Elven Prince

"Interesting..." Kael'thas Sunstrider muttered, son of Anasterian. The Prince was currently in Dalaran, learning as much as he could about magic, what the humans had learnt in their short tenure compared to his people and ancient spells from generations past. "Jaina, look at this."

The human woman looked over to Kael'thas who handed her a tome she had come across in the past, smiling and taking it from him to read the page he was reading from. "I have read about this before somewhere." She said to him, watching the Prince smile at her in return. He was always kind to her, even after she had turned him down when he had asked her out on a date. "I just never had the time."

"You really should read it Jaina, it has some interesting -"

The Prince was interrupted when Grand Magister Dawnstrider, along with two guards of the city, came bursting into his room, the Grand Magister bowing his head deeply to the Prince who looked less than amused at his interruption. "My Prince..." He said, getting down onto one knee when he walked over to him. "It's Quel'thalas, your Majesty... It's under attack by the dead."

Both Kael'thas and Jaina looked shocked at this news, the Prince more so as he was certain his Kingdom was near impenetrable. "What... How!?" He asked, placing the book in his hand down and making his way over to the Grand Magister, noticing the great mages family behind him outside the room, looking both exhausted and scared. "Tell me what happened."

"Prince Arthas, we're told." The Grand Magister said, not failing to notice Jaina looking aghast with this news as well as confused and most of all, shocked. "He leads the dead... He has already destroyed three villages by the time we evacuated. I thought it was best to come here in hopes you can return home to your father's side before it's too late..." The Grand Magister watched the warring emotions on his Prince's face. "Please, your Majesty. I beg you to return home."

"How far do you think they have gotten?" The Prince asked the Grand Magister, relying on his wisdom a lot during his days in Silvermoon, more so than most of the council.

"Elrendar River, I'd say. The last we heard, the Ranger General was gathering everyone to Tranquillien, but that was hours ago, a day at most." The Grand Magister watched his Prince begin to pace back and forth. "I would have gotten here sooner, but the ship was full of civilians and not enough mages. I didn't want to port only a few of us over and leaving the rest on their own in the middle of the ocean."

Kael'thas shook his head and waved away his concern. "Don't worry, Grand Magister. I understand." He continued to pace, looking over to Jaina who looked just as confused and shocked as he had seen her a few moments ago. "What should I do, Jaina? The Ranger-General and my father should be enough to take care of this threat..." He shook his head and looked away from her. "Of your boyfriend." He corrected, clenching his fists a little.

"I think you should return to Silvermoon, Prince." Jaina said, bowing her head to him. "If it was me, I would return home if I learnt my parents were being attacked by someone."

Kael'thas nodded his head slowly. "I will leave in an hour. I need to inform the rest of the council, pack my things." He looked over to the Grand Magister. "Stay here for the night. Get some rest and inform your people they are safe here until this threat has been dealt with."

"Thank you, your Majesty. I will inform those we came here with." The Grand Magister bowed his head, quickly leaving the room and putting an arm around his son and daughter. "We're staying here for the night. I will inform everyone else we came here with, tell them it's safe here."

"Okay, ann'da." Thalina said, holding onto his hand tightly when she made it fall from her shoulder, hugging his arm against her. "I hope Athrodar and the rest of his family are okay. Illana seemed scared."

"I'm sure he's fine." The Grand Magister said, kissing the top of his daughter's head. "I'm sure they're all fine and defeating this enemy right as we speak."

"Do it.. Place my remains in the Sunwell and make me reborn!"

Arthas looked over to the spirit of Kel'Thuzad who had been with him the entire time, glancing over to Sylvanas who was seething with anger but also conflicted with both hate and loss. "Our little Banshee friend seems to have given up." He mused, grinning when he saw her look over the dead guardians of the Sunwell, her former people that she had helped kill. "Are you ready?"

"Yes, my Prince. I am ready." Kel'Thuzad said, watching Arthas step into the Sunwell and place his remains down in the middle of it, sending out a burst of green and black energy, followed by an explosion that sent him back several feet. "I am reborn!" Kel'Thuzad yelled, cackling and looking over to Arthas who stood up and looked at the Necromancer turned Lich. "I am yours to command, Prince. We will wash over this world with the power of the dead!"

Arthas smirked at the Lich, ignoring the golden Sunwell turn a sickly black and green. "Welcome back, Kel'Thuzad."

"What have you done..." Sylvanas muttered, glaring at the Lich and charging towards him, only to fly through him as Arthas made her incorporeal. "You have corrupted it! My people -"

"Your former people." Arthas corrected her. "Don't forget who you are now."

"They need this to survive! You have doomed them all, even if you didn't fight them!" Sylvanas let out a Banshee wail that was quickly silenced by the Prince when he felt it at the back of his mind before she done it. "You bastard!"

Arthas laughed at her. "I'll be honest, Banshee. I didn't think it would turn out like this. No matter, we have what we came here for." Arthas looked over to Kel'Thuzad who looked amused at the Banshee's attempts to hurt his Prince. "Ready to leave?"

"Yes, we are ready to -"

The sound of a portal opening up stopped the Lich from finishing his sentence, looking over to the Demon that walked out of it, along with Arthas and Sylvanas, the latter of whom seemed confused to his presence here. "Princeling. You have done the Legion a great service bringing back the Necromancer Kel'Thuzad." He flexed the wings on his back a little. "Good." He looked over to Arthas now. "We must leave now. Our next task is to head South into the mountains of Alterac and across southern Lordaeron and Stromgarde. We have some orcs we have to free before my master arrives." He looked over to Sylvanas momentarily before turning his attention to Kel'Thuzad. "You will help in summoning him."

Kel'Thuzad tapped his bony fingers together. "Very well, lead the way."

Sylvanas followed them all shortly after they began to evacuate the Sunwell and then Quel'Thalas, letting him mind wander whilst she lazily traveled near the back of the army she was now a part of. She thought about what she could do different to have avoided this, how she should have set up everything before hand and most of all, the life she would now not share with Athrodar. Her mind focused on him the most until Arthas began to laugh over her thoughts, drowning out the images of Athrodar in her head and filling them instead with Arthas and him laughing at her the entire time. "Damn you..." She muttered, filling her head now with anger instead of love. Something that was now taking over a lot more and pushing away all the positive emotions... All the living emotions.

This is who she would be now... A Banshee, driven by anger and no longer focusing on anything like love. Not any more.

"We have to inform the Prince." Dael'Thaelas said, looking around at what little was left of their people. If he had the time, he knew he could count how many of them remained within a day and get somewhere near ten percent of what their population if... Or what it used to be. "We have all that remain of our people here, he needs to know what happened." He looked over to the remaining Officers and Lords, easily counting them on both his hands and his family made up three of them, not including himself.

Rommath made his way over to the Ranger Lord. "I can talk to him. He trusts me, my Lord. I can make a portal to Dalaran right away and inform him of what has happened. The fall of the Kingdom, the ravaging of the lands... The death of his father." The last part of muttered, everyone looking away and saying a prayer under their breaths for their fallen King. "I can leave right away."

Ranger Lord Dael'Thaelas nodded at the Magister. "Yes, go. He needs to be informed. In the meantime, we will send out scouting parties to find any survivors. North, South, East, West... Anywhere to find as many people as we can. The rest of us will move to Silvermoon." He looked around the forest the were all huddled in. "Once I know where we are, that is."

Athrodar stepped forward and saluted his Great Grandfather. "I know of a small fishing village nearby. Sunsail is its name, I came across a mage in there and a few other villages who were refusing to leave. If I can get a handful of rangers, I can make sure they are safe, tell them to return to Silvermoon and help us secure our lands."

Dael'Thaelas smiled at him. "Yes, go. That's a good start, thank you, son."

Tahnir stopped his son shortly after he gathered five other rangers, placing a hand on the Lieutenant's arm. "Be safe, okay? Everyone you see here is the surviving populace of our Kingdom. Losing just one will be a big blow to our future."

"I'll make sure we're all safe, father. I promise."

Athrodar and Tahnir both smiled at each other. "Good. Go, son. Make sure to bring them all back, we need all the help we can get."

Dael'Thaelas watched his Great Grandson leave, catching a glimpse of two elves he thought had fallen near the beginning of the attack. "Lor'themar." He said, walking over to his fellow Ranger Lord. "I thought you were dead."

Lor'themar placed a hand on Dael'Thaelas' shoulder and smiled a little at him. "Afraid not. Captain Halduron is with me too and looking at the size of this group, I can see we are needed."

"You are." Dael'Thaelas told him, looking at the handful of rangers with Lor'themar and sighing. "This is everyone." He told him, only just noticing his eye was practically gone. "What happened here?"

Lor'themar laughed lightly, placing a hand under his now blind eye. "It was my fault. I wasn't looking at the group of undead I was fighting and lost it due to a rogue spear slashing across my face." He looked around at every elf gathered with them in the forests. "Is this really everyone?"

"Yes. This is all that remains of our people." Dael'Thaelas told him, watching his one eye widen. "What?"

"This is literally everyone? I thought you meant from the Isle of Quel'Danas... Where's the King? The Council? High Priest Vandellor, Grand Magister Belo'vir and Dawnstrider... Where's the Prince?"

Dael'Thaelas put up one of his hands to stop the Ranger Lord. "Magister Rommath has gone to get the Prince. Grand Magister Dawnstrider is with his family, sailing away to safety. Belo'vir and Vandellor died shortly after their King was slain... Our King was slain."

"So... That means..?"

Dael'Thaelas sighed and lowered his head a little, nodding it slowly. "That our leader is in Dalaran, unknowing about the attack here and the loss of his father and close to ninety percent of his people."

"I do not envy Rommath..." Lor'themar muttered, looking at several of the civilians mourning the losses of their friends, family and King. "We need to find somewhere safe for them before it gets dark out."

"Are we near Silvermoon?" The Ranger Lord asked Lor'themar.

"We are, though I have no idea what it's like in there." Lor'themar told him.

"Tahnir." Dael'Thaelas called, summoning his Grandson.

"My Lord." He said, bowing his head to his Grandfather.

"Silvermoon. Can we enter it and find a secure place for our people?"

"I think so. But we were at the far corner of the city, there was the dead between us and any exit, so we would have to fight our way through to get there."

Lor'themar looked at the civilians and lack of military around them. "We may not have the numbers for that. We will have to find a place closer to the entrance of the city, inside the walls and away from the main roads inside."

"The Bazaar could be of use." Tahnir suggested. "It has a side gate between both halves of the city, we can keep a lookout for the dead passing between it and it is just off the main roads and walkways."

Dael'Thaelas nodded and smiled. "Then we go there. Tell everyone to pack up and be ready. I will post a group of rangers with the civilians who will travel a few minutes behind us. Should we get into a fight, they will be alerted and find a place to hide and wait for us to clear the path. "

Lor'themar nodded and looked back to Captain Halduron. "I think that will work. By your lead, Dael'Thaelas."

"Dead?" Jaina asked, just to clarify what Rommath was saying to his Prince, looking over to Kael'thas who looked shattered at the news.

"How many are left?" The Prince asked, slowly starting to shake when anger began to take over.

"About ten percent." Rommath told him, bowing his head to his Prince. "Lord Dael'Thaelas is attempting to recapture Silvermoon as we speak. He could use your help, and your people."

"And the Sunwell...?" Kael'thas asked, glancing over to Jaina who looked horrified at what Arthas had done.

"Gone, we believe. We can't get near it yet to look, but we believe Prince Arthas has done what he needs to do at the Sunwell and it's destroyed." He looked over to Jaina for a second before returning his gaze to his Prince. "Some of us felt something inside us at the same time... We can't explain it, but we felt like we have lost something."

Kael'thas paced back and forth, closing his eyes and clenching his fists tightly when something occurred to him. "What of the Ranger-General?" He asked, clenching his teeth tightly when he had a feeling he knew what happened to her. "And the Moon Crystals?"

"Dead and destroyed, my Prince." Rommath told him flatly, knowing his Prince had expected both answers just as he asked the question. "He turned our General against us, turning her into this... This Banshee. When she took to the battlefield, she let out these screams that pierced our very souls and stunned many of us, allowing the army of the dead to rampage through our ranks with ease."

Jaina watched Kael'thas throw several books across the room, burning a couple more when his rage fueled his magic. "Lord Kael'thas, calm down. Please." She said calmly, stretching out a hand to place it on his arm. "Before you hurt yourself."

"Get away from me!" The Prince spat, recoiling away from the human mage. "And you wanted to date him instead of me. Your Prince Arthas just destroyed my home, killed almost all my people and more importantly, my father and almost all our entire council. What little remain of my Kingdom is going to be left for the wolves who will take what they can whilst we are trying to recover from such a heavy defeat." He shook his head and walked over to the Magister who informed him of everything. "Never again can I trust these damned humans. To hell with their city and to hell with you. I'd be damned if I ever work for the humans again."

"Lord Sunstrider, you don't mean that..." Jaina said, walking over to him and being stopped by the Magister.

"Curse you most of all, Jaina. I was kind to you, I helped you with whatever you needed and you still chose that monster over me." He let out a humorless laugh, shaking his head and taking two steps closer to the door. "I was a fool for ever thinking these humans could have helped me. Rommath, inform Grand Magister Dawnstrider of what has happened. We need everyone back in Silvermoon to help rebuild and recover."

"Right away, your Majesty." Rommath said, saluting the Prince and leaving to find the Grand Magister.

"And as for you, Jaina. Don't come looking for me. You and the rest of your weak race has damned my people into near extinction." Kael'thas walked out the room, leaving Jaina on her own to feel sorry for herself, but most of all the Prince who had lost practically everything.

By the time Lieutenant Athrodar returned to Silvermoon with the entirety of those that remained in Sunsail Anchorage, he had walked over to his father in the Bazaar section of the city and hugging him. "Good to see you made it back in one piece." Tahnir said, smiling at his son. "And with more survivors, fantastic."

Athrodar smiled but then had it wiped off his face when he saw one elf sitting alone, in the corner near an abandoned market stall and curled up in a ball, crying into her arms. "Excuse me. Someone needs my help." He said, nodding over to the elf and hearing his father agree.

Liadrin continued to cry into her arms, remaining curled up in a tight ball and not noticing Athrodar crouched down in front of her until he placed a hand on her knee. "Why...?" She asked, her voice broken from the crying.

"Come here." He whispered, having Liadrin throw herself at him and hugging the Lieutenant tightly. "I'm still here for you. Thal and Vilandil are alive and safe, we both know that." He felt her hug tighten as she cried into his chest. "We're friends for life, remember? None of us will leave the other."

Liadrin nodded and looked over to a group of rangers reporting in to Lor'themar on the far side of the Bazaar. "What's going on now? What are we doing?"

"Nothing yet. I think we are resting for the night, starting again in the morning. I'll stay here with you until then if you want?" Athrodar smiled down at Liadrin who nodded her head against his chest. "Alright. Rest up, I'll join you shortly after I speak to my Great Grandfather."

"Okay." Liadrin said, pulling back and looking up at the market stall, reaching for the cloth draped over it and dragging it down to use it as a blanket. "I suppose I'll go to sleep now. We seem safe here."

"Hey." Athrodar whispered to the High Priestess, smiling at her and looking at the pain in her eyes at losing her King, Father and a very close family friend. "We'll be fine, okay?" He told her, smiling a little wider when she nodded and kissing her on the forehead. "Sleep, I'll find a couple of rangers to look out for you until I return."

"Okay. Thank you, Athrodar." Liadrin said, smiling a little at him before closing her eyes and curling up into a tight ball, wrapping the cloth sheet around her.