Warcraft Fan Fiction ❯ Bloodstained Shadows - Chronicles of a Lost Soul ❯ Scarlet Dawn - Chapter 13 ( Chapter 13 )

Chapter 13:

 

 

This is now the fourth day of rain.

But I see through my window that it is already clearing up in the west, in only a few hours Tirisfal will be free from clouds. Fortunately it is still early in the morning so there still is plenty of time till our departure so the winds can do their work.

The last month was quiet, too quiet actually. I have not heard from Whitemane, nor seen her since that one evening where she told me about the book. Most of the people who I've had contact with since then are guards.

I have been here in the Scarlet Monastery for barely two months, yet I am already leaving again. The time I spent here was not easy at all.

Since it has been reinforced by troops of the Scarlet Crusade, the city of Tyr's Hand has recovered fast. It has turned again into the prosperous port it was once before during the course of the last month. Actually I am quite happy to go there, to get away from Whitemane.

They told me Tyr's Hand would become the religious centre of the Crusade, another reason for me to be happy to go there. There should be no place where I can become a better cleric than in that city.

They also told me that High Lord Abbendis had already arranged everything so that class can start immediately when we will have arrived there. I'm not the only one going. Of course I'm not, the whole group will consist of about ten fully trained soldiers, two fully trained clerics and about fifteen apprentices.

One of the guards mentioned that a small number of hired mercenaries would come with us for extra protection. After all we have to pass the ruins of Andorhal with this rather large group of people and we have to go through greater parts of the western and eastern plaguelands. This will take some time, we can't go by horse, for the Scarlet Crusade could not supply enough for all of us.

If we are fast, which we are not going to be because we are far too many, we'll need two days to reach the

city walls of Tyr's Hand.

I finally made peace with myself concerning my mother, although it took me quite some time and I still have a lot of unanswered questions. I will take the book with me and read it once we reach the city.

I still have to gather my belongings, they are only a few, yet I don't intend to take everything with me.

Every time I see the book Corren gave me I feel ashamed that I still haven't looked into it. But still, it gives me faith so I can hold on to my dream.

I also wear the necklace Keira gave me the day they departed from Hearthglen. Those two items give me hope, they strengthen my spirit.

I often think about the two, remember the time we spent in Hearthglen where we first met each other.

I hope both of them are well. I pray for them. If one can call the things I do praying. I smile due to this notion.

I wrap the two books I want to take with me up in one of my robes and put them into the leather bag one of the guards gave me. Afterwards I decide to let the rest be as it is and step to my window, looking out into the gloomy sky. But I see clear parts already although at the moment they are still rather far away.

Perfect circumstances for a rainbow.

I hear the bell of the cathedral. Time for the morning prayer, my last one inside these walls. I walk to the cathedral right away. As every morning the people gather quietly inside. Renault Mograine is standing in front of us next to the altar preaching something about worshipping the Holy Light and not giving in to temptation.

I don't really listen to him if I am truly honest. He may be the son of the Ashbringer, but his charisma does not come near the one of his father. He also often fumbles for words, as if he does not know what to say. It seems he feels uncomfortable up there in front, just the same as I would feel.

Sometimes you even have a sort of feeling that he does not vouch for the things he says. He is not very similar to his father on those accounts.

I'm glad when the preaching comes to an end.

Everybody around me stays quiet as they leave the cathedral. I take my time taking a last look at the architecture, the windows and the paintings on the walls. This building is just remarkable. I hurry out after I realized that I could bump into Whitemane and that would be the last thing on earth that I want or need right now. I guess she would try to play her tricks on me a final time. Although I honestly have to say, I wonder what she is up to at the moment. She didn't make a move for quite a long time now. I'm certain that she is planning something.

I don't intend to return to my room until the departure of the troop when I have to get my belongings.

I take another long walk around the grounds of the monastery. One of the guards told me that they would ring the bell once when the mercenaries arrive and twice when the group will be leaving. So everybody will notice and everybody will have enough time to gather in the main hall.

As I walk over the lawn of the monastery, I try to recall everything that had happened here once again. I still don't fully understand why there was this frenzy about me, but well. Once I'm out of here, Whitemane won't be able to seize her grip around me again. At least I hope so.

The wet earth underneath my feet makes noises with every step I take. The rain stopped. It is still a rather cold summer, maybe this will change after midsummer. This year's spring on the other hand was quite warm.

I look for a canopied bench around here where I can sit down. I hope for it to be dry. I find one at the open space near the armoury.

I try to erase Whitemane from my thoughts. I already tried that last week but she just always keeps coming back when I think of certain events.

I'm actually a bit sad that Captain Theran left the Crusade. She was a beautiful women, only her character she showed towards me was kind of disturbing. But I guess she just simply did not understand me, how I felt and what I wanted. She must have thought that I'm enjoying this whole situation. I picture her in my mind once more. I wonder what her first name is, I never knew.

I decide I shouldn't think about this for too long so I get up and walk towards the armoury, maybe today I get into the Hall of Champions.

Oh my, I almost forgot how long the armoury is. It takes me ages to get to the other end. I ask the guards in front of the giant wooden door whether I could enter today or not. They let me in, but remind me that if Champion Herod wants to start his training session, I ought to leave. I nod in response that this is clear.

I enter a circular room. Stairs to my left and right lead down to a wide open space. All around the room stone statues are standing, eleven of them in total. All those great men and women became heroes for what they did, for what they died for.

Barean Westwind, lost off the Frozen Coast.

Invar One-Arm, last seen on the shores of Northrend.

Valea Twinblades, lost deep in the eastern plaguelands.

All of them strong personalities and great fighters for the Scarlet Crusade. I take some time and just stand there, looking at the statues. It feels great looking at them. I don't know why but it somehow calms me down, gives me a feeling of safety and that the Crusade can overcome any enemy.

I turn around, I lost my sense of time while I was standing here. Leaving the room I thank the guards for letting me inside, then I try to get back to the main hall.

Just now they strike the bell. It is that late already?! I hurry back to my room without any detour fetching the bag I had packed earlier. Yet it takes me quite some time to get to my quarters because of the god-damn long armoury. As I'm in my room I check one final time whether I have everything or if something is missing.

After making sure I have everything packed, I make my way to the main hall. We are ought to assemble there.

As I reach the main hall, about two thirds of the group are already there. The two clerics are still missing and most of the apprentices. The warriors are already complete and two of the mercenaries are here with us, the rest of them probably still outside.

Something is strange about the armour of one of them. It is light grey and bears a silver emblem. I don't know what that picture should represent but it looks familiar. Both of the mercenaries bear a two-handed axe on their backs. Just seeing these weapons is somewhat frightening. After a few more minutes most of the rest of the group has gathered and one of the warriors gives the order to strike the bell again. The guard receiving the order heads off towards the cathedral. I suppose it will take about five minutes for him to get there.

Meanwhile the rest of the troop will wait here, after we hear the bell, we will leave, no matter who is still missing, and assemble in front of the monastery for instructions from the group leaders.

Two more people arrive before we hear the bell, I guess everybody made it in time.

The crowd starts moving out of the building. I'm in the middle of this stream of people, just as always. I get pushed along with the others.

As we leave the monastery, the sky has cleared up, I think of it as a good sign.

There are six more mercenaries waiting here, two of them on the back of horses. One of them is wearing an armour similar to the guy who waited with us inside. The man has long blonde hair and is a lot taller than I am. He has a mace on his back with a emblem on it.

Wait a minute... that can't be.

Is it really...?

“Corren?”, I ask in disbelief.

He turns around, his eyes showing bewilderment, “Marc!”. I rush towards him.

“How good to see you.”, he embraces me for a short moment, then takes me by my shoulders. “I wouldn't have imagined you to be on this trip too.”, he states.

“Neither did I, neither did I...”, my voice becoming more and more quiet. That is some surprise. I don't know what to say. It's not that long since we have seen for the last time yet it feels like ages have passed. “How's Keira?”, I ask him.

“Honestly, Marc...”, he sounds concerned, “I don't know.” He lets his head drop. “Our group split up as we went through the Alterac Mountains. She went to the ruins of Dalaran. I hope she is alright...”

I wouldn't have expected that this question would hit him that hard. But he raises his head again and forces a smile. “But I got the feeling that she is alright. We both know her well enough..”

I nod and try to smile back at him, he truly is right with that.

“Attention everybody...”, a loud voice says.

“We can talk later on, Marc, we will have plenty of time. I'm sure of that...”, Corren whispers to me.

The noise of all the people still keeps on even after the guard having said that everyone should be quiet and listen.

"I said... ATTENTION EVERYBODY!", the man shouts as loud as he can. The talking stops immediately and everybody turns to him. He is about as tall as I am with short brown hair. You can see the end of a scar only centimetres below his throat.

"My name is Lieutenant Sam Bermoth.”, he wears a red toned armour and above that a tabard of the Scarlet Crusade.

“I am the one in charge of this group and I am the only one. The first rule that everybody should obey to is that my word and my word only is the one to be followed. I give the order and you execute it.” His tone is strict and his voice is strong. “Now, the trained part of our group consists of ten of our warriors and two clerics. The rest are fifteen cleric apprentices. LISTEN! If anything should happen, if we should be engaged in combat for whatsoever reason, keep behind our fully trained and skilled men. This will save your life, trust me on that.”, he makes a short pause.

“As an extra security measure, eight of the finest mercenaries from the eastern kingdoms will accomplish us on our trip to the city of Tyr's Hand. Their leader is Raydon Ha...”, he points to the man on the horse close behind him. Raydon interferes and raises his hand as a sign not to keep on talking, “Please, just call me Ray, that should be enough.” Ray has a full beard and long black hair. He is rather muscular, yet he seems swift and agile even though this should be hard to tell while he is sitting on that horse.

“If you have any questions about this trip or if you have any needs concerning our travelling, you can contact him as well as me. But make sure not to bother any of us two with irrelevant crap of yours.”, his tone is harsh. This is feeling like in one of the boot camps of the military that father told me about.

“Today our destination will be the Thondroril, the river connecting eastern and western plaguelands. We won't march to Hearthglen, for this would be an unnecessary detour to our trip.”, Bermoth pauses, “We will set up camp at the river. We won't be able to rest earlier, because of the wild beasts and the undead in the areas in and around Andorhal. The possible enemies will therefore be ferocious and vicious. You should handle any possible contact - with or without combat - with care!”, I know it is his duty to tell us such things but I somehow feel treated like an idiot by that guy telling me all these things again. I can hardly believe that anybody of us standing here does not know these things.

“If you get wounded, search the attention of one of our clerics immediately!”, and there he goes again.

“Now, we want to reach the Thondroril before nightfall, so get moving! Four of the mercenaries in front, followed by five of our warriors. Apprentices and clerics into the middle of the group, the rest of the men watch our back.”

Corren is one of the four mercenaries up in front which makes it hard to talk to him for now, I guess I will have to wait until we rest. We will definitely need a few hours to get to the river, because of the great number of people this will all take only longer. And we also need to be careful not to attract the attention of the undead inhabitants of Andorhal or the fields and farms around the city. Although I doubt that we can avoid that. That these creatures don't sense any fear makes this even worse, for they will attack us even if they are clearly outnumbered and nonetheless one bite of one of the ghouls can spread the disease of undeath. I'm frightened just by the fact.

We leave the hillside of the monastery and enter the forest. I try to stay in the middle of the crowd of apprentices. As usual for members of the Scarlet Crusade they all don't talk much. At least I figured this to be a trait of the Crusade. The only people talking seem to be the four mercenaries in hour back, I guess they've known each other for some time now and are friends.

I see the sun through the tree-tops of the forest, yet it is dark as during night time down here. This country suffered just as much as the plaguelands.

We walk through the forest for about half an hour, the borders not far anymore. The woods already lighten up, the gloomy sky of the western plaguelands ahead of us.

I did not expect that a group this big would be able to travel this fast, maybe we will really make it to the river until sundown.

Usually during night time it is a lot more dangerous to travel the plaguelands, not only the undead are, well more active when it is dark, but also the wolves start hunting. Actually you can often see wolves running through the woods at daytime, but they rarely attack without the shelter of darkness around them.

Every time I walk along this road I recall memories from my childhood. I often also think about that dream that I have regularly. The first few times I had it I was terrified, later it became more like I was watching it, rather than being in it. From time to time there are a few differences in the dream, yet nothing was ever like what had happened in reality. But occasionally, I still wake up drenched in sweat. However, I did not have it that often since I came to the Crusade, actually I hardly dreamed anything at all.

The road winds through a small valley created by the hills left and right on its way to Andorhal.

We quickly pass through it. From here on you can already see the town hall of Andorhal, rising high up into the air between all the other buildings surrounding it and lying in ruins now.

With every step we take the road leads us nearer to the city. The moaning of the ghouls grows louder with every minute. I am rather sure that they already spotted us some minutes ago. Something is holding them back. Everybody is alarmed.

The head of the mercenaries, Ray makes signs that tell us to be as quiet as possible but keep on moving.

We don't see a single ghoul, we only hear them, that is what really is disturbing about the situation. We don't know where it could come from, but all the moaning is sometimes accompanied by a strange dark rumbling.

We reach the road crossing to Andorhal, the point were we are nearest to the city's ruins. Someone or something is in that city holding the undead back, gathering them there. I feel it, I... just know it somehow.

The road leads north-east now, further and further away from the ruins. I feel a certain relief not to be that close to the city anymore. It felt like a cold grasp reaching for us. I don't want to go there ever again.

I notice how Corren often takes a look towards me since we entered the plaguelands, he is really concerned about me being well. As I see him turning around I just smile at him. He still cares about me like a big brother, nothing has changed during the past months.

Sunset is drawing nearer and we are actually almost at the bridge connecting the eastern and the western part of the former kingdom of Lordaeron.

Two of the mercenaries started arguing about the origin of the strange fog and the colour of the sky in these areas, it's fun to hear all those different stories and possible explanations, although I am sure I will forget most of them already until tomorrow. One of them even said that the undead somehow evaporate into the air creating this strange colourful sky. I had to laugh as I heard that coming up in the discussion behind me. Some of the other apprentices gave me a strange look for starting to laugh in the middle of the western plaguelands, obviously they did not listen to the conversation going on behind us. Probably they are thinking of their studies or maybe they are even constantly praying to the Holy Light.

Now I even hear the river flowing down the hills in front of us, it isn't far anymore. I have to admit I am dying to get some rest. We didn't stop a single time, on the other hand this is the reason for us being so fast. But if I'm honest, I am too tired to be really grateful about this, maybe tomorrow evening when we have reached Tyr's Hand, I will be able to appreciate what the mercenaries and the lieutenant did in these two days.

Finally, Ray gives the signal to stop. “We will set up camp here. The river is behind the small hill over there and the bridge, well gents, right in front of us.”

Five of the apprentices and two of the warriors are send out to collect wood for a fireplace. The rest of our military team is helping three of the mercenaries to build up a few plain tents consisting of nothing more than a hand full of sticks and an old sheet.

Nightfall comes earlier than expected. But the seven people that collected branches and other woods for the fire did a good job, we have enough to keep it burning throughout the night.

Finally everybody comes to a rest and Corren is off duty guarding the camp, I can talk to him.

He sits down next to me at the fire.

“I am really, really glad that you are alright, Marc.”, I smile at him for saying that, although I don't exactly know for myself if I am alright at all. I try to change the topic to something different as soon as possible.

I'll just ask him out of the blue. “Corren?”, I start with a simple question.

“What is on your mind, Marc?”, he responds.

“You always wanted to be a part of the order of the Silver Hand. And I see you wearing this silver armour. What on earth are you doing as a mercenary?”, this was one of the first things that crept up into my mind as we were walking through the woods of Tirisfal.

“Well, I wanted to become a member of the Silver Hand, that is true. This is also the armour of the knights of the Silver Hand. It was presented to me by a former member, I don't want to name him, he now lives in private. But sadly, there aren't as many people that want to reform the order like I want to, as I thought. Me and my friend Stephan, I met him when I was searching for the remainder of the order.”, he looks to the ground thinking. “But now, we are on our way to the eastern plaguelands searching for a new organisation called the Argent Dawn. They are supposed to have their headquarters there somewhere. And this field trip of yours was the perfect way to get into the eastern areas without any greater dangers and earn a few coins of gold as we go along.”, he forces a smile.

So his 'dream' also doesn't really go according to his plans.

“What about you, Marc?”, he looks to the fire. “How are things going with the Crusade. Why are you travelling to Tyr's Hand?”

I tell him everything about the Ashbringer and his fall. And give him the reasons for me being on this trip. I leave out the whole part about Whitemane, it would only agitate him.

We are both quiet for a moment, probably both thinking about Keira and whishing that at least she got what she desired so much.

Corren suddenly stands up from the fireplace.

“Now Marc, you need to rest, tomorrow we will have to undergo a straining march through the hillside of the plaguelands, we cannot follow the road, because it would lead us directly through Corin's Crossing.”, his voice is gentle, but pressing.

“But we have so much to talk about...?”, I don't know what's up with him right now.

“I said rest, Marc. You need it, you are completely exhausted from today.”, he does not look into my eyes as he says these words. He walks to the mercenary guarding the horses and talks to him for a second, right after that they switch places.

I don't know what's going on inside him, whether I said something wrong or not. I stare into the fire for a few more minutes before I decide that I should rest just as he said. I look for an open space in one of the tents. It's too dark, I don't see a thing. After stumbling to one of the bigger tents for the apprentices I notice an open space and squeeze myself in between the people lying here.