Aldur'thar, The Desolation Gate
Athrodar had made good ground, not resting to check his surroundings to find out where he was. Instead he continued heading north, hoping to find something that would resemble a Scourge outpost and locating his supposed ally out here.
In the distance, he saw the top of a fortress peaking up over a hill, figuring that was where he had to go first. Just as he began to make his way towards the fortress, the winds changed direction unnaturally, blowing the falling snow in his direction and impairing his vision. As quickly as the snow was falling towards him, it stopped just as fast, leaving clear skies.
Athrodar frowned at the fortress in the distance, not understanding what just happened but figured whatever it was, it came from there. He sighed, climbing down from his Deathcharger and beginning to walk towards it. "I may as well check this out." He muttered to himself.
He kept low as to not draw any attention to himself, sticking to the outcropped rocks so his armour could blend in to them, the white snow making his black leathers stand out. Athrodar looked up at the sky again, noticing the clouds were gone as well, leaving the night sky and thousands of stars dotted across it. Icecrown was always dark and gloomy, but right now he was in awe of the beauty it holds when the skies were clear.
As he approached the top of a nearby hill, he could see the fortress in all its glory. Though he quickly realised what he had stumbled across, leaving him with a knot in his stomach when he saw the countless Scourge in the area, confirming his suspicions.
"Aldur'thar. Fantastic." He sighed, beginning to climb down the hill he stood atop, slowly making his way to The Desolation Gate. Climbing down however was easier said than done, just as he got halfway down the hill, he heard the screech of a Frost Wyrm above, making him dive for cover behind a rocky formation. "Convenient." He muttered to himself, smirking at the place of the rocks.
He sat by for a couple of minutes waiting for the frost wyrm to fly past. The whole time he was watching what they were doing at the gate and inside the fortress, trying to get a rough estimate on how many were inside and what their patrol schedules were. The longer he watched the harder it was for him to pinpoint each patrol, when and where they'll be at any given time and how many there were, their numbers becoming overwhelming.
When the skeletal beast flew away, he began to move once again, sticking by the rocky formation on his right and out of view from those below. He crept closer and closer, not taking in the massive drop in front of him as he was too busy counting up the necromancers at Aldur'thar. So occupied with his headcount of The Desolation Gate he lost his footing on the descent down, sliding down the hill towards the massive drop that loomed in front of him.
Acting quickly, he pulled out a dagger from his belt and tried to find a footing in the snow, only to have his dagger move the snow down with him, not holding onto any crack or crevice in the land underneath. He looked to where he was going to end up, not wanting to die by falling from this ledge, finding no glory in dying that way.
He tried to plant his dagger into something solid a couple more times, only to find it held onto nothing with each strike to the floor. Coming to the conclusion this was his end, he stopped trying, accepting his fate as his feet dangled off the edge, followed by his legs shortly after.
A hand reached out an grabbed him just before the rest of his body fell over the side, pulling him up to safety with all their strength. He slowly was pulled up and away from the drop, laying at the feet of the one that saved him, keeping his eyes closed as he tried to calm himself down from his near death experience. "Thank you."
"You're welcome, my Prince."
Athrodar's eyes shot open, turning around quickly to face the one person he didn't want to see out here. It wasn't because he hated her, quite the opposite of that. He didn't want to see her out here where she was in more harm than good. "Lana'thel... What are you doing here?"
She crouched down by his side, placing a hand on his face. "Saving you, my love." She smiled at him, glancing over to the ledge. "I'm surprised you're up here, I thought you hated heights."
He wanted to be angry at her for defying his wishes in the note but found he couldn't, she did just save his life and he had missed her deeply. He got onto his knees, shuffling closer to her until they were almost touching, pulling her into a long hug. "I've missed you."
She held him tighter, not wanting to let go of him. "To say I've missed you would be an understatement" She pulled away slightly, only to gaze in his eyes as he done the same. "Once I found out you were in Icecrown, I had to see you."
Athrodar's gaze never left her, taking in her beauty and knowing he was lucky to have someone such as her care for him as much he did for her. An image of Thalina crossed his mind which shook him a little, not expecting the Magister to be in his thoughts. He placed both his hands on her face, leaning in and giving her a long kiss, not needing to breathe made it easier to hold her there for a long time, though she wasn't complaining.
She held herself as close as she could to him, leaning her whole body on him until she pushed him to the ground, the Blood-Queen falling on top of her Prince. "Come back with me, my love. Let us be together again."
Athrodar stroked her hair as she lay on top of him in the snow. "I can't, I'm not under his control." He looked down at her hand that was tracing circles in his chest. "He will have to kill me again if he wants me back on his side." He placed a hand on top of hers, stopping it from moving. "I don't think he will take me back, not without breaking me and wiping my mind completely."
She looked up him, scared at the possibility of him being taken away from her again, but this time not allowing him to have his memories of her had shaken the Blood-Queen a little. "What do we do then? I am still under his influence."
"You need to return to him and to your people. You're safer there than you are with me." He kissed her forehead. "The living would kill you on the spot if they saw you, I don't want that to happen."
She placed her lips against his, holding herself there for a few seconds before pulling away. "My people don't want to fight for him, but he has tethered us to him." She planted another kiss on his lips. "You said in your message you were planning something, how far have you come in this plan?"
Athrodar sat up, pulling Lana'thel towards him until she sat up his lap. "I am close, but I think I can put it on hold seeing as you are here now." He snaked his hand up her thigh, watching her face as she began to enjoy his touch the further up he got. "Besides, I know how you get when you've been away from me for too long."
She bit down on her bottom lip as he began to kiss along her neck, knowing exactly where her sensitive spots were and lingering there long enough for her to let out a light moan. "I have needed you for months my Prince, the whole world can be put on hold for all I care." She leaned in and gave Athrodar a lingering kiss, biting his bottom lip as she slowly began to move backwards, dragging him down until she was laying on her back.
Athrodar placed his hands either side of her, Lana'thel wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him down towards her. He began to kiss up her neck, making his way towards her lips slowly, teasing the Blood-Queen as she tried to force their lips together. When their lips met, they began to kiss each other hungrily, their tongues meeting in the middle as neither one of them wanted to be apart.
Just as Athrodar moved his hands behind her back, trying to untie her robes, a frost wyrm flew past them, gliding low to the ground. Athrodar looked up towards it, noticing the beast banking to the right as if it saw the pair of them. "We've got a problem."
Lana'thel looked over towards the wyrm, noticing it had turned to face them, lowering its altitude once more until its claws scraped along the snow. "It's coming towards us and fast." Athrodar pushed himself up, offering a hand to Lana'thel and pulling her up once she took it. He readied his bow, conjuring an arrow made of ice and nocking it into place, Lana'thel standing next to him, shadowflame dancing along her fingers as she too began to conjure a spell.
The frost wyrm flew low, opening its jaws wide as it readied its breath attack, not noticing that the Blood-Queen was there, only fixating its attack on Athrodar, which made for a costly mistake. Lana'thel launched a ball of shadowflame towards the open jaw of the skeletal dragon and watched as it connected with the icy attack that was brewing within. The combination of both schools of magic created an explosion from within the frost wyrm, knocking the beast off course and into the snow to their left.
Athrodar watched the skeletal beast closely, waiting for any small movement to show it was still a threat, seeing a twitch come from one of its wings. Athrodar fired an arrow at the body of the wyrm, conjuring another frost arrow and nocking it in place. The frost wyrm began to lift itself up, its bottom jaw dislodging from its socket, leaving only half a skeletal dragon head. Athrodar began to fire more arrows into the beast, knocking it off its legs as his continued barrage became too much for it.
Lana'thel conjured a shadowflame vortex around the skeletal dragon, quickly incinerating it from all sides. The beast let out a deafening roar as it tried to break free from the burning deathtrap, only to incinerate itself as its wings began to move. Athrodar watched on as the lights in the beasts eyes faded, no longer being powered by necromantic magic. He put away his bow, walking over to Lana'thel who was still casting the vortex. "It's dead, you can stop now."
Yet she didn't, focusing on her spell work more than listening to him. Athrodar placed a hand on her shoulder, interrupting her concentration and making her snap her head towards him, her eyes filled with a fiery rage. Athrodar slowly moved a hand towards her face, her eyes following it as he drew closer to her, the flames that burned within her eyes dying out quickly as she realised who he was. She moved her hand towards his, taking hold of it and stepping closer to him. "I'm.. I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me."
Athrodar placed his free hand on her face, rubbing his thumb along her cheek. "Yes you do. He still has a hold over you, making you lose your self control." He glanced over to the remains of the frost wyrm, noticing it was missing a wing and three legs as well as half its tail and skull. "I'd hate to be on the receiving end of that spell."
Lana'thel moved towards him, burying her head in his chest. "Hopefully you won't have to, but knowing Arthas I fear he may use me against you."
Although he didn't want to hear it, Athrodar knew she was right. Arthas' hold on her was strong and he knew the Lich King could command her to kill him if he so wished it. He held her tighter against him. "I will do everything in my power to not let that happen."
Lana'thel glanced over to the frost wyrm, still pressed against her Prince. "They would have seen the fighting from Aldur'thar, you need to leave."
"I need to get through there and reach the other side."
She looked up at him with a frown. "What are you doing so far away from the Argent Crusade? Why do you need to pass through that fortress?"
"I cannot say." He kissed the top of her head, stroking her hair as he studied Aldur'thar in the distance. "Just know that I will find a way to break you free from him."
Lana'thel smiled up at him, placing a hand on his face and stepping on her toes to kiss him. "That's all I ask of..." The whispers that lingered in her head grew into loud voices, one most dominant of all yelling at her, telling the Blood-Queen that they knew what she had done. Her eyes grew wide, letting go of Athrodar and moving away from. "He knows... He knows you are here, he knows what I have done!"
Athrodar quickly moved towards her, offering out a hand for her to take. "Come with me, I can find you some place safe to hide until this is all over."
She didn't take his hand, shaking her head at him. "There's no hiding from him, you know that. He will find me and my punishment will be worse than it is now." She began to flap her wings, hovering a couple feet in the sky. "Go my Prince, before his army finds you here. I will see you again soon."
Athrodar extended out a hand to her again, this time the Blood-Queen took it. He pulled her down and gave her one last kiss, one she would not forget for sometime. When he pulled away, he kissed her hand. "Stay strong my Queen, know that I will be coming back for you."
She flew up once more, pointing towards the distance. "Go, take the mountain pass behind Aldur'thar, it's the safest passage around it."
Athrodar followed her hand, looking towards the steep mountain pass that would lead him behind Aldur'thar. He turned his gaze towards the sky, noticing storm clouds were rolling in, pulling his cloak around him not for warmth, but out of habit. He began to climb up towards the mountain and to the passageway that would take him past Aldur'thar, all the while thinking about Lana'thel and what she will have to endure when she returns to Arthas.