The Dwarf-carved Figurines
Gilneas City— End of the Second War (Year 6)
“Long live the King!” “Hail Greymane” “Glory to Gilneas!”
The cheerful yells filled the Greymane Court. News had reached the nation that the marauding aliens known as the orcs were defeated. King Genn Greymane had sent a small force to support the fight and had stayed out of the Alliance for the most part, claiming that they were self-sufficient. People were happy. They hadn’t feel the concern of war much. Even as the Capital City was besieged, they felt safe and proud knowing their mighty army was ready to defend against any who would dare attack them. And they felt good about themselves, knowing their nation bestowed upon others the help they so direly required.
Bernus Silverbend joined the crowd. His eyes searched for Lord Darius Crowley. The man was all about this new Alliance and the King had proven they didn’t need them. Bernus sneered with the thought of him. Of course it would be the noble owning the outer-lands that would have these ridiculous ideas. He didn’t understand how Greymane befriended that uncouth Crowley.
No matter, he thought. Bernus was in a good spot. He was moving ranks as a diplomat. His love and wife Shaina was, with her lovely demeanor, not only great at spreading good word about him, but also a fount of information as she was an expert at getting people to talk. He had even talked with the King and Bernus felt that their way of thinking was similar. They wanted Gilneas to be independent and strong.
Shaking the thoughts he was lost in, Bernus left the cheerful crowd and walked towards the main pathway. A carriage was waiting for him as expected. He could see Shaina’s silhouette inside. They were going on a journey that would keep them away from the country for long, as Bernus would serve as a diplomat in the Lordaeron court. He wore a concerned face for a moment, took and let out a deep breath. He then brought his confident face back and paced towards the vehicle.
Lordaeron City — Before the Third War (Year 20)
“Don’t forget the figurines honey” said Shaina as she was packing her personal belongings. “You know Tobias loves them.”
Bernus obeyed the wife with a smile, but he couldn’t help question himself on the inside. Why did his son love those dwarf-carved figurines so much? More importantly, why didn’t he seem to enjoy hunting? It wasn’t easy raising a son outside the country and making sure he was a true Gilnean. Had he done something wrong? Bernus let out a sigh with a concerned face.
“What is it?” asked Shaina, “I know that face. What are you worried about now?”
Shaina knew him very well indeed. Bernus didn’t know what he’d do without her. He felt like he didn’t deserve her. Sometimes he would joke about a day where someone would come and ask for a terrible price for all the days they spent together and Shaina would quickly frown and make him dismiss such thoughts.
“It’s… Tobias. You know I love him more than anything, but we are going home without permission-”
“We discussed this, husband. This plague seems to be killing people and we need to be safe. We can’t serve the nation if we are dead. You’ve served faithfully for over a decade. They’ll understand. The King is fair. The King will protect his own. That’s our way.”
“I know… I know! But you know we will be asked to join the King in the court. It might take days until formal talks are over and… I fear Tobias may look… not Gilnean enough to them. I know he has it in him and I’m not blaming him, don’t give me that look! It’s just that he’s just never been there before and I’m worried he might not understand the nuances.”
“Bernus Silverbend.” Bernus knew that tone. “Tobias is more refined than you were at his age and who cares what they think about our son? More importantly, we are going home now. Once he breathes in the Gilnean air, once he actually wears a Gilnean steed to hunt game, meets a fine Gilnean girl, he will be more Gilnean than either of us!” She put a hand compassionately on his cheek but gave him the wifely order with a stern look “Stop. Worrying.”
Before Bernus could say anything, excited footsteps rushed into the room and Tobias yelled “Daddy, the mister outside says it is time to get goin’!” and opened his arms wide with a look on his face that clearly expected something specific. Bernus grabbed the child, swung him in the air and with the chuckles filling the air, placed him carefully on the ground. “Nooo, on your shoulders pleeeaseeeee!” asked Tobias, opening wide his eyes. Bernus considered it for a moment but stood still. “Sorry, son, you know how it is. There are people outside and daddy needs to look serious.” The child did nothing to hide his disappointment: “Pleeeaaseee?” Tobias shook his head and said “It’s time to go, don’t worry, you’ll have a lot of fun where we are going!” and proceeded to stairs.
Gilnean Wall — Next Day (Year 20)
“What do you mean they won’t allow us in? There must be a misunderstanding! I am a Gilnean citizen, not a refugee!” Bernus yelled. One of the refugees outside the city wall had seen Bernus and his family trying to make contact and told them it wasn’t possible. “They don’t care. Even those of Pyrewood were rejected. Don’t you think they are Gilneans too?” Bernus could start about Darius and his land but he wisely kept it to himself. “Look, you don’t understand. The plague, it’s coming. We’ve even seen… undead on our way here! Just between Lordaeron city and here! Can you believe it? They need to open the door! I’m a damn diplomat of the nation”
“Well, good luck making them hear you mister diplomat” the man said, pointing to the soldiers watching guard on top of the wall, and walked away.
Shaina and Tobias approached. “Daddy, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing son. Just boring adult things. Hey, why don’t you keep guard of our packs? We need a strong young man like you to do it!” The kid, taking the cue for play, immediately put on his serious soldier face and rushed to the packs.
“Shaina, they aren’t letting us in. They are letting no one in.”
“We need to find a way, husband. I heard… I heard the undead we came across weren’t the only ones. We need to get Tobias in. What about the flag?”
“What fl- The flag!” Bernus was granted a special, ceremonial Gilnean flag for his services last year. He rushed to the packs and found it. Just when he thought he needed a pole of sorts, he noticed Shaina was already running back from the forest with a suitable tree branch. He once again wondered when he would be asked the price for deserving her. They tied the flag to the branch-pole and started waving it to signal the guards. They yelled just to get some attention, knowing they wouldn’t exactly hear what they were saying.
Indeed one of the guards saw them and called out to another. The Silverbends watched as the guards look at the flag. One of them disappeared. “They saw us! They’ll soon learn the meaning of the flag and open the door!” Bernus hugged her wife and son. He would definitely be speaking about this in the court. Surely protection was important but the lives of citizens, maybe even those in Crowley’s lands…
Something was wrong. The guard came back, they looked down once more and went back to their routine. “They wouldn’t-” Shaina said. But they had. Bernus couldn’t believe it. Shaina started crying. He placed an arm on her to comfort her wife. She would rarely cry and never in public. “We will find a way.” he said. Instead of the composure he was expecting, Shaina started crying uncontrollably. Bernus was terrified. Before he could do anything, she started shaking and threw herself on the ground. To his horror, he noticed other people around were in same condition. “Daddy? What’s happening?” Tobias asked. Bernus had no response.
He looked above and yelled “HELP US!” No answer. “HELP US! YOU NEED TO HELP US! SOMETHING’S HAPPENING TO HER! SHE NEEDS HELP!” The guards didn’t even bother looking down. Tobias started crying. Shaina stopped breathing. After a moment of paralysis, Bernus took her wife into his arms. “No, no, no, no, wife, not now, no!” He tried to understand the reason, he tried to come up with something to do. Tears wet his face. He no longer cared about anyone. He started crying loudly, letting go for the first time in his life as he hold Shaina in his arms tight and caressed her beautiful hair. Did he call for this? Was this really the day of the terrible price? Why did she has to pay it? He cried and yelled unintelligibly. Even in his mind sentences didn’t form. He didn’t know what to do. The only thing he had now was…
Tobias. “DADDY” the child yelled. “DADDY, HELP ME!” His small body started shaking. Bernus was paralyzed. His brain shut down. He was holding his wife in her arms and his child was shaking uncontrollably in front of him. Was this a disease? What could he do? Why wouldn’t they open the door? He tried to talk, but he couldn’t form words. He wanted to move but he didn’t know what to do. He had never felt so helpless in his life. Only thing he was able to do was caressing his wife’s hair, not even noticing how unnaturally they were falling off and how fast she was decomposing. He saw the dwarf-carved figurines fell from Tobias’ still hands.
Then it came. He felt it creeping through his gut, moving to his arms and legs. He started shaking. The little amount of self-control and self-awareness he had was lost in this madness. The last thing he saw was the rising bodies of those who had just fallen. The rising body of Shaina. After that, all he knew was gnawing, chomping, tearing apart. Ordered by one, all-dominating dark voice in his head.
The Sepulcher — Before the Battle of Undercity, Year 33
“Look who’s back.” said Bee Buxworthy in her hoarse voice. Hoarseness was one of the common side effects of being undead, very common in Forsaken. “I see the imp’s following you. You have succeeded in overpowering it.”
The Forsaken across her nodded. His mouth seemed warped with hatred. It happened with the undead sometimes, they would carry their final mimics forever. “It will serve me well.”
“I hate to say it, but your training with me is over, rageface. However, your training with yourself has only begun. Heed carefully. You’ve spent years to get to this point. Remember the rules.” Bee said, with an expecting tone.
The Forsaken didn’t hesitate. “Know your limits. Break your chains. Don’t be seduced.”
Bee finished with a very definitive tone “Or I’ll find you and I’ll end you.”
The Forsaken nodded.
“Now, it may be good time for you to test your skills. The Alliance forces are on the move and we need to help defend our city. They say the boy-king himself is leading the charge. I’m sure his pup will also follow. You know, we don’t talk much about the before-life, but you do carry some Gilnean air with you, don’t you?”
The Forsaken’s eyes narrowed, matching his joyless, dark expression. “That’s none of your concern, master.”
Bee shrugged. “Well, I heard Greymane was mad at the Dark Lady because she invaded Gilneas and killed his son.”
“Greymane was mad because someone took his son?” The Forsaken thought. He clenched his fist. He felt anger turning into rage in chest. He felt hatred turning into something murderous in his guts.
He reached to a hidden robe pocket and held a dwarf-carved figurine in his hand. “His time will come”, the Forsaken said. “His time will come.”
