Chapter 4:
Leaving Hearthglen behind me turned out easier than I thought it would at first.
The field trip is not too fast on its way, neither too slow, just like a steady flowing stream. The group consists of roughly ten people, four riders, as well as two clerics, three warriors and myself on foot. The leader of our party is a rather thin young woman with green eyes and long black hair. She is about as tall as I am if my eyes didn't lie to me. The crimson uniform suits her well, though her presence is indeed fearsome. Yet then again, I love the color of her eyes. Can't help really, I just adore almost every shade of green.
Everybody of the group is rather quiet, none of us talks much.
We finally reached the road some minutes ago. Whilst still in Hearthglen all the guards granted me a farewell and their best wishes for my future. It's strange, I hardly know any of them, yet they are all so friendly, so kind, furthermore I actually did not even like most of them. They did what they were told, guards to a golden prison. I was always kept safe so that possibly nothing could harm me.
Father, is this the way you would have wanted it to be?
I hear the usual uttering of the ghouls as we pass the ruins of Andorhal. Two of the wretched creatures even try to attack us! Instinctively I take a step backwards, already shivering. With Keira not around those creatures quickly became a lot more fearsome.
"Pathetic..." the leader of our group says somewhere next to me while looking into my direction. She turns her horse around and charges at the undead. Her sword splits one of the creatures in exactly two and the horse tramples down the second one.
The field trip stands still for a moment while watching her. Some of the warriors clearly seem to admire her or well... she is pretty attractive. She then slowly rides back to the group and offers me a sharp look with her light green eyes. I think she can sense my fear.
All of a sudden a ghoul tries to jump at her from behind.
"Watch ou...", I want to call.
"Idiot." she replies with a hiss while narrowing her eyes. She dodges to the left and the ghoul misses by a couple of inches, as her long black hair flies through the air. She slices the creature up while it's still in mid-air with a single fluent movement of her sword. I can only guess how she must have heard it approaching. The uttering of the undead quickly comes to an end. Poor soul, now finally you can rest in peace.
I don't know what rank she has in the crusade, but if I have to guess I would say something high like a captain. The field trip now continues its march to the monastery. While we get closer to the border to the Tirisfal Glades I take some time thinking whether or not she meant me or the ghouls by saying 'pathetic'.
The area near the border is extraordinarily quiet today, usually there are far more animals around here. One of the clerics notices my astonished looks and tells me that a group of soldiers of the Crusade have cleared this path yesterday so we could pass through without further disturbance. I'm relieved to hear this, yet I feel a bit sorry for the animals. On the other hand, they were already dying, furthermore most of them were already dead.
I try to talk to the cleric a bit longer. I'm hoping to satisfy my curiosity by asking if this was the same route the caravan took some days ago, it was of the Scarlet Crusade too so he could probably know. He tells me that they want to go to the ruins of Dalaran. That's the part I already knew, and that their route is far more dangerous than ours. They have to pass thought the ruins of Andorhal directly.
This information makes me worry. I can just hope Corren and Keira are well.
We finally reach the border, half the way lies behind us. Tirisfal has changed a lot. It is always dark here, as if some sort of magic keeps the light's rays away from the ground. It almost feels as if the whole country is filled with grief about what had happened.
The plague had its influence on the animals here as well. The woods are full of giant bats and strange dogs - they are no wolves, that's for sure. They have eyes as red as fire, somehow looking demonic. They roam around in search for small animals, these woods once used to be full of squirrels and I guess that's what they are looking for, because if we come close to them they back simply off. These... animals... here aren't as aggressive as those in the plaguelands.
After a few minutes we reach a path leading up to the mountains near the coast. The captain, as I suppose, heads on first with another of the riders, then all going by foot follow and the other two riders follow last, protecting our backs. Probably this is just a routine, we should have passed the most dangerous areas already.
After we slowly went up for a while we reach an open space as the path takes a curve to the east. We then are ordered to make a sudden stop. The other clerics tell me to stay quiet. And our captain signalizes we should not go on any further by raising her hand and a short look directed back to our group over her shoulder. I can't restrain my curiosity and take a look to the west down the hill.
It's a little village down there, wait... that's no ordinary village - it's Brill!
I want to take a step closer towards the edge of the hill but I'm stopped by one of the warrior seizing my shoulder.
"Nuisance..." I hear a female voice, it is rather dark and strong, no doubt she is mocking me again. I look at her and she only rolls her eyes. "Don't be so careless, the town of Brill is no longer of no inhabitants." She hisses at me as she turns around again facing the road pointing out we should move on slowly and quietly.
As we walk on I take another look at Brill. Appears she was right, I can see the light of torches down there and people moving. I turn to the cleric who I already talked to during the trip and ask him who was living down there and when Brill had been cleared by the crusade. "Boy..., Brill was never cleared by anybody. The former inhabitants aren't human anymore." His answer leaves me shocked for a few minutes. "Those undead down there are far more intelligent than the ghouls of the Scourge, thus far more dangerous. They aren't just mindless creatures like the zombies, but they are also driven by revenge and hatred, not a single bit better than their 'relatives' in the ruins of Andorhal." He continues as I swallow hard. "Make sure you don't cross paths with one of them. Just try to avoid them at first. You'll come to a point when you will be able to challenge them soon enough."
I briefly thank the cleric again for answering my questions. He nods with a friendly smile in return. It's the first time I see somebody of this party smile. They all seem so cold hearted, especially the woman leading us.
After a few minutes the path takes another curve, this time to the north again and the incline of the road increases quite drastically. Now we are going directly up the mountain. We pass the first heavily armed watch tower of the Scarlet Crusade. The soldiers there greet our leader but she doesn't respond at all and we all just heads on further.
Soon afterwards we reach a crossing on the slope of the mountain. I can already see the pinnacles of the Monastery from here.
I'm getting more and more exited. My heart is beating faster and faster.
It is far bigger than I have ever imagined. In this area there are more and more scouts and warriors of the Scarlet Crusade roaming around, guarding this sacred land. I can't help myself, but they all seem so... cold, to say cruel would be too harsh in my opinion, yet it would fit my feeling towards these people far better.
The riders dismount and take their horses to the stable. The captain on the other hand just gives her horse to one of the riders. She then leads us into the Monastery itself. The guards greet her friendly and with honour, one even mentions the word 'Captain' so I suppose I guessed right when I first saw her.
"Everybody, you are dismissed for today, go to your quarters and rest, you will resume normal duty by noon tomorrow. Some of you might even be taken to another field trip, if that should be the case then you shall be informed during the evening. Now of you go." Her last words sound a bit annoyed.
"And about you..." she looks at me narrowing her eyes again, "I'm ordered to take you to High Inquisitor Fairbanks right away. He wanted to talk to you immediately after you have arrived."
I nod quietly. I have barely arrived here and I'm already taken to the head of the clerics here because he wants to talk to me? I'm a bit scared of what will await me there. We have to a cross the large open space on our way to the cathedral. Four guards open the heavy gates so we can get into the building as we reach the entrance. At the altar a tall-grown man is talking to the attendees, he is preaching a sermon apparently. We turn right after entering and pass the people kneeling quickly and quietly. She leads me into a small chamber at the utmost right end of the hallway.
I can only wonder if that man up there might actually be...
"I will wait for you outside, I was ordered to show you your quarters afterwards... if you are lucky you only have to talk to Fairbanks and not to Whitemane." her tone is a bit angry and she shows this cruel smile of hers again. She must be furious about having to guide me through the Monastery. She closes the door behind her. Now I sit here and wait. What will the Highcleric be like? I hope not as cold as most of the others. And who is this Whitemane? I'm a bit confused, I've never heard this name before, yet Fairbanks was mentioned several times during my time in Hearthglen.
Soon I can hear somebody approaching outside, then I hear voices, one of the two is the captain of our party earlier, the other voice sounds older and by far softer. I don't understand what they are saying. All I know is that they are talking. Then everything is quiet again just before I hear steps towards the door. It opens.
A man enters, he has short grey hair and wears a beard. I stand up to greet him properly.
"So you are the boy of Fipps, my my, greetings to you, lad. I am High Inquisitor Fairbanks." I nod and look to the ground. The old man takes a seat. "No need to be shy boy, sit down." I do as he wishes. "Well, I'm glad you made it here. It's good to see everything went fine on your venture."
"Yeah", I whisper, thinking of the woman mocking me.
"By your looks you resemble your father a lot, he was quite a person. It will be my duty to ensure your growth to resemble him even more in spirit..." Slowly I'm getting sick of everybody telling me how great my father was - I know that and I also know that I'll never be able to be as strong as him. "He truly was a valorous man. And I am proud of having his son here in this monastery, under the banner of the Scarlet Crusade." I don't want to think of what might happen if they find out that I don't turn out the way they want. "I made quite an effort to be head of your personal education, you know." I look astonished. "It was not easy to overcome Whitemane in this matter, admittedly. Even though she is only my subordinate."
"May I...", I try to speak up, "May I ask who this Whitemane is? I've heard the name several times since I've arrived here, but never during my time in Hearthglen."
"Is that so? Well, she was once a student of mine, a talented young girl, about the same age as the young Fordring is now. But she took the wrong passes, made false decisions, yet she is still so talented that we can't, in fact we shouldn't ignore her. You see... she tends to be rather... cruel... from time to time. So she is second in command in the Monastery at a whole, yet she is only Inquisitor, so she must obey my orders concerning education and principles of the clerics of the crusade." How comes I've never heard of her before? But I guess I'll have a lot of time to think about that later. "The young Fordring sent me a note that he wishes to have you in Hearthglen once your studies are complete, that is quite a recommendation here, but we will consider this when you will be ready."
I blush. I'm not worth the endeavors that are made by all these people, why don't they understand and come to reason!
"Well then, young Fipps, I guess it was a tiresome day for you. You should head to your quarters and rest. Captain Theran will be sure to escort you there. Your first lessen will commence tomorrow afternoon, make sure you wear the robes prepared for you, you will find them in your room."
I can only look to the ground, "Yes sir." I stand up as ordered and head for the door.
"But before you head off, be advised... or no, consider it an order from your teacher! No matter what happens - stay away from Whitemane at all cost, for your own sake as a young uprising cleric." His looks darkened. I nod swiftly. "Good boy." He offers me a warm smile. "Now off you go." He signalizes me to get out of the room with his hands. I open the door and step into the hallway.
There she is again, still waiting there as she had announced earlier. "Follow me." she almost bellows out at me with her dark voice.
I follow without a word. We quickly pass through the gardens, the moon already high up in the air. I didn't realize how long I must have been waiting in that small chamber, or even how long our trip took us to get here.
"You are quite the lucky one, aren't you?" Theran suddenly asks me in an angry tone from over her shoulder without even looking at me. "Arriving here, talking directly to the High Inquisitor on a friendly basis, not having Whitemane join in on your conversation. Not having to stay in quarantine for about a month like every other new arrival has to. THAT is quite a list there."
She stops, rapidly turning around to face me. She narrows her eyes in the typical way. She comes closer looking directly into my eyes with hers. The light green changes to a strong emerald green in the moon light. "What is it with you? What is it about you?" she asks, her presence is pressing. I try to back off a few steps backwards but I bump into a wall. She actually scares me. I can't say a word. "They all treat you like you're special, but I didn't see anything special about you today, except for you being a coward in every possible situation. So why don't you tell me, WHAT IS IT ABOUT YOU?" she almost screams.
She doesn't understand that I don't know why either! I don't even want to be treated specially. I'm not able to answer her, making her only more and more mad at me. She even raises her hand so she could hit me in frustration, but she is able to hold herself back just in time.
Without a word she turns around and continues to walk on, "Come on now, insolent worm, I still have to show you your room." I stand there in bewilderment. "MOVE IDIOT!" she yells not concerned about the time and that some people could be already sleeping. I hurry up so I don't anger her any further.
For the rest of the way to my room she is quiet again, not saying a single word. We turn right into a hallway and follow it to the end, then we turn right again and walk down about the half of its length.
She stops in front of a wooden door, "Here it is." she opens the door. "The key to it lies inside on the table, your robes are in the closet. You got a single room, lucky one."
She rolls her eyes before turning around without a word and walks back to where we came from. "Somebody will come and wake you at precisely five o'clock."
At first I want to thank her, but then I decide I shouldn't, it would probably only rouse more hatred in her. I enter quietly.
So this is the place I will be staying in from now on. It is a lot smaller than the place in Hearthglen, but I expected that already. I close the door behind me. I have a window to the west offering a view past the graveyard of the monastery onto the cliffs of the northern coastline.
I lie down on my bed and try to reflect the events of this troublesome day. I think about travelling here, about Fairbanks and Whitemane and about Captain Theran.
I wonder what Keira and Corren are doing and hope both of them are fine.
I fall asleep without noticing it.