Eeri

I walked along, ignoring the fact that Drev was staring at me like I was either someone who belonged in an insane asylum or food. Either way, it was really unnerving. Therefore I stopped so suddenly that he almost stumbled in his own attempt to as well. I turned to him and glared in complete silence. The silence stretched before he decided to clear his throat... he looked a little embarrassed. Good. 

"Uh...what's wrong?" he asked quietly. I narrowed my eyes and crossed my arms. There was no way I was going to deal with his stupid obsession with keeping me his prisoner. No, as soon as this was over, I was leaving. And he needed to know that.

"I'm not yours anymore. Really wasn't to begin with. You broke your word. Therefore, when this is all said and done, I'm going home," I growled. His eyes widened, not aggressively, but in a bit of slight sadness. I tilted my head, somewhat confused at his reaction.

"Are you really leaving forever?" he asked in a mutter. I was about to give a nod when I paused. Getting home had been on my mind since I'd gotten here. But, why exactly? Life at home wasn't exactly glamorous, something I didn't feel like getting into right now. Shaking that thought from my head, I gave a shrug.

"Regardless of where I decide to go, I have a quest. I need to go save my friend," I replied to him with a scowl. Drev seemed to ponder this and put a hand on his chin in thought. I waited patiently for his response, not quite expecting what he had to say next.

"Can I help you then?" he asked. I was now the one to be confused. Why did he want to come on some possibly perilous journey if our deal was over? I mean, once Arthas fell, he would be free. Spending his freedom helping me seemed a bit over the top. Nonetheless, I gave a hesitant nod. No use in being rude, despite the fact that he held me prisoner against my will. I was too nice for my own good sometimes.

Dreven seemed satisfied with that. He gave a smile and followed as I resumed walking. Now it was time to get down to business. "Arthas probably knows that we're. He's waiting for us, I'm sure. We need to get one step ahead of him," the San'layn explained. I listened intently, trying to come up with a plan of my own.

"What happened to the rest of the bosses here?" I asked with curiosity. Vlad cringed and looked down the hallway.

"Well, I defeated Marrowgar and Lady Deathwhisper. We'll be facing the rest soon--including those of my coven," he explained. I let out an annoyed sigh. More Darkfallen? This would be a wonderful walk in the park.

I glanced to Loki, who hobbled along weakly. Casting "Mend Pet", I glanced over to Drev to see what he was doing. He never took his eyes off of me, and was still staring. Gritting my teeth, I asked, "Problem?"

He looked away quickly, almost embarrassed. I smirked smugly, did he really think I wouldn't catch him? "Alright what's up. Why do you keep staring me down?" I muttered.

"There's something different about you. I've underestimated you quite a bit, I will admit. You Earth humans might just have some complexity," he stammered. I could almost detect a hint of lie. He wasn't saying all that was on his mind. I decided to let it go for now and focus on the veiled insult.

"Really? Well, you might have some depth as well, Dreven, though you'll have to prove that to me," I shot back. 

"Touche. By the way... why didn't you leave me to die?" he asked suddenly. I smiled slightly and shrugged, walking ahead so he couldn't see my face.

"I told you. I care about you too!" I chuckled. With that, I continued on before hearing some clanging up  ahead. A voice echoed through the halls which alerted me immediately to the next boss.

"GOOD NEWS EVERYONE! THE SLIME IS DONE!" came a high-pitched old man's voice. I facepalmed and knew right away that it had to be Professor Putricide. Glancing at Dreven, I gave a thumbs up.

"Let's get started then!" I chuckled. Loki raced forward, his nose twitching as a putrid stench filled the area. I ran after Loki, grumbling about how impatient he was. Around the corner we came to the first boss, 'Stinky'. "Aw look at the cute puppy!" I gasped.

The giant canine had pretty much half a face. Scratch that; it was more like the quarter of one. Puss dripped from forever open wounds, and the huge dog's light brown fur was matted with blood. I held out my hand, receiving another 'are you insane' look from Dreven.

The dog looked like it had been about to attack, but spotted my hand. It padded over, intrigued, and cautiously sniffed it. I gave it a good pat on the nose and watched as its stubby tail began to wag. Loki seemed pretty passive and sat next to me in case anything happened.

Drev's jaw virtually dropped. I turned and chuckled, giving a wink. "I'm not an animal lover for nothing. We can use these dogs to help us, and then set them free!" I turned back to Stinky and pointed down the hall. "Get your friend's help and destroy the abominations. Drev and I have work to do," I commanded. Stinky bounded off to do my task.

Drev still stood there shocked, and I had to clap my hands. "No time for surprise now! We gotta get moving!' I exclaimed. I darted down the hallway where the professor's voice had come from.

Dreven

How...? I blinked and watched the little hunter bound up to the door to the laboratory like it was no big deal at all. She stood for a moment as slime suddenly flowed through the tubes and activated the door. Grinning, she said, "The dogs must've destroyed that boss!"

I followed as she casually strode down the hallway. There was something about her, some energy within that I couldn't put my finger on. Not an aspect, but something more. Of course, that wasn't the only reason why I couldn't stop staring at her. Often, I caught her glancing at me then away at times, though I didn't mention it. I sensed she felt something as well, but what I didn't know. I only knew that it was mutual, and it was as powerful as hate. But it was very different from hate, as I understood, because I knew how hate felt. It wasn't this at all. Maybe some strong form of annoyance, or something, I don't know.

We arrived in the laboratory and both focused on the professor. I remembered just a few months ago discussing a few experiments with him. And here he was now, looking at me like an old friend. But his gaze turned to Eerised, and my eyes immediately flashed red upon his evil grin.

"WELL WELL PRINCE DREVEN! YOU BROUGHT A TEST SUBJECT! HUMAN'S BLOOD IN MY SLIME WILL BE MUCH EFFECTIVE!" he shouted. He burst into action, sending slime soaring at the hunter. She disengaged and sent Loki racing toward him. Meanwhile, I vanished into the shadows and appeared behind him.

"HUH?!" the professor yelled. I sliced at his back with my sword, causing him to bleed green blood. "BAD NEWS EVERYONE! DREVEN IS A TRAITOR! BUT GOOD NEWS EVERYONE, I CAN FURTHER ADVANCE MY EXPERIMENTS!" he yelled.

He turned and poured a vial of slime upon me that caused my flesh to sizzle. I hissed and darted back, eyes widening as my skin literally dissolved to bone. Yes, I'm undead..but man, it hurt like hell! I saw Loki lunge toward me and bite my arm. I stared into the wolf's eyes, feeling somewhat betrayed. With a wink, Loki let go and took a step back. My wound was gone?!

I gasped and just had to give the wolf a hug. "Wow, thanks Loki!" I exclaimed. Suddenly, I heard the hunter's scream cut through the room. Both the wolf and I whirled to see Eeri's neck in the professor's grasp. She let out a roar, glowed red from activating Wrath, and became a giant black fox. Her jaws plunged into his neck, causing some decent damage. But it wouldn't be enough.

Professor Putricide threw her against the wall and caused her to cry out in pain. Loki was already biting at his legs, and I myself was slashing at his chest. But his focus was entirely on Eeri.

"GOOD NEWS EVERYONE! I FOUND THE BLOOD OF AN OTHERWORLDY BEING!" he yelled. I stopped, momentarily confused. Shit, he knew about Earth now too? The professor took out his knife and stabbed into Eeri's chest. She screamed as the knife twisted in and forced blood to gush out strongly. He'd hit a lung, not her heart, not yet.

No, he didn't finish her off. As I hurried over to try and stop the bleeding, the professor turned to his table and wiped his knife off in the beaker. A huge explosion threw us all back, forcing all breath from my lungs. I still focused on Eeri to make sure she was alright while Loki tried to heal her wounds.

A huge wave of slime now rapidly came at us. There was no time to dodge. I let out a groan of pain as the strong acid not only began to dissolve my flesh, but forced upon me some rather extreme dizziness and nausea.

The Professor ran at us to finish us off when two distinct howls cut through the air. "STINKY?! WHAT ARE YOU AND YOUR BROTHER DOING?!" he gasped. Two giant decaying dogs leaped at him in unison. "BAD NEWS EVERYONE... I DON'T THINK I'M GOING TO...MAKE...IT..." They ripped him limb from limb, proceeding to lap up the slime. Stinky got to us and gently cleaned us up at well. We were all covered in acid burns, but were alive.

"Good...dogs..." I heard Eeri whisper. She laid on the hard ground and seemed to be focusing on her breathing. I took her in my arms, concerned.

"Hey...it'll be alright," I muttered. She buried her head into my chest to my blatant surprise. Obviously, she was in need of comfort. Poor hunter...but why had Putricide focused her? Did creatures from other worlds really hold this much power here? Technically, according to their 'lore', they played heroes of Azeroth, so... I supposed that made sense.

Well, we were weakened but I knew we could continue. It was time to move on to the next boss while we gathered our thoughts.