I own Vician Trannyth, Itris Highbinder, Kaxet Botfuel, Ororan Lonesnarl, Elkemin Winddreamer, Uraz'Do, Tibarn Bonefever, Rili the succubus, Death Knight Borgan Van Talen, Shadow Priestess Victoria Painbinder, Lightslayer Hiro Tombweeper, the concept of the Society of Uncorrupted Warlocks, Zachery Lancaster, Taniel the incubus, Rose Oxworth, Faith Nightreaper, and the Gilnean Motherland League, all else to Blizz

A/N:

Howdy there again. I was thinking about a relationship chart for this series and how easy it'll be to make. You'd just take all of the characters and put them on a sheet of paper. Then, with a heavy rubber stamp, you'd slam down the words 'it's complicated' in red ink. See? Easy peasy!

Warning: Use of language, war, exposition dump, and Faith

Death Knight Borgan Van Talen stands tall in the township of Brill in the freezing, cold rain. It has been a few weeks since Victoria's speech and the Council's declaration of war against the Alliance—which is now being referred to as the Revenge War by members of the Forsaken, although, the rest of the Horde calls it the Coma War. The whole of the Forsaken threw themselves into the war effort and Borgan could not blame them. The Dark Lady is a savior to all Forsaken. Anyone who harms her must pay dearly.

Frankly, the Forsaken have done supremely well. They have blitzed across the Western Plaguelands, the Hinterlands, the Arathi Highlands, and—despite Borgan's stern warnings—the Eastern Plaguelands. Now, a fierce battle rages at the Sardo Bridge between the Forsaken and the Dwarves. With the newly arisen undead from the conquered territories, the day of the Dwarven defense at the bridge looked numbered, until they got some assistance from the Gilnean Motherland League. The G.M.L—a coalition of Alliance members lead by former Gilnean citizens—landed at Stormglen Village and soon retook Gilneas City. They managed a counter-blitz against the Forsaken, claiming all of Gilneas and pushing up as far as Northern Silverpine.

The Council, logically, diverted troops from the Eastern front to the new Western front. The Forsaken and the G.M.L traded blows, neither keeping any territory for long. But the overwhelming numbers of the Forsaken and undead former G.M.L members pushed the G.M.L back to Stormglen Village.

Now, the war is in a stalemate on both fronts. With the Alliance and the Forsaken creating bulwarks on their front lines, the physical war has all but ended and the hidden spy war has begun. SI:7 agents have been caught poking around the township of Brill and the Dark Rangers have been collecting information as far south as Ironforge.

Of course, Borgan has been keeping contact with Kalira, as she travels from the Undercity to the Echo Isles. But, because the Zeppelin from Brill to Orgrimmar is still out of commission—due to a disagreement between Garrosh and several Trade Princes over the issue of payment—she has resolved to go the northern route. She left the Undercity heading on a Zeppelin to Vengeance Landing. From there, she'll cross over to Kamagua and take the boat to Unu'pe before she crosses back over to Warsong hold and takes that Zeppelin down to Orgrimmar.

Imaging Kalira back in Northrend makes his heart tighten. There exists nothing in the North, except bad memories and dangerous decisions. Everyone—whom that coward Arthas met—lost themselves to the Scourge. Too many lives cut down in service to that monster. And still, the Alliance stole their kill. Arthas was meant to die at the hands of the Forsaken. The ones he raised to do his bidding should have been the ones to put him into the grave. They should have been the ones to tear Arthas limb from limb. They should have been the ones to smash that god forsaken sword. It was their purpose, it was their mission, it was their duty, and the Alliance stole that from the Forsaken. That rage at Arthas found a new purpose; revenge against the Alliance for taking what was theirs.

Borgan closes his eyes, forcing out a breath, calming his nerves in the process. While part of him would love to rush up to Northrend and be by Kalira's side, Borgan knows that he would become . . . distracted and that he would impede the mission to awaken Sylvanas. Besides, Kalira had given him a specific task and he would see it through.

Reaching down, Borgan grabs the knapsack at his feet. Pulling up, he digs through the bag until his armoured fingers brush up against a round object. Borgan smiles and hauls out the object which turns out to be a tarnished golden watch; to which he opens and checks the time. The clock reads noon and a large, black shadow flies across the sky. "Right on time," he murmurs.

The large, black shadow circles the town three times before it descends, using the main road as a landing strip. The Forsaken around the town snap towards the dragon that now stands in the middle of the town. However, when they see that the rider of the dragon is Blood Elf, the Forsaken relax and ignore their fellow Horde member.

The Blood Elf slips off of the saddle on the dragon, casting her green eyes about the undead town, her lips pressed into a thin line and a slight crinkle to her nose. The dragon, sensing its Masters' discomfort, snorts and rocks from side to side slightly. The Blood Elf reaches out and runs her long, slender fingers along the dragons' scales, offering some comfort, as her eyes continue to scan the town. When she spots Borgan, her look of discomfort fades to be replaced with one of mild amusement. Patting her dragon, she lets her arms hang at her sides as she strides confidently forward.

"Borgan Van Talen," she says in her melodic voice, as her eyes travel up his blue and silver plate armour. "As stoic as ever, I see."

Borgan smirks briefly, relaxing his stance somewhat. "Faith Nightreaper, as hilarious as ever," he says sarcastically. He motions around with his hands, "I take it that you dislike our wonderful town?"

"I wouldn't say that, Borgy," she says and smiles ruefully.

Borgan rolls his eyes at his given nickname. "And what would you say, Faith?"

Faith shrugs her shoulders, casting her eyes about the town again. "The whole town is stiff," she says with a grimace. "The air is stale, the trees are dead, the land is lifeless, and even the people here move without purpose. It's a land of death and nothingness." She turns back to Borgan, locking eyes with him. "I cannot see how you could live here Borgy. You've traded the cold of Northrend for the dampness of Trisfal and yet, I can still feel Arthas here. The Lich King may be dead, but it still feels like he is ruling over the Forsaken."

Several Forsaken guards within earshot of the pair snap towards them, their eyes zeroing in on Faith and their hands going to their weapons, resting on them. Seeing this, Borgan reaches out and grips Faith by the arm, almost dragging her along with him towards her dragon. "Do not speak his name. The Lich King is still a sore subject around here."

Faith pulls free of his grasp and offers a small smile, "Sorry, Borgy."

Borgan nods his head, offering her a smile. "It's alright, Faith." Turning around, Borgan glowers at the Forsaken guards until they turn away. "Anyway," he says turning back to Faith, "I have a mission for you."

Faith smiles wryly, rolling her eyes. "Yea, you mentioned something like that in our letter; some retrieval mission. Who's the target?"

Reaching into the knapsack again, Borgan pulls out two wanted posters, handing them to Faith. The first is a male human with red, shortly cropped hair and piercing emerald eyes. From this ebony skin to his blank, neutral expression, he looks like every other human at first glance, except for the top half of his right ear which looks as if it was torn off.

The second poster makes Faith's long, blonde eyebrows rise. A Forsaken with blue-green skin and dirty red hair stares back at her. His dull yellow eyes seem to pierce into her soul. However, it strikes her as odd that the Forsaken and the human have the same ear wound.

Looking up at Borgan neutral expression, she waggles the wanted posters at him. "So, you want me to find some human and the Grand Warlock?"

Nodding his head, Borgan smiles humorously. "Both are the Grand Warlock, Faith."

Faith's eyes go wide and her mouth falls open slightly. She looks back down at the two posters before looking back up at Borgan. "Borgan Van Talen," she says dangerously quiet, "you tell me everything you know this instant."

Borgan looks around the town with a grimace on his face. "Not here. It's too open." He turns halfway, thumbing back at the inn. "We'll talk there." Together, the pair head into the inn and sit at a table next to the roaring fire. Borgan pulls out Faith's chair—who grants him a small smirk—before taking his own seat.

And he begins his tale. He tells of the Horde Heroes returning with a living Vician, of the true nature of Sylvanas's coma, of the priest and the paladin whom Vician gambled with to save Sylvanas, of Rili's deception and stealing of Vician, of Kalira's involvement with the Zeppelin crash, and of the Council's 'grand plan'. Throughout his tale, Faith leaned forward, her arms on the table and her body rigid, listening and digesting every word. It was only when Borgan finished, did the Blood Elf lose her rigidly, slopping backwards with amazement. "Holy shit," she mutters.

Borgan nods his head in agreement, "I know."

"I mean," she says, sitting back up, "this'll be terrible if anyone ever finds out the truth. The Dark Lady in a coma due to an incubus and the Grand Warlock stolen by a succubus; Borgy, Varimathras's insurrection wasn't that long ago. There are many in Azeroth that say the Forsaken are cursed with demons. And given this latest disaster, I'm inclined to believe them."

"I know," Borgan says, touching his forehead with his hand, "but we're working on it. Kalira is currently heading towards the Echo Isles to get Vol'jin's help and you're going to bring back Vician. When the Dark Lady awakens and when the Grand Warlock returns, all will be well."

Faith rolls her eyes at this. "Borgy, you are deluding yourself. All will not be well. The Forsaken are embroiled in a needless war in an attempt by this 'Council' to gain more land than they could hold. The Forsaken will go to the top of the Alliance's shit list. And Garrosh is not the type to defend his allies. I wouldn't be surprised if the Horde and the Alliance agree to let the Forsaken die and remove the collective thorn from their sides."

Borgan nods his head, agreeing with Faith. "That is why I supported Kalira's proposal of keeping quiet and pretending that things are normal."

Faith grimaces and shrugs her shoulders. "That would have been alright; better than this situation, but still not the best choice."

"Then what would have been the best choice?"

Sitting back, Faith moves her jaw from side to side thinking over the situation. "A mixture of the two plans. You would pretend that Sylvanas is alright, while you admit that Vician has been stolen away by this Rili character. You'd blame everything on Rili and call out a manhunt on her. There would be no war and we could find the Grand Warlock faster, given that the whole of the Horde would be assisting. It would shift the blame off of the Forsaken and onto a Demon which, frankly, no one likes. The Forsaken would escape questioning and be treated as the unfortunate bystander."

Borgan grunts humorously. "Too late to change that now."

Faith nods her head, "Aye."

The pair sits in comfortable silence, until Borgan speaks up. "How are you going to find Vician?"

"I'll start here at the Undercity," she begins. "I'll visit his house and get a feel for the Grand Warlock. A succubus may have stolen him away, but he is still the most powerful warlock in the world. He's been gone for a month, right?" she asks Borgan, who responds with a nod. "That's strange. He surely would have broken out of whatever containment he is in and banished the demon by now. He should be back at the Undercity.

"This only leads to one of two options. Option one: The Grand Warlock is dead, again. If so, I'll find his body and bring it back here so those Val'kyrs can revive him. Option two: The Grand Warlock is under the thrall-ship of the succubus. Basically, it means that the succubus has managed to ensnare Vician and now is feeding off his soul, while he has lost his mind and has become a slave. Option two is going to take a bit longer, because I will have to kill this Rili in order to free Vician, but there could be damage it his psyche."

Borgan blinks, processing all this information. "How do you know so much about demons, Faith?"

Faith smiles and shrugs her shoulders. "I'm not just a pretty face, Borgy. I am part of the intelligence community. We know things we normally wouldn't know."

Borgan smirks, cocking his head to the side. "Oh, really? How many in the intelligence community know the truth about Sylvanas and this grand war?" he asks sarcastically.

Faith smiles and throws her head back, laughing. "Well, you do have me there, Borgy." They drift into silence again. "Is there anything else I should know about the Grand Warlock, Borgy?" Faith asks suddenly.

Borgan bites his bottom lip, mulling over things in his mind. He knows that he can trust Faith, but he did not like to air dirty laundry. "Well," he begins slowly and carefully, before stopping and looking around. He leans in closer, whispering to the Blood Elf. "Vician is in a relationship with the Dark Lady and Kalira."

Faith's eyebrows skyrocket. There had been rumors about this sort of thing; screams of passion coming from Sylvanas private chamber, dark figures moving silently past the Royal Guards who 'saw nothing' and 'heard nothing'. "Do Sylvanas and Kalira know about the other?"

Borgan nods his head, leaning back slightly. "Of course; they were lovers first, before Vician joined the mix.

Faith blinks, her mouth falling open slightly. "So, the three of them . . . together?"

Borgan nods his head, "Yea. It's complicated."

Grunting, Faith agrees, "No shit." Sighing, she stands rolling her shoulders. "Alright, Borgy. I better be off, if I want to find the Grand Warlock anytime soon."

Standing as well, Borgan nods his head. "I'll be around, keeping an eye on the Council. If you need anything, don't hesitate to find me. I'm difficult to miss." Faith chuckles and punches Borgan's shoulder lightly, before the pair leave the inn and head back towards the Undercity.