RANGER GENERAL - by J.CA

CHAPTER TWO: STONE-HEARTED

A bucket of ice water dumped over the head was not a nice wake-up call at all. Kael's eyes popped open as he came back to his senses. His jaw was still hurting from the dreadlord's overly forceful blow. He was certain it left a bruise, but what concerned him now was his being tied to a meat wagon.

The place around him stunk like hell. He could hardly keep his head clear. He realized he had to be in some sort of dead forest. Infertile tree branches intertwined with one another, knitting a dead canopy to block out the sky.

No point in trying to escape. A dark figure stood over him. He could not see her face clearly--but those red eyes...

"Had a good night's rest, Prince Kael'thas?"

"What are you doing to me? Where are my men?" he asked the dark ranger. And more importantly, "Who are you?" He could not say that she was the most pleasant-looking thing he had seen.

She paused at the last question. Grave disappointment crept over her face. He did not know her.

"Well, of course," shaking her head, she reminded herself, sarcastically, out loud. "Dear me. I forgot I'm speaking to a prince who was not even in Quel'thalas when the death knight destroyed our homes. Why should I expect him to remember an insignificant ranger general?" She stepped closer to him and ran her bony fingers through his hair. She smelled like decaying flesh. He wanted to draw back, but he could not.

He tried to distract himself. "You said," if his memories served, "that you were going to save me. Why won't you tell me your name?"

"Damn it! I fought and died in place of you! Look into my eyes," she gripped his chin and forced him to look up. "And tell it to my face that you do not know my name?"

The truth was, he did not. He could not lie about it. Ranger general, she had said. She must be one of the Windrunners. The Windrunners were the best rangers Silvermoon ever produced. But her...name?

"Tarya?" he caught himself immediately. No. Tarya was much younger than the wraith whose eyes he was forced to stare into. How was he supposed to get through this name game? "Nelaras?"

But she shook her head and pressed her face closer to his--and a tiny smile played at the corner of her lips. There was no joy in her expression. No anger. Just disappointment. "Kael'thas, you are a fool."

A fool? He was the prince of a fallen kingdom all right. He had been repetitively scorned by the human knight Garithos when he was still with the Alliance. And yet he had never been called a fool.

Her voice was low but no less intimidating, "You've led my people straight into the Burning Legion's bosom."

Her people? But she was an Undead!

"I may be a walking corpse, but I am no Undead," she seemed to read his mind. "I have fought so hard to keep my freedom after the Lich King lost control of me. But you, on the other hand, are delivering our people to their certain doom. I have to stop you."

Kael had to defend himself from her accusations, "It was a choice between serving Lord Illidan and death. I had to do this in order to preserve my race. You think that I am happy living under the constant fear of..." he whispered the last two words, as if he did not want anyone to hear, "the demonlord?"

"Why should you be afraid of Kil'jaeden?" Sylvanas laughed. "Your life and death does not keep him awake at night."

True. He averted his gaze. If Kil'jaeden had cared about him and Vashj, there would have been reinforcements of some sort. They were clearly left to die out in these frozen lands.

"Illidan was surely no friend of my worst enemy. And yet to serve him as a slave would a master, what were you thinking?" the ranger continued. It seemed that she already knew everything about him. "The demon hunter could not cure your hunger for magic. Nothing can, save death. If you so desire it, I can give it to you." On second thoughts, "Or maybe not. You are the key to my plans."

"What are you going to possess me or something?" he hoped that his will would be strong enough for him to resist her.

"Possess you? No," she shook her head. "I'd rather you follow me like that dreadlord Varimathras and learn your place with me."

Varimathras?

She turned. Realizing that she was going to leave him chained up to the stinking wagon, he called her back. "Wait! Where's Vashj? Where are my people? What have you done to them?"

"Vashj?" she frowned. "She's probably dead by now, if not captured by the Lich King or turned into some sacrifice. But for my crimes--" crimes? Why should she call them crimes when it was not her will? Yet she had helped destroy her own homeland. For that, she would pay. "I will keep your people safe."

She turned and walked away.

"You've got to let me go," Kael tried to loosen his ropes. "I need to make sure...Vashj, she can't...please let me go!"

Why Vashj? Why a Naga?

She just left him pleading.

*~*~*~*

Kel'thuzad followed Sapphiron's lead to the one throne. The success of the lich king was evident to him. Within a few months, Ner'zhul had already converted Northrend into a paradise of the Scourge, and yet in a dark corner of Lordaeron, a group of living still prevailed. And they managed to regain control over Dalaran.

Led by a human general whose name was Alanen--why did it matter? The human were all the same, passionate but rather mindless. It was not known whether this general was loyal to the Alliance or to Kil'jaeden, if not anyone else.

Charismatic as he was, he managed to rally the remaining living populace to his side to war against the lich king's influence. Kel'thuzad and the Scourge fought hard, yet this human general called upon a mysterious and powerful force to aid him. Demonic powers? Kel'thuzad could not confirm that. Yet Alanen's powers proved to be greatly disruptive to the security of Lordaeron and this must be reported immediately to the lich king.

He urged his escorts of frost wyrms and necromancers to move faster. This news could not wait. Any minute now, Alanen might have a chance to take over Lordaeron. Yet he could not help but feel that someone, or something was watching him, plotting to prevent him from reaching the ice crown. He must also act in caution.

His necromancers felt it too. "Lich Kel'thuzad," one of them said. "Please be careful. Someone is out there, and those watchful eyes do not serve the lich king."

He nodded. "Perhaps we should cause a diversion?" He communicated with his escorts telepathically. "Sapphiron and the frost wyrms should lead my decoy along the main route, while the others and myself should seek out the frozen throne through another path."

"The abandoned Nerubian tunnels that we found might be useful", one of the necromancers suggested.

Both Kel'thuzad and the Frost Wyrm agreed.

*~*~*~*

Kael realized he dozed off again only when a Nathrezim tapped him on the shoulder. The ropes around his hands and waist were cut and he was handed a small pouch with a string fastened around it. "This is from the Dark Lady. Put this around your neck, but you're not allowed to open it until the Lady lets you go."

"What is it?" Anyone given a Pandora's box would ache to find out what was contained inside.

"Until she lets you go," Varimathras repeated. "Now come."

The prince persisted, "Her name, at least, would be helpful?"

"Why should it matter?" the dreadlord snapped. "You are unworthy to call it. Come on. She awaits."

Kael shut up. Following the Nathrezim, he headed to the other side of the woods. His clothes were soiled and his hair stuck with mud and blood. The confinement of the dead woods and the bloody puddles all around him made him sick--or probably he was sick before seeing all that.

Behind a row of trees, he could see two spell breakers and a sorceress standing opposite the Dark Lady. They were engaged in some conversation and his men did not appear threatened or disgusted by her appearance.

They turned to greet their prince as he arrived with the dreadlord.

"Are you all right, my prince?" the spell breaker asked. "You do not look well."

"I am well," Kael lied. "And you men?" He did not want sympathy now.

"The Dark Lady saved us," the sorceress chirped. She sounded almost delighted.

"I am glad to know." Sarcasm.

But there was something he needed to clarify. To his men, he said, "If you would leave us, I would like to speak with the Dark Lady alone."

Sylvanas nodded, and the men walked away. Somehow, this bothered him. To whom were his men loyal? Him, or her? They did not look as if they were enslaved however. Kael sensed danger.

"Dreadlord, leave us," Sylvanas said when Varimathras made no move. Bowing to her again, he turned to leave.

"All right, Dark Lady," Kael put his hands on his waist. "What do you really want? Speak, and I will try and help, but only after I return to Vashj. I will come back to you, I swear it."

"Why?" she narrowed her eyes.

Why? Because Vashj was in danger! What answer was she expecting from him?

But he forced down his anger and calmly said, "She is my comrade. I would not abandon her to her death."

"She is beyond your help," Sylvanas said coldly. "You best forget about her and consider yourself lucky that I pulled you out of the battle."

What? Vashj was dead? He refused to believe it.

She changed the subject, "I will tell you what I have in mind. I will destroy that bastard who killed me and tore our homes down."

Kael sighed inwardly. "It is impossible. Arthas has become Ner'zhul himself. No power of yours can hurt him."

She raised her hand to his bruised face and he braced himself for a slap. But before it came, she balled her fist and withdrew her hand. Through clenched teeth, she swore, "My hatred will be the death of him."

All right. Whatever she said.

"You want me to help you kill Arthas?"

"Maybe," she muttered, looking away from him.

"Maybe?" her hesitant reply made him even more uncertain.

"But first of all, I want you to help me kill Kel'thuzad, who, as we are speaking, heading towards the frozen throne to report to the Lich King."

"All right," even if he was not under threat, killing Kel'thuzad was a task he would not refuse.

She told him what her shade reported.

Sapphiron and his frost wyrms were escorting the lich--and yet with no ground units, he would be completely exposed to an assassin's arrow. No matter how powerful the frost wyrms might be, they would never be quick enough to shield him.

Sylvanas was no fool. She knew Kel'thuzad would try a diversion like this. No doubt he had been warned of her presence.

"I will go look for and kill the real Kel'thuzad," she said. "Kael, you will lead the platoon of elves that I saved to aid me as best you can."

The elven prince nodded slowly. Was he to take orders from an ex-ranger general? Well, he was still quite confused by what happened. If she was as sure as she sounded, he would rather listen to her.

*~*~*~*

Sylvanas sent out a small group of enslaved crypt fiends to attack the fake lich that the frost wyrms were guarding--let them think she fell for their little trick. Let them underestimate her intelligence and lower their guard so that she could make her surgical strike.

Kael'thas learned that Varimathras would remain in the forest to guard their supplies and to watch out for the Lich King's lackeys--really, what supplies did the dead need? Probably just some cursed skulls and decaying eyeballs they could play around with during their leisure. As far as Kael was concerned, the army of walking corpses had not struck a good impression on him. He dared not trust Sylvanas or her excessively courteous dreadlord.

Another shade came to find Sylvanas to report before she and her armies headed out. It told her that her crypt fiends had already found the frost wyrms and engaged in battle with them. Yet the real Kel'thuzad still could not be found. The Dark Lady asked it to keep searching, and Kael cleared his throat.

"You have something to say?" she asked the elven prince.

"There are Nerubian tunnels everywhere," Kael, who spent almost a year stranded in the frozen lands, told her. "It seemed to me that the lich would probably travel through the tunnels to reach his king. Yet it may be a little difficult to find him. The Nerubians are very clever mechanics. They left a lot of traps and secret passages in the tunnels."

The dark ranger raised her brow. Secretly, she was glad she made the right choice in bringing the prince with her. He knew the land more than she or any of her minions did.

"Which reminds me," the shade added. "I have spotted a cave that might be an entrance to a tunnel a little way down south from here, across the frozen sea."

"Frozen sea?" Sylvanas mouthed. How weird.

"It used to be a crate full of seawater, but the cold has turned it into a large ice plane," Kael explained. "That is the legend I heard."

The shade ran ahead to inspect the situation. Sylvanas did not wait for it to return before ordering her army to move out.

The dead minions did not seem too comfortable leaving the shadows, yet Kael was more than pleased to feel the wind again. No matter their different perspectives. They would be stuck with each other for a while.

They followed the shade's instructions and arrived at the Frozen Sea. The ice plane was transparent, free of soil or vegetation. Still uncorrupted. They could see water beneath the ice. Something did not feel right, and Kael just wanted to get it over with. He attempted to cross the frozen sea quickly, yet Sylvanas stopped him.

"The ice has been formed magically," she told him. "We have to be careful."

One of the banshees pointed at the opening at the other side of the crate, "That entrance is packed with ice."

And indeed it was true. Ice cubicles hung from the arch all the way down to the floor. To enter, they would have to remove the ice first. But where would it lead to?

They were making their way to the other side of the crate when suddenly, dark shadows covered the sky--frost wyrms! Despite of the Dark Lady's prudent planning, they were still discovered! Her crypt fiends followed closely behind, trying their best to prevent the frost wyrms from approaching the dead army. Yet it became obvious from their abrupt change of plan that the lich had to be somewhere in the tunnels. They came to defend him.

Sylvanas commanded ground units to run for cover while she and the Blood Elven archers fired arrows at the skeletal dragons. Kael stayed behind to help. He had been bothered by the way his men reacted to her command--but perhaps not any more. He began to believe that she was really, as she claimed, a ranger general.

Something shot out from the floor--debris of ice. Through the clear plane, they could see a huge shadow forcing its way up towards the surface. It crashed through the ice and rose itself up into the air. With one clamp of the jaw, it ripped a ghoul into two halves. Ice serpent! But then, it quickly disappeared back under the water.

The dead army could feel the ice beneath their feet splitting apart. Sylvanas cursed inwardly, realizing that it would probably not support them for much longer. Surely her minions and Kael's forces would be buried under the great arctic sea if they could not find somewhere safe to hide soon.

But there was nowhere to run. Everywhere they were surrounded by melting ice. The army of frost wyrms kept on attacking and the ice blocks drifted further. A terrible scream could be heard when someone plunged into the breathtakingly cold ice water.

Sylvanas and Kael were trapped on a larger piece of ice, but that too, they could tell, was about to break up and sink beneath the water.

The ranger general fired a black arrow at Sapphiron, the leader of the frost wyrms. It exhaled freezing air at her.

"Hear me, Sapphiron," she called out loud. "You and I once had our free wills, yet Arthas had slaughtered and forced us to do what we detested. But I broke free from his control. You must understand the pain that I went through to come to this decision to fight him. Stand on my side, mighty Sapphiron."

Would that work?

The frost wyrm said nothing. It showed her no signs either. Perhaps the death knight had killed it of its emotions inside as well.

Sylvanas felt the ice plane beneath her fracture. She grabbed hold of something to keep herself from falling into the freezing water. Kael'thas, on the other hand, also held onto a projection. If the skeletal dragons attacked now, there would be nowhere to run.

"Kael," she shouted over the harsh roaring of the frost wyrms. "Jump. Keep your head under water and swim. Find something you can land your feet on."

He did as he was told. Oh the Highest Light! The cold cut at his skin like razors, freezing his every joint.

Swim or drown if not die from the cold?

He moved his arms frantically. It was hard enough to see in the dark waters, but he needed to survive. He was racing against time. Any second now, he would die in the water if he could not find a safe place.

No, he would not die.

Dragging himself a few metres forward, he reached the other side of the shore and got up to the ground. It was even colder than when he was in water. His clothes were soaked and heavy and they did nothing to keep the cold out. Well, at least now he no longer felt filthy.

In a corner of his eyes, he saw some movement behind him--the dead body of a Blood Elf drifting with the waves. He could see many more heads and bodies floating aimlessly on the water surface. Both Elven and the dead. Blocks of ice drifted further apart.

The frost wyrms turned away from the sky. They had not seen him or they would not have left him alone. The Dark Lady...the block to which she was clinging had already disappeared. Where was she?
Had she died for good? He searched for her face amid the frozen faces, but did not find her. He felt a lump raise to his throat. Perhaps he did not hate her so? Still shivering from the cold, he stumbled blindly into the frozen lands. Should he report back to Varimathras about it? How was he to face the dreadlord?

Wait. Was it any of his business? The woman dragged him into this mess. She even prevented him from finding Vashj. Why should he even care a little for her?

He caught himself quickly. He just sounded like someone he once knew--Maiev Shadowsong! That warden who abandoned Tyrande to her death in the River Arevass. But he was even worse. The Dark Lady had done him no wrong.

Surely, he could not go back to save her--he could not even save himself. The coldness almost knocked him out. The bloody storm offered him no comfort. He was on his own.

He examined the ice clotted around the entrance of the tunnel--the sheltered area seemed promising. A spell came to his purple lips, "Flame strike."

And the ice melted. He stumbled into the tunnel. He knew he would not be safe there but at least he could escape the cold for a little while. He had to sit to recoup his strength. Suddenly, he felt the weight around his neck getting heavy. He grabbed the soaked pouch in his hands. The Dark Lady had not let him go, but she herself had gone. Perhaps easing his curiosity could save his day. Reaching into the bag, he pulled out a silver object. It was an elven brooch, the badge of a Quel'thalassian ranger general with a name carved on it.

Sylvanas Windrunner, it read.

That was her name. Sylvanas.

The image of her face came into his mind now--the one before her death. He was there at her promotion ceremony so many centuries ago. She was a beautiful elf, with hip-lengthed strawberry blonde hair and determined eyes of blue. How had she come to this?

"Missed me?" a familiar voice.

Oops. He quickly hid the brooch and looked up at the entrance.

*~*~*~*

Questions or comments, please email me at ardentsq@hotmail.com.

*~*~*~*

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Thank you guys/girls for the lovely reviews.

I lurv calling Sylvanas 'Syl'. I'm probably gonna make her *SECRET* admirer [in this story] call her Syl [hint ^_^ hint]. Who's it gonna be I wonder?! Varimathras? Arthas [*gasp*]?! But can't make any promises cuz I don't know what...er, the future holds. We'll see which way my fingers like this story to go?

You know what? Typing all these names: Arthas, Sylvanas, Varimathras and Kael'thas, I noticed something really interesting. These four people have all switched sides and their names all end with '-a-s'. Am I observant or what?

PD: Thank you. You're my first reviewer!

Ira Poon: Hey, thanks again. ^_^. Go get FT!! It's a good game.

Rowan Seven: Yay! *drink to Sylvanas*. Thanks for your compliments. I'm kinda hoping this fic won't turn out to be too dark, but eh, I can't really control my keyboard sometimes....O_o

randh13th: Thank you ^_^. I'll try to update more often.

SaSsY-GuRl-TaYlOr: *Chucks an even bigger rock at Arthas's head and stares at the mess she made* Oh my God, can't believe what I just did. Anyways, yay you!! Illidan is also one of my favourite characters too.