Chapter 6: Last rites (1)

Valiance Keep, the 14 day of the fourth month since the burning of Havenshire


“Can I bother you for a second?”

Whirling around, Severinna took the black haired woman in one long gaze. She held a tray with a steaming bowl of stew, loaves of fresh bread and a mug of ale and gestured towards a nearby table. The smell of food reminded her how hungry she was – after delivering the letters to the commander of the keep. She had been heading towards the soldier quarters where she had been assigned a place for the night, when a man outside the inn had asked her to enter for a second and speak to a woman who was waiting for her.
“You wanted to see me?”

The woman measured her from head to feet, then sighed. She wasn’t really that young, Severinna thought, maybe thirty or even more, so close, lines were visible in her face, lines of worry and sadness.

“Yes, please excuse me. It will only take a moment, but I have brought you some lunch.” The woman gestured again with the tray. “You must be hungry, you have come a long way.”

Still wary, Sev acknowledged her words and the woman led her towards the table and set the tray down in front of her, then let herself fall on one of the chairs. The common room was almost empty – another hour or two till midday. She could barely refrain herself from devouring the stew. The Tuskarr were a nice people and she herself not picky on her food, but traveling with them for two whole weeks made anything not fish very appetizing.

“I will be brief”, the woman said. “I have asked other people for help until now, but everyone just turned me down. I heard you came from the west and I thought you might be willing to aid me. If you don’t, I will not bother you further. But please, listen to my story…”

The grief in the woman’s voice made Sev frown. She paused with the spoon mid air and tried to look encouraging. Light, she felt so tired. All she truly wanted was lay down and sleep. For a couple of days.

“My name is Leryssa. I don’t have any family left, only a brother, Thassarian. A couple of years ago he enrolled to fight in the Plaguelands, against the Scourge. I have not heard anything from him since…only a letter received from an Argent Dawn officer, telling me he had been missing in action…presumably dead.”

“I’m sorry”, Sev said quietly. She put down the spoon and crossed her hands over the tabletop, watching her.

“Well…” The woman smiled bitterly. “Then, some two months ago, a friend of mine, William Allerton, has send word that my brother has enlisted here, in Valiance Keep, on the same day he did. I sold everything I had and came as fast as I could. He’s my only relative, you see…The only one I still have in the world…If there might be a chance he’s still alive… But nobody would talk to me about it. I have requested countless audiences with the military commanders of this place…to tell me at least where they have sent him…and all in vain…! William’s stationed outside of the keep, in a place called Farshire, and I cannot reach him” She shrugged. “ I suppose my petitions never reached them…the bureaucracy here is horrible. You have arrived today and have been received to the commander. Maybe you could help me…I just want to find out where my brother is. I would go myself in his search, but I am only a civilian and kept out of most of the base…”

Sev averted her eyes, as the woman started to shake with silent sobs. It is Light’s will to serve as shield and sword for those in need, for those that cannot defend themselves. This is the true meaning of compassion and righteousness – to serve the Light in those that most need its help.

“I’ll try”, she offered. “I don’t know of how much use I can be…I’m a stranger here myself…but I’ll do whatever I can.”

“Thank you.” Tears finally started running down Leryssa’s cheeks, but she smiled as she wept. “ I doubt I will ever be able to repay you…but all I have is yours…”

“I don’t want your money”. Sev shook her head, irritated at the thought. “Lunch will be more than fair pay.” She smiled back at the woman, picking up her spoon, to prove her words. It will not mean too much a delay after all, just doing a few enquiries here and there. Leryssa was right, being at least able to pretend she was one of the military might open her some doors. She would find out what she could, then be on her way to Dragonblight. Her fingers grazed instinctively over the chest plate, touching the place where the small mark rested, the blood red “L”, and she bit her lips thoughtfully at the echo in her mind.

Nobody can take the Light from you.

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Three days later I am still around Valiance Keep trying to honor the promise I’ve made to Leryssa. Every time I seem to untangle one of the threads leading to her brother, I end up even further from the truth than before.
I set out to find William Allerton. Farshire is a settlement on the shores of the ocean, not far from Valiance Keep. It was a peaceful village, inhabited by farmers, until a couple of weeks before, since undead started spreading all over the place. Most of the inhabitants have fled to the keep. The few that remain live under constant siege, having to fight back the rotting dead from their very door step.
Their simple courage impressed me. I found here, on the other edge of Northrend, the same determination as back in Valgarde. These people have left the old world to make a living here in the harsh north. They know their support is important for the armed offensive and now, that they have a foothold on this land, they don’t intend to leave so easily.

William Allerton has been stationed here with a contingent of Alliance troops, guarding the Farshire mine - a vital resource. But the mine had been overcome with undead and no one was able to check whether any of the soldiers are still alive. They are peasants after all and already do more than is expected of them. I sighed and headed towards the mine – after all these years, no amount of Scourge scares me so easily.

I didn’t hope to find survivors and there weren’t any. Some of the dead soldiers had already been turned – and these, the Light willing, I was able to dispatch - others lay decomposing in the damp tunnels. I had brought torches and burned as many bodies as I could, as I made my way towards the end of the mine, coughing from all the acrid smoke. William Allerton was the last corpse I found. He had defended himself bravely, but had been eventually overrun by the undead. I searched his possessions thoroughly, yet all I found was an enlistment card. I took it anyway, said a prayer for the fallen and returned to Farshire, to break the news.

As expected, Leryssa was rather shocked by my discovery. However, she took it quite well and produced an army recruitment ledger I did not dare ask how she had come by. We searched the ledger – assuming that her brother and the late William Allerton had been close to each other in the enlistment line – and eventually found his name. He had been assigned to unit “S”, but that didn’t tell us much, not with all the other recruit units named after the town of origin. There was for example the Southshore corps and the Westfall Militia deployed far north in the Grizzly Hills, but none of us could figure what “S” stood for.

Leryssa, however, is a resourceful woman. Back in Stormwind, she ran an inn, so she knows whom and when and how to ask…The innkeeper here sent us to an old veteran, now retired, who spends his day around the keep. The man has served in the army all his life and what he does not know about Valiance Keep operations may be fit in a tea spoon.

We had to turn the base upside down though, to produce a bottle of rare Kul Tiras wine, which was the only think that would convince old man Colburn to share his “wisdom” with us.

I would find all this detective work amusing, and even relaxing, if it didn’t deter me from reaching my destination. Yet I have promised, and that is why the third day found me in the basements of the keep, where the prison cells are. Leryssa bribed the guards to let me pass – a necessary annoyance. I disagree with this kind of means, but even I must admit it greatly sped up the process.
The man I am looking for is a deserter – someone who has been assigned to the same unit as Thassarian, Leryssa’s brother. It doesn’t take much for him to spill out his story, nothing fancy in truth. He says the mission Thassarian has been put in charge of was pure suicide, and that him and the rest of the unit have gone west, to launch an attack on the Scourge forces in the area.

After three more or less fruitful days, at least this information is something to begin with. The deserter cackles when I thank him for the news. He truly believes mine is a “fool’s errand.” I let him meditate some more on his choices as I head to Leryssa and share what I have just found out. Going west suits me just fine, since I’ll be closer to Dragonblight. I will send her news if I will succeed in finding at least a trace of her brother.

There’s something about this story that bothers me, like a small thorn nestled in the back of my head. I can’t tell why. I just feel it, as I leave Valiance Keep, heading into the seemingly endless expanse of rugged grass and malformed trees that is Borean Tundra. The harsh winds of the frozen sea have swept over the land, molding it to an uneventful rocky plain.
Flocks of some huge animals I remember seeing once at a Darkmoon Faire wander around, feeding on the scarce fodder and tundra birds fill the air with their chirping.

The wind slashes coldly against my cheeks as I ride and attempts to untie my hair. Loose strands whip around my forehead – I have already given up trying to keep up the hooded cloak. It is somewhat exhilarating and I find myself laughing out loud.

My destination is the tuskarr settlement of Kaskala. From there, I hope to secure passage to wherever the “S” unit has been sent. Another couple of days at most, and I will be on my way. It is odd to think the wandering may come to an end – that I might just find “home” again.

I don’t believe it. My mind cannot grasp yet the horrible amount of truth that is creeping up on its edges – but it has become more and more difficult to ignore it either. Back there, in Hearthglen, daily routine swallowed any attempts at thinking too much. There would be the morning prayers, the sword exercises, the patrols, the evening prayers and sometimes even the midnight prayers. And the penance, of course. No one was as pure as they should, so spiritual atonement was requested, and ever so often physical mortification as well.
But now, looking back, I see the unnecessary amount of blood spilled. Innocents dead, people tortured to confess they worked for the Scourge. People tortured to prove they were not Scourge. Inquisitor Isilien’s precepts. High General Abbendis’ revelations…her belief the Light was talking to her. The preparations to sail north with a handful of followers – her chosen ones. Few of us knew the whole truth until the end.

I shiver and it is not only the wind. Laughter dies. Suddenly I feel lonely, in this quiet immensity of land.
I spur my horse southwards, towards the sea.

The day is not over yet as I arive in the tuskarr settlement of Unu’pe. It’s a fisherman village, with nets and fishing poles everywhere and a couple of children running among them. The tuskarr are strange but friendly beings, and their accent is the funniest I’ve ever heard. Their elder, Ataika, is swift to point me in the desired direction. Unit “S” is camped just over the hill, in a place they named “Death’s Stand”, and the man I’m looking for is definitely there.

“Be wary”, the elder warns me, shaking his head. “He bore the mark of Karkut... he who watches over the dead.”
Great, I think, unable not to notice the pleasant amount of references to death that surround me. I thank Ataika and start in the direction he had indicated, leading my horse by the reins – the coast is too steep and covered in snow to be able to ride.
I wish I didn’t have this eerie yet clear idea that something is wrong…