mouth as the pain and heat increased. His screams were becoming louder and more feral. He clenched his teeth, trying to brace through the pain, but to no avail. He opened his mouth and let out an intense, animal-like howl as the holy fire coursing through him erupted from the opening in his armour at his neck. His mouth and eyes glowed like small golden suns as Soulbane screamed to the sky. What was once his face was now a seared skull; the fire had burnt away the dead flesh. The majority of his lower jaw had been disintegrated and only by the grace of heat fusing together what was left had it remained attached.
With the deed done, Anadelias finally stood up and let go of the charred, empty skull. It lifelessly slumped backward, never to rise again. He took a few steps back and let out a massive sigh as he let his shoulders drop. A light rain had begun to fall and he closed his eyes and looked to the sky, letting the raindrops softly patter against his face. After a few precious seconds of peace and serenity, the holy glow that had bathed his body and given him the golden wings of wrath gradually subsided and faded away. He turned back to the clearing to pick up his fallen charm and was met with a sight he least expected and felt a sharp pain in his chest.
Before him stood the self-declared ruler of Stratholme, Baron Rivendare.