Earlier I saw him, he was something like a withered corpse riding a demonic steed, tearing across the icy fields after his quarry. The driving snow makes it hard to see anything, I sort of wish I could track by scent again. If it wasn't for the coming blizzard he would be easy to track, the hoofs of his mount burn with an unholy fire, leaving large slushy holes in the snow. But, I will make due despite the fact that he's steadily been moving away from me as I pursue him in my savannah cat form. Hopefully this chase will end soon before I am utterly spent.
Normally, I wouldn't care if some demonic warlock crossed my path. But, this one was chasing a friend I made a few weeks back, a Draenei huntress who had "helped" me out of the wilderness. I remembered what she said about a group calling itself the horde skinning people alive. Perhaps this warlock is part of this group.
Suddenly, we drop down into a valley, and I see my hunter friend making a stand with her wolf. She has taken up a defensive position on the ridge across from us behind a fallen tree. The warlock brings his steed to a halt and dismounts in the snowy valley, as if he is accepting the hunters challenge. Then with a gesture, he summons a horrific demon. The stench of brimstone permeates the air as the massive beast materializes before our eyes. It then brandishes a wicked axe at the hunter above them. I shift to lion form and take cover, ready to pounce on the unsuspecting warlock.
Unmoved by the fel magic of the warlock, the huntress takes careful aim and shoots her rifle. The crack of the shot rings loud over the howling of the oncoming blizzard. Her aim is true and the bullet rips into the chest of the warlock, knocking him down in the snow. Then, the demon howls and charges up the hill towards the huntress.
As the demon leaps through the air at his prey, a magical hammer flies out from behind the log impacting hard against the beasts head, stopping it in it's tracks. From behind the log stands a burly Draenei paladin. Apparently, the hunter had a plan, and this is a trap for the warlock.
Another shot rings out and a bullet rips into the prone form of the warlock. The paladin then leaps over the log and falls upon the demon, striking him with a glowing sword. I stay in hiding, just observing the ongoing battle.
Suddenly, the warlock rises from the snow, seemingly unphased by the huntresses deadly shots. He raises his hands and a horrific, screech rips through the frozen wind. I feel terror raise in my heart, my limbs go weak, and I cannot help but break from cover and run. It is then, in my irrational terror, that He takes over.
My bones crack, my guts seize up in my body, and I feel a horrific change taking hold of me. This isn't like the fluid transformation I know as a druid, instead this is painful and unnatural. I barf up my lunch, mixed with blood. I feel a primal howl rise in my throat as my body grows and expands. I can feel him in my mind... No, its not Redtalon, or Sylios. This is someone else, someone who has been chasing me. Now, somehow He has found me!!
As the beast takes full control, we look up and see what was meant to be a reinforcement for the warlock. He is a hulking tauren warrior riding a black worg. Somehow in the chase I missed him falling behind. He seemed to arrive just in time to see my hideous transformation, and instead of helping his undead friend, he watched me in horror.
The beast leaps onto the warrior, ripping and tearing him with his vicious claws. I suddenly feel a tinge of sympathy for Sylios and Redtalon, I am a helpless observer looking through eyes that are not mine. The beast is in sole control.
The warrior recovers from the assault and knocks us back into the snow. He then slides off his worg and brandishes a massive axe. Once again the beast leaps through the air like a vicious madman and begins tearing and scratching at the warrior's armor. The tauren swings his axe in a wide arc through the air, missing us by a hair.
With ruthless precision, my worgen master leaps past the warrior and quickly turns, then with a powerful swipe he slashes the tauren across the back of his legs, where he has no armor. The warrior falls face down as his blood spatters across the snow. Then, the worgen leaps in his back, ripping at his neck. Suddenly, the tauren's helmet comes off in the struggle and the beast sinks his fangs into his neck. Blood flows in rivers as the worgen drinks greedily. The tauren collapses in defeat.
His rage sated with murder, the beast falls into a slumber. Slowly, my body begins to painfully revert. I regain control of myself once again.
"Calmfury, you animal!! What have you done!!" Redtalon exclaims. I do not know how long he was standing there watching. But, I can now sense both the ghostly tauren, and that whiny night elf standing over me.
With my limbs weak and shaky, I slowly rise from atop the dead warriors body.
"He was one of us!! He was a Tauren!! Why did you kill him?!?" Redtalon screams at me.
I sit in a daze for a moment unsure of what has happened. I remember the beast clearly, but I don't know how he found me.
"Calmfury!" Sylios says "your friends are coming."
I look up to see the huntress and her friends approaching me. It seems that they easily finished off the warlock, and saw my fight with the warrior.
Sylio's eyes widen and he kneels down to look me in the eyes. "Calmfury, now is your chance!! This tauren, his body is whole. You can take it for yourself and leave me!"
I look at Sylios, confused by what he is saying.
"You imbecile!! You don't have to possess me any longer! You can leave and take him!"
"No!" Redtalon cries "You will not carry this curse to my people. You will not subject anyone else to this hell you demon!!"
I feel the rage well up in me at his words, it brings new life to my limbs. It is then that I realize that because the beast has found me again, I will be wracked with his curse, subject to his fits of anger, a slave to his murderous rampages. I would rather be dead. Somehow, by sheer will alone, I give up the ghost. It's kind of like dropping a heavy bag after a long voyage.
Sylios and Redtalon look at me in amazement. "Calmfury" Sylios says "your a human!!" I look down at my ghost, my true form, I finally remember who I am. I remember the Horde, I remember Dalaran, I remember Garrosh, I remember poor Meekah, I can even remember my mother. It all becomes clear, like clouds parting before the sun.
"My name is Diogenes" I say quietly
Without further hesitation, Sylios returns to his body. I stand there for a moment as a ghost. It is an existence that is devoid of pleasure or pain. It is strangely cold, and lonely. I look down at the body of the tauren and make my choice.
"Calmfury no!!" Redtalon screams.
"Well, if it isn't my retarded druid friend" the Draenae huntress says "You put yourself in danger for no good reason, we had it under control."
Sylios opens his eyes and smiles for the first time in a thousand years.
"Greetings Druid" the noble Draenei paladin says with a flourish "My name is Heimdall, and these are my companions Sibiy the hunter, and Lilac the warlock." he gestures to the huntress and a sinister looking gnome female standing nearby. "You fight well, if your looking for employment we may be in need of your services."
Sylios sits up and looks at the trio.
"Sibiy tells me that your name is Calmfury" Heimdall says with a smile.
Sylios begins to laughs out loud, his boisterous laughter and the tears rolling out his eyes are enough to insult his would be friends.
"I am sorry my friends, please forgive my irreverence." Sylios manages to say in kaldorai "My name is Sylios and I would be most grateful if you would lead me out of this frozen hell."
Heimdall and Sibiy look confused for a moment.
"See Heimdall, I told you he was an idiot, he doesn't even speak common." Sibiy says with a sneer.
Lilac pipes up in her little voice. "He is speaking an old dialect of Darnassian. He says his name is Sylios and he wants to leave with us."
As the blizzard grows in intensity, the four figures begin to make their way to the safety of shelter. Behind them lie the defeated remains of the Horde in Winterspring. As they disappear into the blowing storm, one figure rises from the snow. Turning sharply, the bloody tauren warrior shifts into lion form and disappears into the wilderness. No doubt he is bound for the cities of the Horde, filled with a new purpose.
