A Heart of Iron, A Soul of Fire

[Grogloki]

CAUGHT OFF GUARD


Thunder rumbled through the mountains of The Storm Peaks, a plate boot plopped down hard sinking into the crunching snow. This plated boot belonged to a man known throughout Azeroth as “The Butcher” though some knew him as Itheros Blackheart; he was a Knight in The Ebon Blade and he was sent on a mission... little did he know what was instore.




Itheros knelt down next to his Gryphon; he traced a hand over a foot print that was quickly being covered by snow. The sound of thunder could be heard in the distance. The Death Knight stood fully upright to see across the canyon, he stared at what was known as the famed city of Ulduar. Itheros removed his hood with an icy exhale of cool breath, it had been nearly two hours since he tossed his Wind Stone into a canyon a few miles up in the mountains and he tried hard to push the thought from his mind. The Butcher had to focus on the task at hand, he was a professional and that meant all of his skills needed to be front and center for the final act that was about to take place should he find his target. Itheros spoke more to himself than anyone.


“Where is this damned fool, I have been searching these mountains for two days and nothing….”


The man Itheros tracked was more of a whisper through the walls of Ebon Hold that anything else, many knew of him though few spoke his name; he was a Captain until he defected and switched sides betraying the Blade during the war with Arthas. The Blade was none too fond of Itheros though either, they knew of his “side jobs” that he took on for his own personal amusement; the Blade turned a blind eye to Itheros when it came to that because when the time came Itheros was always front and center and ready to deal death to whomever the Blade required him too.


Itheros shook his head lost in thoughts; he replaced his hood upon his head, sinking into the void it provided. Giving one final look around he climbed atop his Gryphon and heeled it hard in the ribs sending it soaring into the white haze that drifted through the snow covered mountains near Ulduar. The hunt was far from over….


Itheros soared through the air on the back of his Ebon Gryphon, he was careful to keep a watchful eye on his surroundings as he twisted and dove through the mountains of The Storm Peaks. The Butcher yanked hard on the right reign bringing him around a large super structure that looked very old, it was circular like a portal with a steel iris. While the Gryphon circled Itheros squinted for a closer look, his eyes widened as he saw a small black object growing in size headed his way from the mountain side. The black object quickly took the shape of a hand; Itheros sprang to the opposite side of his Gryphon as the large hand smashed into the winged creature. With a forceful grip the hand clasped down hard, it yanked the bird and Itheros down to the mountain side in a thunderous bloom of debris and snow. The Butcher stood kicking his Gryphon out of the way with a forceful boot.



“Get the hell out of my way bird!”


Itheros drew his blades with such force his sheaths gave a faint spark; he scanned to snow drift in front of him. It was bare. Itheros spat into the snow and shouted.


“Show yourself you pathetic whelp! Perhaps I'll do you a favor and grant you the mercy of a swift death.”



A voice came echoing from all sides. Itheros tried to pin-point it but the closeness of the mountains made it difficult.



“They would send another?... After so many have fallen… Pathetic.”



The voice was calm, yet cold. Itheros stood ready his fangs bared for his enemy, his eyes flicked from the mountain side back to the snow drift and back to the mountain side. A rustling sound was heard in front of him before Itheros could react a large festering yellow skull exploded from the snow drift colliding with his chest, the force of the blow sent him airborne flying backwards off the cliff side. Itheros gave a shout of rage!




“COWARD!!!”



Itheros thought to shoot a Death Grip towards the cliff side but realized the distance was too great for his power to reach. With an angry grunt Itheros placed a hand on his chest. Runes appearing all over his body, his blood ran colder than usual and suddenly froze solid. He prepared himself for impact with a grit of his teeth. The Death Knights plated body crashed with force into a ravine, it bounced off of a few rocks here and there but finally came to rest and sank into the snow drift as more snow piled down on top of him creating an icy tomb for the time being….






The silence of the dark was numbing, Itheros lay still in a pool of nothingness. The Deathknight slowly opened his eyes to see the void, he slowly tried to move but couldn't it felt as if his body was being held in place by some unseen force. There was a small light know flickering in the distance, Itheros thought for a moment he heard a woman's voice call to him.


“Itheros… Wake up child…. Wake up!”


The voice boomed.


“WAKE UP BOY!”


Itheros knew the voice now, it was no woman. He hated this voice. The voice that haunted him every moment of his undeath, he clenched his fist hard.


“Father….”


Itheros whispered quietly to himself, a hateful whisper. He tried to push up with all his might now, the voice fueling his hate and drive. The canyon was bare, except for the plated fist that erupted from the snow bank at the bottom. Itheros snarled as he clawed the rest of the way out from his icy tomb, he sat up hair falling into his face. With a cold hand he removed the blue hair from his vision, his eyes offering a cool greyish blue iris that for a moment resembled a sapphire. Itheros glanced skyward at the stars, his head drifting to the side as he thought of a woman. Snow began to fall softly; the Deathknight stared at a cluster of stars to the North West. Itheros jerked his head as the memory of what happened to him flooded his thoughts, he bared his fangs and growled low as his eyes became ablaze with blue light. He stood his full height shaking the snow from his body and jerking up his leather hood.


“Now where the hell did he go…..”


Itheros whistled loudly, the sound echoing throughout the ravine. A large winged beast made from bones, the skeletal Gryphon that is gifted to all Deathknights of the Ebon Blade descended into the small canyon. The Deathknight mounted the creature and gave it a merciless kick in the ribs.


“Move it you sack of bones!”


With a roar of protest the Gryphon sprang into the air, Itheros jerked the reigns hard heading upward towards the mountain top where he had fallen from. He spotted another Gryphon's tracks the pattern of the tracks hinted that it took flight in a western direction. With another tug on the reigns the Gryphon shifted towards the west. Itheros drove the Gryphon onward with fury, he whipped and kicked the undead creature with a new found hate for his prey. The winds of the Storm Peaks howled past catching his cape, the Butcher kept a close watchful eye at any mountain ridges that he neared determined not to let his concentration slack again. Snow fell about him as he flew weaving in and out of mountain tops, something caught his eye as he rounded a peak on the North Western sea coast near Ice Crown; the image of a man riding a winged creature could be seen flying casually against the wind. Itheros tightened his grip on the reigns and sent his Gryphon darting after its prey; he gave a shout as he neared the rider.


“You'll have to do better than that you whelp!”

With the hateful words spewing from his fanged mouth Itheros pointed his hand and loosed a howling blast of icy wind at the rider, the blast sent the figure and his Gryphon toppling towards a mountain side. The rider of the Gryphon gave a quick tug on the reigns bringing the beast on an upward arch headed back at Itheros, the Butcher narrowed his eyes and shouted at the figure.


“If that's the way you wanna play it, THAT'S FINE WITH ME!”


Itheros slammed his heels into his Gryphon and began an inverted dive for the rider of the other Gryphon, he grinned slightly showing his fangs as he anticipated the collision that was seconds away. It was a deafening sound as the two Gryphons slammed into eachother their bones becoming entangled, Itheros struggled to hand onto his beasts reigns his eyes flared as he remembered being in this situation before with another Deathknight. The rider of the other Gryphon quickly began to climb over to Itheros's undead bird. The Butcher narrowed his gaze as the riders hood was blown back by the wind to reveal another Deathknight, Itheros met the Knight's advance with steel plated fury as his fist slammed into the riders jaw bone. Wind swirled around them as the two Gryphons clawed at each other while they struggled to free themselves from one another. Itheros tried to draw his blade but the other Deathknight slammed his foot down on the pommel, the renegade Deathknight spoke.


“Ith-.. Itheros Blackheart?... Brother, do you not remember me?”


Memories flooded the Butcher's mind once more as he recalled the man's face.


“Sir… Ca-.. Captain Arius?”


Itheros recovered and sent another fist smashing into Arius's jaw line. With a tumble Arius went over the side clasping onto the reigns of the Gryphon sending both locked creatures into a downward spiral. Sounds of splintering bone and shattering shattered steel rang out as the large mass of crazed combat collided with the mountain side; both Deathknights struggled to drag themselves from the bone wreckage and snow that surrounded them on the ridge. Arius stood first he drew his rune blade in a very unconventional fashion; from the bottom with a half folded grip. Itheros went for his twin blades ripping them from their resting place. The two warriors stood for a long moment one that seemed to go on forever, their gazed both remained locked on the other. Arius spoke a warning.


“This is your last chance Blackheart. I am no longer bound by your Ebon Blade.”


“We are all bound to the Blade Arius. You should know that, the price for your stupidity is what remains of your worthless life shall be extinguished here and now. I will be your judge, your jury, and I am your executioner.”


“You really think you have what it takes to best me?.... I trained you, I shaped you. You could have been a great weapon of destruction… instead you chose to follow this pathetic rabble that call themselves the Ebon Blade.”


“Do not pretend to know me whelp. You wanted a weapon of destruction, well one stands before you. I am an unchecked force of wrath, the long arm of the Blade reaching out to bring wayward stragglers like you to an end, I am death embodied.”


“Well then come death, show me this wrath you speak of.”

Arius took a high guard with his two handed rune blade; Itheros sank low into his crouched stance. The two charged each other the battle beginning in a hail storm of steel and sparks as the blades met time and time again. Itheros employed his X-block technique against the large heavy blade of Arius but one shot smashed through leaving a large ichor coated blood line down the left side of his face, the strike came to rest midway down his chest plate with the scratch of the blade obviously seen engraved in the metal. He had to put the failure out of his mind, the two raged on hate driving both men. Arius was the more gifted when it came to using the rune magic's that are taught to every Deathknight, sending a large ice shard rocketing at Itheros. The Butcher barely managed to dodge the large projectile, Itheros countered with a death grip to Arius's right ankle. Itheros yanked Arius off his feet and sent his crashing down to the ground. Arius quickly recovered, both Deathknights standing neutral neither having gotten the better of the other. Itheros shot an icy stare at Arius and spoke.


“Surrender Arius, you cannot win…”

“Oh really?... And who is going to beat me you?”

Arius sounded out a crazed cackle that was carried on the wind howling down the mountain side. Itheros stood a little straighter than he usually would as he brought his left hand low and cross his right hand slightly over it. He spoke smooth.

“I have you Arius; this is your last warning.”

“You think highly of your skills Itheros, perhaps too highly.”

Arius sprang towards him, taking a high guard. Itheros whirled low; he feinted with his right and sank deep with his left. It was a move he rarely used, it was taught to him when he was young before he joined the afterlife. Arius was unprepared for the strike as the blade bit deep into his flesh sliding through his armor like a hot knife through butter, the shot was well placed, and it severed the lower spinal column while spilling the lower intestine. Itheros withdrew from the combat with a leap; he stood for a moment as he watched Arius struggle to stand. The crippled Deathknight raged as he called out.

“Damn you Itheros!... DAMN YOU AND THE BLADE!”

Itheros grinned a little, his fangs showing. He slowly walked over to the twitching body of Arius; he inspected the wound with the tip of his left handed sword.

“Arius. You have been charged with betrayal. Any last pathetic words whelp?”

“Go to hell Itheros… you could have been so much more!”

Itheros sheathed his left sword, reaching back with his left hand he pulled his leather hood up.

“There is no Itheros here. Tonight… the eyes that judge your soul are not those of a man, or elf. No, tonight… the only figure that stands before you… is The Butcher.”

Itheros wasted no time in severing the head and burning the body, while the Deathknight watched his thoughts drifted. He remembered being caught off guard at their previous meeting, and the reason for his mishap. Itheros remembered a woman who reminded him of someone, he sank deeper into the void of his hood.

“That mistake will NOT happen again….”

He spoke to the dancing flames on the mountain side. Itheros glanced up to the North Western star cluster he named, his eyes flared with rage as he looked at them. With his icy demeanor returning Itheros brought his cloak up tightly around him before heading off into the white haze of snow that blanketed the Strom Peaks. He was heading for Dalaran, and death followed with him.

[Grogloki]

(( Revised the post, so it would be easier to read, Part two coming soon ))

[Kreah]

I very much enjoyed that, though I do struggle reading blue on black a little, nevertheless very nice story.