Chapter 8:
Getting back to Undercity sadly wasn't as easy as I had thought at first.
The old warlock might have impressed about me being able to defeat such a beast of a felhunter, but he was no less furious concerning the destruction and collateral damage I brought upon his tower. It took me a good while to talk him into the idea of the warlock guild of Undercity coming up for the damage caused. The old man didn't really trust the Forsaken and who could blame him about that, then again? It was he who lived amongst goblins in the first place.
But the moment I left Ratchet behind me, I was already thinking about how I would accept my new robe once I got back to the guild. I could finally leave the old rags I was still wearing behind and with them the last bits and pieces of me connecting me to my former life. What more could I wish for?
Seeking a few moment of my own I dismissed Darnys to the wretched planes of her own realm and told her how I would call upon her again once I had reached Tirisfal.
She was clearly disappointed due to the outcome of the situation, surely for the most part because I denied her riding the airship with me again. However, this time I had other plans for the duration of the flight. Just as she began nagging how we would spend less and less time together from now on, with that new monstrosity by my side easily topping her in manners of strength, I dismissed her, making her leave this realm forcefully.
The flight with the Wyvern from Ratchet back to Orgrimmar didn't take too long to my surprise. So I hurried down the tower to hopefully catch the next aircraft heading over to the other continent as quickly as possible. Unfortunately as it turned out I was too late for the last one and it departed right before my eyes without any chance of stopping it. So ... I just had to wait for the next one. No form of anger or threat made any of the goblins by tower work ahead of their schedule... I never tried coin, but either I hadn't any to begin with.
Of course these developments delayed everything for a good couple of hours. Nevertheless the next one quickly appeared on the horizon.
If you think about it for a second, just how long you travel to get from Kalimdor to the Eastern Kingdoms and how short you actually only have to wait for the next airship to arrive, there must be at least twelve of these on their way from continent to continent... And strangely enough you never see one of the others while you are on the flight.
Besides..., this is a goblin transport system after all and I can only suppose if you saw another of their aircrafts, it would probably be too late to avoid the crash anyhow.
As I then boarded the next zeppelin as soon as it had arrived, I summoned my new pet the felhunter to my side. I would use the time I had to get to know the creature a bit better. And I do have to say, this fiend seemed to be the most reasonable one of my demons. Thoonum wasn't nagging about every little bit or detail, wasn't crazed by myself or constantly trying to suck out every caster he would see, although I have to admit he seemed to be a bit of a snob, but he followed my orders just as I said, so I would be able to look over his flaws with ease.
After leaving the airship upon our arrival in Tirisfal, I dismissed Thoonum and re-summoned Darnys. At that time I already assumed that these two demons would be the ones I would have by my side for most of the time. The imp was nagging far too much for my liking and the voidwalker, well... he hated this world anyhow and was not in the slightest too shy to tell everybody we came across.
But I have to give that blue bulk one thing... if I compared Undercity with Orgrimmar, I would have to agree that the architecture and moderate darkness of the Undercity was far more appealing to me, not to mention the structure and the flair of the city. But that's just my opinion, I've met more than enough people that wouldn't agree with me on that, not that it would matter in the end.
With a feeling of triumph I entered the mage quarters and shortly afterwards the Temple of the Damned in its middle. The sheep was coming home to its herd victorious over the wolf and Kaal was already awaiting me eagerly. He stretched out his large green arms and greeted me happily.
From this day on I was what he called a sophisticated warlock, not yet fully trained, but he made it clear that he would address to this issue soon enough. So nothing more would stand in the way of my own legacy... He was quick to take me to his side and showed me my new private quarters inside the guild's halls. Only few members have rooms in this part of the city... only the most worthy serving Sylvanas. Then he came to show me my room. It was quite the surprise, but he explained to me that after retrieving two very important books in the name of the Horde, furthermore the Forsaken, it would be an honour for them to have me residing here within their midst. Of course it felt strange at first, I had only done the things necessary, but I got used to the idea of it rather quickly. But then, the most important part followed. He told me that my new robe was already inside the room, waiting for me to pick it up. I was urged to join him again in the general room once I had rested sufficiently and settled in, as he already knew that my grandeur would long for more tending to. Kaal left me to my own immediately afterwards.
Looking around my new quarters I spotted my new robe quickly, a relief to simply see, let alone putting it on. It was crafted from finest cloth, pitch black as the night with crimson parts around my shoulders and below the waist. Along these parts the seam was highlighted with a layer of golden toned material. Definitely a fine piece of clothing to call one's own...
Changing without any hesitation I spread out my old rags on the floor.
There it rest, almost completely ripped apart, the last connection to my past and to my weakness. The once so clean white robe with crimson linings along the seams, the red emblem on my chest now torn to shreds - I still remembered so clearly how happy I had been on receiving this. Was I wrong?
By then the robe was covered in dirt and the curdled blood of my enemies, not to forget my own staining it first. Darnys quietly sat close by on my bed wondering why I was looking so sad at this old rag. Carefully she wanted to know whether something was wrong, but I only answered with a clear and cold "No!", before setting the robe on fire.
I decided the flames should consume the last pieces of my memories, taking them along into oblivion.
Not sure what exactly would expect me I made up my mind that I did not want to rest any further, I had spent enough of my time on that on the zeppelin already. So ... I ordered Darnys to follow me to the guild hall.
I brought back two very important books, travelled through half of the two continents to obtain these four demons I have under my command, yet this all happened in such a feasibly small amount of time. Despite being barely able to grasp it..., I already began to wonder how far I would be able to go in the end.
As I approached Kaal within the main complex of the temple, he was astonished that I didn't want to rest at all, but I turned down his concerns as soon as he brought them up and told him that everything would be fine as it was. Shrugging with his shoulders Kaal then pointed out the way to a large table at the far back of the room. I did not know whether that day was something special or not, but the room, the whole hall was filled with lots and lots of people, most of them undead warlocks sitting and drinking with their fellows. It's not necessary, same with the motion of breathing... but you know as it is – old habits die hard.
As we passed through the room my succubus put up quite the show for her unsuspecting surroundings. Simply the way how she walked was alluring enough to make everybody stare at her, mouths wide open. The end of her tail sometimes purposefully grazed the cheeks of those poor people sitting next to the way we took as we passed them. She even let her whip drop once or twice one accident as she let it seem so she could stop and bend over as slowly as possible to pick it up before she continued following us. The few she winked at were rendered speechless, gazing at her from those lifeless eyes. This wouldn't be the last time and sometimes when she would put on a show like this I could only wonder that she kept her cloths on at all. And they always left that question behind... that idea and concern of how much of a necrophilicac she actually was...
"Kazile daz, rethul ur? (Having fun, aren't we?)" I asked her in Eredrun.
And about the moment I had just closed my mouth again everybody was staring at me now, even Kaal. Darnys only offered me an angry gaze. Most likely because I had stolen all the attention she had been so carefully building up, from her with only a single sentence.
After everybody had managed to calm down again, I was showered with compliments about how beautiful my succubus was and how good I already spoke demonic, apparently even without the typical accent to it. It had taken us quite a while but we finally sat down at the table that Kaal had tried to guide us to.
The orc the continued to congratulated me once again on obtaining these four basic demons and highlighted what a great job I did and especially how fast I had been in progressing. In only a few weeks I had achieved something that normally took years for a reasonably skilled warlock. He looked at me as a kind of genius, a praise I knew I deserved. Though I didn't quite know what I should respond to the things he said and told me. At that time he still referred to me as Hector, but I was never tired enough to remind him that I wanted to be called Ceberus. And by the end of our little conversation he even got used to calling me that way, so I assumed he was a fast learner too.
Sadly and to my let-down most of the things he told me were simple warnings, that I nevertheless would still need to be careful not to summon a demon too strong to control or challenge a foe too mighty. He urged me to keep these things in mind as always the most promising warlocks are most prone to fall to this. At least he made a good effort in reminding me about it again and again and again, leaving me now to admit how these seem the only things I remember about the chat I had with Kaal that day.
Or perhaps, well maybe there is something else I can recall from that evening.
Actually the orc didn't want to talk to me about it, but well, he maneuvered himself into this corner figuratively speaking. He told me something about other demons of the burning legion and which of them already had been successfully enslaved at least once. The Infernals for example, aggressive yet mindless fiends created from rock and fire. Moreover he also let a name drop, Niby, the self-proclaimed Almighty, a hapless gnome warlock who had been exiled by the people of Stormwind. He now lived in the Felwood planning his revenge. Kaal was only laughing about the story, but I saw my chance in it.
I knew how I grew stronger with every demon I had under my command. I could feel as much. They were all powering me, even if they were still in their demonic realm. And Infernals? They should be even stronger, something terribly fearsome with no mind to hold it back.
I could only ponder how far this might be able to take me.
As the evening commenced and a good few more hours had passed we all returned to our quarters to get the rest we all needed. I on the other hand already knew how I would stay awake the whole time thinking about all the possibilities that had opened up all of a sudden. Though the only thing I knew for sure when I said farewell for the night and closed the door behind me was that I never wanted to stop at this current level. There were far too many thinking of them as equals to me, a lie not far of a crime.
The rooms inside the guild hall had all been designed so that the warlock wouldn't have to dismiss his pet over the night. If you entered the rooms to your right you'd usually find a large pile of pillows where your succubus or felhunter could rest and on the left of you there was a dark alcove where a voidwalker or imp could spend the night in solitude. In the back of the room there would be your own bed and this was exactly where I chose to lay down. Darnys sat down by the pillows at first, she definitely liked it over there, yet as soon as I had closed my eyes for only a second I heard how she came sneaking up to me. She didn't know I was still awake. I wasn't too concerned. Even you can't your own demons, they would never hurt you... they simply couldn't. And she came over on her own, just as I had expected.
Not fully aware of it I had left some space between me and the wall, so it wasn't long before I felt how she carefully climbed over me and laid down next to my side huddling against me and away from the cold stone. Her head was then lying directly next to mine and her hand on my chest. For a moment I couldn't avoid the thought that it felt as if she was in love with me. But as these go... they only unearth pain, followed by my concerns that I was a Forsaken. I couldn't even restrain myself and kept on thinking about these silly matters for quite a while deep into the night.
But just as your perception dwindles after a while so did these pointless thoughts and my mind ultimately shifted on to a different topic with utmost ease. I was growing anxious already to learn the new spells Kaal had promised to teach me once I rose to this level. He hinted on how it would be mainly fire magic, but I didn't care. He could try to teach me frost magic, I was sure I would be able to learn several spells from him.
But there was something else that wouldn't let go of me... The name 'Niby' rose several times from the depths of my head during the course of the night. I also briefly thought about the Forgotten Shadow and what they wanted from me. Yet none of them ever contacted me... At that moment in time I was following their virtues in a direct fashion. I wouldn't have thought of it as so easy but all came naturally to me. I gained power fast, my strength rose without ends and I offered respect to the high warlocks of the Horde and I kept following my own goals with the tenacity I would need. Thought it never truly went away... that question. And as I kept thinking about all of this I began asking myself again whether I was a real member of the Horde to begin with or not. I've never met any of the great leaders and neither did I swear an oath to anybody... and actually I did not ever want to change that.
All I wanted was freedom. And in a way I was free, even back then. Yet just by residing inside the Temple of the Damned, deep within the guild halls I somehow was bound to the will of Kaal Soulreaper and the warlocks of the Forsaken. I was almost certain how the guild would soon give out assignments for me, especially if I grew to become this famous warlock that they all wanted me to be.
This was something I wanted to change as quickly as possible. But how to do that? But as simple as this question is posed, equally simple the answer is given - more power!
Finding myself back at where I had started I kept thinking about my possibilities and came to the conclusion that I should leave again tomorrow, immediately begin to make my way to Felwood. The new goal right in front my eyes the rest of the night passed then by rather fast, Darnys sleeping tightly huddled to me for its entirety.
It was when first I heard other people outside that I decided to get up again. And just as I had moved for the first time, the first slight tremor going through my limbs Darnys was looking right at me from large drowsy eyes bearing wide a smile on her face. I got up slowly not questioning her behavior as Darnys stretched behind me before doing the same as I did.
We left my private quarts and made our way to the general room. For the moment I just wanted to know who was already awake.
Not surprisingly it was still quite empty all in all and I figured it how must have been still rather early. But instead of sitting down and waiting for Kaal to show up, like any other sloth in this organization I wanted to use the time I still had wisely and so we left the Temple of the Damned to gather some supplies. Personally I might not need anything to eat anymore, but Darnys sure liked a treat every once in a while. Besides... by then as I was wearing those fine new robes, most people in Undercity greeted me with far more respect than before. They now acknowledged how strong I already was.
Strength... the one of the very few things a Forsaken lives his cursed life for, strength and ultimately revenge.
After about an hour had passed, I would guess, we returned to the mage quarters. I had no idea where I would find this gnome called Niby, but I knew where I could get a detailed map of the Felwood. For starters I guessed that would help at least a bit.
Supplied with sheet of parchment a few pieces of additional info I was set to get going, at least in theory. In the worst case scenario he would have allied with the Shadow Council in Jaedenar, but if that was the case I would have to simply take what I desired by force. A method I got quite good at over the time.
As we returned, Kaal had been actually awake for once. The orc he is, he wanted to invite me on a drink and something to eat but I turned down his offer. I wanted only to learn the spells he had promised to teach and then board the airship to Kalimdor again.
Not knowing where to my destination was set to he looked at me in bewilderment, but agreed to teach me whilst missing out on his breakfast nevertheless. He seemed glad at least that I wanted to search for my own destiny and not keep lingering in the mage quarters of Undercity living from assignments offered by the warlock's guild. I wondered if the mage guild were having the same problems.
Over the course of maybe an hour and a half he taught me three new fire spells as well as several other things concerning using the power offered by my demons. Sadly in the end it wasn't all that flattering as he it announced to be. Sometimes I even had the feeling how I had already used one or two of these spells. Kaal never ceased to call them extremely difficult, though I never thought that way. Actually all of them had been equally easy to learn if you'd ask me. The first casts are maybe a bit rough around the edges but it's all just like that first shadow bolt in the end.
Those experiences left me to assume that all the other types of magic must be more difficult than shadow or fire. With those two you just stand around and focus on whatever effect you want to achieve. I didn't know that this principle was valid for every type. But then again, I came to realize how I had been a bit daft from time to time.
But at least one of the things I was taught that day would prove useful. As the most impressive thing Kaal showed me on that lesson, it was the rain from the twisted nether. It basically is a spell that summons a rain of fire over a certain area. No doubt I would have needed that earlier to deal with those pesky murlocs in Hillsbrad.
After we were done, I briefly thanked Kaal and promised I would return if I made further progress of note. He appeared utmost glad to hear that from my dead lips. Although he didn't admit that he wasn't able to teach me anything new either. Well... I guess it was better that way. If he had told me so, I probably would have never returned to him and in all honesty I would have probably missed out on quite a lot. He came to tell me about a lot of other important things when I would meet him again later on, but at that point he still was too careful concerning me and my strength. He only saw my potential and not the ability I had already gathered...
And then I was off again... Me and Darnys left Undercity and immediately went up to the tower where the zeppelins usually departed from. The goblin at the top platform greeted us friendly with the typical sleazy smile of their race, but told us that we would have to wait a little bit longer than usual. One of the airships had a minor accident and crashed at the north coast of Tirisfal. Therefore we would have to wait for the next one to arrive.
So a crash landing is what goblins call a "minor" accident, huh?
I used the extra time on my hands for further practice of my knowledge in Eredrun with the help of my trusty succubus. It was particularly funny to watch how the goblin reacted to sound the words. At some point I simply stopped thinking about the pain you feel when you don't understand the language. It didn't concern me so I stopped bothering. And in all honesty, by then I truly liked the demon tongue, not only by the sound of their words, but being able to talk in such a noble and respectful way and yet on the other hand every word you speak sounds wretched and cruel to your heart's content...
As we had finally arrived in Kalimdor later on I hurried through Orgrimmar as fast as possible just so that I wouldn't have to stay in that city for too long. As we passed the Valley of Strength there was again the usual lot of lunatics on the loose as I would find out with due time. Drunk orcs lying in front of the tavern, trolls and tauren standing around talking about mojo, for whatever that was... half-naked bloodelves walking the streets - the only race missing were the Forsaken, although I guess I just didn't see them.
I dismissed Darnys in front of the flight master and asked whether his Windriders would be able to bring me to Felwood. He responded reluctantly but admitted that this would indeed be possible, yet only to the so-called Emerald Sanctuary, a camp set up by the Circle of Cenarius, located in the far south of the tainted woods. Nevertheless I agreed, going by foot would be dreadful in any case and only slow down my progress.
The Wyvern started its flight to the north kicking off the ground with its strong hind legs, then going through the woods of Ashenvale and entering the corrupted lands of Felwood. The Hyjal Mountain was directly to the east, looming over and casting its shadow down upon us, careful to hide its top from my gaze.
Right after I had landed, I was welcomed by a tall grown nightelf asking me in broken common if I spoke Darnassian. I shook my head and after that I didn't pay any more attention to her. She wiggled around behind as I guessed that she still tried to tell me something about this area and how I would be able to help their utmost noble of cause, but I only summoned my succubus and walked away. The elf tried to hold me back from leaving once, yelled something that they could really need my help and whatnot. Yet Darnys offered her typical angry look, maybe even mixed with a bit jealousy and let her whip crack once, showing off she wouldn't hesitate to apply force if needed. I on the other hand just kept on walking, not looking back to any of the two. Still I wondered why that elf talked to me in the first place..., weren't nightelves supposed to be hostile towards members of the horde?
Anyways after reaching a fair distance to the camp I focused again on the reason why I had come there, it was solely to find Niby.
Felwood was a sickened land, cursed by the Burning Legion. The water had a slight green color and was without poisonous. Living oozes roamed around the small lakes and rivers that were still flowing. The animals were almost completely tainted, similar to the ones of the plaguelands. Their flesh was rotting away from their body with every minute that passed, with every step they took. And most of the old elven ruins, once proud towers and beautiful pavilions, were now festered with satyrs.
It feels somewhat strange to admit it, but finding this Niby wasn't too difficult. It took some time to get to him but that was mainly because I started out in the far south of the region and he was situated more off to the north, near the only river carrying actual water through those lands.
Also I didn't find him first, but instead his imp. It all happened more or less by accident. He was chasing the little demon because he had criticized his master's summoning abilities. Darnys only rolled her eyes at the sight of a gnome chasing an imp and I too had doubts of my own now that I saw this 'almighty' warlock. But sometimes you have to gamble with fate and after travelling all the way... I might as well take the chance once I had been already there for once...
I approached him with far too much respect than he deserved and greeted the gnome in false friendship. To my bewilderment he understood every word I said and even refrained from replying in gnomish but instead common. I wondered if he really was so powerful like Kaal had mentioned, there must have been a reason for him being sent into exile, maybe he had murdered an official or conducted forbidden experiments inside the city. Who would have known that it was due to fraud...?
Instead of revealing such a compromising secret to me though, he rather told me about his keen plan of revenge to destroy the city of Stormwind once and for all...
But for that he would be in need of a stronger minion by his side than the little Impsy standing next to him. He also added without hesitation that the demon he sought should be capable of more than nagging and complaining.
Darnys used the moment of inobservance of the gnom well and whispered into my ear that I should be careful in trusting the warlock as he hardly seemed to be able to conduct a single efficient spell in her eyes. I have to admit it was right what she said to me, yet I didn't want to judge him only from the first sight. Again a bold move on my part and hardly worth it in the end...
After Niby had finished his monologue about the destruction of Stormwind he was planning, I interrupted him firmly, asking whether it was true or not that he was able to enslave infernals. The way he talked and the look in his eyes suddenly changed. He grew somehow fearsome, for a gnome at least.
Taking another step towards me he looked up at me and wanted to know who I was and what I wanted such information for. I answered truthfully and told him my name, Ceberus, and that I wanted nothing but to learn how to do this from him.
A moment of silence followed as he thought for a moment, looking over at his imp. Then he turned back at me and offered me something which would heighten my mood. He revealed that he had an idea how I could probably be of aid for him and then he would be of aid for me. His face show offering a grim smile in return.
Both of us now seeing how our chances seemed to be suddenly growing, he told me of a great infernal that once had roamed these lands and how it was once called by the name of Kroshius.
This infernal would surely be a splendid minion for him. Yet unfortunately the fiend was already dead, slayed a long time ago and one would have to reignite its extinguished core. Luckily his imp, Impsy, knew how to create demonic fire which we needed to revive the demon, to take it back from rock and rubble and set its burning heart ablaze once again. Then he directed me to talk directly to his demon, if I was successful in retrieving the flaming core of Kroshius for him, he would teach me how to summon and enslave infernals at will.
I looked at Darnys who seemed incredibly worried at the time, yet I agreed to the deal of the gnome.
The imp by his side squealed in response just like Pipfip always did when he disliked something as I approached the creature.
I opened my mouth to speak, yet before I could say a single word, the imp interrupted me telling me that he already knew what I wanted to say.
In order to create demonic fire he would need a perfect demonic essence from certain demons residing in Felwood. Only their essence, one could hardly call it 'soul', would be strong enough to reignite the corpse of Kroshius. Unfortunately for me these creatures, Felguards, are held as minions by the warlocks of Jaedenar and I didn't expect them to be too pleased by the fact that I wanted to kill their strongest pets either. But well, I had no other choice.
I didn't need any more instructions on where I had to go thanks to the thorough mapmakers of Undercity.
The imp squeaked happily as I agreed to the task and wished me a quick and painless death upon me as took my leave. What a nice way to say farewell, isn't it? I was quite sure he and Pipfip would get along rather well, should they ever meet.
As I left, Niby tried to summon another demon to his side, tired of own imp, which ended in a mild explosion that I could still hear from afar. As I heard it, the bad thoughts I had about this whole thing only turned even worse. But I was still willing to take the risk even if it turned out to be a dead end after all. Stubborn you could call it perhaps.
Getting to Jaedenar was probably one of the easiest things about it, I just headed back south and besides I already knew where it was thanks to my map... I had passed it once already on my way to Niby.
Jaedenar itself was by far the biggest nightelf ruin inside Felwood, the former druidic barrow den had been taken over by the warlocks of Gul'dan and after the slaughter of all former inhabitants it had been renamed in the honour of Kil'jaeden, a commander of the Burning Legion. At least that was what I had been told about this area beforehand.
The Shadow Council still resided there, not very successfully trying to spread the region's corruption to Ashenvale and Darkshore.
As I stood in front of the entrance to the area sacred to the lesser minions of the legion I made a few clear for myself once again. That I would retreat as soon as I got the essences described and that surely I would have to face a heavy resistance no matter if worthy or not. This was also the first time that I had this feeling, the hunch that this would be the first time that I really endangered myself. Darnys was standing by my side also a bit reluctant while thinking of what could happen to us. I don't remember if she tried to hold me back or not, either way she hadn't been too pleased with the thought of all this since we had seen the gnome for the first time.
The whole area was heavily populated with all kinds of cultists of this so-called council. There were orcs as well as humans, or Forsaken, or even more gnomes.
The foremost of them was a Forsaken just like me. He was wearing a staff and not looking too dangerous at all. I concentrated on a shadow bolt to take him out with one clean hit. It would be the least I could do for a fellow of kin. Still at a fair distance and despite being as quiet as possible for me, the cultist suddenly turned around and created a sort of violet sphere around him, just as the jet of shadow magic flew directly at him. A grim smile was on the face of the Forsaken as my projectile vanished into nothingness. To my astonishment the spell had been completely absorbed by the strange shield
Yet it was also shattered by my cast and the look in the cultist's eyes suddenly changed to rapid fear.
Aware that my shadow spells wouldn't be so useful if most of them could create such a shield around them I tried to finish him off with fire magic. Just so I would get a hang my still fairly new spells. This way I could try all of them out on real targets. I cast an immolate on another caster close by. Vulnerable to the full extent of the spell the cultist tried to flee in vain. Wanting to see what it did to a living target I then used a new spell that Kaal had taught me. He had called it conflagrate. It uses the fire already consuming the victim and raises its temperature rapidly. The result? It explodes.
The cultist had no chance as the smell of burned rotten flesh filled the air likewise. Seeing the mangled corpse I immediately knew that this would get to be easier than I anticipated after all.
I carefully killed my way one by one through the open area outside of the ruins. The cultists even had their own felhunter pets to my surprise yet it's mostly thanks to them that I fully understood why Strahad was so impressed by mine and more even that I was able to defeat him in the end, despite the damage to his own dwelling. I was able to kill one of their felhunter with a single shadow bolt. A spell of this power wouldn't even have left a scratch on the scale hide of mine. Unfortunately this also meant that only the felguards in this area would be able to leave parts of their essence behind after dying. This 'essence' usually appeared as dark crystals filled with the purest dark energy of the twisted nether.
Leaving me the certainty that if I wanted or not, I had to enter the building to my far right to get what I needed to advance further in the dark arts. Stripped of any other way I approached the open door with the staircase leading downwards into a cave system deep beneath the surface of the earth. I assumed down there was once a sleeping place for druids, but by the time I set foot into the once empty halls, far more vile things would reside in the shadows lurking about.
As I reached what seemed to be the bottom level, I entered a long hallway. The walls consisted solely of hardened earth and the floor was covered with tiles made from stone scattered out without too much care every other step, roots of the trees above us were visible in various places. The whole way was only barely lit with failing torches.
A single warlock was standing guard at the entrance, hardly an opponent. A shadow bolt of mine pierced his body and heart quietly even before he could build up a defense, making him drop to the ground without a further sound. Chances are he probably didn't even notice why he died all of a sudden.
The hallway opened into a large room with several levels in height. Right in front of me two bridges crossed the way to the lower levels leading to several smaller chambers and to my left I could use a staircase to climb further downwards. Darnys pointed over to one of the smaller chambers. She must have felt the presence of these strong demons for a while now. And just as I had hoped for... a felguard and a warlock were standing inside the little room conducting one of the many rituals necessary to bind demons.
I could tell that the warlock would spot me if I began gathering energy for a stronger spell such as a shadow bolt so instead I started out with something quick. A single immolate would do, that way I would at least land the first hit. The moment the spell was on its target, the demon guard came charging towards me knowing its master in trouble. I could still conduct the explosion of the spell so that the warlock wouldn't interfere any further, yet the demon kept charging nonetheless. The moment it reached me I received a hard hit from it with the fist, knocking me backwards into the wall. It stood over me with a large axe in his other hand and I was left to cherish the fact how the demon didn't use its weapon to begin with...
For whatever reason it halted a short moment, but then I saw why. Darnys was attacking it all out, trying to save me at any cost. The attacks must have hurt to distract the demon, but clearly not enough to bring the creature down. It turned around in a fluent motion and hit her too, sending her flying backwards onto the bridge and almost over the edge. It was hard for me to focus while seeing how Darnys was getting hurt so badly, but I got up fast and put all my anger and hatred for this creature into one single spell. I was standing right in front of the felguard, my hand with the charged shadow bold right in front of the head of the demon, impossible to be dodged.
Black blood was pouring out of the stump of a neck that remained as the body fell to the floor twitching and shivering. I kicked the axe out of its hand before it could hit me or something else with it random stray swings.
Still gathering my own senses I hurried over to Darnys and had a look if everything was alright. Luckily she was only unconscious nevertheless I thought it would be wisest to dismiss her to her own realm where she could recover properly.
A bit weary of what might await me if I continued onwards alone I summoned my felhunter to my side. He on the other hand looked at the current situation somehow as supper time or something similar. Thoonum immediately attached his two tentacle first to the mutilated felguard and then to the warlock.
After he was done with 'eating', the corpse of the demon disappeared into the twisted nether, leaving a handful of dark violet crystals behind wherever a larger amount of its blood had been spilled. My felhunter wanted to eat those too, but I could hold him back just in time to prevent that. I ordered him to stand aside as I was in need of those. Yet I promised to give him a few as a treat if he helped me to gather more whilst by my side.
I couldn't actually say why but I liked the company of the felhunter, even creating this little bargain with him... though he seemed a bit hoggish to me. With him by my side it would definitely be even easier to get through Jaedenar than before, although I swore to myself not to tell Darnys about this. I simply figured it'd be the best for all of us...
For the moment I was fairly sure that I only needed the essences of two or three more felguards. The hard part about this was the fact that there weren't too many of them as I should soon discover. Apparently most warlocks here had trouble with controlling them and therefore switched to pets that were easier to handle, mostly imps or felhunter.
Of course the warlocks and their lower minions were no match for me and Thoonum, and actually... I didn't have to do anything at all. My felhunter basically ripped them apart completely on his own.
It was a while before I found another two of the guards inside a pit. Apparently the room was used for some kind of ritual, around the middle of it there was a circle of burning candles, carefully assembled. At first I was a bit reluctant to send my felhunter out to attack both of the guards, but I actually had no real choice, I just had to do it. And it even went fairly well too, Thoonum dodged most of the hits of his opponent and the one or two strikes that hit him didn't seem too hard, but as they summoned their axes everything became a lot more dangerous, at least for me that was.
I attacked one of the guards as good as I could, but it hardly did anything except for making the creature notice me. The shadow bolt I used in the fight before must have been a lot stronger due to the situation I was in. Yet again I was quite sure that I could concentrate on my own survival... nothing would happen to my felhunter, he was agile enough to see this through.
From one moment to the other then everything went quite fast. One of the guards stopped attacking Thoonum and focused solely onto me. The moment he charged at me I prepared for a close range shadow bolt again. The demon was swinging his axe to deliver a blow that would have clearly chopped me in two.
I dodged the weapon only by inches and the heavy axe dug deep into the earth to my side. My mind was filled with fear, fueling the spell even more. From this short range it tore off one arm of the demon without any trouble. The creature was tumbling backwards letting a fountain of black blood fill the air around us. A few spurts of the blood hit my face, leaving a faint burning sting behind. It burnt the flesh right off my skull, leaving marks that can still be seen today.
The other felguard seemed taken by surprised that his friend suddenly had fallen to the ground with one limb detached. I used the moment the demon was distracted to aim another shadow bolt filled with anger and the lust for more blood directly at its head. I didn't manage to hit the target I was aiming at but the shadow bolt dug through the flesh of the demons neck, which also did enough damage to almost kill it instantly.
Blood came pouring out of the injured demons, which I gladly saw as for this would be the essences I needed. After the blood had crystallized and the bodies vanished from this realm I carefully picked the remains up and put them into my bag to the others.
I just hoped that this was enough for the imp to create this fire of his. I hurried out of the underground structure and yet I have to admit I got lost at least twice while I tried to get out. The different hallways were all looking so alike..., a confusing structure indeed.
As I had managed to reach the surface of the earth again, I gave one of the crystals to my felhunter and promised that he would get everything what the imp wouldn't be needing for his little spell.
Fueled by our small success we left the area around Jaedenar together, the felhunter tagging along my side. We may have only killed underlings while we were down there, yet I assumed the higher ranked members wouldn't be so pleased about finding all the dead cultists of theirs in a couple of hours or even only minutes.
Upon returning to Niby, Impsy started to run away at first as the imp saw my felhunter.
I handed over the essences I gathered to the little demon who gladly squealed as he saw what I had. The imp greedily snatched all of them from my hands and only I heard how my felhunter was snarling back at Impsy.
With one quick movement and before any of us close by could interfere the imp put all the crystals into his mouth and swallowed them as a whole. With a loud burp a jet of flames shot out of the mouth of the demon and set the ground in front of me on fire. The fire was flickering in a strange light green toning, a bit brighter even than the fire surrounding the imp naturally.
I stared at the green flames in front of me for a good few moments. There was something terrifying yet appealing about them. I felt the energy of the twisted nether running right through the air around the fire and eating away at the ground underneath it.
Then a new problem arose... how would I be able to pick it up without hurting myself?
The imp squealed at me once more, shouting that I should just go and grab a stone or something for it before it ceased from this plane, that there would be no heat.
I believed his words concerning the flames being as cold as the earth I was standing on at that time and yes - as I dug into the earth next to the flame I didn't feel any warmth at all. I tried carefully not to touch it, as I was well aware that even if it wasn't warm at all, the flames would be capable of burning away my arm as a whole within only a few seconds. Even my felhunter took a fair distance to the fire as it continued to happily burn away on everything it touched even only once. One thing I could tell though... I would need as much of the flame as possible.
From the corner of my eye I spotted a long and flat stone lying next to the trees, probably chipped off from one of the bigger ones scattered about. It would serve as a fine tray for the fire. I dug out a couple of inches around the center of the flame so that I could pick up a pile of earth with the green fire on top of it. As I mustered up my courage and picked it up with my bare hands a lot of the flame fell back onto the earth leaving its burning mark wherever it landed. I hurried over to the stone and almost threw the flame onto it. With this solid tray I would be able to get the fire to the stone corpse of Kroshius without any more trouble I hoped.
Meanwhile the imp instructed me where I would have to go to find the resting place of the dead demon. Up into the forest to the north from here on a hill there should rest the corpse of the fiend I sought. The area around it would be filled with craters where most of the infernals had once crashed to the earth of Azeroth during the third great war. Getting there shouldn't be too much of an issue... I knew I wouldn't have to worry too much about the flame. The longer I was in its presence, the more I came to understand it and its nature..., it would surely burn for at least three more days before dying off. A number the imp greatly underestimated. Although I would still have to be careful not to let the flame touch any of my skin or whatsoever. It would swallow me whole without remorse, just like the avatar of chaos that it is...
The gnom Niby was present the whole time, yet he preferred to fish in the lake filled with green water. He didn't even bother to watch over us... but as soon as U wanted to leave towards the north he shouted at me that no matter what happened I should only return to him with the flaming core of Kroshius or else...
The only thoughts I, on the other hand had on seeing him sitting there were something like 'arrogant bastard'. That probably should be the exact wording.
The place the imp had described to me wasn't too far away at all. The fire on the stone in front of me started burning stronger and stronger with every step I took. I felt how it fed on the foul energies in this forest, the spirit of this tainted lands. And as I reached the top of a hill almost next to the bluff of Mount Hyjal the flame rose high up into the air for a second. Upon this the fire had almost devoured the complete stone, leaving nothing of it behind. Not even ashes were cast onto the ground. It would only take seconds to either spread to my hands and arms or burn right through the stone so it would fall onto my feet.
I saw the huge pile of rocks I was aiming for lying wildly stacked next to a tree. I took my chances and threw the rest of the flaming stone directly into their midst.
The fire then began happily jumping from stone to stone as if it was following a clear pattern after it had landed somewhere in their middle. It grew stronger and stronger with every piece of rubble it reached just until everything was glowing in a faint light green tone. No more but an alien process to witness, the rabble began moving. Slowly it piled up and a pitch black stone formed the center of the creature now standing in front of me. The stone was about as big as my head and I knew immediately what it was... Around this center piece the rest aligned steadily. Four of the larger stones formed some sort of legs for the creature. The smaller ones connected and formed a body and arms. Another smaller stone resembled the head. It was now about twice to three times as high as I was, the fire still burning happily inside the structure.
The demon was not yet moving on its own, but Thoonum started snarling at the creature.
Suddenly the fire burned through the little stone on its top, opening three holes, which made it look as if there were eyes and a mouth to this thing.
"Lok amanalar il Amanare... Kar daz amanare no? KAR DAZ AZ? (The pleasure of Freedom... Who has awakened me? WHO WAS IT?)"
The voice was dark and loud enough to be heard throughout the whole forest with ease.
The movement of the demon began to pick up, at first it was slow and looked clumsy, yet I already felt the pressure of its presence.
It looked at me and my felhunter.
"Shi ashj lok zar ante theramas no, zennshi? (You were the one that awakened me, warlock?)"
The words of the demon were followed by a dull, yet grim laughter.
"X alar buras shi x tiros ruk ashjraka golad kar zila re x mannor. (I will grant you a quick and painless death for this as a favor.)"
The demon came walking towards me slowly. I backed up a bit further as in my mind I heard the voice of my felhunter and how he asked me to allow him to attack. I granted his wish and my demon charged at Kroshius.
As the felhunter reached his opponent he tried to bite into the leg of the creature forgetting about it being completely made of stone. The two tentacles on his back attached to it for nothing but a split second only, but you could see the flames fluttering as the felhunter drained the magic, even if it was only for the blink of an eye.
The infernal hit Thoonum in the side sending him flying away in response.
"Belaros amir... enkilzar il x karkun. (Pitiful fool... enslaved by a mortal.)"
Thoonum quickly got to his feet again. I was paralyzed because of the strange fascination for this monstrosity combined with the fear I felt deep inside me. So tall and dull, a giant of brute force, but then again the creature was overflowing with foul energy. If I could I would have made this creature mine the moment it stood from its shallow grave upon this hill.
Too late I realized that I was already in the reach of the fiend.
"Arakalada archim...(Meritless insect...)"
A hard hit with its fist sent me flying off to the side, smashing into the rock of Mount Hyjal. Everything ached even in my dead broken body, but now I was out of direct hit range for the demon at least..., and it still didn't move any faster either.
Everything around me was blurry. I got up back to my feet staggering, hardly able to keep balance. Meanwhile Thoonum jumped at the back of the giant made of fire and stone, attaching his tentacles again, this time long enough to really enjoy the energy he drained from the infernal. Kroshius couldn't reach where Thoonum was sitting with his claws dug deep into the rocks.
I tried to focus and cast a shadow bolt at it but the spell wasn't too powerful. Yet it remained strong enough to shatter parts of the stone in its upper right arm.
Suddenly the infernal formed a kind of ball. It only took split seconds to re-arrange itself before it started spinning in mid-air for a short moment, sending Thoonum again flying away.
The moment it took its usual form again the creature left an opening. I put all my anxiousness and fear into the spell I wanted to perform. The stronger the energy in my hand grew the stronger the thoughts in my head became. I almost yelled at myself in my head. I wanted nothing more than to be able to control such a being!
The shadow bolt flew faster than usual, piercing the upper part of the chest, if you want to call it that way, of Kroshius making the rocks crumble.
"Shi lok kar karkun kar x maez karkun, zennshi... (You are too strong for a mere mortal, warlock...)"
The demon came approaching me, this time faster than usual. I found myself out of position... there was no place to run to anywhere. I was completely cornered in the place where I was standing, so I could only try to keep on attacking. I knew that fire magic would hardly do anything to a creature like this, so my only chance was to hit him hard and often with various shadow bolts. It wasn't creative... but I could tell it was my only chance.
I stood there, trapped between large rotten trees, a mountain in my back and the largest demon I ever faced in front of me approaching ever so slowly me to end my existence with another good hit.
Shadow bolt after shadow bolt flew at it as despair and fear were creeping up inside me making them stronger with every second that passed, taking a good hold of my sense. Every one of them hit their target blasting small holes into the body made of stone.
"Zar zennshi, melar golad! ( Now warlock, taste death!)"
The demon was standing directly over me raising his giant fist to smash me into pieces. In this moment Thoonum jumped at the creature one last time and bit into the raised arm. Kroshius was irritated for a mere moment, but long enough for my shadow bolt already flying at the stone neck of the creature.
The head fell to the ground the moment the jet of shadow magic had pierced the body, letting the thing tumble backwards. The creature was still alive, I felt as much. Besides... the fire was still burning inside the body. It would only be a matter of time until the demon had regenerated itself.
I had to seize the moment. Life and death were on a line only separated by moments of hesitation.
I hurried to the stone body and saw the pitch black core of Kroshius lying wide open for me to take without any protection except for the cold green flames.
I grabbed for it. It wasn't hot at all, on the contrary it was as cold as ice. Nevertheless I could feel how the flames burned away the white skin and rotten flesh right off of my fingers, leaving nothing but bones behind and even those wouldn't last forever.
I ripped the black circular stone right out of the core of the infernal as if I had ripped out the heart of a living creature. The flames inside the body immediately started ceasing and from somewhere I could hear a faint scream upon holding the black stone in my hands.
I wanted to keep it, it was mine – I had conquered it...yet I had made a deal with the gnome. If I had known at that time what Niby was about to tell me in return for this monstrosities heart, I would have kept the black orb and resurrected Kroshius as my own minion.
But well, that's too late now.
I returned to the warlock and his imp quickly, excited to claim my prize, my felhunter right by my side. It was a shame how my new robes had already been singed from the fire of the demon and a few parts on the back were already ripped open from the smash against the rocks.
The smell of my burned flesh lay in the air as I handed over the orb known as the core of Kroshius.
The gnome seemed utterly happy about this and he handed me a book in return. He told me that I would find everything I wanted to know inside of it.
As I left together with my felhunter, eager to study the forbidden knowledge resting at my bony fingertips I was looking at the first pages of the book.
Yes..., it was true that this book would teach me everything I had to know about how to summon an infernal from the twisted nether, what I would need and what spell I would have to speak. It informed me about everything involved including the risks... and with every word I read while I was walking slowly along the road to the south I felt how I became stronger. The flesh of my fingers was only a small price to pay for this, yet soon enough I would come to change my mind.
Coming from behind me I heard an explosion and the scream of the gnome, I didn't bother to turn around and take a look at what had happened.
I closed the book and the expression on my face changed, now showing fury and anger.
All in all, he deserved to die. There was no doubt about that...
The book he had given to me was a copy of something he had stolen from the cultists of Jaedenar. I could have found one of these right inside the nightelf ruins.
I screamed out loud in frustration letting the urge to kill drive it away.
But it wasn't enough... now that I had awakened it, it wanted to be fed. I headed directly into the woods following this blind desire, killing every animal in my way.