Life & Death: Vallar Shadowbourn
What is that someone wants most out of life? To be rich, to be famous, or perhaps even to be a god? Every soul be it man, woman, or simply mortal want something great out of their journey on earth. Something to make their name or themselves great or perhaps leave something behind for the next era of people. No matter the reason or dream we try to strive for the best. I merely wanted to be strong for myself, for others whoâd need it, and for my family more than anything. I was a young man who wanted to be the big and strong man of the Alliance military, just like any other kid. For days, which turned to weeks to begin training my mind, body, and soul for whatever would come to me and to threaten my home and loved ones. Day after day I would train my body till it couldnât work no longer. I would take breaks as little as a few days to rest off the work out.
Not the best of training routines or the wisest but I would do what I thought was best to better prepare myself the age when I could be a soldier. My family had great praise for me, my parents were proud to whereâd I would serve the Alliance and my little brother looked up to me as a future hero. I would join at an early age to get a head start in my career, seventeen was perhaps to young for some, but it was my first steps into the soliderâs life for me.
To be among my fellow brothers and sisters of the Alliance was like a dream come true, something that I thought Iâd be to weak to even attempt at. But as I trained and fought  under the lionâs banner I understood what a brotherhood was like, to meet a whole new family in arms and in comradery. Just like when I first begun my training Iâd enjoy all the time I could get out of it. Whether that be sparing with my friends or fighting with them all in whatever war would come for our homeland and family. Eventually what felt like mere months became years, twelve to be exact, twelve long good serviced years and wasnât about to retire either. For even when I became old and gray, I would give my life to the Alliance for my strength was theirs as much as their will was my own.
There was one tour of duty that Iâll never forget for as long I as walk this forsaken world. A world breaking war with demons was thought to be the end of all life and good that was in Azeroth, so many cities would burn, even our own world. However, by some miracle and great unbreakable will, we all lived and fought back the demons to their twisting hells. I thought that to be the end of all war, for it took the combined might of both factions to combat this threat. But alas war never changes anything, Â no matter the foe and so it would be that the call to war was blown. I remember the faces of worry and fear my family had, but like the solider I was Iâd assure them Iâd return with a letter of hope for them and so soldiers like me set sail for the cold north known as Northrend. Iâve been to the land, only ever heard stories of the frozen land far across the sea. Tales of waters so deathly cold that merely falling the sea would freeze you dead.
I was at first not used to the cold harsh winds that blew past me and into my steel blue plated armor which only made me hate the coldness of the land ever more. What was worse I was a deployment of vanguard, soldiers whoâd be put in the upfront battles of both the Horde and the true enemy the Scourge. How the Alliance would manage to fight two heads at the same time was beyond of position of thinking or questioning. I would follow my orders given by my generals and commanders alike. I will admit for I can not lie, war had always been horrible for both sides only wanted the same thing: peace and good health for their people. But war against the Scourge was something else entirely, the minions of death didnât want land, power, or wealth. No the servants of the Lich King only wanted to bring death and decay to any land they could taint and defile. Walking the dreaded frozen plains of Icecrown could only be described as nightmares. Battlefields always carried the stench of death, but the field for Scourge was natural for them. Anyone that fell from combat, Alliance or Horde would be marked by death and be risen as a new soldier of undeath. With only the will of the their Lich King to guide them.
Iâve always been told when death comes for us, there was a certain peace that came to it. For us in this war, the peace of death was a lie. For there was none in the frozen north to begin with. What I wanted to be months were mere weeks as the casualties would pile up for both sides and which only lead to a greater force for the undead legion. I just wanted now was to go home for no one should die in a pointless blood war only to feed a greater foeâs strength. Alas, I was a soldier and would get out a soldierâs way; by service. Then one day it finally came, a mission which was to bring a turn of tables to this war. Our Job was for a battalion of us to team up with the crusaders of the Agrent Crusade for a special task. The objective was to recover a relic that was previously lost when a gargoyle took fallen crusaderâs body deep into Icecrown. Our job was to journey with the crusaders to a place known as the âCathdral of Darknessâ. It supposedly a place where the cult of the Damned would preach and practice the influence of the Lich King.
How some little relic would change the tide of war against the Lich King was once again beyond I, but would follow orders as followed: âTroops of the Alliance are to delve into the midst of Scourge territory with crusaders of the Argent Crusade and recover the holy relic known as âLightâs Cleansingâ.â The goal was to drop from a skybreaker as close down to the cathdral as possible. Once on the ground the force would travel up and through the cathdral, killing any Scourge that was in the way. But on the journey to the dark church however theyâd come in contact with little undead, which seemed odd to me. But the crusaders would assure me and any other worrying troop that is was the âLightâ watching over us, yeah what little comfort that brought us. But after another hour or so weâd all arrive at the entrance to the dark cathdral.
This supposed âcathdralâ looked more like a small fortress as I recalled. Even something so small seemed so terrifying. Never the less Iâd ignore the chill down my spine and march with my comrades into the cathdral of darkness, the stench of death wasnât much but the utter feeling of dread as we walked the unholy halls of that cathdral. Everything was wrong, from the arts that went on here to the lack of enemies. In the end weâd find the fallen crusaderâs corpse at the center of it. Our mission was complete, thatâs what we thought, no. The âholyâ crusaders wanted us to take part in the âcleansingâ as to make sure the cult couldnât use this place for their practice anymore. We wanted to get the hell out of there, but were compelled to aid them as orders dictated. We the troops would set up around the cathdral as the crusaders prepared their ritual for âcleansingâ.
It seemed like ages as the crusaders  began their ritual to cleanse the cathdral, to in their words would burn all undeath presence around the area. But as their ritual was nearly over a grip of fear blew over everyone, it was as if death itself was breathing down their necks or perhaps standing behind them. At the entrance to the cathdral was blocked by shadowed wall and out stepped our demise. The Lich King himself his own force of knights in black armor, weâd been led to a trap.
After what seemed like a nightmare only became a reality as I awoke to find chains wrapped around my whole body as well find my allies and even members of the Horde were taken prisoner. When the Lich King granted them his presence I was sure weâd die, but it seemed the King of death saw to torture our minds and bodies till we were dead then raise us to serve. It was horrific to see and watch one by one of my friends and comrades being succumbed to disease, slowly watching their skin decay. Or perhaps freezing slowly from the inside out till they were a frozen husk. Even the torture of blood magic was enough to instill fear as even imagining having oneâs own blood boil till exploding into a pile of gusts and blood.
The Scourge was truly a foe like Azerothâs never seen, an enemy which not even the laws of nature can abide. I wanted to be able be strong enough to spit in the eyes of death itself, but found myself being reborn into something much greater. I was reborn into death, I die and would be risen into a death knight.
Taking the first breath of undeath was cold, but a chilling sense of peace. More peace than I was lead to believe when I was alive. I was a man who feared death and tried to fight it off, even more so think that death could be overwhelmed. But such burdens were gone as my unlife was to begin and his service to a new King. I soon and quickly came to see the perks of undeath. I found my strength greater than any normal mortal warrior or magic caster, the Lich King bestowed his death knights with his own power over death. I found myself enthralled by the power of both frost and unholy; freezing the living to a fate worse than frostbite or laughing as the smooth flesh of any mortal becoming diseased and decaying.
Truly the tools of death were something to behold, for I would serve the Lich King as any loyal knight would to his or her king. I wouldâve gladly brought defilement to every inch of this world, but it wasnât to be as once a traitor always a traitor for our own king would plot to throw our lives away to a battle that couldnât never be won. Once such battle was at Lightâs Hope, the famous chapel that held the oldest crusaders and paladins of ages. Such a small temple seemed easy to crush, but it was in our arrogance as we charged onto holy ground we were sealed. No matter how hard we fought, how many paladins died by our blades we found our troops being purged before us.
Defeat had come, I was again broken before the mercy of judgement. I thought to finally see peace in death but to my surprise our defeat became a lecture in how we were blind, how our faith in our king was false. Hearing the words back then was enough make raise my blade again into that old Highlordâs throat. But his old wise words would be true, for at that moment our Lich King would grace us but became more of a disgrace. Heâd go to boast how our lives were nothing to him, howâd heâd all his death knights to die a thousand times to secure victory. We were fools indeed. The old Highlord Darion Mograine enraged at his betrayal attempted to slay him only to be cast aside like nothing.The other ebon knights could do nothing to the Lich King either and so he turned his attention to Tirion.
The Lich King sought to kill the Highlord and corrupt his soul as he did ours, but like our victory it was not meant to be. Darion Mograine would give his corrupted Ashbringer to Tirion purging it once more and breaking the Lich Kingâs hold on his soul. Fearing the divine power of the old man heâd retreat and curse that weâd all die. Our defeat had open our eyes and freed our souls from being slaves to the Lich King. We had a new purpose,to bring redemption to our order and bring the fall of the Lich King. What seemed like an era of war was finally coming to an end. Crusaders, death knights, and all living combatants were at the gates of icecrown to end the reign of death once and for all.
It was over, the Lich King had fallen. His cursed sword Frostmourne had been broken and with it the souls of all itâs ever consumed were free. We were free, but as we all made our peace with the victory over death, some of us didnât feel the true peace of the burden. Why you may ask yourself? Because we would be the last of the Scourge. No matter how it seemed or how it was, we knights of the Ebon Blade would always be seen as agents of the damned. Our crimes never to be redeemed, we had been freed yes. But the world would never accept us for who and what we are. But we didnât care, our goal was now to make a place for our kind in this world. Watching out for each other and those alike. We had sacrificed much to bring an end to the traitorous king and their wasnât much of us left after it all. My purpose now was to follow my brothers and sisters of the Ebon Blade and serve them all and anyway I could. For in death they are bound together and would stand together.
Ages have past since the old Scourge war but I continue to remember it as if it just happened. I write this biography of my two lives so one could understand what it meant to be a death knight, what it means to be an Ebon Knight. But always know that I will stand for my people first, for they are my true family and family is all that matters in this cruel forsaken world. Always know that I Vallar Shadowbourn will stand by my kin and kill all who would threaten us.
