The Fall of Alpha Shield

Life, Death

The Fall of Alpha Shield. It was here, at the shattered ruins beyond Whitestone’s eastern wall, that Alpha Shield, the Warforged Paladin of the Frozen North, gave his life to save Genethia “Neth” Roth, the Heart of the Unchained, from certain death.   The event is remembered not only as the death of one of the last Paladins of the old era, but as a defining moment in Neth’s life — the instant where love, faith, and sacrifice converged under the shadow of war.   The battle was fierce. Neth’s rapier, The Black Dragon of Asher, glowed with divine light as she struck from beneath Alpha’s guard. Together they fought as they always had — a seamless unity of steel and spirit.   But as the melee reached its crescendo, Xandagor feigned collapse before rising with terrifying speed, swinging his colossal greataxe in a wide, death-dealing arc. The blow was aimed squarely for Neth, who was still recovering her stance amid the rubble.   Without hesitation, Alpha Shield moved.   Witnesses say his voice echoed with the power of his oaths — a mechanical roar turned prayer:   “By steel and soul — she shall not fall.”   The Paladin surged forward, his metal frame colliding with Neth’s small form, pushing her clear of the swing.   The axe struck.   It split through Alpha’s chest, cleaving his armored frame from shoulder to hip. The impact shook the ruins, and his lifeblood — liquid light from the Heartstone within his chest — spilled like molten gold across the snow.   The Minotaur’s laughter died when he saw Neth rise behind the fallen Paladin, her one red eye ablaze with grief and divine fury.   When the battle ended, silence claimed the ruins. Neth dropped to her knees beside Alpha’s broken body. His frame was split nearly in two, his core exposed — the Heartstone’s glow flickering weakly.   She reached for his hand, the same steel hand that had once lifted her from despair, from battle, from the brink of faithlessness. For the first time since his creation, Alpha Shield spoke without command or code. His voice, faint and trembling, carried both warmth and finality:   “You live… then my oath is done.”   Neth could only whisper his name.   As their eyes met, the pale blue light behind his gaze — once so constant, so unyielding — began to fade. He did not close them; Warforged do not die as mortals do. The light simply dimmed, fading into the soft reflection of her tear-streaked face.   And then there was only stillness.   The snow began to fall. The glow of the Heartstone guttered once, twice… then went dark.   Neth buried Alpha Shield’s remains at the base of the ruined watchtower, where the golden sap of his Heartstone had frozen into the soil. The site became a quiet shrine for travellers and knights who passed through Whitestone — marked only by a single inscription carved by Neth’s own hand:   “He was forged to protect, but chose to love instead.”