SOVEREIGN by J CAE
A/N: The previous chapter is undergoing serious revision.
A/N 2:GO READ MY NEW STORY MAIEV.
CHAPTER ELEVEN: FLAWLESS
Just as they passed through the doorway of the conference room, Kael pretended to trip and dragged Ner'zhul down with him. The elf pulled out a short sword hidden in his boot and stabbed the lich king through the heart. Ner'zhul released his grip on the elven king and stared down at his own chest. He must have felt something there in his human flesh. Kael stepped back as dark liquid gushed out from the wound through the fractured armour to the floor. But the lich king did not die.
He pulled the weapon out from his own chest and cast it away, "That was a clever trick, but you should have known that such a simple trick can never kill me."
"Get out of here!" Kael threatened, though knowing there was little weight in his voice. The guards outside had been alerted. They came and surrounded their king protectively.
"Not until I get what I came here for," Ner'zhul's stance was still firm. He waved Frostmourne that chimed amid the tension.
A cry interrupted their argument. Out of fright and impulse, Anna released the string on her bow. The poisoned arrow sailed and struck its target. Ner'zhul cocked a brow at her.
But it was Kael who went down on his knees.
"My lord! Are you all right?"
"Get her!"
Elven guards--and some of the council members charged at Anna who bolted for the door. Making use of the commotion, Ner'zhul swung Frostmourne, decapitating the row of guards in front of Kael, stabbed another who tried to approach him, and picked up Kael's limp form over his shoulders.
"Stop him!"
But it was too late.
The only laughing voice that could be heard was Ner'zhul's, moving swiftly down the hallway.
"You'll thank me for this, Kael. You'll thank me."
*~*~*~*
Kael opened his eyes to absolute void. There was nothing above him, nothing underneath him, as though he was drifting in some sort of abyss. He struggled to get up, but his feet did not touch ground. He could not find support.
And somewhere in the hollowness, a pair of little green eyes stared back at him. They seemed curious, concerned. Not threatening.
A goblin?
He blinked, and his vision began to clear. No. He sat upright. It was that of a child. A human child.
"Are you all right?" she asked him in the human tongue. Having spent years with the Alliance, it was not an issue to him, though he did not trust himself to speak.
He tried to get up. Deciding that he was not well enough to do so, the child gave him a hand and sat him upright. She was strong for a girl her age, but for some reason, her hands felt cold.
"You are an elf," she examined his ears. "Ishnu-alah, er...I do not know your name yet." She seemed eager to test out her limited elvish.
"Kael," he told her. "And you are?"
"Elma," she replied.
"Ishnu-dal-dieb, Elma."
For a girl so young, she seemed to know a lot. Yet her hands were so cold, so cold that they seemed otherworldly. He shivered--or was it only himself? "Tell me, what is this place?"
"I do not know," the child shook her head. "The man with the visor and white long hair took me here."
"Ner'zhul," Kael whispered. This had to be Ner'zhul's doing. He could understand why he was banished into this dark void world, but a child...why a child?
Elma seemed to be more interested in returning to the subject of elves, "I've met another elf before. I call him Uncle Mondelv. Do you know him? He is a healer."
Mondelv?
Should he tell the child he knew the walking corpse of the healer? He knew Mondelv, but not the one in life. But something else was bothering him. If this girl knew the healer, she must have some connections with the humans whom Alanen once led.
"Are you scared?" the child observed the trembling elf. He was shaking, not from fright, but from the bitter cold. It seemed to be getting colder by the second...
"Don't worry," Elma put her frail arms around him. She must have thought him not much older than she, a young child in need of comfort--he probably did feel like one too. "Daddy will come get us. He will come."
And that, was the key.
"Who is your father?"
"His name is Alanen."
*~*~*~*
Anna pressed herself against a column to catch her breath. She did not know how far she had run, but she was exhausted and lost amid the huge maze of the elven castle.
She risked a glance back. Had she lost the guards?
No.
Three more were still coming after her--obviously the more elite ones. They were still looking around for her, but they did not seem to see her.
Why of course, she reminded herself. She still had her cloak of shadows on. She should have concealed herself long before they started chasing her down the hallway, but she had forgotten all about it.
She became brave enough to stop there for a rest.
Had her mission succeeded? Had she killed the elven king? Surely the poison would soon find its way to his heart and he would die from it...yet what if Ner'zhul succeeded in doing what he wanted to, and the elven king was now turned into an undead? Illidan would be mad if he heard about that.
"There she is!"
Had she been discovered?
No. Another sea witch materialized in the shadows. An arrow flew from her eerie white-flaming bow, hitting one of the guards square in the heart. His remains quickly raised into a skeleton warrior.
"Vashj..." Anna gasped. "It cannot be..."
The left over guards, still mistaking the newcomer for their king's assassin, drew their weapons and charged. Vashj emitted a low hum. Dark shadows came to her side, clawing and ripping at the elves.
Their fight alerted other guards as well. Seven more of them came running to the scene--all were alarmed by what they saw. The composed sea witch only raised her bow, mercilessly halting them before they had the chance to approach her. Never had anyone imagined that Vashj should wield such strong and evil powers!
When the fight was over, Ner'zhul's sea witch turned her head towards Anna and beckoned her. For some reason, the young Naga found it hard to resist...
She followed Vashj as they made their escape. Some guards managed to follow them, but they were all of them slaughtered by the sea witches' combined power. Vashj obviously knew the way around the castle, and she navigated quickly outside.
In the same forest where Anna captured Vashj and sent her to her death, the older sea witch created a portal which would save them both from their pursuers. Anna stepped inside without thinking. She had come long enough to know that it was not Vashj's intent to kill her or she would have done so long ago.
The new dimension they arrived at seemed to be frozen and bleak, and empty too. Anna stared at the blood-soaked snow beneath her. "...Northrend?"
Vashj only nodded and started slithering away. The portal disappeared behind her.
The young Naga hesitated, "Wait. Are you taking me to the lich king? Are you going to make me his servant? Well, forget it. I serve only Master Illidan."
Vashj turned around, and regarded her very calmly--so calm that made Anna afraid suddenly. She shook her head then, and mouthed soundlessly, follow me.
Still tentatively, Anna chose to obey. If she turned around and run, Vashj would kill her. There would be nowhere to run, for she was still not powerful enough to create a portal. But if she followed, she might yet have a chance to retaliate.
They travelled for half an hour in silence, until Vashj stopped at a secluded place and pointed at the mountains to the east. Anna looked--and it was then when scaly hands closed tightly around her neck. It was then when she knew she had been fooled.
Vashj showed no emotions as her victim tried to wrestle her, flailing and gasping until finally failing. She simply let Anna's lank form slide to the floor.
"Well done, Meris," in her mind, she could hear the lich king's approval.
Ner'zhul's sea witch bent to retrieve her own bow and dusted it carefully, as if Anna's touch had polluted it. Then, she carefully strapped it on her back along with the white flaming bow that Ner'zhul gave to her and left the dead Anna half drowned in the bloody snow.
*~*~*~*
Hand in hand, Kael and Elma walked the void in search of a way out. The frozen desert seemed to know no end, and he had a feeling that they were merely going around in circles. Ner'zhul must be having fun watching this.
What if there was no exit? What if they were doomed to an eternity in this emptiness? Kael cast the negative thoughts aside. No. There had to be someway of breaking through Ner'zhul's invisible prison walls.
The young girl by his side still seemed hopeful. She had faith that her father would come. Knowing Alanen, he probably would too. He probably would kill the lich king and get his daughter back if he had the power.
Was that what drove him to join the Burning Legion? An act out of desperation?
If it was true, Alanen was not a monster. He was only human. A very distressed human.
"Are you feeling cold, Elma?" Kael asked the girl, trying to rub some heat into those tiny hands.
She shook her head and instead told him matter-of-factly, "You'll get used to the cold." It seemed as though she had been banished for a long time.
"How long have you been here?"
"I don't know."
He would not blame her either. There was no light of day, nor any stars to mark passing time.
But there was another question on his mind, "How...did I get here?"
"The man with the white hair--he took you here. You were sleeping." Elma replied. "He asked me to watch you."
Kael sighed.
"I don't know his name--he would not tell me," the girl continued. "But he says he is a king."
And so am I, Kael wanted to say. Certainly, he did not look convincing enough right then.
"Do you know where I can find him?" that was a stupid question. Of course the girl would not know where to find the lich king.
He should be more worried about what Ner'zhul would try to do to his people during his absence. Would he enslave them and turn them all into undead? That was certainly a great possibility. It did not help to think that there was nothing at all he could do to stop it from happening.
"Come play with me," said the girl suddenly, loosening his hand and breaking into a run. "Catch me if you can!"
He was never good with children--especially not when he was caught in a web of confusion and fear. "I'd rather we find a way out of here first. Then I can play with you all you want."
"But there is no way out--unless you can do magic!"
Her remark stunned him. Was she feigning innocence--was she some kind of demon inside a shell of a child? Or what was that?
But she was right. Only magic could break through a magic barrier. Though he had not used any of his spells for a long time, he still remembered them. Yet in order to cast them he would need a source of energy which could not seem to be found in the void.
But he cast a siphon spell nonetheless, tracking anything that might turn into a source of magic--and he gasped.
The girl?
Chaotic black energies greeted Kael furiously as he attempted to tap into her magic, careful not to hurt her as well. She reminded him of Alanen. Her father must have passed on some of his qualities to her, even though she did not seem to know anything about it.
"What are you doing?" she watched as black energy entered his body from herself. She felt no pain, no fear.
"I might be able to do magic," he finally smiled when the spell was done. "With your help."
Her little eyes blinked, still showing no comprehension.
He recited a flame strike spell. Magic travelled from his core to the void earth. Red flames erupted, intruding into the emptiness and illuminating the dark. The magnitude of the strike was far greater than he had ever been able to cast at all--and he presumed that it had something to do with the black energies absorbed into his body.
And the darkness began to clear around them, revealing something red and cold beneath their feet--bloodied snow. Suddenly, Kael realized he was back in Northrend.
*~*~*~*
Illidan jerked awake from his meditation.
He could feel it.
Kael was dead.
And Anna had also fallen. He could hear her anguished cries. But she served her purpose. Well, he thought, she brought this upon herself. Seems fair enough.
But what next?
He opened the door and exited.
A spy of his was already waiting to report to him outside--a blood elf fickle in his loyalties, "Master Illidan, the lich king has taken King Kael'thas away. And we have caught sight of Vashj the traitor as well." How ironic life seemed that he loathed one single traitor while the rest of his army were made up of betrayers of different sorts.
But lich king? Vashj?
If they were involved in this, he could not afford to make mistakes.
"Recall the troops," he instructed his spy. "We will wait."
He would wait, even if it meant giving Sylvanas the vital time she needed to return and save her kingdom.
He could read it in her every move. She would eventually take Quel'dara for herself.
And, this, if Illidan's speculation was correct, was to be the reason Ner'zhul hauled Kael away.
*~*~*~*
Still holding onto Elma's hand, Kael navigated through the maze of ice crown in search of the coast that he and his allies once escaped. If he was lucky, he might be able to find a boat. Or if he was not, he could build one for himself. He wished he had some kind of tools with him--never mind. He should thank the Light if he survived the trip.
But something did not feel right about the land. They travelled miles and miles without seeing any signs of the creatures that once haunted the frozen lands. This was Northrend all right. A defiled Northrend without the Scourge. A corrupted Northrend without the lich king.
He stopped his steps suddenly.
"What is it?" Elma read fear in his face.
He did not have time to answer. Twenty ice serpents appeared from beneath the bloody snow--twenty striking white bodies against the crimson background. They clamped their venomous jaws down at the two companions.
Kael remembered being attacked by one of those serpents, long ago while he and Sylvanas were making their way across the Frozen Sea. It disappeared back beneath the ice water, and he never figured out what had become of it.
Nor had he wanted to.
He set three of the gigantic serpents on fire with his flame strike and turned to banish another. But there were still so many of them...he needed some sort of plan.
"Wielder of the fire," the serpents spoke in one terrible voice. "Return to your own time. You do not belong here."
He got the part he did not belong there, but time?
Was he caught in the future--or the past?
"What happened to me?" he asked, desperate now, hoping there might be some sort of answer. "Why do you say I should return to my own time?"
"The lich king banished you here to the afterlife," they told him. "But you have not died."
Afterlife.
He remembered that was what Ner'zhul said when he dragged him out of the conference room. Let us away to afterlife. This must be what he had in mind.
Was this the afterlife, so void, so cold? Was afterlife a reflection of the real world, only emptier than ever? No wonder there was no lich king. The lich king had not died--nor had any of his minions who were caught between life and death. There would be no signs of Kael's own allies either. There were all either alive or undead.
"Please tell me," he called to the serpents. "How can I get back there? How can I get back to life?"
"You must make connection with someone you know in life," they said. "Someone who is powerful enough to open the gates long enough to let you pass through."
"How do I make contact?" he asked again.
"That you must find out on your own," they said, and disappeared back beneath the snow.
Then, there was void again.
*~*~*~*
Kael's only thought was to go back to where his life had been claimed--to Quel'dara. It was there, he believed, when he could find a way to contact the living. Who should he call upon? Elma would definitely try to call her father, who, if what the Dark Lady told him was true, would still be somewhere around Quel'dara. But who should he call?
The only option he now had was Sylvanas. She would be powerful enough, he guessed, with her newfound magical strength. And despite of the argument they had before she left, he knew she would be willing to save him. But how could he contact her?
Now drifting on the raft that he had built, and with Elma curled up asleep by his side, he was thrown into deep thoughts...of how he was to get home.
*~*~*~*
Coming up next: Ner'zhul promises to release ONE of his two hostages--that'd be something Sylvanas and Alanen have to fight about, right? And while they're fighting, will Vashj make the (so very obvious) decision for them?
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J NoBo
Ooh. A bit of déjà vu going on in this chapter. People who have also read Rain River might know in what way I'd kill someone I really hate. I'd strangle him/her with 2 hands. Mwahahaha.
SHAMELESS AD: All you cool people out there *waves frantically*! Look over here! Go read my new story MAIEV!
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San: Haha. Ashamed to say that my brother's 4 years younger than me ^_^. Must have been his twisted only elder sister's nasty influence! Shame on her...I won't turn Kael into an undead. I love him too much. He's just taking a ride ^_^.
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Ira Poon: Ow...ugly mistakes...thanks for pointing it out. Nope. Ner'zhul is not after Kael actually. He's after something or someone else *grins evilly*. It will all be revealed...eventually.
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Rowan Seven: I love your reviews. They're always...substantial. First off, I'm a believer of Maiev x Furion too ^_^. "Shan'do Stormrage, I knew you would come!", "It's been an honour to fight at your side, Shan'do." Yeah, right. But I don't support MxF though. I'm a 100% TxF (so uninteresting), and probably 74.97812% MxI.
Back to Lordaeron. I haven't done as much research as you have, and I kinda have the impression that Kil'jaeden is quite powerful. After all he DID manage to enter Kalimdor to talk to Illidan, and get into the Outland without using a portal or anything. So I'm assuming he could appear out of thin air in Lordaeron. As to whether Illidan can kill him, I'm sure it's a NO in the canon story. But since in my story Illidan was raised from the dead, he's become more powerful and daring and sorta demonlordish himself. Therefore, I'm also assuming that he'd be able to kill Kil ^_^ (2 lazy to type).
As for why Kil gave Syl so much power--he could definitely see in her traits of Ner'zhul (e.g. telepathic power and her hatred etc). Since Ner'zhul escaped from him using his telepathic powers to enslave an army, Kil's gonna make him payback for what he did. He planned to use Syl and turn her into something like Ner'zhul and make her kill him in return. But as you said, that Sylvanas can't truly die unless Ner'zhul was destroyed...*hint*.
And you're right. What Ner'zhul got was not quite what he planned.
My bad writer's judgement is taking over again. I totally forgot to explain the thing about why Varimathras and the Forsaken became so strong suddenly. It's something to do with telepathy. I was kinda hoping the fight scene between Anna and Varimathras in Chapter 10 helped.
Mwahahahaha. Though I loved your b-day present, your plan won't work. But for your efforts, you'll be rewarded...with a KxV 'intimate touching' scene (still PG-13, heehee) in the next chapter. Well, enjoy ^_^.
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