Ranma, Sylvanas, Cadavrine and Azusa were crouching behind some boulders that were close to the ruined city of Andorhal. They were now in the middle of the Western Plaguelands.
"I must admit, the beasties on our way here were a tad bit tougher than those in Tirisfal," Ranma said as he was peeking over a big rock. "But just a bit. So, where's that School of Necromancy?"
"Deep underneath the surface of the city," Sylvanas said. "I hope you're prepared for the worst... the warlocks who come from this place control the most vicious of undead creatures."
"Hey, there's nothin' I can't deal with," Ranma said, cracking his knuckles.
"Don't be so cocky, the elite guards of this city are of an entirely different caliber than the wimps we fought on our way here," Cadavrine admonished him. "My Lady, which path should we take? I think the main road is controlled by skeletal warlords, so..."
"I'm not afraid of any servant of the Scourge," Sylvanas glowered, putting a deadly arrow on her bow. "But I want to gather some information before barging in."
"Say, are those warlords smarter than those mindless skeletons we used to battle?" Ranma asked.
"Well, they are smart enough to lead the lesser skeletons in battle," Sylvanas explained.
Ranma grinned. "Great! That's what I wanted to hear! Be right back..." And with one swift motion, he leapt over the boulders and ran towards the ruined city."
"What... what is that idiot doing?" Cadavrine hissed. She groaned. "That's what he's always doing, my lady... he never listens to me..."
"That fool..." Sylvanas grumbled. "He can act carelessly in Tirisfal, when he's dealing with gnolls... but the undead guardians of Andorhal are a different matter altogether."
"Do you... do you suppose he won't make it?" Cadavrine asked.
"I don't know," the banshee queen admitted. "I know he's a powerful warrior, but the undead raised by the warlocks of the School of Necromancy are among the most powerful ones in the Eastern Kingdoms. The only stronger ones I know of are those that are guarding the other school, the Scholomance..."
Azusa just smiled. "Oh, I'm sure he'll be fine."
Sylvanas wished she had the young girl's optimism. Sadly, she knew what the warlocks under Arthas' command were capable of. In a fair, one-on-one battle against one of those skeletal warlords, Ranma would have clearly won. But the way he was charging in without thinking first just had to attract the attention of other guards... and against a whole cadre of them, even he was powerless.
She never had seen Ranma fight against Saffron, however.
They waited for some time, but Ranma wouldn't return. Sylvanas was beginning to get worried that he might endanger their whole operation, but then they heard some noise coming from inside the city walls.
Just a couple of minutes later, Ranma came running back. He carried what looked like a dark bundle of clothes over his shoulder.
"Missed me?" he grinned and dropped the bundle to the ground. The bundle groaned. Sylvanas noticed that it was actually a human, a man clad in the dark robes of an acolyte of the Cult of the Damned.
"Those skeletons just didn't want to leave me in peace, so I had to use some of my stronger attacks," Ranma exclaimed proudly. "Too bad those guys are so fragile, though... All it took was one Moko Takabisha, and all that remained were a few piles of bone. Luckily, I found this guy coming down the street." He gestured down to the squirming acolyte. He tried to call for more help, so I just scooped him up and brought him here."
Sylvanas was surprised. She didn't know of many humans that could take on a whole squad of elite skeleton warriors and live to tell about it. And Ranma even fought them with his bare hands...
Not wanting to give it another thought, she strode up to the helpless man, who desperately tried to crawl away. She grabbed him by the cowl of his robe and violently pulled him up to her face. "Do you know who I am, worm?"
The acolyte's pale face paled even more. "Th-the... the queen of the Forsaken..."
"That's right, and if you want to live, you better answer to my questions!"
"I'm not afraid of death," the acolyte said in a singsong voice. "Death is just the gate to immortality... I'm not afraid of death..." It almost sounded like a holy sermon.
"You'll be begging for death when I'm finished with you!" Sylvanas hissed and shook him around. "Do you want to know what I can do to you?"
The acolyte gulped. He had heard a couple of stories about what Sylvanas Windrunner was capable of doing, and he didn't want to find out which of these tales were true and which weren't. As a loyal member of the Cult of the Damned, there wasn't much that could scare him... but even if he knew that, his shaky legs definitely didn't know.
His head slumped down in defeat. "What do you wish to know?" he whispered.
"There's been an attack on Andorhal some time ago. Tell me! Is it true that it was an Alliance group?"
"Yes," the acolyte glowered. "My masters used their dark magics and their most powerful servants to drive them off. Nothing can defeat us, for we are the servants of the Lich King... URK!" His head flailed around violently as Sylvanas shook him some more.
"I don't want to listen to your prattling!" she growled. "Is it true that the leader of the attack was a female High Elf?"
For a moment, the acolyte acted as if he didn't know what she was talking about. "What? But there are no High Elves left..."
"Don't try to take me for a fool!" Sylvanas hissed dangerously as she produced a dagger from her belt, holding it up to the acolyte's throat. "There ARE a few High Elves left."
Realizing that he couldn't lie to her, the acolyte decided to be truthful: "It's true... she was a devil on the battlefield. Our troops fell under her arrows, and nothing could stop her... only when we managed to capture one of her men, she decided to fall back."
"You caught one of them, huh?" Sylvanas muttered. "Thanks for the information, worm! And now... you've outlived your usefulness!" And she raised her dagger.
Her hand was being stopped by Ranma. The dagger fell to the ground. "Hey! He can't do anything anymore, can he? You don't have to kill him."
Salvanas wrestled her hand free and glared at the pig-tailed martial artists. "NEVER hinder me from doing anything again, Ranma! As the queen of the Forsaken, I have every right to punish those monsters. It's appropriate justice! You don't know them like I do, Ranma. They CAN'T be allowed to live!"
Neither of them had noticed that the acolyte had used Sylvanas' distraction to slowly sneak up on her.
"My lady, be careful!" Cadavrine shouted and prepared to shoot a bolt of shadow magic at the robed man. But it was too late. The acolyte reached for the dagger... and laughed maniacally.
"You fools!" he shouted. "You are powerless to stop the Scourge... and one day, even the Forsaken will realize that death is nothing but a salvation!" And with these words, he thrust the dagger into his own heart.
Azusa let out a little yelp.
Ranma was shocked when he saw how the dead body of the acolyte slumped down to the ground. Never before had he met a man who was so willing to take away his own life. And the madness in his eyes... compared to that, the antics of Kuno seemed almost sane.
He sighed, then looked at Sylvanas. "So... why did you ask him that?"
"I have my reasons, Ranma," she grumbled. "I don't see any need to explain myself to you. Just do what I'm telling you to do."
The more Ranma heard from her, the more he wished he was someplace else. For a moment, he wished that he was transported back to Nerima. And then he wondered if he should just leave Sylvanas alone and be on his way.
He shook his head. Even if Sylvanas wasn't his childhood buddy, he didn't want to abandon her. He knew there was something left of her, deep inside that rotten body and spirit. He just had to find it. Besides, he had no place to go to anyways. From all sides, Tirisfal was surrounded by lands that were plagued by the undead.
"So... we gonna save that guy, aren't we?" he asked, pointing at the ruined city.
"Idiot! Why should we take such risks?" Cadavrine snapped. "The queen did not give us any order, so we won't do it."
"Actually, that is not a bad idea at all," Sylvanas spoke up.
Cadavrine was surprised. "My lady?"
"I need to talk to that Alliance guy they imprisoned," Sylvanas said. "He knows something the minions of the Scourge can't tell us... and I'm going to make him talk!"
Ranma wanted to save whoever the Scourge had imprisoned in the School of Necromancy, true, but if Sylvanas decided to do anything to harm him, he would have to interfere again, no matter if she liked it or not.
He didn't know anything about that prisoner, that was for sure... but he was certain that he could not be as insane as the cultist who had just killed himself in front of their eyes.
Kasumi frowned as she leaned back against the dirty wall of her cell and looked around. "Oh my... this place certainly needs some dusting."
"If that's the only concern you got, girl..." her cell companion grumbled. It was a stout, but muscular dwarf with a long, bushy, red beard. "If ye ask me, those undead can't wait to slaughter us... and make us one of their own!"
Kasumi certainly did not like that idea. "And all I wanted to do was to take a ship to the other continent. You know, Kairi - that's my new friend - wanted to show me her hometown. Too bad our caravan got attacked by these... unfriendly beings on our way to Menethil Harbor."
"Menethil Harbor? They really wanted to take that route? Those idiots... I've told those blasted merchants again and again that the safest way to go to Kalimdor is to take a ship from Stormwind's harbor!" He then stroked his beard. "Still, this is alarming... undead troops, so far in the south? King Magni needs to learn about this." He sighed. "Too bad we're stuck here in this cell, eh?"
Kasumi smiled. "Oh, I'm sure Kairi's on her way to get me out of here. She may be a bit absent-minded, but she's always determined to do her best..." Yes, over the past few days that Kasumi had travelled with Kairi, she had learned to like the young, eager Night Elf druid.
"Why are ye travelling across the continent anyways?" the dwarf asked her. "Yer not looking like an adventurer..."
"Kairi promised she'd look out for me," Kasumi exclaimed. "Also, our caravan was guarded by two very friendly hunters."
"Two? Hunters?" The dwarf tousled his beard. "If they want to safely get through the wetlands, they need at least four capable fighters! And not just hunters, but sturdy warriors, or paladins, like myself!" With a groan, he sank down to the dirty floor of their cell. "By the light... those bloody merchants never learn..."
"Well, I'm sure they... did you hear that?" Kasumi suddenly asked. She walked up to the locked door of their cell and listened. "That noise... sounds like someone is fighting."
"Are ye sure, lass?" the dwarf asked as he got to his feet. He perked up his ears.
"Oh, I am quite sure," Kasumi nodded. After having lived in Nerima all her life long, she knew what a battle sounded like... even if the martial artists from her hometown rarely used armors or medieval weaponry.
"By Magni's beard, you're right," the dwarven paladin shouted. "Someone's attacking the School of Necromancy! Here's hoping that they're Alliance troops..."
"See, I told you we'd be freed soon," Kasumi smiled. "Up to now, Kairi has always kept her promises."
And soon enough, a limp body came flying came flying into the room and collided with the wall. With a groan, the unconscious form of the Scourge necromancers slid down to the floor.
Two figures then came running inside, one of them much smaller than the other.
"Did you need to make that much noise?" the smaller, almost child-sized figure grumbled. "Now they know we're here."
"Well, excuse me for having saved you," the elf druid standing next to the gnome girl huffed. "If I hadn't turned into a bear, that necromancer would have fried your butt." She looked into the cell and smiled when she saw her friend. "Kasumi! Boy, am I glad we found you. Oh, and there's another prisoner as well..."
"Kairi!" Kasumi shouted happily as she recognized her friend. "I knew you'd come!"
"Hey, I promised you I'd never leave you hanging, didn't I?" the Night Elf winked. She ran up to the cell door and shook it. "Dangit, it won't budge! And there's no key... maybe I should turn back into a bear and just smash my way through."
"Don't bother, lass," the paladin spoke up. "This is dwarven iron. Back when Andorhal was constructed, they received their raw material from Ironforge dwarves."
"Well, I can't just make iron bars disappear," Kairi complained.
"Step aside and let a professional do her job!" the female gnome that was accompanying Kairi said as she stepped up to the lock.
"Oh great, just what I need..." the paladin groaned. "Saved by a rouge..."
"Ya want to get out here? Then shut up and be thankful for my help!" She pulled out a few crooked lock picks and got to work.
Kasumi watched her with interest. "You are very skilled with these things," she noted. "Do you think you can get us out of here?"
The gnome girl grinned. "Sweetie, there's no lock on this continent that I can't pick. Stabby the Swift is the most cunning of them all!"
"Well, thanks for your help, and nice to meet you... Stabby-san. I am Kasumi Tendo, and this is... um..."
"Hartwig Stonehammer," the dwarf said in his gruff voice. "Knight of the Silver Hand."
"Great, everyone acquainted?" Stabby asked, rolling her eyes. "Because opening this lock isn't nearly as easy as it looks..."
"Oh, I'm sorry," Kasumi apologized. "I didn't want to bother you." She sighed. "Too bad my sister Akane's not here... what we now need is a bowl of the stew she made last weekend."
"What, you hungry?" Hartwig asked, raising a bushy eyebrow.
Kasumi smiled. "Oh, no, no... but using that stew, we could easily melt our way through the iron bars."
Hartwig sweatdropped. "I'm not asking..." he muttered.
The necromancer lying on the floor suddenly began to stir... only to fall back again when Kairi gave him a bop on his head with her staff. She nervously glanced to the door. "Hurry up, Stabby!" she shouted. "I think the guards are coming..."
"Just a moment, just a moment..." the rogue grimaced. "I'm nearly there... YES!" she exclaimed when the lock suddenly sprang open. "Oh yeah, who's the meanest gnome around? It's Stabby the Swift!"
"Get a move on, or else you'll be 'Stabby the Undead' in a few hours," Kairi hissed. She then saw a sturdy chest standing in a corner of the room and opened it. Pulling a huge war hammer out of it, she asked the dwarf: "Hey, is this yours?"
"Yeah, they disarmed me right after they threw me in that cell," Hartwig nodded as he took his weapon back. "The rest of my troop must have fled to the north... dangit, I should have never agreed to accompany General Windrunner's cadre..."
"Hey, you coming?" Kairi asked from the door. Hartwig looked up and saw that the others were already leaving.
"H-hey, wait for me!" he shouted.
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(Posted Sun, 22 Mar 2009 15:53)
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