Gathering the Light back into your hands, you focused on the matter at hand, blocking out any thought of the voices outside. There was a malign force attempting to get in. You could not let it.
Loosening your grip, you let the Light do its work. It flowed forth from your palms like water, a golden stream that reached out to all of the places where the dread force tried to enter. The very air around you seemed to hum with some distant song as His grace poured outward to meet this foe. And when they met, there was no doubt in your mind that this magical ice was the product of foul things.
Where the light touched the ice, there was a screech like an animal in pain, and black smoke rose where the ice melted. But as you watched, it seemed to resist, almost as though it was actively fighting back rather than simply trying to continue growing.
"What could be the source of that kind of magic?" Catherine stared at one of the icicles, and you somehow felt as though she was more capable of parsing through the variables and energies involved far more easily than yourself. "And for that matter, is the magic itself fighting back, or is it part of something greater that is directing it so?" Michael growled, the sound echoing off of the glassy ice that was so dangerously close to breaking in.
"It has the same aura as the living dead. I would wager that this is something like one of the necromancers we've been facing."
"And is there any indication that they have the power to break into another's mind like this?" Catherine raised an eyebrow, and waved her hand to dismiss the thought. "No. This is something else. Is is possible that this is a different kind of demon?"
"Whatever it is, it's trying to get in through other rooms!" Margaret yelled from a neighboring chamber. "And it's talking! I can't understand it, but there are words coming out of the ice!"
"Inferno." Michael hacked another icicle in two. "Jeanne, you should go to a more central area. Then if you can, strengthen the Light, and send it out again! The farther we can reach with it, the more likely we are to succeed in resisting."
Nodding, you let the Light fade slightly, turning to make your way to the hearth-room of your small mind-lodge. As you prepared to once again unleash your Light, a voice pierced your skull, leaving a sensation like ice digging through the bone.
You think that I will be denied so easily, human?
The voice was layered, echoing as though trapped in an endless chamber of glass. It was deep and low, and held a sense of gravitas and wisdom that you could not fathom facing in a foe.
I serve death itself, mortal. I will know what I seek.
You struggled against the voice, trying to release the Light, but it only grew marginally stronger with each attempt.
I will know you. Who you are, from whence you come, how to go there.
The Light was returning more easily now, and you felt something change. The voice had grown weaker. Only slightly, but it was a start.
I will go there. I will bring you with me and force you to watch as I burn the cities and plague the countryside. I will turn the land that spawned you into a new paradise, free of the shackles of life. I will turn that place into a Plagueland the likes of which even Lordaeron could not rival.
You began to focus solely on your efforts, and with each second that passed, the voice gave way.
This resistance of yours is but a temporary, transient thing. I have seen it bofore, and I shall surely see it again. You will come to me, and I will bring forth all I have said. And when I am done? Then I shall make you ours, body and soul. A new death knight to preach the glory of the Scourge.
You grit your teeth, pouring everything you had into the light at this point. Whatever this thing was, its words held no sway. You would not falter, and you would not bow.
Is ignoring me the best that you can do? How disappointing. But it appears to work in your favor, at least this time. Know this, little paladin; you cannot hold me back forever.
The presence retreated from your mind, and the Light burst from you like an explosion, almost as if the efforts you had made had been bottling it inside you until that moment. Unfortunately, you found little chance to celebrate, for though the ice melted and disappeared before your eyes, your consciousness faded out of the lodge, and you were left with the knowledge that you were being ejected back into Azeroth.
You awoke on the floor of your chamber, staring up at the ceiling with a cold sweat running down your neck and a soreness at the back of your skull.
Rising, the sensations increased: your hands were burning hot, your ears ringing. The air was cold, and your breath was misting before your eyes.
What kind of creature was that? Was it the demon that had attacked only hours earlier? Or something more dangerous, more terrible?
Taking a deep breath, you forced yourself to sort through what it had said. As was typical, it seemed to be grandstanding, but it claimed that you were far below it. It had some control over part of the Scourge, but it wasn't the highest authority. But it also claimed…
That it could find a way to Europe.
If it could truly find a path to your homeland, there would be no way to stop the Scourge! The will of God did not manifest as clearly, and there were not soldiers dedicated in such a way that the undead could be stopped. All of Europe would surely be lost!
Well, okay. Maybe an invasion by the servants of hell would teach the English and the Hussites a lesson. And if the Crusaders were right, the Undead wouldn't get very far into Arabia or Spain….
No, no, no! You had to be better than that! It might feel good to think about sweet, sweet revenge for now, but you'll only regret it later!
Unholy presence. Path to Europe. In your head.
You had to figure out what you would do about this….
[] Write in
Hey, everyone. I'm sorry this took so long. Writer's block sucks.
I decided that I'm going to give you all a preemptive heads-up. I'm going to see if I can get my focus back. If so, great. Business as usual. If not, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.
Anyway, on with the show!
