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10.2.7
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The Frozen North (Page 44)
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Post by
Morec0
((
Transition pages and action! Hurray!
This is terribad. Don't read it. Just... don't. ))
The next week that Nilon spent at the tournament proved to be truly eye-opening. He had joined his brother in the Horde pavilion after some thought and found that the Horde he had thought was nothing more than races allied together out of convenience to be filled with honor, perhaps more than even the Alliance. Individual Horde members he had met – such as Thragg Earthbreaker – had proven him wrong before.
This was no mere collaboration of outcast, this was a
brotherhood
. Brothers and sisters in honor, every last one. Even the Forsaken – although watched closely – were welcome to drink and sing with the orcs, trolls, tauren, and Nilon’s own blood elf kin.
Unfortunately this was not the scene that nilon currently found himself in. The vision that the paladin stared our upon was one of blood mixed with snow, bodies strewn throughout. And still he and Jason cut their way through the cultists at Deathspeaker’s Watch, slaughtering their way through to reach their destination of the command station that looked down on it.
“We’ve almost made it, Sir Nilon!” Jason yelled, slamming his sword through the chest of one cultist and bashing another’s skull in with his shield. The blood elf did not reply as he continued to cut through the cultists. Blood from the cultists and magic from both sides flew through the air but the two living continued to push on, seemingly unstoppable.
After some effort they reached the base of the overlook and secured the area enough so that they would not have to worry about being attacked as they climbed. They began their ascent immediately.
“Sir Nilon, stop!” the paladin heard Jason call him when they were about halfway up, slowing his ascent and looking over his shoulder to see what the warrior was talking about. “Look up, in the sky!”
Nilon did, just in time to see a frost wyrm land on the overlook. “Morec,” he muttered and continued his climb. Behind him, though, he managed to hear Jason’s next warning; “don’t do anything foolish, Sir Nilon.”
Morec was still seething with fury as he dismounted Umbragos. Because of his failed defense of Scourgeholme the Lich King had stripped him of much of his power and demoted him to alongside the cultists that Morec – personally – considered to be a part of the fodder the heroes slaughtered daily. Replacing him as Scourgelord was a man named Tyrannus – a man who, although fairly powerful, Morec knew would one day be slain by no more than five allies of the Crusade and a handful of slaves.
Still, Morec did not hate his king for the decision he had made; after all,
he
was the one who had failed in his charge. He was sure the Lich King still looked upon him with some favor, though, for instead of being sent to die with the other common undead among the ramparts of Icecrown’s gates he had been charged with overseeing the resurrection of one of the Scourge’s most loyal. He had also been allowed to retain BLoodfester, Umbragos, and a handful of undead warriors to use at his discretion.
And he would use them carefully to regain his king’s favor.
“Kohler,” he said, crossing his dreadplate-armored arms – as his Scourgelord armor had also been taken from him – and looking around for the doctor, “the Lich King demands another report of your progress.”
“Of course, of course,” the sickly undead man said as he turned away from a cage and walked towards Morec – the cages occupant, a dwarf in Argent Crusade armor, mocking and taunting Kohler as he walked away. Kohler then turned and looked at the altar. “Marvelous, isn’t it? Stitched together like an abomination and then infused with the power of just souls.” He referred to, of course, the now lifeless crusader bodies tied to the adjacent alters. “Our friend the Black Knight will be ready to go back into battle any moment now.”
“And your certain he will succeed this time?” Morec asked. “The Lich King is quickly running out of patience for failure.”
“Do not worry,” Kohler replied with a laugh. “It would take at least five people three tries to finally kill him.”
“Those odds are not reassuring,” Morec muttered, noting how close Kohler’s speculation of the Black Knight’s power was to his expectations of Tyrannus’ death.
“I jest, I jest,” Kohler admitted with a laugh. “He is much more powerful than that.”
Morec nodded and looked over his shoulder as a geist came bounding across the overlook. “Master,” it gargled. “We have located the Crusader.”
Morec smiled, knowing full well whom the minion was referring to. While he had still possessed the mantle of Scourgelord he had battled a Crusader named Bridenbrad in this area of Icecrown. After a long trial of power he had managed to overcome the Light’s protection over the Crusader, giving the Plague of Undeath a chance to infect him. He had thought the Crusader would simply succumb to the disease, but when no undead sharing his appearance had stumbled into his ranks he had become determined to find Bridenbrad and finish the job.
And now this was his chance, a chance to prove himself to the Lich King as well. “Gather my forces and meet me to the south. Then lead me to him.” The geist nodded and jumped off. “For now, Kohler, my business with you is concluded. I will return when I am finished with my errand.”
“Take your time,” Kohler said, turning to walk back towards the cage as Morec mounted umbrages and took to the sky.
Nilon scowled as he saw Morec fly away. He had hesitated at Jason’s request, and he wouldn’t admit it but a part of himself had told him not to attack, and now he had lost yet another chance to get his revenge. He pulled himself up onto the overlook, drew his sword, and charged Kohler.
“What is this?” Kohler said, turning to see Nilon. His dead eyes widened. “Wait… you! I remember you; in Azjol-Nerub! What is this?” Before he could ponder what was occurring further, Nilon separated his head from his shoulder.
“Your rage is impressive,” an echoing voice off to the paladin’s side began, “but your strength is too dependent on it. Without it you could not even compare to the Scourge’s most insignificant ghouls.” On an altar at the back of the overlook stood a tall, badly-rotten death knight.
Had it not been for the armor the knight wore and his voice, Nilon would have never recognized him as the Black Knight. He gripped the hilt of his sword and charged, intending to slay the minion of the Scourge. The Knight did not move until Nilon was bringing his sword down towards his head, shooting out a hand to grab the blade of the elf’s sword and kicking him square in the stomach.
“Also,” the Black Knight continued, “it leaves you unfocused.” With a powerful coil of death he sent Nilon flying backwards. Jason charged to meet the death knight blade-for-blade, but with a minor wave of his hand the Scourge-servitor created shadowy chains that tightened around the warrior’s neck and pulled him back several yards.
Nilon was dazed and still recovering from the blow of the necromantic magic when the Black Knight walked up to him. He grabbed the blood elf by the throat and held him over the edge of the Overlook. “I could kill you and your friend here and now,” he gloated, “but I need you to deliver a message to your superiors; the Lich King will not be bested. Not now, not ever.”
The Black Knight merely chuckled as the elf glared at him. “You wish to challenge this fact? Very well. Participate in the next show your petty little ‘coliseum’ sponsors. I will meet you there.” He threw Nilon back onto the floor and then jumped off of the structure himself. Seconds later he rose into the air on the back of a skeletal gryphon and flew off into the distance.
Nilon picked up his sword and hurried to aid Jason, destroying the dark chains with Light. “What happened?” the warrior asked, coughing and gratefully taking fresh air into his lungs.”
Was Nilon’s sole reply; “I was just convinced to enter the coliseum.”
Post by
355559
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
Morec0
I have to agree. And, in all honesty, I'm running out of motivation to keep this going. The next page is fine up untill the end, maybe I'll edit it as I'm writting but, in all honesty, I'm just now looking to end this.
I'll try and take a bit more time and caution with writting the final battle.
Post by
576272
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
Morec0
Writer's Commentary
:
I'd say this is the worst page I ever wrote... but I'm afraid it gets worse. On the plus side its a bit of a wake-up call, and I will do my best to pull out all of the stops in the final battle.
I once teased the idea of going into a dungeon as a part of the story, and looking back at what I've written of it I regret deciding to do so against the advice of my readers. Unfortunately it is the best way to wrap things up before the conclusion.
I appologize for this chapter. I'm sorry. I'm sorry I made this.
Morec, House of Rivendare
:
*holds up money*
I'm not sorry.
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