With a blood-curdling screech, the Nerubian's claws lunged forward like an arrow in flight.
Anub'arak knew not why he was doing this. His master, while still the Lich King, the being that had irreparably scarred his past, present, and future, he was far from the cold, ruthless tyrants that Ner'Zhul and Arthas had been. He showed his starved and freezing people compassion, and while his hostile acts against his queen angered him, he understood how it felt to be... controlled...
The final stages of his existence on Azeroth were filled with hatred and anger towards the Scourge... but what really hurt was his dubbing of "The Traitor King" by the living remnants of his kingdom. Not that he was able to save them, anyway. Azjol-Nerub fell long before Arthas ever set foot in Northrend, by his claws, no less.
When he finally was killed, deep under Northrend, he thought himself finally freed of his shackles. That he would have some semblance of peace in the afterlife...
He was wrong.
Ner'Zhul, in his cruelty, had bound him to the Lich King.
Eternally...
His anger with his eternal service, along with these... mongrels' derogatory language towards both him and his beloved...
It snapped his fragile mind.
Thoughts flooded his mind of his life before the Scourge...
Before his corruption...
Before his third and final death, deep below the Argent Arena...
.........
He realized now that nothing could change his fate.
Nothing was worse than what had already been done to him.
To his people.
He was resigned.
.........
For the first time in a long time, he was about to kill.
Kill for his master...
Kill...
"FOR THE SCOURGE!!!"
With a screech that literally shattered and cracked windows up the entire block, his claws sank into the cowering stallions. With a bellowing howl, the nerubian King reared back on his hind legs, his colossal size nearly reaching the ceiling. With his prey still impaled on his scythes, he let out a triumphant screech, letting all around him know that his king's justice had been delivered. With an echoing slam, he crashed back down to all fours, his scythes reaching under each other to rid them of the offending bodies adorning them. With a swift slash, both stallions were bisected cleanly down the middle, the momentum also propelling their bodies to the floor with a sickening 'squelch', and a splatter of red and organs.
Smirking in sickening satisfaction, Anub'arak turned to his master, expecting the stallion to congratulate him on a job well done.
.........
Shining shivered as Frostmourne barked at him from his side, it's anger at missing out on two new souls quite apparent.
The Helm had warned him of this happening.
It told him that death was naturally drawn to the position he currently filled.
That he should get used to it.
Sickeningly enough, he was finally starting to believe it.
It had predicted and foreseen every event, good or bad, since his ascension to alicornhood, and he had fought it every step of the way. He couldn't imagine that he would have done even HALF of the things the Helm had foretold, but here he was, feeling oddly... satisfied.
He had wanted those two stallions to die...
Didn't he?
.........
"My king?" Kel'Thuzad asked, his liege having not responded to the rather brutal and disgusting act that Anub'arak had committed.
"Yes, Kel?" Shining inquired, his muzzle turning to his archmage, whom had taken the time to fully revert to his true form.
.........
Kel'Thuzad was floored. His king was acting as if it didn't even happen! That he had not just seen two (admittedly dimwitted) stallions get torn to pieces by a giant beetle! His frantic thinking, however, would have to wait.
"Kel'Thuzad, bring these two to the dungeons, please." Shining calmly spoke, gesturing to the two corpses littering the floor. His voice was just loud enough for his archmage and captain of the guard to hear. "Bring them back, and wait for my arrival."
.........
"Sire... I..." Kel'Thuzad started. Shining whipped his head back to the lich, his eyes starting to echo their streams of frost more erratically. "Shining, with all due respect, have you lost yo---"
"That is an ORDER, Kel'Thuzad..." the Lich King spoke, a demonic twinge tainting his voice. The lich stuttered once more, but the death knight beside him was quicker to his words.
"Of course, my king." Titus bowed once, before grasping one of the bodies in his magical grip, awaiting the lich's creation of a portal to the dungeons. Kel'Thuzad, still stunned beyond words at his king's decision, obliged his colleague, and retrieved the other corpse, quickly disintegrating any leftover blood that coated the floor. With a quick glance back to the bar as he traveled through the portal, he saw his king approaching Anub'arak.
.........
"My king, I... I am sorry for my outburst..." Anub'arak started. Shining stopped him, his hoof raising to silence the great nerubian.
"We will speak of this at a later time, Anub'arak." Shining spoke sternly. "Return to the palace. Sleep with your mate."
"Y-Yes, master." Anub'arak stammered, his gargantuan form moving surprisingly quickly as he made his way out the door. With a loud buzzing noise, the king was in the air, his wings carrying him off to his room's balcony.
With the last of his underlings gone, the prince approached the bar, where the three mares and barkeep where cowering. With a gentle smile, he handed the barkeep a large sack of bits.
"For the floors." Shining stated, before turning to walk back to the palace himself. Neither the barkeep or the mares responded.
Shining grunted, his eyes staring coldly forward as he trudged through the light layer of snow covering the crystal pavement. The Helm's whispering had ceased for the moment.
For the first time, he had followed its... advice.
And it was right.
.........
"Sire, I'm sorry, BUT HAVE YOU LOST YOUR DAMNED MIND!?" Kel'Thuzad roared to the alicorn as he entered the dungeon, locking the heavy iron door behind him.
"Inside voice, Kel. I'm not angry, so you shouldn't be either." Shining said, taking a seat on one of the cushions that the lich had laid out for his arrival. Kel'Thuzad opened his mouth to retort, but closed it soon after, letting out a heavy sigh.
"You're right. Forgive me, Shining. I'm just a little... confused..." Kel'Thuzad stated, his form floating over to his throne opposite the chair, before letting himself fall into it's embrace. Shining nodded, his eyes flickering to the left to see the Helm, floating in it's magical suspension field.
For the first time, he had to literally stop himself fro walking over, and attempting to put it on.
Kel'Thuzad frowned as Shining's form lurched, before settling back into it's cushion, his breathing noticeably heavier.
"My king?" Kel'Thuzad inquired, starting to get up. "Are you well?"
"Yes! Yes, I'm fine." Shining quickly assured, his nervous smile confirming the lich's suspicions.
"It's the Helm. Isn't it?" he asked, his arms folding behind his back as he rose. "It's call is louder, yes?"
Shining nodded, his breathing somewhat stabilized.
"It... it told me to do what I did back at the bar, Kel." Shining turned to the lich, his eyes wide, and panicked. "It... it's been right about everything! Celestia and Luna's death, Nightmare Moon, the changelings... everything..."
"Sire... have you listened to it before?" Kel'Thuzad asked, his form floating closer. Shining's eyes darted to the archlich, his head nodding.
"I... I hear it all the time now." Shining broke down, sobbing slightly. "It... it wants to be with me, Kel. It wants me to... to..."
"Kill?" Kel'Thuzad asked, his brow softening at his friend's breakdown.
"YES!" the Lich King shouted, his voice distorted, if only slightly. "But... but it won't say what..."
"Shining... I... give me a week." Kel'Thuzad requested, his form rising.
Shining nodded.
"But after that, I'm putting the damned thing on." Shining confirmed, his form rising to leave the room. The door creaked slightly in protest as he opened it, his head turning to look at his archmage once more.
"Oh, and keep them down here. At least until i figure out... what to do with them." Shining ordered. Kel'Thuzad bowed slowly, nodding.
"Of course, my king. Have a pleasant night."
"Goodnight, Kel." Shining spoke, his form disappearing behind the closed door.
.........
"Cadence?" Shining asked, his wife currently laying on top of him. Said princess groaned, opening a single eye to look at her husband.
"Yes, Shining?" she asked, her voice tired and slow.
"Am... am I a good husband?" Shining asked, his head looking down to watch his mate's eyes open wide, before closing as she crawled up his barrel to plant a kiss on his lower chin.
"Best husband I've ever had..." Cadence jokingly stated, her form relaxing once more. Shining, unsatisfied, moved slightly, wrenching another groan from his wife as she was disturbed yet again.
"I'm serious, Cady. Do I... make you happy?" Shining asked, his mind still lingering on the night's events. Cadence, now more awake, rolled off of her princely bed, before igniting the lamp on their bedside, illuminating them in a light orange glow. After this, she gave a gentle smile, and wrapped herself around her husband's neck, nuzzling into the area just under his left ear.
"Happier than I've ever been..." Cadence cooed, her breath tickling the prince's ear, causing him to chuckle before falling back to the bed, extinguishing the light and carrying his wife with him. After a few more tender minutes, Shining sighed, looking into the eyes of the angel he had been blessed to have married.
"Do you trust me?" Shining asked suddenly, breaking the silence. Cadence, without hesitation, responded.
"With my life, my knight in shining armor..."