Chapter 2: The Plague Comes to Northdale
A loud crash caused Arrien to awaken in the middle of the night. Her eyes fluttered open, scanning her dark bedroom for the source of the noise. She carefully got to her feet, walking towards her doorway and cracking it open slightly. At the bottom of the stairs, in the moonlight, she could see a distorted shadow of a human figure.
"Father?" She called out quietly, stepping slowly down the stairs, trying not to make a sound. She could now see the vague outline of her father rummaging through cabinets sloppily, tossing things to the side, making odd, guttural noises. Outside, she could hear shouting and some sort of commotion, the drawing of steel and horses clamping. "Father? What's going on? I'm scared!" Her heart felt as though it was about to crawl up and out her throat.
"Slaughter all the beasts," she heard a voice shout outside the front door, "by order of the prince, just like in Stratholme... not one is to be left alive. It's better for 'em this way." At this shout, her father slowly turned about, and his face was shown by the moonlight. Arrien leapt back in horror to see that this was not the kind face of her father, but some sort of horrible distortion of it, his eyes having taken on a milky white death-like appearance, his flesh mottled gray, a small trail of blood dripping from his lip. He made a loud snarl, then quickly turned to Arrien.
"Father!" She shrieked, continuing to back up, "It's me, Arrien! What happened to you?" He began to advance on her, as he drew closer, she could smell an odd scent, one of death and decay, the slow rotting of unprepared corpses, something like the stench of meat left out too long in the sun. Another series of guttural moans and snarls escaped her father's throat before he lunged at her, grabbing at her throat, his mouth opening unnaturally wide. Arrien could do nothing except for scream as he closed in on her. She heard the front door shatter into splinters and a powerful voice shout.
"In the name of the Light, return to the Abyss from whence you came, foul creature!" A brilliant flash of light blinded Arrien and she felt the creature's fingers release her throat, its pained shrieks echoing through the house. This was no longer her father by any means, simply an empty shell brought to life by some horrible means, she began to realize. She watched in horror as her father's body burned, not with any sort of fire she could recognize, but with a dimly glowing light that gave off no heat. In her doorway, she saw a man clad entirely in shining gold plate mail bearing a blue tabard with a silver gauntlet, clenched in a fist. A glow surrounded his body, similar to the one that was consuming the monster that had seemed completely content to turn her into a meal, but apparently did not damage him in the least, in fact, it seemed to be that this man embraced the light, and it embraced him in return, framing his chiseled features well, causing his shoulder-length blonde and silver-streaked hair to flutter slightly, though there be no breeze, "I command you to cease, you abomination... your existance is an affront to the Light and to the natural order of things... perish in holy fire!" He shouted, and the corpse of Arrien's father was once again blasted with pure white light, although this time, it completely consumed him, disintegrating him to little more than dust and a few mean bones.
By this point, Arrien was reduced to sobbing that wracked her entire body, everything going on right now being far too much for her mind to process. The man in armor approached her, hefting his large hammer with a grimace, "My dear girl, I am afraid you are to be next... all infected persons must be slain... by order of Prince Arthas."
"What?" She cried out, tears streaking down her face, "No... I... I am not like them!"
"You will be soon enough... and this will ensure that you will not have to suffer as they," He lifted his hammer high with a shout of, "In the name of the Light, may it be---"
He got no further in his sentence before he simply froze in place, unable to move at all. Arrien was not sure if she should be even more confused or relieved, but then she saw a slender, pale hand on the man's shoulder and followed it up the arm to see the Selessa was standing behind him, a grim look on her face. Arrien rushed over and embrace the elf, continuing to sob.
"Did you eat any of your family's bread last night?" Selessa asked flatly, glaring at the armor-clad man before her. The red haired apprentice simply made a few odd noises, unable to gain her composure. The elf pulled the girl away from her, looking into her tear-filled eyes, her face betraying a deep concern, "Arrien," she snapped this time, "did you eat anything last night?" The girl managed to shake her head quickly, her mussed curls bouncing about, obscuring her face. Selessa then pushed Arrien behind her and placed her hand on the shoulder of the man again.
"---done!" he finished, bringing his hammer down on naught but air, splintering the floorboards. He whirled on his heel, glaring at Selessa and readying his hammer again, "You are interfering in the work of the Light, magic user... do not tempt fate."
"She is not one of them, she did not partake in any of the grain... now stand down, paladin, and do some good here. Try to find more survivors, there has been enough carnage tonight, what with Stratholme and this town..." Selessa hissed.
"Pray that we do not meet again, mage... there will be no survivors tonight. Take the plagued girl with you if you wish... she will devour you by sunrise," and with that, he turned quickly and rushed outside. Through the door, Selessa looked on in horror as more villagers were cut down in the streets, both the risen dead and the living alike.
"Hold tight to me, Arrien... this might feel a bit... odd." She muttered a few soft incantations Arrien didn't recognize and suddenly the apprentice felt as though her innards had become her outards and her entire body was upside down, a faint blue glow surrounded her, and suddenly, the entire sensation simply vanished, leaving her confused and nauseated. She dropped to her knees, noting that she was on the hill she had been training the day before. She stared out at the burning ruins of her town, and everything finally catching up with her, emptied the contents of her stomach onto the ground. She felt gentle hands place a cloak around her shoulders, shielding her from the cold that she hadn't even noticed until now, feeling completely numb previously, and the feeling still not quite going away inside.
"What happened... father... mother...?" Her sentences were barely intelligible, mostly just random tumblings of words that made sense to her at the time.
"The grain shipments from Andorhal were poisoned... tainted by some sort of cursed agent that kills those who eat it... but that's not all." Selessa's green eyes grew distant and unfocused for a moment, "It apparently also raises them into undeath."
"Necromancy? I thought that was forbidden..." Arrien muttered, slowly becoming a bit more coherent, trying not to think of her father, or, at least, the ruined pile of ashes that was once her father.
"It is... but that does not mean there aren't practitioners of the dark art about. I've known there has been some trouble with a small sect... the Cult of the Damned, they call themselves..." the elf mage ground her teeth together, "we thought they were harmless... a few misguided souls... but now... so much death..." She shook herself, bringing herself around again, before turning back to her young ward, "I am going to teleport you to a ship I know the captain of... you'll be safe there."
"What about you?" Arrien cried out.
"I will be fine... now close your eyes and try to ignore that feeling in your stomach. Captain Belnast won't be happy if you vomit on his deck," the elf offered a weak smile, a gesture the young mage did not return as she felt the odd blue mist envelope her again.