"Warriors of the frozen wastes…rise…" Jacob Lightrunner watched in horror, unable to move, as the terrifying figure of the Lich King raised his cursed runeblade, Frostmourne. All around the Master of the Scourge were corpses, freshly slain. Corpses of Alliance soldiers, of all allied races, lay bloody in the snow. As the Lich King extended his sword, blue streams of energy flew from the corpses and into the blade. Jacob watched the gruesome spectacle as blue circles of energy rotated around his wrists and ankles, binding him to the air, disabling his movement. "Arthas…you…will pay for all the lives that you have taken from Azeroth today!" Jacob snarled. The Lich King slowly turned his thorny helm towards the young warrior. As his eyes blazed a more brilliant blue, the corpses' eyes also did. They slowly rose up, gripping their swords, spears and axes. "Behold, your soldiers are no longer yours. They are mine…my Scourge!"
"So, you're going to kill me, then?" Jacob asked defiantly. He was sweating, in spite of the bitter cold. The Lich King turned to face him, as his new Scourge warriors hefted their weapons, armour and weapons now transformed into cold grey steel inlaid with skulls. Their faces were now no more than torn skin stretched over grim skulls. "Certainly…not. You have shown great potential as a future commander of my Scourge." Jacob narrowed his eyes. "Never! I would rather die than serve the Scourge!" he growled. The Lich King tilted his helm, almost as if in bemusement. "How…interesting."
Frostmourne flicked out, faster than Jacob could track it. The blade swished through the air towards him. In that instant, the warrior's bonds broke. Rolling away from the cursed blade, Jacob retrieved his swords and parried the next slash. "Impressive, warrior." They fought for a few minutes, neither getting the upper hand. However, the Lich King put more effort into it, and soon, Frostmourne flashed into Jacob's shoulder. The pain was incredible. Jacob's blade slowed a fatal fraction, and the runeblade sliced his thigh.
The leg gave, and Jacob stumbled. The Lich King laughed as he raised Frostmourne high and brought it down. Jacob instinctively closed his eyes, then felt the metal bite into his body. In a split second, he was lying in the snow, blood pooling around him, a long deep slash across his chest. Blue energy emanated from the gash. Jacob cried out, then lay still. His vision was but a black tunnel, and the light at the end was fading fast. Then, everything went black. In the final moment, Jacob thought he heard a voice saying to him, "It is not the end, Lightrunner."
The Lich King pointed Frostmourne at Jacob's corpse. "Rise up, warrior. Your work is not complete. Join me. The living will tremble and the dead will obey." A blue mist travelled from the warrior's body and into Frostmourne. As Jacob's eyes opened and flamed blue, he gripped his twin swords, which were now black and inscribed with blue runes. They were identical, a metal skull set near the crossguard. The blades were serrated and beautifully curved. His armour plates turned from silver to a greyish black and skull-shaped carvings materialised on his shoulder, knee and belt plates. His armour seemed to flow like liquid as it became sharper, spikier and more curved. "Whom do you serve, my death knight?" The Lich King asked. The newly-made Jacob Deathstalker raised his head, skin and hair bone-white. His previously calm and collected voice was now harsh and cutting, echoing strangely. "My will is that of the Lich King."
The Lich King drew himself up to his full height. "So, it is done, then. Follow, valued servants." Sheathing Frostmourne, the ruler of Icecrown commenced striding off across the snow, newly-made death knight and Scourge warriors falling into perfect lockstep behind him. Their footfalls were like death knells, of doom and destruction.
Author's Note
Hey readers! Recently I have been really disorganised with my fanfics, writing this, then that, so I decided to compile all my WoW stories into one series, called the Azerothian Chronicles. This is the order in which the stories will go:
Warrior of Quel'thalas (about Angmar Lightreaver, roughly from Warcraft 2-ish to Wrath of the Lich King)
The Lightrunner (about Samuel Lightrunner, from Warcraft 3 to The Burning Crusade)
Wrath of the Scourge (about Jacob Lightrunner, The Burning Crusade to end of Wrath of the Lich King)
Fury of the Light (about Samuel Lightrunner's team of paladins and warriors, Cataclysm to Mists of Pandaria)
Through The Portal They Came (about the campaign in Draenor, Warlords of Draenor to beginning of Legion)
Champion of the Illidari (about Dagra Bloodfury and her transformation into one of Illidan's demon hunters, beginning of Legion)
Last Stand of Azeroth (about the campaign against the Burning Legion, Legion to start of Battle of Lordaeron)