Enjoy guys
The wall crumbled under his strength and Kal smashed through the dark stone and into the construct quarter, the first thing he noticed was the design of it all himself. It wasn't like the training hall in which he found and freed the Death Knights, this placed looked like four smaller halls where all being pushed together with only a couple of small hallways connecting them together.
Not that he bothered with that too much, it was what he saw next that concerned him. This place could be described as a room that was full of clutter, everywhere he looked he could see damaged or barely holding together cages, barrels that seemed to be leaking some sort of green liquid, work benches that were full of tools seemingly scattered around the place with no pattern and operating tables. His eyes narrowed as he saw people of different races strapped down to them, clearly dead but at the same time, moving around like they were some sort of Frankenstein monster.
Then there was the enemy he would be facing, it was like Demian had said. This place didn't have too many in the way of Death Knights, but it seemed as a way to compensate for that this place was full of many of the lesser undead and mages, he could see a lot of mages.
There were skeletons, zombie like creatures and more of the abomination creatures, in many different verities it seems. From the lumbering hulks he himself as fought a couple of times and some type of dog variant. The mages on the other hand were scattered across it all and based on the way they slowly yelled and pointed in his direction; they were the ones in charge.
The mages were difficult situation for him, from what Demian, Fila and many other Death Knights told him, there were very few mages who unwillingly joined the Scourge. Most of them did it because they wanted to or because they wanted a quick pass to power. Kal wanted to go through them one at a time, he wanted to make sure that every mage who was here against their will was saved just like he wanted to save the Death Knights. But he couldn't, the ratio between willing and not was too big. He hated that he had to condemn the few in the name of the many but his time in war has implanted actions into him, knowing now that he can't place everyone he was charged to care for in danger because he wanted to save the one percent. He hated himself for it but he knew he had to do it, a lesson he should have learned a long time ago was that he couldn't save everyone and trying to often ended in others dying instead.
His mind processed all of this over the course of two seconds, just enough time for the black stone to fall to the ground. He quickly made out a stack of cages that held prisoners and Damein leading the Death knights through the door they just charged through. Kal moved forward and pulled the trident back, the three prongs pierced the neck of an abomination and with a tug he pulled the head free.
Seeing a small gathering of skeletons approaching him with their crude weapons in the air, with his free hand. He grabbed the falling body of the large stitch together zombie and threw it backwards, its large bulk crushing their smaller bodies beyond use. Seeing the flash in the corner of his eye, he brought his arm up on instinct and the golden bracelet blocked the cold blast of magic that would have hit his face.
He turned to see the mage that was standing on top of what looked like scaffolding along with a row of zombie like creatures carrying bows and arrows. He was about to fly up there and deal with them but stopped when a cold chain flew through the air and slammed into the mage, Kal watched as the chain was wrapped around the mage and she was pulled from her position, he followed her in time to see the chains pull it's victim right into the sword of Fila who tossed the body to the ground.
His eyes glowed red as he turned back to the archers and used a lesser version of his heat vision to wipe out the creatures before they could become a problem, though it didn't go through the wall. He quickly turned faced the rest of the quarter, when he did so, it seemed like the bulk of the quarter was heading towards them.
He started to run forward without any fear as he looked at the mindless undead. Before he was even halfway between himself and the rest of the enemy, he made out heavy footsteps beside him and behind him. He didn't need to turn his head to see Fila on one side, Demain on the other and the rest of the freed Death Knights behind him. What caught his attention the most however was the cages on the far side, behind the large force in front of them was the cages that were filled with the prisoners "Reach the other side!" he shouted as he blocked an incoming spell.
The two forces met in the middle and the fighting took a new level, Kal parried a blade and punched the skull of another that wanted to kill him. The skull came clean off from the body, while he brought the trident back to stab through the chest of another. Beside him, he could make out the Death Knights making short work of the lesser undead, not that it wasn't expected of course.
With the undead still on the end of his weapon, Kal flew into the air and took aim. Seeing a row of mages at the back who were both firing spells at the Death Knights and using magic to boost the power of their own undead, Kal threw the golden weapon at one of them. The weapon sung as it went through the chest of the mage, with his strength behind the throw, the weapon didn't just go through the chest but pretty much ripped the man in half.
Kal didn't give any of the mages a chance to collect themselves and moved forward, he landed feet first on the head of one of the other mages and used his foot to slam the skull into the ground, shattering it against the stone floor. He knew the other mages turned to face him quickly enough, but he also knew what they would do next as well. Not the exact move but the actions they would take, he jumped into the air, flipping as he did so and preformed a around house kick that took the head clean off the body.
When he landed, he turned to face the two final mages and his eyes lit up. Much like before a thin but precise beam ripped through two of the enemy at once and like that all the mages where down. He didn't know if it was his senses or his instinct, but he found himself ducking suddenly. Then he rolled towards his weapon.
Just after he rolled, he grabbed the weapon with his hand and stood. Turning around, the trident spinning as he did so. He didn't so much block as he did bat away the swing from the large steel weapon that the even larger abomination swung at him. The dumb undead stumbled back, no doubt feeling the shock reverberate through its arm. Kal was about to finish it off but before he could he was surprised to see that Fila and jumped into the air and jammed her great sword into the beasts chest but not just stabbing it but pulling it down and Kal watched with discussed as the very little that was inside it fell to the ground and the large creature fell back dead.
Kal only had time to give the undead Elf a nod before a shout came from behind him "We have incoming!" Demain shouted as he and many others started to make their way back to the entrance they came from and many others followed after him.
"One of the mages must have sent an alert" Fila added as she walked up to him, her eyes focusing on the gathering of Death Knights that started to turn around and guard the entrance they came from "we're running out of time"
"Go with them" Kal added as he looked down to this wrist and pressed the small piece of his clothing, it lit up slightly much like it did last time "help them hold the door" he said but even to him it sounded more like an order. She was about to turn and help when the vibrations came through the ground.
Kal ignored the drones that all came in through the hole in the wall and immediately moved to the cages that the prisoners were being kept in. Instead, he turned to the tunnel at the opposite end to the doorway they entered from "count down for one minute" Kal said a Fila was making ready to join the others that were holding the entrance, the sound of fighting was hard to ignore at that point "at the end of the minute tell everyone to brace because this place is about to go down" he added before he turned to face the tunnel as he felt that the vibrations where coming from.
He waited for a moment longer before a shape turned a corner at the far end of the tunnel. He winced as he saw the large four-legged creature, it was definitely undead but he could also make out pieces of steel patched onto it's body. He didn't know if this was a bunch of other animals stitched together like the abominations or if this was a single animal that was native to this world that he just didn't know about. Either way, it was clear that he would need to deal with it.
As he stalked forward towards him, it stopped mid step for a moment. It accoutred to him that it might just be that it only now saw him, Kal counted at least twenty meters between them. It looked at him then let out a roar and charged towards him.
Kal didn't move, he just waited for the right moment. During the first couple of seconds Kal observed it, the way it moved, the muscles that worked and those that didn't, how animal like it still acted despite all that happened to. Each was important when it came to dealing with something like this. When it got closer, his legs bent slightly. It wasn't until it was right on top of him that he moved.
Kal could see there were many different ways that he could kill this thing unless it had other forms of protection that he didn't know about, it leaped into the air, both of its paws extended and ready to rip him up. He dived forward, using his flight to keep himself in the air. Turning around, until he was facing its underbelly his eyes glowed and two beams of red solar light bisected the large hound in two. Moving out from its back before the blood and guts had a chance to pour over him, his eyes went through everything that would block his view and saw that the last of the prisoners had been taken to safety.
Kal quickly shot up straight and went through the roof and all the levels after that. The sky and clear air were a welcomed sight but he didn't have time to waste, every second that he waited was a second that those who he brought back would be at further risk. After going up a mile into the air, he quickly turned and flew down with both hands extended. His eyes locked onto his target, a large crystal near the base of the necropolis.
The hardened black stone stood no chance against him and it was unexpected but it provided him with a unique perspective of every level of the place, when he was still near the top, it only lasted a fraction of a second but he could make out the one he was here for. A large skeleton, floating into the air though it looked anything but human. So, this was the Lich that caused the Scourge to become as powerful as it was now? Kal's mind immediately started to go over all the ideas of how the best way to deal with this guy would be.
It took him the time from entering the large chamber to reaching the ground for him to find it. It could wait for now, going through the ground, he found the remains of a large dragon that was being kept together with magic, the thing was nothing but bones. Since he was here and already on target. The golden trident pierced the top of the dragons skull and Kal followed it, leaving the bottom of it's head a second later, it seemed that whatever magic was keeping this thing together couldn't work when this much damage had taken place.
The rest of the body fell to the ground soon after he broke through the floor and the large dragon was 'dead' dead now. Passing through two more floors Kal found his target. There was a large crystal pulsing with magical energy in the middle of an open hall that almost remained him of a hanger. There was a central platform that was suspended in the air by four bridges, in-between those was a open view to the ground beneath them. He didn't care about those who were guarding the area, instead he focused on what he was there for, the large crystal may be magical but it would mean nothing to the trident of Atlan.
Kal manoeuvred his weapon and the prongs of the golden weapon dug into the side of the crystal and Kal slashed downwards as he moved. The action created a large gash in the rock and caused it to shake and just as Kal cleared the structure, now moving towards the ground, he watched as the crystal started to crack in many different areas until it all just crumbled in a explosion.
Kal quickly flew away and back into the position he was in before he started his attack, hovering in the air. He watched with mild fascination as the necropolis started to drift in place for a moment before it started to fall to the ground. It wasn't high enough to achieve any real speed before hitting the ground and though that wasn't to say there was no damage. He watched as the army of undead underneath it tried to run away but failed to do so and was crushed, he watched as when it large structure hit the ground, it started to crumble from the impact and large chunks of the rock started to collapse in on itself.
Seeing the area that those under his temporary command where not fairing as well as he would like even if they had warning of damage that was going to come. He flew forward ready to help them.
Flying in through the opening he created, he arrived just in time to see a large chunk of rock about the crush them as they held the door. Something that became much easier to do now that the attackers where just as unsteady as they were. He could see Demian and Fila at the front of the force fighting to other Death Knights who despite everything continued to fight as well. As everything started to crumble around them, many of the walls started to fall apart, opening the way to other places in the process.
This also happened to open the doorways so they would be larger. Which was really bad for his forces as now lacked the choke point that kept them... alive? So far. So he would need to step in, as he held the large chunk of rock, he looked at the attacking forces and could see a collection of mindless undead, mages and abominations that were started to recover themselves from the necropolis falling and hitting the ground. With little more than a toss from him, the boulder flew through the air and landed on the enemies, crushing them with its weight.
He then started to blitz all those mindless that survived so far. Zooming across the small lines of soldiers ready to march forward, he punched, slashed and heat visioned them and over the course of thirty seconds, it was only the Death Knights left. A handful turned to face him but the closest found his neck wrapped up in the lasso and blinding light of Hestia.
Kal pulled on the rope and the Death Knight was dragged towards him and much like before Kal started to do what he needed to in order to free their minds. Many of the enemy turned and saw what he was doing and tried to stop him but before they could, the now outnumbered enemy found themselves unable to free themselves from the engagement they entered. Though on the orders of Demain and Fila, those that followed Kal's orders didn't kill the others when they got the chance, instead they started to grab them, pile on them, retrain them, whatever it took in order to disarm and force them to wait their turn "Do not fear brothers and sisters!" he made out Demains voice "your freedom is near" just as he said that word, the Death Knight Kal was holding slumped to his knees and his mind was freed from the Lich kings control had to admit that the timing was impeccable, he didn't even wait a moment before he grabbed another and started the process again.
It took longer than last time, forty-five minutes. Nearly an hour to free twenty more Death Knights from the control of their master, which was not a good thing. Sure, the increase to their numbers was good and he was sure it would be useful in the fights to come but the longer they waited here, the more time the enemy would have to prepare for their attack.
The only saving grace was that the broken-down necropolis around them was acting as an improvised barrier protecting those inside from those on the out. Well, protecting them and the others were cut off from all those reinforcements. Most of everything that was going on inside this place had either been completely destroyed or those working on them had been killed by the debris. Even now, as the last member of the attackers, a large Orc started to pick himself up off the ground, he could hear the orders being given by some very commanding voices, he could only assume that it was either the horsemen or Kel'Thuzard himself.
"You have my thanks" the Orc said as it placed a closed fist to his chest and bowed his head, in a type of salute that he's seen other Orcs do in the past.
"I'm glad I could help" he said back before he took a couple of steps back and placed the lasso on his waist. Reaching out he grabbed the trident that was imbedded in the ground and looked at the large group of fifty-eight undead where all either brewing as they looked at the dark walls, checking on their gear or speaking calmly with each other "everyone! Listen up!" at the sounds of his voice, everyone quickly turned to look at him. Almost in sync with each other that freaked Kal out a little bit, but he kept his composure "now we have the advantage. All we have to do is clear the path to the horsemen, free them just as you were and then we take on the Lich in charge. When he is captured, he will give me all the information he has, or he will know pain like never before. Remember, the Horsemen are just as trapped as you all were. All of us together should be more than enough to subdue them and free them" he lifted the Trident into the air "ARE YOU READY!" he shouted and added a little red flare to his eyes as he did so. Figuring out a long time ago that the moral of the troops is important.
He didn't know if it was the desire for freedom or the idea of vengeance against the lich, but it seemed to be enough "AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" they all shouted in agreement.
It wasn't so much a yell or scream but a roar in agreement. Smirking at it either way, he turned and started to march, using his strength and heat vision to
They were outnumbered in every way, there was no denying that but the advantages they had more than made up for it. The three were simple: the terrain, it was made of narrow corridors and crumbling floors, there was not a room that wasn't in ruin and when forces where in such a narrow space numbers meant very little. Number two was their own force: the Death Knights were proving to be a very specialized unit of troops and where more enough to deal with whoever they ran into, it seemed communication wasn't a big factor into the Scourge as even though the enemy knew something that was happening before they fell, for some reason they didn't know who they were being attacked by. The third and final advantage was Kal himself: with his weapons and powers, any troublesome enemy they came across was quickly taken care of leaving the rest to deal with the others.
They marched through the crumbling necropolis for thirty minutes before they came across their targets. Forcing themselves through a narrow path in the collapsed corridor, that was almost completely blocked so they had to shimmy themselves in order to get through. Kal was in the front with the others following behind him. He stopped for a moment and held up his hand in a closed fist, getting the others to all stop as well. The reason being that kal could hear voices in front of them, the reason for stopping however was the other thing he could hear. The tell-tale sounds of a horse.
Poking his head out from the cover that the tunnel provided, he found what he was seeking. The area was the most open chamber that they've been to since he knocked the place down. Though that didn't mean there wasn't a couple tones worth of rock scattered around the place. In the middle of it all was four individuals. Three of them were standing on their own two feet while the final was on his horse, taking another glance around the room he could see the downed and the 'dead' dead bodies of the other three horses. Seemed even the horsemen didn't survive the impact unscathed.
They were at a disadvantage here. Kal didn't like the idea of just charging out at them from this point of view, it would take too long for all the others to shimmy themselves out of this and join the fight. Turning his head, he looked at Fila "tell the others not to attack until you're ready" he whispered to her. She nodded and turned her head to face the one behind her.
Kal left the tight space and used his speed to blink out of the place he was in and move to the opposite side, making sure that the horsemen would focus on him and not the others. Needless to say, when he first appeared he didn't make it a secret and all four of them turned to face him "Ah, so you must be the cause for downfall" the woman, Lady Blaumeux if he remembered correctly spoke. He could see a plain smirk on her face as she looked at him.
Kal's eyes narrowed as he looked at the woman, she must have been a huge flirt when she was alive if she still has that attitude when she was undead. Jaina spoke to him about some aspects of the undead and when they become them, all life affirming action is something that is avoided because it can cause pain. And thinks like romance and sex is life affirming so the undead would never in a million years do it.
Mentally shrugging to himself, he decided to smile back at the woman, trying to buy time "hahaha, excellent punmanship my lady" he added with a dramatic bow "my name is Kal-El, I believe that I've become quite well known since I arrived here" he added a little flare onto his voice, playing that part that would keep the attention. His eyes briefly flicking to the now five Death Knights that came free and helping the others through as well.
"Oh, the hero of the Silithus" the lady spoke from her place on the right of the four "the tales never said how handsome you were" she added, leaning on her staff as she clearly eyed his body up and down.
"Enough with ya shitty fliterin" the Dwarf spoke from his position "he's the strong one, I wanna kill'em" he added.
"He will die" the deepest voice present spoke and Kal's eyes narrowed slightly as he watched, the horse took a couple of steps forward and its heavy huffs banging against the ground as he did so "this is the one that the master desires" the leader of the horsemen Alexandros Mograin spoke through his helmet.
"Am I?" Kal asked back, both feigning more interest than he normally would to keep their attention "well since I have your attention, perhaps before we battle and kill you all, you could do me the curtesy of telling me what it is your master is planning?" he asked them all, placing his trident on the ground, his hand on the shaft as it pointed upwards.
"The will of master is his to know alone" the final horsemen, Zeliek spoke up he then turned his head to focus on their leader "you must leave this place while you still can, the will of the master is not one that can be denied" the warning was clear and Kal remembered that this was the one that still had their mind intact after turning "if you stay, we will be forced to kill you"
"Think it through" Kal said as he lifted his weapon and pointed it at the four "think really hard, assuming you're capable of such a thing in your undead state" the insult had the effect he wanted and all four of them bristled at hearing it. Making them unlikely to turn around and see the others.
"WE RIDE!" Mograine shouted as he kicked his horse it he charged forward towards him. As the others followed it was clear that the leader would reach him first, though that didn't mean the others didn't attack. Lady Blaumeux brought up her staff and fired a ball of what he could only assume was dark magic right at him, instead of dodging however he brought up his free hand and blocked the incoming attack.
As he did so Mograine reached him, the leader was no doubt expecting another dodge or block. Instead, Kal jumped into the air, using the bracelet to block the blow from the powerful blade. He brought up his right hand, still wrapped around the shaft of the trident and delivered a powerful blow to the chest of the undead, knocking him off the horse.
The leader rolled on his back by a couple of meters but before Kal could capitalize on the opportunity. He was forced to take a step back to avoid the wave of fire that came from the Dwarf and twisted the trident around to parry the attack from Zeliek who couldn't hold up to his strength and was forced back. Blaumeux moved in again, this time sending in a much larger barrage of attacks that Kal has to dodge as well as block to avoid getting hit. Needless to say, it makes countering attacking difficult.
By now the leader had picked himself back up off the ground and was charging forward with clear fury echoed in his face. The large great sword he wielded seemed to pulse with more power than Kal's seen so far, more power over the Scourge at the very least. Of course, he could just blitz's them at the speed of sound but he needed them ali... alive? He needed them to still be there so he could turn them back. Thankfully, his help would arrive "My Lords!" a voice shouted, and all the horsemen minus Morgaine who trading blows with him, sword meeting trident.
Kal looked over the Death Knights shoulder and saw Demain at the front of his newly made host "for the Scourge!" he shouted as they all charged forward.
Kal's eyes widened as he saw this, did the Lich King have control over them again? Was the lasso only a temporary fix? Does this mean he couldn't use it again? The questions were going through his head as he fought off the leader of the horsemen "ah, our reinforcements" Blaumeux mused as she casually fired her staff at him "don't ruff him up too much, I would love some time to teach him our ways"
No sooner than when she finished speaking, the charging Death Knights reached them. Fila got their first and when she neared Lady Blaumeux, the Death Knight tackled the magic user to the ground and was joined by two others "WHAT!" she shouted.
The sudden cry caught the attention of the others "Traitors!" Korth'azz shouted as he turned away from Kal to attack the other, he let out a wave of flames but it was dodged by those in the way. Before he could attack again, he found himself bound by cold chains that shout out from the hands of the five different Death Knights that locked him place "Let me go so I can fockin kill ya's!" he shouted.
"If they are free of the master's control" Zeliek shouted as he dodged the blade going for his back and attempted to decapitate another "then perhaps freedom is near for us as well" he sounded almost hopeful as he tried to kill his attackers. Though he didn't notice the large Orc come up behind him and wrap both of its massive arms around his body looking him in place for a moment and it was long enough for another to come around and grab one of his arms, the fist doing the same to the other arm and together they slammed the horsemen into the ground face first, using their large bulk to lock him in place on the ground.
Now it was just the leader left. Kal counted at least twenty Death Knights surrounding the two of them as they fought, despite losing the others. Morgraine didn't let this stop him and continued his assault, using his free hand, Kal grabbed the lasso from his waist twisted his body in a spin. The gap in between the prongs finding his target of the wrist of the Horsemen.
With a strong pull to the side, the large great sword was ripped from the Death Knights hand and it flew across the damaged hall. Being embedded into the wall. Despite losing his weapon, he didn't let that stop him and quickly moved with that Kal expected was a magically enhanced punch. Using his speed, ducked back and threw the lasso, the fist going through the noose of the golden rope and Kal quickly moved and kicked the Death Knight in the back. The body flew through the air, almost halfway through the hall until Kal tugged on the lasso tightening it.
The Death Knight froze mid-air as the lasso kept him from going further, Kal then twisted his body in the opposite direction and pulled the lasso, he didn't stop until his hand hit the ground in a kneeling position. Morgraine's body slammed into the ground, in the middle of the other three horsemen, cracking the ground as he did so. Kal stood up quickly "to long have you been consumed by the darkness" he started to speak as the lasso glowed brighter. He slowly started to walk forward towards the horsemen who started thrashing on the ground "the light Hestia shall burn away every false hood, including the belief that a chain of domination is on you" the black smoke started to pour off his body "there is no greater falsehood then that of enslavement. Who are you?" he asked.
He didn't fail to notice that everyone present was looking at him, even the other horsemen who were still struggling. Upon hearing the question, Morgaine slowly started to pick himself up off the ground, more black necromantic smoke coming off of him then there was before, more than any other Death Knight had "I..." he reached up and grabbed his helmet and practically threw it from his head "I am Alexandros Mograine" he snarled as he picked himself back up to his feet "Knight of the Silver Hand, protector of Lordaeron, Paladin of Azeroth" the last of the smoke fell away and Kal twisted his wrist, freeing the lasso from the former slaves body "and I am in your debt" he nodded to Kal who returned the action.
The former leader of the Horsemen turned to face the others who were all still struggling to free themselves, even more so now "do not worry my friends, freedom is near" he said to them.
Kal wasted no time in moving over the Blaumeux who was the closest to him. He would free these people, then together they would move forward and deal with their leader. He would very much looking forward to the long conversation he was going to have with this lich. Kel'thuzard was next.
Alright everyone, I got to say, I'm starting to like two chapters every ten days instead of one so I think I'm going to do this going forward, let me know what you all think?
Anyway, next time we're going to deal with the Lich Kings second, I was planning on doing it for this chapter but I didn't want to rush things. I'll see you all in the next chapter.
Next story Update: Return of hope.