The smell of burning pine wood roused a sleeping body on a queen sized bed to awaken. A groan passed the pale lips of a Death Knight, her bright glowing eyes opening and staring the ceiling. Robotically, the Death Knight sat up, looking around her room. Getting out of the covers, she saw that she was dressed in the traditional Death Knight Armor and robes.
'Did I sleep in these?' She thought, looking around again. She tried to think back, to scan her memories to see why she slept in her clothes. Nothing but a haze that clouded her mind, leaving her dumbfounded and strangely vulnerable to the world; she didn't think anything of it, simply assuming that she must have hit her head or something.
Slowly, she made her way to a mirror on the dresser and stared at the woman staring back. Silvery white hair framed her face in straight thick strands. Pale skin contrasted against the dark clothes she wore yet complimented her frosty blue eyes and hair. She hesitantly touched the mirror, recognizing the woman yet couldn't place a name.
A knock on her door made her place the mirror back on the dresser and went to answer the annoyed knocker. Opening the door, she saw a face that she recognized but didn't know.
"Finally the princess awakes." His sneer was not welcomed but she didn't complain.
"Um, did you need something…? She trailed off since she didn't know his name, not that he complained.
"The King wants to see you when you woke up. How long have you been up?" His tone was light, free even, but it didn't hide the annoyance and bitterness hidden underneath.
"I just woke up about two minutes ago." He seemed disinterested and still annoyed.
"Fine, come with me." He grabbed her wrist painfully and dragged her, she had to close the door, down a large hallway and through a couple huge doors before they were outside, sort of, with ghouls bustling themselves with work.
The Death Knight female looked around curiously, not remembering any of this at all. A ghoul looked at her, its black void of eyes staring at her; well its face was staring at her, as if seeing right through her. Unconsciously, she reached out to grasp the male Death Knights wrist, getting closer to him as she soaked up everything.
"Here we are." He had stopped short before the huge hole in the ground where a row of captured prisoners were tied to a chain laced with magic. He released her wrist, pointing to the balcony where she was supposed to go.
"Um, thank you." He let out a gruff sound as a reply, walking back to the direction they had came from.
The Death Knight walked over to the balcony, still unsure but a bit more comfortable after she saw the Lich King standing and overlooking to the ground.
She made sure not to get too close, in case she might offend him or disturb him, and kneeled down. Her head was bowed, an arm on her bent knee and the other resting on the ground by the knuckles.
"Your Highness, how may I assist you?" She felt nervous, but he didn't make any moves to kill her or harm her, to what she assumed was a good start.
"Stand." It was a simple command that could hold so many meanings behind it. Stand so I could have a better job at killing you? Stand so I could see the rest of your life disappear from your eyes? Not wanting to upset him, she stood up but didn't meet his gaze. Instead, her eyes stayed firmly glued to his dark chest plate armor.
"What is your name Death Knight?" That got her attention because now she was staring at the frosty eyes of her king, her body trembling. Her name? Her name. What the hell was her damn name? Embarrassment and shame racked through her body as she desperately tried to search her memory for her name. All attempts were in vain, for the haze only thickened and prevented her from retrieving any information.
"I-I don't know my lord. I cannot seem to remember anything." She bowed her head, afraid to look at him anymore. She didn't see the pleased and amused smirk gracing the Lich King's face and then vanish shortly after it came.
"Then your name shall be Styx. Do you understand me?" Her name was to be Styx? If the lord wishes for it, then so be it.
"Yes sir." She met his eyes, a stoic expression masking the inner turmoil deep inside. He turned, his back now facing her. She released a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. All was quiet until his echoed voice spoke once more.
"All that I am: anger, cruelty, vengeance - I bestow upon you, my chosen knight. I have granted you immortality so that you may herald in a new, dark age for the Scourge.
Gaze now upon the lands below us. The Scarlet Crusade scurries to undo my work, while Light's Hope stands defiantly against us - a blemish upon these Plaguelands. They must all be shown the price of their defiance. You will become my force of retribution. Where you tread, doom will follow. Go now and claim your destiny, death knight."
"Yes sir." Styx turned her heel and started walking away when she paused. She turned her head to look at the back of her king's head, a question on the tip of her tongue.
"Speak." She jumped, unaware that the king had sensed her confusion and cleared her throat.
"My Lord, if I may ask… who was I?" Her hands tightened into fists, afraid that maybe she over stepped her boundaries and angered her king in some way.
"Do not ask me that." She took his warning to heart and bowed, apologizing for her rude behavior and headed off to grand room with prisoners, ghouls, and a tall man in a lighter shade of blue armor.
She walked over to him, standing next to him to await orders. He turned his head, acknowledging her with a thin smile.
"You have heard the call of the Lich King, death knight. Now it is the time to answer to your master. Your training begins now." Styx nodded her head, bowing in respect.
"The single most important piece of equipment to a death knight is a runeblade. It is through a runeblade that a death knight commands the power of frost, blood, and the unholy. The runeblade also acts as a vessel to store the death knight's runic power." Styx nodded her head, understanding, a bit, at what he just explained to her.
"The time has come to create your first runeblade. Search the weapon racks on this floor and locate a Battle-worn Sword. Once found, take the sword to a nearby runeforge and use it to create a runeblade. Do not ever forget that a runeblade is an extension of your being. A death knight cannot fight without a runeblade."
Styx nodded her head, dismissing herself in search for the weapon racks. Finding one a couple meters away, she saw a sword a bit more decent than the rest on the rack and plucked it out. Analyzing it, she deemed it worthy enough for an interesting weapon and walked over to a giant, golden skeletal head with its mouth wide open. Unsure, she held out the weapon to its mouth, waiting for anything to happen.
Shortly after, power seemed to seep into the sword, molding it, reshaping it, and renewing it into an actual fighting blade. To say the least, Styx was impressed at how quick it was. Only fifteen minutes instead of the hour or two she thought might be.
Styx walked back to where instructor Razuvious was pacing, sword now comfortably strapped to her back. Razuvious stopped when he saw that she completed her word and gave her a much wider smile, well wider than the thin line smile he gave her before.
"Well done, Styx. You have successfully created your first runeblade weapon. With it you will sow the seeds of chaos and destruction! In your wake there will be a bloodied field of battle, littered with the corpse of all that would dare oppose the Scourge." The pride and determination in his voice made Styx smile broadly. Pride swelled in her chest for the Scourge and even to the Lich King. The king must be a great man to have such determined, loyal subordinates willing to die in battle for him and the Scourge.
"Now let us head back to the runeforge and I will show you how to engrave your runeblade with a rune of your choice." Styx took her sword from her back, listening as Razuvious continued to speak about how the runes will help in battle and make your flow with the dark energy. He allowed her to choose one out of the two runes, Cinderglacier and Razorice, which she took Razorice, and told her how to engrave it.
"Good. At least you pick up on things quickly, something I can't say everyone has but wish they did." The comment made Styx chuckle. At least she wasn't a total loss.
"Remember these words, death knight. The Runeforge is a Scourge instrument. It exists only in Acherus, Naxxramas, and the heart of Icecrown! You may only emblazon your weaponry at a Runeforge. Return often and emblazon all of your weapons. A death knight must be prepared for all that would dare oppose him!"
Razuvious handed her a key, informing her that an endless hunger would soon take over her and that the only way to sate it is to kill. He pointed to where the prisoners, or unworthy initiate as he called them, and to free one to do battle. To make it fair, somewhat, he wanted her to allow them to equip their armor and weapon before they do battle.
"Two lives, one key. Do not fail me Styx." She nodded her head at Razuvious, turning at the ball of her heels and walked over to the stairs leading to her 'salvation' as the instructor so nicely phrased it.
She didn't go in until she found who she wanted to battle. Seeing a male blood elf glaring at her, she found that he was the one she wanted to fight. Taking cautious steps down, she made her way to where the blood elf was chained. He didn't move, just stayed staring at Styx with murder and arrogance.
"If you beat me, you will have won your freedom." She muttered, unlocking his chains and thus freeing him. "Collect your armor and weapon and we will battle when you are ready."
The blood elf towered in front of Styx, his green eyes that every blood elf has boring into hers. "I will win and you will be the one who is the unworthy scum." His comment made the death knight glare, her gaze as cold as the temperature.
"We will see about that, blood elf." He shot her one last glare before leaving to put on his armor and held his weapon in his hands.
"Let us fight." Styx prepared herself, waiting for him to attack first. None moved, not a muscle. She was not the one to give in, no matter how impatient she was getting.
He attacked first, swinging his sword in an upward angle. Styx dodged it, countering it with a vertical downward strike. Her blade connected with his but the she didn't stop there. Using her Icy Touch, she touched his exposed skin, dealing damage and successfully slowing down his strikes.
The blood elf growled in pain, his body trembling violent in hopes to warm itself up to keep up with the speed she was dealing with. He was slowing down; giving the opportunity Styx was hoping for, released a barrage of strikes that he found difficult to dodge. Her sword came in contact with his armor, weakening the plate. He regained his composure, now fighting back with vigorous and powerful strikes.
Styx stepped back, faltering slightly at his raw determination to win and destroy. The clashing of swords attracted a small crowd, and not the just the prisoners who screamed for the blood elf to slaughter her, but also some ghouls and a couple of Death Knights who peered on, highly amused.
With their cheering and peering gaze, Styx lost her focus for a moment, which was all the blood elf needed to almost cut off her arm. The death knight swallowed down her agony, jumping back to grasp the gash running from her bicep to her wrist. A growl escaped her lips, her eyes narrowed into slits while blood poured out of the open wound.
"I'm going to enjoy killing you." She forced her body to ignore the pain as she lifted her sword. He gave her a cocky grin but instead of getting the result he wanted, she gave a secretive smirk.
Styx charged at him, concentrating on using the plague strike to surround her blade. She swung down, a blow he anticipated and aimed to block but before the swords clashed, she redirected the weapon so aim for his abdomen.
The plague strike took effect quickly, spreading through his body when she pierced through the armor and sliced through his flesh. He howled in pain, cursing and damning her. She only smirked and delivered the final blow by piercing through his armor for the second time and plunged through his body like butter. A gurgled, bloody curse escaped his lips just before his body went limp.
Styx pulled her sword, swinging it so the excess blood created a beautiful splash. The death knights that had gathered all left, leaving the ghouls to clean up the mess and Styx to return to Razuvious. He seemed pleased, his eyes contorted with the knowledge that she would come out victorious.
"Go to the Lich King to receive further orders." That was all he commanded her to do before going back to pacing. Styx nodded, putting away her sword. Pain shot up through her, causing the sword to drop on the ground. She forgot had forgotten that she was injured.
Styx wondered if she should it would offend the king to address him in state of appearance. But if she disobeyed Razuvious orders, she could get in trouble with both of them. So which was it? Appear to the Lich King injured and bloody, or clean up her wound and then address him later, thus getting in trouble with him and Razuvious.
She sighed, picking up her sword from the ground and going to the balcony. It was better to get scolded at by appearing bloody rather than disobeying orders.
She kneeled down, placing her sword gently on the ground and bowed at him like she did before. The blood in her right arm continued to slide down her arm, making a crimson puddle around her fist. She stared at the glossy liquid, watching the different shadows that passed by.
"A death knight must never appear injured, unless you desire the enemy to find a way to use your injury against you and kill you." Styx almost jumped out of her skin when he spoke. She doubted she would ever get used it. A feeling of Déjà vu washed over her when she thought that. Had she said the same thing before? She just couldn't remember.
"I'm sorry M'lord. I just wasn't sure if I should address you like this or disobey instructor Razvious orders and clean up before speaking with you again." She bit her lower lip lightly, afraid she might have offended him.
The King had no idea how to respond to that. Just like the time he killed her, he had no idea how to respond to her thank you. He remembered the serene look as he pulled his blade from her chest, the smile she gave him. Never had he met someone that smiled when they died.
"See to it that it does not happen again. If you are injured you will fix it up before returning to me. I cannot afford to lose a death knight because they were careless." Styx smiled lightly. She was glad she had a caring king, even if it was for his own reasons.
"Yes sir."
"Go clean yourself up and return to me when you are done. It is then I will give you further instructions on your next task." Feeling brave, Styx lifted her head and saw that the Lich King was looking at her. She nodded her head, picking up her sword as she stood. She bowed her head before dismissing herself back to her living quarters.
"So I see that you actually survived your first battle." There was that mocking voice again. Styx turned to see the death knight from earlier.
"Ah, well yes I have." She smiled sheepishly, her steps slowing into step with his.
He cocked an eyebrow at her when he saw the gash on her arm. "Call it a hunch, but are you some sort of masochist or something? Or do you have a death wish?" Styx stared at him, confusion masking her face. He sighed in annoyance, pointing to the gash on her arm.
"Oh this, ah, well, um, the blood elf had got me. I just had ignored the pain until I tried to put away my sword. Since I'm right handed, and the gash is on my right arm, pain had shot up through it and I remembered I was hurt. I didn't want to disobey orders by cleaning up my wound and angering the Lich king so I went to him like this. He told me that I was stupid for appearing injured and ordered me to clean myself up before going back."
The death knight seemed surprised before he let out a smirk. "I see. Then I must say you earned yourself the right to be called a Death Knight if the Lich King orders you to fix yourself up."
Styx didn't dwell on the comment since she reached her room. Apparently the Death Knight didn't seem to care that it was her room and she didn't invite him in, because he followed her inside. He went even as far as to relax on her bed.
"Excuse me, but I didn't say you could enter my room." Styx glared, well pouted, at the male death knight.
"Yeah, well who said I cared about what you said?" He shot her a cocky smirk, making Styx roll her eyes.
"You insensitive jerk." She went to her drawer and looked for some bandages and some sort of herb or ointment to place on the wound. She found the bandages but not the ointment. She huffed out a breath of annoyance, guessing she would have to just clean the wound and bandage it.
"Hey, stupid, you do know you could use a healing potion right?" Styx turned her head sharply, a death glare aimed at his direction.
"I am not stupid you asshole. I know I could use a healing potion but then that would mean I would waste it when I could use it with a bit more serious injuries than just this." He seemed taken back before roaring out in laughter.
"Well, at least I know you're not boring. What's your name anyway?" He had sat up, watching her bustle around with a small bowl filled with water and bandages.
"My name is Styx." She peeled off her armor, careful to avoid irritating her wound any further. He watched her carefully, observing how she was careful when it came to actually cleaning the wound. Dabs here and there that returned soaked with blood.
He sighed, getting off the bed to her side. She looked up questioningly when he took the cloth from her hand, rung it out, and cleaned up the wound, leaving the cloth there for mere seconds to soak up the blood and allowing the cool water to heal the wound.
"Volkan." He muttered, being a little less careful than her when tending the wound. Styx winced at his not so gentle touch but didn't complain.
She looked at his face, watching the way his brows furrowed in, a thin line set on his face. Styx finally figured out that he was a blood elf Death knight, much like her. Though, his armor was a tad different than hers. His armor proved a bit more useful than the one she was wearing.
"Thank you." Another gruff reply, just like before, only instead of leaving he was now bandaging up from her wrist up to where the gash started on her bicep.
"There. Just so you know, I'm not always going to do this every time you get hurt. I don't have that kind of time or energy." He glared at her, a scowl evident on his face. Styx just smiled, despite the insult.
"Of course." She stood put her armor back on, feeling better that she wasn't spilling blood on the floor like before.
"Hurry up stupid. The Lich King is waiting." Another glare at his direction, one he ignored.
She grabbed her sword, ushering the male to leave her room. It wasn't like she didn't trust him, wait, she didn't, but she didn't want anyone in her room without her being there. She closed the door, heading to the direction that she went before while Volkan went the opposite direction.
Just before he was out of ear shot, Styx turned around to yell out to him.
"Hey Volkan!" He turned, irritated but curious as to what she wanted.
"Maybe if you got laid you wouldn't be such a jerk!" She allowed a few seconds for him to absorb what she said before running before he used any spells on her. The look on his face was priceless.
Authors Note: Ok well Chapter 2 was just an intro to her being a Death Knight but not remembering about her past. This chapter wasn't all the best but it's just a start. It's just to get a feel on how she responds to the king and introducing Volkan, the Death Knight from the first chapter.