Houndmaster

Every leader had gathered around a table which had the map of the Broken Shore pinned to it. "What exactly is the plan here?" Athrodar asked before they were all ready to hear whatever the plan was.

Sylvanas placed a hand on Athrodar's arm, knowing despite being in the position to join in on these meetings for over a decade now, he was still very bad at remaining quiet in them. "Let them speak, my love." She whispered to him, planting a kiss on his cheek. "I'm sure Khadgar has a solid plan."

"There's an entire army between us and the entrance to the Tomb of Sargeras." Khadgar told everyone gathered there. "We have to fight our way through it in stages. We first have to clear the beaches surrounding us, to allow supplies and troops to get here easily."

"Then we have to find their Lieutenants." Illidan told them. "Taking out their chain of command outside of the Tomb is mai task. It will force many of them back inside and give us a lot of ground to make up." He looked over to one of his Demon Hunters who were waiting nearby. "I will send out a group to find one. Once they do, one will stay nearby whilst the rest find more or report back to us."

"How many do you think there are? The Lieutenants." Vereesa asked, standing in the middle of her sister and husband.

"We don't know." Khadgar said, looking over to Maiev, the leader of the Wardens keeping almost all of her attention on Illidan, though her gaze wasn't friendly. "How many did you say your wardens saw over the last couple of weeks?"

Her attention turned to Khadgar and bowed her head slightly at him. "At least ten. Though with the amount of soldiers we brought here already, that shouldn't be a problem. It's breaching the Tomb of Sargeras that will be the problem."

"With the army you have been gifted, I think that would have been enough." Sylvanas whispered to Athrodar, taking hold of his hand when she felt his shift a little beside her. "Don't worry, I'm not angry at that. Turns out they could be very useful."

Athrodar shook his head. "It's not that." He whispered to her. "I just got a feeling we are going to come across someone in there that will become a real problem."

"Like..?" Sylvanas now asked, keeping her voice just as low as he did.

"Kil'Jaeden, or someone near his rank in the Burning Legion. Maybe Archimonde." He shrugged his shoulders and squeezed her hand. "If we're unlucky, maybe both."

"I hope we're not unlucky then." Sylvanas whispered to him, looking back over to the rest of the group.

"So da main focus is da beach?" Vol'jin asked.

"Correct." Khadgar nodded. "Once we have cleared both beaches on either side of us, we will be ready to launch attacks further in."

"I take it the small section we are holding right now isn't big enough for more ships to dock in?" Victoria now asked.

"It is, but it would take hours and we don't have that kind of time." Khadgar told her. "Days even, if we are being attacked whilst we dock the five or so ships that can land there."

Victoria sighed and nodded her head slowly. "Looks like we have a long day ahead of us. I saw those beaches as we landed, it's not going to be easy."

"No it will not." Rhonin muttered, standing beside her.


Athrodar sat beside a nearby rock, having Hroki stand nearby and keep lookout whilst Sylvanas was inspecting the long scratch mark across his cheek. "Hold still." She told him, rolling her eyes when he hissed the moment she touched it. "Now I can see why you became a ranger." She muttered under her breath, though made sure it was loud enough for Athrodar to hear her.

"Why?" He asked, moving his head back when she went to place a damp bit of cloth on his cheek to mop up some of the blood there.

"Because you're too much of a wimp to get hit by anything. The slightest cut and you're crying in pain." She looked him in the eyes when he raised an eyebrow at her. "Prove me wrong." She then told him.

"It's a deep cut." Athrodar said matter-of-factly. "Deep cuts tend to hurt."

"That's a shallow cut and you know it." Hroki said, not looking down at Athrodar who glared at him. "Next time, let me deal with the flying demons."

"He's right, you know." Sylvanas then said, going for a new tactic to clean up his face by kissing him as a distraction, placing the damp piece of cloth on his cheek with one hand whilst the other moved to the back of his head and held him against her lips.

"You're a vixen, you know that?" Athrodar said once she had pulled away, cleaning out his cut.

"It was the only way to clean that cut on your cheek." Sylvanas smiled sweetly at him, knowing he wasn't going to trust her again for at least an hour, but knowing it was worth it. "I love you."

"Uhuh..." Athrodar muttered, now sulking in front of her with his arms crossed, looking towards the ocean.

"At least we cleared this beach." Hroki told him. "The other beach should be clear soon too."

"How is he?" Victoria asked, standing over both her parents.

"He's fine." Sylvanas told her, placing a hand on Athrodar's knee. "Even if he complains like a baby that I'm hurting him."

Victoria chuckled and shook her head. "Why do I believe that?"

Athrodar groaned loudly. "It's a deep cut on a sensitive part of my face, of course it's going to hurt."

Sylvanas sat beside him and hugged his arm. "Of course it's going to hurt, my love." She said sarcastically, grinning when she heard him sigh. "I'm still waiting for you to say 'I love you too.'"

"I don't know if I do. You're making fun of my injury."

Victoria rolled her eyes. "I'm going to go find Thal'ena, she should be with Cyndia."

Sylvanas moved Athrodar's head slightly and kissed him on the lips. "Say it and I'll stop teasing you." She purred, kissing him again. "That was also the last kiss until you do say it."

"Bully." Athrodar muttered, looking at his wife. "I love you too, temptress."

Sylvanas chuckled and leaned forward, pressing her head against the side of his. "Thank you. I'll take that as a compliment."

"One of Illidan's Demon Hunters should be back soon." Hroki told them, looking back to Sylvanas when he figured Athrodar wasn't focusing on either one of them. "Then we will find out where the first Lieutenant is."

"And hopefully more." Sylvanas told him, moving an arm around Athrodar and pulling him in towards her. "You know, if we make it through this, I am going back to Windrunner Village. I told Vereesa to keep me up to date on everything related to our sister, so I could spend time with my kids." She kissed his temple when he said nothing, knowing he was still in a mood and smiling to herself. "We'll be safer back home than in Stormwind, closer to Dael'Thaelas when we come up with a plan to take him out and alone. Now we know where Turalyon and Alleria are, I don't have to worry as much."

Athrodar frowned, looking at his wife who smiled at him. "What happened to fighting to keep our family safe?"

"I will." She whispered to him, placing a hand on his other cheek and rubbing her thumb across it. "Once we figure out how to get Alleria and Turalyon back and how to remove Dael'Thaelas from our lives, I will visit Victoria often to make sure she keeps me up to date on the goings on around the world, any potential threats." She planted a soft kiss on his lips and pressed her forehead to his forehead. "We can also go to Silvermoon and annoy Theron for a while."

Athrodar began to smile. "I do like the idea of annoying Theron. He just loved having us around him last time, I'm sure he misses us dropping by and ruining his plans for the day."

Sylvanas chuckled and nodded her head. "I am almost certain he does." She cuddled up to him just to be as close to her husband as she could before everyone was called back to camp.

"I think we should tell Elaria about Dael'Thaelas." Athrodar suggested, feeling Sylvanas sit up and looking over to her. "She was my partner when we were both assassins. She might have an idea on how to get rid of him... Silently."

"You think you can both assassinate him?" Sylvanas now asked, leaning closer to Athrodar to whisper to him. "We haven't tried that since Garrosh." She muttered.

"And it was only me back then." He whispered back to her. "With Elaria, it could work. I just need to inform her on the situation, with your permission of course."

"If it means getting rid of that man for good, I'll take anything." She told him, resting her head on his shoulder. "We're going to miss Winter's Veil with our kids this year."

"We are..." Athrodar agreed, kissing the top of her head. "We have Victoria here, as well as Vereesa and Rhonin. But I know that's not everyone."

Sylvanas sighed and held onto his arm tightly. "No, it's not everyone. But we are stuck here until the Tomb is cleared out of demons."

"Then we best speed everything up." Athrodar told her, trying his best to make her happy when the reality of not spending Winter's Veil with her children began to sink in. "We could just sneak into the Tomb of Sargeras, I'll wear one of those Fel Guard helmets and you dress like a succubus, to blend in of course, and we find the big bad inside that Tomb and kill them."

Sylvanas chuckled and shook her head. "As much as I can see you like that plan, I'm afraid you can't pull it off. I'll be able to, of course. But not you."

Athrodar smiled after succeeding in cheering her up, holding her closely to him and waiting for the message to move back to the camp. "No, you're probably right."


Victoria cleaned her blade the moment she sat down at the edge of the makeshift bed given to the leaders of each army, race and faction. "About last night." She said, looking back to Thal'ena who was sitting up in the bed behind her. "I shouldn't have led you on like I did. I'm still not over Sera and kissing you like I did... I'm afraid I put an idea in your head that shouldn't be there."

"What idea, my Lady?" Thal'ena asked, looking at the back of her Queen's head. "I know you're not ready for anything serious, I am patient on that front. But as for us kissing? We both know we wanted it to happen, nothing more came of it. We were just two friends, Queen and Royal Magister, helping each other out in an emotional time. I didn't like seeing you upset and you were like that because we're back on the island Sera died on."

Victoria sighed and hung her head low. "I know, it's just... I don't want you to think we can continue what we started. Not until I'm ready." She placed he sword back in its scabbard and placed it at the foot of her bed. "I won't lie to you and say I didn't enjoy it, of course I did. It's been a while since I kissed someone like that..." She looked over her shoulder and towards her Royal Magister who was picking her nails, smiling at her when they locked eyes. "Just... continue to be patient with me."

"I will, my Lady." Thal'ena said, crawling over to her and hugging her from behind. "I'll still hug you though, you can't stop that."

"I suppose I can't." Victoria laughed, leaning back into her Royal Magister. "I'll allow this."

"Good, thank you." Thal'ena pressed her cheek against Victoria's. "I do love me a good hug, cuddle, snuggle... Anything else that means holding myself against you."

Victoria laughed again, closing her eyes as the hug from her Royal Magister tightened. "It is nice, I have to admit. Other than my dad, I don't really get hugged a lot." She smiled at the memories of those times. "Sylvanas knows it, I know she does, but Athrodar is my favourite. I know it hurts her a little to know that, so I try to remain impartial and give her as much love as I give Athrodar."

Thal'ena smiled at her honesty. "I have to say, I like him more too..."

There was a groan from the Queen. "Don't tell me things like that... I don't want to know my friends have a thing for my parents."

"Okay, okay." Thal'ena continued to hold onto her Queen, keeping the smile on her face as Victoria leaned back some more. "What if I just remained silent, on my knees behind you, holding onto my Queen whilst she lets her Royal Magister squeeze the stress out of her?"

Victoria raised an eyebrow the second Thal'ena squeezed her. "Looks like I don't have a choice."

"No you don't." Thal'ena whispered in her ear.


"We have found three of the Lieutenants and my Demon Hunters have sensed two more."

Baine slowly nodded his head. "This is good, right?"

"It sounds like it could be." Khadgar told the Tauren, looking over to Illidan. "Finding three and tracking down two more is better than I expected for our first two days on this island."

"They're not exactly hiding." Illidan told them. "I don't think they believe we will do much to them, a grave mistake."

"Good." Vereesa said. "The sooner we wipe them out, the closer we get to finding Alleria and Turalyon." She folded her arms and looked around the group in front of her. "If what Turalyon's message said was true, they have been fighting the demons longer than most of us. We will need them if the Burning Legion return with more numbers."

"And it's not just to get back your sister?"

Both Sylvanas and Vereesa looked over to Thal'ena who shrugged her shoulders at them. "What is that supposed to mean?" Sylvanas asked.

"Nothing. I want these demons off our planet too, but you could at least be truthful about why you're so eager to get your sister and brother-in-law back." She smirked at both Windrunner sisters. "Am I wrong?"

"No..." Vereesa muttered, looking over to Sylvanas who shook her head. "But nonetheless, I still want to get them back because they can help."

"Den we best be gettin' on wid killin' de Lieutenants." Vol'jin told them, getting several nods in agreement.

"Where is the closest one?" Athrodar asked.

"There's a Lieutenant nearby. A Legion camp has been set up and is guarded by several Eredar and felhounds. Their Lieutenant is a Lord of the Hunt and will difficult to deal with if you're not prepared for his felhounds." Illidan looked over to Sylvanas, Athrodar and Vereesa. "Your rangers will be key in hunting him and his hounds down before we engage."

Rhonin frowned at the title of the demon. "This wouldn't be Hakkar, would it? The Master of felhounds?"

"It would." Illidan told him. "He plays a key role in their attacks, especially if there are felhounds nearby." He looked back to the Windrunner sisters and Athrodar. "It would be good to kill him before he calls for backup. Where you find groups of felhounds, I can guarantee he is nearby."

Athrodar began to smile a little. "Looks like we are going hunting." He muttered, looking over to Sylvanas who heard him and began to smile too. "Like the good old days."

"Indeed." Sylvanas whispered to him, taking hold of his hand. "Except we have less rangers with us."

"Rhonin and I will help." Vereesa told her sister.

"Arator and I too." Hroki said, standing beside Athrodar and Sylvanas. "I have kept your nephew with me since we took the Tidestone, helped train him a little more with fighting."

"Good, thank you." Sylvanas said, smiling at the Tauren before looking back to Athrodar. "Looks like we have our small group for our hunt."

"What about the rest of us?" Victoria asked, remaining quiet until then.

"There are two other Lieutenants. We will go over where they are and what they can do once we get a plan down for Hakkar." Illidan told the Queen. "But I wouldn't be surprised if your parents already have a couple of ideas."

Victoria looked over to her parents who were already deep in talks about how to go about hunting Hakkar. "It appears as if they do."


"That's the second group of felhounds we've spotted." Athrodar whispered, keeping low and wearing all black, including a hood, mask and cloak, all to try and blend in with the dark back drop of the Broken Shore. "We must be getting close."

Sylvanas mirrored him in her colour of clothing, as well as everyone else that was there. After all, they were hunting and had to keep hidden for as long as possible whilst they looked for their target. "We best keep an eye out then." She whispered back to him, signalling the other four in their group to move up to them.

Once their group had caught up to them, Athrodar and Sylvanas led the way again, staying hidden whilst keeping their eyes out for Hakkar. "How are you feeling?" Athrodar asked, hiding behind a group of rocks whilst an Eredar patrol made their way passed them.

"I'm good. Excited that we get to hunt together again." Sylvanas looked over to Athrodar and despite seeing only his eyes, she knew that wasn't what he was asking. "I can't lie, I'm hurting a little. The first Winter's Veil without my kids was always going to be difficult. But at least I can be distracted by this hunt."

Sylvanas took hold of Athrodar's hand and dragged him towards the next set of rocks, ducking down low and pulling him down with her when there was a distinct sound of sniffing coming from the other side of the rocks. The Houndmaster was beside them, on the other side of the rocks and they both knew it. Slowly taking hold of their bows and nocking arrows into place, Sylvanas looked over to Vereesa who nodded in the distance and nodded back to her.

"Get ready." She whispered to her husband, Athrodar slowly pulling back the string on his bow as the sniffing got closer.

"I'm ready." Athrodar told her, getting a slight nod as Sylvanas also pulled back the string on her bow and readied her arrow.

"Now."

Both Athrodar and Sylvanas let loose their arrows and killed the closest felhound, being immediately set on by the three others and a spear thrown by Hakkar the instant they appeared, landing between them and embedding itself into the rock behind them. Just as they took another arrow, Hakkar summoned a new spear from fel magic and readied himself for another throw.

"Insolent, mortals. You dare kill one of my hounds! You will pay tenfold for such an act."

Hroki and Arator charged towards Hakkar to stop him from throwing the spear at an exposed Athrodar and Sylvanas, having no cover and not enough time to find some as the demon was seconds away from throwing his new spear. "Take care of the hounds!" Hroki yelled, swinging his massive hammer at the Houndmaster and knocking him off balance a little, watching Hakkar stumble back a couple of paces as the blunt weapon dared to shatter his leg with one mighty blow.

Rhonin fired an arcane blast at one of the hounds running to Sylvanas and Athrodar, watching them let loose both their arrows into the same felhound once it was blasted onto its side by his arcane blast. "Vereesa, go help your sister." He said, conjuring another spell when one of the felhounds sensed his mana and began to target him. "I will deal with this one."

Vereesa stopped halfway between Rhonin and her sister when Hakkar blew on a horn he had strapped to his waist, hearing the sound of several felhounds howling in the distance. "Oh no..." She muttered, looking back to Rhonin who had three felhounds charging towards him from behind, something he wasn't aware of yet. "Rhonin!" She yelled, pulling back the arrow rested on her bowstring and letting it loose at the closest one behind Rhonin.

Whilst Hroki and Arator kept Hakkar busy the best they could, Sylvanas looked over to Rhonin and Vereesa who were fighting two packs of felhounds that came seemingly out of nowhere to ambush them. "We have to help them." She said, looking back to Athrodar who pulled his blade out of the felhound they had just downed. "There's too many for both of them."

"Go." Athrodar told her, turning his head to the right when he heard more howls and saw a pack of four felhounds rushing towards him now from behind Hakkar. "I've got these four."

Sylvanas watched Athrodar spin his sword around, nocking an arrow in her bow and looking over to her sister and brother-in-law, letting loose an arrow into a hound that was about to jump on her sister's back. "Be careful." She said, looking over her shoulder at Athrodar who nodded once at him.

"I will." He told her, pulling out an arrow from his quiver and holding it in his second hand to use as another weapon.

As soon as the group of four felhounds reached Athrodar, he danced around them, dodging every attack they tried, cutting off every mana sucking tentacle that tried to latch itself onto him and forcing an arrow into the skull of every hound that tried to bite his leg. As he forced an arrow into the final one, he was tackled to the ground by Hakkar once he was free from Hroki and Arator's attacks, holding up his sword to stop the two headed spear from piercing his chest, his sword resting between the two.

"Kill another hound, and it will be the last thing you do." Hakkar spat, using all of his weight to push the spear down towards Athrodar's chest, having the elf move the spear a little and making the spear impale itself into his shoulder before Hroki charged at the demon and knocked him off balance once more.

Sylvanas looked back to Athrodar who let out a cry when the spear pierced him. holding onto his shoulder once Hakkar was knocked off him noticing the blood seeping out. It wasn't a fatal blow, but it was a painful one. "I'm fine." He said when he saw Sylvanas make her way to him. "Nothing too bad, but he is one heavy mother fucker."

"Don't try to get into a fight with him again, that's what Hroki is for." Sylvanas told him, not knowing he was knocked off his feet by the demon after being caught by surprise. "I am going to need to find you a healer after we're finished here." She now said, placing a hand over his wound and feeling the blood seep through her fingers.

"I didn't ask to fight him. He sort of... ambushed me." Athrodar looked over to Rhonin and Vereesa who were clearing out the final felhounds who attacked them. "I think it's just him left."

Sylvanas watched Arator parry the spear from Hakkar just as Hroki swung his hammer around and hit the demon square in the chest, winding and knocking him off his feet. "Good." She whispered, moving her hand up to his mask and pulling it down to place a hand on his cheek, wiping some of his blood on him but smiling under her own mask when he closed his eyes momentarily at her touch. "Come on, let's help them kill this Lieutenant and then we can return to camp before the rest arrive."

Athrodar nodded and held onto his blade just as Vereesa and Rhonin made their way towards Hakkar. "After you, my Queen."

By the time Athrodar and Sylvanas made it to Hakkar, the demon was practically defeated. Arator has sunk his blade into the demon's chest whilst Hroki had shattered one of his knees with his hammer so he couldn't stand. Vereesa had an arrow pointed at Hakkar from her bow and Rhonin's hands were engulfed with arcane magic.

"My Lord... Will BURN this world." Hakkar spat his demon blood at their feet, chuckling to himself. "This is not a victory, this is just an attempt to stop the inevitable."

Sylvanas took out her blade and lopped off the demon's head, watching it roll a few feet before stopped when it hit a rock. "Feels like a victory to me." She said, looking over to Athrodar who was still holding onto his shoulder, with blood still seeping from his wound. "Let's head back to camp. Take the head as proof."

Athrodar closed his eyes to try and drain out the pain his shoulder was screaming out to him, opening his eyes only when Sylvanas placed a hand on his cheek again. "I'm fine... Just hurts like a bitch."

"We're going back to camp now. I'll find you a healer the moment we enter the camp." Sylvanas leaned forward and kissed him, pressing her head to his. "Come on."