Sin: The Last Death Knight
Chapter 2 The Darkness Cometh
It had been twenty years since the fall of the Lich King. The Knights of the Ebon Blade, once monsters yet now heroes by their own redemption, have ceased to exist in the world of Azeroth. The warriors of the Argent Crusade, however, have continued their efforts in the recovery of the shattered aftermath of that tragic war. Torn families have begun to recuperate from the loss of loved ones, once ruined towns and cities now rebuilt to reflect their former glory, and heroes rewarded for their valiant efforts. Much has changed since Arthas fell from power, leaving Icecrown and other Scourge-infested lands to once again shine with the light of life and peace. For now the Horde and Alliance have put their aggression aside to further the calm after such a terrible storm, although how long it will last is another story.
The deaths of the Knights of the Ebon Blade were tragic to say the least, although without the Lich King to fight against they really had no place in a peaceful Azeroth. The sister of the mighty Thassarian had fled to the isolated kingdom of Gilneas shortly after the birth of her bastard son, for in Stormwind she would only be branded with a scarlet letter. Rumor has it that the child's father was a death knight who fought alongside Thassarian, although such details faded along with her presence in that judgmental nation. In truth, shortly after her arrival in Gilneas, she was married to a handsome noble who resided in a mansion away from the bustling cities. Unfortunately, an epidemic was consuming the populous with a sort of hunger and fury of which they were cursed with. Secrets that have yet to be revealed, horrors that were once unimaginable, and a torn heart that will know little reprieve. All these and more dwell within the tale of a young man who must embark on a journey, a quest that could mean not only the fate of his own soul, but of all the souls of Azeroth as well.
"Sin? Sin, where are you?"
It was another dismal and rainy day at the manor atop a hill that overlooked Gilneas like a tireless sentry. A lone man sat atop the roof, gazing at the gray fields and grayer sky as if entranced by its bleakness. His blank expression was soon broken by the familiar voice of his teacher who had just stepped outside in search of his pupil.
"I'm up here, like usual," he shouted to his mentor from above. "I don't know why you even bother taking all this time to look for me. Am I not always here?"
"You never know, perhaps you may find a new place to waste away your days!" exclaimed his teacher.
The young man called Sin leaped from his perch and down to the walkway next to his teacher. He gave the elder gentleman a sigh and a roll of the eyes as he began to walk back inside. Upon his re-entrance he returned to the study where he spent most of his years learning of history, among other details of life before his time. His teacher, whose name was Daniel, joined his student with a tome in hand. On it was inscribed, "Arthas: The Rise and Fall of the Lich King". It was a sensitive topic to say the least, for Sin knew full well of his mother and uncle's role in that bloody war. Reading its pages made Sin disgusted at what his uncle had done, albeit he loved his mother for putting up with such a vile bastard. No matter how many times Daniel explained to the young heir that his uncle's crimes were forgiven through redemption, Sin would sooner spit upon his ancestry than to think Thassarian's actions to be justified.
"You do realize, however, that your mother loved him very much," said Daniel as Sin continued to reluctantly read the book's tale of retribution. "It was such a love that your mother in turn gave to you, upon your birth, in the form of that shard you now carry around your neck."
This was true. Around Sin's neck he held the same shard Thassarian had given Leryssa just before his passing. No matter how much he despised his uncle, he loved his mother even more. Despite the fact that it was originally a gift from one of the last death knights to live, it was also a present from his mother upon his eighteenth birthday, a month before she mysteriously passed away from an unknown sickness. It was the only reason why Sin still wore that wretched necklace on his persons. Nevertheless, the young heir to the Shadowhaven House of nobles would never openly claim it to once belong to his uncle, let alone a death knight.
"I don't care how you speak of him…" he said to Daniel. "I will never think highly of such a monster!"
A bell tolled in the distance. It was noon, time for lunch and a resting point of the day. With the sky so dark from overhead clouds, only the bell tower that was positioned north of the manor could tell the time. It was still raining, yet Sin still wished to roam about the manor's property. His soul felt uneasy, unsettled by the lessons of the day. Not that he learned anything from it anyway.
But something was different about that day. The small patch of forestland that divided the manor from the nearby town seemed to be more sinister, more ominous than it had been before. As he stared into the blackness of the forest below the canopies, he could hear something calling to him, although it was not from the trees. The shard around his neck seemed to beckon to him, pleading him in a hushed whisper.
"Please… Take me back…"
"Back to where?" Sin questioned in confusion.
Suddenly his entire body was grasped by some unseen force, of which easily pulled him off the Eradnevir property and through the forest at breakneck speed. He was moving at such a rate that the trees passed him like a blur, the ground below him and the canopies above him being no different. That is until he ended up being pulled straight into a strong oak, knocked unconscious from the impact.
As he composed himself upon awakening, Sin felt as if something was missing. He then looked around him, unfamiliar with his surroundings or the presence that he felt. It was if something was watching him, and looking down at the ground he could see what appeared to be wolf tracks at his feet. In fact, it appeared to be the tracks of a large pack. As he gazed ahead, still dazed from the blow, he could see a creature watching him. Its fur was gray, its lupine head fixed with a pair of beaming crimson eyes. Despite its wolf-like nature, it was standing upright, almost like a slouching human. In one of its clawed hands it held an all-too familiar object as well.
"My shard!" Sin exclaimed as he charged at the beast.
Despite its size and physical tone, Sin cared not so long as it held his mother's gift in its clutches. But just as he was about to reached for the shard, a pair of creatures similar to the other leaped from the underbrush on both sides of him. They held him against a tree so that he could not struggle successfully while the first he saw, apparently the pack leader of the trio, loomed above him menacingly. That is when he learned that these beasts, or whatever they were, could speak in clear Common.
"So, young whelp," said the first as if chuckling. "I see you think this 'thing' is more precious than your own life. You also come from the Eradnevir House, which could mean I already don't like you…"
"Give that back, monster!" Sin cried out, still barely struggling.
The creature punched Sin straight in the chest, knocking the wind out of him for a few seconds. It laughed as he regained his breath.
"Monster? Boy, do you not know what I am? What we are? We are worgen! We are faster and stronger than any Gilnean who has not been inflicted with our curse…"
"Let… me… go!"
The worgen laughed again, this time louder than before.
"You still got some fight in you, do you? You got spirit, boy, I'll give you that much! I'll think I'll just let you go, but I'll keep your precious necklace for myself!"
As he turned away laughing, the other two worgen let go of Sin, following their leader close behind. Before they were out of sight, however, something in Sin began to change. As he knelt with his forearms against the ground, his blood began to boil with anger.
"Thugs… Monsters… Bastards…"
He felt his mind slipping away, as if something else was taking over. But worst of all, every sense of civilized mannerisms and morals seemed to vanish from his heart as he felt it turn black and cold. His fingers slowly and painfully turned to claws, his face becoming as lupine as his aggressors. Black fur burst from his skin and his size increased to be slightly larger than the alpha who held his shard captive. As the transformation from simple human nobleman to a feral worgen beast met its end, his once stern, obsidian eyes turned to a ghastly, radiant azure.
Sin howled to the sky as he glared at his assailants who, out of confusion and surprise, glared back. With an outstretched claw Sin summoned a dark chain that noosed itself around one of the worgen and pulled the thug back to where he had initially subdued Sin against the tree. Before the subdued thug could even stand Sin struck him with a bolt of unholy energy, of which slew the half-beast almost instantly.
"How dare you!" barked the alpha. "Avenge your brother, now!"
In a furious rage the slain worgen's brother charged head on at Sin, who was also in a frenzy. Sin charged as well, and the impact did not bode well for the other worgen. With a head butt Sin knocked his assailant down to the ground, leaving him to bleed through his skull. After both lackeys were dealt with, Sin raised both his hands to the one who held his shard. Suddenly the alpha felt his throat being clenched by an unseen force, obviously controlled by the hands of Sin. It raised him into the air, leaving him breathless and clinging to his life.
"Thug… Monster…" Sin growled like the beast he had become.
"Plea-please! Don't… do… this…!" begged the worgen. "Here! Ta-take it!"
The worgen threw the necklace down to the ground, right at Sin's feet. Sin looked down to the ground, saw it, and picked it up with one hand still using the dark force of energy to hold the worgen alpha in the air. He then looked back to the worgen, barring his sharpened teeth at the struggling half-beast.
"You still… got some fight in you… do you?!" Sin barked with a toothy scowl.
"Wha-what? No! Please! Please don't!"
"Bastard!"
With this newfound power Sin threw the worgen alpha against the hard ground. Again and again he hurled the battered worgen against trees, rocks, and the like until Sin knew the brute had learned his lesson. He let the worgen alpha go, held the shard close to his heart, and then dropped to the ground asleep. His form returned to be human, although his clothes were torn to shreds. After regaining his consciousness and composure, the alpha scowled at Sin with great disgust.
"You cleaved my friends, my comrades, you beat me senseless, and now you think that you can let me live without feeling my vengeance?!"
Still Sin slept soundly with the shard in his grasp. The alpha was about to strike the young man where he lay, but then something occurred to him.
"I haven't heard of or seen anything like you in over twenty years…" he thought to himself. "Hell, I haven't even seen my kind wield a power like yours… But even with such pure, dark power, why is it that you let me live? Damn… There is so much about you that remains a mystery… I suppose it is my urge to know more that allows me to spare you this day, young whelp."
The alpha looked up through the canopies, where an opening allowed a glimpse into the grayed sky.
"The war of the Lich King is not yet over, and I can feel in the earth that a new war is coming… In the end, with the might of a worgen and the powers of death at his command, this boy might open a path to greater things. When the day comes where Azeroth no longer needs a savior like you, boy, I hope I am there too… Maybe then I will see you as I have seen myself - a hero of a world that has no room for the likes of us."
The worgen howled to the sky, and as he did he could hear footsteps running nearby. He looked to his fallen comrades, and then looked to Sin as he continued to sleep.
"For now, whelp, I will leave you to your people. But when they discover that you are no more a monster than me, I'll be waiting for you…"
He then lifted the two corpses of his friends on his shoulders, a tear of sorrow trickling down his muzzle.
"Come, my brothers… It is time we find you a grave for you to rest…"
As he fled the scene, a small band of servants from the Eradnevir House came across Sin, deep in slumber.
"We have to bring the young master to the infirmary at once! Hurry now! Gently! He appears wounded!"
Sin's mentor, the teacher called Daniel, was present when they found him. He observed the surroundings, noticing blood scattered about although Sin had not a scratch on him. He also saw a patch of gray fur clinging on a nearby low branch, and so he put it all together. Somehow the young master had survived a worgen attack, although how it could have ended for the better was a great question in his mind.
"Have you found something, sir?" asked a guard who accompanied the rescuers.
Daniel stowed the fur in his sleeve, turned to the guard and said, "It's nothing. Seems he wandered too far from the property and fell asleep. Nothing more, I would assume."
"Right! Alright everyone, it's time we brought the young master back home!"
As they carried Sin in their arms, Daniel looked to the direction where a trail of fresh blood wandered off, deeper into the forest.
"It seems there is more to you than meets the eye, my young student… But only time will tell, I suppose…"