Chapter 2:
The minutes pass and my anger diminishes as I can do nothing but wait for the nerubian to return. Still I am sure that once I am out of here that giant insect is going to get what it rightfully deserves either from its master or me.
It doesn't take long for me to start walking from corner to corner inside the cage not knowing what to do or how I could keep my mind off the situation at hand.
"You look like a wild animal thrown into a cage... You are quite the nervous type, aren't you?" Chillsbane asks me with a cold voice.
"So, what...?" It's my only response I have for him. Most things he says sound like he's making fun of me. And once I'm out of here, after I'll have dealt with the giant beetle first, he will surely be the next on the list.
"You made yourself a name quite fast in the recent year with the way you ... 'act' and the things you do." He seems to be talking more to himself than to me. I guess he noticed by now how I don't pay too much attention to him anymore. "Hrm..., come to think of it. You haven't told me why you are here, actually." He slowly turns his head towards me, his eyes small and the look on them questioning.
"Why is that of any interest to you?" I ask him, the tone of my voice provoking.
"I want to know if the rumors are true..." His response is short, at least it seems precise.
"Rumors? What rumors? They are supposed to speak of me in fear and say my name with respect, not spread any pointless rumors!" I am rightfully shocked.
"'They'? Who are ... 'they'?" Chillsbane asks.
"Well..., the Forsaken, the Cult of the Forgotten Shadow, everybody feeding of the filth that is Undercity." I'm a bit surprised because of this question, but I answer truthfully.
"So you already look at them as your property... alright. But now..., back to topic. The rumor states that you want to turn yourself in to the Scourge willingly. And now sitting here next to you, I wondered whether they might have been speaking the truth."
"So... where did this rumor come from?" I hesitate to answer his question and instead pose another of my own. Whichever person was foolish enough to embark on this forbidden territory will pay for it once the time is due.
"I don't know too much. It was basically all over the Forgotten Shadow. But please, answer my question. Do a dying man this single favor." He offers me a strange smile.
"If that is what you want, miserable old fool..., then I shall tell you this much: they are right." I shrug it off.
"But..., but why are you doing this? You are just taking a few more steps on a road leading straight back to damnation!" He starts shouting at me in disbelief all of a sudden, his frail mind clearly not able to comprehend.
"I long for freedom. That is all I want to achieve. But to reach this goal you should know as one who the Forgotten Shadow, I have to become strong and more powerful than any other. That is the way our world goes round..." I speak truthfully.
"You call this freedom? You are selling your soul to someone who is willing to erase every living creature in Azeroth!" The light in his eyes flickers.
"I am a Forsaken, just like you are. What do I care for the trash with still beating hearts? Besides..., I was able to get out of his grasp once before, so I will be able to do so a second time!"
"That was Sylvanas who freed you from his icy grasp, not you!" His voice grows louder again. He stands up and even dares to approach me.
"Curse you and your Banshee Queen! How do you know that she is able to conduct things like this at all? I never swore an oath to anybody and I surely will not do so in the future. I won't show any gratitude towards her, nor respect. Her false reign is just another form of slavery!"
"Silence yourself at once!" It bursts out of him. The undead clearly seems angry and enraged. "Do you think the Scourge would grant you freedom? If they find out what you want to do, you will be killed on the spot and revived as a ghoul for his mindless hordes. The Lich King is merciless! You, above all, should know that!"
"I will take my chance of achieving freedom, not matter what or who will oppose me or what I'll have to do for it!" I take a step towards him. "I am strong, stronger than you could ever imagine to be... I will be able to do this! I had to sacrifice so much to get to this point and I won't retreat after coming this far!"
"So what? If you join the Scourge the greatest sacrifice still lies before you, the moment when you give in to them!"
I calm down, turning my head away from him.
"You don't know anything... The greatest sacrifice was already made." My voice is slightly shaking, the tone of it testifying my sadness.
He seems surprised because of my reaction to his words, because of the sudden exposure of weakness towards him. Immediately he returns to his corner as well and sits down quietly. A few minutes pass then he speaks up again.
"Tell me... Who were you in your former life?" Chillsbane breaks the silence.
I try to ignore his question at first, but he doesn't give up that easily.
"Go ahead. Tell me." I can imagine how he is smiling behind me, only asking these sorts of things so he could continue to mock me in his own little insanity.
"I won't tell you anything about that time..., you can choke on your words for all I care." The tone of my voice states that this answer is absolute.
"So, I see... you don't want to remember."
I say nothing to his conclusion. It would only give him more reason to investigate.
"If you don't want to talk about that part of your life, then tell me something about your life as an undead." His voice is clearer now and he even sounds happy for some reason. What a weird guy. "Oh sorry, I don't mean the time as a ghoul or so, I couldn't remember that part either, but as a Forsaken."
I still don't know for sure whether I should answer or not.
"Oh come on now, this surely should kill some waiting time. And I can assure you nothing of what you might say will leave this cage. Just start right at the beginning!"
I hesitate, yet I guess it shouldn't matter too much if I told him things about myself. After all... he is second in priority on my list of people to kill at the moment. And unfortunately he is right on one part.
It would definitely kill some time...
'Where am I?'
This was the first clear thought that came up in my head. Everything around me was dark and cold, governed by obscurity. And the last thing I could remember clearly was a place somewhere deep within the eastern plaguelands. I still knew who I am, or who I was at least. Yet everything in between those last few memories and now seemed like a dream..., like a nightmare.
But that wouldn't help me too much right now, so I fully opened my eyes and tried to figure out where I was. I finally stood up from the cold floor. It was completely crafted from stone without any ornamentation to it. Very slowly my eyes adjusted to the darkness that filled the room so eagerly. It seemed I had been lying almost directly in the center of it. Upon taking a step forward I bumped into something that was lying on the floor. I crunched down, trying to have a look at what it was, but my eyes were still not used to the not existing lighting of the room. I stretched my hand out to reach for whatever was lying in the way. The moment I touched bone, my curiosity was stumped, yet something drove me to go on further. And my fingers I went onwards on their own, wanting to know if the rest of the skeleton was still lying there. The next thing I felt was flesh. In that moment I jumped up to my feet again almost screaming out loud. I stumbled a few feet backwards where I instantly bumped into the next body. I was afraid, my frail mind almost failing me yet again. The only thing I could think of was to find a way to get out of there and the sole question: 'Where am I?'
I stood there for a few minutes breathing heavily. I didn't even notice how it had no effect, how it was just another reflex that survived my death.
In the meantime my eyes began adjusting to the darkness more and more. It took long enough... But what I saw in that moments would have been better remained hidden. It was shocking for me to say the least. I found myself surrounded by literally piles of dead bodies. The strange uttering from some of them not making me rest any easier. Luckily I quickly spotted a way out and up to the surface. Little did I know at that time, how I had awoken several feet underground.
It was behind one of the stone piles where I noticed a staircase leading upwards. The faint light shining down from above gave it away for me. I passed the corpses slowly and carefully, desperate not to step onto any of them.
After about twenty steps the staircase took a sudden turn to the left. The same thing occurred two more times before I entered a greater hall. It looked similar to the one I ascended from with the only difference that it was a lot brighter and you could already see where the light was coming from. On the other side of the room there was another staircase, but this time it was clearly leading outside. All around the room where alcoves in the walls some of them filled with a coffin, some not.
It was in this hall when I first had a look down at my body after I had died.
My robes were hanging down in mere rags. The emblem that was formerly ornamenting my chest was completely torn apart, now replaced by a cut in the greyish fabric. At least that's what I thought. It took a while before I'd notice how this was my skin and not just a piece of dirty old cloth.
Eager to get outside I took a few more steps. For the first time I realized how it felt as if I was walking bare footed the whole time, yet again how the floor felt not cold enough. It's a strange thing to care about in such a moment, but your mind can only comprehend so much in such a dire situation. At least these thoughts let me appear human enough to myself.
I decided to lift my robe slightly to take a look out of pure curiosity. I was completely petrified once I saw the reason for me not feeling the cold of the floor. My left foot was almost entirely reduced to bones and the right one also only had a few places left with flesh attached to it. The rest had been completely taken off... maybe even eaten off.
"What in the name of the Holy Light?" I cried out in my desperation.
Then I noticed my arms and hands. Around my elbows there was nothing left but bones and a few muscle strands. On my left arm there even was a piece of flesh still hanging down loosely from my forearm. In horror I touched it. I still don't why but it didn't matter in the end. I didn't feel any pain upon grasping it anyhow.
'What had happened to me?' Those were my exact thoughts. I pressed my eyes closed and tore the piece off my forearm. It didn't even tickle.
Then I continued onwards to touching my face with my bony fingers, or at least what was left of them. But I have to admit... it was a certain relief for me to notice that nothing particular was missing there.
This was the first time I fully realized that I had become one of them. An enemy...
At first I was reluctant to take the stairs out of this crypt. I was too scared of the things that might await me up there. Yet soon I realized that I was only delaying the inevitable, again the slight moans from further below only drove me out quicker.
This second staircase also took a turn after a few steps, just like the one before, but from the room I was standing in you could already see the sunlight shining in through gaps in the walls.
I convinced myself and made my way out of that place rather quickly.
As I reached the outside, I was blinded by the sudden light for a moment or two, before I found myself under the darkened sky of Tirisfal. I recognized immediately.
So..., the sky was dark. The entrance of the crypt basically lay in ruins, a small pile of bones close not far to my right. I was glad to be out of there, but on this small hill I then stood I didn't feel any safer either. A path was winding down the hillside towards a small village. From the point where I stood I could already see the pinnacle of a church reaching up from between the trees around it.
A few more moment passed by as I looked around for a while trying to figure out where exactly I was. I was pretty sure this would be Tirisfal, but you couldn't be certain. Maybe it was somewhere else after all. Then again the sky and the forest around me reminded me too much of those areas.
The hill itself around me was used as a cemetery. I saw graves everywhere, some of them opened, some not, some of them with a tombstone, some without.
Slowly I descend along the pathway. And as I reached the third curve the path made, I spotted someone carefully crossing the graveyard. From afar it seemed as if he was searching something or somebody.
I approached him with care. After a while he started yelling something. I couldn't understand what he was saying, but as soon as he spotted me as well and also came towards me. As he came closer I noticed how about half the flesh from his face was missing entirely. Fear quickly took a hold of me, but he didn't seem to be on the hunt, especially not for me... Something held me back from running away.
We stopped several feet apart from each other.
"Hector!" That was the first thing he yelled directly at me. "Just follow the path and into the church, inside somebody will tell you everything you need to know." Without any further comment he walked on past me. He hadn't even left me a single minute so I could have answered him or posed any kind of question.
I tried to keep him from walking away, but I guess the single "But...?" I uttered wasn't enough. And so I was left behind with only the minimum of information, wondering who that Hector was supposed to be.
But with him already heading off towards the crypt I was without any other options but to follow his words. The decision had been taken away from me, which looking at it now, made it rather easy.
An iron fence was dividing the graveyard from the rest of the village as I came closer. Two guards were standing at its gate, both of them heavily armed. They greeted me instantly and in a surprisingly friendly fashion.
The village itself was also divided by a ridge of wooden spears. The church and two more houses formed the upper part of it, mostly inhabited by undead just like the two guards, the gravedigger or... myself. From the lower part of the city I only heard a constant moaning.
The left guard was the one to talk first. I could see no visible eyes in his skull, yet I supposed he was able to see me. He had strands of greenish-blue hair and two leather bands were tied around his head. I wondered if this was a necessity for him or just a kind of ornament.
"I suppose it best greeting you with 'Good morning', Hector. I am deathguard Oliver, welcome to Deathknell. Just head right into the church and talk to shadow priest Sarvis. He'll tell you basically everything you need to know and answer any kind of question you might have to your current situation. Waking up is always the hardest. Just embrace it, it'll make things easier." His voice had a very deep and soothing tone to it. I nodded and thanked him for his advice. I definitely wouldn't have expected them to be this friendly to me. I had always only seen them as savages. Although I still couldn't get around wondering who this Hector was that they all were talking about.
But I would find soon enough.
As I walked onwards I overheard some of the rest of the conversation between the two guards. That guy named Oliver said something about how astonishing the gravedigger Mordo was, because he always knew the names of everybody coming out of the crypt. In that moment I realized they meant me when saying the name Hector.
But that wasn't my name... I still knew who I had been before becoming this... thing that I was now.
Anyhow I entered the church, even despite my hesitation.
Seven people and a sole imp were inside it, all of them but the demon, undead, three men and four women. Yet the strangest thing was the fact that some of them had this glowing in their eyes and some didn't. Actually I didn't know if they had any eyes at all.
Shadow priest Sarvis or what he was called, greeted me friendly and with open arms just like the guards before. I guess they talked loud enough to me outside, so that he had been able to listen in on the short and rather one-sided conversation we had.
As I drew nearer I saw that his lower jaw was missing completely.
"It is good to see you have awoken, Hector." The moment he spoke the name whispers arose around me. I only heard shreds of what they said but it sounded like 'Mordo must be out of his mind' or something like that. I on the other hand, started mainly questioning how this 'priest' before me was able to speak at all. At first I was only able to look at him in disbelief, adding to the rest of my confusion.
After I had slightly managed to focus again I tried to tell him that this was not my name "But... my name isn't Hector. It's Ma..."
"Don't be silly, of course your name is Hector." He was very quick on interrupting me. "It is normal to suffer from partial amnesia for a while after waking up, so don't worry too much about it."
I came to the conclusion that it was useless to talk back against his words, he wouldn't believe me anyhow.
"You surely must have some questions, Hector. Go ahead! This is the time for them! Ask what you want to hear." His voice was friendly, just like with the guards before. Yet I didn't trust him, I trusted none of them.
I had to think for a moment, I couldn't really decide on what I wanted to know first. So I just let it flow.
"Where am I? How did I get here? And who are you?" It spews out of me after I realized that it wouldn't matter if I asked everything at once or one by one. The confusion from all the things I saw and heard since I woke up in that tomb still persisted.
"You are in Deathknell in the south-west of Tirisfal, young one, although we initially found your body in Brill. You attacked some of our guards as I was told. It appeared you had quite the appetite. Anyhow you were taken down by them, but you deliberately refused to die, therefore you were brought here." He explains before making a short pause, "And we..., well..., we are your new family. We are the Forsaken of Lordaeron, led by the Banshee Queen Sylvanas Windrunner."
Unwillingly I took a step backwards.
Until that point I had still hoped that this would turn out to be merely a nightmare, yet it was far too real for a mere dream, no matter how lucid it might be.
I had become one of the creatures I despised most in my life.
"Welcome back to this world, Hector."