"I'll find you again, Malek.  We're not finished…"

"Perhaps not, but when you get down there tell Mephisto that I'm coming for him, too."

"You're mad!"

Malek clenched his fist, putting his sharp nails into Kavak's foul heart.  Black blood splattered all over his arm, and Kavak screamed like a banshee. 

"Mad, yes, I'm mad… mad enough to defy Hell itself."

He crushed the heart, sending Kavak into an ecstasy of pain.  After a few moments of pitiful writhing, the ghoul was still; the enchantment that had held him to unlife was over.  Malek wiped off the black smear onto Kavak's cloak, grimacing slightly at the sight of it.  Walking past the altar he knocked over the candles made of human fat, setting fire to the tapestries of the church.  He strode past the bodies of Mephisto's priests, some still in their death throes, choking on the poisoned mist.  As he left the church, tendrils of oily smoke were already coming from the windows and doors; the church would be gutted by fire and only a bad memory by the morning.  Malek walked down the road, humming to himself, wrapping the wound on his palm with some cloth.  All in all, a good day's work he thought, he had just removed the last sanctum of Mephisto's worshippers in Khanduras. 

He made his way into the great northern forest, losing himself among the hoary oaks of the forest.  It had been three years since he had recanted Mephisto and given his dark soul over to the Light.  Even though his soul was still shrouded with darkness, he worked to expiate himself of the sin.  His power stemmed from hate, but he was still in service to the Light, working for his forgiveness.  Besides, he had power no other servitor of the Light would ever have.  The sun was nearly down, and he would need to stop and rest soon.  He found a shadowed tree and leaned against it, dropping down into sleep almost immediately.  He made no campfire; the cold of the night was nothing to him.

Once asleep he found himself in the dreamless darkness, alone.  He felt naked and scared; terror invaded his heart like water into an urn.  There's something close, he thought, something dark, getting closer.  Far off he saw a pinpoint of white light, and slowly he approached it.  The pinpoint gave off a faint radiance, allowing him to see horrid faces in the darkness, shadows at the edge of his perception.  The light was coming closer to him, bringing with it comfort and safety.  Malek shut his eyes for a moment, attempting to block the visions from his site.  Even through his shut eyelids he could see the light.

"Malek," a voice spoke sternly.

"Yes?"

"You have done well, but there is yet more to do."

"Have I not yet expiated myself?" Malek sounded angry.

"No, the path from Hell to righteousness is long, brave is the soul who turns from sin and embraces Light."

"What need I do?"

"A great evil is finally free, a chain of events that have happened already have begun once more."

"Which one is it, Auriel?"

"Diablo."

"Diablo?  Wasn't he possessed in a Soulstone, entrapped by the Horadrim?"

"He has escaped… he seeks to free Baal and Mephisto from their prisons."

"Mephisto…" Malek opened his eyes, his hands clenching into fists, "he's mine."

"Pride comes before a fall, Malek, do you remember Inarius?"

"The angel Inarius, I remember.  Kavak loved that sermon to praise Mephisto, is it real, Auriel?"

"It is true, though the priests of Mephisto often embellish the tale to suit their aims.  Inarius still dwells in his mirrored room in Hell, tortured by his hideousness and by the knowledge of his hubris."

"Inarius, forgive my arrogance, was stupid.  I will not make the same mistakes."

"Inarius was an angel, much more powerful than you, Malek.  Even he fell before Mephisto, there is a lesson in that if you would only hear it."

"Is it your duty to humble me, or do you derive pleasure from it, Auriel?" Malek smiled.

"Perhaps.  Go to the Sisters of the Sightless Eye, Malek, the path to your redemption will truly begin there."

"Diablo?  Is that where he is?"

"You must have faith that things will unfold as they should, Malek, do not presume."

"Understood, angel, I will be there within three days."

"You are a loyal servitor, Malek, and despite your origins you may make it still."

"Nice to know you support me, Auriel."

"May the Light protect you, Necromancer, others have doubted, I do not."

"Thank you."

As quickly as the dream had come it was gone; Malek opened his eyes and beheld the night forest.  It would be hours before true dawn, but Malek needed little rest.  He picked up his scythe and began to walk again, this time towards the east, to the place where the Sisters of the Sightless Eye hailed from.  He thought of Auriel's words about the tale of the Fallen Angel Inarius, who had been bested by Mephisto himself.  He was powerful, but still only a mortal, weak in comparison to an angel or a demon.  But inside him the need for revenge festered like a sickness, like a fever lurking beneath a cool brow.  Mephisto had ripped and tore the flesh from the once-beautiful Inarius, and Mephisto's worshippers had killed his family and lied to him from the beginning. 

Deep within Hell, down in the darkest chasms where soot and burnt flesh wafted on the superheated air, there was a room.  In the room was a man, bound in a spider's web of chains that hooked into his skin.  His flesh was ragged, torn, and suppurated with all manner of ungodly infections.  Normally his existence was torment, endless torment as the lids of his once glorious eyes had been stripped away, and he was forced to look on himself for all eternity.  Now he raised his head and smiled for the first time in what felt like millennia.  Someone was coming for Mephisto… someone special.