Into the Abyss

Dead....she was really dead...I couldn't even begin to face what had happened. Instead I tore after the initiates with a cry, slaughtering each of them mercilessly and the cruelest way I could think of. Each time one of them fell, I felt better, though not because it helped me recover, but because I was doing something. However once they had fallen, I was left with an empty feeling as I turned back to her body, her white hair strewn about her body like a halo, the only sign that she was dead and not sleeping was the dark crimson stain on her robe, and the fact she breathed no more. Fighting off my tears, I gently picked her up and made my way to Dalaran, with the help of Belil who had suddenly appeared, carrying her the entire way to Shattrath city. Summoning all the courage I had, I sent a courier to Silvermoon to tell her father, though I had no desire to do anything with the man, he at least deserved to know of his daughters death. However it would take him days to get here, and I had to prepare for her funeral. Gathering my guildmates, I prepared to have her buried at our wedding site, my face and heart blank as I went through the motions. Ali'jin dressed her in the white that was her wedding dress, her face cleaned up and the veil lightly covering her smooth features, her body looking once more as if in a deep sleep. With trembling hands, I gently caressed her face, and all strength within me was lost. Dropping to my knees, I let out the sheer agony that was my pain, I could feel the missing half of my soul again, she really was gone. All I could do was kneel and sob as they buried her, covering her funeral mound with the white lilies she had loved so much in life.

"Mon, I do be having something to tell ye" came the voice of Ali'jin, his eyes looking as if he wanted to be anywhere but the current place he was now, and with the news he bore I couldn't blame him much. I nodded blankly, figuring there was nothing worse he could tell me than what I was going through. "She, she was pregnant mon, twins" he said slowly, ready to leap back if I charged at him. Instead I looked at him blankly, my eyes welling in tears again.

"How far along?" I whispered, my eyes slightly blank, she had not looked pregnant when I came to her aid, but then again, she wasn't exactly full of the motherly glow.

"four and a half months" he said slowly, the date driving me back to the time we made love atop the peaks of the mountains, her legs wrapped around mine as she called my name in ecstasy, her head thrown back as we were joined. She must have known two months in, yet, yet she didn't tell me, because I had broken her heart, and she mine. Falling to my knees, I broke down in what could be called hysterical sobs, my hands over my face. "I'm sorry mon" came his slow response, his hand on my shoulder. With a scream I shoved him away, crawling to her grave and crying over the mound of earth that hid my wife from me. Someone left a bottle of brandy atop her grave, I wasn't sure who, but I knew that it was needed for this time in my life.

For two days I stayed by her grave, unable to accept my loss, my only comfort the bottle of booze I gripped in my right hand, my face scraggly and I'm sure my stench matched wonderfully as I found myself weeping at odd times, coming to terms with losing half of my soul. Other times I would just go out into Terrokar forest randomly and start killing anything within sight, most of the Horde learned to avoid me in my drunken stupor, and others refused to come near me because of my stench. It was in this state that he came upon me, my back resting against her tombstone, my head leaning back in the drunken stupor that I could barely support myself in. It was hot in Terrokar today, unfortunately hot, and the blistering sun gazed fiercely down upon my stumbling form, my words carrying on as if she were next to me, unable to let go that she was gone.

"Its your fault you know" came that all too familiar voice, oh how I hated that voice, his mocking presence causing me to stumble drunkenly to my feet. "She would have lived if you had just let her stay in the palace like she was supposed to. But no, you had to whisk her away and kill her, and now because of you, you pathetic drunken wretch, I've lost my only daughter, and you are to blame for it" he seethed at me, his green eyes glaring into my own. Letting the bottle drop, I drew my axe and leveled it with his head.

"Sheee left becaushe she wanted to, you pathetic coward. Sho shcrew you and your cushtoms" I hissed out, which probably was not the smartest move. However I was never really known for being all that smart as I gazed on him, my actions most typically very rash and stupid, yet I still survived. With a roar, Lord Theron charged at me, and I barely was able to dodge his well executed attack, leaving me with a new scar on my arm, though with my flailing and counterattack, I was surprisingly able to cut off his hand. Fancy that, irony knows no bounds it seems. He screamed at me, which, unfortunately, was the kick to get my ass moving, and towards Shattrath. Thank the gods it was a sanctuary, so I was safe so long as I didn't go anywhere near Silvermoon, which I didn't plan on doing for a very long period of time. Panting for breath, I looked around me any began to think. I couldn't go anywhere near the horde again, not after chopping off that useless appendage that Theron called his hand. Desperately trying to find a way out, I realized this time, I really did have nothing left in the Horde, and it was time I went my separate way. Taking the portal to Undercity, I made my way to Shadowfang keep once more, bowing before the elders.

"I've come to be a part of the town, and I forsake my previous life" I said softly in their tongue, pulling my hood down and placing my tabard in front of them. They looked at each other with slight gazes of mistrust, their eyes betraying their true thoughts. Secretly I prayed that I could become accepted into this life, perhaps it would help me deal with the loss of...no, I was not going to think about it, it was still too painful. I let my face fall to the floor, my hands lightly gripped into fists. I realized I smelt of booze and graveyard soil, and my face was streaked with tears just as much as I was covered in my own blood and the blood of another. Not the most humble approach I would say, but one I had to do in order to leave my old life behind. I would miss Ali'jin, and the others, but now, now I had to leave the Horde for myself, and this was the new start I needed.

"If you are truly honest in your conviction, you will forsake all the things that make you are, including your looks" came the voice of the one at the end of the table. Standing slowly, I pulled out one of my daggers, shearing off my length of hair to a more reasonable length, letting the long silky strands fall to the floor. The next thing to go were my eyebrows, the long delicate bits of hair sheared off as if they were no more than wool, my fingers running over the human looking eyebrows now. Taking a deep breath and steeling myself, I held my ear and began to cut the flesh harshly, the searing hot pain of my blade carving my ear into a human shape, the bit of flesh falling alongside the hair and tabard. I could feel the blood flow down my face as I felt my other ear, my hands trembling as I repeated the process, the pain being so much more severe the second time around. With a strangled cry I let the flesh drop, my vision spinning as I felt the blood pour out. The elders nodded and one stood, using his priestly ways to heal my ears into curved natural ears. A townsman came and gathered the mess I had made, my chest still heaving for breath.

"Welcome to the our town, Malamok, reborn son" came his voice, and I internally cheered.

Darkness...that is all I knew...all I was...emotionless empty darkness that enshrouded me. I was nothing and yet everything, content and angry, here and there. I couldn't remember why I was here, how I got here, or even who I was, I was merely me, and whatever that meant I was at peace with it. Suddenly a scene passed before my eyes, a lovely wedding, a warm kiss, the next followed by a handsome man smiling at me, his long ears tilting a bit as his raucous laughter filled my ears. Malamok...the named seemed foreign and familiar at the same time, his warm eyes gazing down into my own as I said I do. His eyes entranced me however, as if I could not forget who he was, and yet I had no memory or recollection of who he was. Frowning, or I could only assumed I frowned, I tried to say his name on my tongue.

"Malamok.." the voice sounded foreign to my own ears, however with it came a whole sleu of memories, of the laughter again as another fell to his blade, or my attack, of his smile as he gently caressed my cheek, of his warm breathing as he slept at my side each and every night. Each one so violently emotional as the next, including the last one where I said I was sorry, and by the end of it, I was sobbing, my body curled into the closest thing I could imagine to a fetal position. I was separated from him forever, my hands caressing the stab wound in my abdomen, as if I could not believe I had been stabbed there, and yet each time my fingers passed over the open bit of flesh, searing white hot pain engulfed my entire body.

"So passionate, for one so young" came a deep rumbling, all to familiar voice, and I whipped my head around to gaze at him in terror and anger. The lich king strode toward me as if he owned this place, his armor and sword gone, instead in a pair of black breeches and dark blue shirt, his black knee high boots making not a sound in this strange place. I opened my mouth to speak, then remembered that the land of the dead was the Lich King's homeland, one that he ruled and controlled with an iron fist. "You loved him so, did you not?" he added softly, coming to stand behind me as I gazed at the scene before me. I was running my fingers though Malamok's hair, his expression one of sarcastic wit as I told him he had a woman's head of hair as I put it up, his hands idle in his lap.

"Yes, with all of my being I loved him" I whispered, my hand reaching out towards the portrait of memories as I said so, tears running down my face again, if only I could touch him.

"Then I offer this, and I offer it once Valkelie, once Seleine, come with me, join with me, and you have a second chance at redemption with one you love, and you can be with him once more, after your service to me is up" he said, turning towards me. My head only hit his chest, but as I gazed up at him in slight confusion, his hand cupped my cheek in an almost seductive way, yet almost fatherly at the same time. "I do not keep my warriors longer than I promise" he said softly, his head bending down to kiss my forehead. Looking between the memory and him, I was debating between joining him, and joining my elders in the afterlife.

"I accept" I said in a hoarse whisper, nodding to the man in front of me. With a laugh, he put his arms around my shoulders, walking towards me to a bluish light, a doorway of some sort. With each step it became harder to breath, and my body began to ache more, my eyes were shifting as I tried to steady my vision, however I forced myself to keep stride with him. I was a stubborn one for sure, and that is something I will never give up. With one last deep breath, I stepped forward through the doorway, and back out into the living world. My eyes blinked as my body forced its first lungful of air, then a second, my body sitting up as I looked around. Looking at my hands I could tell I was still a blood elf, those long delicate fingers could belong to no other, however my long white locks were tied in a neat braid behind my back, and I was garbed in a black robe, light armor, and my arms were bare. Standing slowly to my feet, I looked around with wonder at the palace I was in, the floating palace it seemed, much like Dalaran only, darker.

"I see you have awoken my child" came that familiar voice, and I whipped around to see the Lich King over looking the land below, his cape flaring as he rested an armed hand on the rail. "Go now, I have given you a second life to live, go and do my bidding, be my warrior, my messenger, my harbinger, and I shall reward you well. Go now, your first task awaits." And I went, determined to see my Malamok again.

Slowly the townspeople came to accept me, I worked and labored just as hard as the rest of them, rebuilding and expanding from small catastrophes to large ones of attack. I learned that the curse was transmitted through both infection and genetics, though how I found out I will never tell. Each day that passed I slowly grew more stable, less emotional as I worked away my pain, for that I was grateful. I would never forget her, in fact most nights I still cried myself to sleep once the work had ended and I was no longer occupied in my mind. Her face floated in my dreams, and though she said she would never let death take us apart, I could not bring myself to be angry with her. Soon I no longer felt the missing half of my soul, though I presumed that to be because I was trying so hard to move on in life, not that it meant any differently. I still missed her, gods how I missed her, but I refused to visit her grave, I did not have that much resolve. Instead I began to learn how to control my curse, learning to transform at will instead of when I was emotionally stressed. I would master this, one way or another.



Each day that passed I began to forget more and more of myself, it was as if I could not remember who I was. Instead I was becoming Valkelie, high General of his Lord's army. Each mission I completed, memories from my past life began to grow more fuzzy until the only thing that I could remember was his name, his sweet sweet name. Malamok, each time I said it I reminded myself of his name, and yet, I could not remember who he was, or what he meant to me, I only knew that I had to remember his name, or I would lose myself. The residents of New Havenshire learned to fear my steed, and my sword, I was as merciless as I was precise, no prisoners, no treaties, only death for them all. Some would be lucky to become my minions, however for now I merely obeyed my Lord's orders and carried them out. It had been eight months to the day since my rebirth, and I was now a much different person than I was in my previous life. All sinew and muscle to accompany the steel of my sword. Leading my mount with more knees than reigns, I walked into New Havenshire to the church of fire, earning a snicker and a snort from me, seeing as how it was now on fire. It took many months to come this far, and we were almost complete in our campaign, soon we would strike at the light itself! However as I dismounted and saluted to a fellow general, I reigned in my emotions as the heat from the flames washed over my face.

"There's someone in that side building in there for ya, I think you might enjoy this, I need you to take her out, then our Lord wants you to report to the pass for the final attack with the rest of us" he said, his common accent thick. He was human, yes, and the man standing at his side was a night elf, however in this land we were all children of the Lich King, old alliances and enemies did not hold. With a mere nod, I made my way inside what could only have been described as dormitories for the "Holy ones", and over the prisoners who were chained to the beds. However one caught my eye as I strode over to her, pulling down my hood to gaze at her face. Something about her seemed familiar, and yet I could not place it in recent memory. Something about a past life struggled to pull itself to the surface, however the fog that was in my mind kept me from seeing what it was. As I walked towards her, her mutters became crystal clear words that everyone could hear.

"Come to kill me finally have you? Well just do it and be done with it, I refuse to give you any more information" she hissed out in Thalassian, turning to gaze up into my own eyes. Her green ones pulsed as her ears folded back in hesitation. "Se...Seleine? Could that really be you?" she gasped out as she stood, her long blond hair swaying down to her shoulders as she physically kept herself from reaching out for me. "Oh it is you, I know that haughty look anywhere, what have they done to you?" she said softly, my arms crossing in front of my chest as I gazed at her. "You don't remember, of course you don't now, its been far too long and the Lich King has his claws in you."

"Be careful how you talk, girl, of my Lord, he will conquer this land one day, and perhaps take you as his personal slave" I hissed out back at her, surprising myself at my own vehemence. Self control, I reminded myself, now was the time for self control, and yet, that name, Seleine, it rose to the surface like a bubble from the bottom of a pond. I was Seleine before, the hazy blurred images trying to force me to remember my own name, however the fog densed, and the bubble burst before I could really understand it.

"Think Seleine, thing of the wonderful palaces of Silvermoon, think of the feel of the magic pulsing in the air, think of your father's home and the wondrous change he brought to our people! Think of the Mage's quarter, the way we fairly reeked with power. You must remember it, remember Lord Theron, your father" she said desperately, and a bit of the fog shattered. The memory came back unbidden as if it were there all along, the feel of the hawkstrider underneath me as I rode through the city with my escape, my long red hair flowing out behind me as I laughed to the wind.

"Witch! You will pay for that with your life!" I yelled at her, beheading with a single stroke, cleaning the blade and resheathing it before heading outside. I didn't even bother with the body as she would be an example to the others as she began to rot. However my anger was not at thinking she had cast a spell on me, but for the fog that condemned my memory once more, as if that was what was holding me back from a mission after this war. Shaking my head, I mounted up again, the other Generals gone for sure by now as I took off at a steady gallop to the pass, the wind blowing my hood back and my long braid as a banner in the wind. The dreadsteed seemed to sense my agitation, however he kept on at his ground eating pace. Fondly I smiled at him, I had chosen him myself, the largest stallion in the pen before turning him into my dreadsteed, and a fine steed he was, albeit somewhat feisty at times. The camp below the floating city was empty, which surprised and did not surprise me at the same time, however much I said. The pass itself was a cave burrowed through the mountain, and the stallion charged to it without balking, like some of the mares would have. With a smile I navigated the turns with ease, the voice echoing in my ear that I had four minutes to reach the generals before the battle started.

The clear, rank, air greeted my face before the sickly sun of the Eastern Plaguelands, my horse not stopping as I rode through the camp, down the hill, and into a clearing outside of the church that was here. Reigning my steed in, I gave him an affectionate pat as I looked over at the other generals. We were going to make the most influential attack of this campaign here, the high priest something of the most powerful figurehead on this side of Azeroth. With a deep breath I drew my blade, and felt the blessing wash over me, my eyes closing as I reveled the idea of bloodshed, the sheer delight in taking another life, especially of one so holy and so against my very existence. I think I had surprised the other older Generals and the Lich King himself when I turned out to be such a success, my revelry and determination helping me fly through the ranks as if I had been there years. As we counted down the time to our attack, I nearly danced in my saddle in glee as a rain of blood began to pour, the sound of the charge ringing in my ears I booted jeade'en forward, charging with my blade drawn right into the midst of the fighting.

I laughed in glee every time I felled another enemy, another foe's blood coating my blade. My normally white hair was now crimson with blood, and yet for some reason as I killed man after man, I began to come to the conclusion that we were beginning to be overwhelmed, as if the attack had not been planned properly. That was impossible! The Lich King himself planned this attack! Soon though our target came into sight, his body swirling with holy energy, and mana, though I wasn't sure how I identified the last, another memory warring to come to the surface. With a vicious snarl I leapt foward to meet the greatest foe, and found myself hurled away fifteen feet away with my sword out of my hand, staggering for breath. All battle ceased as the man continued to step forward, my leading general trying another attack, only to find himself bound to the ground with holy magic, his arms and legs straining. The priest looked at him, then pointed off to the side, where a vision was taking place.

I watched, fascinated, still kneeling, and yet so confused, this man was the son of the king of what was now undercity? Was that the Lich King? I could recognize his voice, but he was human? Some questions were never answered, however as the vision faded the mailed boots of the Lich King himself stepped forward, his sword in hand as he gaze at the scene, and for some reason, instead of finding myself cringing at my failure, I stared back at him angrily. He had to have known this would go badly, he had to of, knowing this was hallowed ground! He sent us in to die, used us like pawns in a game of chess. Snarling silently, his attention turned towards the priest.

"Very touching, my friend, perhaps I should make you one of my own" he said in that rumbling voice I had often times came to call demanding and willful at the same time, but now I called a cowards voice. His eyes gazed over us once more, and soon I felt the fog shattered, my head clear for the first time. The memories still were vague and hazy, yet I knew more than I had in ages. Turning towards the priest, I watched him nod at me, then turn to the others in our party as well. I didn't have to wait long as he spoke. "I should have known it would have taken this much to bring you out, priest, I shall kill you, then my war will be almost finished" The man snarled at the priest, I could no longer see him as my King, but a betrayer.

"You are powerless here" said the priest, and as the man charged, he was thrown back again and again, until finally he gasped for air and glared at the priest.

"I will kill you one day" he snarled out and disappeared, leaving my companions and I in a confused state.

"We can no longer serve a man who is so selfish, come Valkelie, let us cleanse our city, and let it be done." To this he turned to the priest. "Should you ever need us, we are now the Knights of the Ebon Blade, and thank you, we shall forever be in your debt."