Chapter 7

Fated Ends and New Beginings

"Hmm…hehehehe…Well done, Rastuazi. I see you have brought the bearer of the amulet with you…" the chilling voice said, sounding amused by Rastuazi's act of brining Erthos to their location.

Erthos himself remained frozen in place by the sound of the voice as Rastuazi seemed to remain relaxed. He threw a look over to her, wondering if she was going to do anything when the voice spoke again.

"He seems to trust you, Death Knight" the voice said, its dark undertones echoing around them. "Don't you find that odd? So trusting, you could lead him straight into a trap…"

As soon as the word trap was mentioned, Erthos felt a heat burn up inside him, coupled with rage. He jumped backwards, aiming his staff at Rastuazi.

"This was all a trap then!?" he exclaimed, looking at Rastuazi as hate filled his eyes. The end of Erthos' staff started to glow brightly as his Voidwalker moved in beside him, poised to attack. How could he have been so stupid? He should have known! It was all too convenient, a warrior, that seemed to hold a lot of power, just turning against their master at the drop of a hat! He had been played for a complete fool.

Rastuazi looked at Erthos with a somewhat neutral gaze before taking hold of her sword and using it to push his staff out of the way with large amounts of ease, shaking her head as she did so. She opened her mouth to speak, but, before she had a chance to say anything, the voice rang through the air again.

"Oh, this must be the young warlock…." The voice said, sounding full of merriment as Erthos continued to glare at Rastuazi. "Hehehe…would you really harm a friend of yours, boy?"

Erthos paused for a moment, the voices words sinking in as he looked at Rastuazi. He would hardly call the female a friend, considering she had led him into a trap, but there was something else, something hidden behind the words. The Death Knight, however, simply looked away from Erthos, looking down at the ground as if memories and thoughts flooded her mind.

"You found the one you were looking for" the voice continued, as if mocking him, letting out a loud cackle. "And you didn't even realise it! But you knew, didn't you Death Knight?" the voice said, now a whisper. "You remembered, but now you have to kill him…"

Erthos' eyes glazed over as he stared at Rastuazi, the realisation of what was being said dawning on him. He lowered his staff slowly as he felt tears start to form at the edge of his eyes.

"Zyathri…?" he said, his voice barely a whisper. Surely it wasn't true? What his mind was thinking couldn't be right, could it? His arms dropped to his sides as he felt his mouth go dry. He looked at the Blood Elf Death Knight, his eyes studying her in a new light. He tried to get a good look at her face, even though it was obscured by strands of her white hair, to try and match the features of Rastuazi with that of Zyathri.

Rastuazi suddenly looked over to Erthos, remaining silent as she did so, before shaking her head slightly and moving over to him. Erthos could feel the air grow colder and thinner as she approached, her boots crunching on the ground as it partially froze beneath them with each step.

"…Don't call me that…" she said quietly, her voice almost a hiss. "Zyathri died in your arms…I am Rastuazi now…I am nothing like the Blood Knight you met…" Before Erthos could respond, Rastuazi turned on her heel so that her back was to the young warlock, who found himself unsure of what to say. Never had he imagined this in the realm of possibilities when it came to finding Zyathri again.

"I order you, Death Knight!" came the chilling voice again, starting to sound impatient. "Kill him and bring the amulet to me!"

Erthos watched Rastuazi as she remained still in front of him, not moving. He was unsure of what was going to happen next, and certainly had no idea of what he was going to do.

Instead, he watched as Rastuazi seemed to tense up slightly, her hands balling into fists, her stance changing as if she was planting herself firmly on the spot.

"Do not think you can ignore my orders without consequence, slave!" the voice almost screeched. "Kill that warlock, and bring the amulet to me!" Erthos found himself trying to back away, a wall impeeding his progress, as he felt the hate forming in the command to the Death Knight. But, Rastuazi continued to hold her ground.

There was only silence in the room, save for Erthos' heavily beating heart. He wondered who would be the first to do anything. It was unlikely that he would be able to survive in a straight on fight against Rastuazi. In fact, he was almost certain that if he tried that, he would die. And he had no idea what the owner of the voice was capable of. Erthos' thoughts, along with the silence around them, was suddenly broken by Rastuazi.

"No…" she said quietly, her voice showing no signs of emotion or feeling. She seemed to square her shoulders back, taking on a defiant pose as she did so.

"What did you say?" the voice called out, seeming to sound both appalled and shocked by what Rastuazi had just said.

"I said no!"

Before Erthos was even sure what was happening, Rastuazi was brandishing her large sword with one hand whilst reaching out with the other. A dark energy lanced out from her hand and into the shadows of the room they were in.

From the shadows, Erthos heard a strangled cry just as Rastuazi yanked her hand back, the dark energy pulling what looked to be a cultist out of the shadows, sending them flying through the air towards the Death Knight.

As quick as a flash, Rastuazi had brandished her sword in both hands and blocked the cultists path with its pointed end, causing the unfortunate man to become impaled on the blade with a sickening sound, a sound that caused Erthos' stomach to churn slightly.

"You will pay for what you did to me" Rastuazi snarled at the man as he let out a gurgled gasp of both surprise and pain. Rastuazi stood over the man, her sword impaled in his chest as he knelt on the ground, staring at the protruding blade in desbelief. Gripping the blade firmly with one hand and placing a boot on the cultist, the Death Knight pulled her blade from his chest, Erthos only just managing to move out of the way of the spray of blood.

The man, his life clearly fading away, looked up at Rastuazi with an almost pleading look in his eyes, a look that she promptly ignored as she swung her sword round, cutting his head clean off.

There was silence in the room for a moment, Rastuazi simply standing over the corpse whilst Erthos stood to the side, watching her quietly. There was a loud clang as the Death Knight dropped her sword to the ground, followed by her falling to her knees, breaking down into tears.

"I'm nothing more than a walking corpse now…" she muttered quietly to herself. "Full of hatred…darkness…" Erthos could only watch as Rastuazi covered her face with her hands.

Slowly, he moved to stand beside Rastuazi, unsure of what to do. He opened his mouth to speak, but found nothing came out. After a few moments, he decided on what he thought was the best course to take. Reaching up, Erthos pulled the amulet up and over his head, placing it gently down on the floor, before kneeling down beside Rastuazi. He looked at her as she turned her head slightly to look at him, seeing the tears forming in her eyes, and placed an arm around her, gently rubbing her back.

"Its ok…" he said quietly, trying to re-assure her. Rastuazi quickly pulled away from Erthos, tears running down her cheeks as she did so, a flare of anger showing in her voice when she next spoke.

"Leave me alone…" she said, shaking her head slightly. "I'm a monster now…you don't want to be near me…" Standing up, Rastuazi wiped the tears from her eyes, trying to regain her composure.

"I…am glad to see you unharmed…Erthos…" she said quietly, her voice cold, as she reached down and picked up her sword before whistling for her Deathcharger. "I…there was a part of me that felt like I had failed…when I died..."

Without another word, Rastuazi moved to her Deathcharger that was now waiting for her, sliding her large sword into the sheath that rested on the side of the saddle. She seemed to pause for a moment, her back to Erthos before she reached out and climbed up onto its back, taking hold of the reigns as she did.

As quick as he could, Erthos scooped up the amulet and moved after Rastuazi, standing in front of her steed to block her path.

"I don't think you're a monster" Erthos said as he looked at Rastuazi, whose cold eyes stared back at him. "You may have run into some bad luck, but at the core of it all, you are the same person." Erthos paused for a moment before he continued on. "Besides, where will you go?"

Rastuazi remained silent as she looked directly into Erthos' eyes. He could tell from her look that she hadn't liked what he had said, but even so, he was not prepared for what came next. Any life that remained in the area around them just seemed to fade from existence as the Death Knight tensed up.

"Bad luck? BAD LUCK?" Rastuazi exclaimed, causing Erthos to take a stunned step back. "Do you know just what I've been through? How would you like to be killed and then brought back as nothing more than a WALKING CORPSE! Then would you call it bad luck?!"

Rastuazi let out a cry of anger as Erthos felt himself shrink down from the barrage of words. As soon as she was finished, he hung his head and looked at the floor before stepping to the side and unblocking her path. He was sure he could feel her cold stare boring into him as he looked down at the ground.

"I'm sorry…" he said quietly, his voice just a whisper. He had never expected to get that kind of reaction from Rastuazi. Maybe some words of protest, but nothing like what had just happened. "You're right…If you want to go, then go. I can't stop you…I just...didn't want to lose you again…" Erthos' voice trailed off at the end as he reached up, wiping away a tear with the edge of his sleeve before turning around, so that he wouldn't have to watch Rastuazi leave.

Rastuazi looked at Erthos quietly for a moment, her mind a mess of thoughts and feelings. Even though what Erthos had said had angered her, she knew she wasn't truly angry with him. He had only been trying to help, even if it was a colossally poor choice of words on his part. And he had been right. Where would she go? What would she do? No city would take her in now, and no one in their right would even give her a second thought, not now she was tainted by the Scourge.

Shaking her head slightly, Rastuazi climbed down off of her Deathcharger and sent it away silently.

"If you wish me to stay…I'll stay" she whispered quietly as she reached out and slowly placed a hand on Erthos' shoulder, the younger Blood Elf trying his best not to flinch as she did so. "Besides…I have no where to go so I might as well just travel the world…" Rastuazi seemed to pause for a moment, as if unsure to say something. "But…I'd rather not do so alone…" she added to the end finally. Erthos couldn't help but smile slightly and reached up with his own hand, placing it on top of Rastuazi's armoured hand. Slowly, he turned to look at her, wiping away some tears as he did so.

"You don't have to be alone" he said, his voice sounding soft and caring as he looked at Rastuazi. "I can travel with you."

Rastuazi looked at Erthos quietly for a moment as she thought about his suggestion. The idea of travelling with Erthos again was certainly a tempting one. The thought of becoming his protector again was very appealing, as was being with a "friend".

"I'd like that" she finally said, nodding with a slight smile. "Just promise me one thing. Don't go getting yourself killed…You don't want to end up like me." Rastuazi let out a slight laugh, as if what she had said was her way of a joke.

Erthos let out a faint, but awkward, chuckle of his own at Rastuazi's statement before nodding slightly. A thought suddenly occurred to him and he turned around fully to look at Rastuazi.

"I need to return to the Argent Dawn" he said, turning his head to look in the general direction of Lights Hope. "I need to let them know that I am ok, otherwise they will come looking for me." As he spoke, Erthos moved slightly away to allow him room to summon his Dreadsteed again.

"I might not have been there long, but it became a home of sorts for me" Erthos said as he finished summoning his Dreadsteed. "Plus I have some things that I can't leave behind." Erthos quickly secured the amulet in one of the pouches around his belt before he climbed up onto the back of his mount. He knew that if the Argent came looking for him, they would find him and things would end very badly between them and Rastuazi, something he seriously hoped to avoid.

Rastuazi moved over to Nightmare as Erthos spoke, gently patting her steed on its side.

"I can't go into the Chapel, they'll kill me" she said with a quiet sigh, confirming Erthos' own thoughts before shaking her head slightly. "I'm still considered Scourge, after all…" Slight tones of sadness could be heard in Rastuazi's voice as she climbed up onto Nightmare's back. "I'm still not used to your new looks, Nightmare…" she whispered to the horse, who simply shook its head in response.

"I figured you wouldn't be able to" Erthos said as his Dreadsteed trotted up beside Nightmare. "It's why it's only going to be a quick stop. You should be able to stay on the outskirts whilst I quickly go in. I won't take long."

Erthos smiled gently at Rastuazi, giving her a slight nod. He knew that she was upset about not being able to go into the Chapel, but there was little he could do about it. With a slight kick to its side, Erthos spurned on his mount with Rastuazi easily following behind. Casting a glance back, he could tell that if need be Rastuazi's mount could easily out pace his own.

As the two of them tore through the Plaguelands, any creatures that were near by simply steered clear. Erthos welcomed the change, wanting to get in and out of the Chapel as quick as he could. It wasn't long before they had arrived.

"I will wait here…don't take too long…" Rastuazi said quietly as she veered off to the side before jumping off of Nightmare and walking into a severely burnt building.

Erthos looked at the building for a few moments before he quickly rode into Lights Hope. The various Crusaders patrolling the Chapel offered their greetings to Erthos as he climbed off of the back of his Dreadsteed. He gave them a polite nod and smile in response, not wanting to waste too much time.

Moving quickly, he went into his room, grabbing his enchanted bag as he did. He went through his drawers and cabinets, gathering up what he thought he may need to take with him. As he was gathering, he stopped when he heard a slight cough from behind him.

"Yeh going somewhere, laddy?" came the gruff voice that could only belong to Magnill. Erthos turned around to see Magnill and Darius standing in the door way to his room.

"It certainly looks like you are" Darius said, walking into the room and moving over to the bag that Erthos was packing, looking at its contents.

"I…" Erthos stammered slightly, looking at the two men in front of him. "I think I know where Zyathri is. I have to go and find her" he finally said, turning his back to them to continue going through one of his drawers, but also to avoid their looks. If anyone in Lights Hope would see right through him, it would be the two in the room with him.

Magnill and Darius simply looked at each other, before looking back to Erthos. Magnill walked up to the blood elf, standing beside him.

"Lad, yeh be careful, you hear?" he said, looking up at Erthos. "Yeh don't want to tell us the whole story, that's yer call. Every man's got his secrets. Just remember, were here if yeh need us."

Erthos looked down at Magnill and smiled with a gentle nod. He turned and looked over to Darius, who gave his student a slight nod of his own. Turning his head, Erthos looked at the sword and shield that rested on the wall. Walking over to them, he reached out and placed his hand on the shield.

"Keep my room open, would you?" he said, looking over to the two of them. Both of them nodded, moving towards the door way.

"Before you go, though…" Darius said, stopping at the doorway. He turned and looked at Erthos before pulling a ring from his hand which he passed to him. Erthos took the ring, looking at it. It was a plain ring, made from silver.

"It's enchanted" Darius said, nodding to the ring. "It will help your body last longer when you are casting a lot of spells." Erthos smiled and slipped the ring on, marvelling slightly as it shrunk to fit his slender finger.

"I suppose I best give yeh something to, aye?" Magnill said with a smirk, reaching into the pockets of his robes. Grinning, he pulled out a leather canteen that looked to be filled with some kind of liquid. "Take it" he said, offering it to Erthos. "I know it aint an enchanted ring, but that drink could save yeh from some cold nights."

Erthos took the canteen from Magnill and opened the lid to take a sniff. As soon as he did, he shoved the drink away from his nose, much to the amusement of Magnill. Whatever the drink was, it was strong.

"Just make sure yeh give that back when yeh return!" Magnill said, smiling. Erthos nodded in response before saying his final farewells to the two of them. With bag in hand, he quickly made his way outside and climbed onto his Dreadsteed.

"Until next time…" Erthos said, looking at Lights Hope Chapel before sprinting back to Rastuazi.

Outside the burnt house, Rastuazi leant against the remains of a fence, Nightmare standing beside her. Leaning its head forwards, Nightmare lightly licked at Rastuazi's cheek, causing her to let out a faint laugh.

"Nightmare…Stop that…" she said quietly, smiling faintly. Her body went rigid as the sound of an approaching horse rang through the air. Reaching for her sword, she turned to see Erthos riding up the road to her. With a slight smile, she waved her hand.

As he approached, Erthos himself smiled, eventually bringing his Dreadsteed to a stop beside Rastuazi. He climbed down off of its back, stretching slightly as he did so.

"I managed to get the stuff I wanted to get" he said, patting the bag that was now attached to the belt on his waist. "They shouldn't come looking for me, not for a while at least." Erthos paused for a moment as he looked at Rastuazi, an awkward question forming in his mind.

"So…Do I call you Zyathri…or Rastuazi?" he asked slowly, scratching the back of his head as he did so. He didn't want to offend her by calling her the wrong name, but he also didn't want to offend her by asking.

Rastuazi simply tilted her head to the side at the question, regarding Erthos as she did so. If the question had offended her, she made no outward sign to the fact.

"As I have said, Zyathri died…I am Rastuazi now…" she said quietly, shaking her head slightly as she did so. "Besides…I don't think my former name would suit me, since I am basically an anti-paladin now." Rastuazi smiled slightly before looking around. She frowned slightly before turning her attention back to Erthos.

"Any ideas where we should actually go?" she asked him, not entirely sure herself where it would be best for them to go.

"Well…" Erthos started, thinking to himself, wondering where they should go. His mind shifted to the amulet that now rested in his bag. "We need to get the amulet moving, to get it away from here" he said with a slight nod. "Undoubtedly, someone is going to come looking for it. Either someone from Undercity, or someone from Silvermoon…" Erthos paused for a moment, looking to Rastuazi before shrugging slightly.

"Do you know anywhere nice, perhaps?" he asked her, offering a slight shrug. Erthos' knowledge of the world outside of his home was extremely limited, so to be asked where to go next had him stumped. Rastuazi herself simply smiled and reached out, placing a hand on Erthos' shoulder.

"I do know somewhere we can go" she said with a light nod. "And if anyone tries to get that amulet off of you, they will meet my blade. As far as I'm concerned, that amulet belongs to you now, considering all the trouble we went through." Rastuazi paused for a moment as she threw a look to her Deathcharger before looking back to Erthos. She quickly moved over to it and climbed up onto its back, offering a hand to Erthos.

"My horse is faster" she said with a slight smile. Erthos smiled back and took the offered hand, climbing up behind Rastuazi. Memories came rushing to the front of Erthos' mind as he placed one of his arms around Rastuazi's waist to steady himself whilst waving his free hand slightly to dismiss his own mount.

Rastuazi couldn't help but smile herself as Erthos climbed on and secured himself. She certainly felt more comfortable than before. Reaching down, she gave her faithful steed a pat on the neck, causing it to lurch forwards with immense speed.

As the two of them were propelled through the Plaguelands at an ungodly speed, Rastuazi's mind filled with questions.

Does Erthos really care that much? Before he knew it was me…he seemed so upset about my death…does he…? Rastuazi shook her head, silencing the thoughts as she subconsciously placed a hand on Erthos' arm.

As they approached the bridge into the Western Plaguelands, Rastuazi noticed that Erthos had started to drift in and out of sleep. Above them the sun was almost hidden, the moon starting to make its presence known instead. Thanks to the smog and fumes in the Eastern Plaguelands, she hadn't noticed where the sun was at all, most of its rays blocked out.

With Erthos now solidly asleep, Rastuazi decided it would be best for them to rest for the night. Even though she knew that they would be able to travel undetected better under the cover of darkness, Erthos wouldn't be much use in a fight if he was fast asleep.

Rastuazi let out a slight sigh as she rode along the path, looking for a safe place to stop, turning her head to look at Erthos slightly. Her thoughts went to the fight against the undead forces earlier in the day. She couldn't help but wonder how long she had been dead for. Erthos certainly hadn't been able to fight like he had when she was alive.

Turning her attention back to the path, she pulled slightly on Nightmare's reigns, causing the powerful steed to turn off from the path towards a nearby shallow cave that had caught her attention.

Making sure not to disturb Erthos too much, Rastuazi climbed down off of Nightmare before gently lifting Erthos off as well. With the Blood Elf in her arms, Rastuazi walked into the cave before gently placing him down on the ground.

"You stay here, Nightmare" Rastuazi said to her horse as she walked back outside. She case a quick look back to Erthos for a moment, wondering if he was cold, but knowing she couldn't really do anything about it. She didn't have any kind of covers, and she wasn't about to go through Erthos' bag without permission.

With a quiet sigh, Rastuazi simply walked back into the cave and sat down beside Erthos. She knew the night was going to be a long one. She just hoped it was an uneventful one as well.