Aftermath of the Betrayal

Athrodar awoke in a bed after what felt like a few hours after arriving at the outpost of the Argent Vanguard. It was run by a group of crusaders that were fighting on the front lines in Icecrown. When he tried to sit up, he found he was chained to the bed, stopping him from moving. Looking down his arms, he could see he was also strapped on to the bed by what looked like leather belts, holding him down more.

He tried to look around the room, noticing injured soldiers sleeping either side of him. As he looked down, he could see a priest looking at a thin book that held information about each patient. He sighed when he recognised the Argent Crusade tabard he was wearing. "Once again, I find myself captured by the light's most devout warriors."

The priest looked up from what he was reading, noticing Athrodar was glaring at him, to be the best of his ability of course. "So, you're awake then." The priest frowned at his own words. "Strange, I didn't think I would be saying that to an undead. After all, I heard you guys don't sleep."

Athrodar narrowed his eyes at him, not being able to do anything else. "We don't."

The priest, who Athrodar found to be Draenei, shut the book and walked over to him, sitting down by his bed to examine the Prince. "How do you feel?"

Athrodar stared at the set of tentacles that hung down from the priests face. "Uncomfortable." He grimaced.

The priest followed his eyeline, looking down at the tentacles on his face and letting out a jolly laugh. "They're accustomed to my kin, young elf. They mean no harm to you."

Athrodar looked away from him, staring at the ceiling of this medical ward he found himself in. "What have you done to me."

Tirion walked through the opening of the tent. "I can explain that." He walked over and stood by Athrodar, the priest making himself scarce, bowing to the Highlord when he got up. Tirion sat down where the priest was sitting seconds before, folding his arms and staring at the side of Athrodar's head. "How do you feel?"

Athrodar scoffed, the same question coming up again. "Why does it matter how I feel? I'm your enemy and you're mine."

Tirion sat forward on his chair, placing a finger on Athrodar's chest, where his unbeating heart lay. "Is that how you feel in here? Or is that something that has been forced into you?"

Athrodar turned his head to face Tirion, glaring at the old paladin. "What is it with the living and feeling things?" Athrodar scanned the rest of Tirion, noticing he was wearing simple rags, akin to those who were taking care of the sick. "What did you do to me?"

Tirion stood up and began to pace around his bed. "When Elaria brought you to us, she looked as bad as you did. Though she quickly recovered, I can't say the same for you."

Athrodar tried to sit up and get the Highlord within his vision, but the straps and chains holding him down restricted his movement entirely. He sighed, giving up on the prospect of moving once again. "What do you mean? How long have I been out?"

Tirion stopped pacing, looking down at the floor momentarily before looking at the Death Knight. "How long do you think you were out?"

Athrodar didn't reply right away, thinking it was a trick question. "I don't know, a couple of hours? Half a day at most."

Tirion stroked his beard, pacing the foot of his bed once more. "I suppose time does pass by quickly when you're sleeping." He muttered to himself. "I'm sorry to tell you this son, but you've been out of it for a good five months." He let that bit of news sink in for a few seconds. "We didn't know how you would react to the light, so we couldn't do much."

Athrodar pushed his question once again to the Highlord, ignoring the amount of time he was sleeping for. "I ask again, what have you done to me?"

Tirion stood by his bed, looking over Athrodar's body and checking for anything out of the usual. "And I ask you again, How do you feel?"

Athrodar glared at the stubborn old man. "I asked you first.

Tirion laughed. "I'll have you know I asked first, you just chose to ignore it."

Athrodar sighed once more, dropping his head into the pillow that lay underneath him. "I don't know how I feel. Useless would be the first word that comes to mind. Lost would be another. Bored, tired, achy.. I feel as if a weight has been lifted from me."

Tirion smiled at the last one, placing a hand on Athrodar's arm, much to his discomfort. Not that he could do anything to stop him, he was tied down in all possible ways. "Then I believe it has worked."

Athrodar closed his eyes, knowing the meaning of those words meant more than they could ever carry. "You've freed me from him again." He opened his eyes again, shaking his head at the impossible fact of it all. "I can't hear his whispers in my head either. When I was in that cell I could still feel him there, but we were unable to communicate, how did you do it?"

Tirion shook his head. "I didn't do anything. None of us did." When Athrodar frowned at him, he knew he needed to explain. "The state you were brought to us in was terrible. You looked like you were hanging on to whatever life you have left by a thread. All we did was put you in this bed and changed your clothing. The priests came in here to say a few prayers and hoped that you would get better on your own."

Athrodar was still frowning at him, not quite piecing together how he was free from Arthas once more. "So what do you mean by 'It has worked' exactly? If you've done nothing, then what has worked?"

Tirion placed a bowl of water In front of Athrodar so he could see what he was on about. "This is a bowl of purified water that we use to heal aches and pains our holy magic just can't fix. We doused the clothes you wear in the water and left it to do its job." He chuckled at the idea. "Frankly, I didn't think it would work one bit, but you were so weak I guess you just needed that little push over the edge to be rid of him."

Athrodar laughed at the simplicity of it all, not believing what he was hearing. His laugh faded quickly however when his memory came back to him, thinking about his Blood-Queen and the state she must be in. The feeling of abandoning her pained him dearly, even if he had no connection to Arthas any more, he still felt something for her.

Tirion noticed his change in mood. "I've seen that look before. It's a woman, isn't it?"

Athrodar smiled a little, his mood changing back to that of sadness. "I suppose so, yes."

Tirion stood up, walking to a nearby window and peering out of it. "Is it that Magister of yours, the one who is the daughter of some Grand Magister... Thalina isn't it?"

Athrodar laid there, images of Thalina flashing through his mind briefly. "I'm afraid not. This one is a lot more complicated than that. I'd rather not talk about it."

Tirion nodded. "I understand. Well, you should get some rest. If you need me, I'll be outside."

Athrodar moved his head up a little. "I've been asleep for five months Highlord, I think I've rested enough." He glanced down to the straps and chains on his arms. "I'd rather start walking about, getting on my feet and doing something."

Tirion weighed up the pros and cons of letting him move about so soon after waking up, coming to the conclusion of letting him out of the bed on the basis that he will keep a close eye on him. "If you do as instructed and cause no trouble for us, I will allow you to roam freely."

Athrodar laid there as Tirion began to unstrap him from the bed, removing the chains after. He sat up when the straps on his chest and arms were off, rubbing his wrists where they held in down tightly. "It feels good to get them off me." He watched Tirion unstrap his legs. "I'll do what I can to aid you up here, though I'm surprised you've been here for as long as you have."

Tirion smiled as the final chain dropped off the bed and on to the floor. "We've been lucky is all I can say. The light has guided us this far and I believe it has delivered you to us to push our lines further in." He got up and stood by Athrodar's bed, offering him a hand up. "Come, let me show you what we have so far."

Athrodar took his hand, getting up off the bed and standing directly in front of Tirion, his several bones clicking after they had not been used for almost half a year. He quickly stretched his limbs, getting ready to take a walk. "Let's go take a walk around your encampment and see what I can do to help out."

Lana'thel was laying on her bed, cocooned within her wings, not wanting to talk to anyone. She was in a sombre mood for the past three months, finding out that her Prince was taken from her once more shattered what little bit of sanity she had left. In her winged cocoon, she was hugging on to a pillow that smelt faintly like Athrodar.

She had done what Arthas had asked of her, resurrecting her three useless Blood-Princes, but even that had left a sour taste in her mouth when she was done, not turning her attention to any of them when they came to ask for her advice. She gave them one word answers sometimes, but opting to ignore them most of the time.

The first two months he went missing, she sent many of her Darkfallen to find him, spreading across all of Northrend. She knew there was a small chance of finding him, but she took the gamble and wished it would pay off.

The third month was tedious for Arthas, the Lich King opting to ignore her pleads of finding Athrodar, knowing he wasn't far from the Citadel. Her heart was telling her that he was close, but Arthas couldn't communicate with him, something she didn't fully understand why. Her human pet, Gabrielle, kept her distance which began to annoy the Blood-Queen, wanting to find some sort of comfort in not knowing Athrodar's status.

The final two months crept by slowly for the Blood-Queen, ignoring the constant voice in her mind that told her she had to feed. It was something she done with her Prince and the idea of doing it alone felt wrong to her. Eventually though, her thirst for blood got the better of her, turning to the only source of the red liquid that was present to her. Whilst Gabrielle was sleeping, Lana'thel began to feed on her, giving her some sort of mercy by doing it whilst she wasn't awake and alert.

After feeding on Gabrielle, she curled up in a ball on her bed and cocooned herself in her wings, hugging a pillow that smelt faintly like Athrodar, the current state she was in now. When a stray ghoul came wandering into her chamber, she incinerated it on the spot, not caring about why it was sent to her.

She rarely cried in life, so sheding a few tears every now and then when she thought about him terrified her, the shock stopping more tears from falling. She rocked back and forth on her bed, whispering his name in an attempt to call him back, not that it would change the current situation he was in. Although nobody apart from the Argent Crusader's located at the Argent Vanguard knew his whereabouts.

Athrodar and Tirion were strolling around the camp side by side, the Highlord sharing recent news to catch Athrodar up on events that has happened. Athrodar stopped walking suddenly, rubbing his face in thought. "So Grand Apothecary Putress along with that Dreadlord Varimathras betrayed Sylvanas from within, making it look like the Forsaken had betrayed the Horde, taking Undercity from her?"

Tirion nodded. "Precisely that, yes." Athrodar fell into step with him once again. "Where was I? Oh yes. So Sylvanas along with Thrall and several members of the Horde assaulted the city from the courtyard, taking out demons and abominations alike. The Alliance were there as well, King Varian along with Jaina Proudmoore and a handful of Alliance soldiers assaulted the city from the sewers, slaying the Grand Apothecary."

"And what of the Dreadlord?"

"He found his end by the hands of the Horde, sending him back to the twisting nether." Tirion stopped walking, standing upon the makeshift wall around the outside of their encampment, leaning over the parapet to watch the few Scourge dotted around the glaciers in front of them. "The Alliance met up with them shortly after and went at each other's throats almost instantly. Only Lady Proudmoore had the sense to stop them and teleport the King away."

Athrodar stood next to him, leaning over the parapet and scanning the area as well. "I was there at the Wrathgate, both sides lost a lot of good men." He sighed in the silence of the place. "Even still, they find time to fight amongst themselves."

Tirion looked around at his small group of crusader's. "We of the Argent Crusade know our task on this continent, don't you worry. We have made it this far and we will see it through till the end."

Athrodar looked around as well, noticing small pockets of crusader's dotted here and there. "No offence Highlord, but I think you've made it this far because the Lich King doesn't see you as much of a threat." He glanced over to Tirion, seeing his words had stung a little. "But I think we can turn that around. The Knight's of the Ebon Blade are situated nearby, if they've stuck to their plans. We can also send missives to all corners of Azeroth and ask for recruits to join our fight."

Tirion slowly nodded. "Yes..." He began to walk to his tent, Athrodar following closely behind. "But will they join us? After the Wrathgate, morale would surely be low in either faction, what makes you think they will join?"

Athrodar placed a hand on the Highlord's shoulder. "Trust me Tirion, those who still have a fire burning inside them will come forth to take the fight to Arthas. He's the greatest tyrant our world has seen in a long time, and with you leading our final campaign, I believe it will be enough."

Tirion began to scribble down some words on the piece of parchment in front of him, writing down three sets of names. Darion Mograine, his own and that of Athrodar's. "What do you say, do you wish to help lead in the final assault against Arthas? Seeing two Highlord's and a powerful former member of the Scourge leading the fight would bring in more people."

Athrodar glanced down at the parchment, quickly reading through its contents. "No. I don't want it to be known I am here. The less the Scourge know about my whereabouts, the better chance we have at surprising them when it's most needed."

Tirion began to write on a new piece of parchment, excluding Athrodar's name from the bottom of it, signing it off with a signature and a wax stamp. "We need to meet up with Highlord Mograine before we start anything. Do you know roughly where he would be?"

Athrodar stroked his chin, thinking on the question. "I reckon he has returned to Acherus more than anything, probably planning out some form of attack, or waiting for the perfect time to assault a Scourge outpost." Athrodar took the missive from Tirion, folding it up and placing it in his pocket. "I will go to Acherus and see if he is there."

Tirion stood up, shaking his hand. "Well, good luck to you Athrodar and stay safe." He pulled his hand, dragging the former Prince closer. "I don't fully trust you though, so take a couple of my crusader's with you and leave your weapons behind. You know, just to be sure you're on our side."

Athrodar slowly nodded his head, not breaking eye contact with the Highlord. "I understand your wariness Tirion, but I will not let you down."

Tirion let go of his hand, watching Athrodar leave the tent. He wanted to trust the Death Knight, knowing that if he was truly on their side, this war would be in their favour, the two major factions not believing they could do anything to the Lich King. Now was their time to prove them wrong.