Chapter 5:
After having regained solid ground under my feet again I immediately direct my way towards the teleporter to the upper levels.
I close my eyes for my own conservative feelings as I step onto it and within only a few seconds I find myself standing just below the balcony from where the Lich King oversees and directs everything with his divine command.
The first thing I see as I open my eyes again though are the elf named Koltira and the dark skinned man called Orbaz. The elf raises his hand to greet me once again and similar to this trend I just ignore him as per usual. It at least makes me wonder why they were called here too and where of all places the fourth of our group might be.
It surely would be only a matter of time until we are to find out, yet still I am curious and by all means I'm no good at playing the waiting game. Luckily an activity I am not ought to engage right now.
'Step forth my champions!' I hear the voice in my head calling out, speaking to each of us.
In a strange unity I would have never imagined as possible we move equally fast and in a straight line towards the staircase leading onto the balcony. Two of the most beautiful of the val'kyr are flanking the Lich King as they were before. For my part it dawns on me in this moment how they seem to supervise the challenges among the death knights, maybe even initiate them to our king's delight. But those winged horrors aren't the only ones close to the master in this particular moment.
Darion Mograine is standing at the very end of the balcony as close to him as no-one ever dared to come.
We on the other already stop halfway before even reaching their sight and kneel down, again next to each other and in the same straight line. It all happens in perfect unison like being led on invisible strings. The Highlord Mograine is still talking to the Lich King. It would be outrageous for us to disturb them, even though we would only be answering his call.
But soon enough Mograine turns to us and comes closer with strong determined steps whilst the Lich King also slowly shifts his gaze from the battlefield onto his most prized minions for a first time. He is holding his sword in a tight grip just front of him by the handle with the tip hovering directly above the stone floor, sometimes barely scratching the black surface.
Anticipation rising in all of us, there is still fear from the moment when we might hear the sound of his voice hidden deep inside our consciousness. Yet as it turns out it is Mograine who speaks to us though.
"In not even a single day the Scarlet Crusade was successfully driven out of Havenshire and finds itself now back to the wall in New Avalon. The open plaguelands the only place they could run off to as their ships are almost all scattered out amongst the ocean's floor." His gaze wanders from one of us to the next as begins walking an equally slow path in front of us. "It was due to the effort of three of our most valuable knights that made this possible so quickly. It was due to the effort of you. You are the ones who have brought destruction to their villages, chaos to the faith of the Scarlet Crusade and fear to the hearts of their people." He makes a short pause, catching the unnecessary breath. "Now it will be only a matter of time, a matter of hours – no even minutes - until we are able to take New Avalon by storm and destroy the Scarlet Crusade once and for all."
The Highlord takes a few distinct steps to the left where he comes to a stop, facing away from u.
"You three will lead the charges at New Avalon! You have served us well so far and this will be the chance for you to prove yourselves and your worth furthermore. Show us what death has made of you!"
He turns again and walks into the other direction about equally far.
"I am proud of you three. Not many of your brethren have survived these first assaults and not many of those few would ever deserve to receive such a blessing from me... yet you three shine forth even more than that. Not only did you show your current strength and glimpses of the potential all of you still have to awaken fully on the battlefield, but you were also addressed to only the most crucial tasks. Of which, each of you performed them to the full extent and without difficulties. Furthermore you three are the elected ones to have acquired a deathcharger as a worthy mount of your own."
I can hardly imagine the horse being a real reason, but that could be at least a hint on why Thassarian is missing. He was clearly not as strong as Orbaz, but none of us is and despite the odds it would be strange if he should have died already.
"A prosperous future inside the Scourge lies ahead of you, should you continue going on like this; should you not falter or disappoint. You might even become as strong or at least achieve the same renown as the four horsemen that keep guard over the frozen heart of Naxxramas. They are after all four of the most powerful death knights our army has to offer."
Mograine then stops right in front of Orbaz who is kneeling the furthest to the right.
"The Lich King himself has decided to acknowledge your efforts to our cause and wants of me to reward each of you for what bloodshed you have brought upon our enemies today."
He takes the Ashbringer from his back and uses it to support himself, standing as upright as possible.
"Although some of you children have risen from their 'sleep' only in the past two days or even less, you all have done a lot for our campaign and proved yourself worthy to become a captain of the legions of Acherus. Therefore I shall hereby present you with the authority to command the undead legions in the fields as well as initiate death knights of our order."
We are getting promoted? Really this quickly...?
"Additionally you have the privilege to carry a title presented to you by my authority and acknowledged by the Lich King himself. Now... Stand up Orbaz." Mograine looks deeply into his eyes as he stands up in front of him a few moments pass in silence.
"You have led our forces into the victories that were the first assaults towards New Avalon building up the pressure we need to continue onwards. You have delivered hard strikes against the defense of their walls and proven your skills as a tactician, but not enough - your own strength is remarkable, thriving for battle and never ceasing. After breaching the walls of New Avalon your hit-and-run tactics caused chaos and panic amongst the Crusaders. Be sure not to mourn about the few recruits you have lost today, for they were clearly weak and unworthy..."
Orbaz nods once with his eyes focused solely onto the Lich King. There is another moment of silence. Then Orbaz looks down to Koltira for a second or two, his eyes showing a bright mixture of hatred and pity.
"With the authority of the Lich King I hereby proclaim your name to be 'Orbaz Bloodbane' from this moment forth!"
Quickly Mograine moves on to Koltira, in the meantime Orbaz kneels down again, a certain shame hidden in his movement.
"Stand up Koltira." The elf does as he is told, the blue eyes of the Highlord gazing at him relentlessly.
"You were assigned to a dangerous task today, to attack the Chapel of the Crimson Flames directly deep inside the enemy's land. You have proven that the defenses of said area are weak and brought valuable information back to us. After finding no real enemies you moved on to the Towns Hall on your own behalf. A risky move, defying your orders but nevertheless there you were able to gather more pieces of vital information that will be of significance once the attack on the inner structure of New Avalon shall begin. You are most efficient with manipulating the shadows. Your fighting style is keen and not to be underestimated – despite the rather weak blows with your weapon the swiftness of the strikes easily makes up for it. Yet keep in mind, you may be capable of plunging yourself into combat head first against a weak opponent, but be aware not to become too reckless or your days shall be numbered."
Koltira looks to the ground without saying anything further. Silence takes up the room once more. Then out of nowhere he raises his head and nods to our master.
"With the authority of the Lich King I hereby proclaim your name to be 'Koltira Deathweaver' from this moment forth!"
Koltira kneels down just as the Highlord comes to a stop in front of me me.
"Stand up." As I reach the same level as Darion Mograine, it feels as if his eyes are burning right through to the back of my skull and even further beyond.
"You are one of the youngest children of our master. Far too young to even have a name of your own. Yet from the first moment on you already began to show how strong you are to become. Even instructor Razuvious himself spoke very highly of your physical strength only minutes after you stood from the dead." Mograine swallows - another pointless reflex.
"You have proven your worth to us several times over the course of the day. You have slaughtered about half the inhabitants of Havenshire on your own in a single bloody frenzy, you have proven yourself in the rite of Death's Challenge as the only of the three kneeling before me and you have enabled us to attack the beach of Light's Point due to their hesitation after you brought chaos and fear to their people. Your fighting style is brutal, relentless and dominated by pure strength. You are ruthless and know your power as well as its limits. Where you tread, blood will be shed. Shine forth like a true death knight, harness your hate and become even stronger, but keep in mind never to become too reckless..."
After Mograine had finishes his little speech, I hear the voice in my head speaking to me again.
'You are my nameless child... maybe the most important one of them all though. The soul ripped form the body and found a new to settle in... But it does not matter it appears. You already show your prosperity ... Yet more importantly for now: You have offered Frostmourne many souls today. I am proud of you. The army grew remarkably in only this few hours.'
My eyes are already fixed onto the sword again.
'Keep on like this and I might present you with a worthy weapon, most suitable for your path. One day you will become one of my champions, I can tell you this without any doubt. Know that your potential is sheer endless!'
"With the authority of the Lich King I hereby proclaim your name to be 'Malevolence' from this moment forth!"
Mograine's words rip apart the moment of union with our king as he already takes a few steps back away.
"Stand up now, all three of you. The next phase of our attack will commence immediately - The attack on New Avalon. We will destroy their infrastructure along with the frail military defense remaining. Afterwards we will only have to harvest their tormented souls. Return to the breach, there you will receive further instructions. Bloodbane and Deathweaver will pass directly through the enemy lines while you, Malevolence, will support the direct attacks. Everything clear?" I nod silently whilst the other two go ahead and answer with a loud "Yes!"
"Go forth and bring honor to your new names, as well as bleak death to the Scarlet Crusade! Suffer well, brethren." This are his last words before we head off, again pulled along by the invisible rope guiding us on every step we take.
Mograine on his part turns around and makes his way back to the side of the Lich King.
Back on the lower floor Koltira and Orbaz start talking to each other, about their assignment. I have no idea if the elf notices of if he's too dense, but Orbaz clearly is looking down on him. I can't deny him thinking like this... Koltira is clearly weak, even I sense that. But something else just keeps me occupied as I just can't stop wondering what had happened to Thassarian.
Usually I keep quiet, but this time I just have to ask the two.
Bloodbane speaks forth without hesitation. "That idiot lost his weapon out there... he literally lost it."
I can barely do much except for raising an eyebrow. I would have imagined a lot of things but that was more than simply embarrassing. "The weapons that are given to the death knights here are usually made from Thorium, yet his was special... crafted from pure Saronite, a mineral only found in the frozen wastes of Northrend. Bars made of this metal are far harder than Steel, hardened Thorium or anything else found in Azeroth. You need special facilities to even only smelt this certain ore to bars so it would have been fairly useless to them down there, but well... now they have a fully forged weapon in their hands." Orbaz makes a disapproving sound. "One weapon might not sound much - that's right, still it's shameful above all else! Not to mention the fact that it had been an honorary present for his deeds in Silvermoon."
I now understand it a bit better at least, still it makes wonder again what kind of punishment might be attached to such foolishness? How in this world can a warrior lose a weapon like that in the first place?
"He will be joining forces with me in the battlefield, so he is still alive ... yet he's nothing more than a worthless underling to me or any other ranking officer of the Scourge now."
By all means I would have expected something like this from an elf like Koltira, but not of Thassarian. He didn't seem as much the fool... but well, no use wasting time on it any more.
My mind now set on the tasks at hand I take the gryphon down to the breach as the first one of us three. The other two will surely follow me sooner or later. Besides..., why should I care about them? I've got my own assignment.
There is hardly anybody at the tents as I set foot into the camp. While we three received our reward up in the flying fortress of Acherus, down here had been 'redecorated' it seems.
A pedestal was set up next to the hillside downwards, bloodprince Valanar standing upon it. A large banner of the Scourge behind him, it is at least three times as tall as the elf, dead bodies of crusaders hanging from it. I see smoke rising from all around us.
About 20 death knights are kneeling in front of the pedestal and listening to what the elf has to say.
Open your eyes, brothers and sisters. GAZE UPON APOCALYPSE!
The sky itself feeds upon the suffering of the conquered!
The Scarlet Crusade is powerless to stop us!
The corpses of those that try only serve to feed our expanding host!
The Scarlet fleet lies in ruin upon the sundered coast!
With each enemy slain, our strength grows! We mustn't relent!
The Lich King has spoken to each of you! Let his words resonate among you once more!
ALL MUST DIE!
Leave no survivors in your wake, brothers and sisters! This is the time to strike down upon them!
No mercy for the weak!
TERROR!
CHAOS!
DESTRUCTION!
With the approaching darkness comes the end of the Scarlet Crusade. You will battle once more! For the Scourge! For the Lich King!
SUFFER WELL, DEATH KNIGHTS!
The mass shortly applauds after he has finished his little speech from up there.
Those death knights must be the survivors of the first attacks. Mograine had not lied... that really aren't too many.
I had heard that only few were supposed to have survived, but that it is this few comes indeed a bit surprising.