A/N: Well that didn't take long between stories. As I mentioned at the end of 'A Frozen Revenge' this one will be focused mainly on Athrodar's and Thalina's daughter Tanadia, and how she deals with losing her faith with the light and turning to the void/shadows to deal with things in the future.
This will be about as long as my last one, maybe a few chapters long or shorter, I'm not quite sure on that yet. This is set between the finding of Azerite after Sargeras plunged his sword into the planet and the siege of Lordaeron and it may or may not push further into BFA.
Running Away
Several years had passed since the fall of Arthas at the hands of his second in command and those that had accompanied him to the Frozen Throne. Twenty three to be exact, and a lot has happened since then. A tormented and psychotic dragon had torn the world asunder, the Black Dragon Aspect, Deathwing, rose from the Maelstrom and wreaked havoc across the world.
Upon his death, there was a brief moment of peace before war had raged on Azeroth once more, this time to the south of the planet on a new, uncharted land mass that had been shrouded by mist for more than ten thousand years. It had finally revealed itself after ten millennia, only to be torn apart by the eternal conflict between the Horde and Alliance.
The aftermath of that war had led all the citizens of Azeroth to fight in the Horde Capital of Orgrimmar, dismantling the Orcish hosts and imprisoning their Warchief, Garrosh Hellscream, only for him to escape back in time to his home world of Draenor, building up a new army of orcs to send back to Azeroth known as the Iron Horde.
This was the new threat to Azeroth that needed heroes to come forth and push back the Iron Tide that threatened to conqueror their world, taking the fight to an alternative Draenor than the one they knew as Outland, fighting against both Iron Horde and eventually the Burning Legion. The Demon army made its way back to Draenor after failing to do what they done originally, which was enslave the orcs of Draenor and get them to slaughter the Draenei inhabiting the planet with them.
Gul'dan, the Burning Legion's puppet, escaped Draenor, landing in Azeroth and the one place that had been forgotten by many of the citizens of Azeroth, Sargeras' tomb. From there, he summoned the Burning Legion to Azeroth, calling forth countless demons to wage war on the planet that has eluded the Dark Titan Sargeras for years.
On their return from Draenor, the many heroes of the Horde and Alliance were met with conflict soon after, having to travel to the Broken Shore to fend off wave after wave of demons, losing many powerful champions in the process. Whilst the Alliance lost their High King, Varian Wrynn, the Horde lost their newly appointed Warchief, Vol'jin in the same conflict. Unfortunately tensions between the two had increased, the Alliance believing the Horde had abandoned them in their time of need, though the Horde had called a retreat after being overrun by the demons attacking them.
The light had lost it's most powerful champion on those shores as well, Highlord Tirion Fordring being slain by a massive demon, one hundred times his size, fighting to his last breath, praying for the light to save him. But the light had failed him that day, not lending him its strength, being burnt by the fel fire that had surrounded him.
After years of fighting and many more lives being lost on either end, the Horde and Alliance had pushed back the demons to their home world of Argus, with the aid of the Demon Hunters. Highly skilled in the arts of killing demons, trained by none other than Illidan Stormrage, they had helped the Alliance and Horde in their darkest hour, slaying the Eredar lord himself, Kil'Jaeden the Deceiver, though not without sustaining several casualties.
One such casualty in that conflict had been Grand Magister Telramar Dawnstrider of Silvermoon. This left the city with one less Grand Magister, a position that had to be filled immediately, a position that had already been filled before the candidate had been aware of their loss. Thalina Dawnstrider, the daughter to the late Grand Magister was only one hundred and sixty-five at the time, a young age for a Sin'dorei, especially one that had just been appointed Grand Magister.
She wasn't given much time to grieve, having been told the morale of her people was low and that seeing her take up the mantle her father had unwillingly left for her would boost that morale, seeing a young noble, and the people's daughter take up the position in their time of need. This did however leave her with a very little amount of time to spend with her daughter, a young priestess named Tanadia.
She had gotten her calling towards the light at the age of ten, just like everyone else her age who had shown talents for magic, being swept up by the Blood Knight Matriarch and life long friend of her mother, Lady Liadrin. The legendary paladin taking her under her wing as her new protégé, teaching her everything she knew about the light and how to wield it in a way to both help people and to harm them.
She was only nineteen when she got the news of her Grandfather's passing as well as her mother taking up his mantle shortly after. Still a child in her people's eyes, she had to grow up fast, just as the world around her was becoming increasingly dangerous, spending most of her time training vigorously with Liadrin whilst the times she had with her mother was spent learning about the other races in the world, their history and heritage, as well as what faction they belonged to and what deities they worship.
Her father however, that was a man she had rarely seen, but had heard about a lot by both her mother and her mentor. On the rare occasions he would visit, it would be brief, only staying for a day or two before being called away by an unlikely ally to her family in her eyes. She had grown up knowing her faction's enemies, but there was one she could call friend, a Night Elf by the name of Elaria Shadowbow, a family friend for as long as she could remember, even going back as far as before she was born.
She would visit more often than her father however, always giving the same couple of excuses as to why he couldn't be there, most of them revolving around his line of work getting in the way. Her mother, Thalina, however had snuck away every month for a couple days, sometimes a week to visit him. That was until the Legion invaded, having to prolong their next meeting time and time again from one or two weeks a month to one or two weeks every three, sometimes longer still.
She knew of her father's name, though his reputation spoke for him, his deeds in Northrend paved the way for his legacy, running the most sought after mercenary company this side of the Maelstrom, sending all of his personal earnings back to her and her mother for the past twenty or so years, amassing to quite the sum in the Silvermoon bank, having to spread it across two different banks just to house it all.
She wasn't spoilt by any means though, her mentor drilling into her head that money wasn't everything and that if she was to spend any of it, it should be for a something worthwhile. So on her eighteenth birthday, a popular birthday for humans and other younger races of Azeroth, she had donated a large sum of her money into creating the Dawnstrider orphanage. She had known of Liadrin's past and her time as an orphan, and decided to do the one thing she knew would help people.
This however did not sit well with her mother, Thalina telling her she shouldn't blow her money on something that would eat away at their savings over time. This was the first of many arguments between mother and daughter, most of them all having to do with the amount of stress Thalina was under, taking on the role of Grand Magister, spending less time with both her daughter and the love of her life.
The rift between her and Thalina had grown bigger over the last five years, the new Horde Warchief, Sylvanas Windrunner, wasn't making the Grand Magister's life any easier with this sudden need for a new mineral she hadn't heard of before. Azerite. The two also hadn't gotten along ever since Northrend, both of them wanting Athrodar for themselves and knowing only one of them would win in the end. Luckily for the Grand Magister, it was her, but Sylvanas still tried to win him over whenever the two of them would meet.
Tanadia wasn't aware of this though, spending most of her time reading up on the history of her people as well as spending it in the orphanage, looking after the sick children that were there and healing others that needed her attention.
Now twenty five years young, her body had reached maturity, not going to grow again as it had reached its peak. Like all Sin'dorei, she had all the characteristics of beauty to those who weren't part of that race, specifically the humans. Though to other Sin'dorei, she was a cut above the rest. Her ice blonde hair had been one of the many standout things about her, as well as her golden eyes, the majority of the Sin'dorei having green eyes, but being born in an era of a newly purified Sunwell and spending the majority of her time near it, it had changed her eye colour to something that would attract the attention of many.
The priests of Silvermoon had been known to have softer skin than most, the light aiding them to achieve such a thing, as well as the power of the newly purified Sunwell giving them a faint glow whenever they would spend a long time near it. She would also spend up to an hour getting ready if she was to appear in public, always looking to stand out amongst the crowd when her unique features weren't enough. She also had the money to spend on the best clothes and cosmetics. This once again didn't sit well with Thalina, being another thing the two of them argued about, the Grand Magister coming close to cutting her off completely and giving her zero access to the money Athrodar was leaving them.
Perhaps she was spoilt after all.
"You need to stop spending this money so frivolously, it's not endless Tanadia and you will miss it once it's gone."
The young priestess groaned in frustration, having heard the same argument from her countless times. "I know it's not! Why can't you just let me live my life without constantly telling me what to do!? I'm not a child any more."
"Then stop acting like one and do as I say." She pinched the bridge of her nose, tired of having the same conversation with her daughter. "You constantly say you want to be treated like an adult, then you go and do something like this, spending money on anything that catches your eye, losing interest with it a couple of days later."
Tanadia extended her hand out towards the two older elves sitting behind Thalina. "Those two don't seem to mind."
"That's because you give them everything you get bored with." She glanced back at her mother, then at Athrodar's, the pair of them talking to each other in private whilst wearing this summers newest dresses, shaking her head at them.
"And is that so bad? I am helping out those that need it."
Thalina laughed. "Hah! Yes, because they don't need help in that way. If you really wanted to help them, you'd do the household chores that you've been neglecting to do for the last few years, leaving it up to them to clean up after you."
"I've been busy."
"With what?"
"The orphanage I help run, as well as my studies."
"Ah yes, the orphanage, another one of your brilliant ideas." Thalina shook her head. "I still can't believe you did that."
"You don't think it's a good cause? To get the orphaned children off the street and into a home?"
"That's not what I'm saying. Yes, it's for a good cause, a great one in fact. It was a brilliant idea to help them and to get them through this tough time in their lives. But financially speaking, it was a terrible idea. It's making no money and with what little you bring in, it's hardly making you a profit. Instead it's just burning through the money your father is leaving you."
"Liadrin always told me money wasn't everything, so I don't care that it's not making money, only that it's helping out those less fortunate."
Thalina sighed, shaking her head at her daughter once more. "Liadrin also hasn't had the best sense when it comes to money. So of course she would say that."
Tanadia sighed, folding her arms and looking at her. "Why are you here mother? Haven't you got a city to help run? I'd have thought you'd prefer to do that over spending time with me."
The Grand Magister let out a frustrated groan, closing her eyes and trying to calm herself down. "By the light you're infuriating Tanadia. I came home to spend time with you, only to find out you've blown through a quarter of this years savings in two weeks."
The young priestess began to walk away from her, growing tired of the same old conversation. "How did I end up with the only parent who doesn't see the joys of having money!?" She stormed up the stairs of their home, making her way towards her bedroom.
Thalina began to shout up to her. "I don't see the joys of having money? You should go live with your father then if you think that! You remember? The man that doesn't have any!"
Tanadia shouted back down to her. "Maybe I will!" She slammed her bedroom door after.
"Fine, be my guest!" Thalina replied, though she wasn't sure if she had heard her. She walked into the living room with both Matriarchs of her family, slumping down in her father's chair and rubbing her temple. "Please don't tell me I was thing infuriating when I was younger."
Her mother leaned on her chair, looking at her Grand Magister and daughter. "You weren't as bad as that, but at the same time, you weren't better either."
Athrodar's mother leaned forward, looking at her as well. "You were annoying in other ways."
Thalina moved her hand away from her temple, looking at the pair of them. "Thanks. I really needed that." She shook her head, going back to rubbing her temple.
Both matriarch's returned to their neutral positions in their chairs, Driana, Thalina's mother, grinned a little. "You're welcome."
The next day.
Thalina plodded out from her bedroom, making her way down the corridor half awake and stopping outside her daughter's room. They hadn't spoken since their argument the day before, which made Thalina feel a little guilty for yelling at her, knowing she could have handled the situation better. She leaned up against the door, knocking on it three times. "Honey, can we talk?"
There was no reply.
"Look, I get that you don't want to talk right now, but can I just say something." She sighed, placing a hand on the door. "I shouldn't have reacted the way I did, I also know that we haven't spent a lot of time together recently and for that I am sorry."
Still no reply.
"Between my duties as a Grand Magister and trying to spend time with your father, I haven't left much time open for you." She looked at the floor, hanging her head low. "Look, can I come in and we discuss this in there? I feel like I can get my point across better if I could see you."
And yet, still no reply.
"Tanadia?" Thalina slowly opened the door, walking into an empty room. She noticed the window and dresser doors were left open, coming to the conclusion she had left in the night. She sighed, shaking her head whilst looking at the window. "This girl is going to be the death of me."
The young priestess was walking through the dark forest of Silverpine, sticking to the paved roads that were dimly lit by the lanterns on either side of it. She had slipped out in the middle of the night, making her way to Sunfury Spire as quickly as she could and taking the Orb of Translocation to the Ruins of Lordaeron. She had changed her clothes to wear something that was all black that she found in her mothers wardrobe, the leathers that held it all together looking a little worn and of poor quality.
She was determined to do what her mother suggested, to go to the snowy plains of Alterac and live with her father. "At least there I will be treated like an adult." She muttered to herself, slinging her rucksack over her shoulder when it began to slip down. She had also borrowed a cloak from Thalina, specifically the one Athrodar gave her in Northrend, wrapping it around herself to keep herself warm, not being used to the change in climate between Eversong and Silverpine.
She had been walking for several hours, quickly approaching the border between Hillsbrad and Silverpine, several guards posted there nodding at her as she walked passed them, going about their business as usual. She had heard stories about what had happened in Hillsbrad, and was surprised to see most of them were true, the plague had been weaponised and used against the humans that inhabited these lands, turning them into mindless ghouls that needed to be slain.
By the time she had seen it, she had already smelt it. She walked passed what used to be a farm, noticing it had been walled up and could see several plague carts stationed inside. She slowly approached one of the guards stationed outside, looking to ask him for directions. "Ex...excuse me, do you know how I can get to Alterac?" The guard stared at her, only now did she noticed his jaw was missing, grimacing a little as his tongue waved about freely under his helmet. "Nevermind."
"You're looking to go to Alterac?"
Tanadia span around and saw a burly Tauren standing behind her, his armour looking a little dented, though she could see the intricate work put into it, the ornate plating serving him well in whatever battle he was in. She hesitated at first, a little intimidated by his stature as well as the scar across his face telling her he was battle hardened. "Y..yes I am. Do you know the way?"
He lifted up his giant mace that was resting on its head, throwing it over his shoulder and resting it there instead. "Actually, I do. I was heading back there myself." Despite looking intimidating, he gave her a warm smile that wiped away any feelings of being scared that she had. "Care to join me?"
Her face lit up, smiling at the Tauren. "Sure! Wait, what do you mean heading back there?"
They both began to walk side by side, the Tauren glancing down at her as they moved. "I live up there, along with a company of mercenaries. Though I suppose you knew that, seeing as you wanted to head there yourself." He looked down at the bag she was struggling to carry, offering down a hand towards her. "Let me carry that for you."
She handed him her rucksack, giving her arms a much needed rest from lugging it about all day, wrapping her cloak around her instead. "Thank you." She looked up at him as he focused on the road ahead, watching his nose ring move up and down as he breathed in and out. "I suppose you're wondering why I want to go to Alterac."
"Not really, no. I figured it was the same for everyone else who wanted to go there, to join the company that resides in those mountains." There was a little twinkle in his eye as he spoke, a sense of pride about his home pushing his words out. "It's home for all those able to pick up a sword and fight for money. Where your faction means nothing, only the love of coin and the feeling of family bonding us as a unit." He glanced down at her, seeing the look of wanderlust in her eyes, the very same he had when he first joined the company. "What's your name little one? I am Hroki Bluffhorn, Captain of the Blood Spear Mercenaries."
"My name's Tanadia Dawnstrider, daughter of Grand Magister Thalina Dawnstrider and, I suppose, your leader. Though I haven't seen my father in years."
Hroki gently patted her on the back, nodding slowly. "He has been very busy as of late, this Azerite business is distracting him as most of our work has been to secure deposits of that stuff. Sometimes for the Horde, sometimes for the Alliance, whatever faction pays more."
Tanadia nodded, not speaking until they arrived at the foot of a stronghold that looked to be nothing like the ruins she was told it was. "Are we here?"
Hroki lifted his mace off his shoulder, dropping it to the floor and dragging it along the snow as he began to walk to the gates. "We're home."
The two guards on duty nodded at their Captain, saluting him and Tanadia as they walked passed them, the Tauren taking her to where he knew Athrodar to be, stopping outside his office, knocking on it three times with the hilt of his mace. "Come in."
As he opened the door to the room, Athrodar remained looking at the parchments in front of him, not looking up from the table in the middle of the room whilst Elaria sat on one of the chairs opposite him, biting her nails. "That better be my favourite Tauren." She glanced over her shoulder, locking eyes with someone she didn't expect to see here. "What are you doing here?"
Athrodar looked up from the papers this time, locking eyes with his daughter. "Tanadia?"
She smiled at him as he stood up from his chair, walking around the table and making his way over to her. "Hi papa."
