Escaping Death's clutches once more

[Sarah Kerrigan]

Draenor, the Red World
8 years after the first war between orcs and humans.

"Move! Move you pathetic excuses for orcs! They're trying to close the portal!" Raal ordered to the pathetic wastes of flesh around him. The warriors around him rushed forward, charging at the surprisingly strong human defenses. Raal's horse pawed at the ground nervously, mirroring Raal's own anxiousness, and another tremor threatened to knock him from his horse, as Draenor continued to crumble underneath his feet.

Curse Ner'zhul! Raal had known that the traitorous shaman was a fool from the beginning, but to think he'd not only fail so utterly, but also begin the countdown to his own race's extinction... No! Raal focused on the foe in front of him. Ner'zhul was unquestioningly a bastard of the highest order, but the immediate threat was the human army blocking access to the portal in front of him - the gateway to Azeroth. The orcs had attempted to retreat through the dark portal, to the only other world they had known, but this collection of human soldiers had stood in their way - and, despite facing overwhelming numbers, had refused to yield the position.

His father would have considered them opponents to respect and honor, for this, Raal knew. He, on the other hand, merely viewed this for what it truly was - an obstacle and one deserving of Raal's greatest hatred.

Striding into battle atop his horse, a swathe of flame enveloped the human forces to Raal's right, as the unmistakeable cry of a black dragon rang through the valley. The human force was well entrenched, but at this Rate it would only be a matter of minutes before the orcs pushed past the human defenses, and Raal planned to be one of the first through the portal when they did so. He was finally close enough to see it in detail, the ornate frame around a hazy blur of red energy...

Then Raal noticed the archmage, the skull he was holding, and the phenomenal amount of magical energy flowing forth from it. 'No!" He screamed, rushing forward heedless of the danger. The alliance soldiers missed only by luck, as his mount pushed past the defending line.
It was too little, too late. Before Raal's eyes, the portal's energy faded, a terrible explosion echoing through the canyon as the energy faded, then exploded. Raal shielded his eyes from the brightness of the blast with his arm, lowering it a second later as the light faded.
There was no trace of the portal, save for a few scattered bits of stone, and a haggard looking mage.
"You... You've doomed us all!" Raal roared, concentrating his energies into a coil of pure death, before firing it at the tired mage of Dalaran. However mighty he might have been, every mage had their limit, and this one had clearly reached his own.
The strike was stopped before it reached it's destination, however, by a man literally glowing with pure light. A paladin. the blast struck the mighty warrior, but simply faded away, overpowered by the overflowing light around the warrior.
Raal's hands would have been bone-white if they were not... well, bone, as he clenched his truncheon with rage.
"This fight has lost all meaning, with the portal now lost to us. We are all doomed already. But before I die, I'll drain the life out of you, and make your corpse into a puppet to dance at my leisure, you pathetic human." Raal retorted, a blast of pure obsidian energy leaping from his hands, moving like a snake across the ground before leaping towards the paladin's throat.
the Paladin held his ground, however, and his sword struck out faster than Raal could see, the glowing blade cutting the darkness in two as it dissipated into the air. . Raal already had his next spell prepared, however, as he prepared to create a whirlwind made from the energies of the twisting nether. He raised his Truncheon..

Raal felt a sudden loss of all feeling in his arm, as the wind whistled past his head - the unmistakable sound of an elven arrow cutting through the air. "Khadgar!" Raal heard the voice of a female yell from behind him, and realized this was the work of one of the infuriating elven rangers. Looking to his right, Raal realized she'd gotten a clean shot, as his severed arm lay on the ground beneath him, still tightly grasping the truncheon.

The mage reacted as the woman yelled, and Raal realized he was not as exhausted as he thought, as violet-tinged electricity crackled from his hand. Raal held out a hand to create a shield of pure darkness in front of him to block the strike, but the lightning did not move as he thought, the energy twisting, reshaping itself as a ring of arcane energy, before tightening, the lightning cutting through his body with a keenness no sword could match as the circle grew smaller and smaller.

Raal fell in two pieces, aware that, this time in truth, he was going to die. A nameless death knight on a desolate battlefield.
"Please... anything! I'll sacrifice anything! I can't die like this! I... Don't want to die..."

-----
Location: ????


----
Almost in response to Raal's wishes, he found himself suddenly alive again. Well, to be more accurate, he found himself in the form he'd stolen for some years, the corpse of some human knight of Azeroth. He found himself standing in a void - black as midnight, save for the silhouette staring directly at him, grinning.

“My name is Omni. This is not the world you know. This is the Omniverse. You interest me, so I have made you part of it. The Omniverse is a place that reflects the wishes of those who are part of it. But! There are rules. I will explain them only once, so listen carefully."

Raal attempted to open his mouth to reply, but found he could not speak, could not even move. his mind was buzzing with questions, but at the being's last statement, Raal focused on Omni's words. the figure held out an orb, and Raal suddenly found he could move as he warily accepted the being's gift, his magical senses telling him of the power it radiated.

"This is Omnilium. It’s what ties the Omniverse together. Without it, you are nothing. With it, anything you desire can be yours. But you will need more than this. If you desire it enough, you will find it. You will find that using it comes naturally. Just think of what you desire most.

“You will not be alone in the Omniverse. There are others. Of course, they, too desire Omnilium. Do not fear death. For as long as you interest me, you will be reborn.

“That’s all you need to know right now. You’ll figure out the rest soon enough. I’ll be watching … and waiting.”

At this, Raal's vision again faded - or was it the darkness itself - as he found himself once again staring at an entirely different landscape. Raal heard the sound of flowing water behind him, as he struggled to stay on his feet.
For the first time in many years, Raal felt the desire to have a drink.

[Sarah Kerrigan]

Raal's eyes would have watered just from the sheer nothing he saw around him, a white void seemed to stretch out endlessly everywhere he looked. "This is certainly not Draenor... Or Azeroth. Where was he? And what was that voice? Raal stopped his own train of thought short, focusing on his immediate surroundings. Too much had suddenly changed, and he had too little information to go on to feed his intellectual curiosity at the moment. He could see and feel no enemies around him... scratch that, he could feel next to nothing around him...

Instinctively, Raal raised his hand, the familiar feel of fel magic mixed with the energy only a knight of death possessed flowing through the limb. However, it seemed greatly diminished. Raal still possessed a significant amount, he knew, more than enough to destroy most foolish warriors who sought to go against him, but compared to what he was, he was so much less...
but he could become so much more, he knew. that was the promise of omnilium.
"Anything I desire..." Raal murmured to himself, the words feeling sweet as they left his rottting skull. This was a chaotic, confusing mess of a day... but within this mess, there was an understanding, a realization that this might be the start of something new.
In Azeroth, and in Draenor, Raal knew well he was not the most powerful being. Teron Gorefiend was far more skilled than he, and he was certainly nothing compared to Gul'dan. But here... a key to potentially infinite power awaited, and he planned on using that very key.
The question was: What was the first step? Raal pondered this...
While he did have the ability to gain power, he had no link to the Orcish horde anymore. For all Raal knew, he was the only orc present in these lands. This meant that he'd effectively lost every ally he'd ever had.
The thought was sobering. and distressing.

He knew that he would not truly feel the embrace of death here - that much was made very clear - but there were other ways to stop a being than death, and Raal knew he had to be cautious - he would not waste this chance!
Raal realized that, of all the things he lacked most right now, Knowledge stood at the top of the list. He was wasting precious time, he realized, his introspection in front of the fountain simply musing about nothing.
Raal's thoughts then turned to how best to rectify that. Logically, he needed to travel and learn about the world, to find fellow creatures and understand more about the world's structure. he wished his horse had survived the transfer along with him. It would be useful for...

Raal paused, at that. Perhaps he'd found the best way to test his control over this omnilium after all.

Raal focused, feeling the alien energies of the Omnilium coursing through him, a feeling akin, to him, of a small jolt of electricity. It was not warming as his warlock powers were, but electrifying, pulsing with power. Raal smiled, the gesture looking nothing less than terrifying on his decayed face, and put his left palm forward, focusing on a spot just a few meters in front of the fountain.
"I require a new horse."
Raal focused, using his own words to help him, and felt the Omnilium flow from him, however slightly. As Raal focused, he felt an odd feeling around his palm, like a thin film around it. He kept his eyes to his front and his mind perfectly focused, aware he could not allow distraction, even without knowing why. His entire frame was as rigid and still as a corpse for several minutes, as the energy was focused and directed towards his palm...
Raal felt a gentle brush across his palm, as though the film was gently pulled from it, as what appeared to be a multi-colored bubble expanded from it, almost causing Raal to recoil. The sphere in front of him seemed to radiate inner light, and changed from color to color almost faster than he could process, before drifting to it's intended location. The sphere was beautiful to Raal, though not for it's appearance. What he saw in front of him seemed to be the magical equivalent of pure potential, the fabric of the universe itself, bent to suit Raal's needs. The thought was intoxicating.

The bubble Shrank, resting against the ground, and shivered, it's glow first increasing, then decreasing, as it's color faded. Abruptly, the bubble turned an opaque black, before the air around it shimmered as the bubble changed, morphing, stretching, changing from shape to shape so quickly Raal's eyes could not follow it. A reverberating Whinny was heard alongside the sound of an electrical discharge, and suddenly Raal found himself staring at a familiar sight. His horse stared back at him, the eyeholes of it's skull glowing in the pale light, and Raal's shoulders relaxed. He had rarely left his horse since he'd first created it in the second war, and he only now realized how naked he'd felt without one. Raal's contemplation quickly gave way to prudence, however. He wasted time simply staring at his horse, and it's echoing snort seemed to mirror his own anxiousness. Raal's hand grasped the edge of the saddle, the comfortable leather being the first familiar thing he'd felt since he got here, and pulled himself up, onto his mount.

His eyes moved quickly, looking around the various areas of the Nexus, and he knew he'd have to leave this place. The portals appeared to all be "themed" - a ridiculous, gaudy display, but one that Raal could, at this time, use to gain valuable information.
Raal's gaze slowly looked over the features - and other notable qualities - of each portal. He realized that, for now, he would have to avoid populated areas, and this meant keeping away from any hints of heavy industrialization - at least, for the moment.
A portal to the south caught Raal's attention. A portal built of frost and snow, Raal considered it. Of all the areas he'd seen, a place filled with ice and snow seemed the most advantageous for his undead form. It would also be sparsely populated, meaning Raal's chances of surviving any "negative encounters" would certainly increase.
Spurring on his mount, the horse galloped towards the portal, a smile adorning Raal's hideous features as he held his truncheon forward. The idea of scouting out a new world, a new race... it was all so very nostalgic to him. He recalled Blackhand's orders from long ago, as he charted and defended the pathways leading into and out of the Swamp of Sorrows, and recalled a phrase that even now brought him courage.
"For the Horde!"