"What is a body that needn't breathe any longer? What is a shell that has lost its soul? The soulless reach out to regain a soul and complete themselves. In their inevitable failure they create more soulless; for one cannot truly be complete by a soul that is not their own. Some of them learn and resign themselves to the void of nonexistence, but others... they don't give up so easily. They tear through legions looking for a suitable soul while none exists except for the one that they lost. The collectors of souls; beings who would hoard and barter with the wills and memories of others because theirs is missing... or simply inadequate."

Chapter 1: Maldelic

"Your soul is mine." A drowned sounding voice seethed as a violet stone formed in his hand.

Holding the stone out like candy, he cast a spell. The Voidwalker which he had dominated ages ago appeared and became his to control once more. "Send me back!" The voidwalker cried out to no avail.

"You will not go back, you will attack them." The summoner, a warlock by training, pointed at a group of high elves who were lounging about the Quel'lithien lodge.

"Yes, master." The voidwalker obeyed and charged headlong into combat as his master stood back and picked away at the elves in a symphony of shadow and flame.

Each elf who fell to the warlock gained him another soul to play with, they all spoke to him, crying to be released in some way and at least not fed to one of his demons. After having cleared the lodge, the warlock held his rotting hand to his dry bug-eaten chin. "Good. Now to find more. The scarlets yield rather noisy souls and the scourge's souls are wrought with anguish." He spoke to himself. "I need souls that will be quiet… these animals should do." He walked down to destroy the corrupted beasts of the Plaguelands for his own gain.

Even the yelps of the hounds that fell to his spells were not enough to stop the killing. The undead nonchalantly tossed the stones into his bag and rode onward on the back of his mount, one of the famed Xorothian dreadsteeds. Even though it did nothing but carry him, the horse was famed for being more malignant and evil than any of his lesser demons. Something was different this time… the warlock felt a pulsing from the bag in which he had tossed the shard. It was his hearthstone, he knew that it was usable as a means of contact, but no one had ever contacted him. Picking it up curiously, the owner of the voice spoke into the stone in almost the same languid tone as the voidwalker which also accompanied him. "What do you want from me?"

The voice returning through the stone belonged to an orc who had come to the Undercity to train less experienced warlocks. The owner of the stone had not spoken with him or needed his training in quite some time. "A message has come for you, warlock. You will return to the Undercity to receive it." The orc, whose proper name was Kaal Soulreaper spoke to him.

"Why should I? If this is a message, leave it in the postbox and cease your prattle." The drowned voice continued.

"Prattle? Do not forget where you gained your training young warlock." Kaal threatened.

"My name is Maldelic, you will remember that. Now I ask again, why do you disturb me?" Maldelic began to grow impatient.

"Do not question this, this comes from a much higher level and it is much too important to be left in some postbox. Return at once." Kaal ordered.

Begrudgingly obeying, Maldelic activated his hearthstone and disappeared from the rotting but tranquil lands to the east of the Forsaken capital. Appearing in front of the inn, he checked the postbox and shook his head, the orc has not been smart enough to leave it in the box anyway. Scratching at the horns which protruded from his head as part of his raiment he called his steed once more and rode towards the Temple of the Damned. The streets of the Undercity were always busy and even the thin channels next to the putrid river in the outer ring bustled with activity. It was nearly impossible to ride full speed through the crowd, and so it took Maldelic some time to reach the temple.

"What is the meaning of this? I have little time." The warlock walked into the temple, blasting past the younger warlocks, and approached Kaal.

"Stay your tongue demonologist." The trainer picked up a bag that had been sitting at his feet and threw it at Maldelic. "As much as I would now like to set this aflame, doing so would mean my death. Take it and get out of my temple." Kaal barked angrily.

Left with that, the warlock exited the temple and climbed onto his steed again. Commanding it to take him to the courtyard, he began to travel slowly once more. The bag was not open, sensing its power him self, he kept it hidden in his pack. Of all the warlocks in the service of the dark lady and those who still lurked among the orcs, Maldelic was a most interesting case. Unlike many of his brethren, on his freeing from the scourge he regained no memories of his past life. Striking out as a new being, he looked to fill what he lacked and found it in the arts of the shadows and demons. He acted without impulse, having done many things including destroy Ragnaros the firelord on what seemed like a whim. Further separating him from his companions, a strange magical aura floated about him which befuddled even the strongest mages of the Horde.

"Runes of teleportation… pah." Maldelic rifled through the bag on one of the ledges of the Undercity courtyard and chuckled at its contents. Continuing to search, he found an item of more interest. A small golden signet ring was in the bag, bearing a crest and a name across it. The ring appeared to have been used to seal wax on letters before. "Drakivaz." Maldelic read the wording across it. "I know this name… why? I have never heard it before."

Now strangely intrigued by the bags contents, he decided to set out the runes of teleportation first. Looking closer at the runes, he saw that they were made of a strange ice which wouldn't melt and which burned with cold. Now compelled to continue, he arranged them on the ground. Passers by looked strangely at the puzzle solving work going on, but none approached upon sensing the fel energy that emerged from the runes.

Moving blindly ahead, Maldelic stepped onto the runes. "All curses on that damn Soulreaper if this is some sort of deception." The warlock disappeared bag and all in a sudden nova of frost energy.

"Good, he has used them. Now, lets see if he is smart enough to recognize the calling."

Appearing in the middle of a barren snow covered field, the undead paused for a moment. "Where has this taken me?" he shivered for once. "What cold can make the dead feel it? This should not be possible."

The wind howled once more, almost knocking the undead over. He looked for his hearthstone in his bags. Frowning in disgust, he realized that the hearthstone was powerless somehow in this location. Throwing the useless chunk of rock across the snow, Maldelic looked at his surroundings in more detail. The entire area which he stood in was a barren and wild field of snow. A few sparse trees attempted to irk out a living through the ice, but they bore no leaves. To the west, out of the path of the fierce wind, a cave which bore deep into the ground caught the warlock's eye. Dumping the remainder of the sack out, he picked up the signet ring and some other items. In a second bundle inside the sack, warm traveling clothes were prepared for him.

"Whoever did this knows far too much about me. I must kill them and have their soul." He mused as he slipped on the clothes over his brightly colored robes.

The traveling outfit consisted of a grey fitted long coat with buttons to fasten the front shut, a heavy woolen hat and a set of thick gloves and boots. The hat sat strangely on his head, so the warlock poked holes in it for his horns to sit through. Having to take of some of his battle-gear such as his shoulder armor put Maldelic ill at ease, but the cold made him just plain ill. The material was quite bland, but then again it was not meant for battle, it was meant for warmth against the wind of…

"Northrend… I must be in Northrend." Maldelic exclaimed to himself. "No wind or cold could cut like this except on the frozen continent. Why have I been brought here?"

Looking to the cave again, Maldelic decided it would be a good place to start. The pace of walking was slow and the cave was deceptively far away. Initially believing it to be close by and nearly too small for someone to fit in, the warlock quickly discovered that it was large enough to fit even the most gargantuan beasts which he had encountered on his journeys. The inside of the cave glowed with a strange blue crystal which ran through the rocks. As he passed deeper into the immensely long main shaft of the cave, the crystals began to swirl around into the shapes that resembled symbols and writing.

"Curious… only some mage could manipulate the walls in this way." He walked closer to what appeared to be a miniature map of the world. The crystals lit up in response to his touch and a sharp clattering noise drew his attention away from the glyphs.

The noise was the shifting of crystal in the walls. The hard substance had moved off of the walls in the front of the cave and formed a thick barrier over the tunnel entrance hardly twenty feet further out then where Maldelic stood. The warlock ran to the wall and beat on it almost out of reflex.

"Damnit.. Kaar… I will kill him when I find a way to return. This trickery cannot go unpunished." The angered corpse yelled into the cold air as the echo reverberated off of the cave walls.

Realizing that it was a hopeless effort, he returned to the map of the world on the wall. The crystals lit up again and shifted, focusing in on the area of the world known as Quel'thelas. The warlock had killed many near its borders, being a bane to the inhabitants of the Quel'lithien lodge for his own gain and once at the bidding of Nathaniel Blightcaller.

"Why has this changed? What does this cave have to say to one such as me." Maldelic looked towards the luminescent depths of the cave.

Touching the picture of Quel'thelas, the crystals lit up brightly. The warlock could not have seen it coming, nor could anyone. A beam of blue energy shot from the crystals into his eyes as his vision clouded over and his consciousness faded.