Debts Owed

Set just before Grigorius and three others risked their souls to reach Draenor

I never truly appreciated the mages of Dalaran and their laws surrounding the use and creation of portals. This is what ran through my head as my traveling companions and myself were broken down into our base components and set ablaze by the energies used to power our trip.

My magically attuned senses allowed me to view my surroundings in a sense. I could see William and Nicholas ahead of me, being squeezed through the nether like rats through a hole in a wall. I could hear voices, though they seemed to be shouting from very far away so I couldn't make out their words. Smell was lost to me and so was touch.

How wrong I was.

Suddenly a tearing pain ripped through the swirling mass that was my body, halting my progress and allowing Marissa to rocket past me. I reached out to grab her, desperate to escape the agony that held me, but I passed right through her. She too vanished before me like the others.

With a concentrated effort of will I was able to expand my senses, desperate to find the source for this agony. On the edge of my perception I felt a nauseating presence, something I thought I had been long rid of since the Hand struck him down during their attempted ‘rescue’.

So he wont let me go, must be rather desperate if he’s trying to stop me from fleeing to another world.

I slowly feel his intent too, and suffer for it as pain fills my being. Scrambling my mind and almost causing me to fall apart the demon’s spell halts suddenly. It wouldn’t do to have me scattered across the nether before he could make me pay properly for reneging on our deal, and after all he needs me alive to fulfill my part of the contract.

Unfortunately for him I’ve only grown in power since last we met. With my mind now clear of agony I throw an effort of will towards him like a spear, meaning for it to slay him outright. I did not notice the others however.

Hundreds of demonic forms swirled around him suddenly, disrupting my spear of thought. They rushed toward me following the path of the spell. I only had enough time to shield myself from their influence before they began to tear into my form, trying to weaken me enough so their master could take me as his prize.

Why are there so many? Was the only thought I could manage as most of my focus was spent on maintaining my form. Only after a moment did something scratch at the back of my mind, I was missing something. When I realized what it was I almost let myself fall apart.

I recognized all of them.

They were all demons I had dealt with in the past. I saw minor imps I summoned in my youth. Greater walkers of the void from my days spent traveling beyond the wall. Even things I had only managed to summon as part of a coven, but from whom I had benefitted greatly. Why were they here? The question rang in my mind as I managed to ward them off, their ethereal fangs trying their best to chew through my shield. An even more unsettling thought sprang from the first.  How did they know where to find me?

I had to get away, everything else I could worry about later. I drew on the fear inside me and used it to fuel a spell to set me back on course, and away from the demons. They gave chase, nipping at my heels as I shot through the nether towards the fading beacon of my destination.

I felt my face pass through the boundary of a new world. I caught a glimpse of green hills and black smoke before my vision went dark.

My escape had cost me more than I wanted and my mind went blank.