Warcraft Fan Fiction ❯ Bloodstained Shadows - Chronicles of a Lost Soul ❯ The Kiss of Nightfall - Chapter 4 ( Chapter 34 )

Chapter 4:

 

 

I approach the strange elf to tell him that I have done what he has asked of me. As I come closer he is still talking with another deathknight giving him almost exactly the same instructions. Bloodprince Valanar, that is the name the initiate used.

I am sent away basically the same moment I come near him. The elf tells me that one of the High Necromancers of the Lich King is here and graces us with his presence.

“Gothik the Harvester is here to share his gifts with the Scarlet Crusade. You should consider talking to him, he is anxious to meet you.” The elf smirks.

I bow slightly and respond, “I will.” before I back off again.

Gothik is actually a rather old man, very thin and frail. He has a long white beard and is rather tall, wearing a dark blue robe. He also seems still pretty much alive to me. A higher ranked minion of the Scourge who is still amongst the living? How awkward...

I have to wonder how strong he might become if he was turned into a lich.

“So you are the one... The master has told me about you, so I'm rather sure that you will be capable of aiding me, not like the other fools around here. Yet it seems strange that someone like you is not able to raise his own ghoul. But well, I might show you how if you do as well as I expect.”

The Harvester turns around to his altar and takes something off it and hands it to me.

“This little device contains a highly concentrated version of the plague we use to ... find ... new followers. They will only have to take a sniff or two and their bodies will already fall apart. Be careful not to breath in too much of it, as it could also affect you.”

The dark eyes of the High Necromancer stare at me.

“Your task is actually pretty simple. Go to the mine. Let the miners there take a nose full of this and bring them back to me. Once enough of them are ... converted, the rest will flee in panic leaving their backs open for our ongoing attacks.”

Gothik clears his throat. “Those pitiful fools, they will all fight it. Their sight is too limited to see this is actually a gift. A gift that just keeps on giving!”

The Harvester takes a look over the lands of Havenshire that are mostly drenched in blood by now.

“Now, my privileged friend, I came here from the frozen heart of Naxxramas, so don't disappoint me.”

The mine is to the east of our camp. It was heavily guarded, as it was nearest to our camp, yet now most of the soldiers were called off to Havenshire after our first strike at the village defences.

On my way to the mine several initiates rush past me, all yelling things like “By the might of Mograine!” or if they are a bit simpler, usually orcs or dwarves, they just yell “Destruction!” or “Annihilation!”, although I have to say the last one is already a bit more difficult.

There are still a few guards outside the mine, but all of them are locked in combat with initiates of us, so I don't bother about them at all. I just enter the mine.

`Kill them! Revive them! Frostmourne wants to feast on their souls! Let the army grow!'

The voice in my head sounds more demanding than usual.

I take the strange device in my hand and go around the first corner in search for a few miners. I see corpses in some places, I guess those weren't worthy of becoming part of the Scourge or maybe they just rejected the gift.

The sound of pickaxes hitting stone fills the cave, the monotony of it is only disrupted by short sudden screams coming from different areas of the mine making the miners stop for a second or two.

The mine is fairly well lit to my surprise.

As I get to an intersection of three different hallways I see a green mist creeping out of the one to my right. I take a closer look and find an orcish deathknight initiate lying in the middle of it next to a device similar to the one Gothik gave to me. He is heavily coughing, spitting blood. That idiot. He probably has taken a deep breath of the gas.

`Mercy is for the weak!'

The voice in my head speaks to me the moment I see the dying initiate. He soon will be standing among us again, as a ghoul, this should be a fate more suitable for someone like him.

As I go deeper into the mine I find some of them working in a kind of pit with only a single way up. There are three of them down there. What a great opportunity to test this little gadget.

It has a kind of trigger on its side, I just push the button and throw the can down into the pit.

The green mist is set loose immediately. It spreads fast and it almost fills the cavity up to an amount that it pours out of it at my feet.

The screams of the miners soon turn into simple coughing. Only moments later I hear moaning. Slowly three ghouls come climbing up the way leading down into the pit. Their skin is looking as if it was directly burned off their bodies. Chunks of bare flesh are hanging down too. Somehow this mist also seems to be corrosive as hell.

I wonder how I could get the device back out of the pit, but then again I have a better idea. I take a look into each adjacent corridor and just pull the miners out of them. I don't care about how much they struggle, if they break an arm or even if I have to cut off a limb it won't matter at all once they are ghouls.

I just throw them down into the pit one after another. I hear bones break as they hit the ground head first, but still it only takes up a few minutes and a ghoul with a disfigured skull comes crawling up again. I don't know why some of the ghouls stay down there in the pit, but I don't care about that too much either to be honest.

After about ten ghouls have gathered around me I start to make my way out of the mine.

As we pass the corpse of the dumb orc I have to make a stop because three of the ghouls start eating the dead body. I order them to stop and just come with me to the outside, but only one of them listens to me. I guess it will be easier if I allow all of them to eat. They will be done pretty quickly,... I hope.

It really doesn't take too long for them to eat up. After about five minutes there is nothing left except a disfigured orcish skeleton. So I guess he won't become a ghoul after all.

I then leave the mine in a hurry. There are no guards left near the mine, they are all retreating to the beach down below.

It doesn't take much time to return to the Harvester. He looks at me and the ten ghouls that follow me.

“Well... actually you were supposed to leave them in the mine.”

I raise an eyebrow.

“... but fine then. You surely have presented my gift to a lot of them... and survived yourself. Do you have the device? Have you brought it back?”

I shack my head in response. To my surprise he stays calm.

“Uhm, yes. Well, this is only a trivial loss. The master told me that you would be rather reckless.”

A grim smile comes to his thin lips.

“I expected something like this.”, he takes hold of my shoulder with his long and bony fingers. “How would you like to take one of the ghouls as your own? A deathknight of your power should be in possession of an own undead minion. Or would you rather want to revive a dead body on your own?”

I have no idea what I should chose. On the other hand, the ghouls from the mine hardly listened to me at all...

“Ah yes. That should not be a problem once you grow stronger and can handle your power with more efficiency.”

How did he know what I was thinking about?

“The master told me, you may still be a bit foolish, used to your former life. But I'm sure you will leave this behind you soon enough...”, he turns to the ghouls. “Well then... off you go. Into the pit or I shall end your existence on the spot!”, he yells at the undead ones.

They scurry into the pit with the dead bodies next us and start digging themselves into the earth. I look at the scene in bewilderment.

“There they will rest, they are a sort of backup for our legions. Once you are strong enough you will be able to call forth one or even more of them yourself. Usually they are just dispensable and replaceable minions, but some deathknights are even able to raise the same ghoul every time. They raise the spirit rather than the body. But before you can do something like this even you still have to go a long way.”

Gothik turns to his altar.

“You ought to talk to the worthless, snobby elf, he sent for you some time ago.”

I do as he had said and make my way through the tents to Valanar. He was still talking to another initiate. “Bring me their flesh ... still bloody would be fine.”

The troll nods and heads off towards the village.

“I was told you did fine, deathknight.”, he comes towards me, ignoring every other one that comes running for him. He makes a gesture towards the other deathknights pointing out that they should get out of his way. “The master is proud of you.”, he says as he reaches me. He then puts one hand on my right shoulder and forces me to turn around. “Care for a short walk?” This was no real question. He wouldn't give me a chance to answer it.

“Few of your brethren have survived the first attacks. So be proud of yourself, you are strong.”

Yes I am strong, strong enough to survive in the Scourge.

“Go on like this and your future will be blessed. You might even be allowed to be part of the guard of Kel'Thuzad, or a officer in the black citadel in the frozen lands of Icecrown.”

We slowly walk towards the edge of the steep hillside our camp is set up next to. We can look over the whole of Havenshire. The white walls and towers of the city of New Avalon are clearly visible in the distance.

“Havenshire is basically ours, the fields are flooded with the blood of the crusaders. Yet, for the moment our attention is focussed on the beach.” Valanar points to the east. You can barely see what lies beyond the cliffs. All I spot is a red sail.

“They want to flee. Pathetic worms. As we speak the first wave of our attackers strike. Their ships are filled with Thorium and Mithril, they will sink easily, pulled down to the ocean floor. Except for that, the crusaders are getting reinforcements, they think they can fool us. Instead of attacking from New Avalon or Tyr's Hand, they board a ship, sail around the cliff and attack from down there. Worthless efforts.”

Screams fill the air again, followed by a couple of explosions. I see how the red sail goes up in flames.

“The fire will devour all what they have struggled for, all their dreams.”, the elf let lose a short laughter.

“Idealistic fools... Now, the master wants to see you in Acherus. You deserve a reward for what you have achieved.”

Prince Valanar turns around again and returns to his tent, mindless ghouls and a handful of initiates are already awaiting him there.

I, on the other hand directly go to the skeletal gryphons, to get to Acherus as quickly as possible. On my way up I have the opportunity to have a look at the beach below. The water at the shore is completely red. The blood is washed ashore. In the background I can see how two of the ships of the crusade are burning down.

`Come to me, my unholy knight.'

The screams of the dying ones are an envoy of death.