Arthas burst into the tent, expecting the whelps to have taken this rare chance and fled. Yet he was shocked. Ethan, Chompers, and Stub were all in the tent still. More so, the two humanoids lay on the cold dirt. Chompers was holding up one extremely grumpy Mr. Bigglesworth, who mrowred when he saw Arthas. Ethan was being smothered by two black bundles of fur. Stub had befriended one Wigglesworth, and they were playing and running all over the place.
It was if they were not being held captive by a monster.
Ethan giggled as Jasper brushed his whiskers against the boy's cheek. He then saw Arthas.
"Oh, you're back! I'm sorry if I upset you. Do you have any string or toys for them?"
Arthas stared at him. "Excuse me?"
"The kitties! Chompers reiterated, squeezing Mr. Bigglesworth in her arms. The cat hissed but did not attempt escape.
The man shrugged. "I don't have any string for them...but I have a ball."
He went over to the trunk the kittens slept in, and pulled out a heavily scratched leather ball. He tossed it toward the kids. The kittens immediately zeroed in on the movement and left to chase. Stub ran after it too, but Johnny snatched it up before the hyena could.
"Do they have names?" Ethan asked, smiling as he watched the little balls of fur played around.
"Johnny, Jasper and...Miss Wigglesworth," Arthas forced himself to answer.
The young man let out an uncharacteristic squeal of delight.
"Really! I love those names."
He snatched up Jasper and snuggled against the kitten. Jasper's eyes closed to mere slits and he started to purr in appreication.
Before he could help himself, Arthas smiled at this childish display of affection. Yet as soon as it appeared, the smile vanished. Conflicted emotions roiled inside Arthas like a storm.
Luckily, he did not have to suffer long. An undead came to the tent entrance.
"Kiefer want Master," it grumbled.
Grateful for the interruption, Arthas quickly left. Once again, he didn't bother having the kids locked up.
The army had gotten strong. Strong enough to take on Icecrown perhaps. Undead and wicker constructs thronged about him. The undead were submissive and obedient, quickly moving out of Arthas's way. The wicker beasts were different. While obedient and never disobeying an order, there was something off about them. Their glowing, dark blue eyes saw everything. They watched Arthas silently, but these stares were not empty. Watching and studying.
Arthas walked past them.
Kiefer stood supervising the other cultists in an open-air laboratory. Abomination construction needed a lot of room and usually needed a more stable working space. This was the best they could do with an active growing army.
Bodies had been cut apart and organized into different piles. Organs, except for the brains, were carelessly dumped together. They were less important for abomination construction, but they would be used to help fill body cavities.
Kiefer didn't react when Arthas came to his side. His stance was stiff, arms folded.
"What did you want?"
"I think something is wrong," Kiefer said, still watching the others.
"Is there a problem with abomination construction?"
He did not see anything wrong with any of the processes. The cultist all competently worked with the body parts and organs. When they saw Arthas, a few of them stopped what they were doing and came over, bowing and whispering words of admiration.
Kiefer turned to face Arthas. The shorter man never looked Arthas directly in the eye until now.
"No, not the abominations. It is you. I am concerned about you."
Arthas snorted in amusement. "Concerned about me? I'm not a child-"
"-And yet you do seem to be in the company of children a lot. First Sapphire, now this young paladin and the mutt. You even play with kittens. All of these are unnecessary distractions. You are delaying our advance to Icecrown and for what?"
The audacity of the necromancer astounded Arthas. Kiefer stood a whole two feet shorter than him. He could easily grab Kiefer and snap his neck like a dry twig. Yet the necromancer did not cower before him.
"It just sends a bad message to all." Kiefer waved out to the waves of undead and cultists alike.
Show weakness and I will cut you down, Arthas would tell all of his servants upon creation. He never tolerated weakness. When Marwyn showed weakness toward Sapphire, he had tortured his old friend for weeks. The wolf boy was a paladin in training! His skull should be crushed under Arthas's boot. The gnoll ought to be a pair of gloves. Kiefer was right, but Arthas was not about to admit that.
Arthas growled out a warning. "If you really need to know, I have plans to deal with them. I'm not about to start having tea parties or playing parent to those little whelps!"
Kiefer let out a sigh of relief. The others showed physical signs, visibly relaxing in his presence. With encouragement from Kiefer, the others gave Arthas reports on their forces. The numbers were nowhere near the amount Arthas desired, but they were decent, and Arthas had experience over Bolvar. As he advanced, they could always add to their numbers from Bolvar's defeated forces.
In truth, Arthas had no plans. He needed a quick solution. Rather than work on it, he decided to focus on his main goal. Destroying Bolvar. Everything else was unimportant.
Arthas strode through his hordes of undead, wondering if they would be enough then cursed himself for all this folly. Even with the wicker beasts that Adalger provided, Bolvar had over ten thousand left over from Arthas's forces, if he remembered the count correctly. Perhaps this had all been for nothing. What had he done?
There were a few growls at the perimeter of their forces, which pulled Arthas's attention. His ghouls would not just growl without reason. Any intruders would be hunted down and killed, not growled at. The undead slowly parted ways to allow the intruder.
Adalger swaggered toward Arthas. A lopsided grin spread along his marred face. While good news seemed imminent, Arthas would have preferred the news from any other source.
"What do you want?" Arthas groaned.
The man's grin disappeared, only to be replaced by a pout.
"I thought we were friends. A little hello might do wonders!"
Arthas narrowed his eyes and spat out. "A little knife between the ribs could too."
Adalger shoved a ghoul, sending it sprawling into the partially frozen slush on the ground. The arrogant man energetically hoisted himself onto a meat wagon and lounged back.
"Fine then. I won't tell you the good news."
Arthas's hands clenched so tightly it felt as though his skin might crack. He needed Adalger more than the blackguard needed Arthas, and Adalger knew it very well.
"Would you prefer I take your tongue?" He hissed out.
The man rolled his eyes and then sighed. "You are not fun. Alright. I went to where you described. A great glacier of ice and despair, where a citadel of darkness cuts the sky. Yet, to my surprise, I saw little to no undead where this supposed bastion of the damned was."
He gave Arthas a small smile as the truth dawned on Arthas.
Where were all the undead? Bolvar could not have all of them concentrated in the Citadel, there was no room for that many. Perhaps under the citadel in the deep caverns beneath. Either this was a ruse, or...perhaps Bolvar couldn't handle them all.
Arthas grew into his power and numbers over time. Bolvar was forced into his role abruptly, with thousands upon thousands of undead overwhelming him with their minds and bodies. The bastard had recalled all the undead into the citadel. The closer the undead is, the easier it is to manage them. He was cornered, and his body broken by dragonfire and torture. All of Arthas's doubts melted away. Adalger laid down on his stomach and rested his chin on one hand.
"Did I do good, oh grand prince?" He asked, somewhat mockingly. Arthas grunted.
"Sure, why don't you go and get your walking stick men ready to move then. I trust you have a way to get to Icecrown undetected?"
The man reached into one of his pockets and pulled out what looked to be a seed with little papery wings.
"We Drust have our ways. You've been to Thros of course. Fancy a little trip?"
Arthas turned around, not deigning to responded to the other's question. Footsteps behind him confirmed that Adalger was following. Arthas smacked his tent's flaps aside, to see his little guests eating some bread and meat. Chompers tore meat from the bone, though Ethan did not really feel like ever touching meat. He was raised by wolves, so meat was not the issue. Most likely, Ethan was concerned on what kind of meat it might be, surrounded by undead with indiscriminate palates.
As soon as Adalger entered the tent, Ethan spat out some of the bread he was eating. He leapt to his feet. Stub's back fur stood straight up and he snarled. Chompers watched her companions ignorantly while still chewing her food.
"What is he doing here?" Ethan gasped out, terrified.
Adalger let out a chuckle. "What am I doing here? What are you doing here, little whelp?"
Ethan cowered before the man before looking to Arthas for reassurance. Adalger didn't let Arthas get between the two, quickly coming forward and grabbing Ethan by the arm. He yanked the boy into a friendly gesture.
"Why don't we start over, little doggie? We can be friends, can't we?"
Ethan tried to get out of Adalger's grip, but he winced as the man tightened it. Arthas did not feel comfortable intervening, but he also highly distrusted Adalger's intentions toward Ethan.
Stub saved him the effort. The hyena shoved himself between the two, snapping his teeth toward Adalger's bare flesh. Hyenas could bite and snap a grown man's femur bone.
Adalger grimaced. "Oh yes, the mutt. I should have turned you into a rug last time."
"That's enough. These brats are under my control, and you can't harm them," Arthas commanded.
The man turned to face Arthas and inclined his head, backing away from Ethan. The boy grabbed Stub's mane and twisted his fingers into the fur in a way to restrain him.
Adalger started to leave, but before he left, he turned to Arthas. There was a darkness in his eyes.
"Should you change your mind, I'm sure Gorak Tul would be glad to help you more than he already does. Just a thought!"
He left.
Ethan was trembling. He looked at Arthas with terror. "Why! Why are you with the Huntsman! He wants to eat me and Sapphire!"
Arthas growled at his daughter's name. He didn't want to hear it. The boy was bad enough with his talk of redemption and goodness.
"Bring it up again, and I'll consider his offer!"
The boy flinched. Chompers bared her teeth at Arthas, and would have started insulting him in her squeaky little voice, but Ethan put a hand on her shoulder and whispered something. He then picked her up. Stub stared at Arthas with disgust before following Ethan. The three went to the far end of the tent.
Arthas had no friends, but he did not need them. All he needed was his Scourge back. Nothing else mattered, yet something hurt inside him.