Cope
Ella looked upon the run down church that was nestled by the mountains with doubt. Was this really the place where Kherighan was going to find answers? Her lip curled slightly at the thought that this trip could have been all for nothing.
A few Argent Dawn guards, or rather Argent Crusader guards these days, stood by the chapel entrance. This site had been the staging grounds for the initial attacks on Naxxaramas when the frightening Necropolis floated ominously in the Plaguelands. It had since moved to Northrend, called home after the Lich King's awakening. Now Light's Hope chapel stood as a monument, devoid of the leadership which once paced its modest accommodations.
For Kherighan, this place held a more personal significance. Here he and his Ebon Blade brethren battled against the opposition to Arthas's will in these lands. Many Argent soldiers fell in the conflict, halted only after Tirion Fordring came forth and broke the yoke of the Lich King's mental hold on the death knights that had been present that day. Mograine, chief among Kher's Ebon brothers, turned the Ashbringer over to Fordring after it had been exposed that the Lich King meant to sacrifice them all. Fordring then used it against Arthas, forcing the cur to teleport away. Arthas retreated to Icecrown and the Knights of the Ebon Hold began to attempt to make amends with their past victims. Kherighan had forgone trying to find redemption and instead included himself in the first incursions into Northrend, cutting out a path to the Lich King's sanctum over the course of several months. After the Argent Crusade had a foothold in Icecrown, Kherighan took leave to return to his homeland. Having lost his drive and lust for the kill, he needed to find a new reason to fight.
Now, once again he found himself in the field of the rebirth his free will. Ella stood beside him, his old sword strapped to her back. He thought back to the day when the scourge overran this place, to the words spoken in defiance by Fordring to Arthas. You know what lies beneath this land...
Ella'dora placed a hand on Kher's shoulder encouragingly and asked, "Any idea what we're to do now that we're actually here?"
A sensation of uneasiness moved about in his gut. He had an idea of what should be done, but the consequences of the act had only just occurred to him. He'd been able to come this far because of the power afforded him. This power could destroy, yes... but it could also protect. Protect her...
Kherighan looked Ella over quickly. She stood true, her moment of weakness having been left behind in the more wooded areas of this land. It almost seemed as if she were taller somehow. Perhaps it was the proximity to this particular area. Or perhaps he was only really looking at 'her' for the first time. She'd tended to him, carrying the weight of a terrible vision. It might be that she was actually the stronger of the two of them.
Noting that he had not answered yet, Kher quickly replied, "I do have an idea. I'm just unsure that I can do what I should." He looked down at his gloved hand, rugged leather with dented plate on the top. Memories flooded his mind. To destroy, to kill... no mercy.
NO MERCY!
The voice flooded his mind suddenly, cold and menacing as ever. Deep and resounding, malice soaking every syllable. On his back Sceratus's binding began to smoke, searing its way out of the barrier between it and its host/master. Kherighan cried out suddenly, hand clutching his skull, clawing as if to dig something foreign buried inside. Startled, Ella took a step back, looking about for whatever could be attacking Kher. She pulled the sword from her back in readiness, reaching out with her other hand towards him.
Kherighan continued to retch about, shivering as pain wracked his entire body. Sorrow, despair, agony. Leave none alive. Destroy all. Lay waste to this land. The words forced their way through his mind. The runed axe had freed itself from its binding, dropping to the ground. Kherighan instinctively reached for it, even as consumed as he was. As his fingers gripped the leathered handled, a bright red flame ran up his arm, slithering up as a serpent till it reached his face. The fire entered his eyes, increasing their intensity for a moment. As suddenly as the insanity had started, an unsettling calm came over Kherighan as he stood up straight, eyes closed. Ella'dora took a step closer.
"Kherighan?" she whispered.
At the sound of his own name, Kher's eyes opened. The familiar blue glow had been replaced by a heated crimson. With a cry of pure rage and loss, Kher raised Sceratus. Ella brought up Kher's former sword up just in time to deflect the blow. She couldn't believe what was happening. She leapt back before a second strike came down, missing her by inches. Kher ran after her, completely under the thrall of whatever magic was at work here. She knew she had to stop him. The guards that had been idly watching over Light's Hope had begun to run towards the battle, swords drawn. Ella knew if they were to reach them Kher would flay the two in moments.
Urgently, Ella yelled at the oncoming guards, "Stay back! You can not help in this!" They still seemed determined. She could not let them die. Drawing on the few lessons she'd received, she sent a command to the two guards spirits. Her will was focused into one thought. Repent. They suddenly stopped, as if dazed. In that moment Kher had already closed the gap. Ella'dora continued to avoid his attacks. She wondered how long she could last at this rate. Kher still wasn't in full form yet. She began to wonder if the wounds Kher had received hadn't been in anticipation of this moment. Ducking below a swipe that would have relieved her shoulders of the weight of her head, she rolled forward and dashed towards the back of Light's Hope. Kherighan was immediately after her. As he caught up he lunged at her. She thought she heard laughter, but not from him. Somewhere...
Before she could pinpoint where the sound was coming from, Sceratus came rushing towards her. She brought up her broadsword again. As the two weapons connected she felt the vibration travel all the way up her arms, jolting her chest violently. She was knocked back from the shock of the strike. Ella landed on her back in the grass, gasping as the collision knocked the wind from her. She was sure the axe would fill her vision in a moment. Yet, it did not come. Finding air again, she pulled herself up to see Kherighan Dawntreader, murderer of good and evil alike, standing silently. Tears sizzled as they ran down his cheeks.
"I am lost... and so shall the world know what it is to lose..." The words came from Kherighan with no sound of emotion, just empty of all that made him a man.
"No, no. no... NO!" Ella'dora yelled. "I will not lose you this way!"
The words seemed to give Kherighan pause. Then, she heard the laughter again. Yet the sound was not coming from him. It was Sceratus. Now she understood. Gathering her strength, Ella got to her feet and grabbed the broadsword by the hilt, blade turned downward. Calling on the strength of the Light within, she drove the sword into the ground. As it sunk into the soil, a bright flash filled the blade. causing Kher to raise a hand to shield his eyes from the radiance. The emanations filled Ella'dora Morningbringer's entire body, the holy runes of Kherighan's once discarded weapon now restored with the righteous power it once possessed. The laughter at once ceased. Hefting the paladin sword from the ground with unnatural ease, Ella'dora took a battle ready stance.
Determined and righteous, Ella proclaimed, "I will make you stop and give me back what you have taken."
Sceratus's hold of Kherighan waned as the power of this hallowed ground, now brought to the surface by this girl, began to come closer as Ella charged forward. Chanting the basic spell for the judgement of Light, she swung the holy sword at Kherighan. Sceratus was brought up, now on the defensive as two quick successive blows pushed it back. Blue flames flared straight up into the air like elaborate fireworks. The demon axe roared as its own power was torn from it. It was a being forged from Kherighan's hatred and despair of the world. It had taken the lives and souls of thousands. And here it was that a woman, not long ago innocently doing battle with linx in the fields of Sunstrider Isle, threatened to bring about its destruction.
Kherighan's eyes were like fire. She could tell he still was not 'awake' even with the axe's power diminishing. Ella'dora continued to attack the dread axe, lips silently moving as she readied her next prayer. In her concentration on the incantation she lapsed a moment. It was all Sceratus needed. Suddenly the butt of the handle met Ella's cheek. She cried out as the pain traveled along the the side of her skull. She dropped to the ground, hand coming up defensively to where her cheek had been struck. She looked up to see Kher with Sceratus raised above his head. It was the end.
Looking upon the face of the man she loved, a single tear fell from her eye as she said goodbye. "I love you. I always will, my Kherighan." Ella closed her eyes.
In that moment, Sceratus came down.
A sharp sound of wood cracking against wood came from just above Ella's head. She flinched, yet nothing struck her. Ella wondered for a moment if he had killed her so fast she didn't feel anything, but she realized she could still feel the pain in her cheek and smell the dead grass. She opened her eyes to see Kherighan's own staring back at her, once again cool blue and misty. He was kneeling on one knee, so his face was level with her own. His arms was held up his axe horizontally... yet it was also blocking the blow from an identical axe. The razor sharp blade hovered a mere inches above her head. Holding the second axe was a flickering shadow version of Kherighan, furious red eyes burning as it snarled. Its seemed unstable, like it was phasing in and out of this dimension.
Realizing after a moment of shock that her Kherighan had recovered himself enough to save her from Sceratus, Ella'dora spun to the side to get herself out of harm's way. As she once again gripped her newly empower sword tighter, she felt the pain from her cheek fade as the residual healing powers of the Light repaired her wound. Ella lunged forward, swinging the sword overhead as the pitch black monster struggled with Kher. Sceratus broke from its competition with its former master and dashed with inhuman speed around to meet Ella's weapon with its own. The blade of the axe scraped along Ella's broadsword as the weapons locked together. Sweat beaded on her forehead as she shoved against strength Sceratus was putting behind the shell that once contained it.
Shaking his head of the fog which clouded his thoughts, Kherighan got to his feet. He thought himself in a nightmare, for he was watching a dark version of himself attacking the woman he loved more than his life. The ache he felt through his body woke him enough to realize this was real. He rushed at the shadow creature, swiping at its head. Sceratus laughed wickedly as it passed through with not even the slightest resistance. It was a shadow in a true sense.
Kherighan's distraction was enough for Ella to manage to unlock her sword from Sceratus and stab at its chest. It deflected her strike, but the blow caught the creature's shoulder. The runes of her holy weapon flashed as it made contact, and smoke billowed from the wound. Horrified that it had been harmed, Sceratus screamed in agony. It reared and swung its axe wildly at Ella. Kherighan appeared between it and its target, blocking the blade with his own. Having realized he didn't have the appropriate power to defeat the shadow, he focused on shielding Ella from the corporeal axe.
Moving with the grace and coordination of warriors who'd fought together for countless years, the blood elves' weapons danced as they assaulted Kherighan's silhouetted twin. Whenever Sceratus would find an opening to attack the elf who could hurt it, Kher was there to keep the blow from connecting. Ella weaved in and around Kher's body, hacking away bits of Sceratus. It let out a shreik of frustration that sounded throughout the valley.
In that moment, Kherighan whirled, the blade of his axe slicing cleanly though the leather braided handle of Sceratus. A small shock wave pushed him back as the shadow's blade spun away and sunk into the hallowed earth. Its firey eyes looked in disbelief for only a moment before Ella appeared, leaping up from behind Kher with her sword raised above her head. A shimmering arc trailed the runed broadsword it fell right through the center of it's essence. A grotesque and inhuman howl emanated from the core of its being. It sent shivers down Ella's spine. Bright wispy light devoured the shadow from the inside out along the line that trailed through Ella's final strike. The flaming eyes were extinguished last, giving Ella'dora and Kherighan an accusatory and pained look before expiring is two tiny puffs of smoke.
Still breathing rapidly, the elven couple stood tense for a few moments longer. Slowly they realized the battle was finally won. They turned toward each other, elated. Their armor clunked together as they embraced each other. Not far away, the two guards were recovering from their imposed stupor.
Tears of regret that had been absent ever since his conversion to the death knights suddenly welled up in Kherighan's eyes as he gently touched his fingers to the cheek where Ella had been been hit. Although it had already healed, Ella instinctively winced.
"I'm so, so sorry." Kherighan's voice was hoarse, the echo fainter than it was not an hour ago.
In response Ella jumped up on Kherighan, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him. The force of her enthusiasm and weight of her in full armor sent the two falling backwards into the brown and orange grass. Their plate wear sang lowly as they hit the ground. The Argent guards heard the commotion and moved in to investigate, then blushed and averted their eyes at finding a different type of attack than they'd been expecting. The two humans chuckled as they left the paladin and death knight to their kissing.
Eventually the moment passed and their passionate kiss changed into smaller playful ones. Finally their lips drew away from each other and Ella rolled off of Kher with a low metallic shuffling. They lay together in silence as the events that had just unfolded sunk in. Kher spoke first.
"I really am sorry, Ella. I should have come alone."
Ella rolled her eyes. "Yes, that would have been brilliant. Then there would have been no one to stop you from slaughtering the already minuscule population of this land."
"True. Still...," said Kherighan as he looked that the now very ordinary axe that lay beside him, "Sceratus almost made me kill you."
Ella was still laying down, looking up at the hazy sky.
"What do you remember?" she inquired, turning her head to gaze away at the nearby mountain range.
Kherighan collected his thoughts a moment.
"I remember the sudden pain in my head, hearing Arthas' voice calling me. I heard it often when he had control over me. When the pain subsided, I heard you call my name. I opened my eyes and I thought I saw... and old companion of mine." Kherighan swallowed at the memory before continuing. "Her name was Nortiana. She was a paladin, like I was. I knew her since she and I were very young. We were very close. She died in these lands just before I was changed into what I am today."
From the corner of Kher's eye he could make out Ella nod somberly.
"She wasn't the same when I saw her today. Her skin was grey and drawn; hair was clear as ice. She more resembled a Forsaken than my friend. I couldn't stand the thought of that unclean thing walking around in my companion's body. I cried out in my anguish and tried to destroy it."
Sighing, Ella whispered, "That must have been when you attacked me. You thought I was her. I was in total disbelief of what was happening."
"I was totally convinced you were a monster. It was only when you had damaged Sceratus that the illusion broke. When I was fending you off, each time you connected with my axe, the vision shook to reveal you beneath. But I was only able to fully break free of its hold when I heard you tell me you loved me."
Ella felt her cheeks flush a little as she remembered the moment. She closed her eyes and sat up. When she opened them and looked at Kherighan fully since the fighting had ceased, she gasped. Kherighan looked at her curiously.
"What is it, Ella?"
Mouth opened in awe, she reached up and cautiously touched Kherighan's spiky hair. Taking her fingers away she looked at them carefully as if expecting them to have changed color. Kher took Ella's hand in his own. Peering into an an area on the surface on her armor that was still polished, He examined his reflection. Looking back at him was a Sindorei that was very similar to himself, same straight jaw and sloping nose, but instead of raven locks the elf's hair was deep blood red.
All he could make out was a short, "Huh..."