The truth hidden beneath the gray robes was far too heavy to bear.
Of the ten bodies, only two were genuine members of the Cult of the Damned. The rest were ordinary civilians.
Arthas carefully examined the markings on the girl's face and discovered a thread of white necrotic energy circulating through her body.
The Cult of the Damned had lost its strongholds and could no longer use its plague apparatus to produce undead toxins, but the cult's acolytes and undead mages lurking in towns and cities had not abandoned their missionary work.
Their doctrine of death continued to spread through the towns like a plague. Ordinary necromancy, lodged within ordinary people's bodies, could only erode the living's life force at a slow pace.
The process was slow, but once someone accepted necromantic breath, becoming undead was only a matter of time.
"Damn cultists. They won't even spare children." Arthas could not bear to see the kingdom's people continue to have their minds twisted by the remnants of the Cult of the Damned. He made an immediate decision to launch a large-scale purge of the cultists hiding in Lordaeron's northern towns.
In the end, a fierce fire blazed across the empty wilderness.
Arthas removed his helmet, placed his left hand over his chest, and slowly bowed his head.
Early the next morning, Arthas entrusted the food distribution to Taelan Fordring and took the Knight Order's guards to the Silver Hand Outpost.
The Silver Hand Outpost stood between Baniel Town and Felstone Field, on the route that anyone traveling from Tirisfal Glades to Lordaeron's Northern Lands had to take.
When the Order of the Silver Hand was first established, this had been a major mountain pass used to block the orc armies from entering Lordaeron City.
Years later, however, the Silver