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. Please begin to give your votes about which character class should appear next
Chapter 3: Search for Cain part 1
The morning breeze blew against the tent folds of Haimler's tent, bringing not only the early morning rays of the sun, but also the scent of something sweet. Haimler stirred for a while, hoping to get up and get ready to go. What he did not expect is that he found something soft resting against his body. He was still half asleep and moved slightly, causing the said soft object to let out a low murmur. He slowly opened his eyes and gazed to his side and was truly shocked, and a trifle embarrassed. Somehow, during the night, Blood Raven had found her way into his tent and was soundly asleep beside him.
After recovering from the initial shock of this discovery, he took some time to observe her. Although her skin was now permanently ashen grey, like so much of her Corrupted Sisterhood, she was still a lovely vision. Her raven black hair flowed to her shoulders and she had a soft, peaceful smile on her face as she rested her body against his. He blushed softly, a tinge of pink coloring his pallid cheeks, as he found himself enamored by the older woman. He did not know why he found himself attracted to this woman. Maybe it was because they share the same plight. He was a dark spell caster, an outcast to society trying to prove his worth and name, to distinguish himself as different from others of his kind. And she was a former Captain of the Rogues, formerly corrupted and controlled by the Forces of Hell. To see the way they attempted to kill both of them, even if it was because of their wariness and self-defense, sent a stab of pain into his heart. He vowed to himself, that even if everyone distrusts her in this camp, he would trust her with his life, and he will protect her.
After a while, Blood Raven stirred awake, and gave him a sleepy smile, and he noticed that a tinge of affection warmed the hazel colored eyes, making her even more enchanting to him. He then sat up on his pallet, and she did like wise and said. "Good Morning, my saviour, I trust that you had a good sleep last night?"
He was slightly taken aback by this question, though he nodded and replied. "Indeed, Honorable Blood Raven, but if I might be so bold to ask, why is it that you are in my tent?" She paused for a moment, and then said to him. "You do not remember?"
Puzzled by her words, he shook his head, a look of confusion on his face. She then looked at him and said. "Very well then, I shall inform you. I awoke last night, intending to find you, to try and talk with you. But when I entered your tent, you were deeply in the throes of a nightmare… I cannot bear to see you that way. I then held you in my arms and soothed you as best as I can with words, and once you were asleep, I thought of leaving, but I was afraid that you might need help again. And so, I stayed on."
He looked at her for a while, and then said. "I am greatly honored that you would care for me this way, Blood Raven. But if I must be so bold, why do you do this for me? This is far too much for you to do, even if it is because of your gratitude towards me."
She fell silent for a moment and then as she looked into his eyes, he could see a pinkish tinge coloring her ashen cheeks. She took a deep breath and said. "I am not getting younger, Haimler… I am thirty two years old now, a year younger than Kashya. Before I was captured, I devoted myself fully to my duties, never thinking about settling down. But after I met you, everything has changed. I know that I am ten years older than you, but somehow, I do not mind that. I hold great affection for you, my dear Haimler. You may be a Necromancer, a dark sorcerer, but you have a big heart and definitely much more honorable than those others of your brethren."
He smiled at her and said. "Then I shall tell you the truth as well, Milady, that I have developed an affection for you. I do not know why, but I suspect that part of it is that we are kindred spirits, in a way." He then proceeded to tell her the reasons why he said that they were kindred spirits. After listening to what he had to say, she nodded.
"Indeed, though I can understand why they would react that way. But it is no matter; I suggest that we have to move quickly. I am eager to battle Andariel again. I have to make that demoness pay for what she did to me and my brethren." She then got up and exited the tent. He soon followed closely behind.
He then saw Kashya talking to Blood Raven, and the two women hugged each other, with smiles on their face. He felt relieved and glad for both of them, at regaining their friendship. Kashya then noticed him and then waved him over. As he reached their side, she said. "Akara needs to see both of you immediately. It seems that that she has urgent news that she wishes to impart to both of you."
Blood Raven nodded and departed towards the old seer's hut. He was about to follow, when Kashya stopped him. "Can you spare me a moment of your time, Haimler?" He looked at her and then nodded. She led him to the side and then took a deep breath, a slight smile gracing her face, but there was a slight frown as well. She took a moment and then said. "I personally thank you for rescuing my best friend, Haimler… and it is obvious that you both feel some attraction for each other. I feel happy for her, for she needs someone that accepts her unconditionally again. I, as her best friend would no doubt do so, but the other sisters need time."
She then said. "Although she did not mention this to me, it is obvious that Paige has developed a crush on you. She is my beloved niece you see, and I do not want to see her hurt. I would suggest that you approach her about it." Haimler looked at her, shocked at this revelation. "I... I did not know of this… how...?"
Kashya sighed. "My niece is still a bit innocent in the way of the world, though much less now after this whole mess began. But she somehow can define things beyond what they seem. At her first encounter with you, she could already sense that you were different and that is what attracted her to you." He then said. "I appreciate her feelings for me, but truth to be told… I do not really feel anything for her."
Kashya nodded and said. "Then it is best that you would break this news to her quite gently, she is a nice girl." She then turned to leave, but gave him a friendly hug and a peck on his cheek before leaving. He was stunned by this action, but then walked over to Akara's hut.
Both women were waiting for him and Akara said. "Ahh, you are here, young Haimler. It is good to see you fresh and ready, and I am thankful that Blood Raven is recovered as well. And it is obvious to this pair of old eyes of mine that both of you are attracted to each other."
She chuckled softly as they looked sheepish, a slight blush on their cheeks. "It is all right, both of you. After all this is a happy thing is it not? But now let us come to the main problem that we have now. These recurring attacks, and constant replenishing demonic forces massing outside our camp, and the lands beyond suggests that we are dealing with a demonic force that we cannot comprehend, yet alone combat. I have to take a considerable risk, but I have to ask both of you to go to Tristram to find Deckard Cain. He is the last sage of the Horadrim, versed in the ancient arts. It is vital that you return here with him, for without him, we are most definitely doomed. I will pray for both of your safety, and Cain's. I hope that he still lives."
Both of them took leave of Akara's tent and walked back to the direction of the tent they shared. Blood Raven looked at him and said. "Is there something wrong, Haimler? You look... troubled." He sighed and looked at her. "Let us speak of this in private." He then led them to their tent and then he told her about Paige and what Kashya had told him. Blood Raven listened intently and then nodded. "She is right, you know. Before my capture, Paige was one of my best pupils, Flavie being the brightest of them all. I personally think as well, that you should inform her about us, and try to be delicate about it."
He nodded and said. "I will… I will go look for her now." She nodded and said." Good. I will go to Kashya and Charsi, and see if they still have my old armor with me." She then stepped out of the tent, leaving him alone. He sighed and then braced himself for the daunting task that lay ahead of him. He exited the tent and then searched the camp grounds. He found her in a secluded corner in the camp and said. "Hello, Paige."
She turned around and smiled sadly at him. "Hello there… I do not suppose you knew...?"
Haimler approached her and then nodded. "I am afraid so…" She then looked at him and said. "Why... why do you choose her over me?" Her eyes glistened with unshed tears as she approached him. "Am I not good enough for you? Does my affection towards you mean nothing at all?"
Haimler hesitated for a moment, taking a deep breath as he considered his words. He then gently hugged her and then said softly. "It is never about you, Paige. I am honored that you feel something for me." He then paused and said. "Although I admit that I do feel something for you, but I look at you as the younger sister or a best friend that I never had. I am sorry that I don't share your feelings…" At the revelation, Paige buried her face in his shirt and she weeped softly. He smiled sadly as he hugged her tightly against him, stroking her back gently, and murmuring soothing tones in her ear.
After a while, her tears subsided, and she broke away from him and dried her tears. She then gave him a shaky smile. "I understand now… I wish both of you happiness, though I am glad. I never had a big brother before. I would honored if you regard me as your sister." She then gave him a warm hug again, this time with sisterly affection.
He smiled and said, stroking her hair gently, his face lighting up with warmth and affection. "I would be honored, little sister." She then looked at him and said. "I know I sound quite willful, big brother… "She said softly, blushing, as she is still coming to terms gaining an elder sibling. "… but I wish to accompany you and Blood Raven on your journey."
He chuckled and said. "I am not at all surprised that you wish to do so, little Sister, but I think we have to consult Akara and your aunt Kashya, don't you think?" She nodded and then took his hand in hers and first went to her aunt. Kashya looked at them and smiled. "Is there anything you want from me, niece?" Paige nodded and first informed her of her new relationship with Haimler, and her request to travel with him.
Kashya then chuckled. "My niece might be a strong Rogue in her own right, Haimler, but she is also quite a handful as a girl. I can't really blame her, and I know that I can trust you to be a good sibling to her. You have much honor, and I know that she will be safe with you. You have my blessings and permission to go on this journey, my dear niece."
She then nodded and said. "Before you leave, I think I can give you some equipment that I used during the war with Diablo. Come to my tent, niece and get them." Paige nodded and followed Kashya. Haimler then went to Akara's tent and when he told her, Akara nodded. "It is good for that girl to have you as a brother. She has been quite lonely all her life. Being Kashya's niece gives her some sort of deferential treatment, and well, that sort of isolates her from the rest of the sisterhood, and she does not have many of the sisters which she can really call as her friends. This journey might do her some good.Do take good care of her."
Once he left, he found Bloodraven dressed in an ornate armor and wielding a strange looking longbow. He thought that those weapons looked familiar, and consulted his tome, and then gasped. "It cannot be… Arkaine's Valor and Windforce? Weren't these the legendary armor and weapon of the rogue that helped slay Diablo two years ago?"
Bloodraven nodded, looking at him with a sad, but resigned expression. "She was my older sister, and she died just last year. She was one of the Rogues that have fallen in battle trying to regain the Monastery back, and we kept her armor intact in honor of her. I am more than sure that she would have liked me to use her weapon to defeat the same evil that she had helped slay two years ago." Haimler nodded and then waited for Paige, who soon returned garbed in studded leather armor. He looked at Kashya and she merely shrugged. "That was once my old armor, when I was still a novice Rogue. It is only right that my niece inherits it from me for her journey."
He nodded and then looked at the two women. Taking a deep breath, he said. "Are you both ready?" At their nods, he led them to the stone waypoint portal and was about to leave, when Akara said. "Just a while, before all of you leave. There is no direct way to Tristram. There is a ring of stones in the Cold Plains that has the ability to transport you there. But first, you must bring me the Scroll made of the bark of the Tree of Inifuss in the Dark Woods. The only way there is through an underground passage in the Stony Fields. Once you have recovered the scroll, I believe I can decipher the scroll's content to allow you to travel to Tristram."
He nodded and then led them to the portal. He focused his thoughts of getting to the Cold Plains, and sure enough, the familiar tingling that he felt during the transport enveloped him once more. Soon he was in the Cold Plains again, and felt the familiar chill associated with this place. Haimler then turned to both of the women and asked. "Do any of you know where the ring of stones that Akara mentioned is?"
Paige shook her head, but Blood Raven said. "I do indeed, but it would be best to move to the Dark Woods to retrieve the scroll, before locating the Stones. But first, I have some unfinished business here. A former Rogue was also corrupted, my aide. Her name is Cold Crow, and I hear that she is one of the leaders of the Corrupted Rogues in this area. I am told that she is last seen in a cavern close to here." Haimler nodded and said. "Then it is best we put her out of her misery." They concurred with that decision and then began scouring the Plains, slaying more Quill rats, Zombies and Fallen ones with a combination of arrows and blades. Many of the Corrupted Rogues attacked them even more frequently now, most of their attacks directed to harm Blood Raven. Haimler could see the fury in their eyes, their mouths spitting vile curses at the redeemed Rogue captain. His skeletons helped a lot, dispatching many foes before he spotted the entrance of the Cave that Blood Raven spoke about.
Blood Raven nodded and said. "Be careful. There is no telling what demonic powers that Demoness had bestowed upon her, though reflecting upon her name, I can say that cold would be a best bet." They entered the cave and as usual, Fallen Ones were the first one to receive them, rushing against them with their weapons and torches.Blood Raven and Paige took aim and dispatched the Shamans and some of the Fallen with a rain of arrows, while Haimler's skeletons hacked through the survivors. Some of the Fallen dropped gold pieces, which Haimler pocketed.
The rattling of bones alerted him to the arrival of more skeletons... enemy skeletons, their grinning visages and their hollow rattling laughter echoing in the cave as they attacked him. Most of them faltered under the hail of the steel-tipped arrows, but some of them clashed blades with Haimler's own skeletons, and the Necromancer rushed forward, fighting alongside his minions. After the fight was over, he was about to rest when he cried in pain, electricity running wild through his system. He gasped as he fell to his knees, and Blood Raven and Paige ran to his side, their eyes scanning the darkness, as they led him behind a rock outcropping to rest. Without warning, more lightning globes streaked out of the darkness, splashing harmlessly against the rock, as their assailants began to show themselves. They looked like true devils with their horns and their sharp teeth, and they were definitely not something easy of the eyes. They had bluish green skin, and their mouths were gaping open. Blood Raven narrowed her eyes as she said softly. "These are call Tainted beasts… those lightning orbs are their most powerful attacks. Paige, I need help. Concentrate our fire on them." Paige nodded as they both rose from hiding, firing arrows at the monsters. As Haimler rested, he took out the tome of studying from his pack. As he studied, his mind opened up to many possibilities, and new knowledge was available to him. He took a health potion and drank it and he rose weakly, concentrating deeply.
The ground near the Tainted then shook slightly, and then erupted as a massive humanoid figure, made up of soil and rock rose to the ground. He slumped against a pillar, and watched as the golem swung its mighty fists, dispatching the beasts easily with its rock hard blows. Blood Raven and Paige looked at the creature and then back at Haimler. Blood Raven then went to his side, a worried expression on her face. She then touched him lightly and asked. "Are you allright? And what was that creature that appeared in front us that dispatched those beasts?" Paige too, went to his side, her eyes mirroring the concern that Blood Raven, and the look on her face told him that she too, was silently asking the same question.
He looked at them and smiled weakly. "I am perfectly fine, just a little weary. Nothing that a moment of rest wouldn't do. And as for what that was, it is a Clay Golem, an earth elemental if you will. It is one of the difficult creatures to summon, and it takes quite a drain on my mana reserves. Unlike my skeletons, golems are so powerful that I and the others of my brethren are only able to summon one at a time. But with it around, we should be able to fight with greater efficiency." Both of them nodded and said. "Then it is decided…" Blood Raven said. "We will rest for an hour or so before resuming our trek through this cave." As they made camp, Paige then asked. "Big brother, I have been curious, and have been meaning to ask you this. Where we you from, and why are you so different from the others of your kind?" He looked at her and his expression was a mixture of pain and surprise. He looked at Blood Raven and said. "You don't need to tell us if you do not want to. I can sense it is quite a sensitive subject for you."
He shook his head and then said. "I was an orphan, my parents dead long before Diablo's first 'death'. I was taken then from an orphanage, by an elder Necromancer, who saw that I have a great potential in me. He had a personal code of honor, one I follow even now. I was only one of his many pupils, but as time went by, he could see that the others are blinded by their lust for power. And so, in an attempt to save me, he sent me away, but he gave me his tomes that contained advanced knowledge that he would never impart to the others. I do not know the fate of the others, but it is that code which has distinguished me from the rest."
Blood Raven smiled and nodded, then tensed. "She is nearby… I can feel it." The whistle of arrows flying alerted them as many arrows struck against the rock barrier, some of them hitting the clay golem, which lumbered towards the Corrupted Rogue Archers, followed by his two skeletons. His minions fought a hard battle, dispatching all of the Corrupted Rogues, except one but at a great cost. The Golem crumbled to dust and the skeletons lay as a heap of broken bones on the ground. Blood Raven then said to Haimler. "Let me and Paige handle this, you need the rest."
Both of the women came out of hiding and then they were greeted by a sight of a greenish tinged Corrupted Rogue. A cold icy glint was seen in her eyes, and her voice held a frost in them. "Well, well… if it isn't the traitor, Blood Raven… and is that the little princess, Paige I see before me?" She said mockingly. "Queen Andariel is furious you know, and if I capture you to her, she will reward me well."
"I do not think that will be possible…" A voice echoed in the cavern as magical teeth flew from Haimler's hand as he stood weakly, darting towards the Corrupted Rogue. She tried to dodge, letting fly three arrows at Haimler's direction, which he managed to avoid by ducking behind the pillar. Cold Crow cried out in pain as three of the five teeth tore against her skin, and both Paige and Blood Raven took the opportunity to raise their bows and fired simultaneously, striking Cold Crow on her chest, wounding her fatally. As she collapsed, Paige rushed back to her brother's side and grimaced at the frost that formed at where the arrows had struck the stone pillar. Meanwhile, Blood Raven walked cautiously to the fallen Rogue's side and was alarmed to see her still alive. The only difference is that her eyes were back to same warm amber orbs that she remembered. She then cradled the dying Rogue's head on her lap.
Cold Crow smiled weakly at her and said. "I... I always knew… you would come… knew that you would never fully succumb… and I thank you for setting me free…" She then fell limp, as she closed her eyes and died. Blood Raven looked at her aide and then cradled her body and found many rocks and made a grave for her. When she went to Haimler's side, she hugged him tight and sobbed into his chest. Haimler could tell that like Kashya, Cold Crow was also quite a close friend of Blood Raven's. He merely hugged her, comforting her as best as he could. He smiled as he saw his sister approaching and giving the older woman and him a hug as well.
His sister… he has never considered the possibility he would have one, neither did he consider that someone had actually agreed to be with him. Necromancers are perhaps one of the most hated people in his day, though now that hatred has been diverted to Diablo, Andariel and the minions of Hell that has resurfaced. And he also gained a family of sorts in the Rogues. Akara was like a wise grandmother, while Kashya was like a favorite aunt. And the other Rogue Sisterhood had now regarded him as one of their own; some of them even openly offered him friendship. He smiled softly, vowing to himself that he will not fail in this task. Diablo and his ilk must be destroyed once and for all for peace to return to this world. After a while, he smiled softly as he heard Blood Raven's slow and even breathing. He looked at his sister, and Paige smiled, nodding as she released them from the hug. Haimler then carried her in his arms, cradling her against his chest as he rested against a cozy looking pillar. Paige smiled and said. "We will make camp here for the night, big brother… I'll watch over both of you when you sleep and recuperate."
He looked at her and smiled back. "Thank you, little sister… your help is much appreciated." He then rested his head against Blood Raven's, inhaling the fresh scent of her hair, and closed his eyes, and soon fell asleep.
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