The Plague

A week later I was settled back in my old bedchamber at the Lordaeron palace, my son occupying the one next to mine. I was no longer the Queen consort, nor the Queen Regent of Alterac. I was a princess again, daughter of the High King of the Eastern Kingdoms and sister of the heir apparent of the throne of Lordaeron. I did what any other widow of my station did. I devoted my self to raising my son the best way I knew, assumed my mother's queenly duties of hosting events, organizing charities, attending diplomatic meetings and offering my advice on matters of the state as a member of the Lordaeron council. Arthas would always come and visit me as often as his duties in Stratholme allowed him. He had joined the Knights of the Silver Hand order, and his visits were now less frequent. Jaina and Kael visited me often, but never at the same time. Kael made sure of that. Bless Jaina, even after my foolish brother broke up with her for no apparent reason, she still came to check on how I was holding up. She kept me good company, I always enjoyed her stays as I did Kael's. It was at Kael's suggestion that I started hunting again along with my trusted Lynxes. Soon I started to chose amongst the best hunters in the realm, and began to train them as Rangers.

A year had passed, and there were whispers about a terrible darkness that has started to creep over the realm. A terrible, deadly plague accompanied by sightings of undead. Undead of all thing! Is that even possible? That goes beyond the laws of nature, as well as the Light's. There were of course legends about the undead walking the land of Kalimdor, eons ago, but they were just legends. Surely such things are not possible! Alas, my grasp of magic was very limited. As a hunter and an aspiring Ranger, I used very little magic, but my own brother used Holy magic, a lot. And Jaina and Kael used arcane. But necromancy? Nah, that's impossible, no such thing exists. Oh but it soooo did. This is Azeroth after all.

It started with the plague outbreak in Brill. Father sent Arthas to investigate. Half of the town was quarantined at the Town Hall, dozens of Priests and Paladins were doing their best to determine the cause of the illness and cure them. I followed my brother to the town and listened to the Mayor, as she reported the Priests' findings to Arthas. It was unlike anything they have come across before. Everyone who fell ill, succumbed to the plague only days later. They were all unceremoniously buried in mass graves in and outside the cemetery, which was clearly not built to have so many people interred there in such a short time. If only that was our only problem back then. We were sitting at the inn after a very long day of traveling around Brill and the surrounding farms checking on the people, distributing rations, medicines and blankets and questioning them about the plague, trying to determine the source. Any one who showed any sign of illness was promptly sent to the Town Hall. We were very tired, and grateful for the food that was set before us by the inn keeper. We lived on rations for days now. Just when we were about to break bread, a blood curling scream made us jump up, grab our weapons and run outside. It was horrible. It was as if reality had taken a break and gone for a vacation. The dead were walking again. The dead were dragging their feet around the town, their rotting flesh falling off their faces and bodies, attacking the living. It was surreal, it was unbelievable, it was beyond comprehension. Arthas and I just stood there, flanked by Falric and Marwyn, stunned by the events that were unfolding before our very eyes.

"Calie", Arthas stammered, "please tell me that you see what I see. Or even better, tell me that this is just a bad dream", he pleaded.

"If you are asking whether I see zombies trying to eat the brains of the villagers, then yes little brother, I see what you see.", I answered, removing my bow from my shoulder, while pulling an arrow from my quiver.

"SOLDIERS OF LORDAERON! ATTACK...PROTECT OUR PEOPLE!", Arthas roared, unsheathing "Light's Vengeance" from his shoulder and dropping it on the head of the closest zombie. It fell apart instantly. 'Hm, let's test a theory', I thought and shot an arrow at the chest of a zombie. It kept on advancing towards us. So I shot one right between its eyes. It collapsed in a heap of bones.

"THE HEAD!", I roared, "SMASH IT, SHOOT IT OR CHOP IT OFF...DECAPITATED THEM IF YOU CAN. NOTHING ELSE WILL WORK!', I explained. They all complied. Soon there was nothing left, save for the ash of the dead. We incinerated them all after we were done, and issued the order to burn the corpses of the villagers who had succumbed to the plague. A raven haired High Elven Priestess with a waist long thick braid run to our position, and bowed her head before Arthas and I. She was holding a small satchel in her hands.

"Your majesties, I believe that I have found the cause of the plague.", she said. That caught our immediate attention.

"What have you discovered Lady Lightcaster?", Arthas smiled at the gorgeous young Elf, checking her out. She blushed and smiled back. 'Oh boy, I see now, why little brother broke up with poor Jaina. Well, he did always had a thing for brunettes, Jaina was the only exception.', I thought.

"I questioned most of the villagers, and I discovered that people started getting ill two days after the weekly grain delivery from Andorhal to the mill. It takes about a day to grind it into flour and sell it at the general store and the bakery. The next day people bought either flour from the store, or bread, pies and pastries from the bakery. And started to become ill. I rode to the mill to investigate and discovered that everyone was already dead and turned into...", she hesitated biting her lower lip.

"Zombies?", Arthas offered. Thalia nodded, relieved that we knew already and will not treat her as a mad woman.

"After I dispatched the undead I casted diagnostic spells at the remaining grain. It has been magically altered. It even looks and smells differently. I then rode to the bakery and the general store. The flour had the same magical signature as the grain, the zombies, the recently deceased people and the sick. We need to destroy the grain, the flour, the bread and the pastries and discover who among us has eaten any.", Thalia concluded and looked upon my brother with those big azure blue eyes of hers, as if he was a piece of candy. It's not like Arthas looked at her any differently. 'Oh well, looks like my future sister in law in going to be an Elf. I can't wait to see Garithos' face when Arthas announces their engagement, it's going to be priceless!', I chuckled inwardly.

"Well you heard the lady", Arthas bellowed, "destroy what is left of the grain and its products and isolate everyone who has consumed it. We ride to Andorhal when we are done here." A day later it was all over. All the grain and its products were destroyed, save for a few samples that I sent to Dalaran to be examined and possibly find a cure. Those who had consumed the grain were isolated from the general population. They were dead and cremated within hours. We headed east towards Anderhal to find the warlock responsible for this tragedy and stop him or her from spreading the disease. Unfortunately there were no Magi in our company, so we had to ride all the way to the Bulwark until we could find one to create a portal for us to the third largest city of our realm, and the only grain distributor in Northwestern Lordaeron.

Anderhal was not the beautiful, prosperous city I remembered from my travels around the realm. It looked abandoned, there was moss covering the decaying buildings, weeds had overrun the once green yards, and undead creatures were roaming the streets. The trees and plants looked sick, they have taken a yellowish color and even the sky around the doomed city was covered in a thick orange mist. The only living people walking around, looked like cultists. The wore long black robes covered in skulls, and their heads were covered with skull embroidered hoods. They were all working around giant cauldrons that contained a bid bubbling green ooze. Arthas did not have to think twice before he gave the order to attack them. Some of them were rounded up, ready to be interrogated, while the rest were lying dead around their cauldrons. We were contemplating a way to dispose the plague filled cauldrons safely, when a commotion from near the city drew our attention. About ten zombies had surrounded a hooded female Mage, who was fighting them off casting fire and ice balls at them, while shooting fire and frost novas from her staff. Two water elementals were flanked at either side of her, casting their own spells. I only new two Mages who could cast spells from different specialiazations at the same time. Kael and...

"Sire, shouldn't we help her", Falric asked in a very concerned tone. Arthas grinned and shook his head.

"Nah, she can take care of her self Falric. See? She has fried them already.", he said as they approached her.

"Gentlemen,", he told Falric and Marwyn, "Meet Miss Jaina Proudmoore, Lord Admiral Daelin Proudmoore's daughter, Lady of the island of Kul'Tiras and Mage of the Kirin'Tor order of Dalaran.", he introduced our old friend to the two captains.

"Milady!", they both bowed at her and kissed her hand. She smiled at them and then turned towards us.

"Callia, Arthas, it's great to see you two again, I just hoped that it would have been under different circumstances.", she whispered with a dire look in her face.

"What news have you, Jaina?", Arthas asked her, giving her an apraising look. He has not seen her for over a year, he had really missed her and was now very pleased to see the changes on her face and body, as she she has matured into adulthood. She was even more beautiful than he remembered, he told me after. 'Wow, little brother is really turning into a man whore, he is now after both Jaina and Thalia', I smirked.

"Have the Magi found a way to reverse the curse of undeath from the grain samples we sent you?". I asked her. Jaina shook her head.

"I'm afraid not. Antonidas, Kael and the rest of the Council of Six have been working on end to break the curse. So far, they have come up with nothing. Every spell they have thrown at it, bounced off it. Every potion the alchemists poured on it had no effect. They are now ransacking the libraries looking for more information. We did discover something very useful though. We have identified the magical signature. It belonged to a former member of the Council of Six, who was banished six months ago for meddling with Necromancy. Kel'Thuzad of Southshore.

"Never heard of him.", Arthas and I both answered in unison. Jaina snorted.

"Anyways, if so many cultists are here, then he is bound to be here too.", she said.

"Best news I heard since "Aunt Millie's Frozen Scones" started home deliveries! Come on, lets find this son of a bitch!", Arthas unsheathed "Light's Vengeance" and headed towards the city, followed by the rest of us. We slew the undead for hours, until we came across some creatures even more hideous and disgusting than the rest of the undead. They were huge, and seemed to be patched together from different body parts, their abdominal area was left opened and their entrails were just hanging out.

"Eww...what the hell are those?", I asked.

"They look like a compilation of different corpses.", Jaina observed.

"And they stink even worse than Marwyn's foot locker", Arthas said.

"Hey!", Marwyn protested, while Falric laughed and pointed at him. Arthas merely shrugged.

"So, you have found my masterpieces!", a deep voice was heard. "My abominations will tear you all apart!", A tall dark headed man, dressed like a cultist appeared from the shadows.

"Kel'Thuzad, I presume.". Arthas snarled.

"Indeed, young Prince. And you will not hinder my plans. All life will end on Azeroth.", the necromancer boasted. "Lets see how you will hold up against my creations", he hissed and the abominations charged at us. It was a brutal battle, those things were really hard to put down, but Arthas' onslaught was relentless. He completely slaughtered them with the aid of his Paladins, hands glowing with Light,and bright ethereal wings appearing on his back. He was completely bathed in Light's grace that day. I shot arrow after arrow at them, Jaina casted fire bolts and rained fire on their heads, while Thalia shielded and healed us. Soon, there were no abominations left, so Arthas turned his attention on Kel'Thuzad.

"You are going to pay for the lives you took, Necromancer", he bellowed at him, and charged. He was brought down within seconds, but before he died he gave us a warning.

"You may have succeeded in stopping me now, but you are already too late to save Lordaeron, Champions of the Light. The dreadlord Malganis has set his eyes upon Stratholme, and I have already sent there entire crates of plagued grain. Your people will be ours by the time you get there!", he cackled and died at Arthas' feet.

"We need to get there fast.", he whispered and Jaina started to create a portal. But she failed. The magical lay lines were severely affected, thanks to Kel'Thuzad's unholy magic. We had to ride there. And so we did. We decided to cut through Hearthglen village, there was a passage between the hills that led to the cave that connected the Darrowmere river to Stratholme. It was dusk when we reached the outskirts of the village.

"Let's spend the night here. We've been riding for two days straight, we need to rest, or we will be in no shape to help the citizens of Stratholme.", Arthas suggested, and we all agreed.

"I think that I might be able to create portals tomorrow, the more distance we put between our selves and Andorhal, the stronger I feel.", Jaina announced.

"That's excellent news Jaina, I don't think that I can endure four more days of constant horse riding.", I grinned. But we did not rest. The moment we reached the village square, the alarms were sounded. We were under attack. Undead were pouring from every side.

"Here we go again.", Arthas sighed, "DEFENSIVE POSITIONS NOW", he bellowed, "Jaina, take Falric and see if you can reach Hearthglen keep and alert Uther. There are too many.", and with that he jumped into the fight. I shot barrage after barrage of arrows at the undead. They collapsed, but more came.

"Their numbers are great! Where are they coming from?". I shouted.

"Beats me!". Arthas shrugged, as he swung Light's Vengeance around them, smashing the heads of several zombies. It was not going well for us. Though we haven't lost any one yet, the undead numbers didn't seem to decrease. Suddenly a horn was sounded, and hundreds of Paladins advanced against the undead. Several hours later it was over. The undead were obliterated. I had just finished washing the gore off me and was getting dressed again, when I heard yelling coming from the lounge of the inn we stopped to rest for a bit, before we continued our journey to Stratholme. I quickly got ready and run to the stairs. I met Jaina, Thalia, and some other female officers, who took the opportunity to wash up in the inn. We looked at each other bewildered, shrugged and run downstairs. Arthas and Uther were in a middle of a heated conversation. Arthas looked very angry, and Uther very frustrated.

"I did not mean it like that, lad!", Uther said in very exasperated voice.

"I have ears, Uther. I can hear. And I am not stupid. Just make sure that the surrounding area is safe from the undead and meet us in Stratholme. Ladies, we are leaving now.", Arthas snapped and walked outside. We looked at Uther, who shook his head at us, and we followed my brother. Jaina created a portal, and moments later, we were at the Stratholme gates.

The guards bowed as soon as they saw Arthas and me, and signaled at the gate keeper to open the gates. We headed straight for the Town Hall. The mayor was summoned so that we could inform him of the situation. We had to know if there had been any recent grain shipments from Andorhal. He confirmed that there was, and it was taken to the mills. Arthas ordered the troops to head to the Crusader's keep and rest until he ordered them back, and not eat anything except for their own rations. He asked the mayor to provide a place for me, Jaina and Thalia in the Town Hall to sleep, took some of the Stratholme guards and headed for the mills. As soon as I was shown my bed, I stripped down to my chemise and fell instantly asleep. I could only assume that Jaina and Thalia did the same. In the morning, a gentle nudge on my shoulder brought me out of dreamland. It was Arthas, he had just returned from the mills.

"Did you rest well, Calie?", he asked me in a soft voice. I nodded.

"Did you find anything?". I called out from the bathing room, as I washed up and got ready for the day.

"We did discover that grain was brought there, ground and distributed everywhere within the greater Stratholme area. I have sent people to determine whether it was the infected one or not. I have also sent others to check every infirmary, every chapel and knock on every door and see if we have any infections. They will alert us of their progress", he answered as he removed his armor. I let him wash up and sleep for a few hours, and waited for the investigator's progress report at the Town Hall's lounge along with Jaina and Thalia. It was noon when the first reports came in. I run upstairs to wake Arthas, and we both run down.

"Progress report!", he ordered them.

"Bad news sire. We found that the flour at the stores and the bakeries. Flour, bread and pastries have been sold as early as last night.", Mira, the young Paladin reported.

"Thank you Mira, you are dismissed. Continue your patrolling.", Arthas said in a grim voice, and turned to a young warrior who had just stepped in.

"Any news James?", he asked him.

"Yes, sire. Every infirmary and chapel is brimmed with plagued people. We are still going through every home in Stratholme, we have checked two thirds of the homes so far, and all of them have either eaten bread or pastries from a bakery, or baked their own things from flour they bought. At least one person from each house hold is already sick. We should have finished checking all the homes by mid afternoon.", the warrior reported.

"Thank you James. Return to checking the homes and come find me when you are done. Let me know if everyone has been infected.", he ordered James, who left running. He turned towards us.

"Looks like were are going to have to fight an even larger number of undead than Brill and Anderhal. We need an entire army to contain them. Ladies I am going to need your help again. Can I rely on you?", he asked. All three of us nodded.

"Calie can you go and ask Father for more troops? Thalia could you please go to you king and ask him if he could spare some of his Rangers to help us? Jaina, I need you to create a portal to Silvermoon City for Thalia, and another one to the Capital for Calia. After that, can you teleport to Hearthglen and Dalaran and ask them to send everyone they can spare? I need Uther and his Paladins here. I'll head to the Crusader's square and make sure that none of the Paladins and Priests have eaten any of the infected grain, and keep an eye of things here. As soon as you get back, have everyone stationed outside the gates, and send word to me. I will be patrolling the streets with our troops until you return.", he told us, and Jaina created portals for Thalia and me.