Broken - Part I

GAME: WORLD OF WARCRAFT
CHARACTER: KALEYEN

"Unit Halt!"

A gauntleted hand went up signaling to the unit behind him to stop their march.  Knight Thantos Skyfire looked around him at the clearing they just came into before he lowered his hand.

It was around mid day, the sun was trying to peak out from the rain clouds that have plagued the young unit of Blood Knight adepts all morning.  Not one minded the long marches that they had to endure at times, it was the rain making the roads as slippery as a sheet of ice and their wet armor that made it almost unbearable.  Their gambeson and linen had been thoroughly soaked, and now with the sun starting to make it's appearance it was only a matter of time before their plate armor served as a baking oven and their flesh was to be the dough.

The tall figure upon horse back shifted the reins in his hand commanding his horse to turn around so he could face his unit.

"Rest here for a few moments, I will go check the road ahead to see if it has been washed out by the rain."

His gaze traveled throughout his unit as if he was counting to make sure they were all there.  His men had started to sit down and drop their weapons and helmets, eager for a well earned rest and to shed some armor, even if it was just a piece.

"Kaleyen..." his eyes found the young man he was looking for as the adept shot up and stood at attention.  His white hair made the young man stand out from his peers as it was unusual color for his age.  It was tied back as that was one of the popular styles within the unit with a few hairs sticking to his forehead from a combination of the rain and sweat accumulating under his helmet.  He was a tad taller then others of his same age but also leaner, the countless hours of training did not seem to build muscle but rather tone his.  The Knight often wondered if this was because of his blood lines that were noted for being Farstriders.

"Sir" Kaleyen responded crisply.

"You are in charge" Thantos stated as he turned his blood charger and started up the path ahead.

"Yes Sir!" Kaleyen remained standing at attention until the blood charger vanished from sight, spinning around on his heels he looked over his exhausted comrades "We will be moving as soon as Knight Skyfire returns and finds us a suitable path to take, so don't get too comfortable".  With that he walked over to his long time friend and sat down on the wet grass, not caring as he like everyone else was already soaked.

The trail ahead of Thantos was all but washed out by the rain which made finding the exact rendezvous spot difficult.  A rustling in the bushes ahead made him instinctively put his hand on the hilt of his sword as he peered ahead.

A deep voice sounded from the bushes ahead as a dark dressed figure emerged, a black hood upon his head and a blade accompanied each hip. "You're late Thantos, I was starting to think that you backed out."

"You know well enough I cannot do that" responded the knight as he dismounted from his horse "And that's Knight Skyfire to you scum".

The hooded man laughed which caused a shiver to ring through Thantos' entire body, with a mockery in his voice the man bowed deeply to the Blood Knight "My deepest apologies Knight Skyfire".

Shaking his head as he walked over to the hooded man, his hand still on the hilt of his sword "Do you have my money?" his eyes watching the man's hands, making sure he wasn't going to reach for his weapons.

"Of course I do, these ones are better then the last batch as agreed upon correct?  Those Initiates we paid you for last time were nothing more then a waste of time.  Although we did find some use for them..."

Thantos waved his hand in the air to dismiss any of the man's doubts "I told you that and you still wanted them, that is not my fault.  I personally trained most of these men, there are some good fighters down there, however..." his voice trailed off as he took note of a few of his men, specifically the white haired young man he left in charge.  He could feel the man's eyes on his face, trying to read his expressions while in thought "However there might be a few, one in particular who might resist more then what you're use to".

The hooded man shook his head from side to side "They all break, in one way or another" reaching under his cloak the man pulled our a rather large bag and tossed it to Thantos.  Upon catching it Thantos immediately opened it and grinned from ear to ear at seeing the large amount of gold.  Surely he thought, this would restore is crumbling House to power within Silvermoon.

"This is the last time, some are growing suspicious after I returned the first time" Thantos said as he had already started to mount his blood charger.

"That is fine, if these men are as good as you say then my master will be quite pleased with our little arrangement" as the man took a few steps in the direction of his new recruits.  "Oh and Thantos, it was a pleasure doing business with you" the mocking tone coming back to his voice.  Thantos grunted in response and put his heels into his charger and rode away without saying a word.

Waiting until the Knight was gone the man lowered his hood, his black hair flowed freely in the wind as a grin spread on his face.  From behind the bushes a small army of ghouls began to fall in line behind the man, forming three lines as they awaited their master's command.  "Take them...alive if able and bring them back to camp" and with that the ghouls leaped ahead of the man and ran down the road.