An Odd Dream

Liadrin as well as many other leaders of Azeroth's factions, races and orders arrive in Suramar early in the morning, most of them introducing themselves to Thalyssra whilst Tyrande and Shandris kept to themselves. Victoria returned to a bloated camp after her quick surveillance mission, trying to find her way to the First Arcanist when she was stopped by Liadrin the moment the Paladin saw her. "How has it been since I left you here?" She asked, walking side by side with the Queen as they both began their long lap around the camp for some privacy.

"It's been okay. Rescued many Nightborne who were trying to escape, now I am surveying Suramar city along with my rangers to find a weakness we can exploit as well as trying to find a way into their city in a disguise." Victoria saw the Paladin nod and smiled at the action. "I know. Go back a decade and you would never have pinned me as the sneaking in and scouting type."

"I'll be honest, I thought your parents would have stayed in charge for many centuries before they were brought back to the living side. So no, I didn't see this life for you. But I did see happiness." Liadrin glanced over to Victoria who remained silent. "Forgive them, my Lady. I know what they did was morally grey, but it was for a good reason."

"And I just see it as them making a deal with the man who killed my parents, both birth and adopted." Victoria continued to walk around the camp, being followed by Liadrin who sighed a little. "I'll forgive them, just not now. Not whilst we still have a city to take."

Liadrin felt sorry for the Queen, not because her parents supposedly betrayed her, but because she was so blinded by her hate for the Lich King that she couldn't see the true nature of her parents' deal with Bolvar. "The Death Knights have been dealt with at Light's Hope. They tried to resurrect Tirion but I got there in time to force them away."

Victoria smiled. "Good." She stopped and looked at the Paladin who stood beside her. "Tanadia loved him like an uncle. She told me many stories of the times he got to teach her and her class. How he would talk about Athrodar and their campaign in Northrend."

"She did go on about him whenever the topic of Tirion came up." Liadrin smiled and looked down at the Ashbringer in her hands when she unsheathed it from her back. "I don't feel worthy of carrying such a blade, especially after a legendary Paladin died wielding it."

"If Tirion could chose anyone to wield Ashbringer after him, I am almost certain he would have chose you, Liadrin." Victoria placed a hand on her back and smiled at her, comforting the Paladin by rubbing her back. "And I would have agreed with him in a heartbeat."

"Thank you, my Lady." Liadrin said, bowing her head at the Queen. "That means a lot to me."

Victoria continued to smile. "Good. Now, I need to tell you everything I have found out about Suramar City whilst we continue to walk in circles around this camp."

Liadrin laughed and nodded her head. "Fire away."


"Aunty Luna!"

Athrodar looked over to Tanadia who ran towards the Draenei, hugging her tightly and smiling when Luna practically lifted her up when she hugged her back. "Hello little one." Luna whispered, kissing her on the cheek. "Titans, I've missed you and that smile."

"So what exactly is this plan?" Athrodar asked, climbing off the small boat they all sailed from Stormwind on, hiding in a far corner of Suramar that was rarely visited unless someone decided to go there. "None of us here blend in with the Nightborne."

"That's why we are using your daughter and every single leader on the other side of the city for our attack. Once they start their assault, we will sneak behind whilst the enemies focus is on them." Elaria pointed at the palace by the water. "Our target is up there. There's a platform that we will most likely be fighting the Orc Warlock on."

"Just one guy?" Sylvanas asked, standing beside Athrodar and looking over to Elaria.

"I suspect he will have company. Most likely demons and powerful ones at that, but nothing we should be worried about." Elaria looked back to Thalina who was talking to Luna and Tanadia. "She won't get distracted, right? After all, you both gave her the one thing she has wanted for years since the last time she had it." Elaria's focus went back to Athrodar. "You both gave her you."

Sylvanas moved one of her arms around Athrodar's, holding onto his hand tightly. "We only invited her to join us." She looked up at Athrodar when he was thinking about it. "Will you be distracted?" She asked in a quiet voice, hoping he wouldn't.

"I'll be fine." He told her, looking over to Thalina. "As will she. You did offer her a chance to join us whenever she so wished, as long as we were both there of course." His attention turned to Sylvanas who smiled and buried her head in his arm. "But first, we need to focus on this mission of ours, get back to our children and hopefully Victoria would have taken out her anger towards us on her enemies."

"I hope you're right." Sylvanas told him, hugging his arm just to feel as close to him as possible. "I want to hold her again, my love. I know this isn't the longest I have gone without hugging my daughter, but knowing she hates us just makes being away from her painful."

"Hey," Elaria said, interrupting them. "I can promise you she will be back in your arms." The Night Elf smiled at Sylvanas and Athrodar as they both looked over to her. "Trust me. I held a grudge against this guy for months and after only two weeks I missed having him around. She's been gone for how long now?"

"Almost three weeks." Sylvanas told her.

"Good, then she will be having doubts about staying angry with you two." Elaria shrugged at them, keeping her smile on her face. "She just needs to take out her anger on someone and you will see, she'll talk to you again when you next meet her. Just... Don't go hunting for her after we're finished here. Let her come to you, she may not be there instantly, but she will definitely come to you."

"I hope you're right too." Sylvanas said, looking over to Suramar City. "So do we just wait now until they start the assault?"

Elaria nodded. "Pretty much, yeah. I will send a couple of scouts in there to make sure the patrols are sticking to schedule, but other than that, we just go over the plan a few times to make sure we all know what we're doing before the assault begins."

Athrodar watched their ships sail away and back to Stormwind. "And what happens if we get spotted by a patrol on the water."

Elaria shook her head. "They rarely send ships out. Unless your daughter and everyone over there has a fleet waiting, which judging by how empty the voyage over here was I don't think they do, we shouldn't run into any patrolling ships."


"How does it feel to use it?" Victoria asked her Royal Magister, looking at Felo'melorn in her hand.

"It is... Something special." Thal'ena said, smiling at her Queen. "Even as a San'layn, I didn't have this much power."

"Good. We might need it in the assault. I want you to stay with me throughout the attack in a few days time, that way we can both make sure we make it through this." Victoria walked up to her Royal Magister who sat on a nearby chair, placing a hand on her cheek whilst Thal'ena placed her sword on the desk next to her. "You're all I have left. Cyndia is going to be leading Stormwind's troops so I can't rely on her to be here with me."

Thal'ena stood up from her chair and stood inches from her Queen, taking a small step forward and hugging her friend. "Like I said the day we took Stormwind all those years ago, I will always be here for you, my Lady."

Victoria smiled and hugged her Royal Magister back, but the smile was quickly wiped away when she felt Thal'ena tighten her hug a little and was replaced by sadness. "My chest hurts.." She whispered to her. "Every time I think about them, my chest hurts so much."

"Are you still angry with them, my Lady?" Thal'ena asked, hearing Victoria quietly cry into her shoulder and tightening her hug around her a little more. "Shh, tell me what's wrong."

"I miss them... I'm scared they hate me now and I'm scared that I... I might die when we attack Suramar City and the last thing I said to my mom was that I hate her and don't want to see her." Victoria shook her head, holding onto the Royal Magister and her friend. "Make a portal for me... I want to go see them, I want to be held in my mother's arms again before the assault starts." She looked up at Thal'ena. "Make me a portal to Stormwind."

"Okay, my Lady." Thal'ena said, feeling warmth in her heart at the chance to have her Queen happy again. "Stand back."

Victoria stood there and waited for the portal to materialize, taking hold of her Royal Magister's hand and dragging her through it the moment the portal was in front of them. "Hurry up." She said, practically dragging the Royal Magister through her city. "They're in the Keep, I know it."

By the time they arrived in the throne room, Victoria began to frown and had small traces of panic begin to seep into her heart when she saw it was empty. What put her at ease a little was hearing Alleria giggle nearby and then running to find her with Scarlette and Raven in the next room, smiling and quickly making her way to her sister who smiled and hugged her tightly. "Hello little one." She whispered, kissing her sister on the cheek. "It's so good to see you again."

"Mama and Papa are gone." Alleria said to her sister, keeping her head on Victoria's shoulder and smiling at having her sister hug her, a sister she hadn't seen in almost a month. "They left with aunty Elaria."

"Do you know where they went?" Victoria asked, though the question was aimed at Scarlette and Raven who stood nearby.

"There were talks of them going to a place called Suramar." Scarlette said. "I heard them talking about freeing someone from an Orc leading many demons."

Victoria closed her eyes and sighed, frustrated and a little angry with herself that she made her mind up a little too late. "Thank you." She said, looking at Scarlette. "When did they leave?"

"A couple days ago, my Lady." Raven said. "You just missed them."

Victoria placed her sister back down on the floor and stroked her hair. "Thank you, again."

Thal'ena stood in the throne room, kicking her foot back and forth whilst waiting for her Queen who joined her with a less than happy look on her face. "What happened?"

"They're not here." Victoria told her, clenching and unclenching her fist in increasing anger. "They left two days ago to help Elaria on some mission in Suramar." She sighed and dropped her shoulders. "Just... Just make me a portal back, I'm going to say goodbye to my sister and tell her I'll be back in a few days."

Thal'ena nodded and began to open up a portal to their camp in Suramar, waiting beside it until Victoria came back to the throne room and followed her through it. "Now what, my Lady? Do we go look for them?"

"I'll send someone to find them." Victoria told her, making her way to her tent and collapsing down on the chair in her tent. "I'm sure they will be found before we attack Suramar City."

Thal'ena smiled at her Queen. "They will be."


Night had fallen in Suramar and Athrodar slept beside his wife, holding onto her as she cuddled up to him as close as she could whilst they slept. Like almost every night, he had expected to sleep beside and wake up with his wife in his arms, both alive and deeply in love. And this night wouldn't be any different in that matter. The only difference between this night and any other as of late was what happened whilst he slept. What he was dreaming about.

Normally it would be the usual, a future he wants for him and his family. His wife in general and the many things the do when they're alone and finally, he has the occasional bad dreams, sometimes ones that turn into nightmares and although they were rare, they still happened. That's what the one on this night was close to at the very least, a nightmare. Though it also felt real compared to his normal nightmares that consisted of bad memories of his past, the times he relived painful moments in his dreams and the occasional horrors he saw in the many battles he took part in.

His dream started off normally. It was just him and his family in Windrunner Village, going about their usual daily routine when they were at home, but this time something felt different. Athrodar left the kitchen for a second to ask what his son, Tahnir, wanted for lunch but found the room he last saw him in was empty. After exploring the rest of the house, he found he went from being surrounded by his family to being completely alone.

Fear started to set in when he couldn't find any traces of his family anywhere, not in the house, not outside in the village, not even at the beach where they had spent many hours being a typical happy family. Nothing. He returned home after looking in the surrounding forests and found two elven rangers standing in his living room that he had never seen before.

"Who are you, where is my family?" Athrodar asked, reaching for a nearby knife and pointing it towards the two rangers who both raised an eyebrow at him.

"What exactly are you going to do with that?" They asked, looking at the tiny blade.

"Trust me, I can do a lot of damage with this." He threatened, narrowing his eyes at them in anger. "Now tell me, where is my family!?"

Both rangers looked at each other and nodded, quickly making their way towards Athrodar and subduing him. "Let's get going, Dael'Thaelas will want to see him."

Athrodar heard the name of his great grandfather seconds before passing out, waking up in the middle of.. somewhere. A forest, that was for certain, but not one that was familiar to him. Though since forests involved trees, trees and more trees, that was a pretty obvious observation to make at first glance. "Where... Where am I?" He asked, blinking hard to try and focus his gaze. "Where... Where are my children. Where's my wife?" He looked around and saw many more rangers surrounding him now, as well as a handful of casters, though he wasn't sure what they specialized in at first glance.

"He's awake." One of them said. "Tell the Ranger Lord he's awake."

Athrodar tried to get out the chair, finding he was strapped to it by leather straps, pulling on the restraints and getting nowhere with them. "Why am I here?" He asked, looking around at the many elves that were ignoring him.

"Because you're the only one left." A voice said, one that sounded so familiar yet one Athrodar couldn't pinpoint.

"What do you mean?" Athrodar asked, trying to find the owner of the voice.

"Your father's dead, and his father is dead." The owner of the voice stood in front of Athrodar, looking down at him with judgemental eyes and a straight face, one that quickly turned into a sly grin. "But not your Great Grandfather. See, I faked my own death, to make sure the Sunblade name lived on. With my son's death and your betrayal alongside your father's betrayal, I knew I had to do whatever was necessary to make sure our family lived on." He beckoned over one of his rangers who quickly came to his attention. "Get me a chair and take off his restraints, we are going to have a long talk and I'd prefer it if we were both comfortable."

Athrodar rubbed his wrists and looked at his Great Grandfather who was given a bottle of Silvermoon's finest. "What do you want with me? I betrayed you and you haven't killed me right away, so you want something."

"Sharp as ever. I knew you were the right one to put my faith in." Dael'Thaelas took a sip of his wine, placing it down on the small table beside him. "As you can see, I still have followers and connections in Silvermoon."

"Followers? More like blind fanatics. I was told by my mother what you and my Grandfather did, how you destroyed our family reputation." Athrodar looked around the forest, still unsure on where he was. "I'm sure you were keeping tabs on me all these years, so you know about my little memory loss."

"Oh I'm fully aware. I'm also fully aware on your family you keep asking about, how much you love the former Ranger-General and the new Sunblades you have brought into this world." Dael'Thaelas raised his glass to his Great Grandson. "Even the bastard you had with that Magister. You broke the Sunblade curse by having a daughter, though you made her life very difficult as she won't inherit anything after I die. But you son, oh I will be keeping close tabs on you father's namesake."

"And what makes you think any of us will take whatever you leave us?"

Dael'Thaelas laughed and took another sip of his wine. "You probably won't, your wife will probably try to keep your family away from what I can give you all. But curiosity will set in soon after, especially when your children find out. They will want the money or power or maybe both." He shrugged his shoulders, beckoning over another ranger who quickly gave him something from their bag. "You will be waking up soon, the mage I sent to your tent, her spell will be falling off any minute now. I just want to show you this, so you know this was more than a dream. Or a nightmare, depending on how you feel after you wake up."

Athrodar was so confused, but looked at the jewellery in his Great Grandfather's hand, frowning as it looked so familiar. "What is it?" He asked, looking at the three snakes on the sigil of the necklace as well as the crossed swords behind them.

"What you need to look for. The moment you find this, you will know where to find me, boy. Then your future will become clear." Dael'Thaelas nodded over to what Athrodar presumed was his second in command. "Find this sigil, in a book or on a necklace and you will be told what to do next. This place isn't real, this part of the forest at least. I needed somewhere you would never know where to look." He smiled at his Great Grandson who just looked lost. "Good luck." He said, pushing his chair backwards and subsequently waking Athrodar up from his dream.

With a quick shot up to a sitting position, Athrodar placed his hand on his head and another on his heart, feeling it beat rapidly and looking down to his wife who was sound asleep next to him, though began to search for his presence with her hand. "Mmm.. What time is it?" She asked when she opened her eyes a little and saw him sitting up and looking down at her.

"It's still dark out." Athrodar whispered, looking around the tend and finding nothing out of the ordinary.

"Then lay back down, my love." Sylvanas cooed, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I want to hold onto my pillow a little longer."

Athrodar laid back down and moved his arms around his wife who quickly laid half her body on his chest, placing her ear to his heart. "I love you." He whispered in her ear, making her smile.

"Mmm... I love you too, baby." Sylvanas told him, drifting off to sleep in his arms like she always loved, with Athrodar following her shortly after.

Outside of the tent and their small camp, a blue glow lit up a small area just beside the camp. A mage looked at the image of an old, battle scarred elf who seemed to be waiting for her to talk. "I think he is ready, my Lord." The mage, watching the old elf smile at her.

"Good. Let's hope he listened to his dream." The elf said, looking at the mage who now smiled. "If not, we may have to force his hand to act on what I told him. Do you have the necklace with you?"

The mage nodded. "I do, my Lord. Just waiting on your orders to act."

"Drop the necklace where only he will see it two days after the battle in Suramar City. He won't stop this mission for some dream, but shortly after it he will start looking. This could help nudge him in the right direction." Dael'Thaelas looked over to his second in command who was standing somewhere the mage couldn't see. "Make sure he finds it when he's alone. I have to go now, we have much that needs to be done and so little time to do it."

The mage bowed her head to he image of Dael'Thaelas. "I won't let you down, my Lord."

He smiled at her commitment. "I know you won't. We all want to see my family name back in charge, this is the only way."