Chapter 11: Sloth
"Seven Deadly Warlords?" I repeated quizzically. "Who are they?"
"Only those from the early days of the Forsaken remember them," Sylvanas replied. "As you know, the Forsaken broke away from the Scourge; our revolution, however, was not without turmoil. Not wanting to accept his losses, the vile Lich King sent waves of Scourge after us, hoping to use force to regain the Forsaken. Then, as with now, I was leader of the Forsaken. I needed leaders to aid me, to use power and strategy to defeat the blasted Scourge troops which plagued us. It was then I appointed seven of the strongest warriors in our force to be my generals, known as the Seven Deadly Warlords." Sylvanas paused briefly and looked to the ceiling, as if reminiscing.
"Each one of them I named for one of the Seven Deadly Sins I had been taught never to commit while I lived; now that I was Undead, the opposite of one who is alive, I decided that committing sins would help rather than hinder my cause." Sylvanas emitted a sinister laugh. "The Seven Deadly Warlords had varied abilities; no two were similar save for that they served my cause. Their fighting abilities were instrumental in turning the Scourge back and securing freedom for the Forsaken."
"And now those bastards stabbed us in the back," Varimathras growled gruffly. "Their defection came from nowhere; they seemed like the most loyal of the Forsaken." As Varimathras said this, I thought back to Sylvanas's words to me not long ago 'Once a Demon, always a Demon' and found irony in Varimthras's speech about loyalty…
"They abandoned us less than a day ago," Varimathras continued. "I saw them rush from the Undercity, together, crying out that they now had their own mission and master to follow. I fear they may have rejoined the Scourge."
"Or perhaps they were with the Scourge from the start," Sylvanas replied coldly. "Those traitors must be taught a lesson. There is only one place they could have gone, the Fortress of Bane; I had this fortress especially commissioned for the Warlords to plot their attacks and garrison troops strategically in the north, not far from Scarlet Monastery. No doubt they have either slaughtered the guards there or tricked them into believing they still serve the Forsaken cause."
"I will do as you command, my Dark Lady," I said with a respectful bow.
"As will I," Varimathras rasped before hastily adding, "my Dark Lady."
Varimathras and I exited the Undercity and walked several miles north to the fortress without a word passing between us. Varimathras was a huge creature, almost twice my height, a demon, neither man nor beast. He sported broad bat-like wings composed of purple, leathery skin. His head was humanoid, except for the fact that two black, curved horns rose from his scalp. The Dreadlord also had hooves in place of feet, and cruel fangs in his mouth. Varimathras was clad in an azure suit of armor that covered his chest and legs as well as pitch-black shoulderpads. Massive claws stood atop his massive hands, and, finally, a piece of purple cloth with the image of a skull at the bottom dangled from between his legs.
"We're here," Varimathras finally said as we stood outside the Fortress of Bane. The fortress was unexpectedly small; it was only about twice as wide and tall as the Scarlet Crusade Towers I had attacked in the past. The walls were of a solid black stone, which I inferred to be Obsidian, a strange choice for a citadel. Massive spikes of the rock jutted at crooked angles from the tops of the walls with the corpses of unfortunate enemies skewered on them. Upon seeing my look of fear at the decimated bodies, Varimathras offered some scant words of comfort: "Don't worry, none of those were the guards meaning they are still very much alive. Besides, the Warlords only reserve such a quick and painless death for lower-ranking enemies. We can expect to be killed much more sadistically."
With such words of confidence in my ears, it was no wonder I became filled with fear as we approached the gate of the fortress. The portcullis, strangely enough, as open. "They're expecting us, obviously," Varimathras groaned. "After you."
The inside of the fortress was far less gruesome but just as uninviting as the exterior. There was but a single corridor which was lit only by a burning torch here or there. Our walk down the hallway was short as we came to the door for the first room.
"Before we enter, let me tell you a few things about the Fortress of Bane," Varimathras said. "As Sylvanas said, this fortress was built specifically for the Seven Deadly Warlords. As such, each Warlord has his or her own room which is fitted to his or her specialty."
"Meaning there are seven rooms," I answered. "Do you know anything of their powers?"
"Sadly, no," Varimathras answered. "The Seven were quite secretive about their powers, only doing combat where those not of their group could not see them. Though they fought against the Scourge in the first invasion, and even the more recent one, no one, not even Lady Sylvanas, has seen them in combat."
I cursed inwardly, fearful of an enemy that was not only powerful, but also with unknown skills. I took a deep breath and drew my sword as I entered the room. Before I could open the door, I felt Varimathras's powerful clawed hand on my chest.
"Lady Sylvanas told me to deliver this to you," Varimathras stated, handing me an object wrapped in oil-cloth. I unwrapped the cloth, and saw a sword that resembled my own, but glittered with a red hue. "It is enchanted; your enemies will fall faster when you wield it."
"Much thanks, Varimathras!" I beamed, now filled with more hope that we could triumph. "Let us go." Not uttering another word, we entered the room.
The room was larger than one would expect in such a small fortress. In the center of the room lay a single bloated Abomination, an Undead creature made from sewn together corpses, lounging lazily on the ground.
"Who….are…you?" The abomination rasped between yawns.
"You seem awfully lazy, you traitorous dog, so you must be…" Varimathras was cut off by the creature.
"Sl…sl…sl….Sloth." It managed to stutter before closing its eyes and beginning to snore.
"Lady Sylvanas recruited him to be one of her warlords?" I questioned. Surely, such a lazy beast would be a poor fighter.
"Yes, I myself am surprised, let's gut him and be done with it," Varimathras informed me. We approached the Abomination and I readied my sword to pierce his bloated heart. Suddenly, the monster swung one of the chains attached to its body at me. The force of the blow slammed me into a nearby wall. As I attempted to recover from the pain, I saw the chain racing at me again, this time noticing the barbed meat-hook on the end. I dodged the hook and swung my gleaming sword at the chain in hopes to sever it; as my blade connected with the chain, the chain itself emitted a similar glow but with a gray tint.
"His damn chains are enchanted, too!" Varimathras cursed as he swiped with his claws at the shackles that swung towards him. "We need to target his body somehow!"
Through all this, Sloth lazed on his back, nonchalantly swinging his set of manacles at us. I was able to block or dodge the chain some of the time, but at other moments I was smashed into the walls or floor. Varimathras, for all his power, also was fairing poorly. Though the strikes from the chains did not seem to phase him, he began to slow down and made no progress in getting close to Sloth's body.
This battle continued for at least half an hour, with Varimathras and I tiring while Sloth showed no signs of slowing down.
"For a lazy bastard, he has some skills," Varimathras panted; my breath was long gone and my throat was dry and rough so I could not answer. "I can't go all out yet; I need to save some energy for the fights to come."
I nodded and pointed to Sloth, a single that I was going to make a last desperate strike. I raced ahead, somehow finding speed within my tired frame. I narrowly avoided Sloth's chains and quickly was almost within striking distance of his stomach. Only a few feet more, I thought. Luck was not on my side a chain I had not seen before swung and wrapped around me. Sloth gripped the chain with one hand to reel me in while he continued to assault Varimathras with the chain in his other hand. As he pulled me closer, choking the life from me, I smelled his rotted stench.
Then, something odd occurred; Sloth stopped moving. He lowered both his chains and let out a drawn-out gasp.
"Fighting…too…t…t….tiring…" Sloth muttered before dropping back to sleep. His snores echoed through the room as I rose and sheathed my sword. Varimathras walked towards Sloth, his claws raised to strike.
I stepped in the way. "What are you doing? This monster is a traitor who tried to slaughter us both! He must be put to death!"
I shook my head. "Sloth is too lazy; he never intended to kill us from the start. He only fought to protect himself from us. Also, judging from his mannerisms, he is neither the leader nor the brains behind the Seven Deadly Warlords. Sloth was probably just a pawn placed to slow us down and to test our abilities. Also, don't some Abominations release clouds of poison or disease when they die?"
Varimathras stroked his chin. "You have a point, our time and energy would be better spent on the next opponent. Do not get overconfident, however. Sloth was obviously the weakest of the Seven, thus the reason he was placed first." I nodded as Varimathras pointed to a door in the west wall of the room. "That's the only exit since we came in from the south door. Onto our next enemy!"
HES: Darren and Varimathras defeated the first of the Seven Deadly Warlords, but spared his life! Will this be a decision they regret? Or is it helpful? You'll just have to keep reading to find out! Thanks very much for all your support and reviews! Now, to answer those reviews you all posted:
OmegaTrooper: Thanks! I hope you liked what you got to see of Sloth! Don't worry, the coming fights are going to be much more intense!
Promise of the Ghost Queen: Thanks, I'm glad you liked the chapter and Roxanne! Perhaps she will return in the future…? Yeah, the Crusaders are jerks, I agree; and about Darren's revenge, you will just have to wait and see. I hope you like what you've seen of the Seven so far, and expect even more from them in the coming chapters!
Skinbourne: Thanks, I try to stay true to Blizzard's style of smaller missions! I'm glad you liked the Ziggurats; as for the Plaguelands...perhaps something will happen there in the future, but you'll have to wait and see. As for the idea on language, it's cool and creative; maybe I will use it in the future (I will give you credit, of course! Thanks!)
HES: Thanks again for all the support! Please review if you can; I value your input!
