| abstract
| - A lonely horsemen wrapped in a dark robe and hood rode quietly through the forgotten roads of what once was a glorious forest belonging to the High elves of Lordearon. The horseman glanced upward as the few sunrays that could pass through the fog high above the trees strayed his face. Despite his reservations he smiled a little, pretending he could actually feel those rays on his green skin. His black steed whined as it slowed down. Several figures appeared in bright red armour. He distinguished four. The three in front he could hear wearing plate, wielding a long shield and a wicked blade. The last one wore a robe, not unlike the horseman himself, though he wore plate underneath. The figures walked up to him as they held a defensive position around the robe wearing one. The Horseman glanced down as he recognised the passers by. Pale pink skin, long ears, green eyes....Blood elves, allies. The three plated warriors were male, the robe, a mage...nay, a Blood mage the horseman recalled was female. ‘Scourge or Ebon Hold?!’ One of the warrior shouted. The Horseman barely blinked, the shadows of his hood hiding his identity. ‘Scourge or Ebon Hold?!’ he asked again. ‘Last time I-‘ The Blood mage placed her hand on the warrior. ‘Stand down Spellbreaker, he is one of the Ebon Blade.’ ‘With all due respect Magister Aminel, how do you know?’ The female grinned. ‘If he was one of the Scourge, he would have slain us by now.’ The Horseman grinned behind his hood. ‘Hardly a positive thought female.’ He said in a deep growling voice. ‘Then again, I do not expect such from a dying race.’ The warrior who spoke earlier glared. ‘You hold your tongue you undead!’ The Horseman neared the spellbreaker, his breath making the warrior shiver. ‘Only speak when spoken to.’ He pulled back and aimed his attention back to the Blood Mage. ‘I am looking for a group of run a way group of acolytes and a Necromancer, have you seen any recently?’ The mage nodded. ‘Recently a group of Scourge minions have fled to Deatholme after we all received word of the Lich King’s death, the Necromancer managed to steal a large number of undead to serve him as body guards.’ ‘Does the Necromancer have a name?’ the horseman asked. ‘Who is to know?’ The spellbreaker replied with a question. The Horseman glared at the blood elf, his blue glowing orbs glaring the warrior down. He reached for his back, showing the Blood elven patrol a long scythe. It was not the same as the one the humans used to gather their crops. On a closer look it seemed to shine with a cold blue aura, small runes imbedded on it’s edge. ‘They named me Kar’tal, the horseman of Death...I intend to claim the necromancer and his followers.’ The mage nodded. ‘I see...he is a human, with the name is Marius Arlington, he called his name throughout the dead scar after he gained control of Deatholme, calls himself a Overlord’ ‘How long?’ ‘One month ago.’ ‘Where is this Deatholme?’ Aminel pointed to the east where darkness itself seemed incarnate. The Horseman grinned once more as he told his horse to head east. ‘You truly plan to kill him and his minions all by yourself?’ She asked. ‘not even an army can penetrate their defences.’ ‘Death does not need an army...’ Kar’tal replied and rode off. As the horseman left the spellbreaker said his mind. ‘He is insane, why does he wish to assault a citadel not even the Blood Knights can claim?’ Aminel shrugged. ‘He is a man set on a quest of vengeance.’ One of the other spellbreakers, who seemed older then the others, spoke. ‘I know that look...who knows, he might succeed.’ The Horseman rode on the Dead scar, a path of dead earth left behind by the undead army who assaulted the High elves in Quel’thalas and Silvermoon. He paid no heed to the walking skeletons that he passed by, as they posed no threat to him. As he walked up the dreaded place the presence of the mindless undead seemed to lessen. Deatholme was a place of nightmare, it served as a Citadel for the undead Scourge in their campaign to conquer Quel’thalas. The walls and the gate was covered with skulls, the gate itself was smashed to pieces by a earlier Blood elven assault. The horseman steadied his steed as he halted before the walls defended by the dead. ‘Marius Arlington!’ The Horseman cried out. ‘Your end has come, face me, for running will only postpone the inevitable by mere moments.’ His voice was loud enough to be heard to Tranquillien, the nearest blood elven outpost. A moment paused before there was a reply. ‘Kar’tal, the Horseman of Death.. I wonderd when you would show.’ A voice on the other side of the wall shouted down. The Horseman looked up at the Necromancer, who wore robes and dark magic items like he was the right hand of the Lich King himself. He noticed he was surrounded by his mortal minions, including a small circle of what he assumed were his mistresses, due to their rather revealing clothing and clinging to his arm. The horseman noted they were all elves, probably traitors. ‘You think you can kill me and everyone in this citadel?!’ ‘Yes.’ Kar’tal grinned. ‘I can.’ ‘You and what army?!’ Marius laughed. As the man kept laughing Kar’tal raised his arm. The laughter stopped as the earth shook. Dozens of corpses, the ones left behind by the Lich King, from the elven defenders who fell raised, their swords at the ready. With a mere flick of his hand, the skeletons charged forward, assailing the Citadel’s defenders. The Horseman dismounted as his feet landed on the dead soil. As the battle was joined up ahead he patted his steed as he grabbed his scythe. He walked, not ran but walked, toward the citadel where the defender’s were almost all dispatched. A ghoul leaped towards him, but the horseman sliced it in half, not caring for the green pieces of rotting meat that landed on his chest. Kar’tal stepped over the bodies of the fallen, speaking to himself. ‘You raised me as a death knight.’ He decapitated a charging zealot, the body falling down the stairs, followed by the head. ‘Erasing my memory, naming me after a death knight from the old Horde.’ He walked up the stairs as the elven corpses on his side secured the lower levels. Several more zealots charged towards him as they cast their dark spells. They threw dark orbs of evil magic at the lone horseman, cackling madly with glee. The horseman held out his free hand in the sky, and was soon enveloped in a purple tinted dome, which absorbed the orbs like rain drops in a large body of water. They blinked but soon a dark hand appeared, dragging one of them in the dome. The cry she made was long winded, filled with gurgles at the end. As the dome disappeared, the zealots gasped as they saw the skeleton of their ally was ripped from it’s body, now serving the horseman. ‘You made me a weapon, a mindless construct.’ He spoke as he walked towards the zealots. The zealots charged, but were quickly dispatched. ‘I fought Scarlet Crusaders, undead abominations thrice your size and demons of the darkest nightmare...’ he grabbed one by the throat, snapping it’s neck. ‘Your little friends are no match...nor are you.’ He glanced to his right as he saw the once smug Overlord hold his side, surrounded by a pile of destroyed elven corpses. ‘My question is....why?’ Kar’tal walked up to Marius. ‘Why did you erase my memory, why did you take such a special interest in me...?’ Marius grinned, blood already dripping out of his mouth. ‘You honestly do not remember can you...?’ the necromancer spoke. ‘You do not remember the horrors you committed before you were slain, the things you did to innocent people?’ ‘ The Horseman punched the Necromancer in the stomach, making the human fall to the ground. Kar’tal held the blade of his scythe on Marius’ chin. ‘You know how many people I have slain to get to you?’ ‘Oh who the hell cares...’ Marius bated the scythe away. ‘The important thing is...your here now.’ Kar’tal glared as he threw his hood back. His face was green, although slightly grayed due to his death, with a sword like tattoo on his cheek. His tusks were yellowed and jutted forward with two inces. ‘Who am I human?.’ The human chuckled/ ‘Please, let us proceed In an orderly fashion, you will let my life and let me be trialed by the Blood elves.’ ‘Why?’ The orc asked. ‘Their methods of execution are more...sophisticated then the ones of the Ebon Hold.’ The Orcs grunted. ‘That can be arranged...a softer death I presume.’ ‘Almost sponge like my dear friend.’ The Horseman had enough, he wanted answers. ‘Talk.’ The human grinned. ‘You remember your Targorr?’ The Orc paused. ‘My brother....’ Images flashed in front of him. As if the door of his memories was opened widely, the images of a younger brother appeared. Most of them were good. He remembered how they played together, hunt together, fought the human pigs together, brothers through and through.... Then the bad memories came. The savagery Targorr committed on the prisoners, how he treated the females....unworthy of an Orc, unworthy to be a Blackrock. ‘Yes Targorr was a nasty bugger...he was the one who brought you to me.’ ‘What?’ ‘I served under the warlock Morganth for a while, who in turn was served by your clan, including your brother. You two had a duel over something, he did not tell me over what, and he killed you. By underhanded means of course.’ Kar’tal closed his eyes, yes he remembered the battle now. One weapon each, no armor. He defeated Targorr, but spared him....but was killed when he turned his back. There was the face of a female, a pregnant female... He turned back to the present. ‘What did he do?’ ‘Why he sold me your body of course, you were a splendid warrior, we couldn’t let your potential go to waste....so when I left my former mentor for the Scourge I took you with me, raising you was my final test to become a true Necromancer.’ ‘You’re a monster.’ Kar’tal growled. ‘Ironic, coming from a man who killed men, women and children like a demon from the old legends of the kaldorei...’ ‘I’ve changed.’ ‘People don’t change that much, some are born wolves, some are sheep. You may be wearing sheep’s clothing but your fangs are showing through, my dear Kar’tal.’ Kar’tal grinned. ‘Well...maybe it’s best I lost my memory, it’s given me the chance to choose my own fate.’ ‘Oh my, this is getting close to a resurrection of sorts isn’t it?’ Marius noted, sitting up. ‘ Forget it...the moment you regain your complete memory, you will turn back into the thing you were before you died, a savage brute, a monster.’ Kar’tal grabbed the human by his robe. ‘Go ahead...slay me...raise my body like you did with Saria.’ He motioned to the female zealot the horseman killed just earlier. ‘No...’ Kar’tal growled. ‘I made a promise to you, a promise under murderers and monsters...you will get your trial.’ He punched the necromancer in the head, knocking him out. The Horseman rode to the Blood elven outpost where the guards immediately ran towards him. Marius was sat on top of the steed, tied by his hands while the orc rider guided the horse by foot. The guards took the necromancer over while the Blood mage from earlier Aminel and a forsaken, a undead who broke free from the lich king, ran toward him. ‘Is that who I think it is?’ The forsaken asked, lifting the human’s head up with a grin. ‘Yes it is...take him away, we will send him to Silvermoon tomorrow for the death of several battle groups.’ The elf female looked up at the Death Knight. ‘We thank you Death Knight, you may have killed the seed before the weeds could grow.’ The horseman merely nodded and mounted his steed. ‘Wait!’ the Forsaken said. ‘where are you going?’ The Horseman glanced at the two. ‘Stormwind, off to see my little brother....’ He turned around. ‘Remember Kar’tal!’ Marius shouted over as Kar’tal glanced back. ‘once a wolf, always a wolf.’ The human grinned as he was pushed off. The Horseman growled as he told his steed to go back to the Ebon Hold; From there he would get a flight to Stormwind. Once there he could find his brother in the stockades and find out who he was. What was his name, who was the female he kept seeing, who’s child did she bear, and what did they fight over for. He almost killed all his way to the truth, and soon the Horseman of Death would have a real name. The end.
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)