Knowing that Faith was away from her again was doing unimaginable things to her. Worried, aware that her wife risked death at every turn, Sylvanas was short-tempered with everyone, wanting nothing more than to be by Faith's side.
Their pendants helped more than she'd thought possible. Whenever Faith touched it, it felt as though she was right there with her, stroking her skin. The sensation was ghostlike, but enough to matter. Enough to make her feel that they were together, despite being so far away from each other.
Still, she hated it. Hated to know that she was in danger.
I don't want you away from me. Is that too much to ask?
"It's unlike you to be like this, Sylvanas. Pull yourself together, will you?"
Sylvanas jumped out of her skin, her eyes widening. "Faith Windrunner!" she cried, stunned to see her standing in front of her. In a bound, she had crossed the small room and taken her into her arms. "What are you doing here? I thought you were busy finding Mayor Heathrow's daughter?"
"Oh, you know about that?" asked Faith happily, squeezing her back. "I was, and we found her. The manor she was in was on fire, so we had to move quickly."
"How many undead did you put down?"
"A fair few. I can't believe the necromancers are able to raise corpses that have been there for ten thousand years. Ten thousand years! We can't let them get away with this."
"I wasn't aware you wanted to let them get away with anything." Sylvanas pulled away from her, smoothing her eyebrows, "You are so beautiful."
Faith blinked once and smiled, "I love you."
She kissed her, "I love you. How long are you here for?"
"An hour, maybe less. I need to get back to Bradensbrook."
"Helping Gilneans, there's something I never thought I'd see you do."
"They're not Greymane's people. They ran from the Scourge, same as we all did, except that they ended up on the Broken Isles. They were lucky."
"I'm not sure they see it that way, considering the fact that the Burning Legion is sending scores of undead at them."
"We're working on that."
"So, what are you doing here?" asked Sylvanas again.
"You told me to come back to you periodically so that I could make my reports, so here I am."
"You've only been gone three days."
"And you were climbing the walls without me, admit it."
Affronted, Sylvanas poked Faith's belly, "I will not."
Faith grinned and wrapped her arms around her wife again, hugging her, "Oh, I love coming home to you."
"Orgrimmar is home now?"
"No. But you are."
That sentence left Sylvanas speechless for a minute. She could only look at Faith, appalled when she felt her eyes filling with tears. She tried to blink them away, but a couple of them fell, trickling down her face. Faith used her thumbs, gently wiping them off and kissing her softly.
"I guess I should let you go back."
"You should," agreed Faith. "But I'd rather stay with you a few more minutes."
Sylvanas gave a rare sigh, "It's never going to get easier for you to leave, is it?"
"It'll be about as easy for me to leave as it is for you to let me go. Considering how you feel about me, I'm guessing that… no."
"What's your next plan of action for Bradensbrook?"
Faith grimaced. "Black Rook Hold. We know there are necromancers inside, and we have to get rid of them. This might be what we do, but Sunwell save me, I really don't want to go in there. That place is huge. I can only imagine how many fiends we're going to find within its walls."
"You'll need to send a recon mission before your attack. You don't want to go in blind."
"I have a few people ready for this. We got some reinforcements, including people from SI:7, so I'll send them out there."
"You're working with Stormwind Intelligence? You?" Sylvanas sounded flabbergasted.
"They have some of the best rogues I've ever seen. They're ideal for taking a close look at what's happening. I'll go with them to see what's going on, and we got some unexpected help from Jarod Shadowsong. He was actually there when the Burning Legion first invaded us, and he's been inside the hold before."
"All right, all right, you have the situation well in hand, as always. Go then. Be safe."
"I'll do my best. I'll see you later, my love." She made to leave, but found Sylvanas holding her hand.
"Kiss me before you go."
Faith didn't need to be told twice. Wrapping her arms around Sylvanas' neck, she kissed her deeply, injecting every ounce of love she could into it. It was the kind of kiss that could have lasted forever, had they not been conscious of the time that was going by. Reluctantly, they released each other.
Sylvanas watched her leave, the pang of loneliness only slightly lessened by the fact that she could still taste her wife on her lips. She closed her eyes, willing herself to regain her composure, and turned towards where some of her advisors were standing.
"What do we know about the situation in Val'sharah?" she asked them.
"It's worse than Faith imagines. There are several points of attack by the Burning Legion. Druids have reported that the Garden of Elune, not far from where Faith is located, is currently under attack."
A female tauren stepped forward, "The Emerald Nightmare is also encroaching on many areas of the forest. We know of harpies who have been corrupted and who have been kidnapping druids. We're not sure for what purpose."
"So things are starting to get very bad there," said Sylvanas, glancing at Mavren who had come from Undercity to lend a hand.
He nodded, "Yes. Bradensbrook in particular has seen a tremendous amount of undead activity. Faith probably didn't want to alarm you, but we've been told that there are hundreds of undead flying above the hold. Mostly undead birds, which are dangerous in large numbers, but also undead demons, which are worse. From what we've gathered, there are also undead riders, and that's not counting what's on the ground."
Sylvanas swore under her breath, "We don't have the numbers to fight that," she said.
"No. We don't. Stormwind might, but they can't empty the entire city to fight a group of undead, not when the Burning Legion is invading other points."
She shook her head, thinking about the way Vereesa had turned against Faith. Who knew what Greymane had told Anduin? "No, I'm not asking Stormwind for anything." She took a seat, "What about in other parts of the Broken Isles?"
"It seems as though Val'sharah was their first point of contact on the mainland, so to speak. The Broken Shore is still crawling with demons, and to be honest, we don't know where they're going to strike next. We're in trouble, Warchief."
The man who had spoken was right: they were in trouble. Not just the Horde, but the Alliance too, as the scale of the Burning Legion's invasion was unlike anything they had ever faced. It was obvious that the demons were there with only one purpose: to destroy the planet.
As Faith returned to Bradensbrook, she glanced at the massive fortress that towered above them. Even from where she stood, she could see ghostly forms patrolling the walls and flying overhead. Licking her lips, she wondered how they were going to dispatch all of those fiends.
"I'm not sure when I last ventured in an area that was this full of undead," she said to Eliza.
"Northrend?" she ventured.
"Yeah. Andorhal too, I guess. This is reminding me of Icecrown Citadel, and I don't like it."
"You know it's probably full of spiders," said Eliza. "Look at those cobwebs."
"I'd rather not, thanks."
Eliza chuckled, "You're undead and you're still afraid of spiders. Do you know how rare that is?"
"No, see, when I lived in Quel'Thalas, I was afraid of them. After being imprisoned in Naxxramas… I'm fucking terrified of them."
Unused to Faith cursing out loud, Eliza stared at her for a moment. "You know, you're general now. You don't actually have to come with us into Black Rook Hold. You can just organize everything from afar."
"How long have you known me, Eliza?"
"Almost, what, fifteen years now?"
"And during all that time, have you ever seen me back down from a mission because I was afraid?"
"No. I reckon you would have never left Undercity if that had been the case. So you're going to come with us?"
"Of course I'm going to come with you. We just have to figure out how we're going to decimate all these fiends."
"Your black fire."
"I don't think I have the stamina to use my black fire for all of the undead in that place. Plus, not all of them are solid – a lot of them are ghosts, so fire won't really help against them. We'll need holy magic for them, a lot of it. Arcane magic too."
"So you want to talk to the paladins?"
"Amongst other people, yes. There will probably be demons there as well, so really, I'll want to talk to everyone."
'Everyone' ended up being just over one hundred people who had come to fortify the ranks of the village. It wasn't enough people not by a long shot, and Faith knew perfectly well that if they weren't careful, all that would come out of it would be a hundred shiny new coffins.
"You want us to go in there," said Jack to her, nodding towards Black Rook Hold. "Knowing how many fiends there are."
"I do, yes."
"How are we supposed to kill them?"
"In any way you can. I know it's a lot of undead, but we've faced worse odds before."
"When?" asked one of the mages standing in front of her.
"Icecrown."
"There were eighteen strike teams in Icecrown, not to mention a thousand more people waiting outside the citadel to go in."
"Unfortunately, Crowman, we don't have those numbers today, so we're going to have to make do." She paused, looking at them all, "I'm not asking you to go on a suicide mission. We're going to have to be methodical about this."
"What, sealing the hold just like we did Deatholme?"
"I'm not sure that'll help," said Faith, pointing skyward. "They have flyers."
"But we have something better," came a familiar voice from behind her. "We have experience."
Faith turned around, nearly squealing in surprise. "Carrick! What are you doing here?"
Carrick grinned as best he could before walking to her and giving her a hug, "You didn't think I was going to let you walk into a fortress full of undead on your own, did you?"
She smiled back, "Sylvanas called you?"
"In a big panic. Something about you trying to sugarcoat the situation."
"I didn't sugarcoat anything. I just strategically didn't tell her how many undead we were facing."
"Well, she knew we didn't have the numbers necessary to kill all of that on our own, but she knew of an organization that we've worked with before. They might have lost several dozen members on the Broken Shore, but the Argent Crusade is always happy to come to your aid, and you know it."
"Carrick, they're more depleted than we are…"
"Interestingly enough, they received hundreds of new applicants, specifically dwarves, humans, and trolls."
"Trolls?" she exclaimed, looking at the group assembled behind Rotvine. There were over two hundred people with him, listening to their exchange.
"You'd be surprised at how many trolls volunteered for the Argent Crusade after Vol'jin's passing. They figured one of the best ways to avenge his death was to work with them, directly against the Burning Legion."
Faith nodded, "Well, I think I speak for everyone when I tell you just how grateful I am for your help." She blinked, recognizing one of the people standing there, watching her. "Beverly?" she asked. "Is that you?"
The woman smiled. She had aged since Faith had seen her last, but it was still the same woman who had fought by her side against the Lich King. "It is me, Commander. Hi!"
"She's general now," said Rotvine quietly.
Faith waved the comment aside and strode forward, hugging the woman tightly, "It's been a while, Bev. How have you been?"
"Oh, you know… I can't really complain. I got married and had a son."
"You had a… and you didn't say anything!" Faith hugged her again.
Stop hugging other women!
Faith nearly burst into laughter at Sylvanas' cry in her mind.
"Congratulations, Beverly. Should you be here? You don't want to be home?"
Beverly shook her head, "No. My husband Devon's at home with him. He was injured against the Scourge and can't fight anymore, so he stays in Stormwind to teach military tactics to new soldiers."
"Sounds like you have a good life."
"And I'd like to keep it that way, that's why I'm here."
"We're happy to have you." She turned to the people around her, "Everything, Beverly here was on my strike team in Icecrown Citadel. She helped take down Arthas along with Rotvine, Tirion Fordring, and several others who unfortunately are no longer with us."
Several soldiers looked at Beverly with respect, some nodding along.
"So you think that we have a chance against all of these undead?"
"I honestly think that we've faced worse odds."
Rotvine inclined his head once, "Where do you want to start?"
Faith gave a smile, pointing to the sky, "The flying ones. I think well manage to get a lot more work done if we don't have to worry about undead dive-bombing us."
Sylvanas closely listened to the plan Faith had in mind, smiling as she did so. "Oh, I have very little to worry about with her in charge," she said to Baine, who was standing with her in Grommash Hold. "I wouldn't have thought of using catapults to lob Light projectiles at the undead."
"That's an interesting way to approach it," he told her, eyes widening. "Didn't you guys do the same with the Blight at the Wrathgate?"
"Maybe that's where she got the idea."
Baine snorted before growing serious, "I hope this doesn't alert all of the undead in the area to the attack."
"It will, but they already know that there are forces amassed near the fortress." She shook her head and stroked her pendant once. Almost immediately, she felt a light touch on her jaw, a light kiss. She smiled, "You have something to report?"
"I do, Warchief. My people have been to Highmountain, as you know. They've made contact there with our long-lost brethren, and have reported to me that there is some demonic activity already taking place in the area."
"I'm not surprised. If you want to invade someone, it's best to have multiple attacks to divide the defending forces instead of concentrating everyone in one point. What are your plans?"
"I've sent several hundred warbraves to the area in the hopes of helping out. The Highmountain tauren will be invaluable allies to us, I think."
"We can always use more allies," said Sylvanas.
"Have you heard anything from the other regions of the Broken Isles?"
"I have. A large group of demon hunters is currently in Azsuna. They mentioned that there is demonic activity happening in three points at least. The only place I haven't heard anything from is Stormheim."
"What about Suramar?"
"The Kirin Tor are looking into that. I'm sure the Legion is there too, though. They have to be." She focused for a moment, closing her eyes, "The attack on Black Rook Hold is starting."
"Do you want to go there? To be with Faith?"
"I always want to be with Faith. But if I show up there suddenly, I'll distract her, and besides, I'm of more use here, directing the effort. I'll let you get back to your people, Baine. Thank you for letting me know what's going on."
He nodded, leaving her to follow Faith's attack as closely as she could from such a distance. It wasn't easy, because all she could do was hear her thoughts and feel whatever she felt, but it gave her a good idea of what was going on.
Most of the flying undead had been killed.
"I didn't think the catapults would work as well as they did," said Faith to Rotvine as they looked up at the skies.
Rotvine nodded, squeezing her shoulder. "Using projectiles imbued with Light was a great idea."
It had been. As they had exploded on impact, they had killed several undead at once. It had been almost too easy to kill them that way.
"Do you think that we have more to fear from them?" asked Beverly. She had led a small team to the walls of Black Rook Hold, and had seen for herself just how many undead had been crawling inside the fortress, despite the way some of them had been killed by falling debris.
"Not from the fliers, but probably from all of the undead there," said Faith. "I'm surprised that nobody's attacking us."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that necromancers would be directing more of these undead to attack us. Yet there doesn't seem to have been much activity since we attack. Ghosts don't get scared."
"You're thinking that our intelligence was wrong about necromancers pulling the strings around here?"
Faith nodded. "I'm no expert on necromancy," she began, ignoring the way Beverly and Rotvine snickered at that statement. "But this isn't normal behavior."
"Maybe the necromancers got scared and left," suggested Beverly.
"That would be the first time I've ever seen that happen in nearly twenty years of fighting undead fiends."
"She's right," said Rotvine. "Necromancers don't even fear the threat of fire. This attack wouldn't have scared them. Especially since we're talking about the Burning Legion."
"No, they have thousands of necromancers at their disposal across the Twisting Nether. The loss of a few of them would do nothing to them. We're going to have to go in and see what's going on."
"Go in? We could be completely overwhelmed."
"If they have no leader, I don't think we'll have much to worry about."
"But we can't be sure they have no leader," insisted Beverly. "They could be trying to lure us in."
Faith considered this. "It's very possible," she said after a while. "We'll have to send in a team to investigate and make sure we're not walking into a trap."
Looking thoroughly relieved, Beverly nodded, "You scared me. I thought you were going to go in there with all spells blazing or something."
A smile, "It's my inclination, it's true. But Sylvanas taught me to consider all my options before I make a hasty decision."
That's my girl.
