Path of Damnation: Unholy Pact

((Just so everyone knows, the reason why i'm outside of the TFoL line is that i'm currently in Florida about 1000-1500 miles away from the comp i play WoW on. kinda doing some setting up so i can be sorta active with you guys even though i'm not raiding.))

Vord saw nothing but darkness, but his head was pounding as though there was a forge hard at work inside. "Good" he said. "What is?" asked his cellmate. Vord looked over at the human male who was with him in the small corner of hell, "It means I'm not dead." the human laughed and said, "And that's a good thing? You know they're not coming. You're either going to rot in here and come back undead or take you to 'the chopshop'." Vord grinned, "No, they'll come. They don't abandon their members." The human chuckled and shook his head. "Whatever getts you through this." It had been three days since he'd been captured and his men killed. Three days of being taken out for study, beaten, and thrown back in his cell. The orc shook his head, how could the human possibly know what the Grin was like? He knew that if there was a way, they'd come. He looked down at his arm, where the ghoul had bitten him. the bite and the immediate area around it had turned black, while his hand, and all the skin up to his elbow had turned a pale gray color with festering wounds. "It's getting worse, I've lost all feeling from my elbow down." The human looked at the bite, "The way it's going, I'd say you have a month at the most before it kills you. After that....not even the necromancers know what will happen. That bite is probably the only reason you're still alive right now." The orc nodded in agreement, but there was one thing that still bothered him about it. "He said they had plans for me, what do you think?" The humans eyes grew dark, "It either means you're going to be in either the Spider, Plague or Abomination wings." The orcs face grew grim, "Hmmm, food, lab rat or chopshop. Great options."

A few hours later, four guards came to the cell. The human looked up, "Hey, something's going on." Vord looked at the four undead that had come for them, "Don't struggle, remember what happened to the elf." Images of the Night Elf being slaughtered ran through their minds. They shivered and stood up. They were walked outside and lead to the Abomination wing. Both captives knew what was coming as they both tried to think of a way out. After all, it wasn't called "The Chopshop" for nothing. They were lead into a waiting room and loaded into cages and lifted 15 feet in the air with 6 other captives. Vord's mind was racing, and thought back to his days as a child.

"Vord! Pay attention! The spirits forbid you get caught and you need to get out. Now, there are many ways of opening a cell door without a key. If it's old enough, you can force the door open and by breaking the lock. If it was poorly constructed, you can break the hinges and lift the door free. If the lock is simple in design, you can try and pick it using what ever tools you can reach." The small orc looked at the elder, "But how do I know when I've picked the lock?" The elder laughed, "You're the first one to ask that. You'll know when the lock clicks and the assembly comes loose. You pick it by inserting the tool into the keyhole like this..."

Vord's eyes opened as his cellmates cage was being lowered. The man started to scream, and was drug out of his cage and into the next room. His screams became louder as they went through the doorway, and then they heard the sound of an axe hitting a block and then silence. Vord looked around his cage, determined not to be the next one. The previous occupant had apparently died while waiting for his turn, and they hadn't taken the time to clean the cage out. Vord took a bone off the skeleton and started to pick the lock. "That's not going to do you any good." the female orc in the next cage said. "You might as well resign to your fate, no one leaves Naxxramas the same or in one piece." the lock clicked and the door swung open, much to the surprise of the two orcs. Give it to me, quick!" Vord weighed his options, he could travel faster without her, but she could be useful. He tossed the bone to the female and closed the door enough so it would pass and shut if the guards came by before the two were out. He looked at the others, who had hopeful faces for once. "There's no way all of us will be able to get out at once." he thought to himself. The female orcs lock clicked and the two dropped to the floor as quietly as possible. The female orc came up to Vord and said, "I'm Kaylish." Vord looked around and ran to a shadowy corner. "I'm Vord, and we need to get out of here. They probably won't like us leaving them." his gaze upon the prisoners who had been left behind. Just as they started off, an agonizing pain shot through his left arm. He cried out in pain before he could think and they heard the shuffling of undead coming towards them. Kaylish looked at him, "We need to go now! Come on!" She grabbed him and helped him along, but they couldn't out run the guards ahead. They were soon surrounded and fighting the undead with their fists. after a few minutes, Vord felt the same cold presence as before. "Stop! Halt the attack!" The lich came floating up and looked the two orcs over. "Getting out of the cages like that, that is an impressive display of resourcefulness and will power, just what I pride in my Death Knights." The two orcs looked back in defiance, "We'll never join you." said Vord, "So kill us now and be done with it." finished Kaylish. The lich laughed and said, with obvious pride, "I've heard that said many time from many different men, and all of them now serve me. All it takes is time, and the proper 'motivation'. Some feared death, some wanted power, but all of them had a weakness, no matter how small, and all of them fell with time. You'll be no different." The lich turned to the gaurds, "Take them to the Death Knight wing, tell Razuvious he has new 'recruits'." The guards closed in and beat the two orcs into unconsciousness. The last thing Vord heard before he went down was the evil laugh of the lich.

Vord sat in his new cell, isolated from everything and everyone. The only time he would be outside his cell was when he was taken with Kaylish to be beaten and tortured, or to be coerced to allying with the lich. He didn't mind the pain, or the total isolation for long periods of time, but it was the lack of any Grin activity that he had heard of, the lack of any attempt to get him out of this hell. He thought back, to a time where he and two friends, comrades he'd trust his life with and give everything for, had gone into the Arathi Highlands. He smiled, recalling how they had put down all opposition, even those who were better equipped than they were. Another sharp pain lanced down his arm. "How much longer do I have?" he thought. It had been a week since the two orcs had been moved to the Death Knight wing to be turned, a week of starvation, beatings, mind games, and such silence one could hear their heart beat as loud as a war drum. He tried to relax and fell into a fitful sleep.

He saw the same bright white surroundings as before, in the riverbed in the Plaguelands. "VORD, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" He saw the same orc as before, his father. "Nothing," he replied, "What can I do?" "VORD, THERE ARE TIMES WHERE YOU MUST GIVE EVERYTHING TO STAY ON THE PATH OF GLORY, EVEN YOUR LIFE. AND THEN THERE ARE TIMES, WHERE HOPE IS THE GREATEST HINDERENCE ON THIS PATH. REMEMBER WHAT THE ELDERS TAUGHT YOU." Vord thought back, and the two voices became one:
PEACE IS A LIE, THERE IS ONLY PASSION.
THROUGH PASSION, I GAIN STRENGTH.
THROUGH STRENGTH, I GAIN POWER.
THROUGH POWER, I GAIN VICTORY.
THROUGH VICTORY, MY CHAINS ARE BROKEN.
"But Father, are you telling me to side with the lich?" The older orcs eyes flashed, "NO, YOU MUST RELIQUISH YOUR HOPE. IT HOLDS YOU BACK, KEEPS YOU FROM UNLOCKING YOUR POTENTIAL." Vord looks at his father, puzzled. "Potential? Potential for what?" The old orc sighed, shaking his head. "THE POTENTIAL TO BE THE PERFECT WARRIOR. WHAT DOES A MAN WITH NO HOPE, NO FEAR, NO FUTURE HAVE TO DISTRACT HIM FROM THE BATTLE?" Vord's vision started to fade, giving way to the real once again, "I understand what I must do Father. I understand..."

Another week went by, but this time the lich felt the orcs had weakened. The one named "Vord" had given up hope of ever being rescued. The lich couldn't wait for his new prize knights to fully embrace their fates, to finally realize that they were his since they were first brought to this place. Surely, it was now just a matter of days, maybe hours.

Vord was drug roughly out of his cell and down the hallway. This was the same treatment as always, taken past the full dining hall for those who still required sustenance of that nature, past the quarters of the Death Knights, to the same room where he and Kaylish were beaten and used as subjects for mind control spells. But this time was different. Kaylish looked more haggard than usual, and Vord knew that the Instructor's patience was wearing thin. "This might be your last chance, will you pledge your service and soul to the Lich King and Kel 'Thuzad, or will you die?" Kaylish said nothing, the fire in her eyes had long since dimmed. Vord looked up at the Death Knight, and couldn't believe what was going through his mind. "I will. There's nothing for me if I linger as an orc, but in servitude to the Lich King, I will have purpose everlasting." Kaylish looked in surprise at Vord, and realizing that all was lost, said. "I will serve." The lich, having heard what was said, floated up to the assembly and gloated. "Did I not say that all it took was time? If you intend to serve as a Death Knight, then you will be outfitted as one." Skeletal warriors pulled a cart with a top on it carrying armor for both orcs. "Don the armor, and your enlistment will be complete. You will then be servants to the Lich King." Vord stood up and walked to the cart, Kaylish not far behind. As Vord put on each piece, he felt a curse become stronger and stronger. With the helm, it was complete, and he heard his fathers voice in his head. "MY SON, YOU HAVE TRULY FAILED US ALL. NOW, WE CAN ONLY HOPE THAT YOUR BROTHERS WILL SUCCED WHERE YOU HAVE FAILED, THE TRUE TRAIL OF THE SPIRIT." Vord thought back to his friends, Huizopotl, Oroki, Xylien, the rest of the Grin. As his eyes grew black as the void, his pupils becoming whitish blue like arctic ice, he knew then that if he saw them again, they would be enemies.

Vord stood on a large hill overlooking the Plaguelands. He and Kaylish had been refitted to cary on the will of the Scourge. Their new mission: exterminate all life that is not bound to the Lich King and secure the Plaguelands. But acting as a sentinel at this post was beneath them, they should be marching on the Chapel where the enemy leaders were. the Instructor's voice rang in his head, "You can't be trusted completely yet, you've only just pledged yourselves to the Scourge. You will have trials to undertake and if you pass, then you will become full Death Knights." Vord sighed, "How much longer do you think they will keep us out here?" Kaylish looked over at her new "partner" and said, "However long they deem necessary to insure that we won't turn on them. At least, that's what they told us. It might be until Hell freezes over." Vord smiled, but felt no humor. Since he had turned to the Scourge, he found that many of his emotions had been left behind. As far as he was concerned, emotions had no place in him anymore. All he needed was rage and the capacity to control it. His eyes suddenly focused on the very thing they were watching for: An Argent Dawn patrol. He glanced at Kaylish, and saw that she had seen the same target. Without saying anything, they started down the hill to intercept the patrol. The past couple of days they had received extensive training on higher battle field tactics and hand signals so as to coordinate better without giving away positions of fellow death knights. He motioned to Kaylish to come from the rear and cut off their escape. "This'll be easy." He thought to himself.

The patrol wasn't very big, 5 members including the captain. The dwarf was tall, by dwarf standards, and commanded his men well. They would follow him into Hell if had wanted to and that's exactly where he had taken them. Their mission was simple, patrol the road and try to find any trace of the strike team that had been sent out almost two weeks earlier. Above all else, they needed to find the orc who had lead them, before the Grin found out that they had caused a member of their clan to go missing. The dwarf stopped, seeing a lone figure standing in the road. "Move up carefully lads, we don't know who this bugger's with." The dwarf unslung his rifle, and the men readied their weapons and moved in to get a better view of the figure. Vord took off his helm so the dwarf could see his face. "By Magni's beard, it's him!" the dwarf walked faster and stopped in front of the orc. "But, why are you in that armor? you look like a..." The dwarfe stopped mid sentence as he realized what the orc was. "HE'S A DEATH KNIGHT LADS. TAKE UP POSITIONS!" The dwarf, being to close to shoot, used his rifle but and smashed it into the side of Vord's face. Vord turned his head back slowly, while the dwarf looked into his eyes and saw death at it's coldest. Vord reached out and grabbed the dwarf by the throat and lifted him into the air. The other men in the patrol started running back, only to be ripped to pieces by Kaylish. Vord stared into the dwarf's eyes as he struggled to free himself from the orcs grip. "You and your men die right here." Vord drew his new serrated blade from it's sheath with his free hand. "We are death now." He jammed the blade into the dwarf's gut.

"You have done well," said the Instructor, "No mercy, no hesitation, exactly what we Death Knights use on the battlefield. This inspires fear in even the hardest warriors when they hear that we have taken the field." Vord looked at Razuvious, "Don't patronize us, just tell us what our next task is." Razuvious grinned, "Very well. This will be your last trial in becoming a Death Knight. You must show complete devotion to the Lich King and Kel 'Thuzad, and you must show that there is no place for mercy in you. We will give you a target you must eliminate, someone who is troublesome to us, but also close to you." Vord and Kaylish looked at the Death Knight, "What do you mean?" Razuvious smiled, "Here are your targets," he said as he handed a piece of parchment to the two orcs. Kaylish's eyes narrowed. "He is in Grom' Gol, but he spent much time in the Plaguelands. He was your captain when you were in the Horde's military, was he not? I believe you two were rather close, closer than many would allow, which was why you were discharged to raise your son." Kaylish growled, "I, WILL, kill him, you needn't worry about my past relationship." Razuvious laughed, "We'll see in time, won't we?" Vord looked at the parchment with the portrait on it, and knew what had to be done. "We're moving out now Kaylish. We'll take out your target first, since we'll need to draw out mine." Razuvious looked at Vord, "Is something the matter? Can you really kill her, your closest comrade? She and her kind been a thorn in our side since Sylvanas rebelled." Vord answered, "She'll not be a problem." He threw the parchment into the fire they were standing next to and the portrait of Xylien burned to ashes.