The Beginning of Fate

Arthas's warhammer suddenly emitted an intensely bright light, forcing even himself to squint. He whirled around, raising the warhammer. Whatever charged at him, he had only one thought—to kill it!

The glowing hammerhead smashed into the creature's torso. The earthman fell to the ground, never to rise again. Arthas finally had time to see what this thing was.

It wore a tattered shirt and overalls, and carried a pitchfork. It looked like a farmer, but that was when it was alive; now it was dead. Grayish-green rotting flesh had peeled away from its bones, and decaying fingers left filthy marks on the pitchfork handle; oozing, black pus oozed from abscesses. The smell alone, the splattered brains of the corpse, made him feel nauseous. Before he could even recover, more enemies like this surged out of the shadows. Arthas heard the clanging of weapons and the shouts of battle all around him.

His men were all well-trained soldiers, but they had never faced an enemy like this before.

"Quickly, get out of here! Burn this house down!"

Saurfang was the first to hear the order. He found a campfire in the village, picked up a lit stick, and returned to the battleground, throwing it forcefully into a house. The light from the moving torch allowed Arthas to see a group of these monsters inside, preparing to rush out and attack.

"Guard the door and keep them inside."

As the battle progressed, the fire grew increasingly fierce until it engulfed the entire house. Arthas stared at the flames; the undead monsters were trapped inside, and this time they were truly dead.

After a long silence, only the crackling of flames gnawing at the house remained. With a slow, sharp crack of wood breaking, the entire building collapsed. Arthas watched with relief as the undead were reduced to ashes.

He steadied his breathing. "Is everyone alright?"

Saurfang swallowed hard, his face covered in black soot and streaks of sweat. "The Holy Light protect me," he murmured, his face pale. "I've never seen anything like this before. I thought such terrifying monsters only existed in Halloween stories."

"No, they do exist, don't they? We've already seen them." Arthas took a deep breath, trying to calm himself so his voice would be normal. "They're dead, but not from a normal death, otherwise they wouldn't be getting up." He gradually regained his composure from fear. "This might... be some kind of magic, who knows."

His men nodded in agreement as they listened to the Prince's words. At that moment, Arthas suddenly felt a pang of regret that Jaina wasn't there; she could surely provide a reasonable explanation. And what about Nathanos? How would he handle this situation?

"Prince Highness!" A familiar voice called out, Arthas felt a glimmer of hope. It was Farek's voice; if he had come, it meant the others had arrived as well.

Farek waved from afar, followed by some soldiers, but the two people Arthas most wanted to see were not among them.

"You've come just in time, Farek. Tell me, where are Nathanos and Jaina? They're needed here."

The captain of the guard then told him everything that had happened, including the whereabouts of the two men the Prince had mentioned.

"They acted alone? They should have... No! It's my fault, I should have been with you." A sense of loss calmed his anger.

"Prince Highness, what should we do?"

The time for him to give orders had come again, but this time Arthas was at a loss, and making decisions suddenly became a burden.

"If all the houses here are burned down, there should be... no survivors."

On the other side

After consulting with Farek, Nathanos and Jaina took another path leading towards Hearthglen. Jaina asked why they were going that way, but Nathanos didn't answer, nor did he tell the mage that they had actually bypassed Arthas's location and were ahead of him. His hounds returning from behind confirmed this.

"The reason you and I left the others was so that Arthas could make decisions without any worries? What if he does something wrong and what the consequences are?"

"That's why I sent Farek and the others to find him. The more help he has, the safer he'll be. Besides, even if he really messed things up, would he admit it?"

Jaina frowned. "Is he an unreasonable person? You have so little faith in him."

Nathanos shook his head. "No! I mean, he thinks what's right is wrong in our eyes, but he's stubborn and won't easily change his mind. It's not because he's unreasonable, but because..."

"Why?" Jaina asked curiously.

Nathanos's gaze swept over Jaina. "Because he is the Prince of Lordaeron, he wants to protect his people, so he is willing to sacrifice himself. But what he doesn't know is that some things lost cannot be recovered through sacrifice."

"That's right!"

The two women stopped in their tracks simultaneously. It wasn't Jaina who agreed with Nathanos, but the person blocking their path. He was tall and broad-shouldered, draped in a cloak of black feathers that obscured his face, including his eyes. Only his goatee and the enigmatic smile on his face were visible.

"Who are you?"

"It was him?"

This time they spoke at the same time again, and Nathanos looked at Jaina in surprise, "You know him?"

"She doesn't know me." The man took over the conversation, once again drawing Nathanos's attention, but this time his dangerous bow and arrows were already drawn.

"She only ever met me; I was talking to her old-fashioned tutor at the time."

"Is that so? It seems the conversation didn't go very well, otherwise you wouldn't have used the word 'pedantic' to describe Antonidas."

The man chuckled coldly, bowed, and the gesture seemed... very sarcastic. "You're very clever, Nathanos Marius. So we need to talk."

"You actually know my name?" Nathanos put away his bow and arrows, and asked warily, "Then, what would you like to talk to me about?"

"Listen to me, child." The stranger's words now held no mockery. His voice sounded like he was reciting a philosophical treatise, compelling one to take it seriously. "This continent has fallen! Shadows have fallen upon the land, and nothing you do can stop the disaster. If you wish to live, take those you care about across the sea... to the West."

Jaina held her breath. She'd heard this same man say those words to Antonidas Dalaran, and her mentor had since dismissed him as a madman. Now, the same words were being spoken to Nathanos, Jaina could imagine the man beside her reacting just as Antonidas had.

"You should advise King Terenas on the doomsday prophecy, Your Excellency!"

Upon hearing this, the female mage's face, hidden beneath her hood, was filled with shock. She felt as if her own reverie had been a ridiculous farce, a play she had orchestrated herself. Nathanos was speaking calmly to this stranger; didn't he find her 'alarmist' claims absurd?

"I went to see him, but he ignored me, so I don't plan to go to his son, since I don't think his son is any wiser than him."

"You're the one who spouted nonsense in front of the King and other councilors at the Royal Council... the 'Prophet'? I'm curious what gave you the power to be so audacious." Nathanos recalled an outrageous story he'd heard in Lordaeron. Some mysterious figure who could transform into a raven had barged into Terenas' throne room, spouted apocalyptic pronouncements, and was then thrown out.

"It's the truth, it's the fact!" The stranger slammed his staff on the ground. "If you don't act, you will die, you will lose everything, and then... you will be betrayed."

Nathanos almost laughed out loud, "Someone with prophetic abilities like you would actually favor me?"

"You are not insignificant, Nathanos. In fact, I hope you will believe me and leave here... Of course, you cannot leave alone; you will take some people with you, besides your family, and..." The stranger paused here, his expression turning serious.

"And Alleria, right?" Nathanos understood; this man's plan was quite clever. "You want her to leave her homeland and go to this so-called 'West'?"

The stranger's lips curled into a smile; he knew the outcome from Nathanos's tone. His smile then turned incredibly sorrowful. "It seems impossible! And you're not planning to leave either."

"My thoughts are constantly changing. Even I don't know what to do next."

"Whatever you do, you just need to remember..." Just then, the stranger's appearance changed. His cloak enveloped him like a second skin. A pair of dazzling black wings unfurled from his back, and his body rapidly shrank to the size of an ordinary raven. The raven let out a cry, leaped into the air, leaving behind the words it had just spoken.

"If you insist on staying, you will experience unimaginable pain. This pain will not come from your enemies, but from those you care about." The raven circled once and flew into the distance. Nathanos watched him disappear, a strange unease creeping into his heart. That person was so... certain!

Jaina Proudmoore wiped her forehead, looking at Nathanos incredulously. "You're actually willing to listen to him?"

"Not only are they willing... but they also believe."

"What?" This time, the female mage couldn't utter a single word. Her eyes were wide open, unable to look away from Nathanos.

In those few minutes of her astonishment, Nathanos's mind raced. He cared more about the prophet himself than his words. He would never forget that staff, or the raven-shaped magic. He just found it hard to believe his own deduction—how could this be before him? He should be dead. That wasn't Khadgar, but...

Nathanos closed his eyes, then opened them, staring at the empty space before him. He was surprised that he had taken a step halfway and then pulled back, doing so several times in a row. The reason for his hesitation was the prophet; although he had a general idea of the prophet's identity, he couldn't bring himself to say it. And it was because of the prophet's identity that he dared not continue forward.

The prophet came and blocked his path, leaving behind a prophecy. If the prophecy was true, he would believe it and turn back, thus surviving. But what if he didn't believe it? Nathanos clenched his fists; the spot where the prophet had just stood seemed to hold a door—a door between life and death!

Finally, he forced himself to take a step forward, and then another.

Let's go!

"Where to?" Jaina woke up.

"Go and complete your mission," he said, but another voice inside him said—go and see if all of this is real.