Chapter Fourteen – Deception and Betray

Jaina's POV

The Scourge hasn't stopped their campaign in Ashenvale, not even after their defeat in Maestra's Post. They had come back with more wicked servants and had conquered half of the territory in Ashenvale. The reason for their victory was not their gigantic army. It was one newcomer who had changed everything and had led the Scourge to multiple victories in this area.

He was known as the Soul Collector, the Incarnation of Death. Basically, he did the same thing as Arthas. He stole the souls of his victims and absorbed them. On the contrary to Arthas, this made him a lot stronger. The souls Arthas absorbed strengthened the Scourge in total but not himself, at least not for much. The Soul Collector, on the other hand, got a lot stronger with each soul he absorbed.

I had never seen the Soul Collector before and I was lucky to not have met him in battle during the past weeks where I had assisted the defence of other towns and places in Ashenvale. I remembered that Arthas had mentioned him more than one time. He had told me that he was his secret weapons, his trump card when everything would go wrong or if his plans would fail somehow.

I didn't know what the Soul Collector was capable of. I had only heard the statements of the survivors and had read a few of their reports. The reports told me that he was strong enough to kill a large group of soldiers alone. The reports suggested that the Soul Collector had been the main reason why the Scourge had won so many battles during the past weeks. One of the surviving captains had told me that the behaviour of his soldiers had changed when the Soul Collector had entered the battlefield. He had told me that the soldiers had been less focused and more nervous when he had been around. The captain had also told me that a lot of his soldiers had gotten in panic and had shown signs of fear when the Soul Collector had attacked them.

I couldn't believe that one single person was able to turn the outcome of entire battles. On the other hand, I knew that the Scourge was more than just an average opponent, meaning that nothing should surprise us when it comes to power and strength. I knew what Arthas was capable of and it didn't surprise me at all that he had such a powerful minion in his ranks.

Selania was also pretty strong but I knew that she couldn't defeat hundreds of enemies alone. The Soul Collector, on the other hand, seemed to have no problem with a superior number of members of the Alliance and of the Horde. I didn't know where he will attack next, but I was hoping that he wouldn't come to the place where I was stationed.

Unfortunately for me, he came to the base in the near of Raynewood Retreat a few days later. I didn't haven't recognized him at first because I hadn't seen him before. I knew after I had witnessed his power that it was him.

He was about eight feet tall, his body was very muscular and only his legs and shoulders were covered by armour. His skin had a pale green colour, his face looked almost human, except for his eyes, which looked like small green dots, and the huge horns which came out of his forehead. His exposed upper body looked very weird. A huge black crystal stuck out of his chest which was surrounded by a circle of smaller crystals. The huge crystal stuck out for at least nine inches and the smaller ones stuck out for five inches. Larger versions of these crystals stuck out of his shoulders and back in form of very sharp spikes. He was carrying a massive axe which required the use of two hands. He was so strong that he managed to swing it with only one hand while the other drained out the souls of his opponents.

He didn't even need to kill his opponents to take their souls because he was able to steal their souls while they were still alive, without needing to touch them. I observed him out of the corner of my eyes while I killed ghouls, skeletons and other undead creatures and burned their corpses before the necromancers could raise them.

Each time, when the Soul Collector stole a soul, one of these many crystals glowed for a small second. Most of the times, the crystal in the middle of his chest glowed. It seemed that the Soul Collector stored most of the souls in it. I was wondering why Arthas had created this minion. If he had created it. I was wondering why he needed the Soul Collector when Frostmourne could do the same. Maybe he used this minion as a container. Maybe this creature collected the souls for him so that he can absorb them later, who knows.

The only logical explanation was that Arthas didn't fight on the front line, apart from a few exceptions like the Wrathgate or his attempt to get me in Maestra's Post, and he needed someone who collected the countless souls of his enemies.

I didn't care at this moment why he needed him. I only cared about those who fought with me against the Scourge. I had no clue how we should defeat him. Dozens of night elves charge at him but he decimated them with three precise axe swings. Even attacking him from afar turned out to be ineffective because a barrier formed around his body every time an arrow or a magical missile came in his near.

I had noticed that he was vulnerable during a little time window between the process of the dissolving of the old barrier and the creation of a new barrier. I had even managed to hit him with an arcane blast after I had attacked him with a frostbolt but my technique hadn't harmed him at all. I had tried to take advantage of this time window but somehow, his barriers were generated faster than before as if he had noticed that I knew about his only weakness.

The distance between us was not that large enough for my liking. He came closer every time whenever he wasn't busy fighting against my soldiers. At this moment, I killed a group of ghouls who were trying to drag me away. This time, I didn't burn their corpses. Instead, I raised them and commanded them to attack the Soul Collector. That should give me more time to increase the distance between us.

My expectations turned out to be wrong because he slew them within a few seconds. He gave me a small smile and walked towards me. I knew that he could catch me easily but somehow, he didn't. I was pretty sure that Arthas had ordered him to get me and bring me to him. I was asking myself why he took his time.

Of, course I was glad about this. He gave me more time, but this time wouldn't help me at all because I still didn't know how to beat him. Every attempt to hit him was either blocked by his barriers or didn't injure him at all. The chance to win against him was even lower than the chance to win against Selania in a duel.

I had no clue how to get out of this situation. I could also make a portal and get away from him, to flee to another place but I couldn't abandon the other creatures who were fighting against the Scourge. I had to do something. I knew that he wouldn't kill me. That was the only positive thing in my current situation. The worst thing which could happen to me was that he would bring me to Arthas who will try to influence or control me once again. I was also afraid what the Soul Collector could do to my allies. I wish I could do something but I had not the slightest chance against him, not even with the help of the others.

I ran away from him and sent a fireball at the nearest death knight. The fireball hit him and consumed his body, leaving nothing but ashes behind. I continued to run and climbed the stairs to the wall which protected the base. I stopped on top of the wall and created a wall of ice in front of the stairs so that the Soul Collector wouldn't be able to climb it. He lifted his head a little and looked at me, a wide grin appeared on his lips and I could swear that his eyes had become larger. He shattered the massive ice-wall with only one punch and climbed the stairs slowly. I froze his feet to the stairs, hoping that this would stop him from coming closer. Unfortunately, he got free very quickly and reached the end of the stairs after a few seconds.

Once again, I found myself running away from him until I reached a small lookout tower which was made out of brick stones. I walked through the side entrance and climbed on top of the tower. I used the time, where he climbed the bent staircase of the tower, to teleport myself to the other side of the base. I appeared behind a group of night elves which were shooting arrows at the nearest undead creatures. I lifted my wand and created hundreds of sharp ice-splinters. I shot them at the nearest group of ghouls, a satisfied smile appeared on my lips when all of them died. I raised them and sent them to the lookout tower. They kept the Soul Collector busy for almost five seconds. He hesitated for a moment and regarded the slain ghouls before he walked towards us.

I didn't know what to do. I knew that we couldn't kill him, not without additional help at least. I knew that the dragons were in the near and they could help us but I wasn't sure if they could deal with this thing. I didn't want to risk their lives and the lives of the others. The only choice we had was to retreat. I didn't even know where I should go because the Soul Collector would follow me wherever I would go. In the end, hiding would turn out to be useless but giving up was also neither an option. I knew that the only wise decision was to retreat and meet the dragons or Varian. I have to inform them about the Soul Collector. Maybe they have an idea of how to deal with this threat.

I looked at the Soul Collector, noticing that he was absorbing the soul of a female druid at this moment. I walked towards a dwarf with a horn around his neck. I gave him the order to blow the horn and tell everyone to retreat. He blew the horn which made a very loud and unpleasant sound.

I noticed that all of the remaining defenders had heard it and moved backwards while they continued to fight against the undead creatures which were chasing them. I created a large portal with the help of five other mages. Then I sent fireballs, frostbolts, arcane shots and other deadly abilities at the undead creatures, giving the remaining soldiers enough time to walk through the portal.

The Soul Collector stopped a few feet in front of me, regarding me curiously. I looked around and noticed that every other defender either had escaped through the portal or had been killed and raised. Thousands of undead creatures stood behind the Soul Collector, regarding me with blank expressions on the remains of their faces.

The Soul Collector made a step forward. I reacted quickly and created a very thick ice-wall between us but he destroyed it with ease. His eyes widened when he noticed that I was about to walk through the portal. I was halfway through the portal when he managed to grab and pull me back. I struggled hard and fought against him but his grip was too strong.

I created a very sharp ice dagger around which's blade blue fire burned. I rammed this blade through his forearm. He let me go when he stumbled backwards, a loud cry escaped his lips. He regarded the wound in his forearm, expecting that it would heal quickly. I noticed, out of the corner of my eyes, that the healing process took longer than usual. He lifted his hand and looked at me, charging forward but I jumped through the portal before he was able to reach me. I closed it immediately as soon as I had reached my destination.

I looked around, making sure that everyone was alright. Most of the soldiers were exhausted and happy that they had survived this brutal battle. A few of them were grieving about their fallen comrades, friends and family members. None of them spoke to me but I was pretty sure that they were glad that the mages and I had saved them. The survivors were talking quietly, some of them even looked at me and regarded me for a few moments before they did something else.

I spotted one of Varian's guards, who had a very high rank, coming closer to me. I greeted him and explained to him what had happened. He gave me a small nod and signalized me to follow him. He brought me to Varian's office and knocked at the door. He waited for Varian's response and entered the office. He looked up from his stack of documents with a surprised expression on his face. He signalized the guard to leave and stood up as soon as the guard had closed the door. He approached me and greeted me with a quick hug. I hugged him back but gave him a serious look.

"I don't like that look. What happened Jaina? Judging by the face you are making, something bad had happened" said Varian, one of his eyebrows was raised as he frowned.

"We lost the base in the near of Raynewood Retreat" I responded and took a seat, giving him an apologizing look.

"We lose what? How is that possible? How did we lose another base to the Scourge? This is impossible"

"They sent their strongest servant"

"They sent Selania? You can't tell me that you and Rhonin couldn't have stopped her"

"Selania was there too but Rhonin had teleported away with her. They are fighting in a different place" I responded and looked at my nails for a small moment before I looked back at Varian who was not very pleased about the news.

"You are telling me that the Scourge has a servant which is even stronger than Selania?" he asked, his eyes widened. His expression told me that he wasn't believing that there was a person who was even stronger than Selania.

"I don't know his real name but the Scourge calls him 'the Soul Collector'. He looks reminds me of a demon but his face looks like a human face"

"The Soul Collector? A demon who is serving for the Scourge? Is this a joke?" he asked, his voice sounded a little hysterical.

"I'm not joking. As far as I know, he gets stronger by absorbing souls. Each soul makes him a lot stronger than it would make Arthas stronger. I don't know why Arthas has such a minion. Maybe he needs him to collect as many souls as possible while he sits on his throne and plans his campaigns against us. I don't know. He is so powerful that I and the other defenders didn't manage to hurt him at all. We had no chance against him" I responded.

"That's not good at all. But he is not invulnerable, right?" he asked curious and afraid at the same time.

I told him what I had experienced during the fight against the Soul Collector. I told him how his barriers worked and that my special dagger had hurt him. I also mentioned that his wound had been healed shortly afterwards.

"Hmm... I don't know what to say... I wish I could give you a tip but I have no clue how to defeat such a strong opponent"

"I think that we should meet the dragons and the other high important members of the Alliance and tell them what we know. Maybe they have an idea" I responded.

"We should do that. I will invite them to a conference in two days" he responded and took a few empty sheets of paper out of the highest drawer.

"I will go now if you allow it, Varian. I have to get prepared for the funeral tomorrow"

"Do that, Jaina. I wish I could come but I'm too busy with all the paperwork and the planning of our defence campaigns. If you need someone to talk, then don't hesitate and come to me "

"I will think about it. See you soon Varian"

"See you soon Jaina" he responded and gave me a small smile before he looked at the first sheet of paper, a frown was visible on his forehead. I regarded him for a few moments before I walked out of his office and closed the door behind me quietly.

I was not ready for Vissia's funeral. I still couldn't believe that she was dead. She was still alive in my mind but unfortunately not in the real world. In this cruel world, she was lying in a coffin made out of transparent glass. She was wearing a white beautiful dress, her hair was decorated with light-blue ribbons. She looked so peaceful, at least she was in a better place now. Any place was better than this cruel world where innocent people died for literally nothing. War was such an unnecessary invention of the mortals. Thousands of people died for resources, territories or other meaningless things. I couldn't understand why creatures had to slay each other. Why wouldn't they appreciate peace and just life their lives instead of looking for new dangers?

I knew that Vissia had feelings for me, feelings which I couldn't reply. I wish I could have spent more time with her. I wish I could have told her that she was really important to me, that she was one of my best friends but now it was too late.

Vissia was dead, murdered by this whore Selania. Vissia's death had not been necessary for the Lich King's plans, yet Selania had killed her. I will make sure that she will pay for that. I will avenge Vissia and kill Selania one day. I will not rest until Selania's entire body will be consumed by my flames. She will get her just punishment. She will witness my wrath sooner or later.

I made a few steps forwards and regarded the surroundings. I was standing in the middle of a small night elf temple, which was dedicated to the moon goddess Elune. The temple was made out of marble and other white stones. It was about sixty feet tall, more than one hundred and sixty feet long and almost one hundred feet wide. Vissia's coffin stood about twenty feet away from me and was surrounded by a small group of night elves.

One of them was Shandris who regarded her corpse silently. The other five elves belonged to Vissia's family. Her mother, her father and her three sisters were mourning for her, wiping their tears away with handkerchiefs. They looked at the coffin for a while, unable to stop crying.

Vissia had never talked about her family. I was wondering why she hadn't. I didn't believe that she had no contact with her family. Her family were mourning for her and were attending the ceremony, which meant that they had had a good relationship with Vissia. I was wondering why so few people were attending the funeral. Maybe because a lot of them were resting after the battle against the Soul Collector. Maybe because Vissia had only a few friends because she was very shy and not the type of a person who walks to others and would make small talk with them.

I looked at her family when I came closer to them. I wanted to say something to them. Something which would comfort them. I opened my mouth but no words came out. I wanted to say that I was very sorry about their loss, that Vissia had been a good friend of mine and that I had enjoyed spending time with her. I wanted to say even more things about her but no sounds came out of my mouth. I was too busy to struggle with myself to not burst in tears. I was so sad. My not-beating undead heart was shattered in millions of little pieces.

I felt lost, useless, weak. It felt as that a part of me was missing as if I wouldn't be able to live the same life without her anymore. I wish I could change the past and kill Selania before she kills my best friend. I knew that I wasn't able to change what had happened, which made me even sadder.

I stood there and regarded Vissia's coffin while a priest, Malfurion and Tyrande held little speeches in which they said only good things about Vissia. Tyrande offered me to say something too but I refused it because I didn't find the right words. She gave me a worried but also understanding look and stayed in my near while I stared at the coffin and at Vissia's family. They held each other tightly, sobbed and cried together. I really wish I could comfort them at this moment but I had no idea how I could do that.

After two hours of regarding Vissia's corpse and thinking about the past, the future and my other things, I walked out of the temple. I noticed that Tyrande followed me but she didn't say anything. I walked a while in a random direction and turned around, noticing that she was still behind me.

She frowned and asked "How do you feel?"

I didn't respond at first. I needed a few minutes to sort my thoughts before I was able to answer.

"I don't know... It's hard to get over her death. It's really hard to get used to the fact that she is not among us anymore"

"I can understand you. I would also be devastated and speechless if one of my friends would have died. I'm so sorry, Jaina"

You don't need to, Tyrande. You are not responsible for her death. It was Selania who took her life and I will make sure that she will pay for it"

"Be careful, Jaina. We don't know what we are capable of if we really want to have our vengeance. Don't let your anger and thirst for revenge consume you. Promise me that"

"I promise you that I will take care of myself" I responded and gave her a weak smile. She wrapped her arms around my shoulders and pulled me in a tight hug. She caressed my back while she whispered comforting words in my ear. We stood there for a while, locked in an embrace. We separated finally and started to walk back to the temple.

We arrived after a walk of an hour and met up with Malfurion and Shandris. Together, we stared at the beautiful stars in the sky until they got tired. I wished them a good night and started to create a portal. They said comforting words to me before they said goodbye and walked towards their home in Darnassus. I stepped through the portal, as soon as they were out of my sight, and arrived in Stormwind City. The only reason why I went to this place was that I wanted to talk to Varian. I needed the comfort of a good old friend more than anything else at this moment.

Selania's POV

'There he is', a voice in my head whispered.

'Who is he?' I asked myself.

'Another meaningless mortal who will recognize that it is hopeless to fight us' another voice said.

'We will end the miserable life of this disgusting human' a third voice in my head said.

'Yes, we will' I said to the voices in my head.

I turned my head a little and regarded the mortal who was lying next to my feet. A creepy smile appeared on my lips when I regarded the several deep wounds which covered the human's upper body. I bent down and ran my cold hand through his fiery red hair. He spat at me and tried to reach his powerful wand with his left hand but I stepped on his left forearm and kicked the wand with my other foot away.

"The mighty Rhonin Redhair lays to my feet and bleeds like a pig. I have to say, that I have expected more from you" I said loudly with a strong disappointed tone in my voice and regarded my victim without pity or mercy.

"My death wouldn't change anything" he hissed.

'Really? I think that his death would change a lot' the second voice said which sounded much deeper than the other voices in my head.

'What should we do with him?' the third voice asked.

'We could disembowel him like an animal' suggested the second voice.

'No, let's torture him until he dies' responded a fourth voice.

'No, that would be boring. I hate it when they scream' I said to the other voices.

'We could behead him and feed his corpse to the fishes' the third voice suggested.

'Or we burn him' announced the fourth voice.

'No no no no no. I have a better idea. Behead him and sent his head wrapped in a gift to his wife' said the second voice.

'Yes, that's good' cheered the third.

'I have a better idea for a provocation' I said to them.

"'Tell us' all other voices said at the same time.

'No, I would ruin the surprise for you if I would do that' I responded and lifted Rhonin in the air. I regarded his bloody beaten face, his broken nose and the large dagger between his ribs.

"The Scourge will be defeated by us sooner or later. My death changes NOTHING" he hissed and spat blood at me.

"I doubt that these mortal weaklings will do anything against us" I responded and pressed him against the nearest wall.

"Jaina had told me everything about you. You are nothing than one of the Lich King's whores who spread her legs for him. You mean nothing for him, he will always love Jaina and never love you. You are nothing but a tool for him" he hissed, his eyes looked hatefully at me and a provocative grin appeared on his lips.

'This bastard dares to insult us' the third voice cried out.

'Teach him some respect' the second voice shouted angrily.

'I will' I responded and slapped Rhonin two times across the face so that he spat a large amount of blood and two teeth out. He continued to look at me with that provocative grin on his swollen lips.

'We'll show him who's going to smile last' the fourth voice whispered.

'Yes, we will' I replied.

I hit Rhonin once again with the back of my hand. I tortured him cruelly, his screams caused a lot of pleasure for me. His pain was my pleasure and this pleasure turned me on. Unfortunately for me, Arthas refused to sleep with me which meant that I had to find someone else who would satisfy my needs.

People called me crazy. They called me a sadist, an abomination or a monster. It was true that I really enjoyed hurting others. I loved to injure, torture, slaughter and murder people, especially the weak mortals who had no right to live. I was disgusted by their weakness, none of them could really challenge me.

At least, they will get stronger when I kill them and the necromancers raise them as our servants. Everyone will serve the Lich King and I will become his queen as soon as I get rid of Jaina. I just have to find a way to eliminate her and make sure that the Lich King believes that the mortals had killed her.

A brilliant idea came in my mind. I knew how to stir them up against each other. If this idea would work, then I don't have to fear that Arthas would love Jaina more than me. Jaina will be eliminated and will become the Lich King's queen. I will become the Lich Queen, the co-ruler of the Scourge.

I shifted my attention back to the mortal weakling. The voices in my head cheered each time where I injured him. They screamed in excitement when my clenched fist hit his abdomen over and over again. A loud painful cry escaped his lips and he spat a little amount of blood out. I grabbed him by his fiery red hair and punched him forcefully, breaking his jaw with ease.

The voices cheered when the witnessed the blood which flowed out of Rhonin's mouth. I hit him once again, feeling a lot happier than before. I smashed his head against the floor, a loud excited cry escaped my throat. I wish I could do this forever but I knew that he wouldn't hold out long enough. I wish I could torture him and defile his corpse but I knew that I needed him to set the Alliance against Jaina.

I hit him over and over again until he lost his consciousness. I regarded his beaten body with pleasure for a while then I dragged him to the other side of the room and started to work on the message which I wanted to deliver to the Alliance.

'Perfect' I thought when I regarded my work, the voices in my head were surprised and cheered my genius idea.

'The Lich King sends his regards' was written all over the wall with Rhonin's blood and the blood of his best mages. I took a necklace out of my bag and dropped it next to Rhonin. The necklace's owner was Jaina. I had stolen it from her months ago when she had been on a mission. I had already known, on that day, that this could be useful for me. Indeed, it will be useful because it will make Vereesa believe that Jaina had murdered Rhonin.

I leaned over Rhonin and regarded the necklace around his neck. I took it off and opened the very little box which hung on it. I spotted pictures of Rhonin's family, Vereesa, their kids, Vereesa's two sisters and other members of her family. I regarded the pictures for a few moments before I closed the little box and put the necklace in my bag. I knew that I will smuggle this necklace under Jaina's stuff. Hopefully, Vereesa will find it and blame Jaina for Rhonin's death. I looked at my masterpiece for the last time before I turned around and walked through the portal on the other side of the room.

Jaina's POV

I was sitting on the bed of one of the guest rooms in Stormwind City. I was holding a book in my hands and was reading it with excitement. It was a novel about a woman whose husband had been murdered. She would do everything to avenge the death of her beloved. She stops at nothing and didn't spare any guilty person. I wasn't fully finished with the novel but I was pretty sure that it will have a positive ending.

I had no clue if my story will have a positive ending. I knew that Arthas wanted me, which was a good sign. The bad sign was that he wanted me as his queen, as the co-ruler of the Scourge which would mean I would be influenced by him again and murder in his name. I didn't want to be his servant or his marionette but I didn't want to live without him either.

The only choice I had was to try to free him from the Lich King's control but that would mean that we have to capture him first which would be very difficult. I knew the chance for my happy end was very low, still, I wasn't giving up and was hoping for the best.

Suddenly, loud and energetic knocks were hearable. I stood up and opened the door. My eyes lightened up when I saw Vereesa but my facial features derailed when I noticed she was very angry and her eyes were red from crying. Behind her stood three other high elves who were looking at me with mixed feelings. The two male paladins were looking angrily at me while the female mage made an expressionless face.

I opened my mouth, wanting to say something but her forceful hand on my left cheek silenced me. I looked at her surprised and confused at the same time. I rubbed my cheek which really hurt from Vereesa's hard slap.

"What was that for?" I cried out and looked in her eyes, wanting to find out what was wrong with her.

"You know exactly what that was for, you evil bitch" she shouted aggressively. Hurt and betray was written all over her face.

"I don't understand this... What is wrong with you? Why are you acting like this?" I asked, still disbelieving that she had hit me. It would be an understatement to say that I was hurt. How could Vereesa hit me? How could my best friend hit me? I hadn't done anything and she hit me and insulted me. I was very hurt by her behaviour but this didn't stop me from looking in her eyes, hoping that I could calm her down.

I would have gasped if I would have been alive, but my throat felt dry instead. I made a step forward, wanting to approach Vereesa and calm her down my hugging her but one of the paladins stepped in front of her and pushed me away. I landed on the ground but managed to get up immediately.

"Rhonin is dead" she cried out and broke out in tears. My eyes were widened, my lower jaw hung loosely, leaving my mouth wide open.

"Vereesa... Please don't tell me that this is the truth... This cannot be the truth... NO! It can't be possible that Rhonin is dead"

"He is dead because you murdered him" she cried and sent a hateful look at me.

"What are you talking? Are you seriously thinking that I would kill the husband of my best friend? Rhonin is my friend too"

"Stop denying it, whore. I know that you have done it" she shouted, more tears ran over her cheeks and dropped on the floor.

"That is a lie. I would never kill him. You have no proves for that. I'm shocked that you suspect me as a murderer. After all we have been through, you suspect me? Me? Your best friend? I'm really hurt to hear this. I'm disappointed Vereesa" I responded and gave her a sad look.

"Stop spreading your sick lies, whore. I have enough proofs that you murdered him. You murdered him Jaina. Why have you done it? I thought that we were friends. We had spent a lot of time together over the past years. I had loved you like a sister, still, you betrayed me and murdered the love of my life? How could you do such a cruel thing to me, Jaina?" she shouted enraged and broke up in tears immediately after her outburst.

"I don't know what you have seen but Rhonin can't be dead. I haven't met him for two weeks and I haven't met him alone. He was always with you when I had met him. Somebody is fooling you Vereesa. Please, believe me. I didn't kill him and I would never hurt him.

"You already had hurt him in Dalaran"

"That was while I was under Arthas' influence. That was not me" I responded quietly, trying to calm Vereesa down with my voice. It would have been more effective if I would have been alive because my voice didn't sound soft anymore, instead, it sounded more like a creaking door.

"You are still under his control" she hissed. She pointed at me and shouted "Admit it and I will promise you that your death will be clean and swift"

"How many times do I have to tell you that I hadn't done anything? Tell me Vereesa, how many times do I have to repeat that I'm innocent?"

"Say it one more time and I will tear you lying black tongue out of your mouth" Vereesa hissed and made a step forward, her hand rested on the hilt of her blade.

"Do you have any proves?" I asked and looked at her with narrowed eyes.

"Yes, I have" she responded and looked at the mage. The mage nodded and projected a vision at the wall which was opposite to me. The vision showed someone, who looked like me, killing Rhonin with a sharp splinter of ice.

This was not possible. This vision was fake and I was one hundred percent sure about this. I haven't seen Rhonin for a few weeks and I would never do such a horrible thing. The only logical explanation was that someone had manipulated this vision.

"The vision shows you what our magical cameras had filmed last night" Vereesa said and came closer to me.

"This is a fake" I statemented.

"No, it's not" she responded and looked at me, once again, tears formed in her eyes and rolled over her cheeks.

"How can you be so sure? There are a lot of ways to manipulate records and even visions. This has to be a masterpiece of the Scourge. I'm pretty sure that they murdered Rhonin. You are blaming the wrong one, Vereesa"

"You are still a member of the Scourge, don't deny it. You faked that you are freed from the control of the Lich King to get our trust again. I can't believe that I have trusted you again. And now my dear Rhonin is dead because of you and my own foolishness. I should have convinced Varian to execute you..." she shouted and started to cry again.

I didn't know what hurt me more. To see Vereesa like this or have heard about Rhonin's death or that Vereesa believed that I had killed her husband. I didn't know what to think and how I should react in this situation. Vereesa was very angry at me for something I hadn't done. I didn't know how I could convince her that I was innocent, that I hadn't killed Rhonin. I didn't know how I could calm her down. I didn't know what to do.

Vereesa walked to me and slapped me in the face twice, her companions pushed me brutally to the ground. I tried to stand up but one of the two paladins kicked me in the face and sent me back on the ground.

"Vereesa, please listen to me" I said quietly and looked up at her, hoping that she would notice that I was innocent.

"You are only spreading lies. You had once tried to kill Rhonin and now you have done it. You have killed him"

"That's bullshit and you know it. The record is fake. Show it to the council of the Kirin Tor. They will prove that this record is a fake"

"Shut up" she shouted loudly and gave her companions a signal. The paladins lifted me up and brought me towards a portal which had been created by the mage.

"Wait, where are you bringing me?" I asked loudly and tried to get free but the paladins were too strong and denied each of my attempts to get free.

"To Undercity. I haven't seen my sister for a while and I thought that handing her the Lich King's whore would be the perfect gift to apologize for my behaviour towards her and to get closer to her again"

"Are you serious? You have lost your mind, Vereesa. Please, I'm still the same person. I'm your best friend. I would never do this to you. Please, let me go. You know that your sister would torture me to indirectly hurt the Lich King. You have lost your bloody mind if you consider bringing me to her"

"I'm dead serious Jaina. I'm hoping that my sister will torture you and make you feel real pain before she ends your worthless life" she spat out, her words were filled with hatred. I wish I could stop them but the mage prevented that I could cast any spells so I wasn't able to do anything to prevent that her companions brought me through the portal.