Chapter Three
A new threat had arisen. Many top elites from the alliance and horde factions had been sent to investigate the threat that had spread through in Nothrend, a continent that had been forgotten about for years till recently.
Among the horde of elites aboard the large ship set on its destination to Nothrend, a cloaked figure slouched down on a box and let out a sharp exhale. The loner stared down at the liquid inside the cup, watching it ripple now and then. Various thoughts plagued the person's mind.
"Hey, you alright there?" a tall and well-muscled man approached the loner and crossed his arms across his broad chest. His face was hidden by a blackened steel helm, but the loner had knew who it was from the man's voice and peered up at the man from under the hood that hid the person's face and smiled slightly, "Couldn't be better, Anthony."
"You're worried, aren't you?"
A scoff was given in answer, "Right."
The man only shook his head and laughed before removing his helm, "Come on now. You're unstoppable! There is no reason for you to fret. I shall make sure that we both return home victorious… and in one piece."
The loner only smiled again, bitterly and adverted the gaze back to the cup and let out a soft sigh, "So much for faith."
'…Rumors say that he has returned, but he is no longer the man we knew. He gave into dark desires and became a monster. There's no doubt a million of lives would be lost this time…'
As soon the thought faded away, a loud and clear voice echoed in the loner's ears.
"We've arrived at Howling Fjord! Prepare yourselves!"
Wanting to get a better view of the land up ahead, the cloaked person stood up and stared straight ahead with determination. In the distance, faint booms from cannons being fired could be heard and in the air, the smell of smoke and fresh blood lingered.
'…May God help us all.'
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It took a week to return to Orgimmar and Naolin was very relieved to see familiar faces again. She was exhausted from the long trip and only wished for a bed at the moment as she yawned from atop of Fenrir. The wolf strolled into the city at a steady pace. As expected, her friends were already there in front of the bank, awaiting her arrival.
"Lieutenant, it's sure nice to see you're back home safely," a familiar voice spoke up, capturing Naolin's attention and the huntress already knew who it was before she looked.
It was Wolfgang, also known as Wolf to everyone else. He was one of Thrall's most trusted guards and whose life was saved by Naolin's father when he was a kid. Unlike most orcs, he was light-skinned. He had ice blue eyes that could pierce your soul literally if he was to stare into yours. After Naolin's father saved his life from a pack of dirty alliances who were cold enough to murder his parents and rob them dry, he was brought to Orgimmar and left him under someone's care. Naolin would come and visit him everyday so he wouldn't be alone. Ever since then, they had been good friends and Wolf held great respect for her.
"It's sure nice to be back. Any new interesting news?" Naolin replied with a warm smile and hopped off of Fenrir, allowing the wolf to go back to his dimension to rest.
"Ah, not really. Just the same old stuff… except that she's been worried sick about you."
The huntress frowned as she heard this and let out a soft sigh, "I suppose I should go and see her."
"Yeah, I think she's about ready to bite somebody's head off," Wolf said with a laugh.
With a soft chuckle, she bid him good day and started towards the inn nearby. Thrall had a room reserved permanently for her, luckily. She was grateful for that. Orgimmar was practically her home more than Silvermoon City was.
"Nao! God, I was beginning to think you'd never come back home!" Naolin didn't have time to react as she was tackled and locked into a fierce hug.
"Ahh, Reiko… can I breathe?" the huntress laughed as the tackler untangled from Naolin and helped her up. Finally, she came face to face with a young blood elf woman who was also a huntress like herself. She was her age. Naolin couldn't deny the fact that Reiko was very attractive for a sin'dorei. Hell, no one could. Reiko had dark cobalt hair and violet eyes. Not only that she's physically attractive, many admirers also liked her for her strong-willed and mysterious attitude. Naolin was the only one that Reiko could act so openly with though.
"I take it that she's been driving you nuts?" the huntress grinned at Reiko as the other woman groaned.
"Yea, she's been bitching and picking on me… but I gotta admit, it's sweet of her to worry for her sister."
Naolin laughed softly and smiled, "So, where is she?"
"Undercity. They were running low on potions and most of their experts has been sent to Nothrend… so they needed her assistance."
The huntress's breath hitched once she heard the word 'Nothrend'. She then suddenly knew something was going on when she saw a serious expression take place on Reiko's place.
"A lot of things has happened while you were gone… awful things," the cobalt haired huntress muttered softly and glanced around, "Let's go somewhere more private. I don't want to start a panic here if someone were to hear."
Without another word, Naolin followed the woman up to her reserved room and shut the door behind them after they entered the room.
Letting out a soft sigh, Naolin felt content and relaxed. She had missed her room. It always gave her a sense of comfort and it reminded her of home. However, the subject concerning Nothrend resurfaced and she sat down across from Reiko who had already made herself comfortable in a chair. Her eyes were downcast as she stared down at the floor, her hands clasped together and a stiff sigh left her lips.
"They say… that when he comes near them, everything becomes so cold. Cold enough that they almost can't breathe. He's a monster, Nao… he's no longer the man we used to know."
She could feel a chill slither down her spine from just hearing those words from Reiko and gulped slightly, "W-who…"
When Reiko looked up, the other could see the worry in her eyes and frowned slightly. However, when she heard the single word from the woman's mouth, her heart stopped for a brief moment as the shock slowly silenced her.
---
Arthas. The son of the former Lordaeron King, Terenas Menethil II. The man who murdered his father after his soul was consumed by Frostmourne, had returned.
Not only he had returned alone, he brought an army of unfortunate souls who had been lost and reanimated into something evil. Death Knights, they were called. They were an army of unholy paladins, molded to the Lich King's dark and twisted uses.
After the army was summoned and assembled, the Lich King failed to keep a secret from them as the Death Knights engaged into a bloody battle with the Crusaders of the light.
Torn and disgusted by the truth, the Death Knights laid their bloodied weapons down and knelt before the Crusaders. They pled for salvation and forgiveness. The Crusaders, with plenty of sympathy, decided to join forces with the Knights of the Ebon Blade to face the Lich King and destroy him for all and for once.
This had led to the reason behind Naolin's departure to Nothrend after Thrall was informed of the Lieutenant's return to Orgimmar and summoned her to his chamber.
"Naolin, as much this pains me to ask, but you are among one of our most skilled soldiers. So, I ask you of this, will you please assist us and the Crusaders in leading all of Azeroth to the victory over the Lich King?"
Lavender eyes filled with determination stared back into Thrall's and she let out a resigned sigh, "I… I am greatly concerned of how things will turn out… but if it means a great possibility of leading Azeroth into the new age of peace, then I will fight till the death if I have to. I refuse to stand by and watch that monster turn our home into the throes of hell."
---
"Pass over the sungrass," a soft feminine voice muttered. It sounded as if the person was deep in thought as she busied herself with the slew of herbs and potions laid across the long table in front of her.
"One sungrass as requested," a young forsaken approached the woman with a bowl of bright scarlet, grass-like herb. The tips of the herb was yellow, showing that it was a fresh batch.
"Thanks, Mina. You should go and rest, I've got this under control." The woman whispered softly as she moved the herb into another bowl and started grinding it, blending it along with other substances in the bowl.
"Are you sure? You've been at this for hours…"
"I'm fine. It has to be done anyway. The deadline is two hours and we've still got a lot of potions to complete. There is no time for me to rest." Despite that being said, fatigue could be seen in the woman's lime green eyes as her eyebrows scrunched in concentration. The forsaken woman only sighed and shook her head in defeat as she walked off, leaving the woman to work in peace.
It wasn't long before the sound of a door opening captured the woman's attention for a moment, although her focus remained fixated on the herbs in front of her. She had figured it probably was Mina checking up on her.
"Dahlia."
Finally, the woman's concentration was broken for the first time in hours. She turned to face the other who had entered the room and flung a crimson strand out of her face to get a better look. A soft smile crept across her lips.
"You've returned, sister…"
"Mm, not for long though…" the weary and concerned expression on the other's face worried the woman as she stared back in the lavender eyes of her sibling. She knew what the answer was.
"…Thrall's sending you to Nothrend, isn't he?"
A soft yet bitter smile was offered along with a slight nod.
Dahlia let out a shaky sigh and gripped her hand on the edge of the table. She was becoming angry. They had lost their father to an army of Scourge and she swore to god if she were to lose her remaining family to them as well, she'd unleash hell.
"You have faith in me, do you not?" The white haired woman pleaded softly and stepped towards her sister.
"Why would you ask such an absurd question when you already know the answer?" Dahlia turned away from the table to face the other.
"Then pray. For me. If you pray for me… the better chances of me returning home safely. I'm not going to let some… some… undead scum steal my soul. I made a promise to our father when he died… that I would avenge his death."
With a soft sigh, Dahlia crossed her arms across her chest and gazed off to the side, "You better come back or I'll come over there and drag your ass back."
Naolin laughed softly at the remark and smiled, "Now there's the sister that I know. Don't worry, okay? I only have to head over to investigate and collect reports for now. I'll return within a week."
After a goodbye and a hug was exchanged, the young huntress left the room and silence reigned yet again. This time, the warlock did not embrace the silence and ground her teeth in frustration instead, "You better come back…" She whispered softly as she gazed at the vacant space where her only family once stood.
---
"Behind you!" Anthony shouted out and sidestepped to the right quickly, dodging a vicious swing from a scourge he was fighting.
The cloaked person had already sensed the threat advancing towards the person from behind and turned around quickly enough to dodge by instinct as the ghoul swung it's shabby claw at the person. It missed barely and only managed to pull off the cloak.
Eyes fluttered open to reveal vivid emerald eyes and the person let out a low growl, "You chose a wrong time to ask for a death wish…"
"Eden! There's too many of them coming! I'm gonna have to go and seal off those gates up ahead!" Anthony let out a warlike cry as he slammed his titan steel mace right into the face of the unfortunate scourge hard enough to decapitate it.
"Heal me, I'll make a path!" Eden said firmly before kneeling down to the ground and transformed into a large bear. Letting out a deafening roar, the druid charged towards the scourge and swung her massive paw at it, leaving deep cuts across the scourge's chest. The undead seemed to be ticked off as it let out an angry cry and leapt at the bear. Eden took this chance to send a backswing to the head of the scourge, dazing it momentarily so she could turn and charge towards the incoming mobs of scourge spilling through the wooden gates.
Anthony managed to bash a few of scourge out of his way and let Eden draw all of their attention with a loud growl. The undead turned their attention to the bear, sensing that it was a greater threat than the paladin was and started dashing towards her. Despite the painful hits Eden took, she stood her ground and swung her paw across them, injuring them all at once. Anthony's hands glowed brightly with the power of the light and summoned several healing flashes upon Eden before dashing to the gates once the path was made.
Quickly reaching down his bag, Anthony grabbed two large bombs out of the bag and rammed them at the base of both mountains by the gates. After setting ten seconds timer on the bombs, the paladin sent another heal flash to Eden and shouted at her to move away.
Eden tried her hardest to move, but there were too many undead slowing her down as she struggled to run behind Anthony.
"EDEN! Come on!! You can do it!" the man shouted at the druid and kept up with the flash heals.
Anthony's shout was the last thing Eden heard before a resonating explosion tore through the area and blinded the druid momentarily. Overwhelming pain rattled through her body and her skull before everything faded to black.
"Eden."
'W…what?' the druid groaned softly as she furrowed her eyebrows, trying to figure out who the voice was. It sounded somewhat… sinister.
Suddenly, she felt like she couldn't breathe regularly. Everything felt so cold. It was like her bones were turning to ice and pricked along her skin like a million of tiny daggers.
"Do you ever wonder… what it's like to wield such power that could destroy a whole town?"
Eden wanted to move. She wanted to stand up and fight back, but she couldn't. All she could was lay there helpless. There was so much pain that if she lifted a finger, her whole body would scream out at her not to move.
"He left you behind." The voice seemed so close yet it was far away.
Letting out a snarling groan, Eden opened her eyes and took note of the figure towering over her. 'Anthony… where the fuck are you…'
"You're helpless now. There's no body around to save you… but I can. I can give you a new life. A chance to get your revenge." The figure kneeled down before her and Eden shivered as her insides twisted when she saw those glowing blue eyes stare into hers.
'I refuse to help the likes of YOU, Arthas…' Eden wanted to scream in that monster's face and fire a moonfire right in his face, but she couldn't. She couldn't even speak. It was like her voice had locked up on her.
Ignoring the searing pain, Eden lifted up a hand slowly and attempted to summon a ball of Wrath in her hand.
Arthas only let out a low chuckle, "Don't even try it. You're weak… but do not fret. You'll forget about everything soon and the only memory you will have is the betrayal of your comrades. Let your hatred and anger consume you and arise!"
The last thing Eden remembered was the memory of a certain white haired huntress smiling at her before a chilling pain tore through her skull and she was engulfed by bright blue light.
TBC