Regrets- Part 3

The day had gone much worse than Kerryann expected.

It had started off pretty much as she predicted; the man named William Saddle was up and about before the sun had even risen, merrily making breakfast over the fire and chattering away at her. Although she needed little sleep, Kerryann hated to talk in the early morning, especially after she'd spent much of the night regenerating a wound, and yet there she was, being chatted up by a man with seemingly boundless energy. At least he could make a good cup of coffee.

The morning had passed in an agonizingly slow manner as far as Kerryann was concerned. They'd set out on foot (because of course William had no horse) and walked across the great expanse of the Arathi Highlands. Stopping to question civilians passing on the road, Kerryann had been chagrined to learn that William was much better than she was at approaching these people and asking them questions.

At least they didn't run away in fright when he got near them anyway!

As the day wore on, they gleaned a few small clues here and there about the whereabouts of their prey. A hint that men had been moving crates in the middle of the night down a certain road. A tale of an ambush of a Refuge Point patrol several weeks previously. A mention of a newly dug grave found out on the highlands with no marker to identify the deceased.

Each clue was meaningless in itself, but when applied to a map of the region, a pattern of activity began to unfold that lead Kerryann and William further and further towards the north eastern region of the Highlands. The pace was terribly slow on foot, although to his credit, William never once complained about being tired or sore from all the walking.

Instead, he did something much worse; he chatted about his life endlessly.

At first it had done little to bother Kerryann. William had told her of his childhood, of his misadventures amongst the Syndicate living in the ruins of Stromgard. He told her about the things he'd learned and seen, the excitement practically oozing from his mouth as he discussed his plans for the future. He wanted to be a smith, he wanted to build a small house somewhere near Stormwind. He wanted to visit that city, to take in the sights.

The comments were not obnoxious by any means, but Kerryann found herself drawn into his ceaseless chatter. She found herself contemplating her own life, her own very dead dreams. His enthusiasm, his sheer joy and hope for the future were like little knives twisting in her, and as the hours wore on she found herself more and more gritting her teeth. It wasn't even that she didn't find his company pleasant, quite the opposite; it was that his enthusiasm was contagious and his dreams were not things she could share thanks to her own mistakes.

It hurt to be reminded of what you were every second of the day.

As the sun set and night began to fall, Kerryann felt her frustration mounting. She could have screamed up at the sky just to release it, but that would have given away their position, and they were getting closer and closer to finding the place from which the Undying were basing their operations. Just as she believed she could take no more and turned to silence the man trailing after her, William pointed ahead and whispered, "Look there. A farmhouse. And one not marked on the maps."

Kerryann turned and stared into the night, her glowing eyes missing little. A rather dilapidated farmhouse did indeed rest in a nearby dip of the Highlands, hidden from sight unless one were to come right upon it. Although it was still far, Kerryann could make out the forms of two men standing guard near the entrance. She turned and nodded once to William, who slowly drew his sword, a grim look on his face. Kerryann grinned, drawing her runeblade. She would finally get a chance to release some frustration on someone.

Using the tall grass to hide their movements, the two crept up to the house, studying it. Aside from the guards on the front porch, there was no other hint of life around the building. Kerryann looked to William once and nodded, signaling that they would attack. She received an affirmative nod from him and rose, her plate skirts clinking lightly as she moved.

Their attack was swift and brutal. Kerryann pointed and a choking band of shadowy magic wrapped around one man's neck, silencing him. She pointed again and a tendril of the same magic grabbed the second man and dragged him over to her, where her runeblade made quick work of him. Before the first man could get out a choked off cry, William had leaped over the porch railing and stabbed him.

Swiftly Kerryann jabbed her runeblade down, cutting the heart and then the head from the first man before she rushed to the second and did the same. With their bodies properly dismembered, they would not rise to fight again. The entire fight had taken mere seconds, and not a whisper of sound had made it into the house. Grimly William wiped his blade on the corpse at his feet and nodded at Kerryann.

She grinned and turned, a boot flying up and kicking in the door.

In a heartbeat the two had surged into the house, blades drawn and ready for battle. They needn't have worried though; the house was completely empty. It even lacked most basic furnishings, although there was a table and several chairs, as well as crates. The two swiftly began to search the crates and also a stack of papers on the table. What they found made them both pale with concern.

Several of the crates contained the uniforms of the Refuge Point guards. On the table was a list of equipment, supplies, and patrol routes of the guards, as well as a detailed list of the items needed to move a shipment along the roads in Arathi. They were clues, but one key element was missing. It was not until Kerryann's eyes alighted on something on the floor that she realized what it was.

She bent down, picking up what appeared to be a piece of grass and holding it up before her. She studied it, and William moved closer, a curious note in his voice, "What is it?"

"It's grain." She said, her voice devoid of emotion.

"And...? Why are you looking at it like that?" He asked with worry.

She turned and looked at him, her voice hollow in the empty house, "It's got plague on it William. They are not even creative to think of their own, new idea. They're moving a shipment of plagued grain to Refuge Point. It's not going to turn the people there into scourge, but it'll kill everyone, leaving corpses for the Forsaken to raise and little defense against further Forsaken advancement. They won't even expect it; the men will be wearing Refuge Point uniforms."

Wide brown eyes locked gazes with balefully glowing blue eyes. William swallowed hard and nodded, "We have to stop them. We have to go now. Can we find out where they are?"

Kerryann let the piece of plagued grain tumble from her fingers, moving back to the table and studying the documents there, she nodded after a moment of thought, "They must have gone towards the road by the straightest path in order to get a wagon across the plains. There's hidden rocks that will break an axle within the grass, so they'll want to use the smoothly paved road. If we hurry and if we cut across the grasses, we can catch them."

He was already moving as she finished talking, heading out the door. She hurried after him, signaling him to stop. He turned to look at her questioningly, and she began to chant in the Language of Death. The ground before her surged upwards as bones were dragged magically from the soil. They quickly knit together, forming an undead steed that snorted angrily. Kerryann grabbed onto some of its vertebrae and hopped on. She frowned when William tried to follow.

"You can't ride this. You'd be in direct contact with me and it will put you at grave risk," she chided.

He looked at her with a determined expression and shook his head, "No way. I'm coming with you. A lot of people are going to die if we fail, and the risk to me is worth it. Deal with it."

Before she could respond, he grabbed the steed and mounted up behind her, his arms wrapping tightly around her naked belly. Her surprise was added to by the fact that she found herself enjoying the feeling of his arms snug around her. She frowned at herself, angrily kicking the steed's flanks. It hissed once and then surged into the night, faster than any mortal creature could be.

The hunt was on.

***************************************************

Hours of ceaseless riding passed, the moon rising high above them as the two made their way across the plains. Silent now, William held on tightly as the two made their way to the road at a point that would hopefully allow them to intercept the poisoned shipment before it reached Refuge Point. When they finally reached the road, Kerryann found herself strangely sorry to feel William slip off the horse; the contact with another person had been the longest she'd had in almost a decade. She shook her head, and slipped down beside the man along the bushes that lined the road.

To her surprise, the crafty former-thief pulled out a spyglass, peering into the night down the long expanse of the paved path. After a moment he nodded and grinned, "I see them. Still very distant. We're not too late after all! They've got quite a few guards though. Maybe ten? And two wagons."

Kerryann frowned. Ten was too many for the two of them, especially if they were going to rise after death. It was time to even the odds. She rose swiftly, closing her eyes and reaching out with her senses. The ground nearby called out to her, and she walked in that direction.

As William looked on curiously, she began to chant, necromantic power rising around her. The ground began to surge up as the ancient troll burial ground was disturbed by her magic. Undead broke through the soil, rising up with moans and hisses of hatred, surrounding her but standing ready to heed her commands. In moments she'd summoned another seven combatants. William frowned darkly, but said nothing as Kerryann rejoined him; they needed to stop the wagons no matter the cost.

The two had only minutes to wait as the group got closer. Kerryann was soon able to see them clearly; ten men dressed as guards surrounding two wagons with drivers. It would be difficult. Silently she drew her runeblade, and William again drew his sword.

"To battle once more my lady," he joked. She rolled her eyes and tensed as the wagons came closer. When they had finally come close enough, she rose and pointed. The undead surged forward, and battle was joined.

"Burn the wagons!" She yelled over her shoulder as she surged towards the surprised guards. The peaceful road instantly became a swirling melee as men attempted to stop the dead from swarming over them. Swords flashed in the moonlight and howling cold air and magic flashed in the center of the battle as Kerryann's magic was deployed with devastating effects.

William ran in behind her, leaping onto the first wagon and stabbing the driver. He kicked the corpse from the seat before the other could rise in undeath and grabbed at the reins, stopping the wagon. In a flash he took out a gnomish device, lighting the canvas cover of the wagon on fire before jumping down. The flames took and the wagon became a roaring inferno as the canvas and grain beneath it began to burn.

"One down!" He shouted, turning to see Kerryann beset by a number of now-undead attackers. Eyes wide, he watched as she lashed out with a tendril of magic and plucked the driver of the second wagon from his perch; the man had been trying to steer the wagon around the melee and get it to safety. Driverless, the wagon careened off the road and into the ditch, flipping over on its side. It was effectively halted.

The move cost Kerryann. With her guard down, a still-living assailant lunged at her exposed back. William surged forward.

Kerryann felt something heavy impact her from behind. She was shoved into an Undying assailant and managed to gut him as they were both thrown off balance. Turning, she saw William stumble a step and fall to the ground; a blade meant for her had penetrated his chest deeply. With wide eyes she stabbed out, slaying his assailant and beheading the man before he even hit the ground.

"William!" She yelled, reaching down to support him as he slumped into the dirt. Around her the ghouls she'd summoned continued the fierce battle, but for a moment she could see only the obviously fatal chest wound on the man.

"S-sorry. C-couldn't let them...kill you. You're needed," he sputtered. Blood flecked his lips.

"Don't talk! Fuck...it'll be alright, it'll take you to Refuge Point, just hold on," Kerryann said, not knowing what to do. It had been a VERY long time since she had found herself concerned about a companion. She was out of her element entirely.

William smiled weakly and with a struggle, leaned up and kissed the death knight. She looked at him in utter shock as he slipped back to the ground. His lips slowly began to turn blue as Frost Fever from her kiss set in. "S-sorry, didn't want to g-go without...that," he said weakly.

For the first time in forever, Kerryann had no idea what to say. She sputtered futilely as he smiled up at her. After a moment, he sighed, his last breath soft against her face. In her scourged vision, she could see his spirit rise from his body. It turned and almost gave her a friendly wink before a glorious column of Light shined down on it. Although it was just a vision, Kerryann could feel her face burning, as if she'd spent too much time in the sun. And then it was gone. HE was gone.

The body slid from her hands into the dust of the trail as Kerryann felt her pulse begin to rage. It pounded in her head, an endless drum filling her with hatred that made her shake. Silently she rose, grabbing her runeblade up. Necromantic energy surged around her as her blade rose up, magics already lashing out at those around her.

She blacked out.

*****************************************

Her eyes opened slowly, looking up at the blue morning sky. Gingerly she sat up, rubbing her temples in confusion as she looked around her. She lay on the road leading to Refuge Point, and around her lay the hacked up bodies of the fallen Undying. On the ground beside her lay her broken and shattered runeblade; she had clearly used it to defile the bodies of her victims, smashing it against the ground until they, and it were utterly destroyed. Nearby one of the wagons still sent lazy tendrils of smoke into the air, and the other lay on its side.

The woman rose slowly, seeing that she was covered in scratches and bite marks from a battle with the Undying that she could not even remember. All around her was devastation, and her eyes scanned over it until they fell on the body of William, still laying with a smile on his face, peaceful in death.

It wasn't fair. He gave his life up for someone who had already long ago sacrificed hers. The thought sent an anguished guilt surging through Kerryann, and she sighed miserably.

"You stupid bastard. You were the one who should have lived," she muttered. Slowly she began to gather her wits about her, walking towards the second wagon of plagued grain. She took out a cigarette, lighting it up and taking a long drag.

"I'll make them pay for this. I swear it William," she said softly. She flicked her cigarette onto the canvas of the second wagon, watching as it began to catch fire. It would take about an hour for her to throw all the corpses onto the second blaze, and when she was done there was one more thing to do.

****************************************

The guards at Light's Hope Chapel gripped their weapons tight as a figure stumbled towards them, carrying a burden. As they looked on grimly, Kerryann forced herself to take another step. Her eyes were lowered so as not to look directly at the blazing light that her scourged vision showed her around the place.

One more step Kerry, you can do it.

Her boot scraped in the dirt and she found herself falling to her knees as the sheer holy radiance of the Chapel bathed her corrupt flesh with Light. In her arms, Williams body bounced lightly as she kept a tight grip on it, forcing herself forward on her knees inch by inch. Her skin had turned ashen colored, and in a few places it was split and cracked as the Light burned her, but she still pressed on.

When she thought she could go no further, and when she could no longer see due to the tears of blood that had run down her face and blurred her vision, she felt strong hands reaching down to take up the body. The Argent Crusade guards had come forward to help at last.

"Let him rest in a place of honor," Kerryann managed to croak out. She had to pause as a coughing fit took her. She spit on the ground, noticing that she had coughed up blood from the damage the Light was doing to her. "He gave his life so that others could live. He was a hero. His name was William Saddle. Please, let him rest here."

A hand touched her shoulder, and Kerryann shook it off roughly. A voice spoke softly to her, "We will, miss. Let us get a healer."

Kerryann smiled bitterly, turning away from the burning radiance of Light's Hope and the sacred ground on this it stood. She pressed her hands into the dirt, crawling away like an infant. "There is no healing me. I made my choice long ago. Please honor him, as I cannot."

She crawled then, moving away. Every inch bringing slight relief. It would take days for her to fully heal from the ordeal, days of hiding in a crypt somewhere, letting necromancy rebuild her scalded flesh.

It would be years before the regret she felt for William's death left her. It would be her entire life before the regret at what she had truly sacrificed for her power left her, if it ever did.