Chapter 9:

Having obtained the ability to summon an infernal had changed my perception of many things... As I was to find out rather soon it was considered to be something really special in this world. Yet I on the other hand have to admit how all this rubbish about warlocks not even being able to summon even a succubus or a felhunter was something I couldn't believe nor understand for the longest time, simply because somehow it had been all so easy for me.

Information travels far too quickly for one's own good and only naturally I had made a name for myself inside the warlock guild, but now with the infernal by my side, obeying to my every command even other caster guilds also started to notice me. Above that I also rose to become a star follower of the Forgotten Shadow, despite me having hardly ever talked to any of the members of the cult. And frankly they didn't mean much to me. It was their virtues that gave me a goal in my existence, something I wanted to achieve, not the false words preached to me by empty hull of a man. I never had any interest in becoming friends with the whole cult. Sadly this almost meant constant surveillance by almost any kind of people...But it wasn't all bad. In Undercity even normal vendors then started to know my name, fortunately they knew me as Ceberus and not as Hector anymore.

The only thing none of them grasped or even considered for a single moment was the fact that I didn't want to become famous like this at all. All I wanted was freedom for myself.

But soon enough other desires began rampaging through my mind again. I wanted to see how strong my new demon really was and so I decided to travel to the Hillsbrad Foothills to either take revenge on the murlocs at the coastline or watch the diversion my demon would cause if I sent it right into the Fields of Hillsbrad, the small farmer village at the feet of the Alterac Mountains. I began shifting as my lust of blood grew stronger and more alike to the shadows... it doesn't matter whose blood would be spilled to satisfy my cravings.

After thinking about it for a while on the flight over to Tarren Mill I decided I'd go with the latter of the both and cause some havoc.

My fingers already itching for what was to come, I left Tarren Mill directly upon landing and within a safe distance to it I summoned the demon. The moment the infernal crashed down from the heavens and into this world for the first time, I felt how its presence began feeding my strength. All my capabilities surged, exceeding my own expectations by a long shot. I just wished this feeling would last and not diminish when it returned to its realm.

The amount of energy I could summon to use for a spell increased dramatically, I was sure that in a state like this a single shadow bolt of mine could even kill a strong felhunter like Thoonum with a clean hit.

A fierce glow in my eyes I started to make my way towards the west to get to the village. The presence of the infernal kept on feeding my lust for blood and made me leave the last bit of mercy for any human being behind. I wanted to see them dying, to hear them wince in agony, to beg in vain for my mercy... But all got broken up so easily as a loud scream interrupted my thoughts.

I calmed back down at least a bit and decided to have look at where the scream came from. I knew that there should a cave full of wendigos around there in the general area, as I had passed it several times.

It wasn't too far away and I would have crossed paths with the fury beasts anyhow... Surprisingly enough I found a few of them lying dead in front of their cave upon my arrival. It was a dead giveaway of what had been happening there. Then a second scream made into my ears coming from the inside of the cave. No doubt the person crying out couldn't be too far from the entrance.

Not entirely sure what might await me I hurried inside, the tall and clumsy infernal still by my side. Inside the cave, I was confronted with the decision to go left or right, the left way leading down deeper into the mountain and the right one up a slope. I took the way up to the right for now and quickly found the person screaming sitting next to a brazier surrounded by at least five of the wendigos looming over her. The voice had already given away that it was woman...

Wendigos are tall creatures with a usually grey to brown fur and two large horns attached to their skulls. They are still rather similar to humanoids in their physique. The person screaming turned out to be a bloodelf carrying a sword and a shield in a color matching her black armor with red highlights. It was not until later on that I would find out that this was the armor of the paladins of Silvermoon.

The blood on her weapon and the stains on her armor testified to her being the reason for the dead wendigos in front of the cave. In an act of self-defense the normally rather peaceful wendigos started attacking her, ultimately dragging her into this cave. This would be more than enough reason for me to test the strength of my new pet... although I clearly did not as much decide to aid the elf but rather satisfy my own longing for dark red liquid being spilled.

At first I only sent the infernal out to attack the utmost left animal while I was still surveying the situation... But I grew quickly enough to change my mind and prepare a spell for one of the other ones aiming for the one standing directly to her right with a shadow bolt.

The jet of violent magic hit the creature in the side. It flew faster than the infernal was walking and blasted a not so clean hole into the body of the wendigo of about twice the size of the creature's head. A little fountain covered the other wendigos as well as parts of the elf's armor in their blood. They turned to me immediately, for I was a far greater threat than the helpless bloodelf in their eyes.

Meanwhile my infernal had finally reached its target and it literally smashed the creature into the ground. The bones of the wendigo snapped like twigs..., incredibly loud twigs taking the attention off me again. With this much time suddenly on my hands I used it to try out almost every single spell I knew at that point only to see whether it had become stronger too and if yes, how much exactly.

The bloodelf looked at me from afar with scared eyes. So much terror... so much fright - I must have been at least as fearsome for her as the wendigos were before, probably more than that even. The demon by my side only enhancing this fiend appeal as it smashed wendigo after wendigo leaving no survivors and instead puddles of bone and fur. My pet even finished off the ones I wanted to kill slowly with my curses. Just as it got done with the actual threat around us it turned to the bloodelf and lifted its large arm, blood dropping down from the outline of the heavy stones, bet I ordered it to stop right in time.

The giant of flames and rubble froze in its movements and returned to my side immediately without any hesitation or questions to it. The biggest downside of the infernal though was how you could only keep it in this world for no longer than five minutes. And I knew I would definitely need to find a way on how to increase this duration. What's a follow worth if he disappears once you might him the most? Nothing – exactly! The infernal next to me stopped moving, then the green in flames in its carcass extinguished themselves in the glimpse of an eye and the whole creature collapsed.

I took my time cherishing my work had fulfilled during the last minutes and I have to say... I was pleased with the outcome. Afterwards I approached the bloodelf in her black and red armor still sitting shivering in between the mangled corpses of the wendigos.

As I stood directly in front of her, I casually offered her a hand to help her up. Poor things... She was so scared by me. I tried to talk to her, to tell her that I only wanted to help out, but she didn't really listen. And honestly, who could blame her for that? She must have thought that I also wanted to kill her too, like with the things around her. I probably got a bit carried away anyhow. So I just went on talking, trying to get some sense back into her. I told her my name and foremost that I was a citizen of Undercity and that I didn't have any interest in killing her. If I had really wanted to, I wouldn't have waited so long anyhow. But alright the part with the citizen of Undercity was a lie, but at least the rest was all purest truth.

I didn't really want to be a member of the Horde or whatsoever. And most of all I didn't want to get dragged into this fight with the so-called Alliance. It would only restrain me... maybe... maybe there would be chances to grow stronger... but giving up my free will yet again? No... I didn't think so.

Slowly she finally calmed down. It was out of question how she didn't trust me at all but at least now she got up back to her feet again. Yet she didn't even take my offer that I could help her up, instead she pushed my hand aside. Well... being careful towards strangers is considered a good trait, isn't it? At the time I couldn't see too much of her face either, due to the helmet she was wearing.

Having another look at the slightly disoriented elf as well as the mess I made, I asked whether we could now leave this cave. And just as I gave up any hope that she would answer me she asked me to wait in a still trembling and shacking tone. Her voice was strong, yet very light and clear, something only an accomplished. I wouldn't know how I could describe it in a way that suited the true sound of it.

Turning away from me for a second she held a kind of rod into the fire of the brazier next to us, turning them into light blue flames.

She asked me if I could accompany her on her way down into the cave to find another one of these fireplaces. She quickly made use of the fact that I was stronger than her and I? I agreed to help her, although I don't know any more why I did so in the first place.

Anyways there was a second of those braziers supposedly somewhere on the bottom level of the cave. All in all it didn't take too long to find it. I summoned my felhunter to my side as I thought of him to be the demon that would make the least trouble and also was the strongest of the lot, except for my infernal of course.

Getting passed the wendigos down there was rather easy as I recall. My felhunter killed them on his, own without any problem.

The second brazier as we found it was situated in a smaller part of the cave with a little underground brook flowing through it. As the iron rod was held into it, the fire turned into a bright green, similar to the demonic flames of my infernal or imp. On this day I first started to wonder if I would be able to create such flames on my own and little did I know at that time that from these thoughts one of my strongest spells would originate.

We left the cave not hesitating any longer. I was sure the wendigo population would grow back to normal again soon enough... I did not intend on killing as much of them as I had done, but I did not hold back. Getting carried away like this is something rather... normal in all honesty. And I was just as merciless while opposing them, as I would be with other opponent. I looked at it as training.

Back on the surface again the bloodelf turned to me for the first time. The black armor seemed to be made of pure onyx at least that was the way it looked like. It fit her body tightly, yet nevertheless flexible enough to allow her quick movements while in combat, not endangering her life. The blacksmiths of Silvermoon surely must have a high reputation among the elves.

She actually even took her helmet off so I could see her face for a change. It had a rather thin outlining but still she seemed strong just from looking at her. Her hair was of a bright orange and just long enough to be tied to a ponytail behind her head with a single strand of it in front of her magnificent green eyes. She had the typical long elven ears and eyebrows, but none of them narrowed her beauty down in any way.

I just loved elven eyes and hers were no exception. They were somehow hypnotizing.

She briefly thanked me for saving her and my aid I lent while finding the last of the braziers she was searching for. To my surprise she told me her name before she bid me farewell. Calystea as she called herself would have to address back to the task she was given in Tarren Mill. I briefly wondered about what she would have to do and for whom, but I didn't ask. I wasn't the most curious kind of person at that time...

I didn't know if destiny wanted to tell me something but I met her several times by mere chance during the following weeks, even on the evening of the same day inside the Undercity. And I even have to admit, it was not me who noticed her first. Usually she was the one who found me by accident and came up for quick chat or whatsoever. On the other hand, sometimes it felt as if she was trying to find me, as if she was searching for me on purpose.

After a couple more of these random encounters we started to do things together frequently, take assignments or whatever crossed our path. It turned into something regular even though my main interest was still focused solely on finding a way how I could grow further.

On one of those days Kaal had made me an offer he would come to regret in the future. He said that if I was able to create a spell of my own, something I could rightfully call my creation - he would give me a hint how to achieve something really rare even for higher ranked warlocks. I'm not entirely sure what that would be but I assumed there was at least some method to his madness... And he clearly wanted to test me whether I was really such a unique warlock or not. He wanted to see with his own greedy little orcish eyes what his prized student would be able to accomplish in the end... and I didn't even learn that much from him...

But of course this challenge he offered me filled me with energy, the burning desire to get going and put something together. Unfortunately no matter how many hours of thoughts I invested the only thing I had in the back of my head, that returned to me every night were those green flames. And of course I did most of my thinking during these graveyard hours, at the dead of night, with not even Darnys close by. There was no better time for it – I was hardly ever alone due to the elf. And Calystea usually stayed in Silvermoon for the night, because she thought of the Undercity as, how she called it, creepy and disgusting. I, on the other hand loved the Undercity. It was not as obtrusively colorful as Silvermoon, not as crowded and noisy as Orgrimmar and not as... well..., I just didn't like Thunderbluff too much to put it like that. No true offence to the steaks living there in their disgustingly peaceful manner. Although I have to admit I changed my opinion towards the tauren capital later on, after my first longer visit to it and the lands of Mulgore. But that is a different and rather unimportant story.

Anyhow it was easy enough to get from Undercity to Silvermoon, thanks to some of the magicians of the bloodelves who had installed a kind of teleporter in the upper courtyard of the ruins of Lordaeron.

And as time progress, I can't fully recall know how it all started, we spent almost every waken hour together. Biggest problem being, who would have imagined, the way Darnys reacted towards her. It was also during that time that I started to favor my felhunter as a pet, although he was usually quick to grow arrogant once a situation favored him, but he didn't act as jealous as Darnys by only hearing the name Calystea. And that was more reason enough for me to choose him ever so often.

I knew fairly well how my succubus had a certain affection for me, but this was just ridiculous. I hardly knew that elven woman and I had no interest in her anyway..., at that time at least.

Darnys usually went on a rampage on creatures when I had her summoned and went on an assignment together with Caly, as I used to call her. No doubt she tried to prove herself and show her strength and sometimes I could hardly hold her back and so she almost harmed me or Calystea in the process. Darnys also tried to start a brawl every once in a while. A simple method of provoking Calystea but she never paid too much attention to my demon. She was a paladin after all ... who knows what she might have done to my pet. Most of the times I dismissed my succubus the moment she started things like that. And each and every time I apologized to Caly she often responded that this wouldn't matter to her and that she understood a bit how Darnys felt. Putting it like this I could only question the situation and wondered whether I was the only one who thought of all of this as over-exaggerated?

On a different side of things I learned a lot about bloodelves and their habits during the time I spent with Calystea. Although I have to say the main thing I noticed more and more was that every bloodelf was some sort of diva or bitch deep inside, if you want to call it that way. She could be just as stressful as my succubus if she wanted to.

We travelled a lot in these few weeks we spent together. We visited almost every area of Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms we could easily reach - from Winterspring in the north of Kalimdor to the far south of the continent with the deserts of Silithus and Tanaris as well as from the Ghostlands south of Silvermoon to Blackrock Mountain in the middle of the continent, to the lush and vibrant jungle of Stranglethorn in the far south.

Caly seemed to enjoy my company almost as much as Darnys did, for whatever reason..., most of the time I only tried to make progress with the spell I had in mind. Finally after a good while I had developed an idea of what I wanted to create, but for that I had to be able to create demonic fire on my own. Therefore I usually spent some time in the evening in the small library of Undercity containing a rich variety of forbidden magic, hoping to find something that would help me. Unfortunately every source tried to consult always only stated the same things over and over again... meaning what I tried to achieve was as close to an impossibility as it could ever get.

But as time passed, I almost lost track of my studies. I focused completely on the time I had with the elf by my side, the time we had together. I don't know how or why, but in the end... I guess fell in love with her.

With every day, every hour we spent close to each other, I thought of her as more magnificent and beautiful than before. There were these scarce moments when clear thoughts returned and made me ask myself whether she had put a spell on me or something of this sort. But I fell for it again and again and again...

I cherished this new form of thinking that came up. These were the first 'warm' feelings I had since the day I had died.

And it only felt even stranger. It even had me regret it at that time, for I was a Forsaken slowly rotting away. An eternity was awaiting me and she? She was a mere bloodelf, warm blood still running through her veins. Her beauty would perish eventually with the ages no to matter that elves live rather long compared to the other races.

But I always found a way to talk me into believing in it again, to have faith in us. To see the chance I only had to hold on to, to grasp. I was becoming obsessed by the idea of it.

Wool-gathering... All of the thoughts were nothing but illusions with not a single real base to them. And so it came to be how it must.

She betrayed me.

She may have spent a lot of time by my side, but we never got closer than a short hug or similar as a greeting or maybe a farewell. She also only ever knew the name I had chosen for myself, Ceberus. I held my true identity far too tightly locked away...

But what made it appear all so special? We always talked a lot, sometimes until deep into the night we just sat there in Tirisfal and gazed at the moon or we watched the sunset from the roofs of the houses in Booty Bay in Stranglethorn.

One evening I decided I did not want to let this opportunity pass by any longer and just as we sat on a hill in the glades of Tirisfal, near the mills of the Agamand family, I wanted to speak with about us... Yet she started talking about something else entirely... or should I say – someone else? Apparently there was this other elf she had met and that she didn't know how to talk to him about the feeling that arose in her just from his plain sight.

With every sentence she finished it felt as if she drove a hot iron nail deeper into my heart.

I don't know why I had started to clinch to the thought of her and me so much, but this was the payment I had to make for playing the fool, for thinking that way. All the hopes I had gathered turned to despair and to blind hatred within mere minutes.

During this one night I did not rest at all. I tried my best to hide it all away while she was still with me. I did not show a single sign of the pain I felt deep inside. And surely she would have only made fun of me for having such naive ideas... an undead and a bloodelf... how ridiculous. How could I even consider...?

I bid her farewell just as usually as she told me she would have to get going to the her home in Silvermoon, for it was already far too late. The bell of the town hall of Brill stated that it was already past two o'clock and my mind continued to make even harder for me, suggesting how she might still be awaiting somebody at this hour...

I told her I would still remain were I was for a while before she hugged me once as a good-night and then left. Little did she know how it would be for the final time ...

Everything in my mind was spinning as I saw her walk away, it had been ages since I had last felt this way and most certainly it was when I had been still alive.

I did not shed a single tear though. I don't know why, but I simply couldn't. Maybe it was one of the many advantages of being undead... I only sat there and glazed at the moon for about another hour or two. In my head I went through everything that had happened during the last weeks since I had met her. How everything had built up and fallen apart again. I even wondered whether this had all been my fault to begin with or not.

Anger rose in my mind, it slowly filled my heart with every minute, pushing the sadness aside. I didn't want to see her ever again... I knew I wouldn't be able harm her, not even the other elf she so desired. And more frankly I didn't want to hurt her in any way, yet I was filled with the silent rage of ages as I got up to my feet and turned to the north.

All happened so fast – just like everything in this time of my life. It had been only mere weeks. Yet for such a short amount of time it all had a somehow different taste to it. But now, within moments everything was shattered, destroyed and thrown away carelessly. But it didn't stop just there - everything else, everything I had done so far felt meaningless too. I tried to contest this void, but it was no use.

My mind and soul ravaged, I entered the grounds of the farms up on the hill festered by lower minions of the Scourge, the roughly fifteen mills of the Agamands looking down on me.

Driven by own blind insanity I yelled out loud at the mills as if they were people or creatures laughing about my misery, about the hatred consuming my mind. "Stop mocking me!"

Something in me changed on that day. Something snapped inside me.

Yet to my surprise it only made me stronger.

Madness was reaching out, showing its bleak fangs and pronged claws but I was already locked in the cold grip of hatred.

I threw out some aimless fire spells at a few of the mills setting them ablaze as I again yelled at them, "Are you still making fun of me?"

My hands were engulfed in bright flames, ready to burn down every single building on this hill. The skeletons and wraiths of the Scourge had finally noticed me and began to attack. None of them though lasted longer any than a single second, as I barely needed to touch them with my flaming hands.

Another fire spell let another building go up in flames, lighting up even the night's sky. The banshees inside of it shrieked as the flames devoured them whole. Only after I grew exhausted I fell to my knees again. But it wasn't over yet... More and more warriors of the Scourge came rushing towards me, blindly trying to protect their worthless little base of operations.

The second they had reached me, I screamed out loud, looking up into the sky above me.

A nova of flames spread out from the point where I stood, gorging every undead in its range - the tip of the flames slowly turning green.

I closed my eyes, but I didn't stop screaming. No, I gave in to the rage that flooded my mind even more. I opened up my soul for despair.

The fire around my hands had turned green the moment I opened my eyes again. It hardly felt warm at all, completely different to before. Was this...? My thoughts only came back together slowly. Was this really what I wanted to create?

It at least looked just like the fire the imp in Felwood had created for me.

Making an immediate connection I threw it at a larger stone lying close by at the roadside. And to my astonishment it really worked! The flames were slowly eating their way through it.

Fuelled by this sudden turn of events I got to my feet again and chose another one of the mills as a test object for the spell of mine. I wondered if I would be able to combine this fire with a normal shadow bolt, just as I had once before envisioned during one of the many nights of restlessness.

And yet again... it worked sufficiently. A jet of green and purple flew rapidly at the mill. Upon hitting its target the fire almost instantly spread to every inch of the outside of the building, the flames even jumping further over to the barn standing close by.

It worked! It really did...

So I found out how pure hatred served as the key to the darkest secrets of the twisted nether!