Chapter 2

Azrael woke up to a clacking sound. His neck felt as if his head had been twisted out of it and stuck back in. He put his hands on his side and felt that there was severe scabbing. Which was good. It meant he was healing. Albeit not as quickly as before. It had surely been an hour at least since he had lost consciousness.

'You still heal pretty well' said a cheerful voice

Azrael sat up and looked around. The troll was leaning over his weapon and cleaning it. Azrael tried to smile as well, except his jaw had not fully healed.

'And you're still as fast as ever. Liha. My old friend.' he said

'Azrael. Keeping busy I see'

Azrael ignored the jab. Liha had been among his closest companions while they served the will of the Lich King. Which is to say they were on a lot of missions together. Service under the Lich King left little room for the kind of camaraderie found in other...armies. They shared a moment of silence each not knowing what to say. All their talk during their former service was regarding strategies. They still retained a bit of their earlier living forms while under the Lich King. In fact it was that little amount of free will they had over their actions that made them so much more formidable than the rest of the scourge. Yet in all that time spent together, killing enemies and even saving each others lives...they had never known each other as soldiers often do. Never asked each other where they came from or what they had been before they were raised into undeath. And now they were trying to fit back into their former lives. The last glimpse Azrael had of Liha was when Azrael had been sent to Stormwind city, to meet king Varian shortly after Tirion had freed them from the grasp of the Lich King. He along with other Death Knights who were members of the alliance had borne a message to King Varian, the figurative leader of the Alliance, asking to be a part of it once again. They were greeted with complete malice by the citizens of Stormwind. Under very heavy guard and the threat of death with one wrong move, they were escorted to Varian's throne room. It was only on the strength of King Varian's word and the backing of Tirion Fordring, that they were inducted back into the Alliance. Liha no doubt had gone to Orgrimmar with a similar message addressed to Thrall, War chief of the horde. And Azrael knew surely that Liha received a similar reception there. Shortly after that Liha had been among the Death Knights to have left to Northrend.

'So' said Azrael looking to break the silence. 'What brings you to the Eastern Plaguelands? The last I heard, you were with Koltira and Thassarian in Northrend'

'Naxxramas has fallen. Kel'thuzad is dead' said Liha. Azrael had already heard this news. Although it still didn't explain why Liha was in the Eastern Plaguelands away from his post in Northrend. Catching a searching look on Azrael's face, Liha continued:

'We suffered many losses. A few of us have been sent to bring reinforcements back to Northrend'.

Which again made no sense to Azrael. Liha was now affiliated with the Horde. The Horde were mainly concentrated in continent of Kalimdor, except the Undead under Lady Sylvanas who scorned other members of the Horde nearly as much as they did the Alliance. Liha seemed to have noticed this as well.

'And...um...I have a mission as well...to be carried out under the orders of High lord Darion Mograine'. No doubt Liha was not at liberty to speak about it. Azrael had no wish to discomfort him further and changed the topic.

'I've heard of the fall of Naxxramas. A bitter and bloody battle. I also heard that our old "friend" Rivendare met his end'

Not all the death knights were freed from the Lich King's grasp. The four horsemen rose to command a vast undead force in the necropolis of Naxxramas, under the command of Kel'thuzad.

'Yes' said Liha. 'The four horsemen fought together. As they always did under his service. And it was fitting that they died together'

'What about Orbaz' asked Azrael after some hesitation. Orbaz was a touchy topic among the death knights. The four horsemen were already too deep into the service of the Lich King to have been redeemed. Orbaz was another matter altogether. All the freed Death Knights hoped for their own sake that Orbaz had chosen to fight for the Lich King, like the cultists. For if he was still being held forcibly under the will of the Lich King and Tirion hadn't been able to free him, then all of them still were at risk of losing themselves again.

'Nothing. No trace at all. Thassarian was caught up in some...personal affairs, after we set foot in Northrend. Almost immediately. After that's been settled, he has spent much time looking for Orbaz. The Horde...and the Alliance now hold firmly the Borean Tundra and Wintergarde. He was nowhere to be found in either of these places. We believe him to be in Icecrown'

Azrael could say nothing to this. Even if they had established a base on Northrend, they were still a very long way off from Icecrown. Liha was sitting on his haunches, the characteristic way of the trolls. He was tinkering with his sword. He removed a small automaton from his personal effects and set it to work on the sword.

'You have some unusual interests for a Troll' laughed Azrael. Most Trolls were jungle dwellers and preferred crafts like Leatherworking. Liha however was an excellent blacksmith and...an amateur engineer of sorts. Azrael found engineers to be very eccentric and their work very unreliable.

'You should know by now that I AM an unusual Troll' replied Liha.

'Mark my words. You'll blow up some day. Just like those damned gnomes'

'You mean a goblin. I'm a goblin engineer'

Azrael gave him a bewildered look.

'Not that you'd know the difference' clarified Liha.

'My friend. That's one thing I'll be glad not to know'

Many of them had taken to their crafts in order to remember much about themselves after being freed. Some of the small steps that they were taking in their eventual goal of regaining their former identities. Not that it did Azrael any different. He was still plagued by the memory of what he had become and no amount of crafting seemed to change that.

'So how does a Troll even know how to smith weapons?' asked Azrael.

'You know I am Gurubashi?' asked Liha.

This was indeed a surprise for Azrael. He knew there were very few civilized Troll tribes, but the Gurubashi were not among them. Hailing from the southernmost tip of the Eastern kingdoms, the savage Gurubashi Trolls ruled a massive empire from their seat in Zul'Gurub. Unlike their Darkspear cousins, who were members of the Horde, most Troll tribes were staunchly against all outsiders and hated the Alliance and the Horde with equal animosity. Being Gurubashi meant that Liha was certain to be an outcast even in the Horde. As if reading his mind, Liha replied.

'Only other Trolls can tell the difference. Orcs know as little about us as you do. I am not as large for a Gurubashi Troll. Which is why I was not immediately put to death when I was taken prisoner'. Liha continued to tinker with various other gadgets in his bag.

'I was given over to a Goblin. You would know how greedy they are. Being too young to be put into an arena, I was to earn my keep working for him as blacksmith while I spent my spare time learning how to fight. That was where I picked up Engineering as well. Its another story about how I got free of him. And after I did, I was too long away from home to be accepted by my tribe. My Darkspear cousins accepted me. In a way. The ties of blood run very deep, and I often found more acceptance among the Orcs of Orgrimmar than my own brethren. But I still spent most of my time traveling'

This explained a lot to Azrael. It explained the way Liha spoke, which was very uncommon for a Troll. He was amazed at how he had been with Liha for so long and had known so little about him.

'I spent a lot of time in and around Stranglethorn Vale. Perhaps the call of home was too strong'.

Zul'Gurub was located in Stranglethorn Vale in the Eastern Kingdoms. Even though the Eastern Kingdoms were predominantly Alliance, the Vale itself owing to the Goblin operated port of Booty Bay was neutral. Azrael recalled the sense of wonder that had filled him the first time he went to the pirate city when he was still a fledgling guard. Sergeant Mek had taken him and a few other new guards to visit the city on an errand he had to run. The memories came flooding back to him. The first time he had met an orc in the Salty sailor tavern. Although hatred of the Horde was ingrained in him right from the start as a human of the Alliance, he found himself fascinated by the Ocs and Trolls he met in the city. What was remarkable was their fluency in the Common tongue. No wonder Liha spoke it so well. A smile spread across his face as he realised he was only just getting to know his old comrade.

'And what did you do there?' asked Azrael with a laugh. 'Don't tell me. Plundering the south seas for fleet master Seahorn. First mate Liha' he continued mockingly, alluding to the well known Tauren. Liha snorted.

'I was with the Blackwater Raiders for sometime. They weren't pirates by the way. We were called privateers' corrected Liha. Azrael rolled his eyes.

'But not much plundering. Just some...odd jobs for them. Then the time came to leave the Vale due to some...unforeseen circumstances'

It was beyond Azrael to even try and imagine what sort of trouble one could get into dealing with the Blackwater Raiders or any of the 'privateers' operating out of Booty Bay. Azrael lifted his arm to look at the scabbing. It had hardened, but he knew the flesh was still tender and the healing was far from complete.

'So. The part about me healing pretty well. You meant it?' asked Azrael.

'No' said Liha flatly. Azrael sighed and drooped his head.

'This was a tougher sort than the ordinary abominations. But it shouldn't have taken you so long. In fact I was impressed when I saw you take that hit voluntarily to get inside its defenses'

Azrael raised his eyebrow. 'You were watching me?'

'I had every intention of helping you, but I wished to see if this time spent alone had done you any good...' Said Liha uncomfortably. 'You were doing well...'

Azrael ran his hand across the scab formation on his right side. It was healing faster now. Even though he had floundered and his powers deserted him when he needed them the most, he was glad his training was ingrained into him well enough to kick in and not let him die.

'What happened?' asked Liha, a hint of concern in his voice.

'Do you remember Havenshire?' asked Azrael. Liha nodded and then shook his head as if knew where this was going.

'How many people do you think we killed there?' asked Azrael.

Liha shook his head.

'The scarlet crusade aside. Farmers? stable boys?...children?' he added.

'We were not responsible for those atrocities' said Liha. Azrael knew this to be partly true, but he also knew he couldn't face the fact that he did commit those crimes. The Lich King had to answer for those crimes. But it was Azrael who had to live with what he had done.

'I know. But every time I draw upon the powers of Blood, all I remember is what I had done under him. And this...thing...that I have now become'

Liha grimaced at this.

All of the freed Death Knights had to come to terms with the past events. Liha had probably faced demons of his own. Maybe every other Death Knight as well. Azrael could not understand why it was taking him so long. Azrael understood from Liha's silence that he would not try to convince Azrael otherwise or preach to him about whose fault it was. Both of them knew it had to be worked out on one's own.

'So' continued Azrael. 'Can I ask where this secret mission of yours will be taking you?'

'Stranglethorn Vale' said Liha. The southernmost tip of the eastern kingdoms. Liha would take a long time indeed to reach his destination. Also home to the former Gurubashi empire... Perhaps Liha's mission was personal as well. Azrael chose to trust Liha and not ask anything else about his mission.

'So you wished to stop at Acherus before making your way to the vale?' asked Azrael

'Yes' replied Liha. 'I arrived at the Undercity and proceeded to make my way towards Tarren Mill after preparations were done. I had some...messages to deliver in the Undercity. Then I heard some disturbing news about the supply wagons from Tarren Mill not reaching the outposts. At first they thought it was the Alliance. Two days ago, we lost a Kor'kron Blood guard. He couldn't have fallen to the remnants of the scourge here. The rabble that's now left in the plaguelands...'

Azrael thought back to the abomination and the caravan wreckage.

'The Abomination' Liha said. 'I looked at its remains closely and...'

'Yes. Cultist runes branded on its skin. I noticed' replied Azrael.

'Cultist activity here in the Eastern Plaguelands. We thought He abandoned them entirely and was focusing his efforts on Northrend' said Liha.

'It would seem that isn't true. Where are we now?' asked Azrael, standing up for the first time and looking around for himself. They were on a small hillock a short way off from Darrowshire. His vision was back to normal now. Running his hand across his face, he could feel the bones had healed. Looking to his right, he could see the wreckage of the caravan where he had confronted the abomination. He walked to edge of the hillock and could see a vast stretch of barren land, still not completely healed from the ravages of the scourge. To their left was the ghost town of Darrowshire. A small way off to the north beyond the wreckage of the street was Crown point tower, an outpost not in use by either the Horde or the Alliance. Liha seemed to have noticed where Azrael was looking.

'No. I've already checked it out. Its completely empty'

Nodding his head, Azrael too focused his thoughts.

'The remnants of the scarlet crusade still hold Tyr's hand, so we can forget about that side' he said referring to the city of fanatical humans a short distance to the east from them. Liha nodded again reading Azrael's mind. The scarlet crusade hated anything undead or affiliated to it with a passion that was frightening. There were only two possibilities for the scarlet crusade- you were either with them or against them. They had succeeded in completely alienating the rest of the races of Azeroth. But at this particular juncture their presence to the east cut the ground to be searched by nearly half.

'Then we would need to continue searching to the west' said Azrael. Liha began to pack away the numerous 'objects' that lay on the ground. Azrael's sword had been worked upon by the tiny repair bot and was now in perfect condition. He suppressed a smile knowing that as unearthly as these 'engineers' were, they certainly had some amusing toys.

Their first objective was to check the town of Darrowshire. Marduk Blackpool- one of their own had been responsible for the fall of Darrowshire and the slaughter of its inhabitants. Marduk was one of the oldest Death Knights of the scourge, much before Liha or Azrael had been converted. Even though Marduk had been slain by adventurers, his atrocities had been carved into Darrowshire. No one could step into the town without experiencing visions of the battle that took place or whispers from the ghosts that had not been put to rest even after they had been avenged. Azrael and Liha however had trained their minds to ignore such disturbances when needed. Splitting up, they went into every single house checking it thoroughly for any signs of recent disturbance, keeping an eye out for trapdoors and such. It took nearly an hour until they were convinced the town was deserted. They came to the conclusion that they would need to head further west towards the river Thondoril that separated the Plaguelands into west and east.

Scaling the last of the many hills that dotted the southwestern part of the land, Azrael found the first sign of what they were looking for. From the distance, it appeared to be three figures moving in circles around a house. Azrael narrowed his eyes as he tried to get a clearer view.

'Is that a house?' asked Liha.

'No' said Azrael. He knew that place. 'It's called the Undercroft. It's a crypt'

Liha remained silent. Azrael had been here earlier. When the first contingents of the Ebon Blade had left for Northrend, him along with other knights of the Ebon Blade and the Paladins of the Silver hand had thoroughly cleansed the Plaguelands. As time passed more Death Knights went to join the efforts at Northrend and seemingly the scourge activity in the plaguelands too, had lessened considerably. Right from the beginning their true focus had been Stratholme, the cursed city in the northern section of the plaguelands. Their goal was to cleanse it entirely and allow it to be rebuilt- an impossible task, as the scourge held on to it tenaciously. Raids on the city had been organized by the Death Knights and paladins, as well as adventurers seeking fortune, but all to no avail. Each time they thought the city had been rid of the scourge, the undead had popped back up. As such after the first few months, when their numbers had lessened considerably in the plaguelands, the Death Knights had stretched their patrols and left some of the lesser prone areas alone. A crypt was an ideal place for a scourge infestation with the ready supply of dead bodies, but Azrael himself had been on patrol in this area in the earlier months. There was nothing remarkable about it.

'Those...things' said Liha pointing to the figures walking in the courtyard of the Crypt.

Azrael had to strain his vision to get a clear sight. The sun had gone down, and it was getting dark quickly.

'I count four of them' said Azrael. 'What about them?'

'They move too quickly' replied Liha.

Azrael saw that it was true. From this distance they appeared to be wearing armor and carrying large two handed swords. Ghouls and Skeletons could move very quickly in battle, but while they were simply patrolling their movements were relatively very lethargic. The hands would stay still and drag the weapon across the ground. Nothing but the legs moved. This was different. They moved with an almost human grace carrying their weapons aloft and looking around after they stopped.

The two Death Knights advanced slowly taking cover behind ridges until they were as close to the Undercroft as possible. The visible mausoleum was only an entrance. The bulk of the crypt was underground like many others. Azrael now had a clearer sight of their foes. Of the four guards, three of them wore the armor of the Stormwind elite. The fourth had the trappings of a Paladin of the Silver Hand. Not good. Paladins were immensely hard to turn, even in death. All the four seemed to have the same runes branded on their bodies. They had no idea of the abilities of their foes and could take no chances. Liha silently motioned that he would be taking the two to the left. The two turned soldiers. Leaving the remaining soldier and the Paladin for Azrael. This wasn't an arbit decision. Even in battle, Death Knights of blood were preferred against unknown enemies simply because they had a greater chance of surviving the unexpected. As undead, the Paladin would not be able to call upon the powers of the light. But who knew what else he was capable of. The Death Knights were proof of how deadly a foe risen from death could be.

They took a few seconds to prepare themselves. At the same time both of them rusehd headlong into battle. Azrael's chosen foes turned in time to meet him. Azrael let loose a blast of ice from his hand catching the Soldier in his chest pushing him off his feet- momentarily. His rune empowered weapon glowed as it met the Paladins hammer. He could see the paladins face clearly. The lack of expression and the hollow eyes of undeath. Exchanging blows they circled around each other, till the second foe came to join the paladin. Azrael barely moved fast enough to intercept both the enemies strikes, taking a blow from the paladin's hammer on his shoulder. A surge of pain shot through him as he felt the bone crack. He reassured himself as he always did, knowing that his connection to the Blood power would keep him alive. He took a few other insignificant blows from the solider as he parried another strike from the paladins hammer. He managed to get into the Paladin's defenses to land a strike against his arm. This wasn't good. He didn't have the speed to cope up with the two of them. He quickly made a decision. While Knights of Blood were mainly focused on survival, they had access to two lethal abilities albeit for a very short time, that could devastate enemies. They could induce themselves into a state of Hysteria becoming extremely reckless and feeding on the power of their own blood. A lack on control often meant they were purely on the offensive and would be weakened later. The second was the Dancing Rune Weapon. A clone of the Death Knight's wielded weapon that imitated his moved. Not very effective in this particular situation but it would serve to keep the second enemy busy when he dealt with the Paladin. He needed to time this right, and needed to make the move count. He fell back into a purely defensive state parrying incoming blows and collecting all the power he could amass from within. The paladin and the soldier pressed on being encouraged by their foe's retreating. Azrael quickly drew his offhand onto the blade of the weapon slicing the skin of his palm. Drawing it to his mouth he sucked a small amount of blood and moved into striking range of his enemies. In a small flash he created the dancing rune weapon. The next instant he felt the texture of the blood in his mouth change. From bitter and salty it tasted like corroded metal. He felt his head explode and vision blur. He exploded into action moving at twice the speed he had earlier striking the Undead soldier on his knees and then thrusting the sword into his chest all the way to the hilt. Twisting it, he yanked it back out landing a violent kick against the knee of his opponent, his foot effortlessly breaking it off. He finished with a massive horizontal strike to the soldiers face. He did not wait to see the effect of his actions and immediately turned on the Paladin, who was taken aback by this onslaught. Throughout, Azrael could feel his limbs shudder as the power flooded his body unleashing strike after strike on the Paladin in a rage. He held onto it until he knew that if he continued he would surely die under the weight of his own power. His teeth began to grind against his will and his grip tightened on his rune blade. He could feel his hands going numb with each strike. At this point he couldn't see what he was hitting. Suddenly letting go of the power and regaining control he leapt back letting go of his weapon. His sight returned and he saw that the paladin was cowering holding his hammer across his face defensively. The second enemy was a pile of bones lying on the ground hovering near him was a floating weapon that resembled Azrael's own. The dancing rune weapon had mimicked each of his strikes and under the weight of both weapons, the Undead soldier had been destroyed. The paladin had noticed that Azrael had let go of his weapon. Azrael had only a moment to reach for the short sword he strapped to his belt and brought it up blocking the paladin's hammer. The weight of the blow was much heavier than before. Azrael knew the paladin too was weakened, but his own abilities had exhausted Azrael. He turned around to see that Liha had finished off one of his enemies and was now quickly hacking away at the other one. He would only need to hold on for another few seconds. He blocked another blow from the hammer, his hands jarring with the impact of it. He could see the wounds he inflicted on the paladin slowly disappearing as the runes etched on its skin glowed brightly. An insect like swarm quickly enveloped the Paladin. Liha had now come to join the battle and engaged the Last remaining foe. Azrael took a moment to breathe and retrieved his fallen weapon. He too joined Liha. The paladin however seemed to be made a lot tougher than the remaining three. Azrael did not know if this was because of the strength he had while he was still living or he had grown stronger in undeath. In either case he took a full minute of being vigorously hacked by both of them till the runes stopped glowing and he was completely motionless.

'These damned things are much harder to kill than I had realized' said Liha after they were done. Azrael had knelt down to take a closer look at the paladin. His hammer was standard issue as was the plate armor he wore.

'Recognize him?' asked Liha

'No. But he seems to have held the rank of Knight-Captain' said Azrael pointing to the insignia near his chest.

'See this cloak?' said Azrael continuing. 'It's from the older order that Arthas destroyed after he was Risen as Death Knight, before he became the Lich King. There are very few Paladins alive from the original order. The newer Paladins wear cloaks of the Argent Crusade after the order was merged with the Argent Dawn'

This was bad news. If the order of the Silver Hand mirrored either the Stormwind army or the Ebon Blade in hierarchy, a Knight-Captain alone would be powerful indeed. Too powerful to be brought down by an accidental surge in the scourge's numbers. And the cloak meant a member of the older order who had survived Arthas' purge. Azrael came to a conclusion that whatever made these things was surely within the Crypt. Whatever awaited them below, the two of them would not be able to handle this alone.

'I'm not for running away from a challenge, but this appears to be far more serious than we had realised. I say we go back to Acherus and get reinforcements'

Azrael did not get a reply. He turned around to see that Liha wasn't where he had been standing just a few seconds ago. He quickly got to his feet brandishing his blade. The last thing he saw a bolt of shadow hitting his skull, obscuring his vision and suffocating the breath from him.