An Old Boss

"Why aren't we heading south?" Elaria asked, watching Athrodar decide where to go when they hit a crossroads. "It's the opposite direction to where the others are going."

"Because the Naga and several hundred Demons are to our south. And with the coast on our east, west was the only way to go that wasn't also North." Athrodar glanced back to the Night Elf who was looking around the open area they were now in. "I thought you were meant to be looking out for clues whilst I try to find a place for us to stay for the night."

Elaria looked to her left and then to her right. "There's nothing here."

"Thank you, helpful as always."

Elaria smiled at him. "You're welcome."

Athrodar sighed and looked around their nearby surroundings. "We may have to retire for the night in the trees, there doesnt' seem to be any suitable location to rest."

"Back to our roots, love it." Elaria clapped her hands together and looked around for a suitable tree. "Anywhere in particular?"

"Yes, just there." Athrodar pointed to a couple of sturdy trees. "They have enough space and height to hide in without being caught by passers by."

Climbing the tree, both Elaria and Athrodar found their respective branches and called it a night. At least the night elf did, Athrodar was using the telecommunication disc Thalina handed him and Sylvanas, smiling when he heard Sylvanas' voice. "Hi." He repsonded to her similar one word sentence.

Sylvanas smiled at hearing Athrodar's voice, not realising how hard it was to go most of the day without hearing him after the went their seperate ways. "How are you?" She asked, finding this whole thing to be a new experience and not knowing exactly what to say.

"I'm good." Athrodar told her, looking over to Elaria who was snoring her head off after instantly falling asleep on her branch. "I.. I have no idea what to say." He joked, hearing Sylvanas chuckle lightly and agree to him. "It's easier to talk to you in person."

Sylvanas nodded her head, not realising Athrodar couldn't see the action. "It is, my love." She said softly, looking back at Luna and Thalina who were sleeping at the back of the cave whilst she stood at the entrance, looking out at the two moons in the sky above them. "I know it's not been a day yet, but I miss you."

Athrodar smile grew wide on his face, pressing his head against the disc and whispering into it. "I miss you too, my Queen." He pulled back and looked down at the disc, noticing a button of some sort that he hadn't pressed and pressing it to see what it done.

Sylvanas' eyes widened in surprise when she saw an image of Athrodar flash up on this disc in her hand, moving her hand through it and watching as the image shimmied and flashed. "What did you do? I can see you now."

"I pressed a button on the disc. Wait, you can see me?" Sylvanas looked down at the disc and pressed the button too, having an image of her flash up on the disc in Athrodar's hand. "There you are..." He muttered, smiling at his Queen who then smiled at him. "Even when you're an image on this disc, you're still the most beautiful woman I have ever met."

Sylvanas' smile turned shy, looking away from the image of Athrodar. "And you're still just as charming as ever, my love." She whispered to him, trying to not wake up the other two. "I think we're getting close to picking up a trail." She told him, seeing his eyebrow raise curiously. "We found some of Snow's fur. I don't know if it was wind bringing it here, or they actually moved north, but it's a sign. I'm hoping we find more the further north we go."

"I hope you do too." Athrodar agreed, watching her look back at the two women sleeping behind her. "We should probably get some sleep. Are you going to be okay on your own?"

Sylvanas knew why he asked, smiling at his worry. "No, but I will try. I won't have your arms around me and I can't hear your heart so it won't lull me to sleep, but I will be thinking of you, so I suppose there's that. I love you."

Athrodar gave her a loving smile. "I love you too." He whispered back to her, hearing Sylvanas blow him a kiss before turning off her disc, doing the same shortly after and closing his eyes.

Tanadia walked around the Grove of Cenarius, the small druid village they had come to for help, and began to watch some of the teachings going on today. "Interesting..." She muttered, watching a group of druids use the nature around them to enhance their abilities.

"Tyrande might be willing to help train you." Malfurion said softly, sneaking up on the young priestess. "She knows more about the light than any of us here can ever understand. I will speak to her about it someday soon, when this Legion business is all over."

"I would love that!" Tanadia said with excitement. "Learning about Elune and how her blessing is passed to those she deems most fit to serve her."

Malfurion smiled at her excitement. "I'll tell her when I next see her." He looked back to one of the huts Victoria had been given and told to stay in. "Let me go check on your sister, the Queen should be waking up about now."

Victoria looked around the hut she was staying in, smiling at the many flowers and plants located around the room. "This place is so beautiful." She commented, looking over to the druid who was examining her and making her smile, feeling a heat in her heart as she had a small thing for Night Elves, especially the women. "Made more so when I have such lovely company." She whispered, making the druid smile shyly and lower her head to hide her blush.

"Distracting my students, my Lady?" Malfurion asked, moving out the way for the druid who quickly left the room, bowing her head to the Archdruid and apologising to him. "We recieved word from Dalaran, the messenger returned this morning. Your parents were in the city, but left the day you arrived and are somewhere in Azsuna. Also.." Malfurion sat at the foot of Victoria's bed, slowly placing a hand on her leg and patting it gently, making the Queen feel nervous as if she was about to be given bad news.

Unfortunately, she was.

"Your parents were on the Broken Shore a day after your crash. They went to the wreckage to look for you and found all of your guards, piled up and burnt." Malfurion saw the Queen's eyes widen as she was taken back by what he had just said, still needing to tell her the worst part of the news. "All their heads were on pikes just ouside the wreckage, with your General's in the centre."

"No..." Victoria muttered, her eyes watering as her chest tightened. She feared this sort of news, but to be told she was butchered had shattered her heart. "She... Sera... She's dead?"

"From what Khadgar has told us, yes." Malfurion gave the Queen a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry, Lady Windrunner. I will give you some time to grieve, I know this must be difficult for you."

Once alone, Victoria rolled onto her side and stared at the wall, pulling one of her pillows into her embrace and hugging it tightly as she began to cry to herself. "Sera..." She whispered, holding onto the pillow just a little tighter. "I'm so sorry, you deserved better." Victoria sniffed and tried to hold herself together, but ultimately let her heart pour out into the pillow as a wave of emotions just crashed over her. "I didn't even get to say goodbye!" She cried into her pillow, letting whatever was left of her makeup run onto the pillow as she curled up into a ball.

Tanadia looked over to the stables where she saw Snow began to make his way towards the hut Victoria was in, tilting her head and frowning as it seemed a little odd considering he had been asleep for most of the day, but suddenly woke up when Malfurion left her sister. "Interesting..." She muttered, following Snow into the hut shortly after the Nightsaber had entered it and looked down at Victoria. "Vic..." She muttered, making her way over to her sister and climbing into the bed with her, having the Queen roll over to face her and burying her head into her shoulder as she used her as an outlet for her tears now. "What happened? What did Malfurion say?"

"Sera's gone!" Victoria cried into her shoulder, wrapping her arms around her younger sister tightly and holding herself against the priestess who began to rub her back with her hands that she coated in holy magic. "Broken Shore... The d-demons." She hiccupped, shaking her head as she didn't want to repeat the story. "Head... Spike."

Tanadia understood what was said, holding onto her sister and Queen tightly to calm her down, shushing her whilst rubbing her back with her hands bathed in the holy light. "She saved us." The priestess whispered to her, closing her eyes to keep her own emotions at bay. "She fought until her last breath to make sure we escaped." She planted a kiss on her sister's temple and hugged her tightly. "And we escaped."

"I..." Victoria sniffed, closing her eyes as she found comfort in her sister's arms. "It's strange... I miss her more now than I did when I thought she was still alive."

"So do I." Tanadia whispered to her, always loving Sera like a sister after spending the last few years around her and Victoria. "I miss the way she always made you smile, Vic. I don't like seeing you upset."

Victoria smiled for a split second when Snow rest his head on her leg, petting him with one hand whilst her other remained wrapped around her sister, keeping her eyes closed as she just wanted to sleep off this bad news. "Our parents left Dalaran before the messenger could get to them. They're in Aszuna where we met Marius and Tehd, so they're close."

Tanadia smiled and rubbed her sister's back. "They will find us, I'm sure of it."

"I haven't had the chance to meet the newest members of your family, how cute is she?"

Sylvanas smiled at the question, pulling out a picture of her daughter Cedani and showing it to Thalina. "You tell me. Both Athrodar and I love her the most."

"I can see why." Thalina said softly, smiling at the picture of Cedani. "She reminds me of Tanadia a little, more so than your other two. There's something about her..."

Sylvanas smiled a little wider and tilted her head at the picture in Thalina's hands. "I'm glad you said that, because I don't see her being a ranger like Athrodar and I, like Tahnir wants to be or his sister Alleria will most likely be." She took the picture back off the Magister and held onto it, looking at her baby daughter. "I think she will be a magic user. A mage or a priestess."

Thalina didn't know why, but she offered Sylvanas something she thought she would never have offered. "If she shows signs of being a mage, I would love to be her mentor."

That got a raised eyebrow from both Sylvanas and Luna who overheard the offer. "Really?" Sylvanas asked, tilting her head a little at the Magister. "You would do that?"

"Yes, really?" Luna asked, still surprised the Magister had offered that.

"Y-yes." Thalina stammered, smiling up at Sylvanas. "It's the least I can do, especially for looking after my daughter when she visisted, allowed us to stay in Stormwind and now helping me find her along with Victoria."

"Of course, our daughters are the future." Sylvanas smiled down at the Magister, all three of them walking north along their current road. "They will both build Stormwind into something amazing. Victoria as Queen and Tanadia as her closest advisor and leader of the Cathedral District."

"Except Liadrin is the Highlord of Stormwind and runs the Cathedral District." Thalina told her. "My daughter is still young, not even in her second decade."

"She will get there, believe me." Sylvanas looked forward and down the path they were on, narrowing her eyes at something in the far distance. "We're not alone." She muttered, slowly reaching for her bow strapped across her back. "In the distance, there is movement."

"What is it?" Luna asked, narrowing her eyes to try and find what Sylvanas was looking at.

Sylvanas pulled out her bow and reached for an arrow in her quiver. "Demons."

Elaria bit the nail on her thumb, walking slightly behind Athrodar whilst the two of them continued to head west. "Are we being followed?" She asked, looking around the open field they were walking through. "The hairs on the back of my neck are sticking up."

"You don't have hairs on the back of your neck." Athrodar told her, glancing over his shoulder and towards the Night Elf. "I should know, you tell me constantly that you have no hair on your body besides the top of your head."

Elaria grinned and looked down at her thumb, inspecting her nail. "That is true... But I do feel like we are being followed."

"That's because you are..." A voice echoed nearby, making both Elaria and Athrodar look around for the source of it, the latter frowning when he thought it sounded familiar.

"Ravenholdt?" Athrodar asked, watching their old boss step out of the shadows.

"My two favourite assassins." Ravenholdt said, grinning at the two elves. "Though one is a former King and the other is... well, an infamous pervert."

"Ooo... I'm infamous?" Elaria asked, smirking at the idea.

Athrodar raised an eyebrow at the Night Elf. "That's what you took from that?"

"Oh please, we both know I'm a pervert." Elaria told him, looking over to Ravenholdt. "So why are you here? Doing your own jobs now?"

"Not exactly, no." Ravenholdt turned his attention to Athrodar, knowing he was easier to talk to than Elaria who would joke about almost anything that was said. "The Legion are threatening to destroy this world, as you know. So as a way to combat this, I have gathered the best rogues, assassins and outlaws from all four corners of Azeroth to meet in the underbelly of Dalaran." He folded his arms and looked Athrodar up and down. "Almost all of them. There are two missing."

Elaria nodded her head slowly. "Okay, okay... What do we get out of this?"

"A chance to play a key part in this war." Ravenholdt tempted the Night Elf, stepping a little closer to her. "I need an assassin to lead the others, to plan key points of interest for us to attack and to kill important figures in the Burning Legion."

Athrodar snorted when Ravenholdt kept his gaze on Elaria. "Yes, because who doesn't want to have Elaria leading an entire army of assassins."

The Night Elf gasped at him. "That's a little rude. I reckon I would do a good job leading them."

Athrodar saw the determination in Elaria's eyes, sighing and dropping his shoulders a little. "Fine... We will come with you, just to see what this is all about. But I am not staying, or helping. I have to find my daughter."

"You can do that with our help." Ravenholdt told him, smirking at Athrodar. "The offer is there, but I think you will change your mind when you see our resources."

"We'll see." Athrodar muttered, following Ravenholdt along with Elaria.

"Hold still." Luna said, sighing when Sylvanas pulled her arm away. "Stop being such a baby."

"I'm not!" Sylvanas hissed, pulling her arm away from Luna when she held onto it again. "Just leave me alone, it's only a cut."

Thalina smiled when Sylvanas began to squirm the second Luna took hold of her arm again in a vice grip, trying to escape from the Draenei who seemed to be stronger than she looked. "If it's only a cut, let her look at it."

"Don't get involved, Dawnstrider." Sylvanas said through gritted teeth, giving up on the chance of escaping the Draenei's clutches. "You're not making things any better."

"No, but it is fun to watch you squirm under her touch." Thalina smiled when Sylvanas began to struggle once again. "Just let her heal you."

"You're as bad as Athrodar." Luna muttered, making Sylvanas stop fighting. "You both think you're indestrucible and can't be killed, yet when you get injured, you both fight off the healers until your other half is with you."

Sylvanas pouted and sat down on a nearby boulder and let Luna heal her. "Fine... And I'm not like that."

Thalina snorted then began to laugh. "Sure you're not."

"Hey, I'm not!" Sylvanas yelled at Thalina who continued to laugh. "At least, I wasn't before Athrodar entered my life..." She began to smile a little too, looking down at the ring on her finger and missing her husband after only being away from him for a day. "We've been so close the last few years that I may have picked up a few things from him."

"Like being a baby when it comes to someone touching a fresh wound you've obtained?" Luna asked her, smiling at the elf when she glared up at her. "Do you really want to say something negative towards me whilst I'm holding your arm?"

Sylvanas looked away, hating that she was put in a position where she wasn't the strongest here. "No..." She muttered.

Thalina continued to smile, looking around their surroundings and passed the slain demons in front of them. "They must have been heading south, so I can only presume the further north we go, the more demons we will come across."

"Or there's a camp or portal nearby." Sylvanas said, watching Luna heal her arm. "Which means if we can make it passed that, we will be in the clear to head north some more and hopefully into less hostile territory."

"And closer to our daughters?" Thalina asked, looking down at Sylvanas.

"Yes." She said softly, nodding her head at the Magister. "We will find them soon, hold them in our arms and comfort them should they need it."

Thalina's smile widened a little at the thought of holding her daughter again soon. "I would love that. It's been almost a week and it feels like a lifetime since I held her."

Sylvanas saw her smile and matched it, thinking back to the last time she hugged Victoria, just a little longer than when Thalina hugged Tanadia. "Me too."

Malfurion walked into the small house that held the Queen and Princess, smiling at Victoria who was now watching her sister sleep. "How are you feeling?" The Archdruid asked.

"About as well as someone can feel after being told the woman they love is dead. Butchered by the enemy, burnt and had her head stuck on a spike with the rest of her guard." Victoria looked over to Malfurion who looked pained to have heard it put so brutally. "Other than that, I am just fine." She said with a hint of anger, though they both know it had nothing to do with his question.

"And your leg?" Malfurion asked, sitting down on a nearby chair and looking at the Queen.

"I think it's getting better." The Queen muttered, looking down at her leg. "I guess I wouldn't know until I can put some weight onto it."

Malfurion smiled and nodded. "Not that you will put much weight onto it."

Victoria now smiled, looking at the Archdruid. "Are you flirting with me, Archdruid? So shortly after telling me my General and lover was killed?"

Malfurion chuckled along with the Queen, shaking his head. "Of course not." He stood up and looked down at the Queen who went back to looking at her sister. "I'll send a couple of my druids by soon. They will assess your leg and give me a better detailed report than 'I think it's getting better'."

Victoria watched the Archdruid begin to leave, calling for him just before he closed the door. "What do you think about Demon Hunters?" She asked, getting a frown from the Archdruid.

"That they are a means to an end." Malfurion said in a cold voice, gazing into the distance as if thinking about something. "Why?" He asked, when his gaze returned to the Queen.

"No reason. We had an Illidari help us find this place, but he left us about ten minutes away from here." Victoria looked up at the Archdruid who looked distant again. "I know your brother started them, I just wanted to know why."

Malfurion looked back at the Queen for the final time. "He did and I stand by keeping these Illidari away from my people. They corrupted the Well of Eternity and fractured the world. Their leader, my brother, have done nothing but cause destruction to his own people. When he was banished to the Outland, I didn't care, he was far from us and he couldn't do more damage. Now that I know his Demon Hunters are back home, I fear for what they will do to the world."

Victoria watched the Archdruid leave before she could respond to him, frowning at what he had said and trying to compare it to the Demon Hunter who had helped them. "It doesn't sound like him at all. He was moody, but he helped and was trying to kill agents of the Burning Legion." She shrugged her shoulders and looked back at her sister who was sleeping peacefully in her bed. "I'm sure we will see in the near future how useful or destructive the Demon Hunters can be,"