They fled the courtyard to the north. The city streets were flooded with townsfolk and refugees alike all heading for the inner fortress through the now open armory portcullis. Scores of humans, elves and dwarves all charged in the other direction directly towards the pandemonium in the southern courtyard. She and her mother hastened to the armory and then up a short flight of stairs to the dining section and then down a long corridor to the training facility outside. The stream of people hurried through another large door to a room with trap doors in the stone floor.

"LISTEN CLOSELY" shouted a soldier in front. "I need everyone to make their way through the trap doors and into the tunnels. They lead to a place where we would make our final stand if that's what it comes down to. Hurry through and don't stop until you reach the outside." And so they ran some more. For what seemed like eternity they hustled through the tunnels to the other side. But when they emerged, they only found more of the undead. They were everywhere, slaughtering everyone and everything in sight. The refugees scattered, running into the forest and back through the tunnels only to find that this "Scourge" was closing in on them from that end too. They were trapped. There was nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. There could be no survival now and Arkerya and her mother were helpless.

The men tried to fight but were overcome by the unnatural strength and rage of the zombies. A skeleton wearing armor grabbed her mother but Arkerya and a man she didn't know tried to push it away. Arkerya hit it in its skull and kicked its shinbones and screamed like a harpy but nothing phased the thing. It lunged for her and Arkerya covered her face with her left arm. The zombie plunged its teeth into Arkerya's flesh just as the man picked up a nearby rock and cracked it on the undead skull. The skull fell off and the body was blind. It violently searched for Arkerya but found someone else instead. Afraid and in pain, Arkerya and her mother ran into the woods hoping to escape the Scourge. But they were trailed by several of them who had seen them fleeing. The two of them were exhausted and could barely keep a jogging pace. The Scourge closed in on them and death seemed imminent. An arrow flew by Arkerya, narrowly missing her left ear and she heard a scratchy voice wail behind her. Several more arrows flew by her head and struck more of her pursuers and a living voice up ahead shouted "Get in! Get in!" It was the monastery. They had reached the foothills North of Lordaeron where the scarlet monastery was nestled. "This must have been where the last stand would have been made." Arkerya thought. The two of them ran as fast as they could through the wooden gate onto the castle grounds and into the main hall. A man bearing a scarlet tabard and crest approached them.

"Refugees from Lordaeron I presume?" He asked gruffly. Arkerya and her mother nodded together. "I am Randal Von Gunhilldur, commander of the scarlet monastery militia here in Tirisfal. It's a miracle you two made it all the way here. The Scourge is spreading all throughout the northern territory and nowhere is safe anymore. We haven't seen a friendly soul in weeks, or a messenger of any kind. Either of you fighters?" Arkerya and her mother shook their heads together. "Hmmm..." He started to look them over and saw Arkerya's arm. "You can come with me and give me the best report on the situation as you can Madam." he said to Arkerya's mother. "As for you," he said to Arkerya, "you had better get to the' medical wing lassie. That there is a deep wound and will need priestly attention. Macintyre! Get her there." "Right away sir." Said a handsome young man as he lightly put his hand on Arkerya's back and led her down a corridor and up a spiral staircase into a room in the southern tower with glass windows, white curtains and hospital beds. Most of the beds were full of wounded scarlet soldiers and monks. One at the far end of the tower was screaming hysterically as two priests desperately tried to calm him with magic and soft words. Several other men looked as though they might rot alive and others still were coughing, expelling black sparks as they did. But the one thing that Arkerya noticed most was that most of these fighters had been bitten somewhere.

"What is the significance of biting?" she wondered. "Hello milady." Said the gentle voice of a middle aged priestess as Macintyre planted his feet by the door. "My name is Dora Haphlish. Another bite victim Mac?" "Aye." Said Macintyre. "Dear me we need to clean that up right away. It doesn't look too bad so just sit here and I'll be back with some cleansing herbs." The priests handling the insane man led him further up the tower out of sight. She moved across the room to a table with a number of alchemical tools and reagents on it. She began grinding herbs and powder into a fine grain and then mixed in some oil to form a deep yellow cream before quickly returning to Arkerya. "This will cleanse the plague from you and hasten the healing process." She said as she began to apply the ointment to Arkerya's wound. "What plague? Why have so many people here been bitten?" Arkerya asked. Dora put on a troubled look and said, "Because that's how these Scourge enlists new soldiers. There is a disease that animates their dead bodies. Through research and observation we have discovered that this disease kills the living body and then animates the dead one. All these men have at some point encountered the Scourge and fought them. But one can only fight the Scourge so long before their superior strength and numbers overpowers you, and then you have to turn and run. This is what happens to those who aren't fast enough."

Arkerya was horrified. Dora made a half hearted smile. "But not to worry my dear. You have only been bitten once and only a short time ago. For a wound this deep I should think we'll be able to cure it in three or four days with regular application of this cream." said Dora. Two armed men rushed up the stairs to where the insane man was taken. "What about these others? They don't look so good. Will they die?" Asked Arkerya. Dora looked at all the men lined up on their beds. Some of them had turned a shade of grey and others had developed boils and growths on their faces and arms. Many of them were bone thin and some were even speaking to themselves. "They are more serious cases." said Dora. Arkerya heard a loud ethereal sounding scream from upstairs. Dora looked to the staircase and said "They have been bitten many times and the illness is moving faster than we can fight it. Magic, powers of the light and a swift exorcism is all we can do for most of them." The priests who were wrestling with the mad man before returned to the room and the two soldiers came down carrying a corpse in a body bag. Arkerya stared at the two men as they passed by on the staircase and then looked at Dora who returned a somber expression. "But you can save some of them right?" Dora spoke softly as she wrapped a linen bandage around Arkerya's arm. "Some of them."

Macintyre moved for the first time since they arrived and said, "Arkerya and I must return to the commander." He beckoned Arkerya over. "Very well. I need to see her after every meal of the day to apply more of the cleansing solution." Said Dora. Macintyre nodded and lead Arkerya back to the main hall and down a different corridor to a large garden outside the cathedral where she saw Randal, her mother, a soldier bearing the crest of Lordaeron and three men who she assumed were Randal's lieutenants conversing in the garden outside.
Randall noticed the two of them approaching. "All patched up then?" He asked. "Aye." said Macintyre. "But she must return to see a priest or at least an alchemist after every meal of the day." Randall dismissed Macintyre and bade Arkerya come closer. "Your mother tells me that Lordaeron is under heavy attack. And the Scourge hit you from the other side of the escape tunnels as well?" Arkerya nodded as she suddenly recollected the events of the day and her father's choice to fight. Silent tears streamed down her face. Her mother put a hand on her shoulder and pulled her close. "I am sorry for your loss." Said Randall. "Your Mother had just told me about your father and I may have good news in that department. We have been receiving a number of refugees since the two of you arrived. Even some soldiers made it all the way here and are resting in the armory. You might search for your father there." Arkerya and her mother looked at one another and then back at Randall who waved them away and they rushed back to the main hall and to the eastern grounds where they found the armory and a number of soldiers sitting on the floor. Many were being led out presumably to the medical wing. The two of them looked around the room and Arkerya spotted a large, dirty man with a blonde hair and a moustache. It was her father. "Mother. Look!" She shouted and ran at a sprint to her father shoving people out of the way to get to him. He smiled and stood up as she flew into his arms. Though weary from battle, he was not wounded and lifted Arkerya into the air in glee. "DON'T EVER DO THAT AGAIN!" Arkerya yelled through her tears. Her mother wrapped her arms around both of them and kissed her father fervently. Nothing mattered. The Scourge, her home, Lordaeron, even Drew's tragedy couldn't kill her glee. Her father was alive. That was all that mattered.

"What happened out there? Is the Scourge truly unstoppable? How did you escape? Are they coming this way?" Arkerya interrogated fiercely. "The battle lasted for only a few hours before Lordaeron was completely overrun." Her father began. "The Scourge had the element of surprise. When Arthas returned the gates were wide open and they swarmed the city all at once." "So it's true? Prince Arthas has betrayed us?" asked Arkerya's mother. "Yes." Said Arkerya's father after a long pause. "It wasn't any sort of fight at all, the Scourge completely overpowered us. We had only one choice: to flee. We used the same escape route you two took out. It took some doing but we finally managed to fight our way through to the other side. Who knew a battering ram could fit into a tiny space like that?" He let out a fake chuckle and put on a fake smile. Arkerya quickly picked up on this and squeezed him tight. Her father wept. "I saw Hampton." He said quietly. "You SAW Hampton? Really? I don't believe it; he made it! He's in there fighting with my-" but her mother stopped her and shook her head and the sad, awful truth grasped Arkerya. She pulled her parents closer yet and silently cried. "Is he at least... all the way... d... de...d..." but she couldn't finish her sentence." Yes my child. He is at peace." there was a long pause. "I promise I will never leave the two of you again." Arkerya's father said.

The ground shuddered and a sound like thunder sounded outside. Everyone except Arkerya and her parents looked around nervously and rushed out of the armory to the blockade to prepare once again to fight the Scourge. Men were yelling things like, "Prepare for battle!" and "Show no mercy!" But none of it mattered very much to the three remaining members of the Sulgorio family. They were together again. "Never again. But I have to go fight now." said her father. Arkerya and her mother wore similar looks of understanding and they nodded to the man as he drew his sword. "I would tell you to run, but...." Arkerya interrupted her father: "...but there isn't anywhere to run." The three held each other close, cherishing what would surely be their last moments. "Together we stand..." Arkerya paused, "...and together we fall."

Her words struck her parents in a way she had never done before. They both smiled at her and her father led the way out of the armory, across the courtyard, into the main hall and out to the blockade. The undead army was titanic. They truly were the last living bastion in Tirisfal Glade. The noise was deafening and the smell was far worse than it had been in Lordaeron. Arkerya's father gave Arkerya a vacant look and then a sad one, and handed her a sword. "Your mother is pregnant, but you are young and strong: like your grandmother." He gave her a proud smile. "Protect her to the end. Together we stand...." he said. "And together... we fall." Arkerya solemnly finished. And once again her father turned and marched to war. But unlike the last time Arkerya wasn't unhappy or afraid. Instead, she felt angry at the Scourge, and so proud of her heroic father. And now she held in her hand a sword. She had never even touched a sword in her life. She drew her blade and swung it around some and got a feel for the weight and then sheathed it again and turned to her mother. Her mother was crying and smiling in pride and she pointed to her father who was looking back at her. He wiped his eyes and smiled and turned again to the front lines. Arkerya and her mother then walked together to the mess hall deep within the castle with the other refugees to wait: wait to die, wait to turn or wait to hear that by some miracle the living had won and they could go home and rebuild. Arkerya felt a sharp pain shoot up her arm where she had been bitten and somehow, she expected she and her family would not survive. She wept.