c18

In Elwynn Forest...

The very air around the three men felt darker and more oppressive the closer to the small town they came. It felt stifling and cold, like the air in a tomb. The largest village in northern Elwynn Forest outside of Stormwind, Goldshire was the center of trade sitting at the heart of the main highways running east, west, and north. Every time Anduin Wrynn had visited the hamlet before it had always been bustling with life. Laughter and drunk singing could usually be heard from the Lion's Pride Inn all the way across the highway at most hours of the day. The blacksmith's workshop was usually aglow and the ringing of hammers could be heard frequently as Smith Argus sought to fill the orders given to him from around the kingdom. Children could be seen frequently playing tag, engaged in mock battles with wooden swords, or inspecting trader's carts and the market stalls belonging to local farmers who came to the town regularly to trade their crops. There was always a sense of homeliness about the village and a welcome for any travelers or adventurers that happened to be passing through. But there was no laughter as he set foot there now with his two companions. There was no warm glow from the workshop.

Anduin was still wearing the Gilnean nobleman's clothes given to him by Horus, Shalamayne rewrapped and held against his back. The Highlord's gilded plate armor clanked as he walked, the sound echoing farther than it should have. Grayson's simple Priest's robes provided little in the way of protection against the chill in the air.

Under their feet, the ground shook once more, rumbling audibly before subsiding again.

A boy with light brown hair sat on the ground next to the stone smithy. His white linen shirt was dirty, as were the khaki shorts he wore. The boy's blue eyes looked dead as they stared off into space, and tracks from tears could be seen running down his face, though they were now dry. Across the road in front of the Lion's Pride Inn, known throughout the kingdom for its ale and welcome hearth, a lone woman stood with a broom sweeping the entry way. A depressed and vacant expression on her face. There were a few dozen other denizens of the village out that afternoon. Several soldiers in the uniform armor of the Stormwind Patrol stood around the village center. They barely noticed the three men as they came in.

Anduin stopped in front of the boy, his natural empathy demanding he do no less, and made to kneel down to speak with him and extend a prayer of healing and consolation. But as he did, the child's eyes turned to the older man with the young king in golden Paladin's armor. A look of terror crossed the boy's face and he backed away from them quickly using his hands and buttocks, eventually getting to his feet and running off.

"What happened here?" Anduin asked as he got to his feet once more, watching the boy run from him towards a house behind the inn.

Behind him, Grayson Shadowbreaker gestured towards a large piece of parchment that had been tacked to the wall of the smithy. It looked like it had been there for several days, and it carried the seals of the Church of Light, the Council of Nobles, and the Stormwind Guard.

"What's this?" the emissary asked, tearing the parchment from the wall and reading through it.

As his did, his expression grew more serious and sober before he passed it on for inspection by the Highlord of the Silver Hand and Stormwind's king. Anduin's own expression grew stony as he read.

"They've blamed my disappearance on Jeshua's followers." Anduin said, a quiet anger in his voice. "They've been arresting them on the Council's authority in my absence. What kind of madness has taken hold here? I would never have authorized this."

The Highlord shook his head at it trying to understand it himself. "That isn't the Stormwind I fought for, your majesty."

Anduin shook his head as well. "It isn't the Stormwind my father died for either." He responded, the anger in his voice increasing.

"Over to the left side of the inn." Grayson then informed the other two, gesturing discreetly with his chin and eyes.

The other two men then turned their eyes in the direction the emissary indicated. There, by the side of the wood and off white stucco of the inn was a thin human man with short dark hair, oily mustache, and goatee wearing robes that indicated he was a lower ranking Priest of the Cathedral's clergy. In his hand was a long staff which bore a red crystalline cross as its head. The man could be seen whispering something to one of the armored guards, but his eyes never left the three newcomers. Those eyes felt malevolent and sinister even from across the road.

"I don't like the look in the Priest's eyes. There's something wrong with him." Grayson told them in a low voice.

"I agree." Anduin responded as he observed him interacting with the guard.

The two men, the Priest and the armored guard, then marched directly and purposefully towards where Anduin, Grayson, and the Paladin Highlord had been standing. As they did, the guard unsheathed his sword from its scabbard at his side and drew his shield off of his back as though preparing for a fight. On his armor could be seen the insignia of rank indicating he was a guard captain in the Stormwind Patrol.

None of the three men they approached made any aggressive or suggestive moves in response, but as they approached, the Highlord called out, "Hail, friends. An... interesting day isn't it?"

Grayson couldn't help but feel a chill darkness radiate off the Priest as he drew nearer.

Remember, our fight is with the Void, not with flesh and blood. Jeshua's voice came to Grayson once more as the two men came to stand a few feet in front of them. They are just as much victims of its madness as they are its agents.

Grayson nodded visibly in response, though said nothing and allowed the Highlord to take the lead.

"I have not seen you three before. What is your business here in Goldshire?" The Priest asked directly, his tone of voice arrogant and authoritative.

The Highlord appeared to be carefully considering his answer when Anduin then spoke and demanded, "Since when do Cathedral Priests interrogate travelers to Goldshire?"

"Since his majesty went missing courtesy of the followers of Jeshua the heretic, as you have obviously read." The Priest responded, gesturing at the parchment which the three men let fall to the ground, obviously irritated by the challenge to his presumed authority. "Likewise you should know that any removal of these posters is punishable by imprisonment in Stormwind's Stockades."

If he had expected to elicit a reaction of fear from the three men, he was met with disappointment as they each gave him a hard stare instead.

"I don't think so." Anduin responded, his voice regal and authoritative as though giving an order. "Not today, and not ever again."

Expecting a fight, the Priest then took a step back from them as did the Patrol guard who called to his fellow soldiers around the village. Four more came running up in their armor, swords drawn to stand next to him ready to arrest the three troublemakers. When they did, those other people who had been in the village turned to see what was happening.

"Just who do you think you are defying the orders of the Council?" The Priest asked, mockingly.

"Anduin Llane Wrynn, King of Stormwind." The young monarch replied, holding up his right hand to display his royal signet ring plainly for the guards and the Priest to see.

The guards backed away uncertainly, recognizing the lion's head crest on the large ring but briefly hesitating as to what to do. Then each dropped to one knee in front of their sovereign laying their swords on the ground in submission. Fear crossed the Priest's face as he too backed up. He then closed his eyes, seeming to concentrate hard on something.

A crowd began to gather nearby as people realized the three men were defying the will of the Cathedral Priest. Hopeful expressions appeared on dejected faces.

Grayson felt the briefest touch of something Shadowy and malevolent against his mind before a wall of Light went up. As he looked to the Highlord, it seemed that he too noticed something. The feeling continued to pound against his mind, but to no avail. The darkness couldn't penetrate.

In panicked surprise, the Priest's eyes flew open. "Liar! Imposter!" He cried out. "Guards! Get to your feet, this man can't be the king! Draw your swords and strike them down!"

As if in a daze, the guards slowly obeyed rising to their feet. Only their eyes could be seen through the slits in their helmets, and these appeared vacant and unfocused.

Grayson Shadowbreaker then stepped forward and said, "Enough. Release them!"

The Cathedral Priest looked as if he had been physically struck, his head jerking to the side as he stumbled. The effect on the guards was immediate, snapping them out of the trance they had appeared to be in. They looked confused as though they didn't know what to do. Helmeted heads turned from the Priest to Grayson to Anduin and back. Then the man who had marched up with the Priest stood at attention and saluted Anduin with his sword, but backed away from all of them and called his fellow guards to do the same.

Anduin understood. The patrolmen were out of their depth and they knew it. This wasn't a battle they could fight with a sword and shield.

The Cathedral Priest then glared at Grayson and, pointing at him, shouted to all listening, "This man is one of Jeshua's followers! Kill him or he will ensnare you all in his lies!"

No one moved in response to the Priest's call. He was met with stony silence.

"Be quiet!" Grayson then shouted at the Priest. "You will not speak again, Void slave!"

The Priest attempted to respond but when he opened his mouth, no sound would come out. Terror entered his eyes as he backed up further from the emissary and towards the crowd of people that had gathered around him. But if he had thought to take refuge among them, that hope was quickly dashed as murmurs and uncertain nods of approval at Grayson's words were heard.

The former Paladin then took on a soft golden glow of pure Light and began to speak to the people who had gathered, and those who still dared to venture out of their doorways to see what was happening.

"People of Goldshire!" Grayson called their attention loudly and boldly, speaking from a place deeper than his heart. "It is true, I am a servant of Jeshua Lightborn through whom the Holy Light worked healing wonders the likes of which have never been seen on this world or any other. The Holy Light sent this man to be a savior for all the children of Azeroth! Through him all the Forsaken have been restored to life! Through him, the Demon Hunters have been cleansed, and the Death Knights have been purified! Through him, the whole world has received healing and now groans in birth pains as it waits anxiously to reveal the paradise which the Light has prepared for everyone who believes the message the Light has given us through him and accepts the cup of his new pact! The tremors you have been feeling are the titan Azeroth beginning to wake from her long sleep! The time has come to choose the Holy Light and be rescued from the destruction of this old world, or to be destroyed along with it! We have come to bring you this pact so that you too may accept it and be saved from what is to come!"

Uncertainty and looks of fear reigned across the expressions of the people of the village at his words. Grayson then realized they didn't know what to believe for themselves.

Then a woman shouted from among the people, "They took Marshall Dughan for refusin' to renounce Jeshua! He said the king had said plainly that Jeshua was the real thing and that was good enough for him! He said the king had sent out letters to all his governors! They took old Farley and William Pestle for the same!" Grayson then saw that it was the woman who had been sweeping the inn's entryway.

It was true. Along with the posters Anduin had ordered put up in Stormwind he had sent signed letters to all of his kingdom's local magistrates. A feeling of both grief and gratitude for the good Marshall at his loyalty welled up within Anduin.

"I am King Anduin Wrynn!" Anduin called out to the crowd, once more holding up his signet ring for all to see. He then drew his father's sword, Shalamayne, once more from its leather wrappings at his back and held it up for the crowd to see as well. The glowing orb of golden Light shone brightly and fiercely as he did. "Look! This is Shalamayne, the sword of my father, King Varian Wrynn who sacrificed his life so that we might have victory against the Burning Legion!"

The crowd of people looked on the sword and as they did, it was as if a spell began to lift from them and they looked on the three newcomers with a kind of recognition that hadn't been their before.

"Your majesty?" An older man asked as though just seeing him for the first time. Slowly, he dropped to one knee where he stood. Taking their lead from the elderly gentleman, the rest of the crowd followed suit one by one.

"I sent those letters to my magistrates because I saw the truth of who Jeshua was and what he had done with my own eyes!" Anduin continued addressing them. "What this man has told you is the truth! Jeshua Lightborn came to redeem Azeroth and save us all through the holy pact he made with us! Azeroth will fully wake soon and nothing can stop it! The choice we are given is clear, either take Jeshua's pact which we have come to bring to you, or be destroyed!"

The Priest of the Cathedral, who had backed away from both the crowd and the three men who had challenged him, then began to thrash and cry out with a gutteral sound that no human mouth could make. The sounds coming from the man drew everyone's attention as his form became enveloped in inky black darkness and his eyes, previously brown irises on white orbs became a demonic solid black. Shadows warped and twisted around him into something that barely resembled a human being.

Around the people, more shadows began to lift themselves from around the buildings and dark spaces where the feeble sunlight failed to reach. These too began to take vile, monstrous shapes, surrounding the villagers. Screams were heard from the crowd and several of the townspeople looked to run in any direction they could to get away from the unnatural darkness, but they couldn' was no path away from them. The Priest's human form soon became lost in the inky darkness as the shadows surrounding him coalesced into a huge demonic form of pure Shadow and Void encapsulating him.

"NOOO!" The creature, radiating pure malevolence, shouted in defiance. "I will consume you all! Azeroth will die stillborn in my darkness!"

The Highlord, recognizing the creature for what it was, once more drew his warhammer from its harness at his back, and Anduin brandished Shalamayne, calling on the Light's power to shield, not himself or his companions, but the vulnerable townspeople.

Immediately, a dome of pure golden Light enveloped the crowd of innocent people threatened by the twisted Shadows.

Grayson should have felt fear in the presence of the void lord. He had encountered one once years before in the Outland and had never wanted to repeat the experience. He had barely escaped with his life, and had lost his right eye in the battle to banish it, calling on the Light's holiness to destroy the evil thing.

But he didn't. Instead, he heard the quiet voice of his new liege lord addressing his heart as well as his mind. What is darkness but the absence of Light, Grayson? Walk in my Light and bring Light to his darkness. The man is not our enemy.

Then, without weapon, armor, or even shoes, to the utter astonishment of all present, Grayson walked towards the void monstrosity with a hard determination in his expression. The Holy Light flared around him, and it began to radiate out around him so that everywhere the Light touched, the blackened void creatures fled.

"You can't stop it! The Void is eternal" The void lord shouted. "You cannot save any of them from the Void's wrath! She will die and the Light will die with her!"

It then lashed out at Grayson, a tendril of Void energies striking towards him. Grayson made no move to get out of the way or avoid it but continued his advance. The tendril of darkness struck him and then was engulfed in white gold flames of holy fire and the void lord screamed in pain.

Grayson then reached out, ablaze with the Holy Light, and touched the Void's darkness with his Light filled hands. As he did, the shadows began to burn. He plunged his hands deep into the creature until he reached the flesh of the human being trapped within it and touched him.

"Jeshua Lightborn frees you from the darkness, friend." Grayson then said aloud.

The Light radiating off of him grew stronger and brighter as it surged into the interior of the void lord, burning it from the inside out and purging it. White, radiant, purifying flames consumed the creature until it lit up like the sun and then vaporized until there was only the form of the human Priest left, who then collapsed unconscious to the ground.

Then Grayson placed his palm to the ground once more and the Light surged into it, radiating out across the ground of the village, catching the fleeing shadow creatures and destroying them in its wake as it did on the road only hours before.

The Light streaming across the ground also surrounded the unconscious Priest gently where he lay on the ground, and soon his eyes opened and he was awake. He sat up and looked around the village, at the crowd of people protected by the shield of Holy Light, and the blazing radiance that surrounded Grayson as the Light surged through and around him.

"I..." The Priest was stunned and awestruck at the sight. "I thought the Light had abandoned us. I... I thought... How are you doing this?"

But Grayson didn't respond, his own eyes closed as though hearing another voice entirely. The Light continued its cleansing purge until the Shadow was completely eradicated from the village. Then it began to fade again, leaving the village purified. The emissary then opened his eyes, nodding as though responding to something only he heard. He then looked at the man on the ground who stared at him with fear and trembling.

When Grayson had removed his hand from the ground, he then offered it to the Priest who took it as Grayson helped him up to his feet. "The Light doesn't abandon anyone, least of all its own. but that doesn't mean we can't turn away from it ourselves, even in ignorance." Grayson then responded to his question. "Jeshua Lightborn redeemed you from the hold the Void had on you. Don't make the mistake of turning to the Shadow again." He warned him. "Accept Jeshua's pact and be saved from it."

The Priest, shaking from what had just happened, nodded soberly.

At that moment, the Highlord took a small burlap sack he had been carrying and from it removed a large silver chalice. He stepped forward in his armor and showed it to the people saying, "You have all now seen the truth of what we are saying for yourselves! All of these things which you have seen here have been done through Jeshua Lightborn. Go! Ride if you can! Call your families! Call everyone you can to come and receive Jeshua's pact here in Goldshire! Your lives and theirs depend on it!"

Many in the crowd, surprised and stunned what they had just witnessed nodded in agreement and began to move heading into the inn, towards the houses and farms which surrounded the village. Some jumped on gryphons roosting with the nearby flightmaster to fly east towards the logging camp at Eastvale, and north towards the Abbey at Northshire to inform those there of what had happened. It could take hours on foot before those who had gone would return with their loved ones, the Highlord estimated, but they would wait to offer the cup to as many people as possible.

A few remained frozen where they were, trying to comprehend what had just occurred and unable to. The Highlord understood why. They weren't hardened warriors or adventurers. They hadn't seen the things he and his companions had in the world. They were just ordinary folk for whom such experiences were tales told them for amusement in the inn. Rarely had the reality of such powerful forces existing on Azeroth come home to there where they lived and worked except as magic tricks by traveling Mages to entertain. It was something more of a wonder that so many in the village had the wherewithal after what they had seen to move at all.

The patrol guards who had backed away had also watched the whole thing unfold in front of them. When it had cleared, they too answered the Highlord's call, approaching Anduin once more and kneeling before him. Their captain then asked as he knelt, "Your majesty, what can we do to help?"

Anduin thought quickly, then he said, "Ride to the barracks at Westbrook and summon as many of the men there as you can to return here to Goldshire. Tell them everything you have seen and heard here. Tell them their king is waiting. Go!"

"Yes, your majesty! At once!" The patrol guard responded. The men saluted their monarch and then were off, racing to their barded horses which stood grazing not far from the inn.

"Your majesty!" Grayson then approached Anduin as well, the Cathedral Priest in tow. "This man has something you need to hear."

Anduin turned his attention to the man's shame filled eyes. "What is it?" He asked.

"There's something you need to know, your majesty. In the Cathedral, what we've done in the Cathedral." He exclaimed. "We thought the Light had completely forsaken us. We thought there had only been the Shadow to turn to. It spoke to us in our heads, the voices, we couldn't drown them out. Oh, gods, what we've done... What it made us do..."

The Priest's words became more ominous and more frantic as he spoke.

"What have you done?" Anduin asked, his own voice apprehensive at the Priest's defensive manner. "What is happening in the Cathedral?"

"The Void called to us... told us we had to..." The Priest said again, fear in his expression.

"What did you do?" Anduin asked again.

"A Void god is coming, your majesty." Grayson then spoke for the man who couldn't seem to get the words out. "The Priests in the Cathedral are trying to summon one."

"It said she had to die! It said it was the only way we could save ourselves from her!" The Priest then exclaimed.

Anduin then reached out a hand to touch the man's shoulder in an encouraging way, and then he prayed, calling on the Light to comfort him, strengthen him, and restore what was left of the man's mind to him. Warm, healing Light flowed from Anduin into the man and a look of overwhelming peace and calm crossed his features as the Light took hold and stabilized his mind.

Looking at him then with compassion in his eyes, the king asked, "Better?"

"Yes." The Priest responded. "Thank you, your majesty."

"Now, tell me everything you know about this summoning." Anduin then instructed him. "What is happening in my city?"