I own Vician Trannyth, Itris Highbinder, Kaxet Botfuel, Ororan Lonesnarl, Elkemin Winddreamer, Uraz'Do, Tibarn Bonefever, Rili the succubus, Death Knight Borgan Van Talen, Shadow Priestess Victoria Painbinder, Lightslayer Hiro Tombweeper, the concept of the Society of Uncorrupted Warlocks, and Zachery Lancaster, all else to Blizz

A/N...

More OC's...Plus, I'm teasing at the future ;)

Warning: Cursing, fire, death, darkness, and a Human *Gasp!*

Kalira could feel it as soon as she entered the Eastern Plaguelands; the subtle scratching behind her eyes. Groaning, she rubs her forehead, several of the other rangers matching her motions. Even Borgan groans and shakes his head gently. "By the Shadow," Borgan mutters, "there is definitely something here."

It did not take them long to find the source of this disturbance, they just had to follow the pull of the scratching. Plus, the fiery inferno stretching into the sky probably helped. When they reached the settlement, it took Kalira a few moments to recognize the place. It looked just like any other Human settlement, that's until she saw the church atop a hill, its white polished stone gleaming in the fire. "Tyr's hand," she mutters, drawing a look from Borgan, "The city that the Argent Crusade took from the Scarlet Crusade. Vician told me of this place, when he helped the Argent Crusade take the city."

Looking around the burning city, she could see bodies of Humans and Scourge scattered around, with the scratching behind her eyes more intense than before. She walks forward and stumbles, leaning against a lamp post for support. She breathes in and out through her nose, forcing her mind to calm down. "Check the bodies," she says, looking up again at her group, "see if anyone is still alive. At the very least, we could find out what happened."

The group of Death Knights and Dark Rangers split up and begin to shakily walk the town, while Borgan goes and touches Kalira's left shoulder gently. "Are you alright?" He asks, his voice strained and his body swaying as if he was on a fishing boat in the middle of a storm.

Kalira shakes her head. "Honestly, no. We have to find out what is here and put a stop to it." She looks over her shoulder at the Death Knight, her hair plastered to her forehead with a cold sweat. Borgan nods his head, squeezing her shoulder gently, not trusting himself to speak. He stumbles forward checking for any living.

The group of rangers and knights slowly move throughout the destroyed town, checking each body for any sign of life. It seems nothing is left alive. If the source of the scratching has moved under the settlement, it certainly would help Kalira understand what happened here. The bodies of the Humans and the Scourge look as if they engaged in some battle; not against each other, but themselves.

Various wounds are scattered over the bodies, with the most being focused around the head. That being said, each dead body has a strange symbol carved into their palms. On the left hand, with the fingers and the wrist acting as some kind of border, a line was carved from the bottom left side, near the bottom of the wrist with a slightly curved line to the top right side, near the index finger. The line was then carved straight down to the bottom of the palm and then curved slightly so the line ended up at a point in the middle of the palm. After that, the line shoots straight out towards the pinky, ending abruptly. The symbol is matched on the other hand, mirrored to the left.

Producing a small dagger, Kalira slices off the hand of a human with the symbol carved into it. Stuffing it into a bag, she straightens and looks down at the dagger, the scratching more persistent than before, the blood behind her eyes beginning to pound. With the dagger in her right hand, she opens up her left hand, bringing the tip closer and closer to her flesh, her breathing becoming more irregular as she does. Until strained voice interrupts her, "I wouldn't do that, if I were you."

Breaking her trance, she spins and comes face to face with a Human Paladin. The paladin leans against the lamp post clutching his side, with blood dripping down his face, from a minor gash on his forehead. Kalira studies the Human, her eyes dancing over his squared face and the fierce brown eyes like the smoldering remains of a camp fire. Next, she focuses on his armour, the thick plate steel would easily defend against her dagger, should it come to blows, but from the tired look on his face, she can tell that they will not fight, unless they have to.

The human tries to straighten, but soon fails, slumping against the pole again. "When they carved that onto their hands, they went crazy and died." The human looks up at Kalira and offers a smile, before it falters at her confused look. "Oh, you must not know Common." He stops and thinks for a moment, before speaking in broken Orcish, "Hello, my name is . . . uh . . . Zachery Lancaster. And you are?"

Kalira blinks and smiles ruefully, "You speak Orcish, Human?"

Zachery shrugs, smiling sheepishly, "Very little. Enough to . . . uh," he stops and curses in common, struggling to communicate.

"To talk simply?" Kalira suggests.

Zachery nods his head, "Yes." He points towards her dagger and then towards her hand, "Don't scratch," he says, before gripping his head, "Makes crazy."

Kalira nods and puts away the dagger, before dipping into gutterspeak and calling out for Borgan. As he approaches, she motions to Zachery, "It seems we got a live one. It looks like he knows what went on here, but he speaks such broken Orcish, I wouldn't understand. Do you know Common?"

Borgan shakes his head and shrugs his shoulders, "A little. Not enough to hold a long conversation. Arthas would sometimes speak it when giving orders or making creations." With a look from Kalira, Borgan slips into Common, "I am Borgan Van Talen; you are?"

Zachery smiles, "I am Zachery Lancaster. I am—or rather was—a paladin in the defense for this town, before everyone went crazy."

Borgan nods, knowing enough to follow along, "What happened here?"

"Something moved in," Zachery points down at the ground, "Something burrowed in under the town and made everyone crazy."

"Burrowed?" Borgan asks confusion in his tone. He looks over Zachery's shoulder to see Kalira gathering up the rangers and the knights.

"Something is under the town, now. It dug under the town. I don't know what, but it drove all here crazy," Zachery responds, groaning and rubbing his head.

Kalira steps up to the pair, placing her hands on her hips, "I think we should move," she says in gutterspeak, "whatever here is too strong and it's affecting our minds."

Borgan nods his head and then gestures to Zachery, "What do we do with him?"

Kalira opens up a hand to the human, "You come with us," she says in Orcish.

Zachery steps back slightly and shakes his head, "You'll kill me. I know how you work," he says in Common to Borgan.

"We won't kill you," Borgan responds in Common, "we promise."

Zachery thinks it over, looking back at the destroyed town. He reaches out and takes Kalira's hand. When he stumbles forward, Kalira shifts her body to wrap an arm around the human, supporting his weight. Together, the group escapes from Tyr's Hand and return to the Undercity.

But little did they know of what awaited them under the ruined city. A great darkness, that if ever released, would swallow the entire land. And yet, it paled in comparison to the even greater evil closer to home. There is darkness on the rise in Azeroth, and while Kalira and Borgan narrowly escaped, they—like all races—will never outrun the evil that lives under the world; even if they do not know of it yet.