Shadows Within

I'm not dead yet!

Was looking to get this up on the 1st, but just didn't have it ready. Maybe a change of employment venue is needed; read, something that's not a graveyard shift. Oh, well.

Horde FTW: That it was, that it was. Hope you enjoy!

Ymir: I need to pick up the wonder of fast-acting muses next, methinks. =P Nice to hear the you're still enjoying yourself, and thanks for the encouragement.

killerfox: Um... I'm sorry the last 8 chapters weren't enough? Still, another lurker won't get me complaining.

Viva_Rose: Oh, don't be. Death is a very integral part of ... wait. Nope, not giving anything away, no way no how. But yes, any story needs downtime. And there will be cookies. Fortune cookies... of DOOM!

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Shyla almost felt the pain, watching the brigand fall to the ground after Kalderin wrenched the blade from his chest. The fel fires that permeated the steel cooked the flesh from the inside out, leaving the man to writhe in slow agony before his heart spasmed and burst.
The shaman shook her mind, focusing back on the battle. Her axe flew up on instinct, parrying a flailing blow away from her body, opening a hole in the offender's guard that Fronai was quick to exploit. The flat of the orc's hefty axe staggered him, sending the human back into his fellows.
There was a rush of air as a spear of condensed ice passed between the trolless and the orc, managing to impale the off-balance foe and pin him to another behind him.

More of the demon-things ran through the camp, intent of tearing all of them to shreds, but something told Dagor that they weren't going to do much good. The more of them that gathered around, the harder the rogue fought; something was driving him well beyond his normal capacity for slaughter.
In fact, the forsaken could feel something building within the young man, even as he poured out fel magic from every strike. The pale emerald wreaths gave the warrior an ominous dread as he watched from he corner of his dead eyes.

With a sudden, furious intensity, the human turned to the side and dashed through the wall of foes that surrounded them, his eye-lights filled with malice. The gnome ringleader saw him approaching and quickly released a bolt of frozen energy, but it caromed off of his body, spinning away like a child's toy, and the possessed rogue hurled his main gauche at the mage in response.
The dagger streaked through the air and dug itself into the gnome's outstretched hand. The short creature barely had the time to recoil in pain before Kalderin was on him, gripping his throat and hoisting him up as high as he could.
None of the Horde's soldiers understood what exactly the rogue shouted, but when a column of fel fire burst from the ground to engulf them both, time itself seemed to halt entirely. Juna began to cower as the heat intensified, her brown eyes wide with nothing less than pure terror.
And when the flames died away, a profound and disturbing scene awaited.

Shyla saw the human unclench his left hand, letting the fried, blackened skeleton drop to the equally charred dirt. The force, whatever it had been, was powerful enough to throw the mask and cowl down around Kalderin's face, letting everyone present see his mad countenance.
The demonic energy burned with hitherto-unseen intensity in his eyes, but it also crackled through his night-black hair, making it dance wildly in the empty air. His grin was wide, predatory, and now lined with sharp fangs, and the ebon lines of corruption were visible just under the hem of his headgear.
A single kick brought the fallen dagger back to his hand, and he glared at the crowd around him with all the contempt of a blood elf staring at a pile of excrement. Slowly, he turned his gaze to everyone present.
When it passed over the shaman, she was thoroughly immersed in almost pure evil, a slap of energy so strong it made her faint.

He scoffed at the trolless as she collapsed to the ground, wondering how she managed to stay coherent when she was so sensitive. When the other demons halted nearby, challenging him, however, he laughed.
"You think you frighten me?" he asked in a flat, raspy voice, making the demon-speech sound even harsher than normal.
They shuffled a bit, moving closer. With a single gesture, the possessed man caused fel energy to flare across his entire body in less than a second.
"BOW BEFORE ME, WORMS!!!" he bellowed in an amplified voice, making everyone around him shrink back. The lesser demons huddled together in fear, recognizing their superior with minute glances.
He smiled; they were at his beck and call. "Do you wish to be spared?" he asked in a menacing whisper, delighting in the terrified nods he received in reply.
"Then kill them. All of them."

When Kalderin finished speaking, the group of demons took a quick glance at each other, then broke apart, setting their claws and magic against anything and everything around them.
The human chuckled as he turned back to the party. "Pull yourselves together. We're done here," he bluntly stated in Orcish.
"Da 'ell we goin' ANYWHEAH," Rajas growled, "till choo tell me wha'choo did ta mah sistah!"
The demonic energy surged out from the human; he sheathed his steel blade and angled his palm at the ground in front of the mage, throwing a green flame at Rajas' feet.
"I don't recall being beholden to explain myself, troll," Kalderin censured with a harsh glare, all mirth fading from his sharp features, "and if you care to live beyond today, then pick up that pathetic heap of flesh beside you and MOVE!"

It took both the warriors to restrain the now berserking troll, who had the poor sense to attempt to throw himself at the human. Something in the back of Fronai's mind was very grateful that he didn't know the blue creature's language, but it was a safe assumption that Rajas was spouting every conceivable curse he had knowledge of.
A look of annoyance overcame the human's face, and he leaned in close enough to threaten the mage with another pulsing sphere of flame. "Shut up and move, or they'll be carrying you as well," he hissed through clenched teeth.
Rajas glared daggers at the man, but remained silent, save for his heavy breathing. Several long seconds passed before the troll eased away from his companions' vice-grip and allowed Dagor to heft the unconscious shaman in his arms.

"Where's Juna?" Fronai asked as they began to walk.
"Close enough," came the rogue's curt reply.
As they moved, Rajas could feel the demonic force ebbing away, fading like the screams behind them. Part of him knew that something was awry with the human, but he simply lacked the will to even begin to fathom what it stemmed from.
Slowly, the rogue began to falter here and there, his movements becoming sluggish and jerky where they were clean and smooth moments before. When he finally stopped, approaching the rise to the road, his once confident stance had melted into a weary slump. He turned around, his eyes glowing a muted tone, more resembling sage than irradiated algae.
Dagor knelt, lowering Shyla to the ground. "Back to normal yet?" the warrior inquired with a dark voice.

He didn't reply immediately; his eyes were unfocused, his face half-blank. "Not... yet..." he responded in a slow drawl.
Then, with a blink and flick of his body, the young human whirled around, snagging something in his left hand and drawing a dagger into the right. He forced it to a kneel in front of him, placing the tip of the blade at its neck.
It was Juna.

"What the hell are you doing?!" the woman shouted at him, panic written in her eyes.
Kalderin glared down at her, his left hand keeping her from rising. Fronai gripped his axe tighter, now ready to attack the human if he needed to.
Something in the rogue's head clicked after a few seconds. "Teralia," he stated, the glare softening by a few degrees. "I take it you're still under Damiran's employ?"
The woman looked appalled. "Wh-what?! Have you lost your ever-loving mind, who do you thi-"
Bitter laughter cut the sentence short. "Playing dumb? Surely you jest," the human chuckled with a shake of his head. "We both know you were never good at that."

Juna hung her head in resignation. "When did you figure it out?" she glumly inquired.
"Not too long ago. Your aura did it," the human explained.
The woman gave a heavy, defeated sigh. She looked up at the three other confused faces, then turned back to the human.
"Go on," he said, pulling the dagger away from her neck.
In a flash of light, the orc was quickly replaced by the winged, horned, tailed, and hooved features of a succubus.

"What da fook?!"
Apparently, no one noticed Shyla regaining consciousness just before "Juna" dropped her charade, leaving the trolless quite surprised.
Rajas was the first to recover his voice. "Choo two know each udd'ah?" he asked with a flat tone.
"We're acquainted," Teralia shot back, the turned her head to Kalderin. "You mind letting me up, then?"
The rogue hesitated, then released his grip on her shoulder; he still kept the dagger in his hand, even after the succubus gave him a nervous look. "Old habits, remember?" he spoke in a hushed voice.

There was a tense silence for a time, as no one really knew what to say in this situation. Finally, Dagor's abrasive personality decided to mash the quiet unease beneath his boot.
"Why were you here?" he inquired in his usual harsh and slightly detached speech.
She stood a little straighter before speaking. "My master sent me here to spy on those brigands," she told the assembled group; Shyla heard a slight dismissive tone when the succubus said "master," but didn't think much of it. "When you lot happened along," the demon continued, "I thought my services would be better applied on watching you."

Kalderin's face bent into a soft, but seemingly honest smirk. "Sounds like you've been getting all the fun lately," he quipped from behind her.
The female turned her head with a half glare. "You haven't the slightest clue. Did you forget I'm not the only one he employs? Although I scarcely mind being away from his expert company."
The human squared his jaw and nodded. "I take it you'd want to kill him if you weren't bound to him, huh?"
Teralia closed her eyes and turned back to the group. "Gladly," she sighed.

"What about those creatures they had?" Froani asked.
"I don't know," she replied. "They must have been one of the numerous experiments that I was never informed of."
Dagor shifted his mailed weight in restlessness. "So it would be safe to assume they'll go back to your master when they're done, then?"
The succubus looked out to the field, which was still expelling anguished screams and monstrous roars. "Definately so," she answered.

The glow in Kalderin's eyes flickered for a brief second before returning, although weaker than before; this also brought a sudden falter to the young human, but he corrected himself with due haste.
"Wha's wrong wit'choo?" Shyla asked, rising from a sit to help the rogue.
Teralia gave her a knowing smirk. "He's been siphoning my energy to stay awake for the past few minutes," she told the shaman. "As soon an I leave, he'll be down and out for the better part of a day."
"'Ee WHAT?!" the trolless bellowed, running to grab the human by the collar of his armor and shake him. "Ah choo crazeh?! Choo coulda done KILLED choo'self, mon!"
Though Kalderin kept a calm face on, he halted her by placing his hands on her forearms and looked up into her face. "I wanted you to hear this," he spoke in Common, pronouncing the words slow and careful so she could understand.

The trolless blinked a few times, her small mouth hanging slightly agape, before coming to her senses and nodding.
The succubus smiled to herself before addressing the group. "And speaking of having to report to higher powers, I will be missed if I stay out much longer, considering the situation."
"If choo 'afta go, den go," Rajas told her, his tone neutral.

She turned to Shyla and the rogue. "You got him?" she asked, waiting for the human to throw his weight on the shaman.
"Don't let him run you over, girl," Kalderin encouraged.
A rueful look washed over Teralia's face. "Easier said than done, kid," she retorted. With a sigh and a flash, she was gone.
And, predictably, the sage-tinted glow in the human's eyes fizzled and went out; the rogue's body went completely limp within seconds.
Shyla grunted in exertion as she caught the whole weight of the young man in a handful of seconds, having to bend down to keep him from falling to the dirt. Fronai stepped forward and helped the trolless shoulder the rest of the dead weight.

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Closing the door quietly, Shyla stepped out of the room and looked at the three men. "Ee's ah'right, fo now," she told them.
"Good," Fronai replied. "I'll inform the Warchief about the warlocks. It shouldn't take long."
Everyone nodded, and proceeded to dissipate to their own mechanations. The shaman, however, quietly slipped back into the human's room. Closing the door with as little noise as possible, she walked back over to the chair at his bedside.

Even with the chill dusk air seeping in from outside, Kalderin had shoved the blankets back down in his sleep, exposing the network of corrupted flesh, which had grown considerably since the last time she had seen them.
Shyla touched the chain the she had replaced around his neck and focused, moving her three-fingered hands over his body and spreading spirit energy through him. She knew it would be a long process, but she didn't mind in the least.
The trolless had plenty of time on her hands, anyway.

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