The slim youth bowed her head as a bearded man lectured her. long silken strands of hair flowed down over her face as she hid her features from her father. This was a lecture that was becoming all too frequent. Her dabbling in magic was something her father frowned upon. Did not matter to him that the adept teaching her in secret thought she had a rare talent for the arcane.
Her lessons had been contininuing in secret ever since her father banned her usage of magic. She was a strong willed young woman who did not see marriage to the blacksmith's son as something positive for her future. The small hamlet they lived in was not the whole of the world and Maube intended to explore before she was forced to settle down. If she was born a boy child, her curiosity to the outside world would have been encouraged, but since she was female, it was expected of her to marry her betrothed and settle down to raise hearth and home. Did not matter to her that she thought the blacksmith's son to be an unkempt and piggish man.
Startled, she looked up at the command her father gave her. His face was impassive as he motioned for her to turn around. Numbly, she turned and lifted the shift up to her shoulders, listening to her father as he removed his belt.
"I will not have you meddling in that dangerous stuff! And if my commands won't have you listenin, meyhaps a beatin will!"
A red haze filled Maube's vision as she bit her lip to keep from crying out. lectures had always happened after her father caught her practicing, but never a beating. Finally, one of the lashes from the belt knocked the breath out of her and she fell to her knees gasping for air. I HATE him. she thought, choking back a sob as another lash fell across her shoulders. I wish he was dead so I could do what I pleased!
Little did she know... that her harsh and thoughtless words soon would come to fruition.
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The plague hit without warning. Half of her small town was soon consumed by the burning fever. Unnatural some whispered, a curse others muttered as anyone healthy was sent out into the once prosperous fields to dig graves. Maube was called for to help the hedgewitch. Even though she was prohibiited from using the arcane, she was taught some basic healing skills, and now those skills were being pushed to the extreme.
The boy before her was only 5 or so, his fevered face glistening with sweat. Eyes rolled beneath the lids, testament to the nightmares raging within his uncoherant mind. Sores discolored the boy's skin and that is what Maube was tending to now. A slim piece of metal boiled in water and herbs was clutched in her fingers. Gently she dabbed at one pustule and laid a cloth beneath it. Grimacing beneath the cloth veil over her face she lanced the boil. A sickly greenish yellow pus oozed out to be absorbed by the cloth. fighting back her gorge, Maube bound the now open blister. The boy beneath her hands thrashing.
With a sigh, Maube stood and exited the makeshift hospital. It was once the inn, but the innkeeper and his wife were the first to sucuumb to the strange sickness.
Looking into the horizon, Maube was sickened by the dull glow of funeral pyres, What did we do to deserve this... she wondered. suddenly a feeling of weakness overcame her. Her vision went dark, the blood roaring in her ears and then she knew no more.
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A yawn and Maube moved to stretch. What a strange dream that was she thought as she struggled to move from the blankets around her. Startled she found she was bound tightly, completely restricting her movements. Opening her eyes she foudn even her face was encased in the cloth. Suddenly panicking she struggled trying to free herself from her bonds. Clawing at the fabric did little good, so a word was whispered in a hushed tone, summoning the spark from deep within her to call forth a small ball of fire, to burn her bindings away.
Once she sat up, she stared with horror around her. Someone had placed her among the dead! Shivering she removed herself from the singed cloth, only to realize, her skin was covered in the same boils of the sickness. frowning she left the barn where the corpses remained, waiting to be burned. walking among the quiet streets Maube suddenly remembered the last report from the city... Dead walking the streets as living. Mindless servants to one who was now being called the Lich King. some said he was building an army, some said it was all fairy tales... Maube was unsure of what was happeneing to her.
Suddenly a scream rent the air, running Maube made her way towards the sound, only to watch helpless as the baker's daughter, a slim willowy girl around 15 years of age was ripped to pieces by two shadowy figures. The figures began to consume the flesh torn from the now unmoving woman. In shock, Maube could not move, eyes wide in fear. She knew those men! They were the first to fall victim to the plague! The innkeeper Colby and the Stableboy Jeoff. Backing away slowly she gulped, the two zombies, for they could be anything but, turned vacant eyes on her and started moving towards, hands dripping in blood.
Maube was paralyzed with fear, she had nowhere to run to. But the zombies walked past her, mindless of who she was... or rather, thinking she was one of them. For some reason, her will and mind remained her own although now, Maube was realizing she wasnt quite alive anymore.
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For days Maube wandered, but she needed no food nor water. Even sleep was not required. She made her way down the road towards Brill, surely someone there would be able to help her, surely this was just a sickness of her mind. she couldnt be dead, yet she was sure she was no longer alive. What sick joke was being played upon her. Was this still just a feverish nightmare?
She avoided people, she avoided everything she could. But when she stumbled into Brill, her hopes were dashed. Corpses lay all around the streets, in various stages of decomposition, but more surprising were the shambling forms trying to clean up the obvious signs of death. there were others like her! Not mindless killing machines, people who looked to be dead, but moved like the living.
And then, she saw the Adept who taught her magic in secret. He was rubbing the nose of what looked to be a skeletal horse. What magic was this? Slinking over to him she tapped him on the shoulder. A sickly green palour hung over the Adept Mage as he smiled, "Ahhh my pupil... you are one of us now... one of the Forsaken."
