The Story So Far: Three days have passed since the Battle of Mount Hyjal, and there is finally some semblance of peace on Azeroth. However, tensions between the human and high elf exiles of Lordaeron and Quel'Thalas and the orcs of the newly-founded kingdom of Durotar are beginning to rise. To make matters worse, Prince Arthas Menethil, co-leader of the Alliance refugees, fell into a coma during the battle. While there is hope that he'll live, Jaina Proudmoore, his fiancé and the other leader, has a massive weight on her shoulders. Whether Arthas lives or dies, she must step up and lead their people. She won't be alone, as Marshal Falric, Ranger-General Sylvanas Windrunner, and Lieutenant Commander Thassarian will help to the best of their abilities. With Varonus Lightforest primarily treating the comatose prince, Jaina has high hopes Arthas will survive, but they don't know how long this coma will last.
Note: Thanks go to WolfPaladin for spotting the inconsistency between chapter eleven and the former chapter twelve. After thinking about it, I realize that skipping three years was by far a big mistake, as it left too many things out of the loop.
Chapter XIII: Old Hatreds, Rising Tensions
Theramore
Dawn came to Theramore sleepily, as if it did not wish to illuminate the area just yet. People were just now waking, mainly kelp farmers and fisherman, going out to load up their harvests. Jaina Proudmoore, however, was already awake, and had been for several hours now. The young Archmage had barely slept at all since the forces that she and Arthas led to Hyjal returned to Theramore. With Arthas once again in a coma, Jaina was constantly checking on him, making sure that the prince wouldn't die right then and there. Unfortunately, this had also made Jaina extremely irritable and short-tempered. Damn you, Arthas. Jaina thought bitterly, you had to play a hero! Although it was to allow Malfurion Stormrage to have more time preparing the trap that destroyed Archimonde the Defiler, the combat left Arthas so badly drained and wounded that he couldn't do anything else. To make matters worse, Marwyn, the self-proclaimed King of Lordaeron, had fought with Arthas, and the prince had again felt the cold bite of Frostmourne's blade. However, unlike in Lordaeron's throne room, the blade had punctured Arthas' lung, which made the situation even more dire. While Jaina does dearly hope that Arthas will survive, she won't hold her breath. Another thing that Jaina had to worry about was whether or not the refugees led by Terenas Menethil, Arthas' father, actually made it to the safety of Stormwind. The last time she had seen the aging king was at the meeting of Alliance leaders just before the attack by the Scourge, and the subsequent evacuation during the attack. How do we know they even made it, or if they were killed to the last man? Jaina wondered to herself. I'll send a messenger to Stormwind, and ask Varian if he allowed any refugees into his city. Calling a courier, Jaina wrote Varian a letter asking about the Lordaeron refugees. When she finished, Jaina handed the letter to the courier, who immediately boarded a ship bound for Stormwind. Afterwards, she left to find out what Sylvanas had discovered on her patrol. Much to her surprise, Jaina found the Ranger-General attempting to mediate between an orcish merchant and one of her rangers, as they were arguing about the price of arrows. Realizing that if the argument went any longer, the two parties would soon come to blows, Jaina stepped in to help Sylvanas calm the two belligerents before the situation go out of hand. When Jaina began the trip back to Theramore, she decided that she would check on Arthas, and ask Varonus what she could do to help the priest. What she didn't know was that Arthas would be struggling to awaken, even if it didn't seem like he would be.
Meanwhile, back in Theramore, Varonus Lightforest, priest of the Holy Light, was busy healing the comatose body of Prince Arthas Menethil. The prince showed no change in his condition, and while the priest did have some doubts that Arthas would survive this coma; seeing as the prince had already barely escaped the first one he fell into. However, Varonus wasn't about to give up on his charge, since he promised Jaina that he would bring Arthas to health, and Varonus would be a fool to back out of that promise. Come on, Arthas, the high elf priest silently implored, come back to the light. For three hours, Varonus worked to heal Arthas, and while his surface wounds began healing, the prince still did not have the strength to awaken. Frustrated at the lack of progress, Varonus increased the power of his healing spells, but only succeeded in exhausting himself sooner, and he had to stop and drink some water. After another two hours of healing Arthas, Varonus decided to stop for the day, and made a mental note to check on the prince later that night. Varonus did not, however, notice that his patient had been dreaming, and nor were the dreams pleasant ones.
Arthas' Dream state
Arthas was standing in the throne room at Lordaeron City. It was early morning, and the sun had not yet risen. The room was also quiet, maybe too quiet, and Arthas moved around the throne room cautiously. About ten seconds later, the prince heard a noise from down the hall, and Arthas went to investigate. To his horror, he saw Marwyn standing over the mutilated corpse of Terenas Menethil II, Frostmourne covered in his father's blood. As if the death knight was expecting the prince to arrive, Marwyn smiled mockingly at Arthas, just before he raised the corpse of Terenas. As much as Arthas tried to fight Marwyn, he soon realized that he was unarmed. Marwyn, unimpressed by his former prince's lack of armament, tossed the sword of a footman at Arthas' feet. Within moments, Arthas engaged Marwyn, and though he fought valiantly, Marwyn shattered the sword Arthas was using, and soon, Frostmourne bit deep into Arthas' chest, gouging out a cut that went from his left shoulder to his right hip. The pain was unbearable, and Arthas tried to cry out, only to discover that he couldn't speak, let alone scream. Then, he felt death's cold embrace begin to overwhelm his broken body, which the undead form of Terenas, now a ghoul, began shredding to bits. After five minutes of being mutilated by his undead father, Arthas at last felt the peace of death. However, Marwyn was unsatisfied with Arthas being merely dead, and pointing Frostmourne at Arthas' ravaged chest, the death knight raised the fallen prince into undeath. Soon, Arthas, now a death knight himself, was forced to kill Jaina, although the newly converted Arthas tried to resist, but to no avail. Jaina tried to reason with Arthas, find some semblance of humanity within her undead love, but got stabbed in the heart by Arthas. After killing Jaina, Marwyn turned to Uther, and like with Jaina, Arthas reluctantly killed his lifelong mentor and honorary uncle. Arthas tried desperately to pull himself out of this nightmare, but soon, another dream replaced the one he just had.
Arthas saw himself in Stormwind City. However, it was not in its normally bustling atmosphere. Instead, Arthas could see pain and sorrow plastered onto the face of every Stormwind and Lordaeron citizen. Moving in to get a better look to see why the people were soon grief-stricken, Arthas saw a small platform that had been built as a temporary display. The prince saw two open coffins, made of oak wood only found in Lordaeron. Moving to get a better view of who was in the coffins, Arthas stepped onto the platform, only to see his own body lying in the first coffin, and Jaina in the second. As Arthas watched terrified, he saw both his own body suddenly change and become a death knight, and Jaina's body made the same transformation. Soon, both bodies got out of their coffins, and magically conjured runeblades out of thin air. Then, as people began running in different directions, only for the death knight Arthas and death knight Jaina to cut them to pieces. Several minutes later, Varian and Uther came to put the two death knights to rest, along with a small army to help. Unfortunately, Varian and Uther were both cut down by the death knights, and they too were converted to death knights themselves. The foursome then turned on the Alliance soldiers, who were now leaderless. Within seconds, the entire force had been wiped out and raised to undeath. After what seemed like hours, Stormwind became a burning ruin, almost similar to the way Stratholme looked after the culling. The city was in ruins, and every citizen, man, woman, and child was either dead or undead. There were no survivors. Horrified by what he saw, Arthas tried harder to escape, and after an hour, he soon felt his dreams leave his mind, and he remained in a dreamless state.
Jaina returned to Theramore becoming gradually more stressed. After the squabble between the orcish merchant and one of Sylvanas' rangers, both the Ranger-General and the young Archmage managed to reach a compromise with the two involved. After the orc left to return to Orgrimmar, Jaina couldn't help but feel like she failed somehow.
Soon, she talked with Sylvanas about what was going on, and why their people and their former Horde allies were becoming more hostile to each other.
"Sylvanas, what do you think would rile the Horde up enough to renew hostilities with us?"
"I don't know, Lady Proudmoore. Maybe the merchant was just having a bad day, and my ranger was unfortunate enough to face the brunt of the frustration." Sylvanas said with a sigh.
"That would make sense, although I have a feeling that something else might come up."
"That's probably likely. I'm certain that some other incident will come up that might shed light on this subject."
Five minutes later, the two women got around to talking about how Arthas was doing. From what Sylvanas could see when she spoke to Jaina, she could tell that Arthas was a bit of a sore subject for Jaina. While the young mage could maintain her composure, Jaina couldn't help but admit that she didn't like talking about Arthas, and soon changed the subject to talk about the courier she had sent earlier to Stormwind. Both Jaina and Sylvanas were anxious to hear what the courier would tell them when he returned. Sylvanas desperately wanted news about Quel'Thalas, while Jaina wanted to know if the Lordaeron refugees ever reached their destination. Four hours later, they got their answer as a portal from Stormwind opened in front of them. Soon after, the courier came through, bearing a reply from Varian.
(Varian's letter)
Jaina,
I want to let you know that Terenas and the group of refugees that he led from Lordaeron have arrived at Stormwind. They had been attacked just before they had gotten to their ships, and four were killed, one of them being your mentor, Antonidas. Just before you left Lordaeron, Marwyn laid siege to Andorhal, and after killing Sage Truthbearer, he recovered the remains of that worthless coward, Kel'Thuzad. After you and Arthas left, Marwyn then took the Scourge north to Quel'Thalas. If Sylvanas is reading this, I am sorry to report that Quel'Thalas has fallen, and that King Anasterian Sunstrider is dead. The high elves that stayed in Quel'Thalas fought valiantly, and under Anasterian's leadership, they did delay the Scourge for a few days. Unfortunately, their defense was compromised when Kael'Thas and another magister named Dar'Khan Drathir betrayed their people, allowing Marwyn to bypass the magical defenses in exchange for power. After Anasterian's death, Kael took his father's crown and named himself king. It is now firmly in Scourge control, although there are rumors of a resistance force waging guerilla warfare against him. That bastard even managed to reach the Sunwell, and raise that damn necromancer, Kel'Thuzad. Then, Marwyn moved south to Dalaran. Although the Kirin Tor fought hard and well, they could not stop the Scourge from capturing the city. They stole Medivh's spellbook from the vault that it was locked tightly in. Kel'Thuzad then used it to summon Archimonde, who used a ritual to destroy the city entirely. Dalaran's now in ruins, it's unlikely there are any survivors. Also, I wanted to ask you how Arthas was doing, as it's been a while since I've spoken to him. I'm sure that I can arrange a visit for myself and Terenas. Since you separated, Terenas became very anxious and wants dearly to know if his son is still alive. Send my condolences to Sylvanas, as I'm sure that she will be hard-hit to know that her home fell to two traitors.
Hoping you and Arthas are well,
Varian Wrynn, King of Stormwind
P.S. I don't know if Terenas will wait much longer, the more he's left in the dark about Arthas, the more anxious he becomes. Please, if you have any news on Arthas, say so. For Terenas and Lordaeron's sake.
(End of letter)
"I don't believe it, how could Kael'Thas have done this?"
"I don't know, Sylvanas. I'm sorry for your loss, this must be a lot for you to digest."
"It's not that Quel'Thalas fell, it's the fact that Kael betrayed everything that he cared about for power. What about you, Jaina? Surely the death of your mentor must be a heavy blow."
"It is, I can't believe he's gone. Should I reply to this and say that Arthas is in a coma? Surely if Terenas reads it, he'll be devastated if he finds out Arthas is in a coma. The last thing anyone needs right now is for Terenas to be blinded by grief."
"Agreed. Write the letter, but say that Arthas is resting after Hyjal, as the battle fatigued him greatly."
Jaina: You want me to lie to my future father-in-law?
"What King Terenas doesn't know won't hurt him."
"But if I do as you say, that will only serve to make Terenas more anxious and eager to see Arthas, and when he does, if Arthas is still comatose, it'll destroy the poor man."
"Sounds like you're damned if you tell him and damned if you don't."
In the end, Jaina decided to write back to Varian, and told him in her letter that everything was fine. In a post-script, Jaina told Varian that Arthas was in a coma, and that this was the second one that Arthas fell into. While Sylvanas disliked the idea of telling Varian, Jaina reasoned that he'd find out sooner or later. Jaina also told Varian not to tell Terenas, figuring that if Terenas caught wind of Arthas in a coma, he'd fall to pieces. Meanwhile, in the fallen Kingdom of Quel'Thalas, the rumored resistance force was taking shape, and soon to begin.
Quel'Thalas, later Dalaran
After a fitful night, Commander Lor'Themar Theron awoke in a cold sweat. It's the damn dream again, Lor'Themar thought bitterly, I still can't believe Prince Kael'Thas would commit such treachery. The whole thing had started when the Scourge laid siege to Quel'Thalas, bent on reaching the Sunwell. Led by the traitor Marwyn, the Scourge rallied at the southern border of Quel'Thalas. Fortunately for the high elves, Marwyn was not that great of a tactician, and he made several careless mistakes. King Anasterian, seeing that weakness, immediately mounted a defense, one which Lor'Themar was second-in-command of. For five days, the Thalassians had the Scourge contained to the pass leading into the southern forests of Quel'Thalas. Then, the unthinkable happened: Prince Kael'Thas, heir to the throne, betrayed his people and allowed the undead to bypass the high elven defenses. In a swathe of destruction and despair, Marwyn slowly began his trek to Silvermoon, although the elves fought him at every turn. Slowly, but surely, Marwyn arrived at the first Elfgate, and after intense fighting, destroyed it. Anasterian, who was leading the defense force, admitted defeat, but retreated to the second gate. The King of Quel'Thalas confidently told Marwyn that the death knight would not pass through the second gate, as a special key was needed to open it. However, Marwyn was able to obtain the Key of the Three Moons, and blasted the gate open. Soon, Silvermoon had fallen, and King Anasterian lay dead at Marwyn's feet. Knowing that the Scourge would soon reach the Sunwell, and that there were too few defenders to stop them, Lor'Themar gathered as many survivors as possible and fled Quel'Thalas.
Three days after the fall of Quel'Thalas, Lor'Themar and the other surviving high elves reached a human camp on the outskirts of Dalaran. There, they met a human marshal named Othmar Garithos. Unfortunately, they also found out the man was racist, and didn't trust any other race except humans. His introductions made that point clear enough.
"Who are you, and what is your business here, elf?" Garithos asked condescendingly.
"I am Lor'Themar Theron, leader of the survivors of Quel'Thalas. We came to offer our help to disperse the Scourge." Lor'Themar replied, stung by the cold reception.
"So, you vainglorious elves couldn't even hold your own home? Why should I accept your service at that failure?" the Grand Marshal mocked.
Offended by the human's remarks, Lor'Themar, quickly angered by Garithos' insults, countered, "You did no better with your own homeland, you racist pig!"
After the outburst, Garithos became flustered and could not provide a decent retort. Seeing that Lor'Themar had backed the man into a corner, the high elf ranger commander nudged his way past the slack-jawed Garithos. Meanwhile, in Stormwind, tensions between the many factions within the city would come to a head from the influx of refugees.
Stormwind City
Varian Wrynn awoke to the sound of someone banging on the door to his chamber. Six weeks had passed since he replied to Jaina's letter, and though he wasn't sure she'd respond, Varian did know that whatever was going on in Kalimdor couldn't be good. So, when the banging on the door and the voice of a servant saying that a message for the king arrived, Varian immediately dressed and emerged. After telling the servant to take him to the courier, Varian came into the throne room, which Bolvar and his other advisers had already come into. Taking his seat at the throne, Varian told the courier, "You may begin, courier." Bowing respectfully to Varian, the courier came up to Varian's throne and handed him the letter from Jaina. As Varian read, he grew more concerned for his friends, then he got to the post-script.
(Jaina's Letter)
Varian,
I'm glad to know that the refugees arrived safely. Sylvanas was with me when your letter was delivered, and she does feel pained from the loss of her homeland, but more so at Kael's treachery. I was also quite shocked to find out Antonidas died, I still can't believe he's gone. The Alliance has lost some of its best since this war ended. Arthas was hit hard by the loss of Lordaeron, but he pulled through. Speaking of Arthas, he fell into a coma just after Lordaeron City was sacked. Marwyn had stabbed him in the chest, but only cut an artery. While he made a full recovery, I'm sure that Terenas would be quite concerned to know what happened to his son. For his sake, I think it would be best that Terenas not know about Arthas, especially since he fell into another coma. How this happened, I will soon explain. When we arrived on Kalimdor's shores, Arthas was still comatose. After our base had been completed, he made a full recovery, although there were a few close calls. Later, Arthas and I found out that the Horde had also landed here, and at first, we fought with them. However, when the prophet revealed himself, he urged that we ally with the orcs. Soon, we encountered the native people of Kalimdor, the Kaldorei, or night elves. While at first they were hostile to us, the prophet, who revealed himself to be the Last Guardian, Medivh, we allied with the night elves as well. However, with the Legion defeated, tensions between the orcs and us have begun to rise. Any more of this and we'll have another war with the Horde on our hands.
The Scourge was not the main threat to the Alliance, they were merely part of a larger invasion by the demons of the Burning Legion. Arthas and I, with our allies, decided to defend Mount Hyjal, where the World Tree, Nordrassil, stood. This tree contained massive magical power, power that the leader of the Legion, Archimonde, hoped to acquire. We set a trap for Archimonde, but before it was completely set, the undead and demons were beginning their assault of the night elf base, located at the summit of the mountain. Arthas, knowing that we needed more time, set out alone to hold off the enemy. While he succeeded, Arthas was left so badly wounded and drained that he fell into a second coma. Arthas has still shown no change in his condition, and while I have high hopes he'll survive, it is obvious that this coma will last much longer. Varian, I implore you, please do not let Terenas see this letter. If he does, he will most likely think that Arthas will die, and the last thing the Alliance needs right now is for Terenas to fall apart over his son's condition.
Hoping you are well,
Jaina Proudmoore
P.S. Arthas is in good hands. The priest that treated his previous coma, Varonus Lightforest, has taken charge. He has said that Arthas will make a full recovery, and I dearly hope he does.
(End of letter)
Varian re-read the letter two more times, making sure that what Jaina wrote wasn't a figment of his imagination. Arthas is in a coma, and Jaina doesn't want me to tell Terenas? Varian thought as his mind went a mile a minute. Shaking his head five minutes later, Varian decided to trust that Jaina was telling the truth. Well, the King of Stormwind told himself, at least it sounds like Arthas raised a little hell before he went under. Thinking back to when he and Arthas would regularly spar together while they were younger, Varian couldn't help but chuckle to himself at the thought of Arthas repeatedly sending undead and demonic minions straight back to the hell that spawned them.
Soon, however, Varian was pulled back to reality by Bolvar, who asked, "Sire, what are we to do about the refugees? Many people, including the nobles, feel that we should not have to harbor the refugees."
Anger beginning to brew inside the king, Varian asked, "And why should we not repay the debt the people of Stormwind owe Lordaeron when they took us in during the First War?"
Before Bolvar could reply, Varian continued, "All those damn nobles care about is how much deeper they can make their pockets."
Flustered, Bolvar asked, "Sire, while I do believe that we have an obligation to help Terenas and Lordaeron, shouldn't it be by making plans to retake Lordaeron?"
"Yes, Bolvar. In due time, we will reconquer Lordaeron for the Alliance." Varian replied. Continuing, the king said, "However, we must now focus on re-establishing communications with the Alliance forces on Kalimdor."
For three hours, Varian and Bolvar fiercely debated with the House of Nobles on establishing contact with Kalimdor. Many nobles opposed such actions, with the exceptions of Count Remington Ridgewell and the aging Count Erlgadin. Erlgadin had lobbied for better treatment of the Stonemasons' Guild, before they became the Defias. Ridgewell also felt sympathetic to the Stonemasons, but when they turned to crime, he renounced support. Both men agreed that the people of Stormwind owed a debt to Lordaeron since Terenas was kind enough to grant them asylum, it would be foolish of Stormwind not to return the favor now that Lordaeron was the kingdom in ruins. Finally, after countless threats from Varian, the House of Nobles agreed to treat the Lordaeron refugees with better respect. While the deliberations were occurring, developments in Theramore would bring the Kalimdor Alliance closer to war with the Horde.
Epilogue
Theramore Isle
Two weeks have passed since the deliberations in Stormwind, and Jaina had not heard a scrap of news. To make matters worse, Arthas had still not shown a change in his condition, and it had been two months since Hyjal. In addition, a series of shipping incidents occurred that alluded to the Horde becoming increasingly more hostile to Theramore. Over, the next few days, the incidents got to the point that the goblins, who controlled the only neutral port on Kalimdor, complained. Despite growing tensions, Jaina and Thrall still worked to find a diplomatic solution before war broke out. However, with Arthas' fate still in question, and the growing suspicions of the two factions, peace seems unlikely.
Will Jaina be able to press on and lead her people, or will she break from the strain? Will Arthas succumb to his condition, or will he recover in time to help avert this crisis? Find out next chapter!