Chapter One: The Coolwave
Hogun walked into the cold air of the night. Everything was silent, and the only sound heard where those of the dogs barking, and of horses neighing in their stables, freezing in the coldest night of over half a century, although the wizards had little to do with it.
The alley was clear, and the trees on either side of the road, standing between every few houses and stores, were looming over, almost touching each other's branches, in order to better lean on the other, for they couldn't support themselves too well; their size took the breath of many newcomers. Hogun walked under these trees every day, however, since he was only seven. He walked the same routine every day, even on festivals, and holydays. He knew each tree like the palm of his hand, for he and his friends had been exploring them ever since their first adventures together. Either running away from the fat storekeeper, when they were only eight, or being chased by a low-life wizard only a week ago, Hogun and his friends had used these trees for refuge, and each had their favorite one.
Hogun's favorite one was between the entrance to the bakery, and the house of a certain Mila Van Dike. Every day, after he got from school, he would climb on the lower branches of the majestic oak trees, and lay in a hollowed out branch that, as one of his teachers told him, was once struck by lightning of a foolish apprentice to a great teacher, and though it was progress, the blast was only strong enough to put a scratch on an otherwise perfect oak. From there, he would wait, minutes, sometimes hours for a momentary glance at Mila, who was the daughter of an acclaimed warrior, who once, years ago fought in the third war, banishing the undead from Azeroth. Although Mila often looked at him, and sometimes even smiled at him, he was too shy to ever talk to her, and when he did, he never said anything that he'd prepared to, and believe me, most of his free time, he wrote, thought or rehearsed what he wanted to say to Mila, when he had the chance, but one silly mistake, and Hogun would get nervous, start shaking, and worst of all turned red.
He hated when he turned red, and he hated when others turned red. Although his buddies couldn't understand why, Hogun thought this as a sign of weakness, and avoided getting red ever in public. His friends thought this to be because when Hogun turned red, he wasn't a pinkish color, that most people are, he turned a deep red, almost as red as a ripe cherry. When he slipped, and his face rocketed to a shade of maroon, he often tried to hide his face, and when he had the chance, he'd use potions to either calm him down, or use healing potions, which he found to work well.
At any rate, as Hogun began his routine path toward his house, from their headquarters, he began to freeze in the coldness of the air. None knew why the whole week has been so cold, the wizards were casting an occasional blizzard to keep raw meat fresh, but those weren't nearly as powerful and as big as real mage-cast blizzards that froze, and shattered everything in area, neither could they affect the weather so much. Some elders said that the same had occurred over 70 years ago, when the portal was first opened, however, no unusual sighting, nor any scouts found evidence of the portal. Still, others said that this was just a strong wind from the frozen barrens of Northrend, and things like these happen naturally.
As Hogun walked from the headquarters, he began thinking more and more about the coldness, and how it had never been this cold. Almost all lakes were frozen in a matter of hours when the cold wave first started, and now, anyone without a bulky hide, or a fur jacket was frozen to the bone. However, it had never occurred to him before that maybe a wizard was casting a spell on them, though a wizard like that would have to be extremely great, drawing his powers from some unearthly source. Hogun quickly went over the last most powerful mages, and he realized that all of them weren't strong enough to cast such a spell by themselves.
With these thoughts, Hogun came to his house, and found his older brother already asleep on the couch. He quickly and quietly took off his top layer of clothing, and went into his room to sleep, still thinking about the weather. Just as he was about to fall asleep, he noticed a book standing on the shelf, a book that he'd never noticed before: The History of Demons. Leaving the matter for the next day, Hogun didn't bother to look at the book right away, however an idea formed in his head, which he soon began to think more about. There have been powers even greater than the one over his town now, powers that tower over all the powers of the humans, elves and the orcs: the cursed powers of the undead. And although the demons were banished from this world, what was the chance of one ever surviving, extremely weak, and as people returned to their homes, they'd surely see a Lich when he was around. Although, he did learn that Liches had many powers, even to possess and to duplicate people. Hogun fell asleep with such thoughts on his mind, and didn't sleep well, twisting and turning the whole night.
Hogun walked into the cold air of the night. Everything was silent, and the only sound heard where those of the dogs barking, and of horses neighing in their stables, freezing in the coldest night of over half a century, although the wizards had little to do with it.
The alley was clear, and the trees on either side of the road, standing between every few houses and stores, were looming over, almost touching each other's branches, in order to better lean on the other, for they couldn't support themselves too well; their size took the breath of many newcomers. Hogun walked under these trees every day, however, since he was only seven. He walked the same routine every day, even on festivals, and holydays. He knew each tree like the palm of his hand, for he and his friends had been exploring them ever since their first adventures together. Either running away from the fat storekeeper, when they were only eight, or being chased by a low-life wizard only a week ago, Hogun and his friends had used these trees for refuge, and each had their favorite one.
Hogun's favorite one was between the entrance to the bakery, and the house of a certain Mila Van Dike. Every day, after he got from school, he would climb on the lower branches of the majestic oak trees, and lay in a hollowed out branch that, as one of his teachers told him, was once struck by lightning of a foolish apprentice to a great teacher, and though it was progress, the blast was only strong enough to put a scratch on an otherwise perfect oak. From there, he would wait, minutes, sometimes hours for a momentary glance at Mila, who was the daughter of an acclaimed warrior, who once, years ago fought in the third war, banishing the undead from Azeroth. Although Mila often looked at him, and sometimes even smiled at him, he was too shy to ever talk to her, and when he did, he never said anything that he'd prepared to, and believe me, most of his free time, he wrote, thought or rehearsed what he wanted to say to Mila, when he had the chance, but one silly mistake, and Hogun would get nervous, start shaking, and worst of all turned red.
He hated when he turned red, and he hated when others turned red. Although his buddies couldn't understand why, Hogun thought this as a sign of weakness, and avoided getting red ever in public. His friends thought this to be because when Hogun turned red, he wasn't a pinkish color, that most people are, he turned a deep red, almost as red as a ripe cherry. When he slipped, and his face rocketed to a shade of maroon, he often tried to hide his face, and when he had the chance, he'd use potions to either calm him down, or use healing potions, which he found to work well.
At any rate, as Hogun began his routine path toward his house, from their headquarters, he began to freeze in the coldness of the air. None knew why the whole week has been so cold, the wizards were casting an occasional blizzard to keep raw meat fresh, but those weren't nearly as powerful and as big as real mage-cast blizzards that froze, and shattered everything in area, neither could they affect the weather so much. Some elders said that the same had occurred over 70 years ago, when the portal was first opened, however, no unusual sighting, nor any scouts found evidence of the portal. Still, others said that this was just a strong wind from the frozen barrens of Northrend, and things like these happen naturally.
As Hogun walked from the headquarters, he began thinking more and more about the coldness, and how it had never been this cold. Almost all lakes were frozen in a matter of hours when the cold wave first started, and now, anyone without a bulky hide, or a fur jacket was frozen to the bone. However, it had never occurred to him before that maybe a wizard was casting a spell on them, though a wizard like that would have to be extremely great, drawing his powers from some unearthly source. Hogun quickly went over the last most powerful mages, and he realized that all of them weren't strong enough to cast such a spell by themselves.
With these thoughts, Hogun came to his house, and found his older brother already asleep on the couch. He quickly and quietly took off his top layer of clothing, and went into his room to sleep, still thinking about the weather. Just as he was about to fall asleep, he noticed a book standing on the shelf, a book that he'd never noticed before: The History of Demons. Leaving the matter for the next day, Hogun didn't bother to look at the book right away, however an idea formed in his head, which he soon began to think more about. There have been powers even greater than the one over his town now, powers that tower over all the powers of the humans, elves and the orcs: the cursed powers of the undead. And although the demons were banished from this world, what was the chance of one ever surviving, extremely weak, and as people returned to their homes, they'd surely see a Lich when he was around. Although, he did learn that Liches had many powers, even to possess and to duplicate people. Hogun fell asleep with such thoughts on his mind, and didn't sleep well, twisting and turning the whole night.