Lament Of The Forgotten

Illusion

It's been a couple days since Unith left the Argent Tournament Grounds. They were now heading for Howling Fjord to catch a boat to Eastern Kingdoms. They were taking a short cut through Storm Peaks. Ashbringer was sheathed on Unith's hip as his horse galloped relentlessly through the snowy fields. Mythaania's spiritual face appeared on the blade.

"Unith...I apologize...I should've explained all of this to you sooner. It was my fault you were mobbed." Mythaania's voice seemed to overlap with another, but still audible. Her eyes glanced up at Unith whose face was still. The blade bounced against the hide of the horse.

"... that detail might of been helpful to know in the beginning." Unith responded.

"I didn't know how to tell you at the time. Besides we wouldn't be in this situation if you didn't go on a rampage and end up killing me. After we get to my body, we go our seperate ways. You don't have to deal with me anymore. I'll ignore the fact that you killed me."

"It wasn't my fault. Anyone who holds that blade..." Unith stopped in dead silence. He heard the same voice that was in his dreams.

"I... was... pure... once." The voice said.

"Anyone who holds the blade?... What happens if the person holds the blade?" Mythaania asked.

"Anyone who holds the blade starts to..." Unith was cut off by the voice again, losing train of though.

"Fought... for... righteousness."

Unith continued, "Anyone who wields the blade, Ashbringer, they slowly become corrupt. They are in no control of their actions."

The voice finished, "I... was... once... called... Ashbringer."

Mythaania's face melted back into the blade, and Unith continued to ride. His face began to dot with sweat, despite the below freezing temperatures. As they neared K3, the Goblin settlement, Unith's horse bucked and reared his head forward in a dazing cry. Unith was thrown off and landed in the snow, sword first.

The horse dug its hooves into the thick snow, and ran into the distance. Unith stood up, buffeted by the fall as well as the flakes trickling down from a grey blue sky. He placed a hand on his hip to feel for the sword. Instead, he got a deep gash that oozed crimson. Dizzied from all the sudden blood loss, Unith searched the ground for another imprint in the snow.

He noticed a faint glow about 10 feet away from him. Shuffling through snow almost knee deep, he bent down and picked up Ashbringer. Mythaania's face appeared on the blade, her voice filled with worry.

"Unith? What happened? Why are we stopped?" Mythaania drove herself out of Ashbringer and reformed by Unith.

Looking to where Unith had one hand hard pressed against his side, Mythaania slowly lifted it, revealing the bloodied gash. She peered closer to it, her hazed eyes resting themselves upon the sight. Mythaania heavily sighed.

"Get the book out. Now." her voice was rigid. With only a slight amount of hesitation, Unith pulled the book from his bag.

"What exactly do you plan...to...do..." Unith's voice trailed off as he passed out on the ground.

With the flick of a hand, the book flew open. As Mythaania lifted her hand which had opened the book, it began to float. She waved fingers until it landed on a specific page. Mythaania raised her hands in a way that made it look like she was going to claw something. Mumbling in Demonic, Mythaania flashed one of her hands open towards Unith, and threw up the other arm.

Coughing terribly, Unith's body rattled and he shot up to a sitting position. He removed his hand from his side, noticing the gash had began to scab over.

"What exactly...did you do?" Unith muttered under his gasps for air.

"I told you. That book would come in handy. Now, we're about 3 miles out from K3. We can make it by nightfall." Mythaania lifted Ashbringer for Unith and handed it to him.

As her spirit depleted back into the sword, Unith sheathed it once again on his hip. Beginning to walk in the direction Mythaania spoke of, she whispered lowly,

"You Paladins never learn." Unith was almost certain laughter could be heard coming from her diminishing spirit

Unith got back up and looked around. The horse had ran far past Unith's viewing distance.

"...It looks like we're going to have to walk the rest of the way to K3. We should be able to get there by nightfall." Unith said with a sigh, mocking Mythaania's earlier statement.

Unith moved forward towards K3. He knew if he didn't make it by the time the sun had completely set, he would be engulfed by the blizzard. It had already been a couple hours after his horse had fled, and he only had a few minutes of sunlight left. He could see a small settlement on the horizon, maybe half an hour at the least to get there.

"Unith, we need to find shelter. We can make it to K3 tomorrow." Mythaania suggested.

"No. We can make it there by tonight, before the blizzard comes in." Unith responded.

They continued after the settlement up ahead. Unith could hear the whistling wind start to pick up speed. Unith tried to walk faster, but his feet kept sinking into the snow, causing him to slip.

"Unith, we need to stop. We're going to get trapped in the blizzard!" Mythaania urged with concern.

"We can't stop now. We'll just have to make it through the storm to get there." Unith replied. "Besides. the sooner we get there, the sooner we can find your body."

"You stupid human!" Mythaania spoke in anger." It won't matter if it saves time, you'll end up dying in the storm. But hey, be my guest, you go ahead and try to act strong and go through the blizzard. If you die, I'll just wait for the next person to pick up your precious Ashbringer and have them take me to my body. Maybe they'll be smarter than a Paladin like yourself."

"I'm not going to get myself-" Unith stopped. He heard a huge rumble coming from his right. All he could see is darkness engulfing everything in the storms path.

"And that is me proving you wrong." Mythaania responded, the storm closing in.