WoW_The Last Stand_The Test

Summery: (Last Stand - Third chapter) Faced with a fate worse then death one Blood Elf is determined to face his end with dignity, but what twists does fate have in store for him?

* Important Notes: For additional notes see the first chapter.

This chapter contains one reference to a guild related bit of lore though minor. The game Speed Rune was invented by the DKs of my guild as a type of Death Knight game of skill and competition in which two Death Knights would face off and compete in creating runes while watchers placed bets on the winner. Both are given a certain rune to create, the first to make one successfully wins.

The events detailed in this fic are based around in game RP between my main Jaideng Dawnspark and other players during the WOTLK prelaunch and Death Knight introduction.


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The Unholy Initiate tried to settle his nerves, tried to ignore the burning chill in his limbs, the sounds of screams in the distance. Further ahead a contingent of Death Knights led their minions against the Scarlet Crusade. He could sense the living just as easily as he could sense his brothers and sisters fighting against them.

Jaideng's eyes fluttered open and he shifted restlessly, one hand gripping the hilt of his rune-blade. The hilt was cold in his grasp, empty. He had yet to properly christen it.

"Your blade is a symbol of your power. As much a part of you as an arm or a leg, maybe even more so. Don't ever lose it...without it you're no better then a ghoul." He remembered his sponsor telling him as he engraved his blade with the runes that would eventually give him the powers of a true Death Knight, a champion of the Scourge.

Dibbz. That was the name of his sponsor. The red haired Death Knight who had slain him. Not his real name...such was the way of many scourge, so many of whom had little or no memory of their former selves.

Shadow they called him. He knew his name...but they called him it anyway. He was never sure if they were mocking him or just making him feel welcome. Most likely the former. Perhaps it was accurate. Always lingering on the outskirts of any situation.

He'd certainly always felt like a shadow. Never the focus...always standing behind the hero. An often times unseen presence, overlooked in favor of something greater.

Another wave of bitter cold flooded him making his extremities tingle and burn. He groaned and began to pace. He wanted to run ahead and join the fight. He longed to kill.

"Be still, Initiate. Your time comes soon. The battle nears it's end."

Jai stopped as the voice of his commander grew strong in his mind. It was the gift of the Death Knights to focus their will and relay orders to those under their command. He sighed in irritation. He would not be participating in this battle. He would have to wait even longer.

"I know of your history. Such weakness of Will is not tolerated here. Control your urges. You are lucky to have a sponsor, but fail and your punishment will be as severe as with any Initiate."

Jai's eyes narrowed and he grit his teeth, "I hear you, Koltira, and you know nothing about me."

"You are insolent...but I forgive you. This time."

Jaideng sighed and let his hand fall from the hilt of his sword. Angry as he was at Koltira's assumptions, perhaps he was not as off in his accusations as Jai may have wished. He was allowing his discomfort to override his reason. He should not have been so eager to kill. It wasn't who he was...

He refused to let it be.

The battle had come to an end and he could feel his fellows heading in his direction. There were only four of them but running along side each Death Knight's horse were three or four ghouls, each decorated to their Knight's individual preference. The troupe was blood soaked but he could sense that none of it belonged to the victorious undead. For the most part they completely ignored the lone Initiate but the last in the group stopped and leaned down to grip his shoulder. Dibbz.

The touch sent shocks of pain through his starved body but he resisted the urge to pull away. Pain response was weakness and the Scourge accepted no weakness in their ranks.

"Ha! I knew it would be you!" he said with a wide smile, the only part of the other elf's features he could see from under his horned helmet, "The way is clear if a bit messy but I'm sure you'll have no problems cleaning that up for us, right? Make me proud hmm? Soon we will fight such battles side by side!" he declared with a heavy pat before riding off after his companions.

He grunted as he felt them leave him far behind. He was alone now, with no other Scourge in the near vicinity. The whispers in his mind fell to a faint rustle, easily ignored. Peaceful. He closed his eyes and took a moment to enjoy the silence. This far away...how easy would it be to escape...to flee?

"Time is short Initiate. The Scarlet dogs will not wait long before seeking out their fallen. Continue with your mission. He is watching." the last part had an edge to it, a warning.

He sighed as he opened his eyes, "Of course...as you command..." he whispered out loud not caring if Koltira picked up the thoughts or not.

It was only a short walk to the sight of the battle and it was every bit as he would expect it to be. The ground was littered with bodies, puddles of blood soaking into the dry earth. The amount of death gave the air a charge that only one such as he could feel. He breath it in and felt a bit of his pain ease away. It was nothing like what it would be to be the cause of such death but it would give him the energy he needed to complete the task at hand.

Drawing his blade he set it's tip to the ground and began to walk the outskirts of the battle, drawing a line in the ground as he went. With each step he siphoned the death energy from the air and channeled it into that line. This had always been easy for him. As a Blood Elf control of such energies came second nature to him.

He took his time but felt relief when finally he met back with where he had begun, completing the circle. As he did so he felt something click. A subtle change within the area as the ground within the circle became desecrated. What remained of the grass and plant life within withered and turned to dust and even the soil became leached of color. The bodies were unchanged but he could sense them now, each a spot of concentrated death energy. Moving to the center of the circle he drew another smaller one and then painstakingly drew a line to each corpse connecting them to the inner ring. Once done he sheathed his weapon and made his way back to the smaller circle, standing within it, careful not to smudge any of the drawn lines.

He then removed a pouch from his belt and placed between each outstretching line a rune stone. Each had been carved and empowered by his own hands for this very purpose.

As he straightened from placing the last one he sensed a problem. He raised his head slowly to look towards the group of Scarlet Crusaders standing just beyond the circle. There were not many of them but they were accompanied by three priests, the Holy Light they wielded stung his senses and made his skin itch.

They had not breached the circle yet, even they could sense the wrongness of it and were wary.

His eyes narrowed and he gripped his rune-blade. His focus shifted from the ritual at hand to the nearby threat and he felt the power of the circle waver.

They are nothing, Shadow! You are safe within the circle! Finish! Dibbz's voice penetrated his mind unexpectedly and he released his grip on his blade. He was right. On unholy ground their priests would not be able to harm him.

...and soon they would be far out numbered.

Ignoring them he outstretched his hands and activated the runes around his feet. They burst into blue light and shot that light out along the lines he'd drawn. A hum filled the air and Jaideng shuddered at the intense pull the ritual had on his limited Runic Power. Each line connecting to a corpse pulsed as it pulled a fraction of his energy away from him and into the bodies. He vaguely heard a shout of outrage and felt the Priests throwing their spells into the circle in an attempt to disrupt it, but the runes held the energy as a solid barrier not so easily damaged. It would take the will of a much greater individual to break the ritual now that it had begun.

The last of his energy was drained away and he fell to his knees, the circle continued to glow blue for a couple seconds then faded away, the rune stones crumbling into dust.

It seemed as if he had failed but Jaideng could feel them around him.

"By the Light! You will pay for what you have tried to do here monster!" a voice broke the silence and Jaideng looked up to see the Scarlet priests making their way towards him. He smiled at them wickedly from beneath his cowl.

He waited until they were well within the field of corpses before slowly standing up. The corpses on the ground twitched and then one by one...they followed his example and climbed to their feet. The Scarlet Crusaders froze in their tracks staring around them in horror. One had the sense to turn and run but the rest were not so lucky as the reanimated bodies of their former friends turned on them and ripped them apart.

They were not true Scourge...not yet. He was not a necromancer or a lich. He could not recall spirits but he could animate their corpses. Each an empty shell being controlled by his will. Such was the power of the Unholy. One he had trained hard to learn and now...master.

He called off his new pets only after the would be attackers were reduced to little more then puddles of gore then turned and began the long trek back to Archerus, his future comrades in tow.

They were lucky, he told himself, he had shown them mercy. They would not share the fate of their fallen friends.

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Jaideng was angry. More then that he was frustrated almost beyond reason. It had been a week since he had passed his test and proven himself as an Initiate of the Unholy. Yet they continued to deny him participation in the battles he craved to be a part of. His pain had grown unbearable and he could no longer control himself fully.

The other initiates had learned to stay clear of him. Fighting between them was common, encouraged even, but during his last battle his opponent had had to seek aid to reattach several limbs.

He snorted as he paced back and forth across the necropolis's upper chamber, he'd been lucky to have gotten out with his head with the way he was feeling.

Had he done something wrong? What other reason could there be for this torture? What did they want from him?

A faint hum filled his mind and he froze in place as he recognized the tell tale sign of the Lich King's direct influence over him.

It is time.

The voice left behind a small amount of energy which dulled his pain and he shivered in pleasure at the relief it brought, though it left nothing but longing in its wake. He knew the signs of addiction when he saw it...and this was certainly it.

"Shadow...Shadow? Jaideng!"

He turned his head and blinked at Dibbz in confusion as he tried to pull his thoughts back into some semblance of order.

"Mograine has been given a mission for us...he asked for you to be present."

Jaideng stared for a moment then nodded and moved to follow him. He raised an eyebrow at the other elf curiously...even more so when he saw his smirk.

"What...what is going on? What's the smile for?"

"You'll see." he said with a teasing tone.

Jaideng glared at him but saw no point in arguing as he continued to follow him to the structures inner chambers where their Highlord resided. Within he saw the typical scene of Highlord Darion Mograine analyzing various maps with his most trusted Death Knights by his side. He also saw Dibbz's usual battle troupe as well. One was the very familiar white skinned Draenei he'd met when first he'd awakened. The other was formerly human though by the amount of rot he was actually most likely a former Forsaken. Neither ever paid him any attention and he'd never bothered to find out their names.

What shocked him was the impressive figure of the Lich King himself standing in the back of the room and he had stopped and was staring before he realized what he was doing. A sharp nudge from Dibbz brought him back to his senses and turned his attention to the meeting taking place.

Mograine nodded as they approached, "Prompt...good." he said, "You have proven yourself a worthy student of the Unholy. You have passed our tests and bolstered the ranks of the Scourge through your actions. It is time you took your official place among us. Our scouts have spied a patrol passing not far from our current location. It is likely that they may become aware of our presence and alert their forces before we are prepared to reveal ourselves fully. You will travel with your sponsor to eliminate this threat. Choose a worthy soul to empower your Blade and become a true champion of the Scourge."

Jai wasn't sure what to say and decided silence was probably best either way. He felt relief...but at the same time...dread.

He felt Dibbz's hand on his shoulder as they left the chamber and headed up. The other elf stopped him as they passed through the training room and motioned towards the other Scourge milling about within.

"I know you're still uncertain about where you should stand. Uncertain about your loyalties. Koltira told me...you were thinking of running." Dibbz said with a tone filled with disappointment, "Look at us...look at what we stand for. What we want to bring to the world."

Jaideng sighed and did as he was instructed. He saw the armor clad figures training in the circle, conversing in small groups around the edges. Another group competing in a game of Speed Rune*, a Blood Elf picking out bandages for her ghoul, but that wasn't the point Dibbz was trying to make of course. They were of all races. Night Elves and Orcs, Humans and Trolls. Races normally at war working side by side as one. When he'd been alive he'd seen the Scourge as mindless monsters. They were anything but.

"Close your eyes, feel them...feel us..."

He didn't feel he needed further encouragement to understand what he was getting at but he did as he was told anyway, opening himself to the link held between himself and all of the Scourge. He could feel the Death Knights strongest within the Necropolis with him, felt the reverb as they reached out to him in turn. The sensations echoed back and forth between himself at the others around him. Reaching further he could sense the pull all the way back to Northrend where thousands upon thousands of Scourge resided.

He opened his eyes and felt the sensations fade into the background again. He gave Dibbz a look of regret, "I understand...forgive my weakness." he muttered.

The seriousness of the situation was shattered by a sharp whistle and Jai glanced over to see the female Blood Elf he'd spied earlier waving at him, one hip cocked as she winked and blew him a kiss. He couldn't help but notice that her Ghoul was now clad in blue ribbon which was being stained a blotched purple by the creatures blood.

Dibbz laughed as Jaideng frowned and looked away with an annoyed grunt, "Hey, I didn't know you had a girl friend."

"Shut up and lets go already." he grumped and stalked off down the hall, heading towards the upper balconies. Dibbz just continued to laugh and make crude jokes which he pointedly ignored.

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Jaideng found himself wondering as to the point of him going with them into battle. The patrol was small...barely worth sending four Death Knights to intercept. The fighting had started and been over before he'd even caught up to them, mountless as he was. As he took in the carnage he grew furious and threw his rune-blade down so that it stuck in the ground tip first, growling in his frustration until he got a good looks at the first body. An orc.

His brow furrowed and he took in the red and black insignia displayed on each of the bodies. These weren't Scarlet Crusade scouts...they were Horde soldiers.

He heard a shout and cruel laughter up ahead and, retrieving his blade, he ran to see what his comrades had found.

The sight sent a shock through him, throwing his mind into chaotic swirls of emotion. His three comrades stood surrounding a Blood Elf, a priest with long silver hair. He held his staff at the ready but a sphere of pulsing golden light surrounded his body, repelling the half hearted attacks of the Death Knights who tormented him. His fearful expression and resigned gaze spoke well enough of the fact that he knew he was outmatched.

He knew this elf.

"Talgith..." Jaideng whispered in dismay. He couldn't have been heard over the Draenei's laughter but Dibbz looked his direction anyway.

"You can't stay in there forever, little priest!" the Draenei teased in startlingly fluent Thalassian.

Talgith glared at the Death Knight and looked like he might say something caustic in return but then his ears drooped and a second later his shield fell away.

"Ha!" The Draenei shouted and charged forward, rune blade lifted to strike down the cowering priest. His blow would never connect as Jaideng threw himself against the Knight, throwing him off balance. He stood defensively in front of the priest and pointed his blade at the startled Draenei.

"You stay away from him!" he snarled. The Forsaken Death Knight took half a step forward and Jai sent him a death glare. He lifted his hands in surrender and backed off though a grin remained plastered on his half rotted face. He was obviously finding the situation endlessly amusing.

"Easy, Shadow." Dibbz said, sheathing his weapon, "You want him you can have him. Of course...we've been so selfish...this is supposed to be your battle and here we are stealing all of your kills."

Jai's hands trembled and he shook his head, "I..."

Dibbz came forward and patted him on the shoulder, "No, no, it's ok. You need it. Go ahead."

"You!" the hissed accusation pulled everyone's gaze back to the living elf in their midst as he glared at Dibbz with narrowed eyes.

"It's you! You were on the dragon!" Talgith's tone was full of rage and his holy aura strengthened considerably, "You murdered my best friend!" he hissed and raised his hands with the obvious intent to attack.

Dibbz didn't wait to see the results of such an attack and pushed past his Squire. He punched the priest in the stomach then brought his armored knee into his face as he doubled over. Stunned and bloodied Talgith started to fall back but Dibbz moved behind him and gripped him, pulling his arms up behind his neck and fisting his hair as he held him in a half standing position facing Jaideng.

"Murdered?" Dibbz asked, "That was a battle...it was hardly murder."

"Light damn you...you attacked while he was running, that's hardly fair." Talgith coughed as he struggled weakly.

"Tch...he wanted what I gave him...I think you know that." Dibbz said in an amused tone and then chuckled as he looked at Jaideng from over the priest's shoulder, "You really are too perfect...isn't he, Jaideng?"

Talgith stiffened and his eyes widened as he stared at Jaideng. Jai's ears drooped as he reached up to push back his hood. The priest shook his head in denial, tears forming in his eyes, "No..."

Dibbz grinned wickedly, "You see? I set him free."

"You've enslaved him, you monster! You'll pay for this!" Talgith shrieked fighting with renewed vigor to get free.

Dibbz ignored him as he stared at Jaideng, "Take him, Shadow, show him what I have shown you."

Jai started to shake his head but stopped as the all too familiar presence flooded his mind.

No Mercy.

He gasped as cold flooded his limbs, his eyes flaring a brighter blue and he took a step towards the priest, his weapon raised.

Kill them all!

Talgith went limp against his captor as he stared up at Jaideng in sorrow, "...what have they done to you, my friend?"

Jaideng froze, conflicted, weapon held at the ready though he trembled at the effort it took to fight the Lich King's commands.

"Fight this! Don't let them control you, make you like them! This isn't you!" Talgith cried out, his voice pleading.

"Foolish words from someone who knows nothing. He is a tie to a world full of lies. Kill him and you will truly be free." Dibbz hissed.

"His words are poison! They are monsters, Jaideng! You know this! You are not like them!"

Dibbz chuckled and shook his head, "He is one of the blind, Shadow, as you were once. He knows nothing of us or our cause."

"Stop calling him that! Stop manipulating him!" Talgith growled but Dibbz ignored him.

"You can save him...save him and yourself. Do what you need to do."

Jai remained silent throughout the exchange and though he had stopped trembling and lowered his sword slightly the look he gave Talgith told him enough to know he had lost. The bright blue eyes were cold and he could see nothing of his old friend in them.

Talgith swallowed hard and nodded slowly, "It's alright, Jai...I won't blame you..."

He watched Jaideng raise his weapon once again to strike and he closed his eyes, resisting the urge to open them when he felt Dibbz's lips near his ear, "Don't worry, Priest...you won't be leaving his side for a long time."

Talgith didn't get a chance to question that statement before he was suddenly pushed forward, eyes shooting open in surprise as a burning pain sliced through his chest, the rune-blade piercing straight through his sternum and out through his back. He dragged his gaze up to meet Jai's before he went limp and his eyes rolled back into his head. He felt as if he were falling, sucked into a vaccuum.

Jaideng blinked as the Lich King's influence began to wane and he slowly allowed Talgith's body to fall from the blade he'd put through his chest. He was numb. He knew he should have felt something...guilt...sorrow...anything but this emptiness.

As he continued to stare he noticed something different about his blade. The hilt hummed against his palm and as he watched a blue mist was drawn out of Talgith's body. Instantly the dull runes etched into the blade burst into blue light which pulsed like a heart beat. The metal shimmered and shifted shape, reforming itself. The pummel fanned out in a resemblance of wings and the blade broadened, etchings of feathers spreading across it's edges around the glowing runes. Last to form was a large eye shaped gem set within the hilt. It was lit from the inside with a golden light which swirled as if it were filled with some kind of liquid. He had the distinct feeling it was somehow looking at him.

The pulsing of the runes slowed and he could sense it, feel it in his mind as if it were another Scourge. This connection felt stronger however...more intimate. A bond that could never be severed. A wave of energy ran up the hilt and into his hand, continuing up his arm until it hit his chest. He sighed as the pain melted away, each wave of energy being given to him chased away the ice in his veins and brought clarity to his thoughts.

All too soon the energy stopped and the runes stopped pulsing. He had drawn as much as he could from Talgith's corpse it seemed.

He lifted the transformed Rune-blade. It wasn't what he would have expected. If it wasn't for the blue glowing runes it would have looked every bit like a Sin'dorei war-blade or some kind. The feather and wing designs...all perfectly familiar blood elven symbolism.

"A Rune-Blade is a unique tool. Each one is different, shaped by the soul that serves as its core." Dibbz explained, drawing his own blade, "It is the source of our true power. Every kill makes it stronger...and in turn, you." he smiles widely, "Now you are truly one of us."

Understanding came to Jaideng then as he stared at the blade, clenching the hilt tightly, sensing the soul that now resided within.

Sun above, what have I done?

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TBC...