Into danger part 2 (fanmade)

The Wolfsblood army slowly marched southwest on the path Kaleesh had plotted before, with Arran acting as vanguard but staying close by. Arran's senses stretched to their limits in the anticipation of what would come.

His progress would finally be put to the test in the Desolation and this both excited and terrified him. While he was confident enough to survive most dangers his ability to protect the Wolfsblood Army was limited. Even a handful of reavers would bring deaths among the common soldiers and bring morale down not to mention warlocks. But it was unavoidable to have casualties and the army needed the life and death experience. The hours passed slowly and the sun was beginning to set so Kaleesh decided to make camp.

The soldiers were tense and the usual banter and drinking was lacking from the usual sight. Kaleesh ordered the rangers to set up sentinels and take turns to sleep. While the area proved free of Blightspawn so far, Kaleesh would take no chance with the army's safety and took every precaution. Arran spent the night thinking of his progress thus far and the steps he should take. He activated the Sage's bloodline and his mind became filled with clarity like a veil was lifted from his eyes.

When he first stepped into the Desolation he realized that the suppression it had over him was not nearly as bad as others experienced. He assumed his blood ruin has something to do with that but the more he thought about it, something just didn't seem right. If the Desolation has a great suppressing effect on bloodlines why would the bood ruin be any different. And then another thought dawned on him. What if his Destruction realm was the cause, he knew its power had tempered his body since he was five years old and made him resist magic that would have killed his peers several times over. Even Panurge wanted him to join his side because of the great potential it held, possibly even tipping the balance of power between Chaos and Order. While in the Imperium Arran hadn't dared unseal his Destruction realm but now in the Desolation it was time to truly test its capability.

Arran unsealed the shadow seal and the tiniest bit of Destruction essence started flowing from the realm. Focusing his attention on it he slowly started circulating the essence through his body like he would do with shadow essence except the difficulty was exponentially higher, while shadow essence manipulation came to him as natural as breathing now the same could not be said Destruction essence.

Arran knew the task was monumental but his step into enlightenment together with the Sage's bloodline made it achievable. Hours passed by and Arran realized the sun was about to rise so he stopped and joined Kaleesh in breakfast. While his progress was small its effects left Arran with a big smile on his face. The suppression effect of the Desolation was being nullified by his Destruction essence.

A month would be enough for his bloodlines and physical strength to double, making him confident enough to fight multiple warlocks and win. The next few days were mostly uneventful with Arran and the Wolfsblood army marching through the endless hills and forests and while a few dozen Blightspawn were encountered they proved to be no challenge with their power greatly suppressed by the Desolation.

While Arran could have easily dealt with them, the battle experience was invaluable to the army. On the 5th day around noon, Arran's shadow blade alerted him to a group of a few hundred Blightspawn lead by a dozen Reavers. Arran notified Kaleesh and after some consideration, they decided Arran would battle the Reavers and leave the Blightspawn to the army. While Arran made quick work of the Reavers, Kaleesh and the army has a much harder fight, resulting in a few dozen injuries but no deaths.

The drills they practiced proved effective and after this battle, morale was high. Arran dissolved 2 essence pills from old Baki in a barrel of wine and gave the injured a few sips to drink. The liquid proved invaluable to the soldiers with wounds healing in hours after the soldiers refined the natural essence.

They camped earlier than usual to give the soldiers some much-needed rest and Arran kept circulating his Destruction essence like the previous nights while enjoying its benefits. What was at first the tiniest sliver of essence had now increased tenfold after the week's practice and Arran knew a few months would bring him many more benefits.

That night the sentinels spotted a few dozen Blightspawn but Arran made quick work of them. After two more days of marching and a half dozen battles against small groups of Blightspawn the spot where the Lordling was waiting in ambush was quickly approaching. A few miles away, Arran's shadow blade informed him of three Knights in waiting.

Kaleesh decided to wait for night and ambush Shir's army with arrows from the high ground while also using a pincher attack. While Arran could have fought alone against the Lordling's army and saved many lives from the Wolfsblood army, doing so would break the Darian code that dictates Knights cannot fight against common soldiers and bring the hate of all factions against them, unless he also killed Shir and no one else escaped.

That in itself would bring more trouble, by unifying the Martial alliance against them and the vicious circle was both infuriating and suffocating. Left with little to no choice Arran followed Kaleesh's plan and fought the three Knights. He managed to catch the first one by surprise and pierce his neck with his blade but the fight against the other two proved more a challenge than expected. While individually much weaker than Arran, their coordination was flawless and worked well to reinforce each other.

But all the deaths surrounding them filed Arran with much strength and his wounds healed in mere moments. Eventually, the gap in strength proved too much and Arran managed to kill both Knights leaving the Lordling in disbelief and shock. Arran ordered him to surrender and while reluctant he did just that.

More than a thousand soldiers and Rangers have died from his army and many more were wounded. The Wolfsblood army lost almost two hundred soldiers with hundreds wounded. Arran took the spoils from the Knights and joined Kaleesh. Shir and what was left of his army retreat towards Sacrifice while the Wolfsblood army after tending to the wounded and burning the dead slowly marched forward.

Over the next few days, the pace was much slowed down to allow the soldiers to rest and recover from the hard-fought battle and Arran took care of the odd group of Blightspawn on their path. The fight against the Knights proved invaluable to Arran who was gaining more and more insights and was closer to his second step into enlightenment. A few more days later and the ruins of what once was a great Darian city were in sight.

Though the sight was depressing because it reminded of the power the Blightspawn possess it was also a possible source of wealth for the armies without backing like theirs. Though many came empty from the ruins the mere possibility of riches was enough to entice them.