At first, Vanessa thought she had died, for it appeared as such. Darkness all around, and permeating cold that cut to the bone. It reeked of death and chaos, nearly choking.
Vanessa fell to her knees weakly, the ground was barren and like the air, cold. She stood on a plateau seemingly in the middle of nowhere. Other large hunks of rock drifted around the eternal darkness that surrounded her, and she briefly pondered was this where the Light abandon those who it did not find worthy.
"I certainly did nab you out of there in the knick of time." Balnazzar chuckled behind Vanessa.
The paladin shot up, turning around so sharply it momentarily made her head whirl.
Balnazzar stood quiet at ease behind Vanessa, her bag and weapon at his hooves. Two burly arms were crossed and the look on his face was one of amusement.
"I am surprised you needed my aid at all, but your powers appear to have been diminished somewhat."
He took a step forward and Vanessa backed away. "Stay back, I don't know what you've done, but you will pay!"
"Me?" Balnazzar pointed a claw to his black battle plate genuinely surprised. "My girl, all I did was save your life."
She continued to back up shaking her head. "No, you did something to the Naaru, monster!"
"Don't blame it on me, Vanessa." The Dread Lord smiled evilly. "It was your essence that corrupted A'dal, as his own entwined with yours attempting to comfort you, no less. Something in my endless centuries I have never seen. My child corrupted and killed a Naaru. You continue to make me so proud of you."
She kept backing up away from the still Dread Lord, making room in case he attacked, and shaking her head slowly.
No, it wasn't true, Vanessa told herself, just another hurtful lie her father was attempting to make her believe. She followed the light devoutly; surely the good would over come the evil. It had to…for many weeks it had been her only solace with the new revelations of her lineage.
Vanessa screamed as she went tumbling off the edge of the plateau she and her father stood on, but Balnazzar caught her by the arm digging his claws into her as he hoisted her up and cursing her lack of awareness profusely.
Looking into his cold blue eyes, Vanessa instinctively knew she had gotten her own from him, they mirrored his perfectly.
Vanessa shut her eyes, keeping back tears and forcing herself to look away from him, as blood leaked down her arm and on to the Dread Lords claws.
Who was she trying to kid?
The paladin sighed in despair, not even attempting to fight Balnazzar away, she knew the first moment A'dal had been corrupted, she had been the one to do it. She never considered, while the Naaru's light was comforting her, it would touch the blackness that was there and infect it, in a way. It was a fact that stung the paladin to her core.
Usually Balnazzar would have delighted to watch the torment raging in Vanessa, but there were more important things on hand than just fun, a champion for the Legion hung in the balance.
He nodded, speaking to himself quietly. "Yes, your powers have been greatly reduced, I wonder…ah, I see."
The Dread Lord hooked a claw under the thin bronze colored collar, grimacing. "A slave? Who would be stupid enough to do such a thing?"
He murmured a spell leeching out the magic, for his own and also identifying the one who had cast it.
The Dread Lord couldn't help but smile as he shattered the item in his iron grip. "Sylvanas. My that name does seem to stay with our family, doesn't it, Vanessa?"
The paladin didn't reply, it appeared to Balnazzar she wasn't listening or didn't even care.
Sighing in annoyance the Nazrethem shook his head. "Well come along, Vanessa, it's time to go home."
"What are you talking about?." She asked quietly, turning away from the Dread Lord. Wrapping her arms around herself to help ward off the cold, her shoulders slumped in misery.
The Dread Lord snorted contemptuously. "Home, silly girl, where one lives."
"Where ever you call home is defiantly not where I do." She replied to him but her words were uncaring.
He shrugged. "It's where you belong, with your kind. Who else would have you, Vanessa, after what you've done, knowing what you are? Come with me, I will teach you control of your gifts, and show you how you could live."
"No." She replied firmly. "I am going back to Shattrath to aid their peoples for the disaster I caused."
The Dread Lord laughed shaking his head pityingly. "Let me show you something, girl."
He produced two tiny crystals laying them on the barren rock, they glowed a bright green and created a sort of window.
"Before you escaped my clutches the first time, I cast what you mortals call an Eye of Kilrogg on your person. I had a hard time tracking you until your arrival in Shattrath. After that delightful little disaster with A'dal, I snuck the eye in the city. So busy with the clean up, they wont notice it till far to late." He explained.
Vanessa turned around in curiosity as a picture began to appear.
Two figures of Khadgar and the captain of the guard came into view, the debris and dust still billowing upward made the scene slightly hard to see, but the noise around came in loud and clear.
Khadgar sat on the crumbled ruin of the dais, his head in his hands. Robes torn and bloodied; shoulder's heaving with sobs.
The captain paced franticly, curling his mustache around a finger for lack of anything better to do. "I knew one day, A'dal would become to trusting. To allow that…that…beast access to him without any knowledge of who it was! We don't even know what else she could have done here!"
"No." Vanessa uttered breathless taking a step forward as if they could see and hear her. "I didn't mean it, I couldn't help it!" She shrieked pleadingly the tears running freely now.
Balnazzar dismissed the window and Vanessa put her head down in shame, curling her fist in determination. "I need to go back, and show them I am not a… monster."
The words she had used on her father minuets ago came ricocheting back, causing her to physically wince.
Balnazzar laughed cruelly. "For one, how do you plan on getting there? You don't even know how you got here the first time. And what makes you think they won't attack instead of rejoice in your help?" He crept closer to her speaking gently. "I can teach you control, how to travel between this world, Outland, an Azeroth, and much more. After I've taught you, you can choose to stay or leave. If you don't except you'll be stuck here forever, or until you can figure it out on your own, which could take nether knows how long."
When she didn't reply, Balnazzar turned from Vanessa, walking away slowly. He smiled when he heard her scurry to grab her bag and follow. She fell easily into step with him, shouldering her bag, her voice strained with distress. "I do need to learn control. I will accept your offer, but I will always be loyal to the Light, no matter what curse taints me. You'll be wasting your time."
Balnazzar turned slightly to her chuckling fondly, "My dear, you don't seem to understand, while you're with me I will attempt to make you a champion of the Legion, but I truly don't care who you fight for. The nature of a Nazrethem is to cause death and destruction. It's who we are. We may fight on different spectrums but both of us still cling to our natures. I will never truly consider you my enemy, no, as long as you cause chaos in your wake, you will just be Nazrethem. Albeit a strange one, but a Nazrethem no less."
"Where are we going?" Vanessa asked, desperate to change the subject, the more Balnazzar talked the more she was beginning to believe him.
"Home, Vanessa. To meet your uncles, and witness the glorious life that could be yours." The Dread Lord replied happily.
He uttered a spell, Vanessa couldn't quite catch and a dark portal opened before them. Balnazzar turned to her, making a beckoning gesture as he disappeared inside.
Vanessa looked at the portal for long minuets, she knew if she went through, all her teachings and following of the Light would be tested, but what other choice did she have?
Horde and Alliance were searching for her, all of Shattrath probably had a hit out on her head, she couldn't go back home, the Crusade would never accept her. Perhaps Balnazzar's words had some truth to them.
Taking a deep breath, the paladin steeled herself. Sword drawn as she walked through.
Vanessa stepped out to a large open balcony overlooking a dark place only illuminated by sickish green felfire spurting from gashes in the land and the blinding flash of a inferno demon making a landing from the black sky. The air was thick with hints of fel magic and ash.
From below, demons of every sort milled about the area like moths drawn to light, they stood their as if waiting.
Balnazzar watched the scene from below, right beside Vanessa grinning. "Welcome to the Black Temple in Shadowmoon Valley." He chuckled slightly. "Ironic isn't it, the man that used to rule this place was a lot like you. He meant well at first, but his…'inner demons' got the best of him. However he was weak. Now we rule this place, silent and biding our time. Now that you've killed A'dal we've no need to fear anyone being sent from Shattrath."
The Dread Lord, turned and began walking to a door that led to the lower portion of the temple. Vanessa gave a surrendering sigh, forcing herself to look away and followed.
A few short imps spotted the pair first. The little demons, jumped and did back flips as they ran to them, the felfire beneath their feet flickering in excitement.
Vanessa began to raise her blade, but a firm hand from Balnazzar halted her.
"Watch." He smiled superiorly as the demons drew closer.
The first one, a tad taller than the rest stopped abruptly right at Balnazzar's hooves, in bowed itself speaking in a quick voice. "Have you brought us a new plaything, master?" It asked hopefully its eyes dancing in cruel anticipation.
The Dread Lord shook his head slowly, before crushing the imp under his hoof in a splat of blood and bone.
Vanessa turned away in disgust, but none else seemed to take note or care, though she did notice nobody asked twice.
"This is my daughter," He explained casually while drawing a sharp glare from Vanessa.
"I am not your daughter." She snarled.
If the Dread Lord heard Vanessa, he ignored her, continuing. "You serve her as well now."
He fell silent and the imps turned to her, expectantly.
Her rage was instantly replaced by surprise and confusion. "Um…as you were?" She stumbled, not sure what to do or say to them.
The imps bowed to them both and scurried off once more.
"Do you see that, Vanessa? Utter obedience. Thrilling when your on the other half of the spectrum isn't it? Master instead of slave." Balnazzar said as they continued walking through the monolithic temple.
Two figures just as huge as their brother stood at the doors leading to what looked like a training ground. Balnazzar put a hand on Vanessa shoulder, smiling in a devious yet proud way. "This, brothers, is my daughter, Vanessa, the one who could very well bring the glorious chaos to Azeroth in the name of the Legion."
He looked down to Vanessa proffering a hand to the Nazrethem who were glaring their disapproval. "My brothers, Tichondrious and Varimatheras, Vanessa."
"She looks weak, brother, are you sure she was the one that killed the Naaru or did it finally choke on all the warmth and love crap it emanated?" Tichondrious asked disdainfully.
"An if she's as powerful as you claim, why haven't we been alerted to her presence sooner?" Varimatheras snorted his voice hinting agitation and mistrust.
Vanessa turned to Varimatheras smiling coldly. "I know of you, Varimatheras. My mistress, Sylvanas, used to tell me your story all the time when I was a child, it was one of my favorites. The best part was when you were defeated and dragged in front of her in chains, forced to grovel and beg in the dust at her feet for your pathetic life."
Tichondrious had to hold a furious Varimatheras back as Balnazzar had to restrain Vanessa. Both Dread Lords were roaring in cruel laughter.
"It appears that dead elf cannot help enslaving our kin, isn't that right, Vari?" Balnazzar chuckled.
"If I recall, you two didn't fare so grandly either." Vanessa added on, shrugging the Nazrethem away.
"A minor miscalculation," Balnazzar replied. "We underestimated Sylvanas, and that was our temporary down fall. But believe me when I say, Nazrethem do not make the same mistake twice."
"It was a mistake to bring her here, Balnazzar." Varimatheras growled in rage. "For six long years I worked for Sylvanas. Her cunning and guile is only out measured by her brilliance and determination, if she raised this girl then there's no telling what she's capable of."
Tichondrious rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Come now, Vari, don't be so over dramatic simply because Balnazzar's spawn hurt your feelings."
Varimatheras shook his head, turning to leave. "Laugh now, as we did when Sylvanas turned down our offer to join us. I'll have nothing to do with this fiasco."
Balnazzar watched his brothers walk away sighing. "Well on to your first lesson, Vanessa."
The smell inside the main chamber of the temple made Vanessa reel, it made Gort the abomination smell like a field of daisies.
Dried blood coated everything, bones lay in little piles picked clean of flesh making Vanessa wonder what exactly demons ate.
Dread Lord and paladin walked through an endless maze of hallways and doors, so much so, Vanessa was sure had she been asked to come back out she would have been utterly lost.
The pair arrived at something that looked like desecrated sanctuary. Cobwebs clung thickly on everything transforming all into a ghostly white. Pews had been over turned and broken, and the altar and dais showed signs of battle.
"Here is where the lost one, Akama, regained his soul." Balnazzar explained as he walked to the altar.
"Showing there is still hope for me." Vanessa said lowly, looking around.
The Dread Lord grabbed the large stone altar, with one soft grunt heaving the stone top off it revealing a musty tomb.
He chuckled slightly, but did not turn to the paladin. "Akama was weak minded and not a half demon. Besides the Legion was weakened and he had a whole room of champions to help him."
Reaching through cobwebs and mounds of black dust and bones, the Nazrethem pulled out a horrendous tome.
He blew on it raising the dust, and brushed it off before walking to Vanessa. The tome was knitted together with skin and the spine looked like it was actually made of a spine, dark runes scrawled in blood covered the casing.
Vanessa backed away in horror as the Dread Lord held it out to her.
"What in the Light's name is that?" The paladin asked in disgust.
Balnazzar smiled cruelly. "A dark Libram, the last of its kind. Filled with every spell you need to know.
Vanessa shook her head stubbornly and Balnazzar growled in agitation. "Do you really think you will be made a master paladin, after what you've done? A Libram of the Light will forever be out of your reach. We Nazrethem have immortality to learn our powers, you, I am guessing, do not. Either take this, or there will be no use in training you."
Was he right? Was this her fate to wield the dark magic no matter how much she fought it? Would her own 'inner demons' be allowed to take control? But again, she thought desperately, what choice did she have?
Vanessa sighed sounding very, very tired she slowly took the book, and felt Goosebumps rise on her flesh as the sensation of evil ran through her, the holy magic inside of her screaming in protest.
She glared at the tome, and then to Balnazzar. "I hate you, I hate this place, everything in it, and I hate this Libram." She stated coldly. "Nothing will ever, ever, change that."
The Dread Lord chuckled, beckoning Vanessa to follow. He placed a clawed hand on her shoulder, and was surprised when she did not shrug him away. "Hate. That's always a good place to start…"