Chapter 14:
It is a warm sunny afternoon.
The sky is clear, but in the distance you can see it already darkening due to the rain to come.
The city gates of the capital city are standing wide open. A hooded figure and two of his guards pass through the long courtyard to the throne room. Flower petals are lying everywhere announcing the arrival of a hero. It's an old tradition in these lands.
Everybody inside is quietly awaiting the man.
Not long afterwards the heavy doors are viciously pushed open. The three men enter the circular room. The hooded figure in the lead walks straight to the middle of it. He draws his sword and kneels down, his hands resting on the hilt. The king rises from his throne opening his arms ready to welcome the arrival and embrace the man.
"Ah, my son..." The voice of the king is gentle and kind hearted. He is a just ruler and hero, celebrated by his people.
The man in the middle of the room stands up and finally removes the hood. His hair has grown long and turned white. His eyes show an unnatural cold as a grim smile comes to his lips.
He steps towards the throne in a fast pace, his two guards take a few steps towards the guards on the outer ring of the room.
Everything blacks out.
From one second to the other I can't see anything anymore.
"What are you doing, my son?" The voice of the king is shaking with uncertain fear.
"Succeeding you!" The man replies swiftly just before I hear how a sword cuts through flesh.
Something metallic is falling onto the floor.
I hear screams. In the beginning it's just one, the voice of my father.
But soon the number grows, two people screaming, five, then ten, then twenty, hundreds and in the end... thousands.
Everything turns dead and cold.
I wake up still hearing the screaming straight from out of my dream in the back of my head.
Almost everybody is awake, a part of the tents seem to have already been taken down again.
I'd better get up and leave the tent. I may not be drenched in sweat, but I surely slept uneasily. One of our warriors from the Crusade hands me a cup filled with water and a piece of bread. One of the mercenaries standing nearby complains about it is not being anything at all, but I'll take it. Better than an empty stomach I guess.
Though only after a few bites I don't feel like eating any more. So I offer my bread to one of the other people standing around me and only drink the water they gave me.
I sit down on the trunk of a tree lying around between the camp and the river. It takes a while until everybody is finally ready. I am anxious to leave here and get going, I feel restless and unsafe in this place.
My mind starts dragging me back to the dream I had. I've never had this one before. I am not even entirely sure what happened there. But it's no use, so I might as well try to stop thinking about it.
Corren has been sitting on the other side of camp with the other mercenaries for the whole morning now. I don't know what's up with him. From one moment to the other he changed towards me. I want to ask him what is going on inside him, but I already know that his answer will be a fake smile and that he tells me to keep with the group for some reason. I will wait until we'll reach Tyr's Hand in the evening. Confronting him would yield no form of success any earlier.
Meanwhile everything has been packed up again and the group is ready to continue the march through the tormented landside that was once Lordaeron.
Ray quickly arranges the group as he thinks it will be most appropriate for the upcoming ways we'll have to take.
"Attention everybody!" The lieutenant shouts out. "Today we have a difficult journey awaiting us. We will be able to follow the road only until we pass the ruins of Darrowshire. Afterwards we will turn south leaving the roads behind us as we head straight into the hills. For today we have to go directly through the wilderness of the eastern plaguelands. This will be dangerous, but it will be the only way we can take to get to Tyr's Hand. And believe me, this is the easier path to follow! Plainly following the road would lead us directly through Corin's Crossing. The town is infested with undead minions of the Scourge, trying to slip through it or even fighting our way through it would be similar to suicide!" He speaks louder with every sentence.
"Keep this in mind and stay within the group. The armed forces on our side will be watching over every single one of you. But don't take it too light hearted! Letting your guards down is still unacceptable." He makes a brief pause, his eyes wandering over every member of the group. "Now, get moving everybody, we still have lots of ground to cover!"
As we cross the bridge over the Thondroril, the sky's color shifts to a dark and gloomy brown. It is shocking how much nature has suffered in these parts of the former kingdom of Lordaeron. The giant fungi can be seen almost everywhere. Some of the trees are crippled, now showing structures that remind of screaming or distortedly laughing faces.
We can follow the road for about half the way we have to go through this area.
If you look closely into the woods, you can see all kinds of plague hounds and giant bats roaming around between the trees just waiting for one of us to drop behind. These creatures are intelligent enough not to attack a group with the size of ours, but they'd be vicious enough to rip one of us to shreds should the opportunity arise even with the rest of us still around it.
We are moving along fast just like yesterday, yet the road is straight and almost completely even leaving an impression that we are hardly even moving.
Not before we pass the crossing to Darrowshire. It is said there are no ghouls or minions of the Scourge residing there, but the ghosts of the villagers that fell in the fight against the invading hordes of undead warriors of the Lich King. How much believe in this story or whether you only take it as a rumor is up to everybody on their own. I can't really honestly. Ghosts is hard to believe... but then again? We are walking in a land governed by the undead.
After the long march along the roadside we finally see the first signs pointing out that Corin's Crossing lies not far ahead of us. Ray immediately signalizes us to stop and turns to the group. "Four of my men, and six of your soldiers in front, followed by the clerics and apprentices; the rest of the men secure our backs, the riders being the last of the troop. And be quiet!" He points out the direction we are heading into and the people follow his orders without delay. I guess we will be going south-east from now on.
The earth around here is tough, not as soft as it usually is when walking through the woods.
This place is dreadful. The way everything has been altered... Once light forest full of life, it is now nothing but death. The plague hounds lie low awaiting a moment when they could seize their prey, anybody from our ranks would do. A chance that they will not get though...
But that's not the only danger of this path we have chosen. Corin's Crossing still isn't too far away and we will have to venture past the lake behind it on rather close quarters. As we draw nearer to the lake in the south of the town I spot movement in the water.
Water elementals!
So the rumors are true! Nature is already making its stand against the foul hordes of the Scourge!
Ray signalizes us that we should keep our distance and go as far away from them as we can as quickly as possible. I don't really understand why, they are friendly after all, aren't they?
One of the apprentices breaks out of the line. He is about as old as I am and has long black hair. "Those are no enemies! Don't be fooled!" The young man shouts back at us as he hurries towards the elementals. One of the warriors wants to rush after him, but is held back by two of the mercenaries. "It's too late for your friend..." Ray says this loud enough for everybody of us to hear. "Pray that he does not have to suffer a lot." His voice is stern.
Meanwhile the young man reaches an elemental in question. The watery face of the creature is showing no expression whatsoever. Not immediately greeted by hostility he tries to touch it.
The moment his hand reaches the elemental, the whole creature turns into a stream of water flying through the air back into the lake, swallowing the apprentice as a whole and dragging him with it, as if he is being pulled down into a vortex.
We stare at the water in shock till the last air bubbles burst as they reach the surface.
So, I guess the rumors were wrong after all.
Not being able to speak for a while after having witnessed this, we move on slowly and with caution. As planned we try to stay as close to the hillside as possible so that the elementals won't take any further notice of us. Losing one person due to such foolishness is worse enough. Who could have known...?
What happened to nature here? What illness did the Scourge unleash upon them or were they driven into madness by the terrible transformation of the landscape around their habitat?
Leaving the lake behind us, the walls of Tyr's Hand are now clearly visible in front of us, the flags swaying high up in the air.
We are almost there..., finally! I guess we should be thankful that we managed to travel this fast despite the size of the group.
Then I notice it. How everything is completely silent around us.
Ray gives the signal to stop. What is going on?
"Be careful... it is quiet..., too quiet..." He whispers idly.
We are standing in a dip, surrounded by small hills, the mountain chain delimitating the southern border of the eastern plaguelands to our right. From down these small slops none of us is able to see over any of even the smaller hills surrounding us.
It's only a split of a second later that a ghoul jumps up from behind the hillside in front of us and takes Ray down.
We all take a few steps to the side and the group expands in panic. Two more of the undead creatures leap at us with deranged cries of hunger and agony.
"What on earth...?" One of the warriors cries out.
"AMBUSH! Prepare for battle!" The lieutenant shouts as he is still lying on the ground, trying to fend off the ghoul on top of him. But just after these words have left his throat more and more of the undead are now streaming over the hills - ghouls, skeletons and undead soldiers still wearing a full set of armor.
A hooded figure in black robes stands above us on an edge of the mountainside.
I turn around, not knowing where I would be safe, not knowing what to do at all.
I feel helpless, useless. I feel lost.
Why always me?
"NECROMANCER! Up on the mountain! Take him out!" Those were the last words of the lieutenant before he his throat was ravaged by a ghoul.
I'm so scared.