Warning: implied violence, death, and a swearing. Also plot. FEAR IT.

Hey everyone. Here's another chapter up for you to enjoy. It involves a few references from Warcraft III lore, so if you're unfamiliar with that game you might want to check out WowWiki for references.

It took a few tries to write this chapter. I watched all three Bourne movies for inspiration, lol, so I hope you enjoy the read.

Chapter 6

Rev'n surfaced with a loud splash. A strong, cold wind skimmed across the Forbidding Sea and buffeted his exposed head. He touched his hair self-consciously and swam back to shore. It was difficult swimming with so much seaweed in tow, but he managed to drag himself onto land without incident. He slung the long, slick strands up over a make-shift drying rack and sat on the ground with a petulant grunt.

The toxic yellow seaweed would take days to dry and several more to produce sunbane. Rev'n shook his head and lay back in the sand, hands folded underneath his skull. The sky shone an ugly burnt-orange colour that pressed down on him like ceiling of a cave. When the wind had dried his skin, he slid back into the old leather armour he had perished in, and glanced up in time to see an approaching figure.

Priestess Kiyarl.

"Rev'n," she whispered, white robes fluttering in the wind. "I…." Her eyes darted from his face to the sunbane. "I have a favour to ask of you."

Rev'n raised a brow.

"I know I have no right to ask." Kiyarl demurely clasped her hands together. "But Aumna has returned. She and her fellow knights have imprisoned Haladra in the old Scarlet Hold and…she is acting strangely." At Rev'n's impatient look, she glanced away. "I am asking you to stop harvesting sunbane."

He clapped his hands to regain eye contact and glared.

"Something is wrong, something in the Ebon Blade is changing," Kiyarl rasped, "and Aumna is the only one who will intervene on our behalf." She glanced back at the distant towers of New Avalon. "Please. As…as your priestess and Aumna's friend, I ask you to stop."

Rev'n walked to the moist sand near the water's edge and wrote betrayal in sloppy letters. Kiyarl took a moment to translate the Thalassian in her mind, and then shook her head.

"Aumna is also dear to my heart, but despair makes her irresponsible and reckless." She bowed her head. "I am worried."

He brushed past her with a long, measuring look and headed back towards the town. Kiyarl followed quietly and made no more overtures for his assistance. He crested the lip of the embankment and caught movement near the rocky outcroppings that bordered the southern entrance of New Avalon. The dark armour of death knights was clearly visible. He paused in mid-step. Something about the crowd's movements made him break into a run.

Hoss trembled on his hands and knees, head bowed in grief. Around him stood an old woman and a middle-aged man, both of whom looked torn between awe and terror, and a ring of inquisitive undead. Most were ghouls and none appeared overly concerned by the presence of the living. Several death knights looked on with disdain and waited for a reaction.

Rev'n pushed through the spectators and stood in front of Hoss. The guilty look he received made his eyes narrow into murderous slits. Kiyarl emerged behind him, mouth gaping.

"I'm sorry," Hoss choked out, "it all happened so fast…. I couldn't even think to stop her." His eyes darted to the humans beside him. "And we needed them. As proof." His body trembled with weakness. "That stupid girl. She charged after Muvad like she had a whole damned army at her back." He bowed his head, as if the memories were too heavy to bear. "I'm sorry, Rev'n."

"Who?" Kiyarl bent down and began muttering spells. "Where?"

Hoss shut his eyes when golden light enveloped him. "The Scarlet Crusade took them away. And another man helped them. A paladin of the Silver Hand. A powerful one. I don't know where."

"So," a metallic voice cut through the silence, "Stormwind has moved against you." Mezian stroked his beard with a thoughtful expression.

"No." The elderly woman began to weep. "This isn't happening. It's not possible." She leaned towards the other human for comfort, but he stood stiff and pale-faced and had no comfort to offer.

Rev'n gurgled loudly and everyone's eyes briefly skated across his face. He ignored them and pointed to the Acherus.

"Oh, I'm afraid not." Mezian smiled coldly. "The Highlord's first priority is survival. If one death knight needs to be sacrificed so that others may live, then he will sacrifice one death knight. Especially a weak, incompetent one."

Kiyarl clasped Rev'n's shoulder before he leapt forward. "Your words are poorly chosen."

He merely sneered at her and turned away. Maggotsmasher followed with a sullen grumble. The other death knights followed and the rasp of a Death Gate drew the tense air even thinner. Rev'n waited until they had left before unsheathing a dagger and hurling it at the ground. The humans jumped back, startled.

"You will not come to harm among us." Kiyarl walked up to them, hands tucked into her sleeves. "But it is not safe in the open. Not all of the undead here follow our ways, as you have just seen." She nodded at the path leading into New Avalon. "I can make accommodations for you. There is another human already staying with us. I can give you clean food, water, and bedding."

"In exchange for what?" The man dragged himself out of his stupor. "Are you gonna turn us into one of you?"

Kiyarl pressed her lips together. "No," she replied, "but you have information we do not."

Rev'n shook his head, eyes unseeing.

"Acting blindly will not help Aumna or Muvad." Kiyarl walked towards New Avalon. "Follow me. We have much to discuss."

Rev'n closed his eyes for a moment, then yanked his dagger out of the ground and followed. Hoss gestured for the humans to walk ahead of him and they did so with obvious reluctance. New Avalon bustled with varying types of undead, some of whom showed absolutely no interest in them and others who stopped and stared. The humans whispered frantically to each other, but Rev'n hadn't the patience to eavesdrop.

The Scarlet Hold was the only building to remain largely intact since New Avalon's fall. Its jagged white walls towered above all else. Kiyarl led them to the basement, which had been refitted with an old Scourge holding cell chained to the ground. Haladra sat on the bedding inside nursing Avrial.

"Have you any news?" Haladra covered herself, but her eyes raked Kiyarl's face frantically. "Am I…am I going to die?"

"Ahh, girlie." Hoss rubbed his face and sat on one of the old torture tables.

"Not if I can be of any use. We may be in luck, however, as your presence has been overshadowed by another matter." Kiyarl stepped aside to reveal the other humans. "These are survivors from Tyr's Hand."

"Oh." She swallowed hard and settled back down on her bed. Avrial made a fussy noise, but didn't quit nursing. "Hello," she whispered.

"I heard about you in…back then. You're that one with the curse, aren't you?" The dark-haired man hesitated a moment, then looked at her baby. "What's her name?"

"Avrial, after my mother."

After an awkward pause, the two sat beside her. "My name is Essil and this," he gestured to the elderly woman, "is Selna."

Rev'n threw Kiyarl a dark look, but the night elf didn't interrupt. She grasped a pitcher and three cups from the far corner, poured water into each of them, cast a cleansing spell over them, and then offered them to each of the living. She waited until they had drunk their fill before she spoke.

"My name is Kiyarl Duskrunner, and this is Rev'n Dawnshadow and Hoss Blackhammer." Kiyarl stood by the stairs, hands clasped together. "We are undead who have taken refuge under the Ebon Blade." She drew back her hood and revealed long pale green braids. "We need your help," she whispered. "Two of our own have been taken. What is happening to the Scarlet Crusade? Who burned Tyr's Hand?"

"They did," Essil muttered.

Hoss's head jerked up. "What?"

"The Scarlet Crusade burned down Tyr's Hand. My home. My family." Essil looked at his hands, lips trembling. "I was out looking for herbs." He gestured to Selna, whose expression had gone blank. "And she had been scroungin' for extra food. When I returned, the entire town was ablaze." His eyes darted up to fix on Kiyarl. They were green and full of rage. "And there they were. Archbishop Ganelon and his lot just stood there on the hillside while everythin' burned." He lowered his head, shoulders trembling. "People were screamin', but no one was running out. No one was escapin'. They must have been trapped somewhere. Locked in their ho…." He abruptly went silent, tears slipping down his face like drops of water over the lip of an overflowing glass.

Selna gently touched Essil's arm. "We were herded together," she croaked in a soft, detached tone. "Those of us who weren't inside were chased to the beach."

Kiyarl made a sign to ward away evil. "Why?"

"Do they need a reason?" Essil scrubbed his cheeks.

"What of the other survivors?"

"What others?" He grimaced and shut his eyes. "The five of us were the only ones left. Now there's just the two of us. Those red bastards will kill 'em."

"But…how could Stormwind be involved in this? With the Argent Crusade, no less?" Hoss shook his head. "I saw their uniforms. If Stormwind and the Argent Crusade are helping them…then where does that leave us? Mograine will cut a deal to save the Ebon Blade." He laughed bitterly. "We're just pests on his doorstep."

Rev'n shook his head. At the curious silence, he turned and traced letters in the dust that clung to the wall. Kiyarl squinted.

"He says we are missing something." She looked worried. "What?"

He wrote more, fingers scraping against the old wooden panels.

Kiyarl frowned. "I fought with the Alliance before Lordaeron fell. The…" she leaned forward, "the Silver Hand is political, but not fanatical. They have refused to kill innocent people in the past. In Stratholme. The Scarlet Crusade is unpopular."

Rev'n ran out of space. He gurgled and clenched his fists.

"I have no parchment or quills," Kiyarl admitted. "The Ebon Blade took everything that I didn't need to practice my arts."

"I…think I understand." All eyes turned to Haladra. She flushed nervously, but continued. "My father sometimes spoke of the war between the Frosaken and the Scarlet Crusade. They both resorted to dishonourable methods to kill each other. Traps. Using prisoners as bait." She met Rev'n's intense gaze. "He said that they were evenly matched and couldn't win by themselves, but no one else wanted to get involved. It was a dirty war."

"So they set a snare," Kiyarl whispered wearily. "If Stormwind and the Argent Crusade believe we are responsible for the razing of Tyr's Hand, then the Scarlet Crusade will have the means to destroy us."

"Bones below." Hoss went rigid. "We played right into their hands." He gave the priestess an apologetic look. "Muvad and I were caught fighting the Crusaders when Whitemace arrived with his guards. We…said we were from the Ebon Blade. I didn't even think about it."

"Then we are not just rogue undead and betrayers of the Alliance, but baggage to the Ebon Blade." Kiyarl closed her eyes, shoulders slumped. "I do not understand. Tyr's Hand is a pocket of human civilization that has withstood the Scourge since the beginning. It is the Scarlet's Crusade's greatest achievement."

"Aye," Essil piped up, "but since with the fall of the Scarlet Enclave we were put on rations." He had recovered some composure and spoke in slow, measured tones. "The city's been starvin' for a while now. Runnin' out of food and clean water…."

Hoss rubbed his face again. "So, even if we found out where Muvad and Aumna are being held, we might not be able to do anything about it." He released a long, battered sigh. "Light's Hope Chapel? Stratholme? Stormwind itself?"

"If they are still alive," Kiyarl added softly.

He managed to nod, eyes shut.

Rev'n's eyes widened. He pulled down his mask with a grimace and began mouthing words. Kiyarl watched him carefully, lips chiselled into a grim line.

"Surely," she said, "you cannot be serious."

As always, R&R is appreciated.

Note: I'm going to up the rating of this story to M next chapter for more freedom and because the themes will be a bit too dark for T (in my opinion, anyway.) Just be aware that content is going to escalate.