It was the night before Sonzo, Vrazlor, and Grizcus would leave the Light forsaken Blasted Lands and in Nethergarde Keep the Worgen (in human form) slept restlessly. Sonzo and Vrazlor were awake observing their friend.
"I'm telling you we should delay our plans. Look at him, he's not well."
"And I'm telling you the sooner we go the sooner he'll be back to normal. Don't you know what's causing this?"
"No I'm not a priest I'm a mage. And I'm sure you would know what's causing this. You're the dark magics expert."
"It's not a magical illness it's a mental one. How would you handle finding the ghosts of gnomes in a dark, desolate, land like this? Not too well I'd imagine."
"The ghosts are haunting him?"
"No you imbecile! They traumatized him."
Grizcus growled softly at the noise the gnomes were making and continued sleeping.
"Quiet you'll wake him."
"I'm not so sure if that'd be a bad thing. Who knows what things his mind is creating?"
"So are we leaving in the morning or not?"
"I think it's best if we do."
"Okay, I guess we should try and get some sleep too."
They both went to their beds and fell asleep. The night went on and Grizcus continued to toss and turn in his sleep. He slept and dreamt.
He was in a forest it was dark and the moon was full. Whispers made their way through the trees and to his ears. They were crying out for help and he ignored them. He continued through the forest. He was a stalker of the night and a creeper in the shadows. He came to a clearing in the woods and in the middle of it rose two streams of smoke. He crept toward it curious. He waded through the tall grass and when he reached the origin of the smoke he looked upon the ground and awoke.
"No!" He shouted enraged. He got out of his bed and sprinted to the entrance of the keep. Sonzo and Vrazlor awoke when he shouted. They both sat up and watched him run out of the room. They looked at each other a brief second and got out of bed. They headed outside and a female dwarf guard ran up to them.
"What's wrong with him?" She asked them.
"We don't know." Vrazlor answered. "He was having nightmares and woke up and ran out. Where did he go?"
"He ran right through the gate didnae pay heed to no one. Just kept on running as far as I can tell." She left to return to her post.
"Now what do we do?" Sonzo asked.
"We go ahead with the plan. With or without him."
Sonzo nodded his head and they both returned to the keep in silence. Both wondering where Grizcus was headed.
Grizcus had ran out of the gate in human form as fast as he could. He headed for the swamp of sorrow but that wasn't his destination. When he reached the swamp he changed forms in mid-stride and dropped down to all fours. He trudged through the swamps his mind only focused on getting to where he needed to go.
Grizcus was born into the nobility of Gilneas. He had a privileged childhood in Gilneas City. He went to school and was educated on the history of Gilneas and the rest of the human kingdoms. He played in the streets with his friends and he had a private tutor that taught him different arts. Music, artistry, and even combat.
He was born a noble and he was sure he would die a noble. When he had grown up he had a house of his own and a business. He was proud to be Gilnean: strong, intelligent, and most importantly independent. Life was good and one evening he got the message that his father had died. He was saddened but such was the way of life. His mother had died a few years earlier so after the funeral he inherited his parents' fortune. And life went on.
Grizcus had ran through the swamp, passed through Deadwind Pass, and was now headed to the border of the Redridge Mountains. The moon was full this night but he made the shadows work in his favor.
He headed toward the Three Corners checkpoint and entered the shadow of the tower. The guards did not see him until it was too late for them to stop him. When he passed them they shouted to him but he ignored them and kept running. He still had a long way to go but he had plenty of energy.
Grizcus continued to grow his business and add to his already massive fortune. And he began to realize that all this work would be for naught if he couldn't pass it on to a child of his own. When he wasn't working or studying he would go out and walk the streets. He would smile at the children playing in the streets, remembering his own childhood. He tipped his hat at passersby and bid them a good day.
He stopped at an apple stand and browsed the apples. He reached for one and accidentally touched the hand of someone reaching for the same apple. He looked up and noticed a woman looking back at him "Excuse me miss" he said to her "go ahead you take it." She smiled at him and took the apple.
That day was a fateful one. Grizcus and the young woman would see more of each other in the near future and they would spend time together. She would become his wife and she would conceive a child. Life for them was good.
He had trudged through the ash-filled lands of the Burning Steppes and the Searing Gorge. And traveled through the woods of Loch Modan. He now descended the path through Dun Algaz and entered the marshes of the Wetlands. The smell and sounds of the Wetlands vaguely reminded him of his days as a feral worgen rampaging through Gilneas terrorizing innocent people.
Then the day came when he got caught in that bear trap and was caged and taken. He was given the remedy that would allow his human mind to control his Worgen form. It worked and what had once been a curse was now a blessing. Many of his fellow nobleman despaired at what had happened to them.
Even with the control that was given to them they still saw it as a curse. But Grizcus embraced it. He was now stronger and swifter then he had ever been. This was also his only hope of being able to leave a lasting legacy so he would not be forgotten when he died.
The day his daughter was born was a joyous and melancholy one. His wife had complications during the labor and died. But the child survived and he vowed to give his daughter the best life he could. However, he did not raise the child alone.
Many of his friends helped him and gave him their support. But tragedy struck him again. When his daughter was two she caught pneumonia and died. He grieved for a mere two days alone in his house. His friends and neighbors mourned along with him but they left him alone in his house.
On the third day after the death of his infant daughter he emerged from his house in better spirits then would've been expected from him. He didn't talk about his wife or child and though his friends thought it odd they didn't mention his wife and daughter in his presence.
Life went on and those who should not have been forgotten were. Their grave sites went unvisited and their memories went unremembered.
Grizcus was in enemy territory now. He headed toward the border of the Hillsbrad Foothills and Silverpine Forest. There was no shadow to hide himself from the guards this time. He would have to rely on his agility and speed.
He stayed low wanting to get himself as close as possible before being spotted. There were two towers on each side of the road both with spotters manning searchlights. The undead were cunning but he was sure he was better. He crept toward the checkpoint listening for any signs that he had been spotted.
So far the only thing he heard was the faint guttural sounds coming from the undead. He pinpointed where the best place to sprint through would be. Two guards stood in front of the left tower. Their eyes glowed so he could tell when they blinked or when they turned their heads.
He planned to wait for an opportune moment and dash out from the grass and make good use of the terrain to avoid being pursued. He waited and before long an opportunity presented itself. Another guard came over and started uttering what sounded like slobbering mixed with grunts. Whatever he was saying didn't matter all that did was that they were distracted.
He burst from the grass and sprinted to the tower. His senses were on high alert and when he just about reached the tower a sound went off. He was spotted and there was no going back. The guards by the tower turned to see why the alarm was sounded. Their glowing eyes looked right at him and he sped up. He was running so fast there was nothing the guards could do to stop him. He ran past them and over the hill into the forest.
There was no way they could find him in there. He ran through the forest and heard the sound of hooves on stone and the eerie whinnying of the undead horses. They were searching for him so it was best if he hid and moved slowly until he knew it was safe to continue. He didn't know how good the undead were at tracking so he thought it best not to take any risks.
He found a large boulder and jumped behind it and listened for the horses. He heard them but they were faint and just before he was about to get up a rotten odor entered his nostrils. Then he heard the distinct sound of chains jangling. There was an undead on the other side of the boulder.
He dared not breathe and just waited for something to happen. Nothing did and the sound of chains moved on and it was safe for him to move out. Cautiously Grizcus ran off through the woods in the direction of the famous Greymane Wall.
The wall that was constructed to isolate Gilneas from the rest of the human kingdoms. Soon the terrain became familiar and the wall came into view. It once stood as a testament to the strength of Gilneas but now it was destroyed and battles between the Horde and Alliance were fought beyond it. He passed through the destroyed gate and looked out upon his country.
Gilneas City sat in the distance and that was where he was headed. He reached the gates of the city and walked in. It was a ghost town the streets were littered with debris and trash and the windows on the buildings had been smashed probably by looters. He walked the streets and came upon an all too familiar sight.
The street that he grew up on. He remembered his childhood and the times he had with his friends. It seemed like a lifetime ago. He continued along the street until he came to his family's house. He stood in front of it and looked at it. The windows were broken and the door was kicked in.
He sighed and entered. He looked through the house not looking for anything in particular just looking at the damage his family's house had sustained since the outbreak of the Worgen. He entered the grand hallway and he was glad to see the portraits of his family were still on the wall.
His great-grandparents, grandparents, a portrait of his parents together, a portrait of him as a child with his parents, and finally a portrait of himself as an adult all hung on the wall after all these years. He was done here and left.
He exited the city and made his way to his favorite place in all of Gilneas. A cliff overlooking the ocean. When he was a child his parents would take him to this spot for picnics. It was a beautiful spot when the sun was shining but this morning was cloudy and the ocean was raging. He just stared into the horizon and realized he did not know why he had come to Gilneas.
Was it just because he was homesick or did he want to return to a place that might make him happy? He didn't know and left. He was walking back down the hill toward the city when he looked to his left. What he saw was unfamiliar to him but also at the same time it was familiar.
He went to investigate it. A ring of trees surrounded a grassy plot of land. He entered the ring and waded through the tall grass. He was halfway to the center when a chill ran up his spine. He turned around and scanned the tree line thinking he was not alone. When he saw nothing he turned back around and a figure stood a few yards in front of him. He drew his weapons.
When Grizcus' wife died he bought a plot of land outside the city where he would bury her. But when his daughter died he left the arrangements to the city officials. They buried her without her father. But they did more to honor their memory. They planted trees to grow around the grave site. But they did not expect their graves to go unvisited and so the land went unkept.
Grizcus stood with his weapons drawn and stared at the figure. Finally it spoke "Don't you recognize me?"
"No." Grizcus replied.
"Come closer."
Grizcus did as he was asked and crept closer. He was within a few feet of it and noticed it was a woman and she was holding some kind of bundle.
She asked again "Now do you recognize me?"
Again Grizcus said "No. Who are you?"
"Grizcus, I am your wife."
Grizcus shook his head and replied "No I don't have a wife."
"Yes you do and this is your daughter." She said indicating the bundle she was holding.
"No I never had a daughter and I never had a wife!"
"Grizcus you did." She said calmly. "You just don't remember. Remember when we first met at the apple stand? Remember when we got married and spent our first night together? Remember when our daughter was born?"
Grizcus was getting agitated. "No...no...no I don't remember."
He looked upon her face and he remembered. He remembered everything.
The day they met, the time they spent together, their marriage, the birth of their daughter and death of his wife, and finally he remembered the death of his daughter. All these memories hit him in an instant and he couldn't help but drop to his knees and weep.
He wept at the feet of his wife's ghost and looked upon the ground and there was something beneath the grass. He moved the grass out of the way and looked upon the headstones of his wife and daughter.
He whispered "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. How could I have forgotten my own wife and child?"
"Grizcus you are a good man. You have done no wrong. After our daughter died your grief stricken mind tried to heal itself. It erased your memories of us to protect you. But it could not erase the guilt and regret that came with forgetting us. It festered within you until you had to do something about. That is why you came back without knowing why."
Grizcus stood up to look upon his wife.
"Grizcus you forgot about us to keep yourself from remembering that we had died. But nobody ever truly dies unless you forget them." Grizcus thought about this for a moment and nodded. "Go now Grizcus and never let us die."
And with that she vanished. Grizcus hung his head and sighed. He felt he had a lot to atone for. He prepared for his journey back to the gnomes. But then he thought of something, a memory that had returned to him along with everything else. He dropped to all fours and ran to Gilneas City. He entered the city and headed for his house.
When he reached his house he jumped up the stairs and entered his bedroom. The place was a mess anything of value would've already been looted. Anything that was in plain sight that is.
He walked over to his wardrobe and pulled it away from the wall. Behind it was a small cache where he had put some of his wife's possessions after she died. He took out the small chest and opened it. He picked up some things and dropped them on the floor. Then he found what he was looking for.
He took it out and looked at it. It was one of his wife's hair bands. He transformed to his human form and walked over to the mirror. It was shattered but there was still some glass at the top. He looked at himself in the mirror his hair partially covered his face.
He looked down at the hair band it had his wife's name on it. "Elizabeth" he whispered. He looked up at the mirror again and saw his wife standing behind him. He turned around and smiled at her. "Is this the last time I will see you?" He asked.
"That is up to you. But I will always be with you." She looked down at her daughter. "We will."
Grizcus looked down at his daughter her blue eyes looking back at him he reached out to touch her face but felt nothing. "Anna I will never forget you again." And they dissipated once more.
Grizcus pocketed the hairband and went back downstairs. He entered the grand hallway and retrieved the portrait of him and Elizabeth from the closet. He hung it on the wall next to his. It pained him to do so since he would never be able to have one of his family. Though he had his memory of them and that was enough.
After leaving his house, perhaps for the last time, he looked up at the sky and a ray of sunshine broke through the clouds and shined upon his face. Grizcus took out the hairband, breathed deeply, and pulled his hair back into a ponytail. It was up to him now to not let his family's legacy be forgotten.