Sylvanas shook her head as she sat down on her throne. "I really don't know what to do with you... under normal circumstances, I would have let my guards chase such weirdos like you out of town... no offense, Ranma!"

The pig-tailed boy sighed. "None taken, I know my life has been a pretty weird one..."

The queen of the Forsaken looked at him carefully. "Tell me, Ranma... how long do you plan on staying here?"

That question came out of nowhere. "Um... until I have to go back home, I guess," Ranma said, scratching his head. "It's not like I had a choice before..."

Sylvanas sighed. "Very well... I will allow you to stay here, because of the past we shared. But I want you to keep in mind that I am not the same person anymore. I don't have the time to do the things we used to do in Eversong Woods... and I don't really do such things anymore. I am the leader of my people, a queen, and an Undead on top of that. So only bother me when it is important, understood?"

"But, Sylvanas..." Ranma tried to speak up.

"Dammit, Ranma!" the undead High Elf shouted. "Didn't you see how Varimathras reacted when both of you appeared? There are many Forsaken that have bad experiences with the still-living... too many would want to see them dead. Not undead as we are, dead forever! The fact that many of our enemies come from only still existing human kingdom of Stormwind doesn't exactly help you here... Without my protection, your lives would be in danger."

"Ah, I can take care of such bullies," Ranma smirked. "I guess it's decent and all that you are that worried about me, but..."

"I... I'm not worried about you!" Sylvanas grumbled. "It's just that every dead body might be used by the Scourge to reinforce their own troops, and that's not what we want."

Azusa smiled. "Awww, that's soooo sweet how you care for your little friend... Azusa has many little friends at home, too, you know? Drop by some day and I'll show them to you. Jacques and Enrique and Evangeline and Sophie and..."

Could undead get headaches? To Sylvanas, it certainly felt that way. "Please, be quiet!" she grimaced. "All right, as I said, I will let you stay here until you... have to go back home or whatever it is you're doing when you vanish. But I won't have any slackers in my city, got it? If you want to stay, you will have to make yourselves useful!"

Ranma shrugged. He was used to hard work, especially when he thought about his father's training practices. "Sure, no problem! What is it you want me to do? Collect firewood?"

"Don't be ridiculous! I know you're a pretty good fighter, and do you think I would send a warrior to gather firewood - a task that could be done by any mindless ghoul? No, I want you to go on a mission, Ranma... a mission that will show me that your battle skills aren't just big talk. "It will also show your loyalty to the Forsaken, which will keep anyone who feels suspicious about you silent."

Ranma grinned. "A mission, eh? Sounds like fun. So... you want me to beat up some jerks?"

"No 'jerks', Ranma... they are the Gnolls of the Rothide clan, servants of the Scourge, and they are yet again robbing our graves for some corpses they can use as troops."

"Um... Gnolls?" Ranma wondered.

"Ooooooh, I know, I know what they are!" Azusa shouted excitedly as she jumped up and down. "They are these cute little doggies that walk on two legs and have just the most adorable little yipping voices."

Sylvanas huffed. "No Gnoll I've seen in my life could be called 'adorable'," she said. "They are cowardly little bastards who have always been a plague... but these Gnolls are even worse. They are undead, which means you don't need to have any qualms when fighting them. They are already dead, and they have been enslaved by the Scourge anyways, so just end their pathetic little existances! Drive them from the Mass Graves north of Brill and make sure to get them all!"

Ranma was taken aback by the harshness in Sylvanas' voice. "Gee, isn't that a bit harsh? I'm not a killer, you know? I'm a martial artist. And I never beat on a defenseless opponent."

"You want them to reinforce their troops instead?" Sylvanas snapped. "They are no living creatures, you don't have to feel any pity for them! If you don't do it, I will send someone else to do the job."

Ranma sighed. He really didn't like how much his friend had changed. He wondered if there were any morals left in her... but maybe he could bring her back to the right path somehow. And if those Gnoll things really were just animated corpses... well, no harm in beating them up a bit, right?"

"Okay, I'll do it."

"Me too," Azusa said, clapping her hands. "If they are all as cute as Azusa's little friend Hogger, maybe little Azusa can keep one as a pet."

Sylvanas resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

"But say, Sylvanas..." Ranma then said.

She sighed. "Yes, what is it?"

Ranma grinned sheepishly. "I have no idea where this 'Brill' place is you talked about... can you give us some directions?"

The Banshee Queen thought about it. "Well, I guess it's best I let one of my subjects come along with you... after all, we also need to make sure that the Rothides haven't done any strange experiments with the corpses. VARIMATHRAS!"

Upon hearing the loud shout of his queen, the Dreadlord quickly came in. He gave the two living humans hateful glares before giving Sylvanas a hasty bow. "Yes, my queen?"

"Tell one of our warlocks to come here. I need someone to accompany Ranma and... Azusa to the mass graves. I want them to take care of our little Gnoll infestation..."

Varimathras looked like he would love to rip out the humans' innards instead, but he bowed his head and murmured: "As you command, my lady! If I may suggest someone, Cadavrine has requested to prove her skills some time ago."

"The recently-awakened youngster from Andorhal? Yes, I remember her... she was quite eager to prove her abilities and her devotion to our cause... Well, she's not as experienced as other warlocks we have, but after all, taking care of a few undead Gnolls shouldn't be a problem. Very well, Varimathras, tell Cadavrine to come here right away."

"Yes, my lady!" the Dreadlord nodded as he left the royal chamber.

Ranma frowned. "Cadavrine... what kind of name is that?"

"Obviously not her original name," Sylvanas said. "Before she died, she was a young girl from Andorhal, one of Lordaeron's largest cities. As it happened to many of the humans who fell victim to the undead plague, she became a servant of the Lich King. Only recently did our necromancers manage to free her will, making her one of the Forsaken. Ever since she regained her will, she wanted to make the Scourge pay for what they had forced her to do, and for what they did to her hometown."

"And she's a... warlock?" Ranma asked. "Um, I'm not an expert, but wouldn't the correct term be 'witch'?"

"Um, please excuse Azusa, but... what IS a 'warlock'?" Azusa wondered.

"A practitioner of the dark arts," Sylvanas explained. "A conjurer of demons... a former mage that pursued the darker paths of magic in exchange for more power. In Cadavrine's case, she wanted to achieve these powers as a means to revenge."

"Summoning demons?" All of a sudden, Ranma was reminded of Hikaru Gosunkugi. "Um, isn't that a bad thing?"

"Not as long as you have them under your control," a voice coming from the entrance said.

Ranma turned around and looked into the pale, half-rotten face of a girl who looked like she must have been beautiful back when she was still alive. Her black hair was covered with patches of mold and went down to her shoulders. She was wearing dark blue robes and held a small wand with a purple-glowing tip. Behind her, a sinister, blue-glowing figure had entered the room. The creature didn't have any feet and floated just above the floor, and it looked like it had come right out of a black cloud. Its glowing eyes were scanning the room, and when it saw the two living beings, the being hissed in a spooky, inhuman voice.

"Don't let yourselves get startled by Klathmon's appearance," the female warlock said. "You've never seen a Voidwalker before, haven't you?"

"Um... I can't say I have..." Ranma muttered dumbfounded.

"He won't hurt you..." the undead girl whispered. "He listens to my command... I am his mistress..." She suddenly smirked at Ranma. "But you can call me Cadavrine!"


Akane shivered. She was cold. She was hungry. She was miserable. And, even though she hated to admit it, she was frightened. She wanted to leave this place, to go back home to her family, to a place where the biggest danger would be a fondle of Happosai, a reciting of bad poetry ba Kuno... or a kidnapping by yet another prince who wanted to make her his bride.

But this? This was unlike anything she had experienced yet. The stinging cold made her heart freeze, and the sheer terror of what had happened to Arthas, what he had done to all these creatures and to Lordearon, to his friends, to his father... and what he would do to herself... all of this shook Akane more than she could have ever imagined.

For a short while, she had believed that, if she waited long enough, she would simply disappear and wake up in her bed, as she always did when she had visited Lordaeron before... but as the hours passed, nothing like that happened.

"R-ranma..." she whispered. "D-daddy... Kasumi-neechan... Nabiki... I'm s-sorry..."

She was sorry for being this weak. She wanted to be the strongest girl in Nerima... yet she was shivering like a little girl in a dark forest.

And the longer she waited, the more grew her desire to be freed from this torture. If there was any sort of lethal weapon in her cell, she didn't know if she would have the will to resist the urge to take it and end her own life.

She had tried summoning her own mallet, so she could at least knock herself unconscious... but she didn't bring up enough focus to concentrate. It was hopeless.

When the torture became unbearable, Akane truly wished to die.

She let out a deafening scream, threw her body against the bars of her cell and tried shaking them. "LEMME OUT!" she screamed. "I CAN'T STAND THIS ANY LONGER! KILL ME ALREADY! DID YOU HEAR ME, ARTHAS? KILL ME, IF THAT'S WHAT YOU WANNA DO! KILL ME AND GET IT OVER WITH! I... I..."

"You want to die, right?"

Akane gasped. This time, she hadn't even noticed how Arthas had appeared in front of her jail. He held out his hand and reached through the iron bars, stroking Akane's cheek. "Tell me... how much do you desire death?"

"P... please, just let me die..." Akane whimpered. She always had believed herself to be a strong-willed girl, but this was too much.

"How much?" Arthas whispered. "Tell me how much you desire it..."

Akane gulped while the frozen tears were stinging on her face. "More than... anything else!"

"Really?" Arthas smiled. "More than anything else, you say? More than seeing your family again? More than being with your precious Ranma? More than enjoying a nice, warm meal and a good night's sleep in a warm, comfortable bed?"

Right now, Akane couldn't even imagine what warmth would feel like. All of her feelings were drained out of her body, except for cold and pain.

"Yes..." she whispered. "I just wish for this to end..."

The Lich King knelt down. "Do you..." he whispered, this time speaking with two whispering voices at once. "Do you wish to be free of this torture? Of this fear of death? Do you accept anything to be released of this fear?"

"I... I..." Akane stuttered, not being able to think clearly.

The Lich King moved his face closer to Akane, the iron bars being the only thing that separated their faces. "Do you accept... anything? Will you... pledge loyalty to me? Will you become my immortal champion, my strongest general and my angel of wrath? Will you accept all these gifts in exchange for the gift of... immortality?"

"I... I don't want to fear death..." Akane stuttered, feeling so weak in the presence of the most powerful creature on Azeroth. She was just a mere human... nothing in the face of death...

But... if she could conquer death... she wouldn't have to be afraid of anything anymore. She could become stronger, just as she always wanted... she could do anything...

"Accept!" the Lich King grinned as he held out his hand. "Accept my offer, and I will make you the second most powerful being on Azeroth!"

"I... I..." Akane hesitated, a tiny voice in the back of her mind told her that this was wrong. But... she knew she couldn't endure this any longer. If this was the way to end her torture... and to achieve her goals... then so be it!

"I accept," she finally said and took the Lich King's gloved hand.

In that moment, her heart stopped beating.


Author's Note:

Cadavrine is one of my own World of Warcraft characters, and her Voidwalker is indeed called Klathmon.