Chapter Three:

The great library of Dalaran was the largest collection of books in the world. Even one of the shelves countained more knowledge on magic than most libraries had in their entire collection. Countless thousands of books were neatly ordered by dozens of librarian, each one trained in magic from a young age to ensure that it robbing the place was next to impossible. There were books on the mundane, on magic, and everything else you could imagine someone writing a book about.

Jaina Proudmoore was sitting in a red velvet armchair reading a book entitled The Corruption of Heroes. Ordinarily she would be totally engrossed in it, but today she was somewhat aware of her surroundings, thanks in most part to the fact that the book wasn't very good. Supposedly it was about the effects of Fel corruption, and how it could happen to anyway, but the author apparently thought that little things like checking your facts, or internal consistancy were minor detail at best.

She chuckled as she found a particularly absurd claim, when she was interupted rather suddenly.

'Hello Jaina?' came a old, baritone voice in front of her. And Jaina looked up to see a tall, lean man in his late fifties. He had a short dark beard that had begun to gray around the edges, and wore fine black robes lined with silver thread. In one mottled, bony hand he clutched a black wood staff.

'Master Kel'thuzad?' she said in surprise, standing hurriedly, and almost tripping over he cape in the process. 'I didn't know that you would be-'

Kel'thuzad raised one hand tiredly 'Don't give me any false apologies to day, Jaina.' he said, stopping her with one raised hand. 'I don't have the energy.' he grabbed to book of out her hands and looked at it for a moment. "...The Corruption of Heroes, by Mal Kotzen." he tossed it nonchalantly behind him, causing Jaina sqeak in surprive before diving past him to catch it right before it landed on the ground. 'Really Jaina, I'm disappointed in you my girl, this fool had absolutely no conception of what he was talking about. I honestly think that he just read a brief summary of a few incidents involving Fel Magic, and assumed that it was the only reason anyone ever succumbed to evil. He can hardly even be called a scholar.'

'Really?' asked Jaina in an sarcastic tone as she stood up 'Did he do things like hurl valuable books to the floor without looking at them? I'm just wondering, because that would be truly horrible.'

'I did look at it, actually.' said Kel'thuzad 'I was so disguested by his complete lack of regard for the lore of history that I splashed wine in his face, and called him an imbacile who could be outdone by the lowliest of hedge wizards, right in front of his collegues. I then walked out of the room without another word.'

'...I take it that had a negative effect on your political aspirations?' She said in dull surprise.

'Actually it worked out brilliantly' corrected Kel'thuzad 'since once my back was turned he tried to shoot me with a fire bolt, and ignited the alcohol he was soaked with. Unfortunately he burned to death, despite my valiant attempts to save him with a ice spell. The shoulder wound I took probably had a negative effect on my ability to focus.' Jaina noted that he sounded rather smug, and grimaced as he moved a stiff shoulder awkardly.

'...Didn't his friends make trouble for you?' She asked after a moment.

'Are you joking?' he replied dryly 'No one wanted to be associated with a mage who had been humiliated by a fourteen year old novice, and accidently killed himself while trying to shoot said novice in the back.'

'...You were fourteen when this happened?' She asked, beyond awed.

'Is it so surprising that I was young once?' asked Kel'thuzad, with a amused chuckle.

'No, it's just... I can't believe that someone would be willing to kill a child over something so minor.'

'That's because you live in a much nicer time period.' said Kel'thuzad ruefully 'Back before Antonidas and I took power things were... unpleasant to say the least.' His face grew serious. 'And not just in Dalaran. You would be surprised at just how much King Terenas taking the throne changed things. And now things are changing all over again.'

'What do you mean?' asked Jaina.

He sighed in frustration. 'Archbishop Faol has been demanding that Paladins be given a garrison within Dalaran.' he said 'The Old fool wants to have us watched in our own citidel. And worst of all, people are starting listen to him.'

'What!' said Jaina in horror 'But that would be as good as a hostile takeover. The Six would never allow it.'

'Which is exactly why Faol suggested it.' said Kel'thuzad with a wry grin 'The old bastard is trying to force us into a direct conflict with King Terenas, so he can isolate us. Fortunately I doubt anything will come of it.'

'What do you mean, nothing will come of it?' said Jaina in surprise 'The Archbishop controls the entire Church of Light. Hell, he even has his own military now, what with the Golden Order. This could be disastrous!'

'Ah, but you miss one very important factor, Jaina.; Kel'thuzad replied as he moved over to a nearby bookshelf. 'The Archbishop Faols was getting old fifteen years ago, before the second war even began. He'll keel over dead soon enough, at which point Lord Uther will take over, and Lord Uther has no talent for politics."

'Actually, Arthas is of the opinion that the Lord Uther just doesn't care about politics.' replied Jaina 'Given that he has known the man far longer than you, I believe we ought to take his word for it.'

'Assuming that Prince Arthas isn't lying, of course.' Deadpanned her master as he ran one finger along the spines of the books upon the shelves 'But speaking of Prince Arthas I suppose I should congratulate you on your success in your first tour of duty. I have heard that the war goes well, though I believe I should ask you for confirmation on that matter before I believe it.'

'You do know that you are being incredibly paranoid, right?' asked Jaina.

'Paranoia implies unjustified fears.' replied Kel'thuzad 'And I don't believe such things exist.'

Jaina sighed 'The war is being won for most most part, at least from what I could see. We have more or less driven Hellscream and his Mag'thar into the hills. Arthas seems quite confident that he will be able to smash him in at least a month, though there are still the occasional Orcish raiding parties, it is nothing compared to what they had before.'

'Wonderful.' replied Kel'thuzad observed dryly 'So have you confessed to him yet, or are you still in denial on your crush?'

'What!' she said, blushing furiously.

'Need I elaborate?' said Kel'thuzad 'Your reports have had a rather large focus on what and excellent commander he is, and with such focus on what a heroic, kind, individual he was. I merely assumed that you were planning to seduce him at some point. It's perfectly appropriate, given that your father is the King of Kul'tiras."

'I only met him three months ago!' She practicaly yelled, before checking her voice in the library. 'Okay, yes. He's a friend, but it's way too soon to even consider that kind of-'

'Yes, yes, denial. Whatever.' said Kel'thuzad with a shrug. 'I honestly don't really care what you do in your spare time Jaina, as long as it doesn't get in the way of your studies, and my research. Politics has never been important to me for it's own sake. It's merely a means to an end, the end being the advancement of mankinds understanding of the universe. Speaking of research, I'll need your aid with something.'

Jaina paused as she adjusted to the sudden change of subject. 'Okay, uh... what is it.'

'A matter of great importance.' said Kel'thuzad 'King Terenas has agreed to fund an expidition of mine, and I will need your assistance within it.'

Jaina raised an eyebrow. 'What kind of expedition?' She asked curiously.

'Do you remember that Chain of Islands which appeared fifteen years ago to the west of the mainland?'

'The ones which the Warlock Gul'dan raised from the deep in his search for godhood?' said Jaina 'Of course. We might have lost the war without his betrayal of the Horde.' She smiled as memories came back to her. 'I remember that my father was always telling people that he sent half the Hordes forces to the bottom off the ocean that day."

'Yes, that's very nice, I suppose.' said Kel'thuzad dismissively 'But the real question is, what was Gul'dan was looking for?'

'I don't see why that should matter.' replied Jaina with a shrug 'Gul'dan probably thought that whatever it was incredibly powerful, he would have had to if he was willing to stab Warchief Doomhammer in the back to get it. But given that we caught the army Doomhammer sent after him on their return trip, he probably took an axe to the skull for his trouble. Either way, whatever it was he was looking for either didn't meet his expectations or didn't exist any more.'

'Which is what we assumed,' Said her master 'and given that the High Elves assured the Alliance that the magic that had sprung up around the area was merely a side effect of Gul'dan bringing the continent up from ocean in the first place, we weren't inclined to press them as good and loyal allies. Of course, now that a massive amount of magical energy has been detected coming from said chain of islands, it looks like the High Elves were in fact, as they always are when it comes to practical matters, absolutely wrong. Which is why I'm being sent there.'

'That's wonderful, really.' said Jaina 'But I'm still technically taking orders from Arthas. I can't just resign my post without serious problems showing up later.'

'Well fortunately for you, you don't have to.' He said 'While I can't technically arrange transfers, I specifically requested his unit to assist me in this matter. King Terenas was quite happy with having the person in command be someone who won't stab him in the back.' He spoke as though he were discussing the weather, and Jaina looked him for a moment in shock, before it set in what he had just done. 'So yeah, I've just had his unit arranged for escort duty, pulling him away from the verge of victory at the last second.'

'...You do realize that Arthas is going to kill you for this, right?' She asked plainly.

'Me, get killed by him?' Said Kel'thuzad with a laugh 'Paladin or no, I would like to see him try.'

…...

The sun was falling inn the east when Uther Lightbringer arrived in the camp of Arthas Menethil. The old Paladin wore a suit of fine armor, and his white cloak fell around his shoulders. Behind him rode a force of three hundred Knights, clad in armor much like his, albeit less elaborate. All held hammers like the one Arthas held, and they reined to a halt as they entered into the center of the tents. His own Soldiers stood and readied themselves in greeting as Arthas came out of his tent to meet with Uther, carrying his Warhammer with him.

'Hail, Uther!' Arthas called joyfully 'You honor us with your presence!'

'Hail Prince Arthas!' Called the Old Paladin formally as he dismouted from his charger, his boots landing with a thud on the frozen ground. "And the honor is mine."

There was a pause as they looked at eachother gravely, then they both broke out laughing. Uther embraced him in a bone-crushing bearhug that Arthas returned somewhat awkwardly, before they separated. The Old Man remained strong as always, but seemed to have a few more streaks of gray in his hair then before. "Formality has never suited you, lad." said Uther warmly. "I've been hearing nothing but good reports regarding your victories here. I'm glad to see your putting the skills I taught you to good use. You've truly earned your spurs in the last two years. The court have taken to calling you the 'Shield of Lordaeron'."

'The Shield of Lordaeron'.' said Arthas, motioning with one hand for Uther to follow him. Together they began to walk side by side towards the command tent 'I like the title. Far better than I do Varian's.'

'Which one?' asked Uther ruefully as they reached the threshold and entered. ''The Avenger of Stormwind' or the 'Wolf of the Alliance. Prince Varian has quite a few, I've noticed.' They both moved to take seats on the opposite side of a thick, wooden table that stood in the center of the pavilion, though both felt a bit out of place there.

'I was speaking of the title the Orcs have given him.' Arthas cleared his throat, and spoke in the gutteral language of the Orcs 'Dae'ogar.'

'I didn't know you spoke the Orcs language.' mused Uther in mild surprise.

'I'm not entirely fluent, I'll admit.' said Arthas with a shrug. 'But I know enough of it to demand the surrender of my enemies, and give basic commands. I've been trying to improve at it though. It's a bit hard to negotiate if no one understands what you are saying after all.'

'Fair enough.' said Uther, pinching his beard with two fingers 'Though I'm getting a bit too old to learn such things. Still, what does this Dae'ogar title mean?'

'Roughly translated?' asked Arthas gravely "It means 'Twisted death'. The name stems from the way he treats prisoners.'

Uther narrowed his eyes grimly. 'I see. I had heard that you two had had a disagreement in how the war should be conducted. But I had been told it was about strategy.'

'It was, and it is, though that does not do it justice.' replied Arthas before opting to change the subject 'Still, I expect the Hero of Blackrock did not come all the way over here to speak to me of my issues with Varian. Why are you really here, Uther, and in such force?'

'Well part of the reason was to congratulate you on your stunning victory at Hearthglen." said Uther his voice holding a touch of pride. 'Your use of goblin landmines has been noted as brilliant even by General Turylyon.'

'I could not have done it without Jaina's assistance.' said Arthas, his tone brightening noticeably, though he noted that the Paladin seemed hesitant to answer the question. 'I shall have to pass my complements on to the Kirin Tor when I get the chance, though, she has been an invaluable asset to my forces.' he raised an eyebrow. 'Now aside from that, why exactly are you here in such force. I believe that I told my father I was confident I could wipe out Hellscream on my own.'

Uther sighed and decided to just get it over with. 'Your being reassigned, by your fathers orders. My forces are here to finish the job for you, while you deal with your new assignment.'

'What!'

'Before you get angry with me, read this.' said Uther with a sigh, bringing up a sheet of parchment with the Kings seal. Arthas snatched it out of Uther's hands and unrolled it, his blue green eyes moving over the pages rapidly, as his eyes narrowed.

'This is outrageous.' he snarled 'This expedition will take my forces over a hundred miles from the war! What could be so damn important?'

'King Terenas told me that he felt the possible results of failure were too dire to send anyone who he didn't absolutely trust.' the Old Paladin paused 'Ordinarily I would have been sent, but Archmage Kel'thuzad wanted his apprentice to aid him, and... well...' Uther paused awkwardly.

'Get on with it.' said Arthas in an annoyed tone.

'The paperwork required to transfer a mage from military service to this kind of expidition could take weeks to go through.' said Uther with a nervous smile 'And we don't have that kind of time.'

There was a long moment of silence, in which Arthas opened his mouth, closed it, then finally spoke. 'Am I to understand that my forces are being removed from the field on the eve of victory because of red tape!'

'Well not just that' said Uther, his voice becoming a bit more serious as he took out another letter. 'These are special instructions, given to me by his majesty. Even I don't know what is on them, and they are for your eyes alone. They probably have a better explanation than I can provide.'

'...Very well,' said Arthas taking the letter with a sigh 'I swear I'm going to throttle that Kel'thuzad, though.'

'I would humbly suggest not doing that until after the mission is completed.' said Uther dryly, though neither took the matter seriously. 'It could make completing the mission inconvenient.'

'As you wish, Lord Uther.' said Arthas, before giving his mentor a serious look 'Just be careful here, Uther. Hellscream isn't some trigger happy idiot like the other orcs. He won't make this easy on you. Be on your guard.'

'Don't turn your hair gray worrying for me, boy.' replied Uther 'The Original Paladins may be getting on in years, but we're not helpless.'

'That I know too well, Uther.' said Arthas 'That I know too well.'

…...

Authors Note: Wow, been a while hasn't it. This really more of a part 2 to the previous chapter. See, unlike Legacy of Damnation, and Deathsong of Light, this alternate universe is extremely complicated, and I have to figure out what everyones doing. If I want to have the Burning Legion invade, I can't do it in the same way, and this I must use the Dreadlords differently.

About Varian, it is doubtful that he will show up for quite some time. Still, I felt that I should elaborate on his current whereabouts. Arthas and he were friends in this timeline. The war just changed them both a great deal.

Oh, and yes Kel'thuzad is Jaina's master, not Antonidas. This is another divergance which is due to the war. I may write a side story detailing the various divergences.

The decision to have Pernolde killed off was one I made a long time ago. While Terenas spared him in the main story, it was only to avoid political trouble, and in this case you have a lot of angry nations who have just lost a lot of money and soldiers for what amounts to a stalemate. And they are all looking for someone to blame. And Alterac just happens to picked the wrong side.

Thus, Alterac becomes a sacrificial lamb to satisfy people. And Pernolde is beheaded because, whatever your interpretation of his motivations, he was a traitor. He swore himself to the Alliance, then sold them out the moment it looked like he'd have to fight. So there is a good deal of justice in the decision.

Authors note: I have heavily edited this chapter, and much of the content has changed in some manner. As such, I felt that I should make this an official update. I have some plans for the next one, but I'm unsure when it will come out.

Until next time.

-Lord22