"Searching for a sunset" - An Omanos story

‘Searching for a sunset’

‘Southshore has been destroyed!’

Omanos turned to hear the yells of a single soldier as he tiredly climbed the Cathedral steps. He ran over and grabbed the soldier, lifting him upright and gripping his shoulders. There were two very precious things to him in Southshore; his wife and his father.

‘Listen to me, there is no time for you to be frantically yelling. Give me the details, right now!’ he yelled as he shook the soldier. He could see the trauma on the face of the man and yet his anger was overcoming him. Omanos had always had a deep-seated issue with his anger, the pain of loss often brought it out but in this case it was the potential in that.

‘Southshore! The war effort has allowed Southshore to be destroyed by the Horde!’ the soldier cried. Omanos’s eyes widened as he loosened his grip on the man. ‘Were the first regiment of Lordaeron in the fight?’ said Omanos as his face turned from anger to bewilderment. The soldier slowly shook his head, ‘I can’t tell you for sure, I’ve no idea what regiments were fighting with us. Southshore was protected by the local guard and one man who claimed to be the town’s protector’ said the soldier.

Omanos immediately released the man from his grip and walked past him, hastily moving down the Cathedral steps. ‘Sir! You can’t go there! It’s been razed to the ground, there is nothing left!’ these words brought Omanos to a standstill. He slowly turned to look at the man as the light engulfed his hands and soon enough, small wisps of light began to flow from his eyes.

‘I am a paladin of the light, I am a protector of the people, I am one of the many saviours of this city. If you stand and tell me that Southshore has been destroyed, you will need a lot more than words to stop me travelling there. There is no cowardice in my soul!’ he barked before turning and hastily running out of the district.

‘You needn’t worry about that man’ said a monk as he walked forward and stood beside the soldier. ‘He is the lightweaver, the young paladin that defeated a great demon within the Cathedral walls’
The soldier looked at the monk before nodding slowly ‘Light be with you, Lightweaver’ he muttered as he clenched his fists.

Omanos ran as fast as he could through the streets of Stormwind, watching as several more wounded soldiers were brought in from the gryphon master’s area. He gritted his teeth and increased the pace of his running until he skidded to a halt in front of the gryphon master. ‘Whoa there lad, what’s the rush?’ the master chuckled. ‘A gryphon to Southshore, the fastest you have’

Within moments Omanos was flying through the air with one hand firmly gripped onto the harness, the other over his eyes. He had no idea if Rhaenna was in Southshore, no idea if she had been serving with Rohwyn and the others there at the time. He couldn’t stand the thought of losing his wife and yet he had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. If the regiment was not in Southshore at the time of the attack, there was a very good chance that his father was. His father never left the town unless he had a specific reason and that was a very rare thing. He took his hand away from his eyes as the light faded from them. He shook his head violently and let out a sigh, he was still having headaches whenever the light poured from his eyes. It was no shock to him; having concentrated energy in such a place as the eyes was bound to bring about side effects. Of course there was also the fact that he was not yet able to control it that well, it mostly immerged when he was faced with an issue that effected his emotions.

‘Please Rhaenna, please do not be there when I arrive, I can’t stand the thought of losing you’ he thought to himself as the gryphon neared Southshore. Omanos observed the damage from above as he passed over the ruins, it had truly been destroyed, fire still raged across the village.

Omanos unclipped the harness and jumped from the gryphon before it had fully landed and began to run towards the ruins. He stopped and knelt down beside a wounded Southshore guard and lifted her head from the ground. She slowly opened her eyes and looked up at Omanos with a pained smile.

‘Lord Galenos’ she mumbled quietly, she had clearly been laying there for quite some time. Her face was pale and stained with blood, her breath sharp. ‘Corporal, tell me where your wound is and I will save your life, I promise you. But you must tell me if the regiment stationed here was involved in the fight, please’ Omanos said hastily as he rested her head on the grass once again. He nodded as the woman pointed towards a large gash across her stomach with a grimace. ‘You will not be dying here, now, tell me what you know’ said Omanos as he brought both of his hands over the gash.

The soldier peered down at Omanos’s hands as the light engulfed them, she couldn’t help but notice how raw the energy seemed, as if it was biting at the air around it. This was unusual for Omanos; she had often seen him teaching people around Southshore about proper use of the light, he and his energy had always seemed so calm and concentrated. ‘Please, you must tell me what you know, I’ve no idea how much time they might have’ said Omanos as he turned his head to look at the soldier.

She nodded and cleared her throat with a coarse cough. ‘The regiment was not here, I know who you’re worried about. It must be hard having a wife that you are not always with’ she muttered. ‘Commander Rohwyn and her people were not present, I’ve no idea why. However, General Galenos fought tooth and nail. Last I saw, he was heavily wounded, there was blood everywhere’ she continued to mutter. Omanos’s eyes widened as she spoke, realising that the last soldier had been speaking the truth, his father was in Southshore.

‘It was amazing Lord Galenos, all of that blood, all of that pain and yet he was still standing, fighting off his enemies with that large axe in one hand, while fighting off others with nothing but his fist’ she said with a cough. ‘You can stop talking now; your wound is almost healed. You’ll have to forgive me for my poor bedside manner but I need to search for my father the moment I know you’re alright’ said Omanos as he moved his right hand to her forehead. The light around that hand dimmed slightly and began to travel over her body, soothing as many of the cuts and scrapes as possible with Omanos’s limited attention span. He peered down at the cut across her stomach and cracked a small smile as it sealed itself and simply scarred over. He turned to look at her face once again to see a smile on her face. ‘It’s true what they say, you’re quite remarkable’ she muttered.

‘Remarkable, spoken for and not really fit to receive compliments at this moment in time, I’ll be leaving you now. You should be fine, just get yourself to the outskirts of the village and see if anyone else is there. If there happens to be others, treat the wounded as best you can, when I’ve found my father I will return and help you’ said Omanos as he slowly stood up and nodded down at the woman.

‘Thank you’ she said as she slowly sat up.

Omanos turned on the spot and dashed into the inferno that was once Southshore. Once he had entered the ruins he placed a shield of light around himself to prevent the flames from damaging him. He coughed heavily as he stepped over dead villagers and wreckage. He stopped and took a moment to gain his bearings before turning and walking into what was left of the Inn. As he stepped inside he could nothing but flames, there was no chance anyone could have survived such an inferno. He turned and walked out again, knowing that if his father were wounded severely, he would never have chosen a death on a bed.

Aramus was the type of man that would take his own life if it meant preventing the enemy from doing so, his father was a soldier through and through. ‘Where are you?’ he thought to himself as he continued to walk through the smouldering new form that Southshore had unwillingly taken. It wasn’t long before he found himself on the dock and there was no sign of his father, not even a trail of blood.

Omanos knew that there was a strong chance that his father had been slain, if the Horde had attacked with such force as to destroy the village, they could have easily done away with Aramus even if it was purely based on numbers. Because of this knowledge, Omanos knew that even if he didn’t find his father alive, he still needed to find him.

Omanos and Aramus had never seen directly eye to eye, they had never spoken in great depth about the problems they shared, Omanos had taken a separate path, one that he had never expected. Yet despite all of these issues, all of the resentment Omanos held against his father, he would at least have to find his corpse. He knew that despite the fact his father was never there for him, he had accomplished much in his life, many great battles and several soldiers going home to their families because of his expertise. He needed to find his corpse and give him the funeral that he deserved. Now that he knew Rhaenna had not been involved in the attack, that she was safe somewhere, he could focus his energies on this task.

He let out another harsh cough before holding his left hand against his chest and engulfing it with the light, ridding his lungs of the thick smoke. He continued to do this as he walked east and out of Southshore, escaping into the hills to search for his father, dead or alive.

After an entire twenty-four hours of searching, Omanos sat down on the roadside and took a flask of water to his lips, gulping down a large portion of it before pouring the rest over his head. He had found no signs of his father despite how far he had travelled; it felt as if he had been scouring for a lifetime. The lack of sleep was beginning to take it’s toll on his vision, he had spent so much time resting and training himself in the light and combat that his survival training had slipped dramatically, he found himself nodding off as he merely sat there.

He was rudely awoken by the sound of several yells and footsteps heading towards him. He turned to see several Forsaken males charging towards him, what was left of their faces were twisted in a sinister grin. Omanos immediately jumped to his feet and drew his blade and watched as the Forsaken circled him, the air filling with their cackles and snarls.

‘You would be wise to move along’ said Omanos. The words arrived with a certain sense of calm, as if his true nature was realigned during the search for his father. The truth was that it had, he knew that being full of rage was not for a paladin and that he would have to keep his cool if he had any chance of finding his father. Now the situation had become a little stickier, keeping his cool was even more important, he would need to defeat the Forsaken and carry on searching.

‘Lightweaver!’
‘Defiler!’
‘Cursed one!’
‘Those who wield the light with perish!’
‘Prepare yourself!’

Omanos twitched to the left as one of the attackers launched themselves at him. He threw his sword from his right hand to his left and raised his right arm, slamming an open palm against the chest of the attacker.

‘You dare to call me cursed?’ he said with a slight smirk as his hand became engulfed in the light and began to forcefully push it’s way from his palm. In this swift movement a blast of light flew from his hand and tore through the first attacker, sending his torso and legs in separate directions.

He swung his sword around in his hand and turned to peer at the other attackers once again. ‘You’ll know to fear me once we are done here. Like father like son, I will not allow you to take my life’ muttered Omanos.

His eyes widened as the rest of the Forsaken attacked at the same time and charged towards him. His mind shot back to training he had done in the past with various paladins of the light. He had invented a technique of his own that he had never had the chance to test and he knew what it required of him. The technique involved pushing all of his energy out of him in a single burst, effectively damaging everyone in the area of effect.

He quickly stabbed his sword in the ground and closed his eyes momentarily, before opening them to reveal the wisps of light from his pupils once again.

‘I am the Lightweaver! If I allow myself to die, I break the heart of the woman I love, if I allow myself to die, I fail to protect the people I care for. Today is not the day I fall; I will not be bested by filth! For the light!’ he yelled as he stretched his arms out.

One of the Forsaken attackers had managed to get a little closer than the others during this time and drew his sword, taking a swing at Omanos’s chest. The blade connected, tearing through the armour and shredding the skin. Omanos winced before letting out a loud yell.

It was at this point that the light exploded around his body, sending shockwaves of pure energy in a circle around him. The Forsaken attackers hit the ground and lifted their arms to shield their eyes but this was in vain. The light energy was so intense that it began to corrode them until there was nothing left but dust. Omanos continued to yell as the Forsaken were shred by the light energy that poured from him.

As the last Forsaken was reduced to dust, Omanos fell to his knees and slammed his palms against the floor. He coughed violently, spraying the floor with his blood before slipping and slamming against the ground. He let out sharp breaths and lifted his left hand, slapping it over the wound.

‘It’s no use, I used too much and I’ve not got long before I faint. Light guard me, I beseech you’ he mumbled before closing his eyes.

--

Six hours passed as Omanos lay on the scorched ground, it had become damp with the rainfall that had been pouring down for some time. Omanos blinked and slowly sat up, it was at this point that he realised the drawback of his new technique. He was completely exhausted, his body was torn and the wound he had received wasn’t helping matters. He slowly pulled himself to his feet and yanked his sword from the floor, before strapping it to his back again.

He sighed and shook his head, ‘I’m sorry father, I cannot keep looking for you in this state, I have to think of my wife, I will not risk my life for you anymore’ he said to himself defiantly.

He slowly walked off the road and into the fields, the many fresh cuts that had formed over his body began to sting and he could feel himself slipping in and out of consciousness due to the wound on his chest. The technique may have worked with regards to his attackers but it had left him so worn down that he wondered if he could even make it back to Southshore.

He coughed and smiled as he slowly stumbled through the fields, his mind full of images of Rhaenna. He had never been so happy in his life; he had met the woman of his dreams, all because it was in his nature to help people. In helping her with her issues he had fallen in love with her, with her deep personality and the starlight she left in her wake.

His mind began to fill with images of their wedding day, the stunning beauty she had displayed that day had filled him with so much pride and amazement, she had managed to make herself more beautiful than she already was in his eyes. He knew that he was making the right decision in marrying her but seeing her walk towards him like that had cemented everything, he would spend the rest of his life with her, hell or high water.

With that thought he let out a slight chuckle before losing consciousness and colliding with the damp ground. Before he completely shut down he could hear the faint thudding of footsteps heading towards him, he was completely at the mercy of this unknown person.

‘Light… I beg of you, send me a protector’ he thought before completely drifting away.