The First Trial

Vareesa made her way through the empty camp in Kun-Lai Summit, figuring the majority of the army had moved out on an important task. The few guards that were around the camp were busy guarding the wounded and the healers that were staying behind. She continued to walk through the camp and poked her head into the main triarge tent, locking eyes with her niece and smiling at the priestess. "Hello Tanadia." She said, walking into the tent and hugging the young priestess. "How are you little one? Where's your sister? And mine if we're asking about family."

"Sylvanas has left on an urgent mission with the entire army that was stationed here." Liadrin said from the other side of the tent, looking over to Vareesa who was crouched beside her apprentice. "And Victoria is somewhere in camp. You should try her tent."

Vareesa raised an eyebrow at her niece who smiled at her. "Did she wake up on the wrong side of the bed today?" She whispered to Tanadia who smiled and nodded. "I thought so."

"She told me rangers are the most difficult people to heal, so she is a little hostile towards them right now since they're constantly hostile towards her." Tanadia smiled at Cyandia who was on the bed in front of her, getting a smile back from the Captain. "Not to me though. I think it's because they know Athrodar is my dad."

"Maybe, little one. Maybe." Vareesa kissed her on the top of the head when she hugged her. "I'm going to go look for your sister. Be good, okay?"

"I will aunty." Tanadia said with a smile, going back to looking after Cyndia who didn't mind the Princess healing her.

Vareesa walked through the camp, looking in tent after tent and finding the majority of them to be empty, apologising to those she interrupted and asking if any of them saw Victoria, getting the same response from every single one until she found the Princess' tent by mistake, clearing her throat to get her attention when she saw both her and Sera sleeping in her bed. "Sorry to interrupt." She said, watching Victoria sit up and stretch her arms up, looking away when she saw the Princess had nothing on. "Cover yourself up. We might be family, but there are still boundaries."

"Oh right." Victoria grabbed the bedsheet and pulled it over her. "Sorry."

Once she was covered up, Vareesa looked back at the Princess who was sitting up in her bed, all covered up in her bed sheets. "That's okay. I am just here to ask for some siege engines. We don't have enough to break down the fortress we have found on the Isle of Thunder and I was hoping my sister was here so I could ask her." She smiled at her niece. "Since you're here, I suppose that's the next best thing."

"Sure." Victoria said, looking back to Sera who was laying on her side, looking at her . "I'm sure my mother wouldn't mind. They aren't using them at the moment and if they're better off with you, I think she'll understand."

Vareesa continued to smile at her niece. "Fantastic. Tell your mother I said hi when she comes back and that Athrodar is fine. He isn't leading the assault, he's staying with me and my company who are keeping up the rear."

Victoria smirked at her aunty, knowing full well Athrodar or at the very least Elaria would hate such a role. "Was that his idea or yours?"

"Mine." Vareesa said with a cocky grin. "I am not about to lose my brother-in-law when Sylvanas has announced the two of you stepping down to the entire world. So he is staying at the back with me."

"Athrodar might not like that, but I know Sylvanas will be relieved to know the love of her life is being watched over by her sister." Victoria smiled at her. "Say hi to my dad for me when you return. I haven't spoken to him since before he left for that island."

"I will." Vareesa reassured her. "Just after I go see your sister again before I return. She loves me so much, I can just feel it."

Victoria rolled her eyes when her aunt left, laying back down in the bed and looking over to Sera who grinned at her. "I know. I'm no longer the cute one of the family."

"Well you are to me." Sera told her, kissing her on the cheek. "The cutest Windrunner to ever exist."

Sylvanas remained behind in the Temple of the White Tiger with her company and a few other groups, including Tyrande and her group of Priestesses who were blessing the fallen with a safe journey to the other side before taking and placing them in front of Xuen who had shifted back to his humanoid form, giving each of his fallen followers a blessing of his own. "May Elune guide you to the afterlife." Tyrande whispered to a Pandaren child, blessing their body and closing her eyes in grief, thinking nobody deserves to die that young. "I hope it's a better one than the life you had here."

The Queen looked around the room she had been told was their sacred hall for teaching, watching Orc, Tauren and Troll shaman as well as a few Dwarf shaman do the same as the Night Elves, all of them blessing the fallen Pandaren in their own way and taking them to Xuen who would later give them his blessing too. "They are all working together." Seliana whispered to her Queen, standing beside her.

"I just wished it wasn't because of something this horrific." She began to smile a little and looked over to her Captain. "But it's a good start, hopefully they can build on this."

"Though the burdon will fall onto Victoria." Seliana told her. "Since she will take over as Queen of Stormwind, the Capital of the world now, many people will look to her for guidance whilst she looks to the leaders for help. Vol'jin being the exception as he will be Warchief."

Sylvanas kept her attention on her Captain who was going back to looking at the fallen Pandaren who were being lifted and taken to Xuen. "I will still look out for her, even from Windrunner Village." The Queen smiled at just the idea of being back home with her family. "She will visit I know it. And she will as for our help on occasion, apologising because she knows we left that life behind but didn't want to seem weak in front of the council and other faction leaders."

"I will come by too." Seliana told her Queen. "A lot of us will. We have all been through so much together that I know none of our rangers that were undead before the war will want to lose contact with our Queen." She smiled at Sylvanas who smiled back at her. "You gave us life again and we are forever in your debt."

"And I will make sure to find room for any of you should you wish to join us." Sylvanas took hold of her Captain's hand. "Windrunner Village is as much your home as it is mine."

Seliana continued to smile at her Queen, glancing over her shoulder when she saw the Royal Magister appear from the previous room. "Thal'ena is here, my Lady. I don't see Athrodar though."

Sylvanas looked back to the Magister who looked around at the fallen Pandaren. "I'm sure he will be here soon. But since she is here now, we could see what Xuen has in store for him in terms of a cure."

After noticing them in the middle of the room, Thal'ena made her way over to her Queen and the Captain, bowing her head at them. "I don't suppose you know what the cure is, do you?"

"Afraid not." Sylvanas told her, looking over to Xuen. "He is the one who does and has yet to tell me how he will go about it."

Thal'ena looked over to the blue haired human, feeling suddenly warm when he looked over to her. "Wow... He is something powerful. I can sense his magic before I entered this temple, but to actually see him in person?" The Royal Magister looked over to her Queen. "Who is he?"

"His name is Xuen, the White Tiger." Sylvanas told her, walking with the Royal Magister who was finding she couldn't stop herself from getting closer to him. "He is the Aspect of Strength and a Wild God of Pandaria." She saw Thal'ena stop walking when the term 'Wild God' was said and smiled at her. "That's why you can feel his power without being near him."

"Incredible..." Thal'ena muttered. "He will cure me?"

"And Athrodar, yes. He said he could and I believe him." Sylvanas saw Xuen look over to them and bow his head before walking closer. "Just do whatever he asks. I need to know it works. If not for you then for Athrodar."

"Is this the Mage?" The blue haired Human asked, bowing his head to Thal'ena who was becoming drunk from the power he let off.

"I am." She muttered, placing a hand on his arm without asking and closing her eyes as she drank in more of his energy. "Such power... Are you certain you can cure me?"

"Certain? No. But I have a list of trials my followers go through to keep control of their emotions, lowering the chance any Sha will emerge in this land." He walked to the middle of the room and had Thal'ena follow him without asking her. "Stand here."

Sylvanas stood nearby, watching Thal'ena who had her eyes closed, still drinking in the immense power he was giving off. "Focus, Thal'ena."

The Royal Magister looked over to her Queen wide eyed and a little apologetic. "Right, sorry." She turned her focus to Xuen who was standing closer to her than Sylvanas. "What do I do?"

"Confront the Old God and his manifestations." Xuen told her. "I normally have my pupils face off against their fears as the Sha of Fear is most prominant out of the manifestations. Then what angers them the most, as it is the Sha we see most common here in Kun-Lai Summit. The Sha you all fought against. Finally they have to deal with what they hate. The Sha of Hatred is a silent manifestation. It takes its time to build up until it is strong enough to cause devastating effects."

Thal'ena took a deep breath and nodded slowly. "I am ready." She said, conjuring a ball of fire in her palm. "I am ready to tackle what I fear the most."

Vareesa returned to the Isle of Thunder with several siege engines, most of them of Dark Iron make but still bringing a few Kaldorei and Orcish catapults and glaive throwers. "I think you have brought enough." Athrodar mused, looking at the three armies worth of siege equipment. "A bit of an overkill mind you."

"Well, there's no such thing as too much when it comes to siege engines." Vareesa smiled at her brother-in-law when he laughed and nodded in agreement. "Your daughter says hi, by the way. She seems to miss you, though I can't speak for Sylvanas. She wasn't in the camp, along with the majority of their army."

"I'm sure there's a good reason for that." Athrodar told her, watching the siege engines roll by their groups of rangers. "She also misses me, I know that for sure. Because I miss her."

"You two really need to learn to not be around each other every second of the day." Vareesa told him. "You're allowed to go a week without touching each other. Titans know I do with Rhonin and have as we speak. I am returning to him after we take this fortress and I know he can wait that long."

"Well I'm sorry that your sister and I want to be joined at the hip." Athrodar told her, hearing Vareesa laugh. "Something that will happen when we're finished here."

"At least your children willknow where to find one of you. Just look for the other one."

Athrodar chuckled and nodded his head. "That's is true." He agreed, catching a glimpse of a messenger who was making their way towards them. "Hold up. We seem to have a messenger coming this way."

Vareesa placed her hands on her hips and watched the messenger continue to make a beeline towards them, letting out a small sigh. "This better not be to take the siege engines away." She told Athrodar, raising an eyebrow when the messenger stopped in front of him. "Or not?"

"You have been called back to the Temple of the White Tiger, my King." The messenger said, bowing his head to Athrodar and conjuring a portal to the temple. "Sylvanas is waiting with Royal Magister Thal'ena and the Wild God Xuen."

Vareesa kept her eyebrow raised, only this time she was looking at Athrodar with a curiosity on her face. "What is this for, then?"

"I guess I'll find out." Athrodar said, kissing Vareesa on the cheek before stepping through the portal to the Temple of the White Tiger.

"This way." The messenger said, guiding Athrodar through the temple shortly after and towards the room everyone was waiting in.

"Athrodar." Sylvanas breathed, walking over to him quickly and placing her hands on either side of his face, kissing him lightly and hugging him. "I have some good news and some bad news." Sylvanas moved one of her hands to his chest and placed it flat over his heart. "The good news is I think we have found a cure for you Old God problem."

"And the bad news?" Athrodar asked, already knowing there was a catch.

Sylvanas sighed and looked over to Thal'ena who was being healed by a couple of shaman. "The whole ordeal took its toll. She is fine, just a little out of it at the moment. Her energy was greatly drained but she is cured." Sylvanas looked back to her King who was looking at the Royal Magister. "If what you said is true, she isn't as affected by the Old God as you. I don't know what the trials will do to you."

"I guess we'll have to find out." Athrodar told her, kissing Sylvanas on the forehead. "No point missing this opportunity and wondering what could have been."

Sylvanas gave her King a worried look, taking hold of his hand and squeezing it when he began to walk away from her, keeping him in place when she pulled on it. "I know you can't promise this, but I need you to tell me you'll be safe."

Athrodar smiled and hugged his Queen when her walked towards her, stroking her hair when she hugged him tightly and kissing the top of her head. "I'll be safe, my love. I will be free from the Old God's corruption and then we can focus on returning home."

Sylvanas pulled back and looked her King in the eyes. "If you make it through this final trial, I will hand the mantle of Warchief over to Vol'jin. Then when we return to the camp, yes I am taking you back with me, you're not going to the Isle of Thunder once this is over, I will make our daughter Queen and we can go home."

Athrodar cupped his Queen's face and kissed her lightly, pressing his head against hers. "I will make sure I am not in the same state as Thal'ena." He whispered, looking over to the Royal Magister who was having a tough time staying awake. "Though I can't promise anything."

"Ah. You must be Lady Windrunner's King." Xuen said, offering out his hand to Athrodar who stepped closer to the blue haired human. "She hasn't stopped talking about you since she helped us." Xuen looked over to the Queen who had a worried look on her face, not hearing their conversation. "She cares deeply for you and it makes her strong. To fight as hard as she can to make sure her family is safe. I admire her for it is a quality I try to put in every one of my followers."

"She has made me strong too." Athrodar told him, looking back to Sylvanas and giving her a reasurring smile, putting her at ease for the time being before the trials begun. "I feared being alone the first year I was in her service, knowing that any day could be my last as I made the wrong step more than once. But she kept me around, made sure I was never alone and I have grown mentally stronger knowing that I never have to fear being alone again." He turned his attention to Xuen once more. "I have a family now, something I believed impossible when I joined her."

Xuen just smiled at Athrodar, moving back a few paces until he was standing out of the small arena the King now found himself in. "Have you been told of the three trials you must face?" He saw Athrodar shake his head, looking over to one of the braziers in the room and extending his hand out to it, communing with the smoke and not the fire which then began to wrap around his arm. "You will have to face your fears, what angers you and your biggest hatred. Only in dealing with these three can the Old God be extracted from you."

"How exactly does that work?" Athrodar asked, a question the Wild God wasn't unprepared for.

"You will be using the corruption from inside you to form the images of your three trials. Once defeated, whatever Old God corrupted you won't have as strong of a hold on you. Once all three are defeated, he will be weak enough for me to extract." Xuen began to send the smoke towards Athrodar, making it circle around his feet. "When you're ready, tell me what trial you wish to face."

Athrodar closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to picture what his first trial could be. "Anger." Was all he said, feeling the room suddenly change from the cool winds of Kun-Lai Summit to something that felt incredibly hot.

"The change in temperature is normal. When you're angry, you get hot headed. This is simulated with the change in room temperature." Xuen told him before he even had to ask.

When Athrodar opened his eyes, he saw an image he had not expected. "Genn?" He questioned, reaching for his sword and finding he had left it back on the Isle of Thunder. Not letting panic creep in as the image of Genn reached for his own sword, Athrodar drew the knife he always kept strapped to his boot and held it in his hand, getting into a fighting stance when the Old Wolf began to make his way towards him slowly.

Sylvanas glanced down to Viraleth who stood beside her, both of them seeing the image clearly as the smoke coalesced into the image of Genn. "I didn't expect the thing to make him angry would have been Genn." The Ranger-General said, looking over to her Queen who had a look of anger on her face. "Unless you know why?"

"His Worgen hurt you and several of the Forsaken who tried to get our daughter back when the stole her." Sylvanas gripped onto the pummel of her sword tightly. "He tried to take our daughter away and apparently killing him hasn't made him show less anger towards him."

Athrodar ducked under the sword swing from Genn, being kicked back soon after before rolling away when the Old Worgen moved uncharacteristically fast. "What the..?" He looked over to Xuen for some sort of answer.

"The images are enhanced. "The blue haired human told him. "They get stronger the more your emotions are tied to the images."

Athrodar parried the next sword swing with his knife, using his free hand to land a sucker punch on the image. "And to defeat him?" He now asked, glancing over to Xuen who just shook his head. "Great.. Thanks."

Sylvanas watched on as her King struggled to defeat the Image of Genn, knowing what he had to do but also knowing he couldn't hear her. "He has to calm himself." She whispered to Viraleth. "The images are tied to his emotions. If he stops feeling anger towards him, it will weaken."

"Why don't we tell him?" The Ranger-General asked, not being there for when Thal'ena had to do it so she couldn't see what she done first hand.

"He can't hear us. Only Xuen can talk to him as they're his trials. I didn't get it at first, but when he told him they're tied to his emotions, I figured it out." The Queen looked mildly frustrated at figuring it out a little too late. "And now I can't tell him so he has to figure it out."

"If only you fought like this when you were holding my daughter captive." Athrodar said, taking several steps back. "I could have enjoyed the fight."

When Genn launched his next attack on him, Athrodar was cut by the blade on his arm as he tried to dodge it. Luckily it was a shallow cut, but it still made him bleed. "There has to be a way." He muttered to himself, placing a hand over the wound and suddenly remembering what Xuen said. "He's tied to my emotions and he gets stronger the angrier I get..."

Sylvanas saw Athrodar close his eyes and took several steps forward, being stopped by a magical barrier that kept Athrodar inside the trial and away from outside contact. "What are you doing?" She said, placing her hand on the barrier and watching Genn get ever closer to Athrodar who kept his eyes closed. "He's going to kill you!" She yelled, slamming her fist on the barrier.

Xuen just smiled from the other side of the trial, watching and feeling the image of Genn slow down and weaken with every stride until he collapsed into a cloud of smoke just as his blade was about to hit Athrodar. "Well done." He said softly, calling the smoke back to the brazier and walking to Athrodar. "The first trial is complete."

Sylvanas came to Athrodar's side and looked at the wound he has sustained, placing a hand over it to try and stop it from bleeding whilst calling over a nearby shaman. "They are only going to get tougher." She whispered to him, planting a kiss on his cheek. "Our Royal Magister was struggling on the third image. It was draining her energy and weakening her spells."

Athrodar reached for his Queen's sword, untying the leather straps that held it to her hip and taking the entire scabbard with the blade off her. "I am going to need this." He whispered, watching her smile when she looked down at the sword now in his hand. "Just to protect myself."

"That's fine." Sylvanas told him, placing a hand on his cheek and gently rubbing her thumb across it. "I just need you to be safe." She looked down at his wound that had been closed by the healers, kissing where it once was. "Which means no more getting cut by smoke swords."

Athrodar chuckled and nodded his head, kissing his Queen on the lips before watching her step back. "I'll try my hardest to not get hit."