The sound of swords clashing against one another filled the large exercise room, mingled with the echo of spells hitting target dummies. Colored smoke hung in the air, a residue from the magic the spellcasters were using.
It was our training hour, and we had been at it for forty-five minutes already, but General White was never satisfied with what anybody was doing. I was presiding over the magical training, ready to intervene if someone was in trouble.
But everything went smoothly, as usual. One of the shaman, a young orc by the name of Tarr, was very promising. He had fought the Scourge before, but not in Northrend, so he wasn't very experienced. However, he was eager, and willing to learn, and was taking every bit of advice I was giving him.
"I fought in Razorfen a lot, so I know what the Scourge is about," he told me.
I nodded and smiled, "I think that the Scourge here is a little worse than what either of us are used to."
But we kept training. The two of us were able to create some kind of a moving dummy, which we practiced on every day. Even General White, who been a paladin all his life, trained with us, honing his skills.
"You're whipping my spellcasters into shape," he said to me a month after I'd arrived. Conditions at the fortress had improved, and we had gotten several new recruits since my arrival.
However, the Scourge was far too active. We fought them night and day, whether it was because of them trying to break in, or because of gargoyles or flying Nerubians trying to squeeze in through the bars on the windows.
We went on patrols every day, never getting too close to Scourgeholme, although, in reality, we were less than a mile away. The area between us and Scourgeholme was a no-man's land of snow and ice, and all of us, Argent Crusade and Scourge alike, were cautious with each other. We knew they could kill and raise us, and they knew we had fire.
"Is it always like this?" I asked General White as I took my leave from the people I'd been training with. "I've been here for four weeks and I haven't really seen us attacking them, and their incursions have been halfhearted, at best."
"You think that this is halfhearted? We've lost two people since you arrived!"
"Yes, but had the Scourge really wanted to hurt us, I don't think this fortress would be standing, and we would have lost a lot more people."
"Look, Captain, I realize that for you, the lack of activity is a little boring. But we enjoy being bored, believe me. Nobody expects us to destroy Scourgeholme."
"My superiors expect me to do something other than rot in a dungeon, General. Patrolling the perimeter isn't enough. We need to do something."
"Like what? Go charging into that city and getting ourselves killed? We'd raise their ranks by doing that, and you know it."
"I do know it. But what in the world are we doing here, then? Just waiting for them to attack us? As I said, we're holding defensive positions with the Argent Vanguard, when we should be attacking them."
"We can't attack them, there aren't enough of us here or at the Vanguard. We need more people, and while I appreciate that your Forsaken queen has sent us three more recruits, that's not what's going to make the difference around here. If we're going to attack Scourgeholme, we need the numbers to do it."
"Fine. I'll write to Sylvanas, Lor'themar, and Cairne about this."
"You know that they're going to tell you the same thing my people are telling me. We're stretched too thin. Even with the destruction of Naxxramas, we're vastly outnumbered by these undead."
"The Taunka and Kalu'ak have been helping us."
"They have, and I don't doubt that they know a thing or two more about the Scourge, since they've been living with them longer than we have. But that's still not enough. The Scourge outnumbers us ten to one, Captain, and it's time you accepted it."
"I won't accept that. I know that there's a way to defeat them, and I will find it."
"What, you're going to go to Icecrown Citadel and kill Arthas by yourself? You would have to empty this fortress just to attempt something like this."
"You sound like you've given up, General."
"I haven't given up, I'm just being realistic. My job is to keep these men alive enough for them to be transferred out of here, to posts where they really can be useful." He held up a hand, "With that being said, your queen has sent you a new recruit, with the instructions that you take her under your wing."
We entered his office, and I immediately saw the Forsaken girl standing next to the map of Icecrown. She wore full leather armor, dark brown in color, which hid most of her body. She had been young when she'd died, maybe in her early twenties, and, from what I could tell, had black hair, which was hidden under the leather hood she had on her head.
"This is Cara Blightwing," he said.
"Poetic name for a Forsaken," I replied, nodding at her.
"My name was Heartwing, when I was alive," she uttered, her voice as gravelly as was the norm for the undead, "but I thought it best to change it."
"I suppose Blightwing fits better, under the circumstances," I told her, going over to her and shaking her skeletal hand. "Welcome to the Argent Fortress."
"Thanks." She glanced around, "This is a pretty impressive setting, isn't it?"
"Depends on which way you look at it, I guess."
"She'll be staying in your room, I hope you won't mind?"
I knew he was asking because of the smell. Cara seemed to be only recently dead, and the odor coming from her was rather pungent in close quarters, but we had gotten used to the smell of undeath because it was the same smell as outside. "I live in Undercity, General, it's not a problem."
Cara followed me when I walked out the door. She seemed shy, but the way she carried her small bow and her quiver of arrows suggested to me that she had been a hunter of sorts before she had died.
"When were you raised?" I asked her.
"About a month ago."
I stopped walking and turned to face her, "Excuse me?"
"What?"
"You were raised a month ago? How are you here?"
"The Undercity necromancers raised me. I don't really know what happened with that."
"Yeah, I understand that. I'm just wondering how it's possible that you were raised a month ago and you're not only in Northrend, but here in Icecrown. Sylvanas never sends new recruits into battle like that. Not until they've cut their teeth on the Scourge back home."
"What do you mean?"
"There's a whole process for new Forsaken. Sylvanas is careful because it's difficult for Forsaken to multiply, unless humans are killed and raised. And as you know, we don't have that many people left in Lordaeron for this, and even if we did, I don't think that she would kill them just to raise them." I paused. "At least, I hope she wouldn't."
"Okay."
"So whenever we do get any new Forsaken, she has them treated gently. It would have taken you a few days to get used to your new body, then you would have needed to get to know Undercity and the Forsaken as a whole. That alone takes at least two weeks."
"Yeah, it did."
"And assuming you would accept everything that's happened to you, which isn't easy, as far as I understand, then you would start basic training to see which skills you retained from your life. Judging by your bow, you seem to be a fair marksman?"
"The… the Dark Lady said that she saw something in me that could work against the Scourge."
"Maybe, except that in that case, she would have sent you to the Plaguelands to do some work there. So why don't you tell me what it is that you're really doing here, Cara?"
She looked at me, and I saw some defiance in her yellow glowing eyes, "I don't know about you, but in the short time that I've been with the Forsaken, I was taught to never question orders given to me by Lady Sylvanas."
"And you would be right. I, on the other hand, can question on her sanity on sending you out here so fast." I shook my head, "I'm sorry, I don't mean to take it out on you. This is just a very unusual move for her."
"I understand. You're just looking out for everyone here."
"Mostly, I don't want to see you killed because of your inexperience. Where are you from?"
"Southshore. And just because I'm new doesn't mean that I have no experience against the Scourge. I remember the Plague."
"Everyone remembers the Plague," I told her softly. "Is your family still living?"
She shook her head, "I was the only survivor with my uncle. We were one of the last places hit, I think. It was almost ten years ago."
Ten years ago. Yes, it was almost the tenth anniversary of Sylvanas' death. As a matter of fact, it was coming up the following week. The thought of it made me feel hollow inside.
"You lost people too, didn't you?"
I forced myself to give a smile I didn't feel, "You didn't ask my name, so I can only assume that you know who I am. Knowing that Lady Sylvanas sent you tells me that you know both of our histories, so your question is a little pointless."
"I just meant –."
"I know what you meant, soldier. I'm the last surviving member of my family, and my village. Almost everyone I knew back then is dead."
I said nothing else for a while, feeling an old grief coming over me. I wanted to go home. To my real home, where I would bake cookies with my mother and wait for Sylvanas to come home.
"I'd give everything to go back in time," I whispered as we walked to where the refectory was. "This is our cafeteria. I suppose that you're like the other Forsaken, in that you don't eat or drink?"
Cara nodded, "I tried to, once. It was weird. I mean, I don't have a digestive system, so it kind of just… poured out of my body."
I grimaced, "I definitely didn't need to know that. But even if you don't eat, this is where most soldiers here hang out. They take their breaks here because the fire's always lit and there's usually something to drink, and it's a comfortable atmosphere. For the living, at least."
"There are other Forsaken here?"
"You bring the count to ten. And yes, before you ask, the other Forsaken also come here, because generally, when people take a break in here, it's to relax and try to forget about what's out there, which isn't easy to do."
We moved on, and I showed her the rest of the fortress, including the caches of weapons I had stored at strategic points far from the armories on each floor, in case we were caught without anything and we had to act quickly.
"You only have one armory per floor?"
I nodded, "I've been caught unawares twice already by the Scourge attacking at the windows. It's a good thing I don't need a weapon to enhance my spells, but I've taken to carrying a wand with me, which isn't a weapon per se, so that's okay. The other spellcasters have done the same now."
"So they attack often."
"More often than we'd like."
We reached the room that I had been sleeping in since I had arrived at the fortress. It was a dormitory meant for ten women, but I had been its only occupant until that moment. Five bunk beds stood against three of the walls, with wooden chests next to each of them. Only one of the beds – mine – was made, but there were fresh linens and additional thick gray comforters in the closet by the door.
"Will you be needing a bed?" I asked Cara.
"I thought that you lived in Undercity? Don't you know how the Forsaken live?"
I did. "Some Forsaken prefer to keep vestiges of their old lives. They'll use beds, and although they won't sleep, they'll lie there all night, with their eyes closed. My friend Rotvine said that it actually helps him think."
Cara put her stuff on the bottom bunk opposite mine, "I never heard anybody saying this while I was in Undercity. But I suppose it makes sense." She glanced at me, "Do the Forsaken take the night watch here?"
"We rotate. The Forsaken volunteer for night duty because they don't need sleep, but General White wants everyone to experience night rotations, which I think is good training for people." Lying down on my bunk, I looked over at her, "So, why did Sylvanas send you here?"
"You flatter yourself if you think that she asked me to look after you."
"Look after me, no, I certainly don't think that's what she asked you to do."
"Is it really so weird that she sent me here right away? Nobody said anything in Undercity when I left."
"That's because they're too afraid of Sylvanas to say anything."
"But you're not?"
"Afraid of Sylvanas, no. I've known her far too long to be afraid of her. And to answer your question, yes, it really is so unusual for Sylvanas to have sent you here. That's why I'm wondering what her aim was."
"Maybe she just wanted me to get experience."
I shrugged, "Well, it's her business."
"She did give me this for you, though." Cara handed me a rolled up bit of parchment, closed with the waxed seal of Undercity.
I took it from her, breaking the seal and unrolling it.
My dear Faith,
You left so quickly that I was barely able to bid you goodbye. I hate knowing that you're locked up in an icy dungeon away from me. The girl who gave you this note – Cara – seems very capable, but needs a bit of training. I know what you're going to say, she's too raw for Northrend. Have you already given her an earful about it? But anyway, I think she could be a big asset to you there. Someone to talk to while you're away from home.
Make sure you take care of her, all right? I don't want anything to happen to her. She could be really good if you gave her a chance.
Love,
Your Sylvanas
"Good to know I wasn't completely off the mark with her," I muttered, rolling the scroll up again. Look after her? She wanted me to look after this girl? Why? Why send her to me? She could have requested that Hamu be sent to me, I would have appreciated that more. "How long did you spend with Sylvanas?"
"Oh, I spent every day with her after I got used to being dead and all."
"She had time for that?" I wondered.
"She was always available when I went to her. Why? Do you think she's not available to regular citizens?"
"She makes time for me, but I've never seen her go out of her way to help an average citizen, unless she can get something from it." Looking up, I saw that Cara had an odd look on her face, "Don't get me wrong, she's a great leader for the Forsaken, and she knows how to run Undercity better than anybody." I laughed, "I love her, okay? So I get to criticize her."
"I didn't think anybody dared to do that. Aren't you afraid of what she's going to say to you?"
"She's not here, for one thing. For another, she won't say anything to me. I've always been honest with her, and if she does something that I don't like, I tell her."
Cara's eyes were on me. After a while, she got up and began putting her things away, leaving her bow and arrows on the bed, "General White told me that I'll have to turn in my weapons."
I nodded, "You will. What do you have?"
"Just my bow and a couple of daggers."
"I'll stock more bows in the caches for you, don't worry."
I did that during the rest of the day, showing Cara where everything was in case of a Scourge assault. Since I'd been there, only a few scourged bats had managed to actually get into the fortress, but everyone was saying that they were going to try something more dangerous soon, because it had been a while since the last full-scale attack.
"What's the worst that's happened since you've been here?"
"A spider jumped out at me from the snow," I replied automatically. "I was patrolling with several others to the east of Scourgeholme, where it's supposed to be relatively safe. We were seeing some plagued dragonlings in the distance, and I had just decided to go put them out of their misery when that thing jumped out at me. I didn't even see it under the snow, but it was practically beneath my feet."
Cara made a sound that could have been a suppressed laugh, "Was it undead?"
"Not many living spiders could survive here, I can promise you that. Yes, that one was undead, but we really killed it after a while." I shuddered, "I hate spiders."
"So I've heard. Cindera was telling me that before I left."
"You spoke to Cindera?" I was so surprised by that fact that I nearly squeaked.
"Oh yeah. She told me what happened to you, how the Scourge attacked the two of you, but kidnapped you and took you to that necropolis before she could intervene."
Before she could intervene. "So Sylvanas believes that Cindera had nothing to do with my being taken to Naxxramas?"
"Of course she does! Why shouldn't she? I mean, I don't really know the particulars, but –."
What felt like an explosion rocked the fortress. I was thrown to the ground, Cara falling on top of me. The fortress siren went off a second later. It was a magical alarm that some gnomes had set up a couple of years previously, made specifically to alert us to a Scourge intrusion. The sound was ghastly, absolutely terrifying, like the wail of a dying banshee, and designed to galvanize us into action.
"What was that?" cried Cara.
"That," I got to my feet and pulled her up as well, "is a full-scale Scourge attack. Come on, we're close to an armory."
I ran, and she followed me as several soldiers began to cry out in horror.
