Chapter Two

"At ease men." Tyrosus said.

Tavin sighed and leaned against the stone wall of the Chapel, his plate armor clinking as it met the hard stone.

Maxwell Tyrosus glanced over them with his one good eye, then said "The War on the Scourge has carried on too far, without us doing anything." he unrolled a piece of parchment and pinned it down on the wooden table.

"The time has arrived for us to strike first, and strike hard, I believe we would all agree?"

The gathered men nodded in agreement, the whole war had been fought as more or less, self defense, with the 'living' rarely striking first.

"Corin's Crossing." Tyrosus said, planting a finger on the unrolled map.

The parchment depicted a rough sketch, of a birds eye view of Corin's Crossing, a crossroads planted directly in the middle of the Eastern

Plaguelands.

And naturally filled with Scourge forces.

"Once a prosperous breadbasket of Lordaeron, connecting a many towns, and becoming a valuable trade post." Tyrosus continued "If we to capture this valuable and tactical crossroads, it would provide us with a better foothold in the land, so our first offensive in this war, will be taking Corin's Crossing."

"It is a fairly small town, yet its crawling with Scourge."

"One of our scouts, has provided us with information about the town, more importantly, we've learned a necromancer controls the Scourge, from inside what used to be, the town hall."

He gazed up at the gathered men.

"Which is where," he pointed at them "You boys come in."

He pointed to the western end of the map, where two sketched roads intersected, like a V.

"You will enter from these, and immediately split up and take the farm house, and this house."

He split his fingers and pointed to two structures.

"After words, regroup and storm the Town Hall, first priority being the Necromancer, once he is dead, clear the area and send a runner back."

He looked back up. "Any questions?"

All the men shook their heads left-to-right.

Tyrosus nodded and said "Light be with you men, and good luck, let us pray quickly."

All the gathered men bowed their heads as Tyrosus began praying over the men, blessing them with strength and fortitude for the battle ahead.

Light knows they would need it.

Tavin immediately felt the Light flow through him, and he immediately felt better, feeling invigorated by the blessing.

The men stepped out into the ever-present haze of the Plaguelands, Tavin and Byron bustling to the front.

Tavin glanced back to the men, casually glancing over them, then said "Alright lets move out."The Argent Dawn men moved briskly forward, setting into a steady tramp of boots as they marched onward to Corin's Crossing, which was only a league away from the Chapel itself, yet in-between the two was the Pestilent Scar.

Lore said, that a wicked death knight's sword was plunged into the earth there, marring the vary face of the earth.

It didn't take them long to reach the small crossroad, they simply veered around the Pestilent Scar and moved forward.

The town seemed devoid of any activity as Tavin and Byron overlooked it from a small unnoticed hill above the town.

They occasionally saw a small glimpse of movement in between the half destroyed houses.. But otherwise, nothing.

"It's quiet.. Much to quiet" Byron whispered.

Tavin nodded silently, still trying to find a sign of life, or rather death.

"Change of plan?" Byron asked.

Tavin shook his head, whispering to Byron and the force behind him "Alright men, split up, I'll take one group and enter from the west, we'll enter from the southern end and take the farm house.. The rest of you, follow Byron and enter from the east, and take the Blacksmith."

The gathered silently nodded as they slowly readied their weapons.

"Do it quick and silent, now lets move."

Tavin backed off from the hill and crouch-walked through the thick plagued trees leading down to the southern entrance to the crossroad.

The only sound he could hear was his breathing, his heart beating and small twigs snapping.

He stopped at an angle to the farm house, which was now dead ahead, he could see right into the doorway, or rather what was left of it.

He held his hand back, holding up one finger to single the men…

Two…

THREE!On three they charged at the farmhouse, swarming from the woods with a quick stride, reaching the farmhouse in mere seconds.

Tavin busted through the decayed wood, catching a group of Cultists off guard inside.

He and a few other knights quickly disposed of the dazed Cultists, now hearing battle cries outside.

Tavin rushed outside, finding the rest of his squad under fierce attack from a group of scourge, however they were quickly gaining the upper hand.

From across the town, he spotted Byron conveying orders to his knights, as they effortlessly destroyed a handful of wandering scourge.

The lack of undead in the town was odd, however he honestly wasn't one to complain, it certainly made their job easier.

It still troubled him although, only about a third of the original scourge remained here, and the other two thirds was gone, and he knew they simply didn't disappear into thin air.

Tavin ran over to Byron as the other Argent soldiers cleared the town, save for the large town hall, of which Tavin and Byron were now in front of.

"Where the hell are the other Scourge..?" Byron asked as Tavin joined him, panting slightly.

"No idea, yet I'm about to find out." he simply said.

Tavin cautiously made his way into the Town hall, his blade glinting dangerously in the fading light… the hall was eerily quiet, save for the rotting floorboards creaking beneath Tavin's boots.

Behind him the boards creaked again as Byron joined him.

Tavin glanced back and put a single finger to his mouth as they crept into the main part of the hallway.

As soon as they passed through the archway, a voice rang out "FOR THE LICH KING!!"

A wild band of cultist charged them with small daggers, their robes a flurry of activity.

Tavin parried a blow and brought his blade back around, running one Cultist clean through, before whipping back around and cutting one directly across the hamstrings.

The last cultist fell to the floor, his dagger forgotten as he tried to scramble away, leaving a scarlet trail of blood behind him as he frantically crawled away.

Byron moved to advance on him, his blade ready for a finish blow, but Tavin stopped him by saying "Wait!"

Byron nodded and stepped back, watching the door precariously.

Tavin stepped forward and grabbed the front of the Cultists robes, saying menacingly "Where is the rest of the Scourge that were here?"

The Cultist shook his head like a dog, as he tried to move away from Tavin.

He muttered "No..noo-no-no.. Wouldn't tell.. Not before master says.."

Tavin grimaced and said "I'm going to ask you once more, or I'll start cutting off fingers"

The cultists eyes snapped to his sword as he stuttered wildly.

"Raise high the master.. Bring low our foes… Equa-"

The cultist had no time before he was dropped to the floor, in two pieces.

Byron grimaced and said "It not a certainly ethical way to kill someone."Tavin sighed and said "No, but this is war… I don't stand too fast to the Three Virtues right now.." he glanced back and said "Regroup out front, then have the bodies burned.. Send a runner to the Chapel."Byron nodded and the two departed from the Town hall, wiping their blades off as they left.