Muhahaha! *Evil author* Connet, grab holy water.
His anger had hit Sapphire like a wall. She opened her mouth to speak, but he quickly stopped anything she was going to say.
She was dragged into darkness, and the pain began. Sapphire screamed as poison scalded her lungs and she fell to the ground, which was dark. Everything was dark. The anger, the uncontrollable rage of a dark, sadistic being radiated, and spread around her like a wildfire. Sapphire writhed in pain, trying to breathe. Her blood boiled, and the ice inside of it ripped through her veins, and pierced her organs. The girl tried to scream, but only a rasp came out. When he spoke, every syllable was a knife that was plunged into her body.
How dare you? You love him? He doesn't understand. I understood...I listened to how your father treated you. Abused you, tortured you, mentally scarred you. You would be a queen with me.
Sapphire could not reply, for her throat was burning from the poisonous gas. She tried to breathe, and only gasped in pain. Tears formed in her eyes. She lay in the darkness...alone.
No! I was the one who was alone. You came to me in your dreams, and I had someone. Now, you leave me...Don't leave, Sapphire. Please...
Someone wrapped their arms around the girl, and pulled her up. A hand stroked her cheek. She opened an eye, and despite the darkness, she saw a blackened hand, and flames licking up an arm. She groaned, and closed her eyes, the action to much handle. She wanted to sleep...
Lips pressed against her own, and she felt warmth radiate through her body. She tasted ashes.
Sapphire's body twitched, and she was losing consciousness. She felt a tiny modicum of strength left and she used it say a single word.
Bolvar...
Sapphire felt confusion as she slipped into unconsciousness, and the confusion went to cold realization, and horror as he realized what he had done.
No! Blessed Light, what have I done? Sapphire!
Ethan woke up with a dreaded feeling. He heard a distant scream, and instantly fumbled around for his runeblade. Grasping the hilt, he ran out of his room, and burst out of the main doors of the manor. Fire burned in the village, and the screams were louder. Squinting, Ethan saw ogres running in the streets, yelling and grunting in glee. Undead attacked villagers, and Ethan saw bodies.
An undead came running across the courtyard, and the boy charged at it. With a growl, the undead pounced, but the boy's runeblade sliced the body in half with ease. Ethan ran into the burning town. Smoke rose up in black clouds.
He used up his pent up deathknight powers, and a red circle bubbled up on the cobbled pathway. Anything that stepped on it shrieked as their own skin bubbled and burst into pustules.
A roar of an ogre can from behind, and Ethan whipped around, only to see Arthas cut open the brute's stomach. Glistening red intestines spilled out, and the ogre clutched his organs before falling over backwards. Arthas looked back at Ethan, wearing the armor he had when he was the master of the Scourge. Ethan wore nothing, and Arthas noticed. He scowled.
"Medivh...the armor...in the blacksmith's shop. It's in a chest! Get it and get back to the house!"
Ethan whipped his blade at a leaping geist, and snarled. "No!"
"Sapphire is in a coma, Ethan! Helpless!"
"Jaina can take care of her!" The boy retorted.
Arthas beheaded a ghoul with his normal sword, and grabbed Ethan by the arm. He gave the boy a pleading look.
"And who is going to protect her? Please!" The man was practically begging.
Ethan cursed, and nodded. He dodged a wooden club from an ogre, and ran off. He jumped over bodies, and killed undead by using his neglected magic. Ethan reluctantly resurrected one of the downed undead and sent it on its fellows. He found the forge of the smithy, and ducked his head as he made his way into the ruined building.
He panted hard. His heart thudded, and he felt feverish. It was dark and smoky in the building, but Ethan broke open a tinted window, and light streamed in. He saw armor, and weapons cluttered on the ground. He scanned the room for chests, but did not see any. He cursed, and kicked open a door.
There it was. Two chests. Ethan yanked one open, but the armor was obviously Sapphire's. Made for a thin body, it was deep cobalt and burnished black. The gauntlets had feathers of blue and black as well, and the fingers had claws on the end of them. A brightly embossed raven on the breastplate caught his attention, but he needed his armor.
He went to the other chest, and ripped it open. He did not look at the silver gray armor, just put it on. It was only steel, but any armor was better than any armor. The boots, the greaves, the bracers, the breastplate. He flexibly turned and pulled the straps tight. He ignored the canine accents, and the belt that had sharp teeth sewn into the leather. Vicious looking dog heads adorned the shoulder pads, and both the boots and gauntlets were trimmed with white fur. The boots looked paw like.
Only when he reached for the helm did Ethan notice what Medivh had done.
The metal of the helm rippled on the muzzle to show that of a dog snarling. The teeth were real, yellowed canines that were dull, but looked deadly. Swept back ears were of smooth gray steel, and the back had a mane of black fur for covering the neck.
Ethan stared at it, and put it on. The metal helm fit perfectly, and the eye sockets were the right size. They did not impede his vision, nor did the muzzle of the dog. There was a lower jaw to completely encase his face, and Ethan reluctantly fit it with his main helm. There was a bolt that, when attached, allowed him to open the jaws. He kept them closed, and could hear his breathing. He left the shop, picking up his runeblade. He had never named the thing. Perhaps one day he should. It had never failed him. When he had been caught by the Scourge back when he was alive, his sword had shattered and he was kept alive for entertainment.
He remembered those pain-filled days, when the Lich King himself had watched. Ethan had begged for death, and even begged to be killed and made into an undead quickly, lest he stay a rotting corpse for eternity. Arthas had been amused by that response. He had agreed, for it would be such a shame for a handsome man like himself to rot. Female undead did not like that, the Lich King had laughed. Maybe if he had known his daughter would be falling in love with the boy in the future, he would have let Ethan's body stay inert for a little longer.
Ethan killed off several more undead, and wounded an ogre. He saw other fighters, but they cried out in fear when they saw him. Ethan ignored them, and went off toward the manor.
Ni'kua met him halfway and howled in delight at his master. The plaguehound viciously attacked an ogre, and sunk his fangs into its flabby flesh.
"Ni'kua," Ethan breathed in relief. "To Sapphire."
The dog chuffed, and barreled through some corpses. Ethan trotted after him. They ran into the courtyard, and saw that it swarmed with undead. Ethan did not stop. He slipped by them while Ni'kua got their attention, and entered the doors. He grabbed a table, probably some precious family heirloom, and tossed it against the door. Several chairs, and a couch followed, the main doors now barricaded sufficiently.
He ran up the stairs to the second floor, where Sapphire's room was. He found it, and kicked it open.
He was barely able to dodge the ice shard that imbedded itself into the wall. Jaina had her hands raised, magic in either palm.
"It's me!" The boy lifted up the helm.
She blinked, "Ethan?"
The armor must be impressive, the way the woman looked at him. He shrugged it off, and closed the door. He grabbed a dresser, and dragged it to the door. He leaned against the wall, finally able to take a breathe.
"How is Sapphire?" The boy asked.
Jaina went back to the bed, and placed her hand on Sapphire's forehead. Ethan saw that blankets had been piled up on her.
"She is freezing cold. And her heart stopped twice. They weren't heart attacks. Her heart just completely halted mid-beat for five minutes the first time, then twenty minutes the second. Then, went back to normal, as if nothing had happened."
Ethan sighed, and rubbed his face. He looked at Sapphire's face. She looked like she was just sleeping.
A loud noise told him that his makeshift barricading of the door had failed. Then, a voice, dark and cruel, rang out.
"Sapphire Menethil!"
Ethan looked at the balcony window, and turned to Jaina.
"Can we risk moving her?" He demanded. She looked at him uncertainly.
"I...I don't know. She is in a very deep coma. Moving her too much-"
Ethan gently put his arms under the girl's body, and picked her up. She was heavy, but not difficult to carry. He nodded to the balcony door, and Jaina opened it. They fled outside, and the boy looked down. A river ran around the back of the house, and if they jumped, they might could make it.
But it was swift moving and deep. Ethan would need both arms to swim through that cold looking water, and even then might sink under the weight of his armor.
Something large flew at them, and Ethan put Sapphire down. He whipped out his sword. The thing flew closer, and Ethan cried out.
"It's Invincible!"
The undead horse landed on the small balcony, hitting Ethan in the head with his large wings. Both Jaina and Ethan helped put her up in the animal's saddle.
Ethan looked to Jaina. "You should go too."
"No. I can help-"
The boy grabbed both of her shoulders. "Jaina, go. Arthas would kill me if anything happened to you. And not the Lich King killing me because I failed. No, Arthas killing me because I let one that he holds most dear in his heart, figuratively, get hurt!"
The woman stared at him. "He does not-"
"Jaina, shut up. He loves you. He is not the same man, but I think he is better now than he was before. You want to be alone for the rest of your life? When I lived with you, that's how you acted. Like you deserved to be miserable."
She had tears in her eyes, and she nodded. Her voice came out in a whisper. "Okay..."
Ethan helped the woman up, and Invincible whinnied. He pawed at the ground with a hoof, and spread his wings. Ethan backed away, and the horse leaped into the air. The deathknight looked down at the raging waters, and heard the door to Sapphire's room being beat upon.
He took a deep breath, and jumped. A cry of rage rang in the air when the undead Ner'zhul broke into the bedroom and found it empty.
Icy blood flowed out like a river from Arthas's chest. Jagged pieces of Frostmourne were stuck into his flesh from where they broke off from the remains of the sword. Lethumo was gingerly taking them out, but it was hard because the blood coated them, and the elf's fingers could not grasp the slippery metal. The man's eyes were closed, and his body was shaking.
He had confronted Ner'zhul, who currently wore the body of a desiccated corpse, and clearly had trouble with it. The undead orc and Arthas had fought, but the plain iron sword Arthas used had broken quickly against the broken Frostmourne, and Arthas was impaled on his own runeblade.
Ner'zhul had laughed.
"Well, well. You aren't much of a threat anymore without my powers are you, boy? Now, if you'll excuse me...I have a better, more malleable Menethil to use to my advantage."
Now, Lethumo was desperately tried to get rid of the shards in Arthas's chest. He had dragged Arthas's body from the fighting, and hid in a collapsed house.
With saronite in his chest, the man's wounds would not heal, and the blood would not clot. Lethumo wondered how Sapphire's magical blood would help Arthas if all of it bled out of his body.
One of the man's hands twitched, and then, his eyes opened.
"Jaina? Sapphire?"
Lethumo winced. "They will be okay. I saw Invincible fly over the fighting with two riders. Couldn't be anyone else."
"No...There should be three. What about my son?"
The elf stared at Arthas. Clearly, he was delirious, the loss of blood and the pain getting to his head.
"Arthas...you don't have a son."
The man nodded weakly in protest. "I will. Ethan Calwood. I...I need to give him my blessing to marry my daughter."
Lethumo frowned. "I'm sure he's fine too."