Warlocks Ambition, A

A Warlock's Ambition

Written by Kirtash, a character on the Earthen Ring server, and posted on the Blizzard Earthen Ring Forums

((this is my first IC story, any pointers would be appreciated))

=Part One= -By the burning pits of hell!

Theses words came out of my master's mouth more and more theses past days as his search for specific components became harder and harder.

-Naljub! he screamed at me spittle flying from his mouth. Where is that damn map of Felwoods I drew yesterday?!

-Here master, I said shaking like a leaf.

I handed to my most glorious master the said map and he looked at it mumbling to himself. I've been around him for a while now, ever since he bound me to his will a few months ago. I've seen him battle many foes but nothing could prepare us for what was going to happen on that day

My master was standing tall on the back of his Felsteed, his piercing gaze scanning this corrupted place known as Felwoods.

-Naljub, be on your guard I can feel the fel magic all around us. This place reeks of corruption, no wonder what im searching for resides here.

I blinked out of this plane to make myself more discrete and followed my master the best I could as we rode towards what is known as the Bloodvenom Falls.

We dodged the slimes, oozes, and corrupted wolves-things on our way to the falls as my master didnt want to waste any time on weaklings. We finally made it to our destination, there was standing a strange creature, no taller than I, with a ruffled beard and a maniacal look in his yes. A gnome my master once called them.

-Stand back mere mortal! Who dare approaches the Almighty Niby without being summoned, shrieked the 3 feet tall madman.

-Humph..., my master kneeled before the small creature, I seek an audience with Niby the almighty, conquerer of all, master of the dark arts, and pool of supreme knowledge.

That seemed to faze the gnome, I assume hes not used to be treated like he envisions himself.

-Finally! Some recognition! It was about time someone gave the mighty Niby the respect he deserves! What can Niby the magnificent do for you mortal?

Keeping his eyes on the rotting ground my master answered - I seek the power of the Nether, I seek the burning destroyer, I seek the power of the infernal.

The little gnome cackled. -An infernal eh?! You think you; a mere stain on the surface of Azeroth can actually bind an infernal to your tiny, weak, will?! Do not take Niby the Wise for a fool! Prove to Niby the Powerful that you are worthy of his knowledge.

Thats it I tought, a gnome, a mad gnome at that was insulting my master crushing his orcish pride and calling him a stain?! That gnome was dead, fried, blasted to the land of the dead. To my horror, the orc only slightly frowned, kept his head bowed and took it all in.

-What can one do to prove his worth o Great One?

-Humph! Well orc child, (now hes just asking for it) your commitment to this cause seems absolute, thus I will give you the honour of speaking to my servant Impsy. Hell tell you what you need to obtain the power you seek.

It is then I noticed an Imp, very similar to me, his hand crossed behind his head laying back against an ooze seeping tree.

-Thank you for your patience O most powerful of gnomes. I will do as you command. Kirtash (thats my masters name, not that I call him by his name often) rose to his feet towering over the gnome, bowed as deeply as he had before his leader a long time ago and walked towards the gnomes servant.

The imp opened an orange hued eye and spoke in a shrill voice

-Yeah? Whatdaya want? Dont tell me, that fool of a gnome sent you to me...

I was most shocked by the evident lack of respect for his master but then, we imps do tend to speak our minds quite often which, in my case, brought me close to being thrown off the goblin zeppelin a few times.

Kirtash grunted, his patience at an end with all this mockery. -Yes, you master sent me to you concerning a way to bind an Infernal to my will.

The imps large ears perked up, his eyes shove with malevolence. -Oh really? Wonderful! Its been a while since Ive seen a warlock with enough guts to complete this endeavour. Well then, To actually get the power of the Infernal youll have to get the core of Kroshius, a powerful infernal himself.

-Just point me in his direction and Ill be done in no time.

-Hold your Felsteed young warlock, First youll have to revive Kroshius see Hes gotten dormant since the war and all that, his remains deep within Shatter Scar Vale. To reanimate him youll need to combine three Fel essences into Fel Fire, that should jolt him awake. My master sighed, clearly on the verge on an explosion.

-Get to the point imp, I dont have all eternity before me.

-Alright alright alright alright! Geez you warlocks are so impatient.Gather the Fel essences of a Jaednar Legionaire, an Azsheara Satyr and a Felguard sentry from the distant Blasted lands.

The warlock snapped his fingers -Naljub, write this down.

-Yes master. I materialized a book from my masters backpack and a magical quill that never needed to be dipped in ink. I wrote down the other imps instructions.

My master just turned around without a second glance at the imp and started to chant softly.

Ish Xarthis Zhiom Vixt Moxis Naxiom

In a cloud of sulphur and fire a Felsteed appeared, his burning eyes locking instantly with my masters, its dark coat glistening in the eerie Felwood light.It pawed the ground nervously as Kirtash climbed on his bare back and whispered in the I dont think horse would be the right word In the demon steed ear.

-Nightmare, swiftly to Jaednar we have demons to kill. Naljub! Follow us and stay out of sight.

I dismissed the book and quill back into my masters backpack and phased out of this plane. Before he rode off with me trailing behind him I saw my master grinning that is never a good sign I thought

=Part 2: Jaednar in Flames= I hopped as fast as I could as my master drove his mount down to road to Jaednar. His pace was frantic; I could see the anticipation on his face. I thought to myself here we go again

I wouldnt say my master is crazy or mad, I would just describe him as, reckless, ill tempered, short fused, grumpy, impatient, rash and sometimes violent but arent all warlocks like this?

Nightmare pounded his hooves in the rotting ground drawing attention from the corrupted wolves roaming in the area. They didnt even try to chase the unholy mount; to them it mustve looked like a flame wreathed black stallion escaped from hell with a lunatic perched upon it.

We arrived at the entrance of Jaednar quicker than I thought. I could smell the corruption seeping from that cursed place, strengthening the corruption surrounding us. My master jumped off his mount, whispered something in its ear and it vanished in a cloud of smoke.

-Naljub, Ill need you to go back to the Nether, I think Grimgrave might be more useful here.

-As you wish, master. I sighed with relief. Not that Im a coward, I just prefer to keep my head attached to my body. Putting it back on is so painful. Anyways I did as my master ordered. I vanished from his plane completely this time and found my way back to the Nether, my home.

This doesnt mean I can't look on him tough. I channelled the dark energy surrounding me and created a small scrying portal. Being bound to a warlocks essence has some advantages you know. I saw my master moving his hand graciously in the air as he was chanting softly. I knew what was going to happen next. The shadows of the trees, my master, rocks, the putrid grass and every other shadow visible in a thirty foot radius started to condense themselves in front of my master. It only took a couple of seconds before the shadows formed a roughly humanoid shape and 2 blazing blue globes seemed to pop into existence where the head was being created.

I could hear the thing's rumbling voice.

-Yesss my lord? What can we do for you?

Kirtash wiped the sweat from his brow. -Grimgrave, I hope you are ready to fight we have some orcs to kill.

-I will enjoy pounding them to dust my lord.

My master smiled at the mass of shadows and casually walked under the arch indicating they were now in Jaednar, the corrupt dwelling of demons known as satyrs and their consorts, the burning blade convent.

He was soon spotted by guard making his rounds. It didnt take much time before he recognized my master as an enemy; the way he was holding his weapon, a great scythe, spoke volumes. The guard recklessly charged at my master only to be intercepted by the mass of shadows that is Grimgrave. His focus quickly changed from my master to this new foe as a wave of pure despair crashed upon his mind.

My mastered smirked again. His left hand was glowing with dark energy as he let loose a blot of shadows. The bolt was shaped like a black skull its mouth wide open screeching and hungering for a living soul. It ripped its way in the guards chest breaking ribs and chewing though armour like it was made out of paper. Two hits of Grimgraves fists cracked the guards skull open, he knew no more.

My master grabbed the coin in the guards pouch, and then casually walked past it like nothing happened. The next guard wasnt luckier.

My master and Grimgrave slowly made their way up a slope dodging guards when possible or just ambushing them when they were alone. They reached a plateau where you could see a Moonwell. There seemed to be something wrong with it tough, the once clean waters were now a mass of bubbling green ooze expunging sickly looking fumes in the fair.

My master didnt give the corrupt Moonwell any attention tough. He seemed focused on the 8 foot tall satyr lying against the entrance of what looked like an elven building. It looked bored and was yawning frequently, his sharp teeth making a clacking sound when he would shut his jaws.

My master whispered something in Grimgraves ear I couldnt understand and the mass of shadows was floating as fast as it could towards the now wide awake satyr. They were exchanging blows: shadow fists punching the satyr, claws ripping the shadow, draining the minions life force.

I saw my master take out 2 shards from his pouch. One in each hand. I smiled in front of my scrying pool, knowing what would happen.

He chanted softly.

Mirex willox nacht turex in pyros nak shara.

The first purple shard in his right hand turned into a giant ball of hellfire and streaked right for the Satyrs head. It connected in fiery blast that blew half the creatures face off. Surprisingly it howled in pain but didnt go down. It just shoved Grimgrave out of the way and ran madly for my master. He was still smirking. My master casually snapped the other shard in half, speaking one word in demonic

Quiros!

The shadows around the satyr became purple flames and jumped on it; searing the skin of its bones, entering through its mouth eyes and ears. A wail of anguish could be heard from the creature mouth as his head exploded in purple fire.

Grimgrave rejoined my master as he bent over the still smoking carcass to pick of a glowing purple shard from the gore.

He tucked the shard in his pouch and, made his way into the elven structure his shadowy companion ever trailing behind him. He was still smirking...

=Part Three: Inside the Belly of the Beast= I sat still in front of my scrying pool looking at my master make his way into the Shadow Hold. Grimgrave was silently following him, his burning gaze focused straight ahead. My master was griping his great scythe with both hands, His eyes were wide open and he looked feverish. I knew that look. It bordered on madness.

The two made their way carefully inside the hold slowly making their way deeper and deeper into the seemingly never-ending corridor. Arcane troches were burning a sickly green on the walls. This place was infused with Fel energies; I could feel it in my very bones.

There came a low rumbling sound, like the ones great cats of Stranglethorn make just before pouncing on top of an unsuspecting prey. Kirtash stopped dead in his tracks, Grimgrave made his way in front of him, to shield his master.

Echoes of footsteps? Could be heard and before long a beast appeared in front them. It look ed like a great hound, its massive jaw dipping with greenish ooze. Its red tinted scales shining in the eerie light. Two feelers were protruding of its back waving hypnotically in the air.

My master grunted, he knew this was a felhound, a mana eater, a mages bane. That demon fed its self on arcane energies, and arcane users. Not a good thing for a warlock.

Grimgrave charged at the felhound his shadowy fists connecting with the beats scaly armour with minimum effect. My master let out a scream of pain as the Felbeast drained away his spell casting abilities with a single wave of its feelers.

On his knees and clutching his head with both hands, he was in no position to fight, yet. Grimgrave was getting ripped up by the felhounds sharp maw, when my master got up, grabbed this scythe and charged the beast madly. He scored two solid hits and the beasts reeled back in pain. The blade of the scythe was glowing an angry orange as the enchantment cast upon it took effect. The Reaver, that was the weapons name, was enchanted to kill demons. It loved demon flesh and rejoiced every time Kirtash would let it have its fill. The felhound whimpered as the glowing scythe kept doing its messy job, cutting flesh like it was wet paper.

Before long the beast was laying still in a pool of gore, as my master was breathing heavily. He was bleeding too. Grimgrave was gathering the shadows around him to heal himself as my master bandaged himself. When both were feeling well enough they kept moving forward without any other surprises.

They reached a room at the end of the corridor, circular and well lit my multiple braziers. Off to the side you could see cages; many empty some with what looked like bit and pieces of elves, trolls, dwarves, and many other non descript body parts. You could also see that one of the prisoners was still alive. It was a very slender night elf female, hunched up in its cage. My master wasnt looking at the elf tough he was staring at the demon standing in the middle of the room.

It was big, it dwarfed even some of the biggest tauren Ive ever seen. His skin was a deep blue and all his gigantic frames seemed bound in muscle. In his hands he held an enormous hammer as tall was my master. Luckily he had his back turned to my master. Kirtash stayed in the shadows, staring at what he knew to be a Legionaire.

That was the beast he needed to slay, he knew he had no choice. He knew he was in for a great battle, he knew it could cost him his life, his soul and maybe more. He smirked. He whispered something in grimgraves ear. The shadow spawn nodded and floated soundlessly toward the hulking demon. My master started channelling fel energies in his hands trying to take the demon by surprise.

The demon was far more cunning than he seemed. His great hammer swinging ferociously he spun around and hit Grimgrave with such a force that the mass of shadow simply flew away with great speed and crashed into a wall. My Master let loose a shadowy bolt at the demon. It connected but the demon simply shrugged it off. It roared and ran straight at my master its giant hammer held high. Kirtash leapt sideways to dodge its blow, the floor shook with the force of the impact.

My master got up as quick as he could and extended his index and major at the demon while saying a single word. The demon grunted as he felt the dark energies sap his health away. It still managed to swing his great hammer wildly scoring a glancing blow on Kirtashs shoulder. A loud popping noise could be heard as my masters shoulder dislocated. Kirtash let out a scream of pain and backed up steadily. The demon was still on its two legs and coming at him.