JJ: Right. Finally, chapter 8. I get to add another character to the group.

Karkon: And who might that be?

JJ: Its a secret! I'll introduce him after Nell's flashback.

Karkon: ...

JJ: what?

Karkon: What you just said...sounds like spoilers...

JJ:...Disclaimer please...

Karkon: World of Warcraft does not belong to JJfats.

Chapter 8

Nellera Brightarch's eyes snapped wide open. The first thing she saw was nothing. Her surroundings were almost pitch black. Her vision was blurry and the back of her head hurt like hell. It took a while for her eyes to adjust to the darkness. Now she could see a little clearer. The first thing she noticed was that she was in a huge cage. On the outside of the cage, she saw a campfire. The flames were not like anything that Nell had ever seen. Instead of giving off a pale yellow glow from orange flames, the fire was a vile green. It cast an eerie glow on the surrounding area. Around the fire slept five blood elfs, all clad in a dark cloak.

It was all coming back to Nell now. She and her posse were ambush by blood elven assassins. Her fellow blood knights were slaughtered mercilessly. Anger clouded her thoughts as images of her friends dieing one by one flashed through her mind. She knew not the reason why they did it, but she intended to pay them back, tenfold. As she stealthily tried to stand up, a hand patted her on the shoulder, making her jump in surprise. Nell spun around, fists first. She stopped them mere inches from the man's face, eyes widening in recognition.

"Nero?" she asked softly.

"The one and only." Nero Dawnsong replied weakly. "Glad to see you've finally decided to wake up." He was surprised when Nell wrapped her arms around him in a great hug. Nero unconsciously returned it.

"I thought you were dead! Thank the Light, you survived!" she exclaimed.

"Not fully though." he said, a pang of sadness in his voice.

"What do you-" Nell began, but stopped herself as she looked to where his right arm was. Wondering why he only hugged her back with one arm. She gasped in horror. Nero's arm was not there anymore. The only thing left was a stump on his shoulder. Nell looked back at her comrade.

"Who did this to you?" she asked. Nero sighed and leaned back on the bars of the cage.

"The assassins had a demon ally with them. A doomguard, if I recall correctly. Ripped my arm off with ease." he replied solemnly. Nell gaped at him.

"A demon ally? b-but that means they are in league with the Legion!

"Not necessarily. They could just have a powerful warlock on their side."

Before Nell could speak again, a hand reached in from outside the cage, and grabbed her by the neck, pulling her back towards the cage bars. Nero reacted instantly, rushing to pry the hand off Nell's neck as she struggled and tried to scream. Without warning, the cage door swung open and the assassins strode in. They jumped at Nero, easily overpowering the crippled paladin. Nell continued to struggle to break free from her captor's grasp, but she did not possess the strength. She watched helplessly as her assailants dragged Nero out of the cage before slamming the door shut and locking it once more. Nell felt the grip on her mouth falter a bit. She took he chance and bit down hard on her captor's hand. There was a scream of pain behind her and the assassin released his grip, quickly pulling his hand out of the cage. Nell rushed towards the door, the salty taste of blood still lingering on her tongue.

She stood there, powerless, as the assassins dragged him towards the fire. There was a robed figure there now. He too, was a blood elf, but he wore the dark and sinister colors that told Nell that the newcomer was a warlock. A giant, winged demon with hoofed feet stood several paces behind him. Nell stared in abject horror and screamed as the assassins threw Nero into the green flames. A pillar of fire burst into the air followed by horrible screams of unimaginable agony as Nero's skin began to melt from its bones. Nell covered her ears and shut her eyes tight. She couldn't bear to watch Nero die like that. It was just to cruel. After what seemed like an eternity, the night once again fell silent.

Nell knew what was coming. The assassins returned to the cage and opened the door, arms reaching in to drag her out as well. Nell was ready for them this time. She lunged out of the door, aiming for one of the daggers which hung loosely from one of her captor's belt. She almost had it, if not for the quick reaction of one of the assassins. He saw Nell dive for the knife and quickly threw a kick at Nell's gut. The blow felled her. Nell felt too weak from the blow to keep up her resistance. She was dragged over to the fire where the remains of Nero's skeleton was slowly disintegrating into ash. She expected to be thrown into the flames mercilessly, like her fellow knight, but instead, the assassin's brought her before the warlock.

The warlock looked down at her and sneered. He reached down and grabbed Nell by the chin, pulling her towards him for a close inspection.

"Ah, you will make a wonderful host." he said. Nell glared at him with both anger and confusion.

"What are you going to do with me?" she asked.

"We wish to summon a great demon into our realm." the warlock said. "One so powerful and so destructive that it can destroy an entire city with just a wave of a finger and obeying my every command. To put it in simplest of terms, we needed a few...ah..sacrifices and a host body of a holy warrior to be defiled. Those are the requirements to summon this particular demon."

Nell sighed. Most warlocks like this one were just power hungry leeches. They wanted what they do not understand. If what he said is true, he would need at least twenty, no, thirty warlocks or at least a immensely powerful one to control such a demon.

"And what if you can not control it?" Nell asked. It sounded more as if she was stating a fact than answering a question. The warlock spread his arms wide, a mad grin on his face.

"Then it shall rampage through Azeroth, leaving death and destruction in its wake." he said.

"Your mad." Nell said in monotone. The warlock looked down at her once more.

"Ah, come now, lady Brightarch. It surely is not me who is mad, but my employer, who helped fund my little experiment." Nell stared at him, confused.

"How did you know my name?"

"I had a little...ah...talk...with your father. He seemed almost too happy to give me your name." Nell grinded her teeth in anger. Her blood red eyes locked into a murderous glare.

"What did you do to my father?" Nell demanded. Almost shouting.

"I did nothing, little girl. In fact, I should be giving my thanks to your father. After all, he gave me such a wonderful gift." said the warlock as he patted Nell on the head. Nell winced at his touch.

"W-what do you mean?" she said. The warlock gave her a cold smile.

"What I mean, little girl, is that your father gave you to me. He offered your body as the host I require for my summonings." the warlock said. "What a wonderful parent."

"No! Lies! My father would never do such a thing." Nell retorted, snarling.

"Can you not believe it, girl? Isn't the treatment you received by your family proof enough that they hate you? Despise you?" He pointed a bony finger at Nell. "Believe it, girl. Your family has abandoned you. Your father even payed me to do what I wished with you!"

In truth, Nell actually did believe the warlock. She always knew her family resented her. She had expected this to happen sooner or later. Her father was a man who'd rather see his own daughter murdered than see his bloodline soiled. Nell hung her head low and let out a sigh. Well, it was a good 18 years of life.

"Heh, do not worry, little girl. Your father asked me to make sure that you had company when your soul makes its way to oblivion." exclaimed the warlock. At the news, Nell looked up once more.

"What do you mean?" she asked. The warlock gestured towards the flames.

"See for yourself." he said, and began laughing like a madman. Nell peered into the flames. What had the warlock meant? There was nothing in those sickly green flames. All she could see was the skeletal remains of Nero, his plate armor and a book...Wait, a book? Nell blinked. No, it was true. There was a leather bound book in the flames. It did not burn immediately in the flames like ordinary paper should have, instead it layed there, impervious to the flames. It obviously had some magical enchantments on it. Nell took a close inspection. The cover of the book was lined with magical runes. The title of the book said: 'Theres more to magic than Great Balls of Fire, Volume III'. She giggled as she read the title. She looked down to see the name of the author, and her blood froze in her veins. Nell's eyes widened. She tried to scream, but her voice died in her throat. Her knees felt weak and they eventually gave way.

Nell dropped to the ground. Tears were streaming uncontrollably down her cheeks. She tried to hold the tears back, but it only proved to make it worse. Nell could not believe it. It could not be true. The man the book belonged to could not possibly the person that Nell was thinking of. It just couldn't. It took Nell all her willpower to bring her eyes to bear on the book once more. When she gazed at the author's name once more, Nell finally broke down. It was true. Under the title of the book was the author's name which read: "Viridiel Brightarch".

Nell screamed into the night, her voice filled with sadness and malice. The warlock stood over her, a savage smile across his face.

"Do not cry, child. You will see your brother soon." with that, the assassins picked Nell's still sobbing form up and dragged her to the flame. Just before they threw her in, Nell locked eyes with the warlock. Her crimson eyes, highlighted by the green of the flames. If not for the tears still streaming down her face, she would have looked almost demonic. She gave him a cold, hard glare. Filled with anger and hatred.

"I'm gonna kill you." she muttered. The warlock just shrugged and the assassins threw Nell into the flames.

The flames really did hurt as much as it looked. Nell could feel her skin melt under the intense heat of the flame, all the while screaming her rage. She had only been in the flames for a few moments, but to her, it felt as if an eternity of agony had passed. She continued to scream and struggling about. As she felt her life slowly bleed away, Nell caught a glimpse of Viridiel's book once more. It still lay there, untouched by the flames. Nell made a final attempt to reach for the book, but darkness took her before she could even lift her arm.

Nell could see nothing. Her eyes were open but her surroundings were pitch black. Thats it, I'm dead.She thought. There was nothing around her but black, empty space. The warlock, assassins and the green flame were all gone. So were the deathly forests of the Plaguelands. Nell let out a great sigh. Perhaps she was dead, although this was not what she expected.

Nell stopped moving completely. Something was in the darkness with her. She did not know how, but she could sense it. She could not see it, but something was in there. Fear began to take her. It was an unfamiliar feeling. Nell had never really been afraid of anything, but the other presence in the darkness was emitting an aura which pulsed with the feeling of dread. Nell dared not move after finally realising that whatever the thing was, it was standing right behind her. Without warning, a sharp pain stabbed through her brain. Nell fell over and cradled her head. It was almost more unbearable than the green flames, but together with the pain came words. The words sent a shock-wave of panic through Nell's soul by just being heard.

"Face me, mortal." it said.

Nell's body moved on it's own. She tried to resist it. She tried with all her might to stay as still as possible, but her body was influenced by the mere words of the thing. The origin of the voice was both the most magnificent, yet most horrifying and unnerving thing Nell had ever seen. The creature had three pairs of great white wings. They were spread out in an asterix shape which gave the figure a menacing beauty. Unfortunately, that was where the beauty ended. What the wings were connected to was not an angel or any god. They were attached to the back of a severely rotten corpse. The creature was mostly a large humanoid skeleton with curved, ram-like horns protruding from it's head. There was still several great, red patches of rotting flesh attached to it's skeletal frame. It had two great fangs on it's upper row of teeth and sickly, glowing red orbs for eyes. Nell felt like a mere ant before the creature.

"I sense great anger within you, mortal. I sense that you yearn for vengeance. You seek revenge. Am I wrong?" the words stabbed her mind. The cold pain washed over her skull once again. The thing had talked directly into her thoughts, it's mouth never moving. Nell was too scared to answer. She tried to, but all she was able to do was stutter.

"Answer me, mortal." said the monster once more.

The words were cool and soft, like a parent talking to a child, but with the gentle words came an even greater pain, worse than the previous ones. Nell fell to her knee's, shivering and clawing at her head.

"N-no. I D-do wish for vengeance." she whispered, the pain prevented her from answering properly.

"Good." said the monster. Somehow, Nell knew that it was grinning in approval, although it's body was still and motionless.

"I sense great fear from you, mortal. Good. I feed on such emotions. Fear, angst, jealousy, anger, anxiety, they are all bread and butter to me." Nell was getting used to the pain which came whenever the thing spoke. Although her skull throbbed unceasingly. It was time for some answers.

"Are you the so called 'Demon' that the warlock intended to summon?" she asked straightforwardly. It sounded more like a demand than a question. If it was a demon, she could not show it that she feared it. After all, she was trained to fight it's kind. If the creature took any offence, it did not show it.

"Yes, I am." it said.

"And you have come to destroy my soul to take full control of my body?" Nell queried.

"Not exactly." replied the demon. Nell was surprised at the new piece of information.

"Then why are you here?" she risked pushing on further. The demon made a noise which sounded like a grunt.

"Originally, I was to take your body as my host. Of course, I would have slain the warlock. It was a very foolish thing the weakling did, summoning the likes of me. After he was dead, I would have rampaged around your world until I am called back to my own world. Well, that was the intended plan after all." Nell too a step back as the demon's skull finally moved, bright red orbs staring down at the cowering elf. "But then, I caught a glimpse of your soul. You intrigued me, mortal. One moment you were like any other, but the next, you were filled with so much resentment, so much anger, much more than even I can fathom. So I have come to you with a simple...proposal."

Nell did not like the idea of making a deal with a demon. It went against all the rules and laws she had been taught, but something urged her to go on.

"What kind of proposal?" she asked. Nell could feel that the demon was pleased.

"I will still use your body as a host, but you will have full control over it. I will give you immense power, power that is able to rival the Burning Legion itself. Certainly more than enough to carry out your revenge."

Nell liked the sound of it. She opened her mouth to agree, but immediately shut it. The demon had not mentioned a downside. It obviously would want something in return. She feared to ask it, but she did anyway.

"Whats the catch?" she said solemnly, almost regretting it instantly. Almost.

"Ah, of course. In return, I want your happiness, your joy. I want all your emotions that will make you happy. On top of that, you must never stop fighting. If you run out of enemies, you must travel to another battlefield and seek more. By doing these simple tasks, you will accumulate more and more negative emotions. Probably enough to keep me fed for all eternity."

The elf shivered at that. Indeed, it was a very heavy price to pay. Nell was scared at the thought of losing her happiness forever. But the urge of revenge was incredibly strong. For the sake of vengeance, all those demands seemed like a rather small price to pay. She still had one more question to ask the demon though.

"If I take your offer, I will never be the same ever again...will I?" she asked nervously.

"No, you will not. You will be born anew into the world for the sole purpose of battle and blood lust. You will care for nothing."

"Good." Nell said. She had nothing to lose. "I accept your offer, demon." The minute the words left her lips, the flesh began to grow on the demon's skeletal form. Nell was repulsed by the action.

"Very good, mortal. I am very pleased with you, but to wield a power so great as mine...you must know my name." said the demon, it's voice getting softer, smoother, gentler and somewhat familiar and feminine. It's skin continued to regrow and eventually, what stood before Nell was nothing like the horrid creature that stood before her when she first arrived.

"My name, mortal, is Karat H'reth" said the female, red-haired, crimson-eyes elf which now stood before Nell in the same exact voice.

Nellera Brightarch's eyes snapped wide open. The first thing she saw was nothing. Her surroundings were almost pitch black. Her vision was blurry and the back of her head hurt like hell. It took a while for her eyes to adjust to the darkness. The first thing she noticed was that she was lying on the ground, outside a cage. The sun was rising and the orange mist of the Plaguelands began clouding the area. Nell picked herself up, only to notice that she was drenched in blood. She quickly glanced around the surrounding area. The remaining assassins which had captured her the other night were lying dead all around the camp. Actually, what was left of them were lying around the camp.

Every corpse in the camp was horribly mutilated and distorted. Some of the assassins lacked arms. Some had no eyes. Others had no legs, torso, eyes , and some did not even had anything mentioned above. What really caught Nell's eye was the huge corpse of the doomguard she had saw the other night. It was lying in a burned crisp in the spot where the green ritual fire was. A huge tree was impaled in it's chest. On top of the tree, Nell spied the crucified form of the blood elf warlock who was sent to kill her. The look on his dead face told Nell that he had died very painfully.

Nell would have screamed in shock and horror at the sight that lay before her, but that was what the old Nell would have done. The new Nell stood there in stunned silence for several long moments. She began to giggle. Her giggle slowly became manic laughter. She was laughing loudly and psychotically which made even the fearless undead in the surrounding area to avoid her. Nellera Brightarch's psychotic mirth echoed throughout the entire Plaguelands. She continued to laugh like that for several days, even scaring away the elite Forsaken patrol, led by Varimathras himself which was sent to find her missing party.

Present day...

The trio gathered their belongings and thanked Mortega Firemane before continuing on their long trek back to Ratchet. The group still travelled in silence, with Nell still at the front and Karkon, quite a distance behind her. Although now, Thorka shared the orc's uncomfort. They both still refused to talk to her, but Karkon now understood why Nell was the way she was today. It was the first time ever than Nell had been so open with him. His feelings were now conflicted. He pitied the elf for losing her emotions, but he also felt a great disgust, for she had consorted with demons. But still, he had a great respect for her. Even though she had lost all her positive emotions, she still saved his life. No matter what the demon had done, all the things she learned, all her good nature before her unfortunate incident was hiding somewhere deep down in her soul, encased in a thick shell. Karkon hoped to one day break that shell. He realized that it felt good to see the elf make an honest smile for once. The orc looked up at the clear blue sky as he walked. He figured that everything would work out in the end.

To be continued...

JJ: OK, we are done with flashbacks here. I can finally get on with the main story again. I had this great idea stuck in my head for so long.

Xante: (Whispers) Hope its me...

JJ: What was that?

Xante: nothing...

JJ: Good, I was getting tired of your whining.

Xante: sigh...Look forward to part 9 folks...and pray that I get a spot...

JJ: Oi!