Disclaimer: I do not own Diablo 2 or its expansion.
This is my first fanfiction though, and it is based on the new Necromancer character and his adventures. Other characters from other professions might come in sooner or later in time.
Chapter 2: Blood Raven's Redemption
He soon awoke and stepped out of his tent. Before he left, he was once stopped by Paige. "You better be careful now all right? The way towards the Burial Grounds is fraught with danger… the Cold Plains are run amok with demons... and many of our corrupted sisterhood roams the area as well." Haimler nodded and once again wondered why this particular Rogue was so concerned about his very well being. He decided to ask her later after he had completed his task.
He stepped out into the Blood Moor once again, walking towards the Cold Plains. On the way, he stopped near the former Den of Evil and frowned. He sensed a faint demonic taint to the cavern and deduced that demons had inhabited the cave once again. He would have to clean up the cave one more time, though he suspected that the demonic presence here would not be totally gone until he had slain the Maiden of Anguish that now holds the Rogue Monastery.
With that he walked towards the old abandoned house that he had discovered before and studied his tome once more. As he studied, he gained more knowledge about how to summon more skeletons, and how to strengthen then. After a while, he stepped out of the house and walked towards a small narrow pass where a lone Rogue stood there, watching warily around her. He then approached her and said. "Are you Flavie, the one that Paige mentioned about? My name is Haimler, and I am on my way to the Burial Grounds to take care of Blood Raven."
The Rogue woman looked at him warily and said. "I am indeed Flavie, stranger… and if Paige trusts you, then I too, will not find fault with you. You may pass into the Cold Plains… but I have a favor to ask. Lately, a small band of Fallen Ones are amassing together in large numbers in a small camp nearby, led by a powerful Shaman called Bishiboshi… I need you to clean that camp out. He's the one menace that rules most of the Cold Plains… if you can get rid of him, it would be easier for me to clean up any stray demons that dared to cross this pass."
Haimler nodded his agreement to pursue the quest for her, but before he left, Flavie said. "Oh, and one more thing… there is a mystical waypoint marker near here. It acts as a teleportation medium to our Encampent, so it would be more convenient for you to use it if you need to return. And if you pass this way on your way back, hand me any quivers of arrows that you may find."
He nodded and then strode past her into the Cold Plains. It was aptly named, he thought as he felt a chill that was even colder than he felt in the Blood Moor. He then soon encountered a large stone circle with a sigil on it. He studied it closely and remembered what Flavie told him. He stepped onto it and muttered the incantation to activate it. Two points of the sigil then lit up and he smiled as he left the circle. He was looking forward to using it to travel faster.
However he was interrupted by war cries, female war cries to be precise. He them saw a small band of scantily clad women, carrying shields as well as some blades. They were reminiscent to the Rogue sisterhood, though their smiles were malicious and their skin an ashen grey, a parody of the once proud members of the Sisterhood of the Sightless Eye. "Perfect… just perfect, of all times… the corrupted rogues found me…." He then drew the sword that was strapped on his back and then charged them, taking the small group of five women alone. He was careful to avoid their blows, though he was hit a few times, small cuts appearing on his arms. After killing one of them, he saw a soul leaving the body and smiled to himself. "So that's a way to free the Rogue Sister's soul from her corrupted body…" He them stepped back, taking another red potion and gulped it down, before raising a skeleton. He was impressed as this skeleton now held a battered looking kite shield, and held a sharper looking axe. He then charged back into the fray, and with the aid of his skeleton, he was able to dispatch the corrupt rogues quite easily. He then raised two more skeletons and noticed that one a sword, while the other a wicked looking morning star. He shrugged as he went to a small grove nearby, and then began to spar with his minions, training himself harder, before he decided to camp for the night. He then decided to go back to the site where he dispatched the corrupt rogues to see if they had dropped anything. He then saw some pieces of gold scattered on the ground and proceeded to pick them up. He then found some throwing knives on the ground, presumably dropped by the corrupt rogues during the battle. He scoured the area and found two more sets of knives on the rogue's bodies, and he slipped them into his pack, intending to sell one of the sets when he returned to the Rogue Encampment.
Speaking of which, he then took out the blue ribbon scroll from his pack and read it aloud. A blue swirling portal appeared and then he stepped into it, and he found himself back at the Encampment. He then went to Charsi and then showed her the set of knives. She then smiled. "These are very good crafter knives.. I'll buy them from you. I'll give you 1000 gold pieces for them." After receiving the money, he looked at Charis's inventory and decided to make a few purchases. First, he sold off his cap, leather armor and boots as well as the short sword, earning him about 500 more gold pieces.
He then used the money to buy a set of heavy boots, some heavy gloves and a set of hardened leather armor. He smiled as he felt himself more protected now. He then took it upon himself to purchase a small shield as well as a falchion. He strapped the small shield onto his left arm and swung the falchion a few times to get a good feel of it, before leaving, and proceeded to Akara's hut to purchase more town portal scrolls and item identification scrolls. He then stepped back into the portal and found himself back in the Cold Plains.
He continued to travel the plains with his skeletons, and then heard the faint sounds of 'Rakanishu!' in the distance. He went towards the sound to investigate, and grinned. He saw a crudely built camp with several groups of Shamans and Fallen Ones, though one stood out from the rest, as his skin was of an orangy gold color. He then commanded his skeletons to kill off the shamans, while he himself charged towards Bishiboshi. The monster then began hurling fire bolts at him,three at a time, instead of just one like normal Shamans do, though he managed to block most of them with his shield, until he reached the demon's side. He swung his falchion, nicking the demon a few times, before he swung his blade against the jugular, decapitating the demon. He then looked up and grinned. His skeletons have killed off all of the shamans, and were now cleaning up the camp for him by slaying the rest of the Fallen, who were now quite disorganized with the death of their leaders.
He rested for a while and then took another health potion from his pack and drunk it, to make him feel better, and heal him of the wounds he suffered during the battle between the Shaman as well as the few Fallen Ones that had managed to wound him as he was battling Bishiboshi. After which, he scoured the camp, and smiled as he found more gold pieces, as well as a saber that glowed blue, and two rings that glowed the same color. He also found an amulet, which was also glowing blue. He shrugged and pocketed the items into his pack, before making his way towards another narrow pass into the Burial Grounds.
As he stepped into the Burial Grounds, he couldn't help the anguish and loss of the rogues that their sacred burial ground was being defiled by someone that was once their own. Though he was quite comfortable entering a graveyard, after all his kind did deal with raising of the dead. The once holy walls of the cemetery was now a crumbling mess, and vines twined the now rusting grilles of the gates and walls.He then strode forward and heard the shuffle of feet, and the familiar low moans of zombies. He was a bit surprised though, that the zombies that faced him had greenish skin, with some gray and black blotches on their bodies. He hesitated for a moment, judging that these zombies would prove to be harder to defeat. Nevertheless, he commanded his skeletons to attack.
Thankfully, his skeletons were able to slay all of them, though one of them crumbled under the assault of the last of the zombies, which in turn was killed by the remaining two skeletons. He then raised another from a zombie corpse and circled the burial ground, encountering more zombies, and some skeletons that he presumed had been summoned by Blood Raven herself.
They soon entered the Burial grounds and he grimaced as he saw many dead Rogues strung onto a tree in the middle of the Burial Grounds. The chilling image was too much for him, even if he was a necromancer. Before he knew a flaming arrow whistled towards him, and he dodged in time, and the arrow impacted against one of the crumbling walls of the Burial grounds. A chilling female voice cried out. "Join my Army of the Dead!"
He turned towards the origin of the sound and froze for a moment. Here was the woman that he had promised to slay. Blood Raven. She was beautiful even after being corrupted, her ashen skin contrasted with the blood red armor and the raven helmet that she wore. Her eyes glowed in a yellowish tinge, and a malicious smirk was on her lips as she let fly with more arrows. He raised his shield to block some of them, and winced slightly as one grazed slightly against his thigh. He then ordered his skeletons to surround her and attack, but they only managed to nick her a few times, while she pelted them with flame arrows and sparking arrows. As he moved towards her, one of his skeletons axes swiped across her head, and she ducked, but not before glancing off something in the middle of her helm. She shuddered briefly, and he observed that she halted occasionally, shaking her head in confusion, her eyes alternating from the devilish yellow glow to a normal human's eye. She then looked at him. "Please... help me… destroy the gem…. Destroy the gem….."
He then looked closer at the helm and found a cracked blood red gem, which reeked of demonic taint and energy. Using his skeletons as a shield, which distracted her, he aimed his blade against the gem and brought it down hard, shattering it. A pulse of red demonic energy escaped from the gem, streaking into the sky, and Blood Raven slumped on the floor. Still wary of the woman, he approached her slowly, ready to retaliate, just in case anything went awry. Slowly, she opened her eyes, and he found them to be of a hazel color and she smiled softly at him. "Thank you, stranger…. For releasing me from my bondage. I was captured by Andariel's forces two weeks ago, after my party of Rogues was decimated while we tried to destroy her. She implanted a mind controlling gem on my helm… I was powerless to resist her commands…" She gave him a wan smile before falling unconscious again.
Haimler shrugged as he opened a town portal and then cradled the now limp former Rogue captain in his arms and carried her through the portal. Many gasps of surprise and shock greeted his arrival, and many rogues looked at him warily, mainly because one of their enemies was in the stranger's arms. Some of them were already readying their bows and aiming those arrows at his direction. Before they could speak or fire, Kashya approached him warily raising her hand and motioned for the Rogues to stand down. She then looked at him and then asked. "What is the meaning of this, stranger? Have you too, fallen prey to the corruption?"
Haimler took a deep breath and then explained. "No, I have not, honorable Kashya. Your friend, Blood Raven was being controlled by a mind control gem implanted on her helmet by Andariel. I shattered it and broke her control over her."
Kashya fell silent for a moment and then looked at him. Her eyes now held some warmth, and her voice too, sounded a bit more relieved, and thankful. "Perhaps my judgement towards you was a bit harsh, Haimler…. You not only honored your oath, but also gave back my best friends to me… I owe you a debt that can never be repaid. All I can do now is that proclaim that the Rogues will pledge their support in your quest…. And I formally acknowledge you as friend and eternal ally of the Rogues." A resounding cheer erupted across the camp in approval of Kashya's decision, and he caught Paige winking at him, though her eyes glittered menacingly at him, for some reason that he could not fathom. The Rogues also were glad that their ranks have been strengthened by the return of one of their finest Captains.
Akara came towards the campfire and then said. "Bring Blood Raven to my hut... I shall use my skills to try and heal her, and look after her." She then looked at Haimler and said. "I also express my gratitude, my friend… for now, have a good night's rest. I shall speak to you again in the morning."
Haimler nodded and then went towards his tent and entered it. He then lay down on the pallet and smiled softly. He felt good, that he was able to help the Rogues, and that hopefully would repair the damage of the reputation that others of his kind had done. With that thought, he closed his eyes and drifted off to a peaceful sleep.
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