Chapter 7 – A Dark Awakening

Rogar hid in the branches of the tree, trying to stay as quiet as possible. Sunlight beamed through the canopy of leaves above, and he could hear the noises of the forest life below. Patiently he watched. At first all he heard was a rustling in the bushes, then he saw a shadow. Rogar tensed as he watched the shadow draw closer. As the shadow passed below the branch, Rogar leapt from the tree.

"HA! Gotcha!" he yelled as he hit the ground. The boy in front of him jumped in surprise, and ran back down the path, screaming. Rogar ran after him, growling like a bear. The screams and yells turned to laughter and giggles as the two boys chased each other through the forest and down to the riverbank. Without even removing a piece of clothing, they dove into the water and swam out to the middle of the river, enjoying the cool water on this hot summer day. They laughed some more as they waded back to shore.

"You're such a goof!" Rogar teased the younger boy.

"I'm telling ma!" The younger boy threatened. Of course he wouldn't, and Rogar knew it. They reached the shore and took off their wet shirts and shoes. They laid down in a soft patch of grass beneath a tall shade tree and stared at the clouds above them. After a few minutes the younger boy broke the silence. "How long 'till you leave?" he asked Rogar.

"A few more days."

"You gonna come back?"

"Probably. Not sure when though."

"You know dad's gonna ride my ass while you're gone."

"You'll be fine. Just do your chores when he tells you to, and don't talk back to him. You've only got a few more years then you can leave too."

"Rogar, I don't want to go to the academy." The sadness in the boy's voice was obvious, and Rogar felt sorry for him.

"I know it, Buck. Dad can't boss you around forever. Some day you'll be able to do what you want."

"But you're not." The boy's words cut threw Rogar like a knife. Any other time Rogar might have beat his little brother up for that. But this was different. This was maybe one of the last times the two of them would be together like this, and Rogar didn't want to ruin it with a fight. And besides, deep down inside somewhere Rogar knew that his brother was right.

"It's not that simple for me. I have to follow in my father's footsteps. Just like his father, and his father's father. Every man in our family has served the Light, as long as we can remember. It's not a choice, it's an obligation." Rogar stared into the clouds above.

"I don't even know anything about my real father." Buck said. "Mom won't talk about him. 'Course dad has a lot to do with that."

Buckalter and Rogar were only stepbrothers, but they had grown up as brothers. Rogar's father married Buckalter's mother when the boys were still very young, Rogar was five and Buckalter was only two. Rogar's mother had died in Lordaeron to the plague unleashed by the Scourge. His father, Renvik, took the boy to Stormwind and left him in the care of the orphanage matron. Renvik returned to Lordaeron to serve Uther and Arthas in the defeat of the Scourge. Buckalter's mother, Kaerai, took Rogar in and gave him a home so the boy didn't have to live in the orphanage. Renvik returned to Stormwind from the war and found his son living with Kaerai and Buckalter. A love grew between Renvik and Kaerai and they were married.

Not much was spoken about Buckalter's father. Rogar probably knew more about the man than Buck did, and all he knew were bits and pieces he hadn't been meant to overhear in conversations between Renvik and Kaerai. Rogar knew Buck's father had been a spell caster of some kind, and he knew that the marriage between him and Buck's mom had not ended well. He also knew that Renvik would kill the man on sight if he ever showed his face in Goldshire.

Rogar's father was a paladin, and of course as a paladin, he believed in justice and the Light. He was an honorable man, a veteran of many battles with the Horde and the Scourge. Renvik was as hard on the boys as a general on his troops, but he did it out of love and a true desire for the boys to grow up to be honorable men in service to the Light as paladins. Rogar had always accepted this fate, even if it wasn't what he truly wanted in his heart. There was a deep part of him that longed for revenge on the monsters that killed his mother. But the teachings of the church and the paladins were not rooted in revenge and hatred, but in forgiveness and compassion.

Buckalter had no way of knowing it, but his real father was a warlock. Even Kaerai had not known it at first, but when she discovered the dark magic that her husband was practicing she took their son and fled for Stormwind, hoping she would not be found in the massive populous of the city. So far her plan had worked, managing to avoid any contact with Buckalter's father for over ten years. After she married Renvik she felt much safer, but she still occasionally had nightmares of her former husband.

The boys' clothes were mostly dry, so they put their shirts and shoes back on and headed back to their home. The family had built a small farm on the edge of the Elwynn Forest just outside Goldshire. Renvik kept the boys busy planting crops, chopping firewood, and taking care of the livestock. It was late afternoon, and they still had a few more chores to finish before the sun went down, or their father would not be pleased. They ran to the barn to grab some tools and headed for the fields. Rogar called back to Buck, "Hey, I forgot to grab the harness for the horse. Run back to the barn and get it for me."

"You get it!" Buck shot back at his older brother.

"I'm gonna get started on the firewood. You wanna chop wood while I go back to the barn?"

"No." Buck replied, knowing that a walk to the barn was much easier than chopping wood. He still tried to sound upset about the deal. "Fine, I'll go get the harness."

"That's what I thought." Rogar rolled his eyes and went back to chopping wood.

Buckalter took his time strolling back to the barn. The sooner he returned with the harness, the sooner he would have to help chop wood, so there was no sense in hurrying on such a nice day as this. He pushed open the door to the barn and went to the back wall where they kept all the horse tack hanging. A tall, thin man dressed in dark robes stepped out of one of the horse stalls, startling Buckalter. The boy turned to run, but the man grabbed him by the arm. His grip was cold and strong, despite the frail look of the man. Buck let out a small scream.

"You needn't be alarmed my young friend. I'm not here to hurt you." The man kneeled down to Buck's level, pulled him closer, and loosened his grip but didn't let go completely. "Now, if I let you go, do you promise not to scream again and not to run?"

Buck shook his head yes but didn't look the man in the eyes. He kept his gaze on the door of the barn, fully intending to make a dash for it as soon as the man released him.

"Don't lie to me boy!" The man hissed. "I know your thoughts before you think them. If you run for that door I promise you you'll be dead before you reach it. Do I make myself perfectly clear."

Buckalter nodded again, this time looking at the robed man and meaning it. The man's robe was hooded, and Buck could barely see two dark, cold eyes staring out at him from inside it. The man slowly released Buck and stood back up. He pulled the hood from his head and revealed his face. For a moment, Buck felt as if he was looking in a mirror, but a strange mirror that somehow added many years to your face. The robed man read the expression on the boy's face and let out a small laugh.

"Yes, boy. I am your father."

Buckalter stood dumbfounded. A river of emotions poured through his body, everything from excitement and joy to fear and panic. He stammered for something to say but all that could escape his lips was "How?"

"I know you must be very confused right now. And I can hardly blame you. But I want you to know that I've always been thinking about you. Since the day you were stolen from me, I've done nothing but search for you. Believe it or not I found you many years ago, but the timing was not right. But now, with your brother leaving you will be left alone with your mother and that man." The last two words spat from the warlock's lips like poison. His contempt for Renvik was obvious even to Buck. "Now is your time to leave as well, my son. I will take you with me, and I will show you things you've never dreamed existed."

"But I… my mom? I can't. I have to…" Buck stumbled over his words, not able to speak as quickly as the thoughts poured out of his brain.

"Relax, my son. We aren't leaving right now. Here, take this." His father reached a hand out from under his robe and produced a book. Buck took the book. It felt warm to the touch, and Buck could almost feel it vibrating in his hand. No, it wasn't vibrating. It was breathing! The book pulsed, like the heaving of a person's chest.

"What is that?" Buckalter asked, already knowing the answer to the question.

"It is a spell book, my son. In that book is just a small portion of the secrets I have learned. But it is a good place for you to start. Study it carefully, but never, NEVER read it aloud. And show the book to no one!"

"I won't." Buck said. He held the book in both hands afraid to open the cover for fear that something would come flying at him from the pages.

"When the time is right I will find you again and we will leave. Until then, speak of me to no one. Now hurry. Take the harness back to your brother and finish your chores before he gets suspicious. Run now. Go!" Buckalter tucked the book into the pocket of his overalls, grabbed the harness, and ran back to his brother in the fields.

* * * * *

Renvik stormed into Buck's room and shook the boy awake. Buck scrambled out of bed, still half asleep, and reached for his overalls. Had he overslept and forgotten to do his chores? He was pretty sure he hadn't. He looked outside – it was still dark.

"Where did you get this?" Renvik demanded. He threw the spell book on the floor at Buck's feet. Buck bent over to pick it up, but before he could his stepfather kicked the book away into the corner of the room. "Answer me boy! Where did you get that?"

Buckalter stood speechless in front of his stepfather. He couldn't lie to the man, but he didn't want to tell the truth either. He figured silence was the best course of action in this situation. Especially since he was fairly certain Renvik already knew the answer to his question.

"I'm not gonna ask again!" Renvik's anger was growing and now Kaerai had come into the room to try to calm the situation.

"Ren, relax." She pleaded, trying to get her husband to calm down. "Honey, just tell your father where you got the book."

"He's not my father!" Buck regretted the words before he even finished speaking them. Renvik had been more of a father to Buck than the man responsible for bringing him into this world.

"That's right. He's not." A voice hissed from the other side of the room. Buck suddenly felt cold and numb. Pure panic washed over him as he saw the robed figure move into the doorway of his room.

"You!" Revik growled and he ran at the robed figure. Kaerai cried out as Renvik pushed her aside to get at the frail, robed man. Suddenly Renvik froze in his tracks. A beam of glowing green light shot from the robed man's hand to Renvik's chest. The robed man cackled as the life poured out of Renvik's body and into his. Buckalter watched in horror as Renvik was dying at the hands of his real father. His mother was lying on the floor, crying and pleading with the robed man to stop. She looked up at Buckalter and the expression on her face melted his heart. The sadness and fear was more than he could bear.

Buckalter threw himself at Renvik knocking him away from the beam that was sapping his life. The beam flickered and then latched itself to a new target. Buckalter felt a searing, piercing pain as the glowing beam penetrated his back. His muscles stiffened, and he felt an aching in his bones. His hair went instantly gray, and his eyes rolled back in his head. He dropped to the floor on his knees.

"NO!" The robed man screamed, caught off guard by the boy's actions. He stopped the beam and ran to the boy. "Buckalter, get up!" He pleaded. "We must leave at once. Get up, Son, get up!" Buckalter was alive but limp, and too weak to even stand.

"Get away from him!" Kaerai screamed through her tears. "Leave him alone, you monster! Get out of our house! Get out of our lives!" Then a blade came slicing through the warlock's shoulder. Warm blood flowed from his body and washed over Buckalter and the floor. The robed man looked up to see Renvik holding the hilt of the sword. Renvik's face was pale and drawn from the warlock's spell, but he had enough strength left in him to find a sword from underneath Buckalter's bed and drive it through the robed man's shoulder. The warlock screamed in pain and stood up, wrenching the sword from Renvik's grip. With the blade still sticking through his shoulder, the warlock threw his hands at Renvik and blasted him with a ball of shadow. Renvik reeled from the blast and made one final desperate lunge for the warlock. The robed man shot another beam of energy from his fingertips, and as Renvik died a small purple shard formed in the warlock's hand.

Buckalter managed to pull himself across the floor next to his mother. He lay there with his head in her lap as she sobbed. "I love you, Buck. I love you very much." She repeated over and over through her tears. Buckalter wanted so much to tell her he loved her too, but he didn't have the strength. He was pretty sure he was dying.

The robed man pulled the sword from his shoulder and winced in pain. He took a potion from the folds of his robe and drank it down. As he did the wound on his shoulder began to fade away and then disappeared. He walked over to Buckalter and picked him up. Despite his frail appearance, he was unusually strong. He threw the boy over his shoulder and walked out of the room. Buckalter used his last bit of strength to look up from the warlock's back and see his mother draped over her dead husband. Then he passed out.

* * * * *

The warlocks dismissed their demonic minions and boarded the ship from Booty Bay to Ratchet. "When we reach the Barrens, my son, we will seek out Takar the Seer. He will teach you what you need to know to summon a succubus as your minion. But be warned, the succubus is a deadly and manipulative demon. They are not to be taken lightly."

"Yes father." Buckalter had been studying the ways of the warlock for five years now under the guidance of his father. His studies had gone slowly. If he had been taught at a younger age to read and write the language of magic it would have been much more simple. It was rare for someone Buckalter's age to embark upon the Dark Arts. The secret, underground society of warlocks that existed in the Mage Quarter of Stormwind had refused to take Buckalter as a pupil, saying he was too old to begin the training. But Buckalter's father would not give up on his son, and taught him on his own. Often the two of them would travel to other warlocks throughout Azeroth and seek their help in Buckalter's training.

The pair journeyed across the Great Sea to the continent of Kalimdor. They disembarked from the ship and made their way out of the goblin town of Ratchet to the dry, hot plains of the Barrens. They traveled south, making sure not to stray too close to the areas controlled by the Horde.

"We are being followed."

"How do you know, Father?"

"I can sense it. Someone, or some thing, has been watching us since we boarded the ship in Booty Bay. You should summon your minion, my son." Buckalter pulled a purple shard from the folds of his robe and began to chant strange verses. Suddenly his chanting stopped, and he slumped over.

Buckalter's father turned just in time to see the blade of the sword strike him on the shoulder. He reeled from the blow, and fell to the ground badly wounded. Instinctively, he reached out his hand and shot a ray of energy into the chest of his attacker. The ray struck it's intended target, but seemed to have no effect. The warlock noticed that his attacker was surrounded in a globe of bright light. This was a paladin, and he had a holy shield protecting him.

The paladin raised his hand at the warlock, and a blast of holy energy shot through the warlock's body, dropping him to his knees. The paladin slowly walked up to the warlock and raised his sword above his head. "This is for my father, the man you murdered."

Buckalter recovered from the stun and saw the paladin with his blade poised above his father. "Rogar! No!" He screamed. The paladin turned and looked at Buckalter

"Sorry, Buck." Rogar drove his blade deep into the older warlock's chest.