Sapphire burst open the door. She stomped over to the bed, where her daughter lay. Randall was a silent shadow to her. Marwyn and Falric looked guilty in one corner. Tryg was whimpering on the floor. Arthas was angry. Sapphire looked up to Kel'thuzad, who was tending to Calia.
The room was supposed to be used to fix up old or damaged undead. It was the best place to take the injured living too.
"Is she all right?"
"Too soon to tell...I am having trouble sensing anything malicious. Your magic in her blood is blocking it."
Sapphire looked at her daughter. Her skin was a tone of grey, and her breath was shallow.
Turning to the two deathknights in the corner, Sapphire spat. "Weren't you two supposed to be watching her and Angelica?"
"Yeah...But we busy and...I am so sorry, Sapphire," Marwyn said apologetically. He looked miserable.
"What made you so busy?"
"Uh...Falric?" The deathknight turned to his companion. Falric sneered at him.
"We were playing Hearthstone."
Kel'thuzad scowled. "You two are both idiots! Playing a stupid game when you were supposed to be watching my granddaughter!"
Sapphire ignored the sudden concern from Kel'thuzad, and approached the two deathknights. "Do you have your cards with you?"
Marwyn lit up and held up a deck. "Oh, yes. Do you want to see them?"
"Sure!" Sapphire took the deck, and looked at them. Then, she set the cards on fire. Marwyn gasped. The girl let the ashes fall to the ground. She left without a word, going back to her daughter. She and Kel'thuzad started talking about spells and and other things that might aid in helping Calia.
The deathknight looked at the ash, and sniffled. Falric glared at him. "Are you going to cry?"
"No..."
Arthas had not said a word. The way he was standing and the silence told Sapphire that the man was mentally talking to servants.
Tryg was laying on the floor, moaning. He looked over to Sapphire. She was sitting on the table next to her daughter. Her legs dangled of the edge. The ghoul sat up, and crawled over to her. Then, he hugged her legs.
Sapphire jumped at the sudden hug, and looked down at the ghoul. "Uh...Tryg. What are you doing?"
"Hug."
The girl looked at Kel'thuzad, and sighed. "How about you examine one of the sword's shards and you can start with that? It's better than nothing."
"Yes. Why don't you work on examining the magic in her. Look for what is not supposed to be there."
Sapphire nodded. "All right. I'll look into it."
"Light Damn it..."
Sapphire looked up, and turned to her father. "What's wrong?"
"Angelica is nowhere to be found," He snarled.
Marwyn stopped making pitiful sounds, and looked up. Sapphire spoke up before the deathknight could.
"I will go look for her. Falric, come on."
The deathknight obeyed, walking to her. Randall had been hidden this entire time. He did not go with them, looking at Kel'thuzad. Arthas caught the deathknight's look.
"Kel'thuzad...This deathknight seems to know you."
Sapphire walked through the hallways, looking around for bright golden hair. Angelica was probably just playing hide and seek with herself. She'd done that once. Sapphire used to do that when she was younger, hoping her father would find her and play with her. Angelica was not nearly as attention-starved, but she still found it fun to do.
"How are you and Autum?" Sapphire said to Falric, hoping to break the silence.
"Fine...She wants a child," He muttered.
Sapphire smiled. "That's nice."
Falric growled. "No, it isn't. I don't want a brat."
He had expressed that view for a long time. But Sapphire knew Autum was persistent. They were going to get a baby. Either Autum would convince Falric to give up being a deathknight and take Sapphire's blood, or they would adopt. Sapphire felt like they should adopt, but she wouldn't get involved.
"Having children is really fun. I think you would be a great dad. Anyone looks twice at the kid, and they'll have their necks snapped."
"That part would be fun," The deathknight admitted.
They looked into a training room for deathknights. Young men were all talking to each other, laughing and having a good time. Falric narrowed his eyes.
"Permission to quit the search for Angelica?" He asked. Sapphire assumed that he wanted to beat the shit out of the young men for having fun. You can't train to be a deathknight and have fun according to Falric. The opposite would be said of Marwyn.
"Sure, I guess-"
"Wasn't talking to you."
He was talking to Arthas then. Sapphire just patted the deathknight on the arm and left.
She walked through a dark hallway. She frowned, and waved a hand. Bright flames rose up in the sconces along the walls. The girl walked down the hallway.
"Angelica! Sweet little Angel, where are you?"
"Sissy!" A voice cried out. Sapphire sighed in relief, and went toward the direction of the voice. She turned to a side hallway.
Adalger smiled at Sapphire. "Hello, sexy."
Sapphire would have set him on fire then and there, if it weren't for the sword blade pressed up against her little sister's throat. Angelica looked terrified. Arthas had been so concerned with protecting Angelica, that she probably had never been so scared.
Sapphire growled. "Leave my sister alone, you bastard."
"Aw, but she is my sister-in-law. And such a sweet, cute little thing. How easily do you think her spine would break?" Adalger said joyfully. He was smiling. Angelica whimpered, staring up at her sister. Sapphire gave her a reassuring look.
A male blood elf in cultist's robes came up behind Adalger, carrying Serenity in his arms. He was smiling too. His teeth were sharpened fangs.
"Cute daughter you have, dear Sapphire," He said. The voice sounded familiar. A chill went down Sapphire's spine. Serenity did not look nearly as scared as Angelica, but she was afraid.
"What do you want?" Sapphire demanded. She was trying not to show concern, but she wished she could somehow tell her father what was going on.
The blood elf tossed something to the floor. Sapphire looked down, and flinched.
It was a ring of saronite. Despite all the years without it, Sapphire felt like it was yesterday that she had seen it. Had worn it around her neck.
"We borrowed that from that museum in...Scourgeholme. I am sure they have already noticed. Put that on. It still works."
Sapphire raised her head, glaring at them. "If I do, Will you let those two go?"
"Of course...I swear on my father's grave," Adalger promised, then added. "I think you know that I liked him more than that creature you married did."
"Yes," Sapphire snapped. She picked up the collar, and opened it. Serenity had not realized what it was until then, then whimpered. She knew exactly what it was now.
"Momma! Don't!"
Sapphire put it on, the collar snapping shut with a resonate click. She winced.
The blood elf frowned, then turned to Adalger. "Didn't you tell me that your father's grave had been robbed? His body is no longer in there?"
"Oh...yeah. I promised on an empty grave. Oops."
Sapphire looked at him in horror. Adalger picked up Angelica with one arm, and grabbed Sapphire by the collar.
"Let's go Zyperias...We have a lot of catching up to do. And Sapphire needs to meet the Banshee Queen."
Watching Sapphire being dragged away, along with the two girls, Arty whimpered. He was curled up in the shadows with Alfie. He sniffed them as they went away. One of them smelled like blood, and the other kind of like Arty's father. And Arty knew his mother's smell.
The little boy poke his head out into the light. Midnight black fur covered his face, along with the rest of his body. His ears were pointed upward, twitching at the slightest sound. Arty stood on four over sized paws, which spoke of his young age. Small pointed teeth jutted from his mouth. A black nose was wet and cold. Arty like his human hair short, and that carried on into his worgen fur. Calia's fur was long, and she looked like a puffball when she was a worgen.
Alfie barked worriedly. Arty petted his dog's head.
"Come on, Alfie. We need to go tell Grandpa!"
Arty ran off, on all fours. He tried to walk on his back paws occasionally, but was clumsy and fell often.
He went around, sniffing. His grandfather smelled a bit like dead roses and dead animal. It wasn't hard to find him. Arty didn't even bother to change back into his human body. He pushed open the door. There was Uncle Marwyn, Great-Grandpa Kel, and someone Arty didn't know. Calia was lying on a table, seemingly asleep. Arty cried out.
"Momma has been taken by bad people, along with Serenity and Angelica."
Arthas looked at Arty, recognized his voice and was only stunned for a moment.
"What!" He snarled.
Around the Citadel, Deathknights jumped up, grabbing their runeblades and feeling the anger of their Master. Frostwyrms roared in fury. The natural storm swelled up. Even cultists that spied in mortal cities felt the rage, and stopped what they were doing. As quickly as they could, they found a secret place, and made portals to the Citadel.
Darion Mograine looked up from where he sat in the floating Acherus. He scowled and looked over to a glowing crystal. He had reluctantly taken it from the bastard, Arthas. If the man needed help the crystal would glow red. Right now, it was bright crimson.
A similar crystal sat in the library of Stormwind. A cat was curled up next to it, purring. Then it hissed. The Prince of Stormwind looked up. Anduin never went anywhere without it. He have been given it years ago, never used but never forgotten. Now, he saw the glow and was alarmed. He got up quickly, and went off to make an excuse to his father.
Jaina was sitting in her study in Dalaran, cursing Arthas as she signed paperwork. Thunder rumbled in the distance. She went over to her window. A great storm was brewing to the north, completely unnatural. Jaina stared at it, torn with indecision.
An elderly Frostpaw Furbolg was sitting in his home in Grizzlemaw. His fur was flecked with grey, and his eyesight sorely diminished. The furbolg's name was Treejaw. He was highly respected by all in his tribe. Once, the old furbolg was hunting, his last hunting trip, and was injured. A great black creature, named a worgen, helped him. Treejaw learned the worgen's name was Ethan, and he had been trying to find other worgen in Grizzly Hills.
After escorting Treejaw back to his tribe, Ethan decided to befriend the furbolg. Speaking with the chieftain, the worgen had suggested trading between the furbolg, and his kind. He said he had a powerful chieftain that would help the Frostpaws when they were in need. And help they did.
The Redfang tribe had been getting increasing violent and aggressive. So Ethan's mate, a furless human, went to go talk to them. She persuaded, that was the nice way to put it, the Redfangs to leave the Frostpaws alone.
With the two tribes no longer fighting, the worgen Ethan was able to establish trade between the Frostpaw tribe, and his tribe, a weird multi-racial one called the Menethil tribe.
But then, other races were strange. But the girl Sap Fire really enjoyed the furbolg's honey. Ethan had given Treejaw a shiny crystal, and told him to watch it in case it turned red. Or, if the Frostpaw was having trouble all Treejaw had to do was touch the crystal and think about help. And help would come.
That had been years ago. Now, the crystal was red. The furbolg grabbed his walking stick, and went off to find his chieftain.
Serenity watched fearfully as they entered a camp full of undead. They did not look not nice at all, nothing like Tryg. Undead were supposed to be nice, she thought. Her great-grandfather was nice, if a bit grumpy. Tryg was nice, along with every other ghoul she had met. But the undead she saw as she was taken through the camp looked mean. She went to her mother, and grasped her hand. Sapphire looked down.
Angelica was making whimpering noises. Serenity wanted to comfort her cousin, but Angelica was being held tightly by the mean deathknight. The mean blood elf had let go of Serenity, for which she was glad. He was the one that had bit Sapphire.
They were taken through the camp. Serenity saw glowing green stuff on the ground, bubbling dangerously. Serenity didn't like the sight of it.
Serenity wondered if she could turn back into the owl. She didn't know how she did it in the first place.
She looked around, frowning. Then, she stopped walking. No one noticed, and she quickly fled into the darkness. She found a tent, and went inside of it.
There was a growl and she gasped, expecting a horrible monster to eat her face. There was a cage in the tent, and a big black animal. No, not an animal. A worgen.
"Daddy!"
Ethan raised his head. "Serenity? Oh no...What are you doing here?"
She didn't answer, but ran to the cage bars. She reached out, and stroke her father's fur. Tears showed up in her eyes. Ethan looked around, baring his teeth.
"Why are you here?"
"Adalger and Zy...Zypair...Bad guy who bit Momma got her, me and Angelica!"
"What! Fuck-"
Serenity frowned. "Cursing is bad...Daddy, I am scared."
Ethan rose up, hackles raised. Shackles were around his paws. He snarled, blood-tinged saliva dripping from his fangs. "Don't worry, Sweetheart."
Serenity looked at the monster that was her father. She never thought he looked scary as a worgen. But she had never seen him hunt, or attack anything. But she wasn't afraid of him. He would never hurt her. But he would hurt the bad people.
"Serenity...Can you turn back into your owl body?" He asked.
The girl looked up at him. "I...I don't know. I could try."
"I want you to try. You've seen your mother fly, and she has told you how she does it. Fly, Serenity. I have taught you how to get your bearings. You remember those?"
"The sun rises in the east and sets in the west? And...something about moss?"
"Yes, up here it grows more on the south side of trees and rocks. Do you think you can find your way to Icecrown, or the very least Dalaran?"
"I...Yes. Maybe. I'd have to go Northwest from here. But...It'll be so far."
"Just make it to Dalaran, and that will be fine."
Serenity thought hard, and tried to do what her mother had told her once. She had to think about the animal she was turning into. A barn owl. Sapphire said barn owls were different compared to other owls. Longer legs, a heart-shaped face. They were nocturnal, unlike snowy owls. That meant their eyes were black. Barn owls had brown on their backs and outside their wings, but were pale on the belly and wing insides.
She shrunk, feeling suddenly warmer than she had been. Looking up, she saw that her father was a giant. She was closer to the ground now.
Turning around, she clumsily walked over to the entrance of the tent, and spread out her wings. She flapped them hard, and felt herself leave the ground.
Not even thinking about, Serenity flew out, startling a Forsaken as she flew over his head. She flew up and over the camp. Serenity was afraid of heights. Or she used to be. Every time she had looked down from the cliffs in the Fjord, she got dizzy and afraid she would fall. Maybe since she was flying, it wasn't so scary.
Serenity looked down. The ground was really far away now. She looked back up. Snow-capped mountains rose up in front of her. This was part of the barrier between Grizzly Hills and Howling Fjord. She was going faster that she thought she could. The ocean was far away, to the left of her. She wondered if it would be easier to go that way.
A shriek caught her attention, and Serenity saw something large and white diving at her.
Serenity made a horrible screeching sound, and darted away from it. She was smaller, and faster. The eagle shrieked when it missed. She flew away as fast as she could.
Arty and Terenas both looked into the war room. For the majority of the time, their grandfather only used it for the occasional large dinner party. When talking to his guard captains, or his lead cultists, Arthas usually did it mentally, instead of going to see them personally.
Lethumo sat at his right, which was surprising. Kel'thuzad, Marwyn, and Falric must still be with the two boys' sister. At his left, was the deathknight in charge of security in Icecrown Citadel, a female dranei that never looked happy. The kids had seen Kam'thuk the orc running out of the war room, probably on some silly task that Arthas had sent him on. The orc was annoying to their grandfather.
Also in the war room was the Prince of Stormwind, the moody deathknight called Highlord Mograine, Governor Bolvar(Or Uncle Charcoal to the kids), A bear thing called a furbolg, a creature that had a lower body like a cat and and a chest and head more like a human(Serenity calls them cat centaurs). There was a tuskarr and a furry thing that looked like a big raccoon. A wolvar, Terry thought. There was a night elf from the settlement in Scholozar, based on the flash of green on her cultist's robes. They were supposed to be trying to regrow the blighted section of the rainforest. From what Terenas had overheard, they actually knew what to do, unlike the paladins and druids in the Plaguelands in the Eastern Kingdoms. Most of the disease was gone, but the plants had been stubborn trying to grow back. The soil was very poor there. Terry could see Lethumo eying the woman appreciatively.
A worgen hunter was there too. Silver Ravenfur. She was a stern woman, and Ethan had made her Chief Warden, leader of all the hunters and game wardens in the Grizzly Hills, Howling Fjord, and the Borean Tundra. Apparently, if someone killed a perfectly healthy animal when the species has low numbers...She would rip your manhood off. Whatever that meant.
"Whoa...Look at that," Arty whispered, and pointed. Terry looked, and gaped.
It was a vrykul, huge and imposing. Serenity said something about humans were relatives of them. Terry could not see that.
The children watched as people talked about important stuff. Terenas leaned in to hear better, and the door he was leaning on swung open. He fell to the floor.
Quickly looking up in alarm, Terry was relieved to see only a couple people saw. Bolvar smiled, and gestured to Arthas. Arthas looked at his two grandsons. Terry gave him a sheepish grin.
From underneath the table, two plaguehounds came running at them. Terra and Rot saw Terry on the floor, and attacked his face with their tongues.
"Hey, Get off!" He whispered. The dogs just kept licking him.
A deathknight came over to them, and Terenas knew he was going to make them leave the room. Arty knew too, and held up his arms. The deathknight gladly picked up the little boy. Alfie woofed, wagging his tail. Terenas followed the deathknight out of the room. Rot and Terra looked back, as if they wanted to disrupt the war meeting, but they followed Terry at his heels, biting at them.
Calia groaned. What had happened? All she could remember was...Touching that broken sword. Feeling horrible pain.
She was warm, covered in a blanket. Her head lay on a downy pillow. The girl opened her eyes. On a bed, bundled up tightly, Calia looked around.
She was in a room full of beds, but hers felt more comfortable. A man, with bright golden hair sat at a chair next to her. Uncle Bolvar, or Uncle Charcoal according to Silvia, was with him.
"Very nice, my Prince."
Prince? Was this Anduin Wrynn, Prince of Stormwind? Calia looked at the two. Anduin was well-dressed and clean-shaven. Calia's father was never really dressed well, and he only shaved because Sapphire threatened to burn off his beard. But she liked his ragged hair, so he was allowed to keep it like that. Calia thought Anduin looked ugly compared to her father.
A couple of white, black, and tan cats were all looking at each other. Unlike dogs, they did not play. One even hissed at another.
"You know...I would have been able to heal her given some more time," A voice muttered, and Calia turned to see her great-grandfather. He was sitting in a chair, bony chin resting on his hand. He looked at a couple of cards in his free hand. Falric sat across from him, face impassive. Marwyn was sniffling in the corner, touching a pile of ashes.
"Of course, Lord Kel'thuzad. But why let your family member suffer like that?" Bolvar asked politely. He looked over to Calia, and saw her awake.
"Oh, dear one! You are awake-"
The doors of the room slammed open, and a dark-haired man strode in, followed by a goblin. The only such pair would be Tanomoan and Blight.
Tanomoan was wearing purple and yellow clothing. Even Calia thought it was the worst color combination ever. The dragon was wearing necklaces around his neck, bracelets around his wrists, and a feathered hat. Blight was wearing less extravagant clothing, a red scarf wrapped around his neck, dirty jacket and fingerless gloves. A cap with goggles sat on top of his bright green head and his pointed ears.
"I'm here! Where's my sister, Carter!"
"Calia!" Blight corrected, aghast.
The man tilted his head, thinking hard. "Oh...Right. Calia. Where's Calia...Oh, there you are you little bitc-"
"Tanomoan!" Bolvar interrupted.
Tanomoan ignored the man, coming over to Calia. He grabbed her, and hugged her tightly. Gold rings covered his fingers. Calia grabbed one as he let go of her, and it slipped off unnoticed. She smiled, and hid it under her blanket.
"My poor little sister. Who did this to you? I will castrate them immediately."
The girl frowned. "What's that mean?"
"Oh, I will take something sharp and cut off their-"
Bolvar cleared his throat. Tanomoan turned to him. "Sorry, Daddy."
Blight poked Bolvar. "I apologize for his behavior...You have no idea how hard it is."
Calia frowned. "Hey...I just woke up and everyone is ignoring me! Except Tanomoan...And I would rather like it for him to go away."
Tanomoan gave her an offended look. "Well then!"
After the war meeting, Glacier sniffed the air, growling. The wind blew over her body, the frozen tatters of flesh flapping. Snow blew everywhere. It was called a whiteout to some. The storm was boiling over head, spitting out lightning. But the wind was behaving like Glacier wanted. She roared, and rose up into it. Behind her, two smaller males followed.
She flew into the frozen air, she remembered flying in a storm like this. Searching for Sapphire after the Lich King died. It had lasted for weeks. Ethan had been a deathknight back then, and not felt the cold as severely as he does now.
Ethan had spent days on the Frostwyrm's back, not once asking for her to land. He did not sleep, constantly looking at the invisible ground out of hope of glimpsing Sapphire's golden hair, or black cultist's robes. Nothing ever came up. There had been dead ghouls, scattered body parts, and broken war machines. But no one living.
Now, Glacier was not flying to look for someone. She knew where she was headed. She was flying out of Icecrown. And the person riding on her back was not Ethan. But he did smell like the boy.