Conquest of the Horde

Even in the late fall, the Barrens are still too hot. The shimmering heat waves stay on the horizon and made it seem as if there's water there - always on the horizon, just out of reach. Everything dry and golden, broken by the stone projections, and the occasional shade-spreading tree. Overhead, the sky is cloudless blue.

Our gryphons don't take long in passing. One moment, we were above the northern side of the Barrens, and now we're making for Ratchet. The formation we keep is complex: it looks like a shapeless mass, but the gryphons have a flocking instinct just like any other bird. Taiga told us how to take advantage of it back in Northrend when we were attacking the Argent Vanguard. They know better than the riders about how to dodge and attack. All it takes is communication between gryphon and rider. As we get closer to the coast, the outriders fall back into rank, streamlining the flock. Taiga's in front. She's easy to distinguish from the others: her gryphon is the largest, and it has metallic edges on its talons and wings which flash in the sunlight. She leans over to one side, and it responds - banking down to the right, to hang for an instant in the air just above the road. We follow without the slightest break in formation, or even using the reins as direction.
We land just off the path.

My rump is aching from too much time spent in the saddle. If anyone else feels the same, I can't tell. But then, I think that out of every Death Knight here, Taiga and I are the only living ones. I glance over at her as she starts talking. Looks perfectly comfortable. Maybe I'm just not used to it?

"I'll arrange for passage. Deidre? Kaan'fon? Are you here?" Taiga draws herself upright, the reins slack on her gryphon's neck. She glances around through the group. The others rearrange themselves to let the two she called move up through the ranks. Deidre is a human woman in her late twenties, with pale skin and short-cropped brown hair. Her runeblade is prominently slung over her back. Even with the eyes of a Death Knight, she isn't frightening. And from the way she uses her language, I bet she used to be a traveler.
Kaan'fon is less benevolent by a long shot. I don't know how old he is, or where he comes from - what matters is that he's one of Taiga's favorite Death Knights. He always wears armor with skins stretched over them, and there are runes engraved into his tusks which glow with a soft blue light. He's so pale and dried-out that I have to wonder if he doesn't have frostbite.

Taiga grins in their direction, but it's meant for all of us. "We can't let up our guard yet. I'll leave you a communicator so you can relay the paladins' location to the rest of us. Deidre, I'd like you to be in charge of negotiations. Kaan'fon, I'm give you three underlings to work with - you probably won't need them for the task, but you never know. Stick to the plan."

"Yes, Taiga." Deidre inclines her head and moves back into the group. I think she's frightened of Taiga, and I can't really blame her. Kaan'fon is less easily shaken. I've seen him ripping people's limbs off like a cruel child catching grasshoppers.

"Dat's fair. But if somefin' happens, I can' be followin' ya ruules."

"You can improvise if you need to. I'm giving you.." A pause. "-Seventy-two hours. We'll be in southern Stranglethorn by then, and I'll be able to pay you back for expenses." Deidre climbs back onto her gryphon and flies off, headed west again. I wonder what she's supposed to be doing. Kaan'fon makes a few quick signals to the other Death Knights amongst them. We use hand signals for short range communication, but even so, I can't make out what he's saying. He's too fast.
Whatever it is was effective. Several Death Knights break off from the group and begin to talk amongst themselves. That's probably his group. And I have no idea what their orders are either. Dammit.

Taiga waits passively until they've finished talking. But she's got that look on her face... a faint smile which I've learned to fear. "Carad, Kraggen, Arasarith. I'll be breaking up your group. Kraggen and Arasarith need to come with the others. Carad, will there be anything you need before you go north?"

Maybe it's supposed to be a punishment. I don't know those three enough to judge, nor am I highly ranked enough to get the sort of information that Kaan'fon and Taiga enjoy. But.. something's changed. The power in the group has shifted again. Arasarith catches my eye and looks away. Without really thinking of it, I start to speak.

"What are our plans once we get to Booty Bay? Why are we going there?"

Taiga looks away from me for a moment, preoccupied with taking the ties out of her hair. Only when it falls across her back in a long, silver sheet does she look at me again. And she's still got that smile.

"We join the others who're waiting for us."

We arrived in Booty Bay a few hours ago. I've been kept in the dark for too long about what we're doing. When Taiga left the Bay area, I followed after her, just out of sight. The rest of the Death Knights are taking care of business elsewhere. They won't notice my absence. I'm not important enough.

I wonder why we took a ship here, don't you? It makes no sense. Won't the dockkeepers willingly give information if you pay them?

Silence up ahead. Taiga leaves the path and sidles through the vegetation, which rustles softly in her wake. I hide in the ferns, waiting for her to keep walking before I follow. Her footsteps grow faint before I have the nerve to start climbing. She's heading up the back of the cliffs which border the Bay.

So I'm curious. Do you know where we all met? We were all Death Knights under the Lich King, of course, but it's not as if we worked together the way we do now. No - it all began when we were freed. That sudden feeling of change.. even the cold stone hall of Acherus was like a paradise. All of the Death Knights spoke to one another. We'd been working alongside one another for.. how long? Months, perhaps? Not once did we talk to one another just because we could. I remember it, but it's like part of a hazy dream.
We'd been through the same misery. That alone was enough to make it feel like we were kin. Brothers and sisters in death.

The numbers in Acherus dwindled as people returned to their homes. One by one they all left, and many of them returned. The world outside didn't want them, they said. Their families thought they were monsters and tried to make them leave. I don't know if you've ever been through complete isolation before, but it's a frightening thing. Especially after living through what we did: you'll look for any ways to make yourself real and whole again. You need others around. That's all you want out of life - people who won't hate you on sight. It doesn't matter if they don't like you, as long as they listen. So we turned to one another. Brothers and sisters, like I said. And I remember Taiga from back then. A kind person, who listened to other people, and asked them what they thought about so many important things. I had almost forgotten what it was like to have an opinion.

She became our leader. How could she not? She was the one who planned, who stood up for anyone who came to her in need. We may have officially been under the banner of the Ebon Blade, but it was the group of friends which had our allegiance. I remember the good times we had whenever we finished our duties. I never tried to return to my family like the others did. It sounds selfish, but I want them to remember me as a daughter, and little sister, and not as a killer. I don't want them to think badly of me. So those good times in the group were all I had left.

Everything happened so naturally. Taiga didn't bully us into doing what we did in the Vanguard. We all chose to stick together like always. Friends forever, protecting the happiness we had won in Zul'drak. The Trolls thought we were gods, and respected us. How was that wrong?

After the Argent Crusade came through, there was no peace. They couldn't stand the idea of Death Knights who wanted to do more than kill Scourge. Is it any wonder we struck them when we could?

Pad, pad, pad, pad. The top of the cliffs are close now, and we're out of the vegetation. Taiga's very far ahead, but I still linger behind, heart pounding. I don't want her to catch me following. Why am I doing this? For a moment, I think about going back. There's nothing to see here.

Then I realize that she's making a sharp beeline for the edge of the cliff. If she... no. she wouldn't jump and leave us alone. She has a responsibility to us, and she knows it. There's the sound of low voices amongst the stones. I can't hear them over the rumble of the nearby waterfall, and so I duck into the bushes to move closer. Inch by inch. Stay silent. When a fat barbed caterpillar inches its way over my hand, I don't make a sound: just flick it away as soon as possible, and wipe my hand off on the leaves underneath me. Ugh.

There's someone else here. Someone shorter than Taiga, and by the looks of it, another elf. She sits not far from the cliff's edge, staring down into it as if she'd like nothing better than to jump. Her ears are black. Frostbite. From the metallic edge in her voice, I know she's one of us.

"-Told you. I refuse."

"I followed you once," Taiga says in her soft voice to this other Death Knight. She sounds sad. "I need help to keep my kind safe until we cross the border. They're afraid of us. One of us was attacked in the Bay - I don't want to risk others dying." She takes off her right glove, and extends the hand to this other Death Knight. It's at a low enough angle that I can see it well. There's a large scar across her palm - messy, as if it wasn't cleanly cut. The other Death Knight turns to look at it, and I can see her face. Sickly-white, and very young. Younger than even Taiga.

"You followed me because you had to. Not as a favor."

"I could have freed myself. But I didn't. I swore to that runeblade of yours, and stayed in the Catacombs voluntarily. Remember the time I brought you back food from Silvermoon? I wouldn't have set foot out of the Catacombs if I was so terrified of you chasing me down." Taiga sits down next to the new Death Knight, looping her long ponytail over her shoulder so it won't trail on the stone. Just now, I realize there are bloodstains on the new Death Knight's bare hands.

"I do not recognize favors from you. Whether 'your' Death Knights need help or not, I don't care. You're the one with the responsibility to them." I wish I had a cup of hot cocoa. Used to love the stuff. The air of Stranglethorn Vale is supposed to be humid and warm, but it's not like that now. I fully expect to see the plants around me die from the cold which rises off the Death Knight in waves.
"Leave me be. That's all I want."

"Is that so?" That something in Taiga's voice is something I've never heard before. I've caught glimpses of temper before - she gets mad like any other person now and then - but nothing quite like this. She glances around at the cliffs, and looks back to the other elf, wearing a faint smile. "I heard that a few months ago, you were a renegade here. People were afraid for their lives, and they hunted you whenever they could."

"Go away." The other Death Knight presses one bloodstained hand to her face, and I wonder if she's trying to hide it.

"All we're trying to do is pass through the jungle, and we can't even do that. You made the people fear us." A pause. "I could.. clear up the misconceptions between us and the rest, but it would take time. And my kin are unprotected."

"I refuse." Silence. Then Taiga stands up, and walks away over the stone. She's leaving. The other Death Knight continues to sit there, looking out over the Bay. Crap. How am I going to get up and leave if she's still there?

I end up caught under the bush for a long time, pondering what I saw. Now I really wish I had something hot to warm up. But I think to myself - what if I'm not the only one missing the big picture? What if the others.. are just in the dark about it as I am?

I've got a fair bit to tell today.
Taiga called a halt on the borders of Stranglethorn, and went back to investigate something personally. The rest of us found a good place in the woods to stay hidden from the weather. Arasarith helped us form several of our traveler's tents into a larger one. It was far enough off the road that nobody could see.

We waited inside during the rain, and played a game with knucklebones which Kaan'fon lent us. When my turn was over, I borrowed one of the bones and went off to look at it. It has patterns I've seen before on runeblades. I have to wonder where he got them from - they're much too large to belong to any sapient race (except maybe Tauren. Do Tauren have knucklebones like that?)

By the time I came back, the others were handing out prizes. Mostly money from our pooled supplies, but a few of them gave trinkets instead. Arasarith traded me a long sheathed knife with an antler handle. I have a collection of weaponry, and it makes a beautiful addition. She remembered!

I remember seeing that knife on the dirt-stained snow in the middle of the Vanguard. It belonged to someone we killed - I remember her face, white and terrified. Fear or blood loss? I don't know. That knife was the one she pulled out of its sheath when she was disarmed. With it, she sliced open the flesh over my ribs. And then I killed her.

Someone else must have picked it up. I won't tell Arasarith. She only wanted to give me something nice.

Van Gestel (he's the disease specialist. He moved up in our ranks because of his work in Zul'drak with the trolls) was on watch. He alerted us when Taiga returned. She arrived over the trees and landed near the tents, followed by another bone gryphon-rider. This one was familiar, but only to me: the one I overheard Taiga talking to the other day. It looked like she'd been recruited after all. We get that a lot.
She looked my way, not blinking or breathing. Just staring. Mograine's breath, it was creepy. I don't think I was the only one to think that either.

That's not the really strange thing though. Not by a long shot. After those two arrived, Taiga and Carad performed a ritual of some sort, carving a large rune into the bare ground. It wasn't one I recognized, but that's not surprising. Carad used to be an inscriptionist before he died, and he still practices it - although it's taken a much darker turn lately. The symbol took almost an hour to draw properly, even with two people working on it. If you walked close enough you could feel a pressure in the air. Almost like the way diving feels if you swim too deep. After it was finished, I waited until the others began to pack up, then went back to that patch of ground.

I'm not really sure how to explain what I saw. It seemed to be both Shadow and Light rising from the ground, but that makes it sound so insignificant. Something about it felt wrong - horribly wrong.
And then I began to hear the whispers.

The new Death Knight was the one who came back to search for me. I'm not sure how long I was sitting there. She put her hands on my shoulders and shook me awake, then pulled me upright when I didn't get up on my own. We returned to the others with barely a word exchanged except 'thank you'. When we were flying, I noticed she kept her gryphon close to mine in the formation. I'm not really sure what to think of her now. The best thing to do would probably be to repay the favor somehow, then try to avoid her. Some Death Knights are just bad news.

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We arrived in the Catacombs yesterday, and took our time to settle in. It's grim and dark, and makes me feel a little claustrophobic, but it has its good points. Nobody looks twice at us here, or tries to avoid us. Some of the places are very picturesque too - it's like being in the setting of a story. Since Taiga was off negotiating with some of the authorities, I spent almost all of my time wandering around to explore. It's an amazing place. That's all I can say about it: laboratories, massive rooms for any large function, lots of smaller rooms for people to live in, several locked rooms for prisons, an aquatic pool which I think is a reflecting pool (or it's just there for some kind of decoration. I can't picture anyone wanting to swim in it.), and an abundance of guards. I've gotten a lot less squeamish since becoming a Death Knight, so this is a perfect place on almost all counts.

Most of my other friends picked out rooms too. They obviously won't be able to sleep in them, but we all know it's nice to have a little personal space to keep stuff in and work on their favorite projects. Van Gestel keeps shooing people out of the laboratory - I think he claimed it for himself. I haven't seen Rik around (he must be out exploring still), but maybe now he'll have a place to keep his metalworking. I should keep pestering him to collaborate with Carad to make weapon runes, or custom runeblades. Right. Anyhow. My room's a little smaller than most, and it doesn't have any decoration except for a rather pretty brass lamp. I've already laid out my collection, which makes it look much nicer. Well-polished metal has a way of doing that.

Oh. It's almost time. I got a note from Taiga a little while ago; Deidre brought it to me on her way down to the lower levels. She apparently wants to speak to me about something. I check the time - I have this terrific little pendant which keeps time as long as I remember to maintain it - and leave for Taiga's quarters.

True to form, hers are already beautiful-looking. The room's no larger than the rest of ours, and it's not far away, but it's much nicer. There are icy-blue hangings on the walls, trailing silver fringe. What's visible of the stone has been buffed almost to a shine. The desk, and drawers both have stone sculptures and other oddities arranged on top of them. Taiga, who is seated at the desk and writing a letter, looks up at me as I come in.

"Terry! Would you like a seat?" She nods over at the extra chair in the room. I bet she placed it here just for visitors. I sit down with a smile of thanks. It's hard to keep my eyes off her: she's similarly decked out in blue, with a necklace of twinkling silver-blue stones I don't know the name of. There is some pattern embroidered into the front of her shirt in silver thread.

"Thanks. What's this about? It sounded like it was important."

"Oh, I assure you it is. Kaan'fon and I were thinking this over earlier. We've decided you'd be an excellent person to help us with the ceremony here."

"Ceremony?"

Taiga grins. "That's what I call it because I'm pompous and I know it. It's really more of a celebration. You saw what we summoned earlier in Duskwood? If everything goes according to plan, the paladins will be getting their comeuppance quite soon. We've spent long enough on the run - it's time to enjoy ourselves a little." I pause, not quite sure what to ask. The embroidery on her shirt glints as she leans back in her chair.

"What's that a symbol of?" I ask suddenly. She gives me an amused look.

"It's the crest of Serynzheri House. My father was the head of Serynzheri, and I'm his only child. So it's only fitting, even if someone else is the official leader." Wait, just a moment. This is starting to sound odd.

"Are elven customs that different from ours? Usually, the firstborn always inherits."

"That's not quite the problem. You see, I am what's crudely referred to as a 'bastard child'." She crosses one leg over the other, resting it. She's still smiling. "When all's said and done, the House still belongs to me. So I wear the crest as a reminder. Now, how about the celebration? I'd like your advice on what to do with those paladins after they're ours."

We lapse into a conversation about the ceremony/party (whatever the name is). I can barely wait to see what happens next.

I lied, you know. About trying to run away from the Catacombs while I still could. But... by now, it's plain to everyone. Especially the paladins. I betrayed their trust and manipulated their desire to do what was right. I led them into what should have been their doom.

Betrayer once.

The battle is over, and evening is settling over the forest. As if it wasn't dark enough already. Just over to the east, in the grassy clearing with several of the other Knight's bodies, I can see the paladins filling their hands with holy fire to use as torches. They stand off awkwardly, paired off - elf and elf, and human and human. Doing all of the usual things cleaning up after a battle requires. The forest is so silent, I can hear the low murmur of their speech.

Over here on the ledge is where I held off three of them to keep them from attacking the paladins from behind. I sit down with a soft thump on the dirt. My eyes sting more than my wounds do. This can't be real. Something must have been misinterpreted - this can't be them. Those people lying barely feet from me are people who loved me when the world turned its back on us. No matter the bloodstains, their shattered armor, and the cold stares with which they regard everything before them. I keep hoping to see their chests rise and fall before realizing.. I have never seen any of them breathe before. A hand moves and I hold my breath before realizing that it's only the faint moonlight coming in through the trees.

Rik. Underneath his gruff exterior, so typically Dwarven, he was such a thoughtful person. I used to watch him at his smithing work, and we'd talk of anything that came to our minds. He reminded me of my father - only, he had seen more of the world than my father had.

Deidre. We argued often and well. No matter what it was, we argued about it. I know she used to be a traveler once; she could talk to some of the others in their own tongues, and showed me once how to build a fire with flint and tinder and scraps when I was cold in Icecrown.

Arasarith. She was the one who explained to me the customs of Elune, and told me stories about Ashenvale and Moonglade. Her kin hadn't wanted her back, and she mourned for it. Privately, she told me she thought herself to be a monster who killed only for her gain. I told her she was no worse than a wild animal who killed only what was needed to live.
The smile she gave me was proof that she wasn't the unfeeling monster others saw in her.

I know there are more of them in the forest. Gone. All of them, killed for defending what they believed in. Killed for protecting one another. Killed for the foolishness of following a silver-tongued liar thought to be the most ardent defender of our rights. Killed because I didn't have the guts to either speak the truth, or leave without them. Some of them, killed by my own hand.

Betrayer twice.

When did it become so cold? I pull Arasarith's cloak out from under her shoulders and wrap it around mine. But there's no warmth for it to keep inside. Just a far away cold feeling, as if I'm not really here. I'm sorry, Arasarith. But sorry for you, or for taking your cloak? I can't think right now, but I'll tell you later.
The paladins are still talking. I risk a glance down there, and see that they're gathered around in a circle. They must have cleared off a patch of ground earlier - a small fire built from gathered wood crackles on it. Off to the side I can see a new circle drawn. Did they do it already? Did they fix what we had summoned earlier? Truth be told, I was too deep in my own misery to notice.

I get up and walk away from the clearing, ignoring their surprised glances and words. Deeper in the forest, it's cooler and quieter. The faint musty breeze blows by me like a sending from the Catacombs, calling me back. Back. Back to her. I scratch at my neck without thinking, and pull my hand away with a gasp at the pain. I must have been much more zealous at cutting the rune out than I thought. It was only skin-deep and the cut goes beyond that. The thick crust of dried blood cracks away.

And Taiga. She was lying to us the entire time - if I've been the catalyst, then she's the root cause of this. But I won't lie to myself. I swore allegiance once, because she was a kind and reasonable person to lead us. I used to love her as much as the others. And I broke the oath before she gave me a reason.

Betrayer thrice.

If nothing else, I'll go back to the Catacombs alone to face her. To what end? I don't know. What will I do now that there's nothing left?

Everything is so still. So quiet. So cold. The cloak is ragged, but it keeps the worst of this new cold away. I can hear my footsteps crunching the dead leaves, and the soft sound of my own breath. Beyond that, nothing. Until I can see the glint of runic-blue eyes and silver hair down on the barren grey road. In the moonlight, it all seems to blend into itself. But I know what I'm seeing.

In the middle of the road to nowhere, in the dead of night, Taiga bows to me. The moonlight shining in through the trees bleaches everything to silver and black. Everything except her. She stands there and smiles at me before stepping forward. Everything else is so still. If I listened, could I hear the paladins around their fire? They must be south of me somewhere.
Could they hear me if they listened?

"It's over. They're gone. If you had played your part better.. we'd all be down in the Catacombs, enjoying our celebration and reaping the fruit of our labors. Arasarith wanted to give you something this evening. A present, I believe."

A knife. She couldn't have hurt me more if she stuck that antler-handled knife from the Vanguard into my stomach. Maybe.. I'm reading something into this. Maybe she's saying it to make it hurt.

Concentrate

"Taiga. Why?" There, the bald truth. I can hear my voice crack and know she'll think worse of me for it. Her mouth curls into the faintest sneer. The only reason I recognize it is because I've known her for so long.

"It was there from the start, laid out in front of you. You saw what started it all, or at least you should've.. but lonely people will do some very stupid things to belong." She reaches back and unsheathes one of her swords. I know them so well: two swords cored with steel, with thin layers of rune-carved ice on them. I look back up to her face with a jolt, and realize she's still gazing at me. This time, she's smiling. "Or they do it for love. Don't they, Theresa?"

"Don't talk about my friends that way!" I shout at her. A fat black raven is startled, and bursts into the canopy with a rush of wings. "Not.. not now. They're gone. Leave them alone.. just pick on me like you're obviously planning to. It doesn't matter anymore if you do. Just... kill me if you have to.." I can't believe this is happening - any of it. So it doesn't matter what I say.

"I see. Perhaps." Back to being quiet. She walks around me, sword in hand, and I think of the time I saw a snake hypnotize a rabbit. "Why couldn't you have been an elf? Things would have been different between us. At the very least, you'd' have been better company-" that ever-present smile. She flicks the tip of the sword up to my neck before I can see to block it. The blade presses into the hollow of my throat. And I'm too far gone to feel the pain from it now.

"S-s-ssee? I knew it. You're going to kill me too." So cold. My mouth is slow to form the words, and for some reason, it's funny. Before I realize what I'm doing, I'm giggling. "Why? We used to be friends. Doesn't any of it matter anymore to you? Didn't you feel anything for us?" I'm shouting now. Why? "They're dead! All of them!"

My concentration wavers, and then comes back. For a moment, I wonder why I'm standing here, and why my left hand feels number than the rest of me. Dumbly, I raise my hand and look at it. One of the fingers is missing. There is a rush of warmth on the outside, as the blood begins to flow freely. On the inside, I feel so much colder. And Taiga is still watching me.

"I don't care. You're disgusting. All of you, with your pointless little mementos and those games you play. And now - you don't even have the courtesy of at least pretending that you suffer." The blade seems to move of its own accord, slicing by in a flash of metal and severing another finger. Another rush of warmth coming from the inside, and cold coming from the outside. No pain. Is this what they call shock? I don't see why. I'm perfectly rational right now.

..So cold...

Warmth seems to be leaving me, and I wrap myself in Arasarith's old cloak more tightly. It's only then that I see the spreading stain on my front. Black, even in the moonlight. The heat of my body seeps out with the blood, and there's no keeping it in. No stopping it.. no turning back the time. My heart thunders in my ears so loudly that I can't hear what Taiga's saying. She has no power over me..

A blur. My cheek is pressed up against the jagged rocks in the road. They're cold too. The puddle forming underneath me is the warmest thing, and the heat is fading quickly. I try to reach out for Taiga as she steps by me, but my arm is too heavy to lift. Too slow. Instead, I watch her as she walks down the moonlit road into the distance.
Because there's nothing else I can do.

....It's over.....

Goodbye, Arasarith.

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[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_RfbEJIhWQ[/youtube]