Follow on to Shadow's Edge
~~~***~~~
The sun was just peeking above the horizon as Mornara made her way to the Trade District of Dalaran. Most of the streets were still in shadow, but various merchants were opening their doors or pulling back shutters. She got a dark look from someone sweeping off his doorstep, but other than that most people are still too sleepy to pay much attention to her.
"You stumble about in darkness. There is no light here. No mercy! Icecrown has claimed the souls of better heroes that you."
Mornara trips over the edge of a cobblestone that was hidden by a building's shadow. She almost falls, but manages to catch herself on a nearby wall.
Mornara pivots so her back is pressed against the cool stone wall. She isn't sure where the voice in her head came from, which worries her. Oh, she knows whose voice it is. The Lich King has a very memorable voice. She just doesn't know why it was in her head right then.
It wouldn't have been a surprise if she were still in Icecrown Citadel. She would actually expect it there. Ever since the forging of Shadow's Edge she's been hearing his whispers while in the citadel. And if she were still asleep it could quite easily be a nightmare. But hearing voices while you're awake? That's either crazy or about to get enslaved by the Lich King.
Again.
After a while her breathing levels out and she continues on to the Jewelry shop. They always have extra work, even for Death Knights. Mornara picks up a work order for the day. Some of the parts she needs are not in stock so she heads out of Dalaran to get them. At Krasus' Landing Mornara mounts her drake. The drake surges in to the air with several strong wing beats and Mornara directs him towards the mountains to the north.
One of the components she needs is a Vrykul Amulet. However the Vrykul aren't exactly friendly with either the Horde or the Alliance, so their amulets aren't easy to come by. The closest place to find Vrykul will be in Ymrheim, where the strongest of the Lich King's Vrykul warriors train and live.
Mornara pivots so her back is pressed against the cool stone wall. She isn't sure where the voice in her head came from, which worries her. Oh, she knows whose voice it is. The Lich King has a very memorable voice. She just doesn't know why it was in her head right then.
It wouldn't have been a surprise if she were still in Icecrown Citadel. She would actually expect it there. Ever since the forging of Shadow's Edge she's been hearing his whispers while in the citadel. And if she were still asleep it could quite easily be a nightmare. But hearing voices while you're awake? That's either crazy or about to get enslaved by the Lich King.
Again.
After a while her breathing levels out and she continues on to the Jewelry shop. They always have extra work, even for Death Knights. Mornara picks up a work order for the day. Some of the parts she needs are not in stock so she heads out of Dalaran to get them. At Krasus' Landing Mornara mounts her drake. The drake surges in to the air with several strong wing beats and Mornara directs him towards the mountains to the north.
One of the components she needs is a Vrykul Amulet. However the Vrykul aren't exactly friendly with either the Horde or the Alliance, so their amulets aren't easy to come by. The closest place to find Vrykul will be in Ymrheim, where the strongest of the Lich King's Vrykul warriors train and live.
~*~
Mornara uses the ever present snow to wipe the blood off of Shadow's Edge and then slings the axe onto her back. Weapon properly cared for, she pulls on one of the runes to heal herself slightly. Only then does she inspect the bodies in front of her. The third one has an amulet, which she roughly pulls off his neck and stuffs into her pack. She still checks the fourth corpse, and grabs several silver from the caster's pockets.
"Never have I had cause to regret sparing your life, mortal. Always, you continue to amuse me."
For a moment the face of the last Vrykul she had killed shimmers. It solidifies as a familiar troll shape. Mornara gasps and starts to reach for her axe. Before she finishes the motion the Vrykul's face is back to it's original shape. Mornara watches the Vrykul corpse closely for another minute.
She shakes her head and then lets out an ear-splitting whistle. Her drake dives down through the clouds and then backwings to a gentle landing. Gentle for a drake, but the breeze blows flurries of snow in her face and tosses her pigtails around. Mornara shields her eyes and then mounts up to head back to Dalaran.
For a moment the face of the last Vrykul she had killed shimmers. It solidifies as a familiar troll shape. Mornara gasps and starts to reach for her axe. Before she finishes the motion the Vrykul's face is back to it's original shape. Mornara watches the Vrykul corpse closely for another minute.
She shakes her head and then lets out an ear-splitting whistle. Her drake dives down through the clouds and then backwings to a gentle landing. Gentle for a drake, but the breeze blows flurries of snow in her face and tosses her pigtails around. Mornara shields her eyes and then mounts up to head back to Dalaran.
~~~***~~~
At the head of the group Mornara hacked and slashed. Shadow's edge cut a swathe through abominations, geists, and plague doctors. Behind and beside her the rest of the group fought with their own weapons and spells.
Poison gas and toxic slime had been defeated. The horrific giant abominations Rotface and Festergut lay dead in their respective chambers. The Professor was still to be fought, and who knew what foul concoctions he had brewed in his laboratory.
The group gathered and then charged up the ramp to the lab. As the last tauren thundered into the hallway the doors behind them snapped shut. Mornara and the other tank, another orc, rammed into the doors ahead of them. However, those doors stayed firmly shut.
"You can't come in here all dirty like that! You need that nasty flesh scrubbed off first!" The voice came from above and ahead of them, from in the laboratory.
The hallway started to fill with giant beetles.
~*~
The bloated and plague-ridden body of Professor Putricide lay dead in front of the group.
Underneath the gore and slime that coated Shadow's Edge Mornara could feel a change in the axe she held. It pulsed with an feel similar to the unholy runes already etched on it. As Mornara watched, the unholy plague slime that coated it was pulled into the blade and only the gore was left on the blade.
~*~
Darion Mograine had inspected the axe after it was infused with the unholy slime of Putricide's death. He told her that the axe would next need to be fed on blood. His glowing blue eyes met and held Mornara's own as he informed her that it would require her own blood and her companions' blood.
The way to correctly feed the blade involved being bitten by Blood Queen Lanathel, and then biting the rest of the group. Mornara wasn't too keen on this idea. Lanathel's bites tended to turn you into a ravening vampire.
~*~
The final infusion required for the axe was frost. Even better than the Lich King was the frost wyrm Sindragosa. Her frozen breath on the axe and then her death would infuse the final magic into the blade.
~*~
The axe was infused with unholy, blood, and frost. The runes etched upon it glowed with the magics contained within. They pulsed and flared at random. The axe was strong, but needed a way to store the power that the infusions had created. Thus Darion Mograine sent Mornara back into Ice Crown Citadel to gather crystals from the various leaders that Arthas had favored.
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