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Chomat launched to the task, shoving piles of books to the side. In its search a pile of books tipped over, further burying Lilith's pack. Frustrated, both warlock and imp began tossing books aside trying to get at her backpack and the Black Grimoire inside.

The imp squealed finding the pack. "Its here!" it danced in a circle, pointing at its feet. The trap door leading down into the repository creaked open in the distance. Bother Lilith and the Imp froze.

Booker had returned.

Lilith limped frantically to her backpack while Chomat wriggled inside. The moment Lilith had secured the flap, the dark haired boy stepped around the corner, a loaded down satchel over one arm.

The boy stopped. Seeing Lilith he smiled. “I have a nice assortment of fruit here for you. I also brought use some sandwiches and a skin of water each.” The boy pulled out each item as he spoke.

Lilith held the backpack in front of her.

“Aww, that's so thoughtful of you!” She edged her way around the boy.

“Thank you so much! As it turns out I think I have found what I need for right now, so I'll be off to compile my notes. Isn't that wonderful!” Lilith worked her way around the boy. As she spoke the raven-haired gnome snatched up a sandwich and shoved it into her pack.

“You've been such a great help Booker!” She snatched up a skin of water and an apple.

“Do you mind putting the books back by yourself? I just have so much to do!” She smiled. The slightest hint of flirtation in her tone was not lost on the boy. He turned a little red and glanced at his feet. Booker then peered over his shoulder.

“No! Not a problem Ms. Lilith. I can handle...” He paused, dumbfounded, as he took in the mess.

A skinny dark arm popped out of the backpack from beneath the flap and snatched up a couple of slices of meat and cheese. Lilith tossed the pack over her shoulder and scampered into the darkness toward the trap. Her gnomish heritage revealing itself as she hurried along, speaking as fast as she was running.

“ThankyousomuchBooker!You'rearealgentleman!”

Lilith slammed her door shut.

On her way up to her room in the Scarlet Raven, the raven-haired gnome evaded the innkeeper who barked at her for rent. She was out of money but that wasn't important. She would soon be thrown out of her room, but that didn't matter either. Tension in her jaw, the slow grind of her teeth, signs that she was onto something. The concept was right there in front of her. All she needed right now, all that mattered in this moment, was the time to connect the dots. Time to reach out there and grab it.

She didn't have time for the innkeeper. Petty details like rent would have to wait. She needed solitude.

The gnome tossed her pack on the bed and immediately began pacing. A dark skinny arm reached out of the pack and fumbled around until its long claw-like fingers found the buckle. Unfastening the flap, the imp Chomat wiggled its way out. It sat at the foot of the bed, apple in hand, large green eyes watching with interest.

“The book...” She snapped her fingers at the imp.

“Bring out the book and open it.” Lilith continued to pace, absently chewing on her thumbnail. The imp hopped to the pack and with one hand drug the Black Grimoire out of the backpack and laid it open at the foot of the bed. After another silent moment of pacing Lilith stepped up to the tome.

“There has to be something in here...” She mumbled to herself. Large imp eyes studying her in reverence as the little gnome tore through the dark book page by page.

She stopped. A tender finger, dried to a gloss at the tips from hours of flipping through dusty pages, scanned the ink text with the utmost care. Her clear pretty eyes widened, the gnomish gears behind them turning.

“The spire. The Ivory Spire.” She murmured, reading over the page again with care.

“A tower named Karazhan.” It was all there. The history of the mysterious tower. Its ties to these darkened woods. The forsaken town of Darkshire, the mystery began to unravel before her.

The Grand Hamlet. Lower Elwynn. Brightwood Grove. She flipped the page and kept reading. Page after page detailed vividly how the darkness corrupted this province and slowly turned a once bright and generous people bitterly inward. The text treated the recounting with a cold analysis that unsettled her at first. It stood in stark contrast to most of the more personal records she had been reading in the repository beneath the Town Hall. Plain. Factual. Nearly devoid of emotion. This spoke to her. It made sense like nothing ever had before.

She blinked and her eyes began to shine, alight from a faint glimmer on the pages. She glanced up at the imp who only sat by watching with an excited impish grin. She studied the shimmer until finally something popped out at her.

“Runes.” She gasped.

“These, I know these runes. These are hidden spell formulas. Diagrams and notes.”

It appeared that her Dark Master was at one time attempting to decipher the exact nature of the darkness. Attempting to discover the core of its power and to harness it. Lilith flipped back and forth over pages she had already read, but this time she followed the inner workings of a complex mind.

“Inconclusive.” She whispered. Disappointment laden her brow. As she glanced over them a second time the runes themselves shifted. Lilith grinned, her face burning with embarrassment. “Sly.” His notes weren't inconclusive, they were just incomplete. For all she knew he had solved the puzzle of the darkness. The solution wasn't important right now however. Instead the book was teaching her, giving her a glimpse into a master's mind. Enticing her forward, baiting her with a challenge.

The imp chuckled, noting the recognition in her eyes.

“With blood you must seal your pact, if you dare accept.” The imp held up a cautionary finger. “But...” Lilith met its gaze.

“If you fail,” It spoke grimly. “the penalty will be steep.”

“And if I succeed?” Lilith asked.

Chomat grinned wide.

“A promise of power. Great power. Fearsome power.” The imps words dripped with greed, its eyes burned with lust. Its claws gripping at the intangible as it spoke.

“YOU will have the command of a Legion of Imps. Fel Imps. Feral Imps. Crafty Imps. Murderous Imps. Alone we are only so strong, but TOGETHER our fires burn vast. This Terrible Power will be yours. Yours to command, master. Yours to wield. Master will be feared, her name spoken in hushed tones.”

As her imp spoke Lilith allowed her gaze to drift, weaving vivid details in the theater of her mind. The imp leaned in close. The stench of brimstone growing stronger the nearer it drew.

“They will call you...” It whispered close in her ear. “The Imp Queen.”

For a moment Lilith's eyes rolled back into her head. Unaware she was even doing it, Lilith opened her mind completely and connected with Chomat's mind. Together they shared a grand vision, one far more grandiose than she had played in her own mind.

In her vision, she stood on the crest of a steep red summit. At her side the familiar visage of Chomat, but the imp had changed. Its horns curved outward farther. The imp stood more powerfully. Two smaller wings extended from its back. Chomat was all together something much more than an imp.

Through her imps' eyes Lilith saw herself. A pair of long dark horns curved out from her skull. A red hood of flayed imp skin donned her head like a gruesome crown. Her eyes poured with green Fel energy as that same power coursed throughout her body. She wore an intricate red and green robe trimmed with gold. Her raiment also seemed to pulsate with a powerful will all its own. A will which was completely beholden to her and her alone.

Through her own eyes now she gazed down at the fiery plains below. The lands were covered with a sea of imps. Imps of all sorts. Each one of them eagerly awaiting her command. The demonic gnome inhaled deeply and felt the surge of the raw Fel power course through her.

Lilith blinked.

She slowly exhaled.

The cold dark walls of the inn rushed back. The imp stared into her eyes, its head held still as death inches from her own. She grinned and the imp grinned along with her. She held out her hand, palm open. Chomat backed away, lightly touching the flesh of her palm. Its claw cut superficially as it pulled the claw back.

She didn't wince. She didn't grimace. She didn't hesitate. Lilith didn't know the punishment that awaited her for failure but she knew its gravity, and still she did not balk.

This was her destiny. This was her reason for existing. This was her everything. Her all. It would be as it was in her shared vision. She knew that the images had been conjured up by the imp, but it also revealed to her Chomat's own ambition.

The imp wanted power as much as she, and very much for the same ultimate reason. Not because either of them lusted for the power, though it was true that they did. Not because they desired respect, honor, approval even though this was also true. Instead, in that moment none of that mattered to either of them. She would become the Imp Queen with a more powerful Chomat at her side. The power of a legion of imps at her whim. It would be so, simply because it was meant to be.

To her very core it was an undeniable truth.

Her blood pooled in her palm. Her mind focused and her will flexed, drawing upon the Fel energies. Turning her palm downward she passed her open hand over the open book and spoke.

“I accept.”

The droplets of blood fell but did not touch the pages. Instead they spattered upon the green shimmer, energizing the once green runes, turning them red. Sealing her oath.

In response a warm fel breeze blew within the room.

The pages of the book fluttered wildly as if excited. The book itself levitated from the bed. Dark shadows thrust forth from the living pages like two dark ethereal arms, touching Lilith's temples. The Black Grimoire spoke to her, flashing images throughout her mind, giving her instructions, providing all the knowledge she would need but only that which she required to begin her journey. The book snapped shut and feel to the bed and Lilith collapsed to the floor.

Chomat watched, huddled against the far wall at the head of the bed, eyes wide with amazement. Its claws dug into the flesh of the apple it was still holding. The impish grin returned and it giggled. The imp bounded from the bed to its masters side, laughing as it hopped along, impaling the apple onto the end of its horn for safe keeping.

Lilith lay face down on the floor.

As Chomat neared its master back the imp paused with surprise. Its soon to be fearsome, most dreaded master was lumped upon the floor, sobbing. No whine was made. No whimper was heard. Only her shoulders heaved up and down. The imp, unsure the cause of this wildly different emotion, cautiously stepped closer. Chomat carefully laid its clawed hand on its master's shoulder.

“Master?” Its brow turned sad, mirroring her emotion rather sympathetically.

“Why master sad?”

Lilith lifted her head. Her usual precisely twisted weaves and curled buns of raven hair now hung loose like several dark snakes. She pushed herself up, sitting back against the foot board of the bed. Her eyes red, swollen with tears streaming down her cheeks, eyeliner running. Her pretty features twisted with a quiet despair.

“I'm....” She forced her words between sobs.

“I'm sad... Chomat.” She fought for a brief moment of composure.

“Because... I know now what... what I... I have to do... and...” Lilith pulled her knees to her chest and buried her face in her arms.

“I really-really liked the boy...”

Finally, like a banshee in the night, the raven-haired gnome wailed. Chomat could only stand by helpless. This was one in a broad range of emotions the small demon could mimic flawlessly, yet the imp was still an alien to the sensation of such deep heavy grief.

“I know.” Is all it could say. The imp laid its hand on her back with a mock sympathy and began stroking her gently as he had seen other mortals do in times of grief and great distress. The creature could do nothing else but repeat.

“I know.”

Stepping through the city's main gate into Stormwind's Valley of Heroes Lilith paused. Her trip from Darkshire had been long and heavy. She carried with her an immense burden of conscience, knowing what she must do in order to proceed any further. Strangely, the notion of betrayal before hadn't moved her one way or the other. She simply looked on it as an inevitability of seeking the path of the Warlock. Being faced with it was an entirely different matter.

She held the life of an innocent boy in her hands. A sweet boy. One she had grown fond of in a remarkably short time. Part of her didn't have the heart to go through with it. Take your lumps, pay your steep price of failure, just don't do this. The small voice echoed in the back of her mind. She would have listened to it before, had it only been there. Why it came up now of all times was beyond her, and now it was in competition with another voice. The other wasn't a voice of reason or persuasion, just one of pure logic. Unfortunately it spoke to her more deeply than the little voice of reason did.

On the one hand, if she did go through with... the unthinkable, she would grow. She may not succeed anyway, but that she tried would teach her something. She would gain some kind of reward, even for her failure. But to do so she would need to end a life. A young life. A beautiful life. Deep down in some part of her she was afraid of loosing a piece of herself.

On the other hand, if she didn't go through with... the unthinkable, she would remain exactly where she is now. Infact, she would be worse off. She would have failed without ever trying. Whatever there was that she could have gained, she wouldn't have. Moreover her Dark Master... She will ultimately let him down. She may as well tie the noose herself.

Crossing that threshold into the Valley of Heroes strangely lifted the weight from her. She stood upright and inhaled deeply, allowing the warmth of the sun wash over her. It was as if whatever darkness that clung to her from those dusky woods relinquished her soul as soon as she entered. She returned to the city for a purpose. If she were to go through with... it... she would need certain supplies that she had left behind. She needed to also do a little shopping with what little coin she had left. Also on her list of things to do was check in with her status at the Academy and her Part-Time job at the Enchanter's Shoppe.

She felt altogether better, though she knew that her dilemma hadn't changed. Here, for some reason, she could breath better. For now she would shove her worries to the side. She didn't have to make a decision now, though she knew she would eventually.

It could wait for eventually.

"May this Hymn of Hope echo from the highest peak of Mt. Neverest to the lowest depths of Vash'jir. Be respectful. Be tenacious. Show compassion. Hope in the Light."

As Matron Genevra concluded her weekly sermon Lilith felt oddly at peace. In the back of her mind there existed a notion that she shouldn't ever be at peace where talks of the Light were concerned. Afterall, she was Warlock. True, a fledgeling Warlock, but her truths lay within the domination of the Fel and not the Light. But still... there was something, peaceful, about her song and her message.

"Were there any questions?"

Lilith inhaled deeply, awakened from her mental slumber by Genevra's question. She hadn't anything to ask , to add, and certainly not to argue. Though it was true that with each passing day her views on the Light, the Dark, the Shadow, the Fel were evolving, and slowly but surely she was noticing inconsistencies, contradictions and flat out falsehoods... but who was she to raise a stink about it?

Everyone needs to find their own path and feel comfortable within that path. They need to have a firm grip on their own reality, or at least buy into that delusion. In many ways it was what made the world turn, the crapshoot of hope, the falsehood of faith...

The raven haired gnome stretched and tossed her cloak around her shoulders. Salem, the black cat seated in the grass behind the stone bench quietly rawr'ed as it yawned. It's bright green eyes glared up impatiently at the gnome. She ignored it, slid down from her seat and approached Genevra to convey her thanks.

Some time ago the Matron had given Lilith a bit of sound advice in a moment of frustration and hopelessness. Her position was so dire that she building up to do something very dangerous and very stupid just to be noticed... and then Matron Genevra happened along. Perhaps without realization she was truly responsible for bringing her and the Dark Master together.

Lilith ended her expressions of gratitude and then, as always, constructed a plausible excuses for leaving so suddenly. As much as she privately enjoyed these sermons, she felt uneasy in the company of those in the crowd. She had yet to fully perfect her shell as the innocent Lilith, and she feared being discovered. Salem moaned up at her in a low annoyed tone, and she heeded the cat's council. It was time to leave.

She walked calmly from the cathedral grounds, growing more at ease the more distance she put between herself and that place. She held no illusions about what she was getting herself into. She had no real bone to pick or axe to grind, no real reason to be making enemies of such good and noble people... other than it was an inevitable necessity. In order for her to grow and progress as a Warlock, she would need to do thing that would paint her at most a villain or a monster, and at least an outcast. That is, if they ever discovered what lies beneath.

Lilith crossed the bridge into the burnt ruins of what was left of the Park District. She marveled at the destructive power of the creature that had done this. She had heard the rumors and tales of the fearsome dragon Deathwing, but to here that's all they were. Tales and rumors. As she made her way carefully across the charred remains toward the other bridge crossing into the Mage Quarter Lilith promised herself that one day she would know for certain. One day.

She rounded the canals and strolled along the wide path looking at the store fronts as she continued on, passing The Scribe of Stormwind shoppe and into the library next door. She nodded at Librarian Gilroy and continued upstairs.

Since her return this location had become an escape. Her student status had been placed on hold for review when she failed to return on time to resume her classes. Her part-time job at Cordell's Enchanting was also on the rocks. They gladly handed over the back pay owed to her, but said that they would have to think about hiring her back on as an apprentice. Something about being "irresponsible". Lilith hadn't really been listening. Her mind was already planning three and four steps ahead of herself. She had a little bit of coin left to her name, and she was scheming on how to use it to its fullest.

Funny. Any other time before now, she would be panicking to find herself in her current situation. All she could feel now was peace. She was in control. She had power now and the taste for greater power was still on her pallet. Monies and wealth no longer concerned her. It was all expendable for her greater purposes. Her darker purposes. She knew that when the time came for her to need it, one way or another it would be provided.

As the sun began to set she made her way out of the library. She had errands to make before the dead of night.

With the dead of night came her own bewitching hour. A special time set apart for her and her imp Chomat to practice the conjuring and control of destructive fires. A time to hunt down and capture tiny prey so she could perfect her various curses and other spellcraft. She was on the verge of another great discovery, she could feel it in her bones. Then, and only then, would she return to Darkshire and take back up that challenge.

The task awaiting her at Darkshire was still distasteful. She would never find such a task enjoyable, and some part of her would be remorseful for having to do it, yet with each passing day she was becoming strangely comfortable with it.

In some recess of her mind, that notion worried her.

The next day it became official. Cordell's Enchanting would not take her back. Lilith couldn't exactly blame them for not. After all she had disappeared for several days longer than she had originally asked. It still seemed like a rather small matter to her, its not like she's ever been consistently late, or had her work suffer (much), or stolen anything. At any rate she was now out of a job, homeless, and completely out of money.

That's right, homeless. The academy also decided not to "allow her the privilege" of returning, so no more student dorm room. Strangely enough, this all was sitting rather well with her.

The raven-haired gnome dangled her feet off the small dock near the city stockades. Her feet just barely skimming the surface of the canal water. There she sat most of the morning wondering what to do about her situation.

Maybe she could be a fisherman? She could travel a lot but to make any living at it she would have to stand for hours by a body of water, and that notion didn't appeal to her. Still, if worse comes to worst she could always do it.

Miner? Nah. Too back-breaking. Too dirty. Too much for her tiny frame.

She needed something that she could do while traveling. Something that didn't relegate her to one spot all the time. Pay wasn't an issue, so long as she could get by. She was a simple gnome after all, with simple tastes. Food. Shelter. Soap for washing and she was alright. Her lip twisted this way and that as she ran down another mental checklist of possible jobs, weighting pros and cons.

Most important of all, she needed something that would allow her time to practice and perfect her darker talents. She was only just now making some solid headway with various fire spells, but that was only because she has had nothing else to do but study and work with her imp. Now if she could find a job that paid her to do exactly that... but that was lunacy. No such job could ever...

... or could it?