Chapter 19: Death By Degrees

Writer's Note: So, brilliant review-greedy me threatened to pull a fanbrat and hold the story hostage for reviews…and I never realized I had neglected to turn anonymous reviews on until Etherdependant pointed it out. Whoops.

Well, that's changed, so if you anonymous readers wanted to review and were locked out before, that's not the case now. And now might be a good time to start. No more cliffhangers here. This time, we find out the whole story to Zackel's darkest day.

Let's begin.

"What's that metronome I hear
Perhaps the end is drawing near
You never hear the shot that takes you down
Now your dream's a memory, and seems more true from far away
Just like smoke that fades and makes no sound
Out of time
So say goodbye
What was yours
Now is mine
And I dream broken dreams
I make them come true
I make them for you."

Months before it all went wrong…

"You're kidding me." Daldion said, currently positioned on Zackel's bed in his dorm room. "You nailed Jasciona?"

"Don't be so crude." Zackel replied, not looking up from the book of basic alchemical processes he was reading. "She's not a piece of metal to be applied to construction."

"Holy SHIT, bro. You can't fake that tone of yours. You ARE screwing her."

"If your own voice didn't indicate your apparent astonishment at that concept, your continuing vulgarity would remain irritating." Zackel said, finally looking up at his brother. People used to say that Zackel had gotten the brains of the pair, as Daldion possessed the more traditional rugged farm boy frame, unlike Zackel, who was only a few steps above 'stick-like', and Daldion could actually pull off a mustache and beard in the fashionable way many Azeroth human males wore it, while Zackel got a mutated version of 'peach fuzz' that he did his best to keep shaved off. There was also the fact that, growing up, Zackel had tended towards coming up with the plans and Daldion had tended towards being an or the important part in carrying them out (which also meant that Daldion tended towards being the one punished if he was caught, something that was rare enough that Daldion never resented it). Such an assessment was underdeveloped to say the least: Daldion was no dunce, and had displayed the same magical aptitude that Zackel had, albeit two years later then Zackel had (then again, since they'd both roughly manifested in the same time frame, Daldion tended to ignore that fact), which is why they were both in Maginor's Dumas' 'class'. True, Daldion tended towards more towards the physical part of life, and in relation to that, had seduced a considerable number more of young girls then his brother had, but Zackel hadn't spent all his time in his house reading books (just more time than Daldion), and while he could count his romantic and sexual conquests on one hand and still have a few fingers left over, he'd never come out of them with battle scars and a broken heart like at least two of Daldion's relationships had ended up. "Why is this so amazing? We've been seeing each other for six weeks now."

"Hey, you were the one who told me to hit the books. So it's YOUR fault that I didn't notice your secret, hidden relationship."

"I didn't say hit them so hard that they act like they hit you. And it's not secret nor hidden. Just reserved and private."

"That's the same thing!"

"When the day comes that you realize that's not the case, big brother…" Zackel said, turning a book page with his thumb. "Is the day when you might actually realize I'm seeing a classmate three or so weeks after everyone else did."

"Don't remind me." Daldion grumbled. "I say your mockery is baseless. Mainly because I think I've been doing more studying than sleeping lately."

"You're not alone."

"Yeah, but Kel…you're not the one on the Maginor's shit list."

"And neither are you Daldion."

"You keep saying that, but after Adaric…"

"Do you remember what the Maginor said on our first day? About how none of us were special?" Zackel said, looking up from the book again. "Do you know the difference between yourself and Adaric? You listened. Adaric never did. Fel, I think it was too late for him long before he got here. He refused to grasp any situation where he wasn't the blessed shining star, all because he was the only one in his village who could set things on fire with his mind. That's why he's gone. It's also why the Maginor is putting pressure on you. He's testing his assessment that you're worth keeping on. The fact that you were so absorbed in trying to keep up with the ones who have drawn ahead first tells me that he won't be proven wrong."

"You're just saying that because you're my brother."

"Our blood doesn't change its truth. Just keep doing what you're doing, Daldion. I can tell it won't get any easier. Having it tough to begin with will make sure you're still going when it kicks in for everyone else."

"Heh. There's that silver tongue of yours. No wonder you scored Jazz. I thought I was being nice and charming when I tried to get to know her, and she still blew me off. Nicely, but still…I was kinda worried in the four seconds a day I have for those things now that someone who looks that way might be…wasted, if you know what I mean?"

"Not really."

"Thought she might not like boys, you know? Nothing wrong with that, except, as said, it seemed like a waste."

"It's accurate though. She doesn't really like boys." Zackel said. "Boys drooled over her. Boys thought she'd be a wonderful thing to say they'd had. Boys imagined the great pleasures they could have with her. And that's why she's with me."

"Oh look at you, the big man now."

"No Daldion. I'm not a big man. You were always the big man in our family, in every way. I never begrudged you that. Mostly." Zackel said. "I didn't seek her out. The fact that she found that appealing, and what else I possessed moreso, well…what can I say?"

"Well, definitely one thing." Daldion said. "What's she like?"

"Superb observation wit. Reads even faster than me. Strangely she actually likes meat a lot, must be fuel for her brain…"

"No no, not that boring stuff." Daldion said. "The fun stuff."

"Ah yes, the fun stuff." Zackel said. "That you'll never learn."

"Oh come on Zackel, we always shared this stuff."

"No, you mostly went on about how great you were and I did you a service by not calling you on any of it, and believe me, there were more than a few times I could have." Zackel said. "A lady does not kiss and tell, and this gentleman and scholar, hopefully, will not kiss and tell on his lady."

"How about a hint?"

"No."

"A concept?"

"No."

"An inkling?"

"No."

"A glimmer?!"

"No."

"So you sucked then."

"Yes Daldion. I sucked. My performance was so atrocious that I am still not going to give you any salacious details." Zackel said, returning his attention to the book. "I suggest you either return to your own studying or go off and seduce another barmaid based on how eager you are to hear private details about my privates and whatever interactions they might have."

Despite his downward gaze, Zackel was still able to dodge the thrown pillow his older brother tossed at him.

"I'll bet they're bright blue." Daldion teased, having gotten up after throwing the pillow to head out of the room.

"I never told you how to lay your wagers Daldion." Zackel replied, devoting his attention fully to his own studies.

Some time later.

"What did you DO?" Jasciona asked Zackel from where she was now lying on the bed, which happened to be behind Zackel as he sat in the same rough spot his brother had occupied a few hours ago.

"Either made him jealous or gave him an idea. Maybe a little of both." Zackel said, trying not to look at the wall and the faint noises of 'enjoyment' that were coming through it from the next room over. "Daldion was never one to do anything half-assed."

"What happens if the Maginor catches him?"

"My parents never could. Neither could any of THEIR parents. He really was a magician that way." Zackel said, trying to ignore the sounds. He was aware that Jasciona was moving behind him; moments later she slid her arms around his shoulders.

"So…jealous? Of us?" Jasciona said into his ear.

"Seems the most feasible possibility." Zackel replied.

"What did you tell him?"

"Nowhere near as much as he would have liked. Which in this case was nothing at all."

"You're sweet, you know that Kel?"

"I do my best." Zackel replied, leaning back so Jasciona's face was parallel to his and leaning slightly against it, closing his eyes at the feel of her cheek against his. "Though I suspect he's doing HIS best to annoy me with this."

"Want to REALLY give him something to compete with?"

"Unless he's somehow turning you on, which I think I have valid reasons to doubt, I'd rather study and go to bed early, and wake up refreshed and ready on a day we have classes. Besides, I'd probably make you break the windows."

"You bad boy." Jasciona teased.

"The worst."

Then.

Everything had changed since then. The room. The lighting. The man. The only remote similar thing was the position Zackel was in, sitting on his bed in the dark.

Said dark abruptly vanished as the door was violently shoved open. The motion that Zackel made with his head to observe whoever had entered was so slight as to be virtually undetectable.

"…you know, I kind of halfway hoped I'd find this room empty." Daldion said.

"Afraid I have to disappoint you." Zackel said, his gaze flicking back towards the wall.

"All right Zackel, enough of this shit." Daldion said, marching into the room and igniting the torches on the wall with one brief, sweeping gesture. It said something that Daldion's dirty, food stained robe and tangled sweaty hair and beard somehow looked better than Zackel's faded clothing and confusing hair. Normally, Zackel and Daldion had the same brown hair color: Zackel had magically enchanted his to look blue for a reason he'd never revealed. It was clear that Zackel had not renewed the enchantment in some time, hence leaving his hair a strange mix of muted blue and brown, the magical equivalent of a cheap dye job with one's roots showing. "You need to knock it off, right now."

"…this isn't a bad habit Daldion…"

"BULLLLLLLLSHIT! This is worse then some of the people I've seen zonked out on bleem!" Daldion said, walking over to Zackel. "I have been…Zackel look at me."

Zackel did not respond.

"LOOK AT ME, DAMN YOU, OR I SWEAR TO THE LIGHT I WILL SET YOUR HAIR ON FIRE."

"…I did not ask for your patience." Zackel said, looking up.

"You don't have to." Daldion said, sniffing the air. "Ugh. How long has it been since you've eaten real food?"

"I'm making do."

"You smell like straw soaked in Fulbolg urine. Didn't you listen when the Maginor told us about the problems of only eating manifested food?"

"I'm. Fine." Zackel said. "I'm not near the danger area…"

"No, you've passed it, if someone like YOU has come to THIS." Daldion said. "Damn it Zackel, what the fel are you trying to prove?"

"Nothing. I'm working on a problem…"

"THE HARDEST PROBLEM I EVER SAW YOU FIGURE OUT TOOK YOU FOUR DAYS! YOU'VE BEEN LIKE THIS FOR WEEKS!"

"It's a considerably more troublesome problem." Zackel said, dropping his head down again. Daldion narrowed his eyes.

"She wasn't worth it Zackel."

"That's not the issue…"

"I stopped buying that line of shit a long time ago brother. It's about time you follow suit." Daldion said. "I know that you loved her, bro, and I know that she turned out to be a bitch…"

"That isn't what…"

"Cram it. Whatever she and you turned out to be, I know that you weren't as experienced with your interactions with the fairer sex as I was. I thought this might happen some day…just didn't expect it to be Jasciona to do it to you." Daldion said, crossing his arms. "So I gave you your space to mope and angst. And that's ending right now. Get over it Zackel."

"No."

"…what?"

"I said, no." Zackel said, glancing up again. "I will not get over anything, because this isn't a matter of getting over anything."

"Bullsh-"

"Yes, yes, bovine excrement. I've thoroughly grasped your opinion." Zackel said. "This isn't about what happened between Jasciona and me. It's about what happened to her, and how it relates to me."

"Yeah, it's called 'She came back with a superiority complex.'"

"It wasn't just THAT, Daldion, or we wouldn't be having this conversation to begin with." Zackel said, a tone of venomous inflection creeping into his voice. "It changed her. And not just in terms of ego. It was like her whole concept of registering things just shifted to a degree I never would have thought possible. I didn't think she had that sort of thing in her, Daldion. I STILL don't, even after all the 'moping' and 'angsting' you claim I've been doing. She changed, Daldion. And until I figure out just how, and until it relates to her, myself, and our magical talents…I'm staying right here."

Zackel turned around, leaning his legs over the other end of the bed.

"So just show yourself out."

"…you really have forgotten, haven't you?" Daldion said. "That promise we made to ourselves."

"You mean in regards to why we enrolled in the Maginor's school? After those gnolls sacked our home?" Zackel said. "No. But Westfall's not the same as it was a year ago Daldion. Van Cleef's dead, likely, the Defias have had their back broken, and you and I personally saw to exterminating or driving out who knows how many gnolls. Not to mention those mercenaries we paid to stay on site…"

"Not that part, Zackel. The part on how we would make sure it wouldn't happen again. Not just by our actions, but by our developments. You were the one who said we shouldn't rest on our heels, for crying out loud! If it wasn't for you, I'd probably have settled back down there and started charming the farm girls again!"

"I'm not stopping you from your wanderlust Daldion. And your ambition is your own. Just like mine was, and how it needs to be…"

"You think this is ambition, Zackel? Locked up in an inn room, brooding over the same things day in and day out? You'll never find an answer in here, Zackel. And I know deep down you know it. That all these excuses you're giving is just so you can sit here and feel sorry for yourself." Daldion said, walking around the bed. "I am not just telling you as your brother, and your friend, and your partner. I am telling you, as a fellow mage, that the answer you seek does not exist, because you are lying to yourself about the question. And after all the shit we went through, I sure as fel am not letting you squander your talent and throw away your dreams just because some girl decided she was 'above' you. So, one last time. GET. UP."

Zackel didn't even bother raising his head. Daldion tightened his fingers on his staff so hard his knuckles turned white.

"Don't do this man. You're better than this."

"…you are entitled to your option." Zackel said. He did not look at Daldion as he spoke.

For a second, Daldion's eyes briefly moistened with sorrow before they returned to their hard, flint-like state. With a snort, he headed towards the door, stopping in its frame.

"You know, some people seemed to wonder why I wasn't jealous of you. I never gave them an answer, because quite honestly, I never really had one to give." Daldion said. "Now I do."

With a snap of his fingers, the torch lights extinguished, and Daldion slammed the door and left Zackel alone in the dark.

The mage's only response, after a bit, was to put his hand to his face and let the black settle back onto him like it belonged.

As deep and all-consuming that Zackel felt his torment was, like all pain it did not affect the world around him, only his own. The world, as it was want to do, moved on.

Towards larger things.

"Awwwww no." Silonna Slightedge said as Daldion walked down the stairs alone, the gnome running a hand through the upright flare of bangs she had above her head, a nervous gesture Daldion had come to know well.

"Let's go Silonna. The moron's decided he'd rather sit on the pot and be a miserable, stupid shit instead of the brother I knew. Until he gets off it, the Nether can take him." Daldion said, walking past the gnome. She sighed and hopped off her chair, tossing a few silver down for her drink as she did so, the pair exiting the tavern and heading out into the streets of Stormwind.

Across said streets, people went about their daily lives. Adventurers strolled around, interacted, planned, plotted, and amused themselves. Craftsmen sold their arts, trainers demonstrated their skills, and children ran throughout the streets and buildings, enjoying the brief time in their life when there would be no responsibilities.

And all of them saw it when the dimly lit blue sky above them abruptly darkened to a hellish red.

"By the light, what…?" A random guard said.

The black clouds appeared to swirl out of nowhere, but that was not what drew the attention of the guards manning the front Stormwind gates. That was solely taken by the snarling vortex that tore open in front of the city.

The monster that stepped out seemed bigger than the world. His footstep shook the ground, and the trees and grasslands around him immediately burst into flame, animals fleeing in a blind panic both from the fire and from his presence. Most of the guards who saw him were rooted to the spot: nearly all of them had experience with demons and the Burning Legion, to some degree, but few had ever seen the terrible sight of an elite doomguard, and it froze them with terror.

Until he roared, a sound that seemed to tear through all present like it was a blow in and of itself.

"AT LAST! THE LEGION SHALL FINALLY REIGN SURPEME OVER THIS WORTHLESS BALL OF MUD!" Highlord Kruul bellowed. "CRY AND SCATTER MORTALS! THE PORTAL IS OPENED, AND YOUR END IS AT HAND!"

With one thrusting motion, Kruul raised his hand to the sky, and from the dark clouds above Stormwind, masses of green burning rocks erupted, falling down onto the city below, crushing and incinerating whatever they landed upon in a terrible blast of fel fire. And that was merely the beginning, as the rocks promptly animated and rose up in destroying bodies, the Infernals immediately beginning to seek out further life to destroy. Caught completely off guard, the magicians of Stormwind were unable to respond to the simultaneous opening of several other portals within the city, from which streamed felguards, voidwalkers, dreadknights, and more. With a grin that could stop hearts, Kruul lowered his hand and began thundering towards the beleaguered city.

"CLOSE THE GATES!" Went up the cry, as the frontline Stormwind guards frantically attempted to recover and defend their home and themselves. They acquitted themselves admirable, but far too late. With a gesture, Kruul sent ripping bolts of dark power that tore the numerous guards still exposed on the wall apart. The better-concealed ones were only able to partially close the gigantic wood barricades before Kruul reached them. It only took three blows from his massive sword to smash said gates to rubble.

"AZEROTH HAS COWERED TOO LONG UNDER OUR SHADOW! NOW, FEEL THE POWER OF THE BURNING LEGION, AND DESPAIR!" Kruul roared as he pushed his way through the ruined barricades, before crushing an unfortunate guard with one brutal stomp. "YOUR FATE IS SEALED! I WILL FIND THE ASPECT SHARDS, AND THEN YOU WILL NOT…!"

The blessed arrow impaled itself right into Kruul's eye, and he staggered back with another roar. The offending object was swiftly expelled and the wound healed, but the fact that Kruul had been hurt was enough for him.

Much to his annoyance, said arrow was just the first, as several elves fully opened fire from their positions across the bridge. Kruul bellowed and returned fire, but the elves were quicker on their feet than the guards and quickly took cover behind the stone statues that decorated the Valley of Heroes. Even as the dust settled from their evasive efforts, General Marcus Jonathan drew his horse up at their end of the bridge.

"FALL BACK TO THE SECONDARY GATES! SUMMON ALL GUARDS! ORGANIZE THE ADVENTURERS! IF THEY WANT THIS CITY, THEY'LL HAVE TO GO OVER ALL OUR CORPSES!" Jonathan shouted above all the din, even as he drew his own gigantic blade. "FOR THE LIGHT! FOR THE ALLIANCE!!!!"

"PATHETIC INSECT!" Kruul snarled as Jonathon charged across the bridge at him. As Kruul discovered, his assessment was not very accurate, as the general of Stormwind leapt from his horse and attacked Kruul with a fury that matched the doomguard's own.

The initial thundering rumble made Zackel look up.

"…Daldion if you're…"

The secondary one shook the inn so hard it hurled Zackel right off his bed. That, and the immediate sound of screams, made it quite clear that whatever was happening, Daldion was not the cause of it. Zackel quickly sprang to his feet and ran for the window in his room: due to how well he'd sealed it, it took him several seconds longer than normal to throw it open.

Before him, Stormwind was in flames. For another few seconds, Zackel stood in the window, unable to believe what he was seeing. He had been too young to remember the First War and the orcs marching on the human's mighty city, but history seemed determine to repeat itself right before Zackel's quivering eyeballs.

"Oh dear Light…" Zackel whispered, before he slammed the window shut. For half a second, his brain entertained the crazy idea of hiding under his bed covers and hoping that everything would just go away.

The thought vanished even as new light illuminated the room, summoned by Zackel's waving hand as he re-ignited the torches. With that done, the mage hurried over to the desk where he'd kept his belongings, frantically trying to both get them on his person and look through them. Zackel's skilled fingers managed to locate what he wanted after another few seconds' search, and he quickly downed his elixirs of Frost Power and Wisdom in one gulp each and hurled the vials aside as he tried to get his cast-off protective clothing on.

Another blast shook the inn, nearly causing him to fall flat on his just took advantage of that to get his shoes on before springing back up, strapping his bags to his person as best he could in the several seconds he allowed himself to do it before grabbing his gnarled wooden staff. Three seconds' chanting aligned all the protective and power-amplifying enchantments on the clothing, and Zackel headed for the door.

He managed to get down the stairs without tripping over his feet again, and promptly found a few other adventurers clustered in the tavern, along with several other 'normal' people, likely the location's employees, cowering behind the bar counter.

"…only likely safe place…!" The dwarf was saying before he jerked his head towards Zackel. "Ach, don't do that lad!"

"Sorry."

"You look like you can fight! Good!" The dwarf paladin said, turning back and stabbing his finger on a map. "We're heading for Stormwind Keep with these people! If you have a better suggestion you'd best say it now!"

"Well I am a little…" A human apparent-rogue said, before the door to the tavern exploded open. The people behind the bar shrieked as the felhound stormed in, seizing onto the closest target, that being a night elf female, and barreling straight towards her.

It met the elf's lover first, as the druid slipped around the female priest and transformed into a bear, crashing down on the felhound's body in a snarl of teeth and claws. Briefly pinned, the felhound was only able to emit one brief shriek of rage before the dwarf followed the druid, crushing the demonic creature's head with his glowing hammer.

"Yae' were sayin'?" The paladin said to the rogue.

"This building is made of wood, worthless as a defense. We need stone, and magically hardened stone at that." Another female said, this one human and dressed in dark red robes. The dwarf paladin gave her a withering look, like he wished she would disappear: the female warlock no-sold his expression. "I am ON YOUR SIDE, Dwarf. I do not serve these butchers! I will do everything in my power to turn them back!"

"See that ya do." The dwarf paladin said, his armor glowing with holy sigils. "Elf, with me at the front! Druid elf that is! Priest, right behind us! Mage, both of you, you'll follow after the people! Rogue, warrior, warlock, you bring up the rear! I'm sorry I don't know your names but I don't have the time to learn them!" The dwarf paladin said, gesturing for the normal people to follow them as he'd laid it out.

"A frost mage, right?" The gnome that was suddenly next to Zackel said, causing him to start. "Excellent! You set them up, I'll knock them down!"

"…okay." Zackel said, as he tried to get his game face fully on. Nearby, the female gnome warrior finished running the enchanted stone down her sword and pocketed it, swinging the two-handed weapon that was bigger that she was a few times before gesturing to the pair of mages to get ahead of her.

The group didn't have to go far to find trouble: no sooner had they stepped out of the tavern/inn when an infernal loomed out of the smoke and stormed towards the group. The dwarf paladin charged forward, hurling a wedge of gleaming power into the Infernal and drawing its attention, even as the two night elves fired off their own particular form of distance abilities. Zackel added his efforts to theirs, manifesting ice inside the infernal's stone body and causing instant steam explosions that tore through its rocky form. A blast of arcane missiles from the gnome mage and a few swings from the dwarf paladin finished the job.

"Is that the BEST they have at offer?" The paladin spat.

"INCOMING!" The warlock yelled, pointing up at the roof.

"You just HAD to say something didn't you." The rogue said, and then vanished from sight as the two felguards crashed down from above. With a swift gesture and an unpleasant sounding word, the warlock lanced out with her own power and struck one, freezing it in place even as the shadows beneath it began to draw it in. The gnome warrior charged at the other, meeting its axe with her sword and quickly slipping away before hacking at its legs. The felguard snarled, trying to hit the small target and leaving it wide open to the dagger that buried itself in its neck. Zackel gave the rogue a chance to escape from his sneak attack by firing a spear of ice into the felguard, and with two swift hacks the gnome warrior cut it off at the knees and then hacked its head off.

"We need to move, FAST. The whole city's swarming with demons. And there's one at the front so powerful it's giving me a headache from here." The warlock said, having successfully banished the Felguard.

"Accckkkh. Humans! You wouldn't see Ironforge caught with its skirts down!" The dwarf said.

"I'd like to see Ironforge again, in and of itself. Can we go please?" Zackel asked.

"Ah, just like it to be circumstance to rob me of a good fight." The dwarf paladin said, as he resumed the lead and heading towards the royal palace.

"YOU ARE NOTHING!" Kruul bellowed, seizing up two Stormwind soldiers and hurling them through the air like they were dolls. As their bodies crashed down several streets distant, a female paladin smashed her mace into a anguisher succubus' side, slipping around and behind the demon as it curled up from the pain, grabbing it by the head and breaking its neck with one vicious yank. Eight guards furiously battled a dread lord, a dwarf priest standing behind them and shielding them from the demon's worse blows, as the mocking creature's taunts turned to screams as the guards overwhelmed and hacked it to pieces. A hunter and mage couple fired furiously at an encroaching infernal, and turned to run too late when its sweeping arm smashed both of them into a building. The priests and paladins marched forth as a unit from the Cathedral of Light, leading the orphans of Stormwind and their keepers to the safety of Stormwind Keep and incinerating any demon who was foolish enough to confront them with holy powers so intense they may have given Kruul pause. A bloody and battered General Jonathan was doing his best to accomplish that without them, as he leapt from the ramparts above Kruul and impaled his massive blade into the doom guard's shoulder.

And all across the city, the cries and screams continued…

"What's going on…!"

"Legion is here…!"

"Portal's opened…!"

"OH LIGHT MY BABIES…!"

"RUN FOR THE KEEP…!"

"THEY'RE COMING OUT OF EVERY SHADOW…!"

"EAT SHIT YOU STINKING…SHITS!" Daldion yelled, bringing a crushing rain of ice down on a pair of voidwalker's. One broke apart and disintegrated, but the other kept coming, its shadow hand reaching out towards Daldion.

A blast of fire from the mage blew the hand apart, and Daldion followed it up with another blast through the voidwalker's head. As it died, Daldion turned back to the other falling demon corpse, as Silonna perched on the demon's shoulder and rode the Felguard's body down, stabbing it in the head all the way. Even after they'd landed, the gnome rogue rammed her dagger into its mess of a skull a few more times. Just to be sure.

"Your insults are slipping Daldion." Silonna said, producing a bottle of her most potent toxin and quickly re-applying them to her blades. Despite what some holier-than-her types had told her about her choice of profession and combat tactics, it turned out that sticking a knife covered with poison into most demons managed to cramp their style as much as any Holy Light could.

"Why waste good material on-ARGGGHHHHH!" Daldion screamed, as the whip both tore into his back and hurled him forward onto his hands and knees. Silonna's eyes widened, and she scampered over to Daldion's side, daggers at the ready. The anguisher succubus laughed, raising a hand to bring the female gnome under her spell.

Before the bear came down on her back, smashing the demon into the dirt before she knew what hit her. The creature barely had time to scream before the bear's gigantic maw closed on its skull, ripping the succubus' head right off in one swift, powerful jerk.

"Eep." Silonna said. "Everything is worse with bears."

"Not when they're on our side." Zackel said, appearing from behind the druid.

"Zackel!" Silonna said. Whether Daldion had already been turning around before or Silonna saying his name did it, Zackel didn't know, but he noticed a distinctive jerk of surprise at the realization that Zackel was here. The mage watched his brother's eyes give him a brief up and down, before the night elf priest knelt by his side and healed the wound the succubus had inflicted on him.

"You know, it doesn't say much that what finally gets you off your ass is the end of the thrice-damned world." Daldion said, pushing himself up.

"We can debate later. Let's go guys. Keep's not far." Zackel said, as Daldion and Silonna joined the cluster of adventurers and civilians, the group heading towards the fallback position.

Not even the warlock among them noticed the presence in the dark, as a slight, cruel grin split its features.

"What you want comes at the strangest times."

Stormwind burned…but it was not the first time it had suffered in such a way. And as the demons of the Dark Portal had begun to find out, it had not gone without learning from its past.

For all his power, Kruul found himself stalemated on the bridge in the Valley of Heroes, unable to break through the ranks of the guards and adventurers who had charged to meet him there and who refused to give an inch. Despite the sudden attack catching them off guard, the mages and warlocks of Stormwind who served the side of the Alliance had recoiled twice as fiercely, as they began to close and seal the portals that had opened around Stormwind, cutting off the demons' reinforcements. The Deeprun Tram had been sealed off on Stormwind's side to prevent it from being damaged or used, and on its tracks rode Stormwind's own reinforcements, in the form of several regiments of Magni Bronzebeard's finest soldiers and all the adventurers who had been in Ironforge that had managed to be gathered up. If Stormwind could hold out until they arrived, than the tide could turn.

But until they arrived seemed like an eternity, especially for those in Stormwind who could not defend themselves. The possible cry of one carried on the wind to the cluster making its way up the canal, causing the dwarf leading them to stop in his tracks.

"Netherspit." The paladin cursed, looking towards the Dwarven District. "We can't pick up any more…but…"

"I shall go there and search myself." The night elf druid said, splitting away from the front of the group. "We are almost to the Keep. Escort these people to safety and return if you are able."

"Ack elf, you're not going alone!" The dwarf said. "Some of you best…!"

"I'll go with him." The female gnome warrior said.

"As will I." Daldion added.

"Me too." Zackel said, as Daldion turned to Silonna.

"I don't wanna hear it." The rogue said crossly. "Fine Daldion, I'll stay with these people. But if you get your stupid ass killed, find some other gnome to haunt."

"There's the charm I know and love." Daldion said, patting Silonna on the head before turning to follow the druid and warrior. "Come on Zackel! You owe it to me to keep up!"

"Believe me, I'm trying not to leave YOU behind." Zackel replied, as the dwarf started the group up again and hurried towards the Keep. Several steps later they met fierce opposition in the form of several Felhounds backed up by a dreadknight, and the adventurers once again found themselves in furious battle for their lives.

The flaming Dwarven District has its own dangers, in the form of several Infernals. Unfortunately for the eldritch constructs, though, they found that where one frost mage utilizing ice manifestation to create steam explosions was troublesome, two was overwhelming, as Zackel and Daldion did their own particular form of ham-stringing on the creatures before the druid and warrior finished them off. The greatest difficulty of their tasks came in protecting the straggling civilians the group picked up from the shrapnel that tended to result from the choice of tactics, but the foursome did their jobs well in that regard in turn.

And during the whole time, Daldion tried not to voice the nagging feeling he was having. Zackel was backing him up admirably, but his efforts overall seemed…off. Exactly why, Daldion couldn't say. It wasn't just Zackel being out of practice, though that was clearly part of it. It was something else. But, unable to pin it down, Daldion kept quiet and hoped it was simply a small bump in the road that his brother would take back to normalcy.

Provided they didn't all die.

Later, Zackel would wonder if such feelings had been an omen.

"…I can't smell any more." The druid said several minutes later, having stood on his hind legs in bear form to sniff the air before lowering himself back down to all fours. "This whole city reeks of fel energy, it deadens my senses…"

"Then let's accept what we have and get out of here." The gnome warrior said. The druid gave the small creature a look, which earned him a pointing finger. "I DON'T LIKE IT EITHER! But we can't keep running in circles, not any more! We've spent too much time doing it already!"

"…may Elune and Cenarius forgive me, and protect those we may have missed." The druid said grimly, turning back towards the exit of the Dwarven District.

"You heard the bear, let's go. Come on!' Daldion said, guiding the several people and two children the group had managed to locate back stone semi-tunnel/rampart that led to the canal and hopefully to the safety of the Keep beyond it. The druid went first, all senses alert for any ambush, as Zackel and Daldion watched for threats on the other end. Once all the people were through, the gnome warrior stepped in after them, forming a blockade on each end of the rescued civilians.

"Give us eight seconds, then follow." The gnome said, turning towards the people as she hurried them along.

"You know, you owe me for all the money I spent to make sure you didn't get kicked out of that inn." Daldion said.

"What? I paid my own fare."

"…you did?" Daldion said. "OH THAT LOUSY SON OF A…"

That was as far as Daldion got, as the lance of black power streaked overhead and smashed into the stone framework above the wizards. The gnome warrior whirled around in shock as the entranceway she'd just gone through collapsed, sealing off the mages from herself and the druid.

"What happened?!" The druid yelled.

"Trouble!" The gnome said, as she felt a rock fall from above her and barely miss her. The hit had been hard, and the tunnel was still collapsing. "We gotta go!"

"What about the mages?!"

"They're on their own!" The gnome warrior said, and as dirty as it made her feel inside, turned to fully retreat.

"Son of a bitch…!" Daldion cursed, pushing himself up from the prone state the exploding bolt of fel energy and its shockwave had forced him into, Zackel doing the same beside him.

"Now, that's no way to talk about your mother, as inferior as she might have been…" Spoke a voice that Zackel had almost forgotten, and he looked up with narrowed eyes at the figure before him. The dark brown hair, different from Daldion's chestnut color, had thinned some, and the baby fat had finally disappeared from the young man's youthful features, but both Zackel and Daldion recognized him. Even dressed in midnight black and with a staff that held a glowing eye on one end that seemed disturbingly organic.

"Well well well. The Jude brothers." The warlock said. "Fancy meeting you here."

"Adaric." Daldion said with a snort. "You know, part of me wants to say I'm surprised to see you here like this…"

"Surprised? At how I've shown just what an idiot our so-called teacher was?!" Adaric yelled. "He rejected me! Cast me out, said I would never amount to anything! He KNEW I would be too strong for him! And he was right. I didn't need HIM, or his LESSONS. I have found TRUE power, among the truly mighty. You see it all around you! The Legion tears your city down, stone by stone! They are the greatest force in the universe! I always belonged among them, not you!"

"Teacher wanted you to learn humility, jack-hole. It sucks, but it's worth it." Daldion said. He glanced at his brother, who was strangely silent and giving Adaric a look Daldion couldn't identify, though he was clearly alert and aware what was going on. "Me, I always sort of guessed that you'd end up a bad seed. Ever since you tried to spike that drink of mine because that girl in the park ignored you."

"I am beyond all such things now, Daldion." Adaric said, raising a staff. "You are nothing to me. I have come here to show you that, once and for all. You will be crushed beneath my power. I, Adaric Seethelord!"

"…you ever notice how it's the EXCEPTIONALLY stupid ones who announce their names like we care?" Daldion said, and hurled a blast of ice at Adaric. The warlock deflected it with a gesture, only to swiftly find out that said attack was a distraction from the follow-up ice rain from above.

"Help me out here Zackel! He might be a moron but he wasn't weak!" Daldion yelled, looking at his brother. "What are you doing? HELP!"

"Something's wrong…can't say what but…" Zackel said. He'd had a nagging feeling from the moment he'd seen Adaric, and it had grown to overwhelm him. Hence, despite Daldion's earlier observation that Zackel had seemed all right, he now found that his assessment might have been premature, as Zackel was reacting to his brother's attack with stunned surprise instead of immediate reinforcement.

"SAVE IT! GET-FLAGLOR!" Daldion rasped, before grabbing at his throat. Zackel's eyes widened, and he turned to face Adaric…as what felt like a steel-toed boat rammed in his own throat. He attempted to curse, only to find the words that came out of his mouth did not match the words in his brain. They were dark and ugly, and they made his throat ache more then the initial blow had. The same nonsense was spilling out of Daldion's mouth, before the sound of Adaric's laughter reached them.

"You see? With one curse, I seal your magic away!" Adaric cackled, having escaped Daldion's attack with just a few gashes. "You are not worthy of dying at my hands, pathetic mages! I will show you the path of true might, and call down your doom from the powers I serve! RASSALON…!"

Zackel's eyes widened as Adaric began to chant his dark words, crushing a strange crystal in his hand and scattering the dust around him. The whole situation wasn't just bad: it was strangely, terribly familiar…

Hands seemed to appear from nowhere, tearing the air apart behind Adaric, a seething void looming behind him…

And the pieces clicked together.

"This whole city reeks of fel energy…"

"Snarljaw didn't understand the nature of his power. By attempting a dual summoning ritual, he caused too much dark energy to gather in one place at once. It empowered the demons…"

"The nature of the warlock is the same as the mule with a blade. Perhaps it can use it to do harm, but it does not understand it and will likely just as easily do harm to itself…"

"…reeks of fel energy…"

"…too much dark energy…"

Despite himself, Zackel tried to scream at Adaric, warn him that what he was doing was beyond dangerous, that with the sheer amount of evil power that was drenching Stormwind, that his summoning process was going to be far stronger than he expected and would call something far worse than he desired…

He never got the chance, as the portal to the Nether erupted, hurling Zackel and his brother off their feet, the terrible radiance briefly blinding Zackel. He scrambled to one knee, hearing Adaric's delighted laughter in his ears even as he tried to get his eyes back.

"Wonderful! My, you are a unique one. I cannot say I've ever seen a…"

"SILENCE MORTAL."

To Zackel, it was like someone had rammed a red hot nail into his ear, and then dragged it across his head and directly down his spine. The voice spoke with a tempered malice so refined and pure that for a second Zackel thought he was going to pass out. From the grunt he heard Daldion make, his brother was experiencing almost exactly the same thing.

"Hold it demon! I called you here! You must…"

"You did. That earns you nothing, SAVE THIS."

"Wait NOOOEAIIIEAYIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!" Adaric shrieked, a sound that was positively peaceful compared to the speaking voice.. Mixed with the scream was a ripping wet noise, and then another blast of heat, somehow even fiercer then all the surrounding fire and chaos, slammed into Zackel's body, causing him to recoil, holding his hand up in front of his face, even as his sight finally fully returned.

"Zackel…" Daldion whispered.

"Yeah. I know." Zackel said, lowering his hand.

Adaric was gone. All that remained of him was a blackened skeleton, impaled on the barbed, curved sword that swiftly tossed the smoking bones away. And with that, Zackel saw her entirely.

In size, she was not much larger than the two mages, but in sheer malefic presence she towered over them. Her skin was cast in the purple-red tone of an infected wound, her armor a brilliant shining scarlet in contrast. The ground beneath her hooves smoked, even as arcs of red power shot between the upturned horns that swept up from her forehead. Her eyes shone molten green, an unnatural sheen that seemed to mock the concept of the Emerald Dream and the nature of life, each side of each eye marked with small, sharp spikes.

She looked at the mages, and she smiled. Her lips were as red as blood, and her grin, filled with jagged teeth, was like the gates of the abyss opening wide to claim them, body, mind, and soul.

"At last. After so long kept away." The eredar said. "Rejoice, mortal scum. You shall experience a truly exquisite death. Such is the desire of Zuijizra The Blaze."

The dryness in Zackel's throat could no longer be ignored, and he took a long, deep drink from the flask next to him. Rielle said nothing. She had not said, or looked at him, during the entire story so far.

"…I had never seen an eredar before…"

Rielle's hand jerked up, causing Zackel to recoil. But she did not strike or grab him, instead just holding her hand up. Zackel blinked, waiting for the meaning.

"…Man'ari." Rielle whispered. "The eredar are dead. Dead and gone and never coming back. All that remain…are the man'ari."

"…you would know." Zackel said. "I…had never seen a man'ari before. I had heard…some vague details about them. Even so, I knew then. Knew we were facing something beyond our ability to handle. I…"

Zackel looked briefly into the faint flames of the fireplace.

"I…I failed anyway. In all ways."

"…well." Daldion said grimly. "Look at this, brother. One of those succubae actually seems to have made something of herself."

"Don't even begin to equate me with those whorespawn, vermin." Zuijizra said, cocking her head slightly. "I am the chosen elite of our lord Sargaras, the spearhead of destiny he will plunge into the heart of all worlds and lifeforms. The encroaching burn of chaos…"

"Really? Well, I must admit you certainly look like you have some idea of that." Daldion said. "I must beg a question of you though. If you're the burning encroachment of spears or whatever you said, what are you doing sneaking in through a warlock's portal? The way you present yourself, you should be on the front lines."

"I would rather not trouble myself with the responsibilities. Not when there's so much fun to be had." Zuijizra said, flashing her terrible grin. "It's been too long since I've heard the delightful tone of blistering flesh."

"Is tone the right word? Personally I'd use cadence. No offense." Daldion replied. Zackel looked at his brother, part of him barely able to believe what he was doing.

The other part knew perfectly well. It was the same snappish banter and mockery both he and Daldion had grown up using on each other, anyone they didn't like, and later, those that would oppose them. It was a good release valve on the pressure of the situation, and could also double as a psychological weapon against the weaker-minded, who often took being insulted poorly even if they couldn't understand the design of said insults. Even as Zackel looked, he could see the ever-so-subtle shift in Daldion's stance that indicated he had expected Zackel to back him up with his exchange, even if it fell flat, and with Zackel having not done so, Daldion was compensating.

Normally, Zackel would have. He should have, if only to re-assure his brother he was still there…

Except he wasn't. All the instincts that Zackel had been honing in his adventures before Jasciona's return had grown soft during all his time spent brooding since, just as Daldion feared. But what Daldion had been unable to quantify was the fact that while Zackel had been able to get somewhat back on track during the initial attack and his efforts to help people, the way that the city was being overwhelmed with fel energy had been causing him a constant subconscious reminder of the event where everything had gone wrong in Zackel's life, leaving his return to normalcy on shaking ground.

Zuijizra's entrance had knocked him right back off it. Zackel's observations, rather then being at the forefront of his mind and its primary force, was instead part of a churning mass of terror, confusion, hopelessness, defiance, and understanding that there was nowhere to run and no way to go except through the man'ari before them.

And after a brief glance, Daldion finally knew it too. Mainly because despite their differing experiences, the same feelings were running through him.

The difference between Zackel and him despite this fact was about to become very clear.

"You believe yourself to be amusing. Idiocy." Zuijizra said, raising her sword. "The time for talk is done. The time for play…"

"Actually not interested in your game! Howaboutourseverplayball?!" Daldion yelled, and stabbed outward with his staff. And in doing so, Zackel realized that despite his inability to provide aid to Daldion as he'd wanted, the semi-blued haired mage had succeeded in at least one thing.

He hadn't looked up and given away Daldion's planned offense. Between all the smoke and ash in the air above Stormwind, and Daldion holding Zuijizra's attention by refusing to show his fear, he'd kept the man'ari eredar from seeing it as well.

For one final misdirection, Daldion fired a spear of ice when he thrust out with his staff. Zuijizra sidestepped it in one smooth motion, her eye-searing grin appearing on her face…

Which vanished when the spear was followed by a sphere, a massive ball of thick ice that Daldion had been forming above his head. Zackel goggled at the orb as it flew down towards the man'ari. It was a trick of Daldion's that he couldn't use very often, due to the time needed to form it and the problem of collateral damage. The last time Zackel had seen him use it, he'd thrown one the size of a horse.

This one was the size of a house. Daldion was like his brother in some ways, but he had never once feared his own power. The same fear that had so paralyzed Zackel now, in several ways.

Daldion knew it, perhaps. Whether he did or not, it didn't matter. Only survival did, as the ice orb smashed into the street and careened towards Zuijizra. Had she been one of the attacking Infernals, the sphere would have smashed her into a fine powder.

Zuijizra The Blaze was not.

The orb bisected in mid-air, an odd and unpleasant hissing snap sounding off the blow as Zuijizra carved the ice sphere in half with a strike from her blade, the orb flying by each side of her and smashing into the buildings. The attack hadn't even put a hair on her head out of place.

"Defiance never ceases to amuse me." Zuijizra said, still holding her sword up from the ascending blow that had disabled Daldion's effort. Only a moment of luck saved Zackel from what came next, as his eyes had been briefly drawn to the sword and managed to notice the blade was being turned in the man'ari's grip.

"MOVE!" Zackel screamed, leaping to the side as Zuijizra slashed her sword down. Anyone who might have been watching may have seen the black line that appeared on the road for the slightest moment before fire erupted up from its length, pelting Zackel with burning shards of rock. The pain brought him a brief moment of clarity, allowing him to scramble up and fired off a spear of ice of his own.

He had hoped that Zuijizra might be distracted in her attack. He was proven wrong, as Zuijizra slashed the spear out of the air and turned her eyes towards Zackel. With her gaze, the terror came back.

It also let Daldion act, as the mage thrust his staff towards Zuijizra.

"Killjoy."

The remains of Daldion's ice orb exploded, consuming Zuijizra in a storm of destructive hail. Daldion leapt up to his feet and ran to Zackel's side.

"Hey, Zackel! Move it! That won't last! We have to go! GOGOGO!" Daldion yelled, pushing Zackel towards where Zuijizra was. In retrospect, Zackel knew what the plan was: get around the man'ari and flee.

At the time, all Zackel knew was that his brother was trying to push him closer to the terrible creature, and his legs locked up, refusing to move.

"ZACKEL!" Daldion yelled, and then slapped his brother so hard that Zackel nearly fell down again. "MOVE! YOUR! ASS!"

"Yes, please do." Came Zuijizra's voice, and Daldion whirled around as the man'ari walked towards them, Daldion's hail storm shrugged off like all the rest of their offensive efforts. "Run. I enjoy the scent of futility as much as the smell of burning flesh."

"…If that's the case, why don't you give us a head start?"

"No." Zuijizra said, before slashing out with her sword again. Daldion yanked Zackel down, the building behind them exploding with fire, as Daldion counter-attacked with more blasts of ice. Zuijizra batted them away with her sword…and hence was completely caught off guard when Daldion switched up his offensive with a blast of arcane missiles, resulting in the man'ari taking the non-blockable attacks full in the face and chest and knocking her backwards. Daldion was running even before his attack had finished, trying to drag Zackel along. To whatever credit he could be given, Zackel only needed another second before his brain unfroze, and the pair sprinted around the man'ari…

And were both knocked sprawling by another explosive slash just missing them and ravaging the building behind them. Daldion was up first, blue energy surging from his staff and forming into a construct of ice, specifically a chain and a dense spiked ball that Daldion swung at Zuijizra's head. The spiked orb shattered across the Legion elite's horns and temple, actually making her take another step back.

"RUN! RUN! OR WE'LL BE WELL DONE!" Daldion yelled, pulling Zackel up as the pair tried to flee into the Dwarven District.

"Just done." Zuijizra said, raising her free hand as blistering green fire surged up on in before it was absorbed into her palm. She snapped her hand out, and the fel blaze run up her fingers and erupted outwards as a storm of explosive fire needles, blasting across the street and houses before her and causing them to erupt in flames.

One of the needles took Zackel square in the back, and he pitched forward onto his face with a yell. Daldion stopped to turn around, and promptly gone one of the explosive bolts in the knee and shoulder, throwing him backwards with his own yell. Feeling the unholy heat trying to devour his back, Zackel frantically summoned his power and managed to snuff the fire out before it could get through his magical protection. He began pulling himself up, looking at Daldion as he did the same, albeit not as fast.

The wicked laugh raked across Zackel's nerves, and he turned to look as Zuijizra began approaching them again, her sword perched over her shoulders.

"Bloody fel…" Daldion cursed. "Of all the things to end up at LOGGERheads with, brother."

Zackel blinked, having caught the inflection despite his mind's unhinged state. Standing up, he tried to simultaneously run and look around, only for Zuijizra to slash out with her sword again and cut off his escape route with another explosive wall of fire.

"So many kinds of flesh burnt, over the years." Zuijizra said, running her tongue over her upper lip as she spoke. "Then this pathetic planet somehow stymied our efforts. You have no idea the rage and pain you have caused us, mortal scum, brought down by our masters for our stalemate. It will be repaid onto your world a thousand fold. You will be the first to begin payment of my own debt…"

"Oh, and you had to go and make me feel special." Daldion said, and signaled to Zackel.

Zuijizra had paid far too much attention to her playthings, having almost completely ignored the layout of the streets around her and various details about them.

One of them was a massive clump of logs tied on a rope, apparently left over from the construction of the Deeprun Tram. Said logs were being dangled above the street to Zuijizra's personal right.

Until the giant chunk of ice Daldion had been manifesting since he'd seen them smashed into them.

And Zackel, having seen them himself and made the connection, hurled a blade of ice at the rope.

And missed.

Zuijizra turned as the lengths of wood swung violently from the impact, crashing into her and knocking her sprawling. Despite this, Daldion cursed violently, even as Zackel stared at his failure. His neglecting of his magical practice had finally caught up to him: while Zuijizra had clearly felt the impact from the logs, cutting the rope would have made the logs fly free and smash head-long into her, knocking her across the street and maybe even crashing her into another building. Instead, she'd merely been staggered.

It might have just been a difference in seconds, but in a case like this, seconds were all that mattered, as Zackel and Daldion tried to flee through the main dwarf forge area before Zuijizra could recover. Glaring after them, the man'ari cracked her neck and twisted her sword to face towards the ground.

"Enough of this."

The street beneath Zuijizra seemed to shriek as she plunged her sword into it, and then the ground in front of her erupted in an updraft of burning mist. Zuijizra had unleashed her own version of the steam explosion, as she superheated pockets of water underneath the road and caused them to blast upward with the force of a hurricane. The forge area was rocked by multiple bursts of the encroaching attack, even as the mages desperately tried to outrun it.

They almost did.

The last steam eruption came at their heels, and while Zackel and Daldion avoided being boiled alive, the two were once again thrown from their feet. Unfortunately, this time their loss of their terra firma came with considerably more vertical momentum.

Zackel ended up doing a nearly complete flip before hitting the ground. The impact drove the air from his lungs and briefly paralyzed his body, but even that didn't keep him from hearing the angry cry of pain Daldion emitted as he landed. Gasping for air, and then wheezing on all the smoke that filled Stormwind's streets, Zackel somehow managed to re-summon his strength and start getting up.

"Dald-" Was all Zackel got out before he began violently coughing. The mage wiped his watering eyes and tried to find his brother.

He found him falling back down with another yell. Zackel blinked a few more times to clear his vision and then rushed over.

"Damn it…!" Daldion cursed, clutching at his ankle. Zackel didn't need to see it to know that Daldion had clearly screwed something up with his landing.

"Come on Daldion…!" Zackel said, trying to lift his brother's weight onto himself and drag him along. Two seconds and one collapse later drove home the brutal difference in body and weight differences between the siblings, but Zackel refused to pay attention to that as he tried to pick Daldion back up.

"Zackel…" Daldion whispered. Zackel thought he was being warned about the man'ari's approach and turned his head to look, but there was nothing behind him except a cloud of smoke and steam.

"Come on, we can…"

"Leave me."

"What? Forget it!" Zackel said, before his legs gave out from under him. When he tried to lift his brother up once more, Daldion responded by pushing him away.

"Daldion-!"

"Get out of here! Now!' Daldion said, pushing himself up to a semi-standing position and thrusting his staff at Zackel when he tried to move in and help him again. "You can't carry both of us! I'm going to stay and give that thing something to devote its attention to!"

"I'm not leaving you to-!"

"That choice is gone, brother." Daldion said, and from his tone, Zackel realized Daldion wasn't just talking about how this one-sided battle has transpired.

"Daldion…"

"Run." Daldion said, blue energy manifesting around his eyes. "I don't want it all to be a waste…"

Daldion saw the shadow cross into his line of vision. He saw his brother's eyes go as wide as saucers. And he knew.

"Waste is all that it will all come to…" Came the voice.

Daldion looked at his brother's eyes, and he briefly closed his own before his hand clenched.

"Speak for yourself." Daldion said, and whirled around as the ice began to fly from his hand.

The blade was swifter.

Zackel felt his brother's scream in his soul as much as his ears, as Zuijizra's blade came down on his shoulder and hacked his right arm completely off. Blood erupted into the air, spraying directly into Zackel's face and briefly blinding him, before Daldion staggered backwards and slammed into his brother, knocking them both to the ground. Despite the mastery of flame Zuijizra had demonstrated, Daldion's wound had clearly not been cauterized from the attack, and more blood fountained from the stump and onto Zackel's body and face. Despite all the heat the mage had already been subjected to, the moist, sticking hotness of the blood on him proceeded to nearly overwhelm his mind, as Zackel began clawing at his features, trying to get the liquid off. Daldion made no more noise, having clearly gone into shock, his twitching weight pinning Zackel to the ground. Zackel had lost his staff somewhere in the impact, and Daldion had been holding his in the arm he had lost.

And before him, Zuijizra threw back her head and laughed. The wretched, horrifying sound of it drew Zackel back from the brink, and he briefly tried to stand up and resume trying to pull his brother to safety. Almost immediately, he slipped in the blood and fell down again, prompting another laugh from Zuijizra. Zackel looked at the man'ari, even as she finished her merriment and locked her eyes with him.

In her gaze, Zackel felt the little hope he had left wither and die.

"Trying to crawl away. Like a little worm." Zuijizra said, and stabbed downward at the ground in her immediate vicinity. Zackel, his body beginning to be seized by violent trembling, watched as she lifted up his brother's arm impaled on the end of the sword.

"What right does a worm have to limbs?" Zuijizra said, and Daldion's arm erupting into flames, burning to ash within seconds, Zackel watched it all, unable to look away.

"…run…!" Daldion whispered, but Zackel was beyond hearing him. Zuijizra fully had his attention, even as tears began to leak down his face.

"What, no anger? No desire to revenge yourself? No last-moment futile defiance? Come now, don't be more of a worthless insect than you already are." Zuijizra said, pointing at Zackel with her sword. The motion made Zackel feel like someone had pressed the left side of his face into a fire, and he screamed and recoiled, clutching at his wound. Zuijizra cocked her head, regarding her work, even as Zackel looked back at her with his uncovered eye, the tears having traced a line down his bloodsoaked face.

"…even now. Pathetic." Zuijizra said, pointing with her sword again. "So this is what you are at the core. I should have hacked you apart first. Well, if this is what you are going to present to me, then you will not yield from it. Beg."

Zackel stared in horror, even as he removed his hand from his burned and bloody face.

"BEG ME LITTLE BOY. Beg for mercy, for the slightest advent of my wrath. It's what you are, so DO IT. Do what you can to stay my hand. DO WHAT YOU ARE."

In that moment of hell, with Stormwind burning around him, his brother's blood covering him, his dying brother beside him, and his mind smashed and battered by the whole experience, Zackel looked at the force that would bring him death…

And he listened, as he lowered his head.

"Please…"

Zuijizra's eyes narrowed, even as Zackel fully prostrated himself.

"Please…stop…" Zackel said, as he began to crawl towards the man'ari eredar. Whether Zackel actually thought that this action would have worked, or if he knew he was going to die and hoped this would somehow bring him less pain, even the mage himself could not have said. His mind had gone to a place of broken despair Zackel could have never conceived or grasped until he was there, and it had taken anything resembling a will to fight or honor or pride to keep.

He just wanted it to end.

"Please…" Zackel begged, crawling towards Zuijizra's feet.

The hoof nearly broke Zackel's jaw as Zuijizra lashed out, kicking the mage back towards his brother. Later, Zackel would wish that the blow had knocked him out. But, perhaps because of his cowardice, he was not even granted that small mercy, as he looked up once more at Zuijizra.

"You would ACTUALLY BEG?" Zuijizra said, the disbelief in her tone giving way to sadistic joy. "You are even more worthless than I thought. Lower than excrement. And you actually think it will somehow grant you any relief. All you've shown is how worthy you are to know TRUE AGONY."

The grin split the man'ari's face again, even as she reached her sword up and licked Daldion's blood off the blade.

"I will burn you in ways you could never comprehend." Zuijizra said, as Zackel stared in horror. "I will bring you suffering beyond any nightmare you could have. And no matter how much you beg…it will never end. You belong to me. Forever."

With that, the man'ari threw back her head and laughed, a laugh that would scar itself into Zackel's mind for the rest of his life, a sound of absolute, pure evil. The laugh echoed across the burning streets, and seemed to go on for an eternity in and of itself before the man'ari finally stopped.

"And forever…" Zuijizra said, raising her hand as green fire began to burn on it. "Is longer than you thi-"

The arrow flew from nowhere, impaling itself right through the man'ari's mocking throat.

It was hard to tell who looked more surprised, Zuijizra or Zackel. Zuijizra, understandably, reacted first, as she reached up to her throat with a wet, bloody gasp, blackish blood erupting from her mouth.

The pain and surprise swiftly vanished from her eyes, and with a snarling scream she actually ripped the arrow right out in a burst of more black blood. Though Zackel couldn't actually see her wound swiftly began to close, he didn't have to. All he needed was the way the man'ari eredar threw the arrow aside, like she'd been stung by a bee rather then had her windpipe and spine impaled.

Somehow, Zackel's fear grew even more. Even struck a mortal wound, the creature would not die.

There was no escape for him. No mercy. No miracle…

But the Light had other viewpoints.

"DEMMMMMOOOOOOONNNNNNNN!"

Zackel was vaguely away of the form leaping over him, even as Zuijizra lifted her head to see.

The draenei paladin crashed down with a thunderous roar of fury, slamming into the man'ari with a defiant, righteous anger that eclipsed even Zuijizra's own, as the paladin brought his shining gem hammer down and into the man'ari's shrieking face. The two tumbled across the road and crashed into one of the semi-shattered buildings Zuijizra's sword had damaged, causing the structure to completely collapse and send another blast of dust, smoke, and ash across the streets.

For who knows how long, Zackel could only stare, his brain seemingly unable to grasp what had occurred. Only a low groan brought Zackel out of his state, and he frantically realized that his brother was still alive, but not for long.

"Daldion!" Zackel said, crawling over to his badly wounded brother. Daldion coughed, but made no other sound, his face pale. Zackel frantically began looking through his robes, before he realized that, somewhere during the battle, he'd lost his bags. Any healing potions he might have had were gone. Maybe he should have spent a few more seconds securing them to him.

And when he looked back at Daldion, what he saw struck him once again, right at the core.

After that, all Zackel could do was look up and scream for help. His cries echoed across the burning streets, but no one came to answer them. Even the night elf hunter who had struck the initial blow against the man'ari had moved on by now, and while said hunter and the draenei that had engaged Zuijizra in battle were only the very first of the reinforcements coming from Ironforge, the rest would not arrive in time to grant aid.

Once again, Zackel was completely helpless.

And all the screams in the world didn't, and never would, change that.

It never did.

"…what I saw…on my brother's face…after we were…rescued…" Zackel said quietly. "It almost killed me. It was…the most naked, vehement look of DISGUST…that I had ever seen. And I deserved it. When he needed me the most…I wasn't there. After all the needling and competition between us, in learning magics, and how I thought I'd come out ahead in the end, and how he'd grown to accept that…it was all wrong. He was stronger than I was, where it counted, by a degree I could never match. I…I couldn't even run away, or even give my life when it mattered. Instead I…abased myself before that creature. It was…all I could think to do. It was…who I was."

Zackel fell silent for a long time. Rielle did not speak, but she was no longer looking at the fire. Her gaze had been on Zackel for a while now.

"…So…no, Rielle. My failure is not judging you on your experiences. I did not judge you at all. I have no right." Zackel said. "My failing was looking at you and seeing the image of that creature…and what I really was."

"…you…think I…" Rielle finally spoke.

"No." Zackel interrupted. "No. It is not you. It is merely the superficial resemblance in your visage. The rest is all me. To look at you, and think, for ANY reason, that you are like that creature…my failing. Only mine. Who I am."

Rielle was silent again, glancing at the fire, clearly doing some thinking.

"There is one last detail." Zackel said, causing the draenei to look at him again. "Your…misunderstanding came from how I acted in Tarren Mills. Why I helped the orc. Why I didn't kill the Forsaken when I had them at my mercy. Your experience has taught you there is little good in the Horde, and it will not last. You thought I condemned you for that viewpoint. I don't. Maybe you are right. And now you know why I looked at you…like I did. Because of my failing." Zackel said. "But my viewpoint of the Horde…is not a failing. Because of what happened to me after I failed. Because they gave me more than I deserved."

"HELP USSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!" Zackel screamed, his throat raw and bleeding, as he looked around at the destruction around him for the eighth or so time.

Eight, it seemed, was enough, as Daldion finally spoke again.

"Zackel…" Daldion said, his voice the barest whisper. "I told you…to run…"

"No…no…!" Zackel said, fresh tears running down his face. "I can't, I can't…!"

Where Daldion got the strength, Zackel didn't know. It was likely his last bit of adrenaline, as the mage reached up, seize Zackel by the front of his scorched robe, and yanked him down to face him.

"RUN." Daldion hissed. "I WON'T…HAVE MOTHER…LOSE BOTH OF US…YOU SHIT."

The words struck Zackel as painfully as any of Zuijizra's blows had, even as Daldion's hand went limp and fell away, releasing Zackel from his grip. Daldion looked at his brother, the light in his eyes beginning to dim. Zackel looked back, even as part of his brain finally cut itself off from all the emotion that had ravaged the mage and began trying to get Zackel to rise to his feet.

Before Zackel became aware of the presence, and jerked his head towards it.

The man seemed to have just stumbled across the pair of mages, and was apparently as surprised at Zackel looking at him as the mage was realizing he was there. His robes might have been white once upon a time: the chaos around them had stained them with ash and soot, and stray bits of hair was peeking out from beneath the close-fitting robe/hood the man wore. Zackel blinked in surprise at the sight of the man, and then blinked again as he saw the symbols on his robe.

"…priest." Zackel said, scrambling up and towards the man, who took a step back, clearly uncertain if Zackel was a threat. "Wait no! Please, help! My brother, he's dying! I need healing! Please, help me!"

The man's face ticked towards Daldion's limp form and then back at Zackel. Zackel was too desperate to notice his hesitation, as he staggered over and collapsed at the man's knees.

"Please! I'll do anything! Help him! HELP HIM PLEASE!" Zackel begged, looking up at the man's strangely unaffected face. The man looked down at Zackel, back at Daldion, and then down at Zackel again.

Then he pushed Zackel aside and swiftly walked over to Daldion, kneeling down and feeling at his throat. Zackel crawled over to help, if needed, as the priest pulled away what remained of the robe on Daldion's torso and investigated the jagged end of what had once been his arm, the blood flow having alarmingly slowed down.

"…limb…" The priest said.

"Gone! Just close the wound! Hurry, please!" Zackel said. The priest did not reply, instead holding out his hands over Daldion's bleeding stump. A second later, his hands began to glow.

As Zackel watched, a small river of energy flowed from the priest's hands and into Daldion's form, the hole in his body closing up and sealing shut. Daldion's color went from deathly gray to just gray, and his low, quick breathing slowed down a bit, his body relaxing in the freedom from pain's grip. At the sight of it, Zackel closed his eyes and uttered a small prayer to himself, before opening his eyes again and looking at the priest.

"Thank you." Zackel said. The priest returned his look for a moment, before giving a slight, slow nod in return. "We have to get to safety. The damn passageway to the keep was shattered but…"

A distant explosion caused Zackel to recoil and jerk towards its noise, his veins briefly filling with ice at the thought that the man'ari was returning to finish the job. But Zuijizra did not re-emerge, and after several terror-filled seconds, Zackel turned back to speak to the priest.

All he saw was empty air. The man was gone, leaving Zackel alone. The mage blinked, and then looked down, wondering if life had visited upon him a further cruelty and that he had just imagined it all. But Daldion's wound remained closed, and his chest continued to rise and fall.

Whether it would continue to do so suddenly became brutally apparent, as a felhound abruptly emerged from the ash clouds nearby.

Zackel stared in horror.

Then the air was filled with new explosions, this time the sound of bullets, as the dwarves charged from the smoke behind Zackel and blew the felhound apart before it could even get close to the two mages. Zackel's relief was somewhat ruined by the near heart-stopping shock of the dwarves' entrance, but he got over it.

"Aye men, one of ours!" One dwarf said, quickly making his way over to Zackel. "What's the situation lad?"

"Huh, what…demons, invading, brother hurt, we, I…"

"Calm down lad. Help's right behind us. Don't you worry, Ironforge will aid you in driving these monsters out!" The dwarf said, and moved on, clearly in the grip of a battle lust and not planning or wanting to stick around to deal with situations out of his expertise.

"But…did you…" Zackel said, as more dwarves and adventurers emerged from the ash and smoke, the bulk of the reinforcements having finally arrived on the Deeprun Tram behind the initial small numbers that had arrived first. Daldion was quickly taken into medical care by the 'trauma healers' who had come with the group, even as those skilled in the arts of fighting brought said skills to bear on the Legion's troops.

In the end, Kruul was driven from Stormwind, and the Legion was ground beneath the Alliance's boot.

And whatever may or may not have happened to the creature known as Zuijizra The Blaze, Zackel never learned.

Now.

"I didn't notice it at the time, for…obvious reasons." Zackel said. "It was only later, when I was pondering the details, that I recalled something I'd seen. The priest who saved Daldion's life…his eyes didn't match. One looked normal, but the other…was blank. Blank and dimly glowing. Part of a lost piece of a disguise, I suspect. It was a Forsaken."

Rielle said nothing about this revelation; perhaps she'd even worked it out herself. She just continued to regard Zackel with a neutral, blank look.

"…I don't know why the Forsaken was there. Maybe he was part of a spy operation and was trying to flee. Maybe he was trying to look in on people he'd known when he was alive and got caught up in the Legion attack. Maybe he was committing an assassination, I don't know." Zackel said. "All I know is he saved my brother's life. He didn't have to. He could have ignored us and fled, or, if he was concerned about leaving witnesses, he could have easily killed us both. Instead, he helped us. He put aside our differences in sides, and whatever anger and grief he may have held towards the living for his existence…and he helped us. For whatever his reasons were…he helped us. I have never forgotten that. And I never will. You're right, there's a lot of evil among the Horde. But as Adaric showed, that is true of the Alliance as well. And on the Horde's side…there are those who have good hearts, despite it all. Much like your species, despite all the pain and suffering they've experienced, have stayed true to the course of the Light. So I helped that orc female, and I spared those Forsaken who wished to torture and kill me. Because I had already failed everything I knew and stood for that day. After that, I had to live with what I knew then, and had to once again decide what I stood for. And when I did, I vowed that I would never fail so badly again."

Silence settled on the room again. Zackel picked up a canteen and turned his gaze to it, focusing water into existence within it.

"My brother dreamed of seeing the world. Of helping people. To repay the fact it had rewarded him and I with power, and that the pain and tragedy we had suffered was not as bad as some had. As I've mentioned in passing, we began training to be mages after gnolls attacked our village. They hurt my father, took my mother, and it was only due to the Light's blessing of fortune that both did not die from it. We were going to be strong, to repay our blessing upon other people…and perhaps make some money and enjoy the fruits of life along the way. And when we were done, we'd return to our village and make sure it was safe. And, if needed, more." Zackel said. "Then I went and turned into a selfish, idiotic piece of shit because Jasciona changed. I became obsessed with the concept that there might be something inherently bad about my powers, and that it could affect my goals…but in truth, Daldion's accusation was right. I was lying to myself. I just wanted an excuse to wallow in my pain and suffering. And because my brother loved me…he didn't press until it was too late. We shouldn't have been in Stormwind that day. Even if we HAD been, I should have had my head on straight. I shouldn't have become so mentally soft that when Adaric went and called Zuijizra that…I failed. In everything. Only more of the Light's blessing kept me from losing my brother. And even despite that…it was not without cost."
Zackel drank from the canteen before he lowered it, still in his hands.

"Magic is not easy to learn. To properly make it flow within you, magicians must learn a specific form of control and focus…and the second most vital part of it, after the mind, is the hands. The key word there being hands. With the loss of his arm, Daldion…lost himself. He could remember all the teachings and experience he had with the arcane…but his body could no longer focus it properly. He might as well have lost all his magic entirely." Zackel said. "And while it's far from impossible for him to regain what he had…there's a reason you don't see many one armed adventurers. Daldion will have to completely retrain himself, literally breaking everything he knew down and then building it back up. Our initial training took several months, but something like that…could take years. The Maginor did his part, took Daldion in to support him and help him in those efforts. And Daldion's grateful that he's alive. But…there likely won't be any more adventuring for him. Even if he learns to re-use magic, he likely won't be able to grow past the heights you need to scale to be a true force, and be on the front lines of the conflicts in Azeroth. At best, he can learn enough to be a permanent defense in our home. Anything else…went up with his arm."

Zackel dropped the canteen, looking at the ground.

"It should have been me. It was…what I deserved."

Rielle did not respond. Zackel let the ever-cycling silence stay for another few beats before he began to finish his long story.

"I still believe that I should approach my teachings at my own pace. But that's only because of Daldion, and what he lost. The fact that half the time he can barely look me in the eye was far, far more than I needed to get back onto the road and resume my training in the arts. I've put Jasciona behind me, and with what I've learned from it, I'll approach power my way…but for Daldion, I WILL become the very best that I can be. My road may be long and winding, but I will reach my destination. And that is that." Zackel said. "That's why I had those odd zoning out moments. That's why I helped the Horde. That's the face of my nightmares. You're the first one I've ever told since that day. After the anger and pain I caused you…I felt you deserved to know. If it just makes you hate me all the more, well…I probably deserve it. I probably deserve worse."

Zackel turned, looking towards the fireplace. It had just about burned down to embers, and Zackel could feel the exhaustion from lack of sleep and the emotional wringer he had just gone through recounting his greatest shame and the driving force in his life settling down on him.

And looking at the fire…he remembered one last thing.

"I suppose you have a valid reason to dislike ice and cold." Zackel said. Rielle blinked, clearly not sure exactly what this conversational shift meant. "Ice and cold has trapped us here. It's robbed you of your chance to seek your rightful revenge on Sparse. It will potentially kill us both if we tried to traverse it. It sucks the life from things, reducing them to empty husks of their former self…even as in Northrend, it almost protects and reinforces the undead. Maybe my travels have left me ignorant, as I have been in other things in my life…but…all the same…"

Zackel reached over, picking up a log and dropping it on the fading fire.

"…I've found…since then…sometimes, when I think about it…" Zackel said, looking as the flames began to grow anew, consuming the fresh log. "That I don't really…care for fire. Yes, it provides light…and heat, and without those two life would be so much harder. But…fire answers to no one, in the end. It can seem otherwise, coming at the beck and call to any fool who doesn't understand what they're doing, and at the same time, to something as terrible as Zuijizra was…and yet, in the end, it only obeys until it does not. In the end…fire seems like something that can barely be leashed, and never be tamed."

A knot in the wood snapped. Zackel surprised himself by not flinching, instead raising a hand and dully regarding it.

"Since then…I've done my best to avoid calling on it. But ice…ice is different. Ice takes time to understand, to grasp. It speaks not in roaring rage but in ever-approaching stride. Fire can come to anyone, but ice…ice only comes to those who are willing to speak to it. It might be the weapon of lichs and cryptspawn…but only because they wield it through the prism of death, the reality that is all they now know. Just an aspect…not the truth. The truth, to me…"

Misty blue energy flowed up from Zackel's palm. Rielle stiffened, her hand clearly beginning to draw her dagger, but Zackel barely seemed to notice.

Above his hand, a flower of frozen water had appeared, opening up into a small, upwards bloom.

"To me, ice is just…what I understand. Then and now. Moreso now. Fire, for all its benefits…in the end, I suspect it would just regard me as more fuel. With ice, I am, at least…an appreciated servant."

The flower melted away, the water flowing down and vanishing from Zackel's palm.

"And that's…all I have to say."

Zackel turned away from Rielle, crawling back over to his bedding. He did not check to see if she followed him with her gaze or not. He really didn't care.

Well…that was not entirely true.

It was hard to tell, under his weary state, but telling the story of the day the Legion had tried to raze Stormwind had done more than open an old wound in Zackel's heart. Despite the pain of revisiting it all…Zackel felt somehow lighter. Like the process of finally telling someone about that day had lifted a burden off him, even if it was just the burden of being alone in his judgment.

The truth, it seemed, did set you free.

And however Rielle handled it…was a question for another day.

For in the day to come, another question would soon be answered.

"All your dreams are just illusion

Based on nothing and confusion

Don't you look behind the curtain

No more time, the end is certain."

In Stormwind Keep.

"Fool!" The gnome muttered, pacing among the wounded, Zackel vaguely watching the small creature as he knelt by Daldion's bed. "No warlock should attempt a summon without fully understanding his craft and surroundings! Such an event would never happen to myself!"

"Shut up Fizzlebang."