Broken before the Battle

Thalina had entered the Horde camp to the west of Ymirheim in search of Athrodar, following a trail of splintered wood that eventually led her to the former Prince who was sitting by a pile of poorly fletched arrow shafts. She slowly crept up on him, stopping when he punched the ice underneath him out of frustration, Thalina gasping at the sudden aggressive action.

He watched her as she ran around him and the pile of what he would call twigs, the arrow shafts being that poorly fletched, kneeling down in front of him and taking his hand in hers, the Magister inspecting each finger from knuckle to tip. "What are you doing here Thal?"

She smiled when she was certain his hand wasn't broken, brushing her thumb over each knuckle. "Unless I'm mistaken, we have one final fortress to take before we get to the Citadel itself."

He moved his hand away from her, opening and closing it to check for himself if he had broken it. "I know that, but why are you here, with me, right now."

She placed her hand on his face, frowning at him when he backed away from it. "Something is bothering you and because I love you, I want to help."

Athrodar placed one hand on the ground. "I'm not going to talk about this." He formed a wall of ice between them, Thalina staring at it for a few seconds, a little hurt by his attempt to block her out.

She moved to the opposite side of him, again being blocked by a wall of ice. "This is silly, just let me help you."

He formed two more walls around him, boxing himself in the four walls of ice. "I don't need your help Thalina, nor would I ask for it if I did."

She rolled her eyes, placing her hands on one of the walls and quickly melting it as she began to heat up. When it completely melted, she knelt down in front of him again, taking both of his hands in hers. "Talk to me Athrodar. Was it something Elaria said?"

He looked her in the eyes, seeing the familiar look of adoration that was there when they shared eye contact, her love for him ever present within them. "You shouldn't be here."

"I just told you, I am here because -" He placed a hand over her mouth.

"No, not that." He moved his hand away and placed it on her cheek, Thalina closing her eyes at his touch. "You shouldn't be here, in Northrend. You should be home, away from all of this death and looking after our daughter, making sure she grows up with at least one parent."

She placed one hand over his. "Once this is all over, maybe she can grow up with both." He shifted his eyes away from her, something she noticed straight away. "What is it?"

His gaze returned to her. "Nothing."

She got to her feet, placing a hand on her forehead and massaging it with her thumb and index finger. "Okay, that's the second time someone has looked away when I talk about you. Something is going on and you're all refusing to tell me."

"We're trying to protect you."

She scoffed. "Protect me? I didn't come to Northrend to be fucking protected." Athrodar shifted where he sat, becoming uncomfortable as the temperature increased, Thalina's rising temper meant she exerted her fire magic as well. She looked down at him, small flames present in her eyes. "What is going on here that makes you all so certain you need to protect me? Protect me from what?!"

He looked away, frustrating Thalina some more to the extent the walls of ice swiftly melted around him, creating puddles on the floor. "To protect you from me."

The temperature dropped back down to normal, the puddles on the floor quickly freezing over. She frowned at him from where she stood, not moving from the spot. "What do you mean? Why do you all need to protect me from you?"

Athrodar got up and took a few steps away from her, placing both hands behind his back and looking up into the sky. "Elaria believes I am not good for you, that what we have is poisoning you into believing there is something there."

Thalina began to laugh, Athrodar turning around to face her with a frown. "You do hear yourself, right? Of course you're not good for me." She closed the gap between them, snaking her arms around his waist, holding him in place in front of her. "But sometimes being bad..." She began, leaning closer to him. "... can feel so good." She whispered, lightly kissing him.

Athrodar looked down at her, smirking when he thought about her words. "Well," He picked her up, Thalina giggling as she wrapped her arms and legs around him. "I was never one for being good anyway."

Thalina pressed her forehead against his, gazing into his eyes. "You know, if we're going to do this..." She smiled seductively. "...We might want to find somewhere warmer, I still feel the cold."

He glanced over to the pile of arrow shafts he poorly made, raising an eyebrow at her. "Perhaps we can use our surroundings, and if you need a blanket or something..." He let go of her briefly, pulling down his hood and unclipping his cloak from his shoulder pads. He handed her the cloak, noticing her staring at him more than the cloak. "What is it?"

She threaded her fingers through his hair, forgetting the conversation they were just having for a few seconds. "I forgot you hair is no longer black." She smiled. "I like it a lot more like this. It's closer to what your hair was like when you were alive."

He threw the cloak around her, strapping it to her shoulder pads. "Now, hood up, or hood down?"

She stepped forward, the bottom of the cloak dragging along the floor, their height difference coming into play as he began to chuckle at her. "Stop it!" She smacked him on the arm. "It's just a little big on me is all."

He began to pat the top of her head, Thalina pouting at him before looking down at the floor. "It's okay, I'm sure you'll grow into it." He kissed the top of her head. "Or you'll find a spell to shrink it." He placed a hand under her chin and moved it up so she looked up at him, kissing her lightly. "Let's go back. Surely they're ready to move on the Scourge by now."

Thalina pulled up the hood as they set off back to Ymirheim, noticing the feint smell of Eversong Woods it gave off, similar to his smell when he was alive. She smiled under the hood, wrapping the cloak around her tightly. She pressed her nose against the hood and inhaled deeply, her mind taking her back to the day after her hundredth birthday.

They arrived back at Ymirheim minutes later, Thalina twirling around when Liadrin saw her, showing off Athrodar's cloak. "It's a little big on you."

She stopped spinning, facing Liadrin with a frustrated stare. "I will grow into it."

Liadrin laughed. "Thal, you stopped growing over a century ago." She looked around. "Where is Athrodar anyway? We are moving out soon."

Thalina glanced over towards the Horde camp. "He's getting ready. He'll be here with the rest of the Dark Rangers, I'm sure of it."

Liadrin nodded, checking her blades in the meantime. "Then we best get ready as well, though I'm not sure you can wear that cloak in its current state. Do you have some sort of... shrinking spell?"

Thalina smirked, placing one hand on her cloak and shrinking it down to size. "Is that better?"

Liadrin smiled at her friend. "Yes, it fits you perfectly now." She stood by Thalina's side, the Magister looking her up and down, not quite sure why she was standing so close. "I have word that Sylvanas has returned to Undercity indefinitely, something to do with the Scarlet Crusade in Tirisfal Glades."

Thalina grinned at the news. "That would explain why she wasn't at the meeting earlier." Her grin widened some more. "That means Athrodar has nobody in camp to distract him."

Liadrin nudged her. "Other than you."

She rolled her eyes. "Yes, other than me. That was implied."

Liadrin scoffed. "That was hardly implied, you didn't even hint towards it."

Thalina shrugged. "Either way, that just means he gets more time with me, and who doesn't want to be around me? I'm adorable."

Liadrin rolled her eyes. "If that's what you want to believe, then be my guest." She laughed when Thalina tried to make an innocent face, the Magister laughing with her when she realised how funny she must have looked. "It's a shame Elaria wasn't around to witness that, it surely would have cheered her up."

"What do you mean?" Thalina asked, frowning at the paladin. "What's wrong with Elaria?"

Liadrin had a worried look on her face. "I think Elaria is in emotional pain since Clara's death. I also think she hasn't mourned her properly, instead she seems fixated on killing Arthas by any means necessary."

Thalina tilted her head slightly. "What do you mean by any means necessary? So far she seems to be doing what everyone else is doing, fighting the Scourge one stage at a time, following the orders given to her."

Liadrin sighed. "She knows Athrodar is the key to breaking through their defences and ultimately the one person who can take on Arthas." She looked towards the Horde camp below Ymirheim. "She's trying to get him to concentrate on this campaign and this campaign alone, even if it means destroying everything else in his life with it."

Thalina stared at her, slowly widening her eyes when she realised what Liadrin was on about. "Elaria means to take him away from me, just so she can kill Arthas, something we're so close to doing anyway?" Liadrin nodded, slowly looking down at the floor in regret. Thalina's mouth opened slightly in shock. "You agree with her, don't you?"

Liadrin looked back up to Thalina, shaking her head profusely. "No, well.. Yes, at first, but not any more." She went to place both her hands on Thalina's arms, the Magister backing away from her in disgust. "Thal, please, listen to me. After I saw how happy you were once we arrived here, I knew what Elaria was doing was wrong."

Liadrin tried to get hold of her, Thalina backing away some more, shaking her head at the paladin, saddened by her betrayal. "How could you... You know how I feel about him, yet you still tried to pull us apart."

She turned around, beginning to make her way down towards the Horde camp and away from her, Liadrin following her closely. "Thal, come on. I know how you feel about him and I admit I was foolish to think you were better off without him."

Thalina stopped walking. "What did he and Elaria discuss? I assume you know what it was about."

Liadrin didn't reply right away, trying to find the words that would lessen the blow. "She told him to leave you alone once this was all over."

Thalina glared at her. "And?"

Liadrin looked visibly uncomfortable with the conversation, shifting her weight from one leg to another. "He... He agreed to it." She watched the warring emotions on Thalina's face, both of anger and utter brokenness. She took hold of her hand, Thalina swiftly moving her hand away. "Thal..."

"Leave me alone..." Thalina blinked several yards down hill, moving her legs quickly until she was running down it and towards the Horde camp. Liadrin watched on heartbroken, knowing she hurt her and could do nothing to apologise.

Thalina made it to the Horde camp in a matter of seconds, continuing to blink forward through the camp, searching the nearby tents before moving on to the next, finally finding Athrodar when she nearly blinked into him on the outskirts of the camp. He jumped a little, moving one hand to his sword out of habbit. "Oh, it's just you." He noticed something was off with her, the usual adoration in her eyes had all but been replaced with emptiness. "What's wrong?"

"You're leaving me once we've killed Arthas, aren't you? Cutting yourself out my life for good." His silence to her question was enough for her to know it was true. Her eyes filled with tears quickly, shaking her head slowly, not wanting to believe it. She began to unclip the cloak he gave her from her shoulder pads.

Athrodar watched what she was doing, placing a hand on top of one of hers. "What are you doing?"

She moved her hand away, continuing to unclip the cloak, holding it in her hands after she had finished, staring down at it. "Removing you from my life." Her voice broke, shutting her eyes tightly, a couple tears falling down onto the cloak before she dropped it in to the snow.

Athrodar picked up the cloak, holding onto one of her arms. "Thal, don't do this. I gave you this cloak as a gift, just like I did all those years ago."

She was facing away from him, the arm he was holding onto extended out behind her whilst her free hand clutched at her heart. She sobbed as her mind took her back to that time they were on the porch back in Dawnstrider Village, the familiar feeling of loving him and knowing he didn't feel the same coming back to haunt her. "Keep it..." She struggled to say, pulling her arm away from him.

Yet he held on tightly, pulling her to him instead. He knelt down when she faced him, though her eyes were still shut. "Thal, listen to me." He rubbed her arms, trying to calm her down. "Yes, I told Elaria I was going to leave you once we killed Arthas." He kissed the top of her hand. "But don't think it's because I no longer love you. Thal," He kissed her hand again. "I will always love you."

She broke down in front of him, falling to her knees as well, Athrodar pulling her in to his embrace. She held on to him tightly, despite his admittance to leaving after the war is over. "Don't... leave me." She moved her head up from where it was buried against his chest, looking him in the eyes. "Please... don't."

He brushed his thumb across each cheek, wiping away her tears. When he moved his hand away, Thalina moved her hands on his face and leaned forward to kiss him. Athrodar tried to speak, but was stopped by her assault on his lips. "Thal... Thal stop.." He pulled her off him. "Stop. Now's not the time to start anything."

Thalina sat there awkwardly, placing her head in her hands in shame. "When is the time? As soon as we take the Court of Bones, along with the Cathedral of Darkness, we will be left with just the Citadel. Once we've conquered that, you're going to disappear. So tell me, when is the time?" She felt him place both hands on her face, lifting it up from her hands. "What are you doing?"

"Just..." He leaned in to kiss her, placing the cloak he gave her behind her on the floor, slowly moving her onto it. "You're were right, we don't have the time if we don't do this now." He began to kiss her along the neck, Thalina pulling him off despite her body telling her no.

"Are you sure about this?"

He frowned down at her. "Really? Now you want to question the timing of it?"

She looked down the gap between them, then back up to him. "You're right." She pulled him down, Athrodar resuming his trail down her neck, Thalina untying the back of her robe whilst he pulled it down slowly, using her magic to keep her warm due to being in the heart of Northrend and the coldest point on Azeroth.

The three armies stationed in Ymirheim had moved out, meeting up with Darion Mograine and the Knight's of the Ebon Blade halfway towards the Court of Bones. Athrodar was sitting on top of his Deathcharger with Thalina sitting in front of him, keeping one arm around her. His grip around her waist tightened as they got closer to their objective, reassuring the shrinking Thalina as her nerves were getting the better of her. "I'll keep you safe throughout this, don't worry." He whispered into her ear, Thalina relaxing a little when he reassured her by following it up with a kiss to the same ear.

Thalina wore the cloak he had given her, pulling the hood over her head for privacy, not wanting to talk to anyone, especially the paladin who was looking at her from afar, still saddened by their conversation earlier. Thalina leaned back into him, looking up at the former Prince, the pair of them looking more like a couple now than they did before, their matching cloaks giving everyone that idea. "Thank you, for earlier."

Athrodar glanced down at her, trying to keep his focus on the Scourge Citadel in front of them. "You're thanking me for sex?" He chuckled. "You're welcome, I guess?"

Thalina let out a small laugh, resting her eyes momentarily. "I suppose I am." Upon opening her eyes, she glanced over to her right, noticing Liadrin was looking upset atop her horse, riding on her own away from everyone. She moved her hand up to Athrodar's face, turning it around so he faced Liadrin. "I need to talk to her."

He raised an eyebrow at the paladin. "Now? Whilst I'm here?"

She nodded against his chest, still leaning back on him. "Yes, especially whilst you're here. I need to forgive her before we reach the Court of Bones. I can't look at her whilst she's like that, knowing I upset her."

Athrodar sighed, rolling his eyes and pulling on the reins, his horse steering right and towards Liadrin. When they were alongside her, she looked at Athrodar first, the former Prince looking down towards Thalina. "I believe she has something to say to you."

Thalina held out her hand towards Liadrin who took hold of it instantly. "I'm sorry for being hard on you Liadrin, I know you didn't agree to it after we arrived at Ymirheim."

Liadrin shook her head, smiling at her weakly. "I should be the one to apologise Thal. I should never have thought about pulling you two apart." She held onto her hand tighter, a rare tear falling down her face. "You're like the sister I never had and I'm sorry for putting what we have in jeopardy."

Thalina matched her smile, a tear falling down her face as well. "I forgive you Li Li." They let go of each other, Thalina grinning when she saw Liadrin going over something in her head. "Yes, you're still my daughter's tutor if she shows and affinity to the light."

Liadrin laughed, a big smile being plastered on her face. "Thank you, Thal."

The next few of minutes were full of random conversation, at least that's what it was for Athrodar, the former Prince rolling his eyes and sighing when he heard them bring him up in one of them. "I may not be paying much attention, but I can still hear you."

Thalina moved her head up towards his, kissing him on the cheek. "Keep your eyes on the path ahead, we're talking."

She turned her head back towards Liadrin, Athrodar raising an eyebrow at her, a devilish grin making its way across his face. He pulled down her hood, exposing her head to a cold breeze that he conjured at that moment. She gasped as it hit her, trying to pull her hood up despite Athrodar holding onto it so she couldn't. "I'll let go of it, if you promise to keep me out of your conversation."

Thalina pouted at him, Athrodar remaining serious until she sighed, figuring it wouldn't work on him this time. "Fine, just give me my hood back!" Athrodar let go of it, allowing her to quickly pull it back up, the Magister murmuring a few spells under her breath.

Athrodar shook his head, knowing she placed spells onto her hood so he couldn't pull it down. Instead, he placed a hand over her mouth when she continued their conversation. "There's more than one way to silence you, young Magister." He moved his head next to hers, resting it on her shoulder, the pair of them looking at each other from the corners of their eyes. "Now are we going to drop this conversation and start a new one, or are we going to have to remain silent throughout the rest of the journey?"

Thalina mumbled words into his hand, rolling her eyes when she realised they couldn't understand her. She tapped on his hand for him to remove it, repeating what she said. "You're no fun when you're like this." He went to move his hand over her mouth again, Thalina moving away slightly. "No no, I'm sorry." She sighed. "I'll change topic.. to one that doesn't involve you."

Liadrin snorted. "Yes, because you know what to talk about besides him."

Thalina gave her an incredulous gasp. "I do so know what to talk about besides him. You just don't have all the same interests as I do. For instance, I like to talk about my fire magic, which is nothing like holy magic."

Athrodar winced at the thought of both, uncomfortably moving in the saddle. "They certainly feel the same."

Thalina moved her hand over his, holding on to it. "Right, sorry. I forgot you can't be touched by the light."

Liadrin gave him a smug look. "Looks like you can't beat me in a fight after all."

Athrodar raised an eyebrow at her. "You do realise the Scarlet Crusade thought the same thing. They also wielded your precious light."

Liadrin glared at him, slowly radiating with light. "Is that a challenge?"

Athrodar glanced over to the nearing fortress, a grin playing across his face. "It will have to be put on hold." He nodded over to the Scourge outpost. "We are here."

Thalina leaned back against him, taking a deep breath when she saw the Lich King's Citadel nearby. "We're almost there." She whispered to nobody in particular.

Athrodar held onto her tightly when he felt her tense up, moving his mouth to her ear once more. "I will stay by your side, Thal, we will get through this together." He stared ahead, feeling something in his gut calling to him, knowing there was someone in the Cathedral he didn't want to be there, especially now as they approached it.