Undeath Beckons

Chapter 1 - Infection

LOADING…

FETCHING CHARACTER DATA…

CHARACTER SELECTED: SILINA

ENTERING WORLD…

"You won't feel a thing," Din Frostfire remarked, as a puff of his noxious, frigid breath slithered down my neck. My whole body shuddered from the chill.

"Lying bastard," I muttered as I tried not to inhale.

The Lich, although lacking most of his facial muscles, appeared to smile. "Clever girl." He turned away and continued fiddling with some sort of glass object, just beyond where I could see from the nearly vertical table I'd been placed on. I didn't trust him for a second, but I had no other options. Din was the only being under Sylvanas's employ that was willing and able to help me.

The straps at my wrists and ankles had begun to chafe. "Damn, this had best be worth it," I thought. Why I'd needed to be stripped and tied down I had no idea; this procedure was supposed to be swift, painless, and above all, dignified. My idea of a glorious resurrection as a member of the most powerful race in Azeroth—the undead Forsaken—did not include lying nude on a cold slab in some Lich's laboratory. Still, sacrifices had to be made. This was for a greater purpose. This was for power beyond my wildest imaginings.

"Silina!" a deep, penetrating voice cried. I recognized it immediately as the voice of a Dreadlord, specifically the Dreadlord Ayer'Naz. He came striding into view, full of his usual arrogance, a smug grin on his pale face. The stink of sulfur filled the air.

"Ayer'Naz," I growled.

"Comfortable?" Ayer'Naz chuckled. He now stood directly before me. "My my, I'd forgotten that I'd be seeing this much of you…" He grinned wider, his beady black eyes tracing my curves. He raised a clawed hand toward my cheek as he whispered, "For a human, you are quite an attractive specimen…"

"You touch me, you lose a finger," I said contemptuously. Even without my equipment, it would have only taken a few mumbled words and some malicious intent for me to send a shadow bolt right up Ayer'Naz's pointy nose. And I had no qualms about doing just that.

He sensed the danger and backed off. "Humph. Lich, how much longer?"

Din rasped, "I've just finished getting ready. If you'll be so kind as to stand back, milord." Din hovered into view carrying a collection of vials and beakers on a steel tray. He released the tray and it floated at his side. "Milord, if you'll just stand back please…"

"Yes, yes," the Dreadlord said. "One moment." He leaned closer to me, close enough that I could feel his hot breath and smell the rumbling hellfire that burned in his belly. He whispered, "Are you ready, human? Power beyond your dreams. An endless lifespan in which to gain strength. Are you prepared?"

"I am," I replied. Ayer'Naz started to pull away but my stern tone practically dragged him back. "Recall, Dreadlord, our agreement. My service to the Banshee Queen is on a contract basis. And recall," I added, staring hard into his black eyes, "that your life is the price to be paid if I feel so much as the slightest bit of dissatisfaction." I muttered a few words and began to channel a fire spell, causing my pupils to glow fiery red. Ayer'Naz twitched. I cancelled the spell and smiled.

"Tch… foolish human," Ayer'Naz murmured. No matter: the fear on his brow was enough to satisfy me. As he turned I heard him say, "You are not prepared," as if to himself, and then he departed.

"Now we can proceed," Din said. He pulled an unseen lever that caused the table to rotate to a fully horizontal position. "You may be wondering why you're strapped down, and naked."

"I was, actually."

"The straps are to protect you from thrashing about and breaking something," he told me as he poured a dark liquid back and forth between two beakers. The liquid began to radiate a deep purple light. "The nudity is because your clothes will rot off your body the moment you transform." There was a pause. "That, and it has been a long while since I had such a gorgeous woman on my operating table." He attempted to wink, but having no eyelids, all he managed to do was change the glow in his eye sockets a little. "Tell me, are you into necrophilia?" he asked, moving closer.

"No!" I snapped. Every cell in my body was repulsed by the very notion. "If you lay so much as one bony finger on me, by the Hells I will rip your spine off and make you eat it!" I snarled.

"Oo, a feisty one!" he said, laughing. He lofted the beakers. "Shall I begin the procedure?"

This Lich disgusted me, but I had no choice. I sighed and said in reply, "Very well."

"Good." Din immediately poured the contents of the beakers he was holding in a line down the center of my body, starting with my neck. The potion was bitterly cold, and I gasped from the shock. Another beaker, this one full of warm green ooze, was dumped down one side of me, then the other. I could feel it pooling beneath the base of my spine, sending shivers. The lich levitated a few more beakers of green liquid into the air above me and dumped them. Now I was drenched up to my chin with the pungent slime; it began to seep into my skin, gurgling into every orifice and pore. My vision became slightly blurred.

"What are you doing?" I managed to say. My throat seemed strangely tight, but I was relieved that so far I'd experienced no pain.

"Infection," he replied gleefully. "Open wide."

I grudgingly did as he asked, and was rewarded with a mouthful of disgusting, bitter paste. I barely managed to choke it down before another spoonful was thrust in. This too I swallowed.

"yes, yes," the Lich said. "Now just a few more things…" Something was happening. I felt a tingling sensation over my whole body, inside and out. Tingling soon gave way to prickling, which gave way to burning.

"Ow… oh gods!" I howled. I began to writhe on the table. My vision blurred further; I could taste blood and tears, and hear a dull ringing. "Whuv you done?" I slurred loudly. Now a new agony struck my gut. I felt like my organs were trying to rip themselves free of my flesh. I felt something pierce my arm; Din had inserted a needle and was injecting me with what appeared to be black gas. It was cold, so cold… I could feel it rushing into my veins. Like ice, so cold…

Suddenly I lost control of my muscles and began to thrash violently. The straps held me in place, but my torso twisted from side to side. I began chanting spells at random, through no will of my own. A Shadow Bolt appeared before me and shot off toward the rafters. I felt a Curse of Agony go flying, followed by another Shadow Bolt. Each spell I cast drained me of some of my mana; my body was growing weaker by the second. I cried out again, some unintelligible obscenity.

Through the pain, tears, and distorted senses, I could make out Din's rattling laughter. Bastard was getting off on this.

My vision grew darker still. I could feel a new sensation now. Mercifully, this one gradually overtook the pain, and my body relaxed. I saw colored lights dancing and heard the sound of church bells. The feeling was a buildup, a tension. Something was being drawn out of me. Now above me in the air I began to see little red droplets; I tried to speak but no words came, and the droplets grew larger.

Blood. I was being bled to death out of every pore. I panicked, but my muscles wouldn't react, so I remained still, my mind buzzing with screams and lamentations. What was happening to me?

"Now sleep, little wretched one," Din's voice whispered. It echoed from everywhere, and I realized he was using telepathy. "Sleep eternally in the Void!" And I felt a strong compulsion to obey, to follow his command. The Lich began to chant in Demonic, and blue lights appeared before my eyes, obscuring the rest of the scene. Sleep seemed more and more inviting as the chanting continued.

Instantly, I knew what was happening. This spell was going to drain me of my will. I would be a slave, either to this Lich, or Ayer'Naz, or the Banshee Queen herself. I'd been duped, tricked, and I'd fallen for it like a pathetic sap. Well, we'd see about that. The Lich had yet to finish the ritual that would bind my will to his, or so I hoped.

Summoning every ounce of my strength and energy, I readied a Hellfire spell and let loose. Unbearable heat engulfed my body; I could see the waves of distortion rising, and the burning pain I now felt told me that this was a particularly potent Hellfire. A burst of scorching fire exploded in a circle around me. The lich howled as flames licked his robes and set them ablaze. The beakers on the tray shattered loudly. The blue lights faded and I could see again, just as I'd predicted.

"What are you doing! You bitch!" he roared.

My bindings melted away, releasing me from the table and allowing me to leap unsteadily to my feet. My blood was mostly gone, but somehow I remained animated, and I knew it was already too late to stop the transformation. Still, my will was my own, and as long as I could prevent the Lich from regaining control—or consciousness—I would be free.

"Burn! Burn!" I cackled, lighting up the Lich with an Immolate spell followed by the twin tongues of fire known as Incinerate. His skeletal form was engulfed in flame, and he stumbled around the chamber, flailing wildly. I used this moment to look around. The room was rather small and mostly empty, with the table in the dead center. There was no one else present, which I found slightly odd but certainly advantageous. My equipment was nowhere in sight, but I noticed a glowing purple Soul Shard resting on the tray Din had been using. I grabbed the tiny crystal and I turned my attention back to the Lich, who had nearly regained control.

"You will pay for this!" he snarled, launching a large Frostbolt at me. I took it hard in the chest, but my rage would not be stopped, and I shook it off like it was nothing more than a snowball.

"Die!" I cried, muttering a Curse of The Elements to increase my fire's potency followed immediately by another column of flame from Immolate. Din was again surrounded by fire and began dancing madly. I struck him with Incinerate once, twice, then Conflagrate, causing the flames on his body to detonate. Drawing the power from the Soul Shard, I summoned forth a massive fireball and let it fly. The Soul Fire struck dead on, right in the center of Din's ribcage. He tumbled to the floor and rolled there, his form all but completely obscured by raging fire. He screamed for mercy.

Feeling no remorse and a sense of boundless bloodlust, I lit Din up with another Immolate, and his agonized screams grew louder and more desperate. He was nearing death.

"Am I into necrophilia?" I said mockingly. "Pervert!" Din had climbed to his feet, but he still hadn't put out the fire from my earlier assault. "You wretched bastard. Burn in the Twisting Nether!" I roasted him with Immolate, and a final Conflagrate finished the job; he howled one last time as his skull exploded, sending charred, shattered bone fragments tumbling through the air, I shielded my face as a shower of them rained down on me. Din Frostfire was no more.

Immediately my legs gave out. I collapsed to the hard floor, my vision swimming. "Got to get out," I thought to myself. The pain had returned, stronger than ever, and it was all I could do to even stay awake at this point. I looked around quickly, hoping to find… yes! A small chute labeled "Corpses" was set into the wall not five paces from me.

I climbed to my feet and took in one final sweep of the room, hoping that my equipment might have simply evaded my first glance. No luck. My blood was still hovering in the air above the slab; I bid it a mental farewell, reeled, vomited black ooze onto the carved stone floor, and staggered clumsily toward the chute, managing to shove myself halfway in. I had no strength left to push off from the ground, but a convenient muscle spasm caused my legs to launch me headfirst into the darkness.

As I fell, it occurred to me just how foolish and desperate my escape plan was. Did this chute lead to an incinerator? A cesspool? A pit of spikes? I knew not, but as I skidded against the walls and tumbled around the bends in the tunnel, I hardly cared. The pain was too great. I felt bones breaking and flesh ripping. The plague that had infected my body was gaining strength; I could feel it churning within me, changing every inch of me, turning me from a living, breathing human… into a member of the Forsaken.

Undeath's icy hand beckoned. Mortal consciousness faded. The darkness claimed me, and I was gone.