This is my short story submission for the Blizzard Global Writing Contest 2010. There were about 2500 submissions this year. This story is set in the Warcraft universe. For those who have played World of Warcraft during the time of the Wrath of the Lich King, you will be able to figure out how this could fit in. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Warcraft, this will still be a fun read. Enjoy!
The Dread of the Scourge
Pai skipped along the winding dirt road through Elwynn Forest. Life pulsed all around her in the clear morning. Pigs squished in muddy pens, cows mooed, and chickens clucked behind the farmhouses lining the way to Stormwind City. It was a real pity she rarely ventured south of the Thandol Span.
Loud chirping interrupted her bliss. Slowing to a walk, she quickly found the pair of blue-feathered birds. They flew around nipping at and dodging each other. Pai cocked her head and considered them. Their eyes were black as burned wood, their feathers light brown as sand. Extending an arm at them with her fingers splayed, she muttered a short phrase.
With abrupt squawks, the birds fell to the ground. Somehow, they managed to land on their stick-like legs and unblinkingly regarded Pai. An unnatural intelligence gleamed in their now bright red eyes. Patches of blackened feathers had fallen away revealing patches of pink broken flesh.
They were beautiful.
Pai walked the dozen feet to where they stood. “Find Briod. I arrive today. Do not be recognized for what you now are.”
She touched them on their beaks with a single pointer finger. The two birds hopped once toward Stormwind City and leapt into the air, now her faithful servants.
While she didn’t need to do what she did, she couldn’t help herself. So much life craved to be used and changed into something better. Something perfect and powerful.
With an even broader smile than before, she resumed her skipping until she came within sight of the gates.
The silvered walls of polished stone isolating Stormwind City rose before her. They stood at odds with the bright greenery of Elwynn Forest. While she preferred corrupt desolation and dark colors, even she couldn’t help but appreciate the awe the scene instilled on her.
For most humans, the city stood as a beacon of freedom, light, and goodness. For Pai, Stormwind City symbolized total Azerothian domination. If all went well, she would have the foothold she needed to control the rest of the Eastern Kingdoms.
As she walked, Pai hoped her disguise would be good enough to grant her admittance. Pai had liberated the attire from a family far off the road who now willing served a higher purpose. She appeared as a country girl would, wearing a light brown homespun skirt and red blouse that nicely complemented her lithe figure. If she had to, she could bat her eyes and bait the guards with little promises to gain entry.
“Excuse me, Miss,” said a Stormwind City guard wearing the standard blue trimmed silver armor and blue plumed helm.
“Yes, captain?” she said in her most purring voice. Pai loved it when men thought her much younger than she actually was. It tended to make it easier to…recruit them.
“Uhmm,” the guard stammered, “I’m no captain. I…well it doesn’t matter. What brings you to the city?”
“My aunt lives here. She’s a baker, you know. And she’s not feeling well so here I am to help her out for a few days. I just love coming here to Stormwind. It’s so full of life. There’s more to do every time I come here.” She reached out to touch him on the forearm, just like a flirting girl would.
“Who is your aunt? I’d like to come by and see you, if I could.”
Pai smiled up into his eyes noticing that they were rather pretty. She ignored the snickers of the other guards and gave him a sultry glance. “You’ll just have to find me.”
Pai practically waltzed through the gates and into the crowd of the market, leaving the smitten guard to the guffaws of the others. She stamped out the feeling that she should have lured them with her. Had she done so, the gates would have been left undefended and that would have drawn too much attention too early.
After several hours of pushing her way through the crowds, she entered the Dwarven District. From the east archway, finding Briod’s residence down a delightfully seedy alley took no time at all. She stopped before a battered shop with a newish sign reading “Briod’s Potables.”
“Briod, did you get my message?” Pai said, walking through the door without knocking. Lack of light shrouded the corners of the large main floor in darkness. “You’ve found a wonderful place.”
Briod stood holding a small torch at the top of stairs leading down to the basement. He looked like walking mud with his browned skin, brown pants and tunic, and brown hair. He gave new meaning to plain-looking.
“Lady Stormbringer,” he said in a gravelly voice from chanting too many phrases harsh to the human voice. “I’m glad you made it. Your birds came in just after noon today.” He glanced to a corner.
On the stool stood the two birds, their red eyes darting to and fro. They met her eyes and she walked over to them. She patted them on their heads. “Don’t worry, more will be joining you, yes they will.”
In a louder voice, she said, “We begin tonight.”
“Lady Stormbringer,” he began. He coughed and looked like a guilty dog preparing for an inevitable thrashing. “There is a complication.”
Her eyes narrowed. “What complication? Out with it.”
“It’s King Wrynn. He’s not here.” The hand holding the torch began to waver.
That gave her a moment’s pause. “Where did he scamper off to?” She took a measured step toward Briod.
“He left for Northrend … to the Argent Tournament, I believe.”
She stopped half an arm’s length from him. With each step Briod’s shaking spread from his hand to the rest of his body. His facial cultist tattoos appeared through his magical shroud as his concentration fled him.
Pai stared at him with an intense glare she knew would make him tell the entire truth. In a low voice, she said, “Why didn’t you send word to me?”
“There aren’t many birds in this part of the city,” he managed to croak out. “I didn’t want to leave through the gates, either. I didn’t want to risk being found out.”
What a goblin loving pansy, she thought. Could she have picked a worse person to pave the way for the beginning of their ultimate victory?
Without warning, she punched Briod in the stomach. He fell to his knees with a cry. A swift kick to the face silenced him. The torch fell from his hands and rolled to the edge of the stairs. Briod lay on the wooden floor, his breathing shallow as she stood over him.
She couldn’t kill him. Oh no, she couldn’t. He wasn’t worthy to join the ranks of the undead. What kind of Scourge commander would he turn out to be? Not a good one from the looks of him.
Pai retrieved the torch and gave the cultist a sour look before descending the stairs. If he neglected to tell her the main reason for coming to Stormwind was gone, what else had he failed at? The unwanted question soured her mood as she lit the braziers lining the walls of the basement.
I should have sent Olivar. On second thought, she knew she couldn’t have done so. He was in the Borean Tundra in Northrend trying to hold back the advancement of the Valiance Expedition. Reassigning him would have necessitated additional reassignments. Avoiding that headache was why she sent Briod here.
Even her co-leader, Ul’haik Hadanot, could have at least let her know King Wrynn arrived in Northrend. Thinking about that bit of negligent lack of communication, she wondered why she hadn’t heard from her master, Kel’thuzad.
Once she lit the last brazier, she turned her attention to the rest of the large room. Cauldrons full of greenish yellow liquid bubbled over low smokeless fires. A blood trail led from the stairs to a door at one end of the room. She frowned at herself for not noticing that when she first came in. Throwing the door open, the decayed smell of flesh assaulted her. Ah, the smell of recruits. Simply delightful.
Shutting the door to prevent the smell from wafting upstairs, Pai bounced back up to the main floor feeling considerably better. She plopped on a stool near the still unconscious Briod. She still needed him to complete the required rituals to spread the blight and begin raising the dead to Scourge.
It was regrettable King Wrynn and many of his soldiers and champions were absent from Stormwind, but what they would do would still benefit her. She would just have to go about it in a slightly different way.
At her feet, Briod began to moan. The moans sounded sorrowful, almost regretful.
“Yes, you are mortal. I still need you to live as a man, flawed as you are. You won’t earn the ultimate reward until I am satisfied. You’re lucky I didn’t end your pathetic life and leave your soul wandering in oblivion.”
The last part wasn’t strictly true, but she needed him obedient to regain the fervor he so obviously lost. Dangling undeath always proved effective to those whose free will were not completely their own. He would never progress to the point of betraying the Scourge, but one never could be too careful about such things, especially after Sylvanas and the trouble she caused with her Forsaken.
“Lady Stormbringer, please,” Briod said in between soft moans.
“Don’t speak; I don’t want to hear it.” Pai raised a hand to silence him. “King Wrynn’s leaving was unavoidable, but now we have the advantage. I saw that you prepared the blight as required.”
“Yes, yes Lady Stormbringer,” Briod shuffled to his knees like a common beggar. His hands stretched toward her, eagerness exuding from him. Maybe all he needed was a good kick in the head.
“I have made enough to fill this district as well as the Old Town. Many people live there. It will work quickly, my Lady.”
“Yes,” she said, infusing her voice with a bit of radiance to show she approved. “From them, we will raise Scourge and take the rest of the city. We will either drive out everyone else, or kill them as planned. Begin raising the dead downstairs.” Pai shooed him with a hand in dismissal.
Briod sprang to his feet. “Thank you, Lady Stormbringer.” He bowed several times before disappearing downstairs.
Pai sat on the stool for a long time, thinking of how the ranks of the Scourge would swell in a land ripe for it. She didn’t want to change everyone into Scourge. In a city this large, there would be some who would relish the chance of becoming a cultist. Briod focused on what he was good at which was making blight and raising Scourge. He lacked the talent of recruiting mortals; that was her realm of expertise.
The door crashed open, jolting Pai from her thoughts. A woman wearing a patched orange dress with dark stains and wild black hair hurtled inside. Brandishing a curved dagger, she crazily looked from one side of the room to the other.
How interesting. Pai calmly stood and faced the woman.
“Where is she?” the woman demanded.
“Where is who?” said Pai.
“That wench, Pauli. I know she’s here. This is her shop.”
“No,” Pai said carefully, “this isn’t Pauli’s shop anymore. Are you here to kill her?”
The woman locked her gaze on Pai. This one could be the first.
“Who are you? I’m armed. Answer me!”
“Yes, I can see that. Sit down and cease this foolishness. I want to ask you something.”
A confused stare passed over the woman’s face. Pai gestured toward the stool she had vacated. Moments passed before the woman stalked to the stool and sat.
Pai smiled at the woman, thinking she was the perfect candidate. She was obviously desperate and willing to right a wrong with the ultimate mortal punishment. Surely she’d see the wisdom in what Pai would offer her.
“What’s your name?” said Pai.
“Lori,” she spat out.
“While this Pauli may have owned this place before,” said Pai, “she has now joined me for a higher purpose. I seek people like you. People willing to fully dedicate themselves to a task. People willing to do whatever it takes to accomplish that task. Are you that person, Lori?”
“Sure, I guess. What do I get for helping you?”
“Why the ultimate reward, of course.”
“How much gold? Tell me or I’ll gut you where you stand.”
Pai laughed. “Such spirit will take you far, I think. There are better things than gold, Lori. I can give you power, magic and otherwise. I will also give you an opportunity to conquer death if you serve well.”
“This better not be any Holy Light or Cenarion Circle preaching,” Lori muttered.
“You don’t follow their teachings?” This was turning out even better than she thought.
“Bah!” A solid gob of spittle smacked the floorboards.
“How about the other side of things?” Pai said.
“Are you talking about the Scourge?” Lori paled as she looked at Pai. “You…you’re not one of them are you?”
“I’m not undead, no. However I will be when I am found worthy of such a gift.”
“You’re Cult of the Damned then. By the Light…”
Pai focused her necromantic powers and tugged on the woman’s soul. People like Lori made easy recruits if one knew how to speak to their secret desires and nudge them in the proper direction.
“You will receive the gift of undeath if you serve faithfully. You will come to realize there is no greater reward.”
Lori didn’t need any further nudges. She fell from the stool to her knees. “I pledge myself to the Cult of the Damned. May the Scourge be forever victorious.”
“Forever victorious,” Pai said. She used her dark magic to conjure a vial in palm of her hand. “Drink, and seal yourself to the Scourge.”
Without hesitation, the woman snatched the vial and downed the contents, cementing a link between her will and that of the Lich King, whom they all served. Pai smiled. It has begun.
Throughout the rest of the day, Pai sent her new recruit, to gather those she knew of like mind. While Lori’s body had begun to change now that necromantic powers had been bestowed on her, she would still look normal for another day or two. This left Pai with the time she needed to make the same offer to everyone Lori brought to her. Those few who refused were killed, to be made into Scourge by Briod in the basement.
“Lady Stormbringer, change me, please. Change me into one of the Scourge now,” pleaded Lori after she found out the fate of the seventh person she brought Pai.
“I need you to fulfill your assignments. I can’t change everyone into Scourge. The Cult of the Damned needs mortals to perform duties that cannot be done by undead. Go bring me more people — we begin spreading the blight soon. We are doing wondrous things, you and I.”
Lori turned away with hunched shoulders and a hanging head. Several other new members mimicked the dejected posture. Pai couldn’t help but sigh to herself amidst her happiness. This was the only downside. Even she felt the longing to become undead sometimes, but only when she was feeling weak. It would take time for these new cultists and blightweavers to gain the strength to control the intense desire to become undead.
It was a constant struggle, but it was also a significant motivator. Pai had already stressed numerous times that if they sought an early death, they would be disqualified from receiving undeath.
“Lady Stormbringer,” Briod said panting from having sprinted up to the ground floor. “The blight cauldrons are ready.”
“Excellent, Briod,” Pai said. “Everyone, get downstairs and we’ll begin the fun!”
The new recruits perked up, her contagious joy infusing them with a fanatical desire to please her and by extension, the Scourge. They followed her downstairs where Pai stepped into the middle of a yellow circle within a five pointed star. The cultists and blightweavers linked hands around her and the rune.
She wasn’t as good as some cultists at the necromantic chants, but she had been a loyal servant of Kel’thuzad for so long that her sheer power would make up for any shortcomings of speech. Pai closed her eyes and began to alternate from crouching to standing as she chanted words impossible to repeat in the common tongue.
Greenish golden light shone from the rune in the floor. She felt the tingling of her necromantic powers emanating from her fingertips. Opening her eyes to slits, she saw dark magic swirl around her as she infused the blight cauldrons with additional potency. From the door to the room filled with the dead, she heard guttural voices and wordless grunts.
Humans transformed into skeletal Scourge with glowing gold and green eyes rumbled out of the door and into the room with Pai and the cultists. They took up position along the walls and began grunting, a low, throbbing sound that made the small hairs on her body stand straight.
She shut her eyes tight against the flash she knew would come with the end of the ceremony. Anyone in the buildings around them would hear the last crescendo of their chanting, but it didn’t matter. They would soon be a part of their army.
The flash lit her eyelids as she expected during the loudest swelling of the chanting. It was over nearly as soon as it began. Pai lowered her arms and looked around at the cultists, blightweavers, and Scourge.
“Scourge and cultists, welcome,” Pai shouted in an otherworldly voice sounding like the combination of a high pitched scream and low bellow. “Tonight we go forth and make Stormwind into something beautiful. Something that will serve the Lich King and further our advancement in the Eastern Kingdoms.”
A moment later, the necromantic powers left her, having been infused into everyone else in the room. They had greater need of its strength and knowledge than she had. They were newly raised and Pai needed them to be as if they had obtained knowledge of necromancy a decade ago.
“Briod,” Pai said. He stepped forward out of the circle. “Organize the cultists and blightweavers. Distribute the cauldrons and make sure you dump some into the canal. I will hold back the Scourge until you return.”
The newly raised cultists and blightweavers cheered. The Scourge along the walls grunted and wailed, what passed as hands and arms flapped in the air.
Using magic as well as muscle, the mortals left with the cauldrons. Pai followed them upstairs. The approaching darkness would help hide the cultists and blightweavers. It would also cause confusion to the citizens of Stormwind.
“Hurry now, you’re going to make this city beautiful,” she said to one cultist.
“You will help bring more souls into the Scourge. You will be well rewarded,” she said to another.
To a blightweaver, she said, “Strengthen the blight so that it spreads on its own. Look inside yourself for the chants.”
She gave nearly everyone last minute encouragement and instructions. It was risky to unleash them so soon for such an important assignment even having performed the ritual just now, but she had no choice. She shut the door, dragged the stool to a side wall and sat down, leaning back to catch a few moments rest.
Pai took the short bit of quiet she had to search her mind. Kel’thuzad still hadn’t contacted her. Rumors were rumors and they could be just as false as they could be true. Naxxramas had been besieged more than a few times in Northrend. She wanted to scream in frustration at not knowing his fate. Abruptly, she wondered if Ul’haik had been raised as leader of the Cult of the Damned.
No, if he had, he would have gloated to me about his elevation by now. But if not him and not me, then who? Of course if Kel’thuzad’s phylactery hadn’t been destroyed then a new leader wouldn’t be appointed. It had happened before Naxxramas moved to Northrend.
Restless, Pai began pacing with only uneasy thoughts as her companion. Fortunately, she didn’t need to wait long before her cultists and blightweavers returned. Everyone had an excited gleam in their eyes.
“We will take out the buildings around us first. Remember to chant clearly and with the proper tonal inflections. You have the knowledge so use it. And stay alive if you want to become undead in the future.”
Pai summoned the Scourge waiting downstairs and they sprinted out of the shop and into the street. She didn’t need to control them too much since any deaths were good deaths this early in the night. They needed to go completely offensive until they created enough Scourge to hold a handful of districts from anyone defending the city.
Pai followed the cultists, blightweavers, and Scourge down the dank alley. Scared screams of pain sounded, causing her to smile wider with each one. Loud guttural voices replaced the screams as her cultists changed the inhabitants of Stormwind City into Scourge. For every Scourge that entered, three, four, or even ten exited.
Pai’s blightweavers chanted over patches of blight. Even in the light of the city lamps, she could see the gases and fumes spreading, beginning to corrupt everything in its path.
The Dwarven District quickly fell to the Scourge, having taken its inhabitants by surprise. Blight had already been placed in Old Town and Pai directed a third of the Scourge to cross the canal. They met a smattering of resistance as people began to realize something was amiss in the night.
Pai didn’t mind, though, Stormwind began looking beautiful. Its gleaming silver walls slowly turned into a soft brown. Wood turned black, making buildings become monoliths of warning to mortals.
At the central square in Old Town, though, Stormwind resistance markedly stiffened. The city seemed to finally figure out what was going on, but Pai knew they would be too late to save themselves, or the city.
She needed to get to the gates. Most people in Stormwind lived closer to the gates than the docks, and she knew most of the ships would be gone since King Wrynn would have taken them to Northrend. The main gates would be the escape route everyone would try first, making it a wealthy killing ground.
Yanking on a cultist to get his attention, she shouted in his ear, “Find Briod and take him to that church there.” She pointed to the building behind and to the side of where they stood.
He nodded and left, shouting for Briod amidst the fighting Scourge. Pai ran to the small church and from its third floor loft found it had a good view of the battlefront. Below her, the defensive lines of the Stormwind City guard stood strong against the Scourge.
Her army of undead and cultists far outnumbered that of the guards. Surprisingly, the guards held them at two choke points just beyond the square. She immediately recognized that they would be the turning points of the night. If the Scourge broke the guards’ lines, they would have the run of the city.
“Lady Stormbringer.” Briod kneeled behind her and she turned from the balcony.
“Take a large group to the Cathedral Square. Burn the Cathedral of the Holy Light. It will cast further despair on the city.”
Briod rose with a sick grin and smartly spun on his heel to dash down the two flights of stairs. Resuming her post at the balcony, Briod gathered a handful of cultists and a portion of the Scourge. Staring down at them, she almost didn’t see the fireball before it was too late.
Cursing, she flung herself back into the loft smelling the taint of singed hair. Furious she gathered dark magic around her into a bubble of blackness and strode back out onto the balcony. It took just a glance to find the guilty mage.
She unleashed a flurry of shadow bolts at the mage, hitting him and nearby comrades. Within moments, they rose as glorious Scourge. They looked magnificent as they fought behind enemy lines, doomed to perish, but bringing many more to the dark.
One side of the Stormwind line looked ready to collapse as they had to split their focus on two sides. Shouting and pointing to the weak spot, Pai leapt off the balcony to the ground below, the shield of darkness protecting her. To her sides, every cultist hurled chants and necromantic magic at the weakened area.
Pai shouted a charge. The human line collapsed as Pai and the Scourge battered their way through. More combatants rose from the fallen. Stormwind now stood on its back foot, but the battle still remained far from won.
The Scourge attacked tirelessly throughout the night. Pai gained control over nearly two thirds of Old Town. Fighting men of all ages reinforced the guards as the human lines were forced to inch backwards.
Briod sent word that he managed to breach the Cathedral of the Holy Light, but the Scourge were quickly driven out of the building. They still managed to hold most of the Square, though human defenses had strengthened much as Old Town’s did.
During brief lulls in battle, Pai considered and promptly rejected going to the Cathedral and excising the Holy Light sycophants herself. If she left, her position in Old Town could grow tenuous, even having the numerical advantage.
Even the tiniest particle of dread intervention would be enough to ensure a Scourge victory.
Kel’thuzad, my lord, where are you?
By first light, Pai decided to see what the situation in Cathedral Square looked like. If her Scourge could hold the Old Town square throughout the night, she figured they would continue to do so during the day. The humans would be tiring while the Scourge kept growing.
Summoning a Scourge horse took mere moments and she leapt to its back. She muttered in its ear and it leapt forward, faster than any mortal mount. It hurdled the width of the canal between Old Town and the Dwarven District and for the briefest of instants she thought they’d barrel through the stone wall of the building on the other side of the street. The dread steed turned on half a gold piece and they were off.
As they passed an entrance into the Dwarven District, Pai happened to glance into the gloom of the blight and she saw indistinct creeping figures. With a jerk, she wheeled her mount around and plunged into the blight, running over a pair of dwarves dressed for skirmishing battle she hadn’t seen from riding past the archway so quickly.
Unleashing a wave of dark magic, she retreated, knowing she couldn’t face more than a dozen dwarves on her own. It wouldn’t be wise to keep them unchecked at the rear of her forces. She continued to the Cathedral Square where she found Briod shouting orders at the other cultists and Scourge with him.
“Split the Scourge here,” Pai cried. “Dwarves come from the tram. Take the west entrance of the District. I’ll come from the south.”
Briod looked at her incredulously. “I left more than enough to watch the tunnel!”
“Then they probably have Darnassian druids to cleanse the blight. All the more reason to stop them now!”
She paled as she rode to gather a force at Old Town. If Briod left Scourge guarding the tunnel to the tram, the blight should have been thick. The Scourge should have been able to beat back any opposition for much longer than a night! The kind of magic to escape the tunnel that quickly could only mean the presence of arch druids.
For the first time since her campaign against Stormwind City began, Pai felt a pang of fear.
She reached out to Kel’thuzad again. Where are you? Please, let me know you’re still with us.
While she eagerly waited for the day she attained undeath, she wanted to do so in glorious fashion. Becoming undead by failing to take over Stormwind City just wasn’t be good enough for her. Besides, Kel’thuzad would need to be the one to perform the rites and if he were truly dead this time…
Pai shook her head with a scream. She wouldn’t think about that, not now. Not when her offensive needed her most. She reentered Old City and wasted no time gathering up a force to combat the dwarves and druids.
“You four,” Pai pointed at cultists hovering in the rear lines taking a break from attacking, “Grab fifty Scourge apiece and follow me!”
Pai wheeled the dread steed around, trampling a wayward Scourge missing an arm and half a face. Pathetic. Some just aren’t worthy enough for the gift of undeath.
She raced back to the canal towards the south entrance of the Dwarven District. The air of the aptly named area grew thicker with the blight haze as she moved further into it. Mounted or not, she knew it didn’t matter. Visibility would be the same.
Sounds of battle were muted here, but she knew the dwarves and druids were about. She could sense their lurking. Nearly barking out a laugh at their attempt to trap her, she shouted inhuman words. The cadence of her voice was enough to make her foes keep their distance from her.
Behind her, she felt the Scourge brought by the four cultists come to a stop behind her. The cultists whispered excitedly amongst themselves, eager to see what their potential necromantic skills would be.
Darkness swirled around her and spread, increasing in height so the mass hovered over even the tallest chimneys and vents that up until today, redirected the noxious fumes of blacksmiths and engineers. Within moments, streaks of darkness infused with fire fell on the Dwarven District.
The blight had done remarkable work in so short a period of time. Several buildings immediately took flame. Within moments, explosions reverberated in the streets as gunpowder, explosives, and other volatiles reacted with the fires.
“Form up,” Pai commanded, her voice rising over the sounds of chaos. “Prepare for a charge. Cultists, prepare for new converts.”
Pai backed her dread steed back toward the cultists as the Scourge formed in staggered lines. She decided to remain mounted, the better to oversee the skirmish.
Backlit by growing red and orange flames amidst the blight haze charged more dwarves than she expected. To her ears, their battle cries and howls sounded harsh and unnatural. Swinging broad, double-bladed axes and huge multi-spiked hammers, they threw themselves into the front lines of the Scourge.
To her dismay, the Scourge line collapsed. Behind the charging dwarves, bright white and light green streaks of shot through her ranks. She flipped off her dread steed, barely dodging a wrath bolt.
Bellowing in rage, she conjured shadow bolts and blindly unleashed them over the heads of both Scourge and dwarves alike. How dare those druids use the power of the earth on her! Beside her, the four cultists split duties of creating new Scourge and hurling shadow bolts, albeit much more slowly than her own.
Pai.
Pai froze, letting the necromantic magic she had summoned dissipate in front of her.
Heed the call of Kel’thuzad.
The voice she knew and loved echoed in her mind. The champions of Azeroth have failed yet again in their quest for his death.
Kel’thuzad, my lord. You have returned. It’s been so long.
I require your presence in Icecrown Citadel. A summoning is being performed for your immediate return.
She nearly fell to her knees there in a street in Stormwind City amid a skirmish between Scourge and dwarf and druid. As Next in Line of the Cult of the Damned, shared with Ul’haik, she had attended a fair share of meetings with Kel’thuzad, but never had he actually summoned her to him by a necromantic ritual. She always made her way to him via conventional means.
The howling wind of a conjured hurricane snapped her attention to the present. My lord, I am in Stormwind. I have created Scourge and we battle for total control of city.
Pai stepped back from the rear lines of the Scourge. To the cultists, she said, “Push them back to the tram.”
“Yes, Lady Stormbringer,” the four replied in unison.
Despite the appearance of ignobility, she crouched behind the thick stone foundation of a building near the arched entrance of the Dwarven District. She needed to make sure she didn’t miss any instruction Kel’thuzad gave her.
You have done well. After a brief pause, Kel’thuzad continued. Leave the city burning. Have your cultists establish a base within the Burning Steppes. You must come now.
Pai ran back to the four cultists. One lay on the ground in a spreading pool of blood, a large chunk of his torso missing. The other three fought on and she had to slap each of them on the shoulder to get their attention.
“Keep pushing as much as you can. Briod now commands and will signal a retreat soon.”
“My Lady?” one of the cultists said, voicing the confusion evident on all of their faces.
“I have other matters to attend to,” Pai said sternly. “Follow his lead, he commands in my name.”
Not waiting for confirmation, she ran through the arch to the road bordering the canal. She called for her dread steed. Leaping to its back, she savagely kicked it forward.
Like the Scourge she led into the Dwarven District, Briod fortified a position just within the arched entrance of the south side. He stood in the back directing waves of shadow bolts and shouting instructions to the Scourge skirmishers.
“My Lady Stormbringer,” Briod said to her a bit out of breath. “We hold the dwarven line, but the druids stay well back in the haze of the blight. We have a hard time eradicating them.”
“You have done well, Briod.” He perked up at her compliment. “You have a new assignment. Prepare a base in the Burning Steppes for the Scourge to retreat there. You must make haste.”
“What of the city?”
“Burn what you can, then leave it. We’ve done enough damage to put Azeroth on notice. The Scourge will not rest until all are converted.”
As she spoke, her vision became unfocused and Stormwind City swirled around her. Already the summoning took effect. In mere moments she would be completely gone.
“Remember,” she said with great effort. “Go to the Burning Steppes. We must have a base there so that we can continue what we started.”
Pai didn’t hear Briod reply as a different scene coalesced in front of her.
Her eyes having already adjusted to the gloom of Stormwind City, Pai could make out the circle of cultists whose powers brought her to where she now stood. Runes of power shimmered a sickly, welcome green on the floor and within the black walls of the chamber.
“I’m glad you’ve kept yourself busy in my absence.”
Pai turned to look at Kel’thuzad and she kneeled with her head bowed in deference to him. His towering skeletal body towered over her, the dark mist always present around him gently moved around and through his robes and bones.
“The Cult of the Damned requires nothing less. It is an honor to be summoned to you,” Pai murmured.
“Even in undeath, time can be precious. Come, Ul’haik has already arrived.”
Silently, Pai got to her feet and followed Kel’thuzad out of the dark room, leaving the cultists and runes of power behind. Icecrown Citadel, like all Scourge controlled areas of Azeroth, exuded a feeling of death and darkness. She wished she could spend more time basking in the purity of the Lich King’s domain.
They passed a window in the hallway. All she glimpsed was the shadowed sky of northern Northrend. She wondered if she would see the true majesty of the Citadel’s impossibly smooth, high black walls and spiked arches. A door opened further down the hall. She would have to wait for that view.
Kel’thuzad led Pai into a square room, thirty feet on each side. In each corner stood braziers emitting the white-blue flames favored by the Lich King. Ul’haik’s blackened skin, so different from his natural, high elf hue, made him nearly blend in with the black stone table he sat at. He rose when they entered.
“Kel’thuzad,” Ul’haik said, bowing to their master. He nodded to her with a curt, “Pai.”
“It’s good to see you, Ul’haik,” Pai said cheerfully. “You have been quiet lately.”
“I’ve been busy plotting of our ascendancy?”
“Sit, both of you,” said Kel’thuzad before Pai could reply. “I told you both this meeting was urgent, and it is. The rumors of Naxxramas are true. Yet, once again, the champions of Azeroth failed to completely destroy me. Each time they try, I just return stronger. They will see reason eventually, of that I have no doubt.”
Both Pai and Ul’haik murmured their agreement.
“What is needed of us?” said Ul’haik.
“In a moment, Ul’haik. Congratulations are in order. Pai has brought success to the efforts of the Scourge. I daresay your latest exploit will soon make it to the ears of the Lich King,” Kel’thuzad said to Pai.
“I would be most honored,” Pai said.
“What exploit? You mean you actually went to Stormwind and it worked?” Ul’haik said, incredulous. “Stormwind City is supposed to be harder than Lordaeron was to bring down.”
“Ah, my good Ul’haik, she could have done it if I left her there.”
Pai beamed with the recognition Kel’thuzad gave her. Secretly, in the deepest part of her heart, she hoped that he would finally reward her with undeath even though she wasn’t completely successful with Stormwind.
“Really,” said Ul’haik slowly. Pai didn’t miss the faintest hint of respectful surprise he let slip.
“If I had left her in Stormwind and not instructed her to establish a base in the Burning Steppes, you could be moving into the Cathedral of Stormwind and unravel the mysteries of the Holy Light. Imagine what you could find in there for the Cult of the Damned.”
From Ul’haik’s sudden faraway look, he knew full well the possibilities of what lay in the Cathedral of the Holy Light. If he could figure out a way to corrupt the Holy Light, their power would increase exponentially.
“Now, though,” said Kel’thuzad, “the Lich King and I need your presence here to bolster the Citadel defenses. The Azerothian champions of both the Alliance and Horde have formed the Ashen Verdict. Their sole purpose is to batter their way in here and slay the Lich King.”
“What?” said Pai.
“They wouldn’t dream of it,” sputtered Ul’haik. “How are they even going to get passed Angrathar the Wrathgate? They wouldn’t think of using their drakes to fly over the walls, would they? Our gunships will certainly neutralize that point of entry.”
“Could they have opened a portal somewhere within the Citadel?” Pai said worriedly.
“Next in Lines, please,” Kel’thuzad said. When the two co-leaders fell silent, he continued, “You are not to worry about how they assault the Citadel. What you need to do is keep them from entering the spire. Since it houses the Frozen Throne, it can’t be destroyed, but they certainly may be able to find a way in.”
Kel’thuzad strode to the door and turned back to them. He waved a skeletal hand and Pai’s gaze shifted to the dark tabletop. Dark mist appeared and swirled in front of her and Ul’haik leaving two small, black orbs when it vanished.
“I leave these with you just in case things don’t go to plan. The Ashen Verdict should fail long before they breach these walls, but if it looks like they will succeed, use the orbs.”
Pai looked at the orb in wonder. She had never seen one, but knew it to be a one-time teleportation orb, a very powerful one. Rumors sometimes surfaced in cultist discussions of teleporting to other worlds, much like the purpose of the Dark Portal in the Blasted Lands. She knew little of the theories of how such magic worked, but she knew enough to know that no one believed travel to other worlds was possible without a permanent portal of some kind.
“Where does it teleport us to?” asked Ul’haik, staring at the orb as well.
“Somewhere safe,” said Kel’thuzad. “The Cult of the Damned will live on regardless of what happens here. Together, the two of you have all the knowledge to rebuild our order in case the worst happens.”
Kel’thuzad left the Next in Lines of the Cult of the Damned in shocked silence. Pai knew what Ul’haik thought. The two had been together since the Third War and they knew how each other thought.
Before she could say anything, Ul’haik spoke. “We say nothing of this, ever. If we have to use them, we do.”
“Agreed,” Pai said.
They looked at each other uneasily. They had never heard Kel’thuzad express anything contrary to victory.
“Do you think the Lich King…” Pai started.
“It doesn’t matter,” Ul’haik cut her off. “We serve Kel’thuzad and the Lich King. What one says, we obey. The Cult of the Damned will see the Scourge rule Azeroth.”
Ul’haik swiped his orb off the table and left Pai sitting at the black stone table, wondering at the turn of events. For the second time that day she felt the unaccustomed feeling of unease fall upon her. She carefully grasped the orb between two fingers and secured it within an inner pocket of her robe.
Kel’thuzad had told her to see to the defenses of Icecrown Citadel. He always demanded nothing less than success with his assignments, yet he clearly expected, or at least accepted, the possibility of this Ashen Verdict succeeding.
Using the orb would be obeying the orders of her assignment, too. The two of us must live in case things go wrong. I should be delighted to serve this purpose, but why do I feel dread?
[...] The Dread of the Scourge [...]