The life and tragedies of the Sunshadows
By: John Cutland
Chapter 1:
The Beginning
The Sunshadow's, being one of the older families of the elves, have both participated in and witnessed many of the events that shaped Azeroth. From the first wars to the day King Arthas marched his undead army straight through Eversong and assaulted Silvermoon.
They were originally among the families of the Nobility. However, they were quite different from the rest of the Nobles. They were kind, honourable,
and above all, they wanted to do more than just squabble with the other families. So, that's when Lord Velso Sunshadow, went to the court of the Sun,
and renounced his noble title. Stating that Nobility was only holding his family back from making an actual difference in the world. A few of the more...
intelligent families, followed his lead. They renounced their Noble titles with him, and they were all happier for it.
Velso and his wife were glad they no longer had to maintain an air of power. They still had their wealth, as well as the family they loved, and so they continued to fight for their people, and actually earned the respect they deserved. Eventually, Velso's son, Kayne, grew up to be just like his father, a powerful Warlock in command of the fel and demonic energies of the twisting nether. He was also a member of the military, and successfully defended Silvermoon from the various troll attacks over the years. He eventually married a beautiful priest named Arianna. She was a healer for the Military, and saved Kayne's life many times.
As expected, they had children. The firstborn was a smart, blonde haired boy named Kaelthorne. He looked like his mother, but had a brilliant and cunning mind like his father. When he was growing up, Kael had aspirations to become a mage. Magic came easy to him, escpecially fire magic. Then,
some years later, Kayne and Arianna had more children. This time, it was twin boys. One was a handsome black haired boy named Shylohk, the other a strong red haired boy named Nerk'ayell. Shylohk was fast, and agile, and was recruited into a secret group of the military, to be trained for many years. Nerk'ayell had no special talents, other for his massive strength and almost odd obsession with mechanics and explosives. He was training to be a Knight, under the command of his father. However, that all changed when one day he wandered too far from Silvermoon and found himself lost.
Nerk'ayell was not expecting to get lost. He simply wanted to take a walk, yet when he ended up in what is now the Plaguelands, he knew he was in trouble.
He kept walking, hoping to find some clue as to how to get home, when he stumbled upon an old, run down house. He approached slowly, trying to make as little noise as possible. The wind shifted, and Nerk'ayell smelt death in the air, he turned to leave when he witnessed a bearded man step out from the house.
He was wearing dark robes, and carried a warped wooden staff with a large purple gem on the top. His hair was grey with age, and on his head was a large skull from a creature Nerk'ayell didn't recognize.
The man looked up and saw Nerk, he chuckled. "It seems you have come to the wrong place, elf."
Nerk'ayell was surprised. This was his first time seeing a human, let alone one that spoke Thalassian. Nerk growled. "What do you want from me, human?"
The man grinned. "Simple, I want you to die."
Nerk'ayell heard a woosh of air behind him. He ducked down in reflex, managing to dodge the sword that would have beheaded him. He turned around, and gasped as he saw three skeletons, advancing towards him, swords raised. Nerk was not equipped for combat, he was wearing simple clothes and only had a dagger.
He drew his dagger quickly, and blocked an arcing slash from the first skeleton. The clang of metal on metal rang through Nerk's head. His heart began to beat faster, his mind becoming focused merely on the combat. He knew his dagger would have very little affect on the skeletons so after forcing away the first skeleton's sword, Nerk kicked it in the chest...hard. The skeleton fell back, smashing on the ground, the bones scattering. Nerk looked up quickly, the other two skeletons charged, their swords raised. Nerk jumped back, narrowly avoiding the swords as they whistled through the air. He then reacted quickly, lunging for the closest skeleton. He grabbed it's arm, twisting his hips and hurling it over his shoulder. The skeleton flew forward, hitting a nearby rock and smashing to pieces. The last skeleton charged again swinging his sword wildly, going to cut Nerk's torso. Nerk leaned back, narrowly avoiding the cut. He then used his momentum to bring his fist around, punching the skeleton in the head, knocking it completely off. The skeleton then went limp, and fell to the ground.
The man behind Nerk chuckled, a low and dark laugh. "Impressive...very impressive." The man the gave Nerk an evil grin. "I suppose you will do."
Nerk whirled around, yelling at the man. "Who are you, and what do you want from me?" Nerk didn't have time to react, he just saw a dark bolt of magic energy fly from the man's hand. It struck Nerk in the chest, and he felt everything go cold, the life draining from him. His vision blurred, and he looked up. The old man was cackling, and hobbling over to Nerk as everything went dark.
To be continued...