SOVEREIGN by J CAE
A/N: Stupid lab exams! Stupid profs! Stupid finals! Stupid school! I'll just sleep in my crypt and refuse to breathe for a few weeks. If that's possible...
Rowan Seven, I wrote this chapter for you to thank you for my b-day present ^_^. Some VxK. Enjoy. *has a box of Kleenex handy just in case*
CHAPTER TWELVE: LIGHTLESS
Came daybreak, Alanen found himself in the Forsaken's camp--a site shrouded in mist of sinister uncertainty. He could feel the unruly energy of the place, concealing baleful secrets of anger and malice.
It did not cross his mind to alter his decision about the Dark Lady.
He knew she wanted revenge for all the agony she suffered by his hands. He would be surprised if she did not. But what else did she want? Why was she offering her aid now? Why did she, in return, have need of his dark powers? He had a feeling it was not only about the possessed Naga, and that she was helping him in Kil'jaeden's name was absurd beyond words could express.
This had made him even more willing to doubt her.
Yet when he saw her in person again, the protective walls he tried to keep around himself crumbled down. In front of his eyes was no longer a walking corpse, but a living elf female so pristine and cool in her perfect beauty. Those sky blue eyes rested only momentarily on his face, and it was already enough to break down his defences.
There was not even need for telepathy.
He cleared his throat and tried to speak, but she was the one to voice her thoughts first.
"I am pleased that you came, Alanen."
The same man who single-handedly defeated her and the Forsaken army half a year ago now found himself unable to move, "You..."
Sylvanas's golden locks trailed with the hot desert wind as she approached him. He had never seen her like this before--so different, and so...alive. That was the word. She seemed alive, but it was not possible. She died!
"Ask Ner'zhul why he brought me back to life again," she read his mind. "He seems to be enjoying the games he plays."
He was still unable to put his thoughts into words, "But..."
But the power coursing through her veins was unmistakable--it definitely reminded him of Kil'jaeden's.
He had to ask, "Just whom do you serve?"
"Let us not speak of serving and betraying," she said bluntly. "I only know it would be by my hands that Ner'zhul should meet his end for all he had done, and that, Alanen, would make us friends. I have the means to save your daughter, and you have the power I require."
He barred his teeth. She knew exactly what he was thinking and where his weaknesses laid. She knew how to break his will, leaving him with no choice but to go her way.
Assuming he realized where he was standing, she told him her plan.
*~*~*~*
Dalaran.
Time was no longer a concern in the afterlife, so Kael realized when he and Elma reached Dalaran before the sun was down. It should have been a journey of months.
The weather in the human city should be a lot warmer than that of Northrend, yet he still felt chilled to the core. Perhaps it was the image of the ruins all around him?
Elma recognized her own home--the small human base located in the outskirts of Dalaran. It was packed with dead humans. No signs of Usven or his wife. No signs of her father. Either they were still alive, or they were cursed with eternal undeath.
She called out to her father, but instead, her mother came. The woman's head was split open when the burning column of her house fell on her, yet her features, though scrunched in pain, was still recognizable. She stretched both arms out to her daughter, wanting to take her in her embrace again.
"No, Mommy!"
Elma screamed and hid behind Kael, burying her face in his robes.
"Come to me, darling," the woman approached. "It is all right. There's nothing to be afraid of. Come to me."
She was horrible enough to be afraid of.
"No!" Elma tried to run.
"Elma!" Kael supposed he should not let the girl get out of his sight, but he really did not know what he should do. He went after her, only to be pulled back by the dead woman.
"Get away from my daughter!" she must have decided he was the one whom her little girl was afraid of. She threw herself on him and punched him. He blocked her fists--she was stronger than he thought she could be. The only way he could save himself and not hurt her was to use magic. He cast a banish spell, and the woman went numb. He freed himself.
"Elma!"
The girl backed away from three dead soldiers whom she once knew. They told her they found a pretty stream in the mountains where she could play in. She could go with her father, they were telling her. But their faces were bloodied beyond recognition, their teeth were knocked out. One of them was holding his own head in his hands.
Kael unleashed a flame strike spell on the three ghosts, but before he could reach Elma, the woman who was her mother picked her up. The little girl kicked and screamed in fright, but the woman ignored her, and attempted to walk away.
"Daddy! Daddy! Help me!"
*~*~*~*
Beneath the wings of the dragonhawk, typical undead structures materialized amid the shadows of the night. Its rider scanned the area carefully, and spotted the dreadlord past the line of ziggurats that guarded the camp. Immediately, he was reassured that he was not in some disguised camp of the Scourge. He landed, dismounted, and sent his stallion away.
Varimathras approached him.
"I am a messenger from the blood elven high council," his tanned face was taut and weary. "There has been an emergency and I need to speak with the Dark Lady at once."
"What kind of emergency? She is in a confidential meeting right now and does not wish to be disturbed..."
"Our king has been captured by Ner'zhul!"
"What?" Varimathras stood with his mouth agape for a moment. Elves! Leave them undefended for a few days and they get into worse trouble than you could expect them to! "I'll inform the Lady immediately. Wait here."
The rider could not have done otherwise.
Two minutes later, Sylvanas was shaking him violently by the shoulder, "Are you guards all good-for-nothing? All but garbage sacks? This has to be the hugest mistake you'd ever live to make!"
"Let him go, Sylvanas," said a third voice which made the dragonhawk rider turn his head. It belonged to Alanen, a dark figure coming up behind the Lady. "It's not like he's the only one to blame."
"Shut up."
Tossing the blood elf roughly to the ground, Sylvanas began making alternate plans. She had to go to Kael first now, even if it meant leaving everything else behind.
She should never have left him alone.
But it was a little too late to be grieving over spilt milk.
Alanen shook his head. Albeit he did not know the details of what happened before he and Sylvanas met up, he could roughly make it out, "He's got my daughter, and now he took your boy. What are you going to do about it now? Abandon your tactics of subtlety and march straight to the lich king?"
"He must have been watching for quite some time," the Dark Lady said. "But I underestimated his daring. Not even Illidan's forces stationed in Quel'dara gave him any second thoughts."
"As if," Alanen shook his head. "I thought you said Illidan was no ally to your king. Your underestimation seems very severe indeed. You might as well assume Ner'zhul completely blind if he was not to know about this."
"You're not helping," Sylvanas snapped, and then declared to her soldiers, "We'll keep on tracking the Naga. Prepare to move out."
"But my lady, I beg of you..." the dragonhawk rider cried in shock. If the Forsaken were not willing to lend their aid, Kael'thas might never be saved--an unchallenged fact.
The human seemed equally surprised, "I thought that elf king means something more to you. He could have given his life for you, and yet you'd just abandon him to his death?"
"Mind your own business," Sylvanas gave him a warning and turned away, ignoring the dragonhawk rider as he threw himself at her feet and begged her to do something to save his king. She commanded a few ghouls to remove the rider from her base while the rest of the warriors she chose moved out with her.
Alanen sighed.
She might have been brought back to life, but her heart could not have been deader.
Never mind Kael, he thought to himself, blocking out his conscience's cries. Why must he feel at blame for not lending a hand in some business that was hardly his? The captured king was of the blood elven people, and a friend of Sylvanas. To him Kael was nothing--yet to watch him pay the price for wrongly placing his trust on the Dark Lady, Alanen did not know what he should think.
Yet something was not right.
The Dark Lady had seemed so tensed at first when she learned that Kael was taken away by the lich king. He expected her to alter all her plans and go save him, though she did not. Why did she keep to her decisions? There had not been a point, Alanen realized, in their conversation when he could tell that she changed her mind. He had hardly noticed how her emotions retracted deep inside of her until he viewed the end result.
Whatever she might be thinking now, he tried to tell himself, it would not matter. After he rescued his daughter, he would forever be away from all demons and their vile schemes. Try as they might, he was never going to serve any of them again. Ever.
*~*~*~*
Kael...
Sylvanas wondered if it would break his heart if he was there to see what she just did.
Please forgive me.
Ner'zhul was watchful, and he was probably using this as a trap to test her. She had to prove herself stronger than her feelings and still able to control the situation though deep inside she knew she was not. She was aching and guilty of even thinking of leaving Kael to die. But she must never let the lich king know she was emotionally attached to the elf.
She must never let him use someone she loved...no, cared about as a threat against her.
But oh, her anxiety was killing her inside. She would never forgive herself if anything happened to Kael. No. She would never forsake him.
Hold on. I'm coming for you.
*~*~*~*
Alanen and Sylvanas arrived at the outskirts of Dalaran, where the Dark Lady was convinced she felt Vashj's presence.
Why Dalaran of all places?
If the lich king wanted something from her, she knew, he would have had a trap ready. And if he planned to use Vashj as bait and think that she would fall for it, he was being too presumptuous.
To enter the city where Vashj was, it was necessary to pass through the human camp which was under Usven's command--where the humans who once served under Alanen dwelled.
Albeit there was nothing more to say, a confrontation was inevitable.
The humans came out to greet them with weapons handy. Looking at the two hundred Forsaken warriors marching behind Alanen was like staring into the face of Lord Death himself. Sir Usven did not recognize Sylvanas, nor did he have any reason to want to.
"Peace," Alanen declared as he stepped forward. "We demand passage--and we would leave you be."
Usven tried to hold his ground, though he found his courage wavering at the recollection when Kael'thas had marched eight hundred warriors upon his doorstep, "Alanen! We advise you to turn back. There will be no peace between us and someone who allied himself with the undead."
"The choice is yours to make," Alanen said bluntly. "You could either choose to save us the trouble, or make us do something you do not wish for us to do."
Either way, the Forsaken would win.
"Well Sir Usven," Sylvanas spoke in a much softer voice, and the leader of the living humans looked at her--suddenly finding her attractive beyond words could describe. "I could spare us both the hard feelings. Look at me. Look into my eyes." A smile appeared on her lips--it brought no more life to her face than the moonlight upon snow.
He was more than willing to do so--all the time she needed to finish her charm spell.
"We would let you pass," Usven declared, stepping away almost spontaneously. His followers did likewise, knowing that it would be foolish to stand in the way of the Dark Lady.
Alanen sighed.
Mondelv had been turned into an undead the last time Sylvanas visited the human base--the elven healer was now a dark grim figure still stalking around, casting hateful glances at his own murderer. Alanen did not know if he could live with Sir Usven whom he also betrayed under the Dark Lady's command. Well, curse the demons and their ways!
His thoughts drifted back to his long lost daughter--as if he could take his mind off her for a minute. Where was she now? How did she fare? Was she in danger? In pain? Frightened?
Oh how he missed her!
After he rescued her from Ner'zhul's hands, he kept thinking, he would take her far away. He would take her to the free lands. To Kalimdor. He did not care how or if it was even possible. He just knew he would.
He followed Sylvanas as she led the Forsaken on. He was almost grateful that she chose to leave Usven behind. These humans are of no use, he heard her say. Had he the energy to spare, he would have proven to her otherwise, but he was already half-drowned in his own anxieties.
*~*~*~*
Her father did not answer.
Elma continued kicking and gasping for air as her mother's hands of death stroke her face gently, leaving there shades of eternal darkness. Kael tried another banish spell on the dead woman, but still she did not loosen her grip.
"Daddy! Help!"
Alanen could not hear. Nor had he answered if he could.
The elven king's heart began to sink. Was there no way at all he could get this dead woman off the girl? The more Elma struggled, the tighter her mother's grip on her was, hugging her, patting her in hopes of calming her down.
And suddenly, an idea crossed his mind.
"Elma, calm down," he advised. "Listen to me! Your mother won't hurt you. She only wants to see you smile."
For a child who found herself locked in the arms of a battered ghost, it seemed a very illogical thing to do. But she, nonetheless, ceased kicking. Timidly, she cast a look at her mother's face that smiled back at her. She looked away abruptly in disgust. This could not be her mother. No. This had to be some sort of nightmare.
But it had the effect on her mother.
The woman loosened her grip suddenly and began to weep into her hands. Her own child...looked away from her in disgust. Why? What by the Highest Light had happened? She was in such painful desperation to protect her beloved daughter who refused to even look at her!
Elma ran to Kael and hid behind him, peeping only once at the wailing dead woman. She did not understand what was going on, nor did she want to.
Kael observed the woman for a while longer, prepared for battle if need be. But there was no need. The woman was no more threat. Taking Elma's hand again, he led her gently away from the scene in search of her father.
This was not supposed to happen, Kael said to himself. He remembered the elders telling him stories of a 'perfect' nirvana afterlife. This was not the afterlife he perceived it to be--but then, none of the elders had experienced it for themselves. Besides, seldom do elves die.
Was the devastation of the demons so great that even that promised heaven ceased to exist anymore? The more he tried to think about it, the more it terrified him.
Suddenly, the world started spinning around him as he began to fade...into blinding light.
*~*~*~*
Some time later, the possessed Naga resurfaced, so deliberately placing herself within the Forsaken's sight that there was no mistaking her intention. Knowing that Vashj was no longer able to speak, Sylvanas touched her mind directly to learn what she had to offer--and as she had predicted, Ner'zhul's magic repelled her. He was apparently guarding the frail mind for a reason she knew too well. All she could sense was the pain of a fight.
The old sympathetic Sylvanas might have shed a few tears for the torment Vashj had been cursed with, but no longer. The Dark Lady was now too preoccupied with her task on hand.
"Lead us to your master," Sylvanas demanded with the strength of an elven general.
Vashj made no sound and regarded her with those sallow reptilian eyes. Very well, she said in her mind, if this is what you wish.
It was then Alanen frowned to himself. What did Sylvanas think she was doing? Was she going to challenge Ner'zhul so soon? Did she not say she intended to possess the Naga for her own first?
Was she so calculated beyond his understanding--or was she just mad?
Following Vashj's lead, they entered the city. The sun was setting upon the skies of Dalaran, scenery Alanen had not seen for about half a year, yet he still remembered well. As he walked down the streets once more, he could see the sun moving reluctantly behind clouds of purple and orange, how the light would fade so slowly that it seemed to last an eternity. The last dying flare of sunlight cast upon a fallen keep that Archimonde had destroyed three years ago. And there in front of it where the sun had already faded and left behind a cold grey shadow, stood Ner'zhul.
He had been waiting for quite some time already, it seemed.
He was alone, but Sylvanas knew better than to trust things as they appeared. She reached out with her telepathy, but could find no trace of any warriors other than her own, and Vashj.
Was this some form of illusion? Mind alteration that the lich king tried on her? Surely he could not heave expected to defeat her alone! He should know now she had grown too strong for him to do that.
"You have both come before me," Ner'zhul said with a small triumphant smile across his icy lips.
"A final warning, lich king," she wasted no time. "Release Kael'thas and Elma, and we would be easy on you."
"But I am the one with the hostages," he reminded her tauntingly. "Therefore I shall be the one to decide the rules."
"True," Sylvanas admitted. On any other day, she and Alanen could have taken on Ner'zhul. But with two hostages on his hands, they could not afford to make any wrong moves.
"Before we go into that," Ner'zhul seemed to enjoy the identical expression on his two challenger's faces--their mental suffering. "Perhaps I should tell you of Lady Vashj's request. I have agreed to release one of the hostages unconditionally. As for the other, I'm afraid you would have to fight for his or her freedom."
If Vashj was the one to make the choice, would she choose to free Kael?
Or would Meris the banshee choose to let Elma go?
Sylvanas pushed the thoughts out of her mind and spoke dryly. "You only wish to prevent Alanen and I from forging an alliance against you. I'd tell you now, we'd stand together. If the one you release unconditionally is Kael, I'd still fight for Elma's freedom."
The human felt a bit shocked, but more so, grateful for the Dark Lady's commitment to their temporary alliance. There was no guarantee that she would not turn around and eat her own words, yet he felt more reassured to give his own, "As would I for the elven king."
Ner'zhul nodded in amusement. To him it was all a game. Now when all threats and obligations were removed from him, when Kil'jaeden was dead and the rebels of Azul-Nerub pacified, it was all a game in which he had nothing to lose and nothing to gain, "We shall see how your words of loyalty apply in reality." And to his sole warrior, he said, "Lady Vashj, would you make your choice?"
Stretching his arms skywards to cast a spell, he opened the gates between the worlds of life and afterlife. Vashj summoned Kael, just as Sylvanas thought she would. The elven king walked across a bridge of gold and crossed over into life--but almost immediately, he collapsed. The effect of Anna's poison arrow returned as surely as he had. Blood poured down his shoulder through the tear Ner'zhul created when he pulled the arrow out. The pain paralyzed him, taking away his ability to move or even think.
This was much worse than afterlife.
Sylvanas ran to his side to help him up, yet he could not seem to find the strength. He was shivering, she observed, and his hands were deathly cold. "Are you all right?" she asked him--when actually she was afraid to find out the answer. "You are so cold."
He could not reply. A fit of coughs attacked him. Blood sprayed out of his mouth and nose.
"What have you done to him?" Sylvanas barked at the lich king, letting her rage take over.
"He caught a poison arrow in his shoulder right before I banished him into afterlife"
"You bastard!" she spat.
"Do not blame me," Ner'zhul only shook his head. "It was Illidan's assassin who did that. By banishing him I prolonged his existence. A lot has happened during your absence. Should I fill you in with the details?"
"Don't bother," she muttered and cradled the elf in her arms.
Kael struggled to speak, "Don't...worry..."
It brought tears to her eyes--a feeling she had not felt in a long time. She did not even have to look at him to know that he was in extreme pain, yet his only thought was to not burden her.
"Mondelv is going to take good care of you, Kael," she whispered. She wished she could take care of him herself, yet there was a war she still needed to fight. The undead healer stepped forward obediently and examined the elven king's wounds.
"Now, what are your terms on releasing Elma?" a distressed Alanen asked.
"Alanen," the lich king suddenly burst out laughing. "What did Mondelv tell you about your daughter before you snapped his neck? Where did he put her remains?"
The human paled as he cast a glance at the healer who returned a hateful gaze. He did not trust himself to speak, "He...buried her."
"As you can see," Ner'zhul pointed at Kael. "One who crosses over back to life will return to their state right before they were banished. If I release Elma now, she'd be in the ground, inside a coffin six feet under. You'd never reach her in time."
Buried alive!
"No!"
"But I want to release her!" Ner'zhul smiled.
"Don't! Don't release her!"
How painfully ironic this was! For the past half year, Alanen had been working so hard to try and get his daughter free, only to discover that she'd probably suffer a worse fate than being banished into afterlife forever. He'd rather his daughter remain hostage to Ner'zhul than to suffer and die alone underground.
"You sick son of a bitch!" Alanen shouted at the lich king, though knowing it would not do anything to alter the situation. "Elma is a little girl. Why do you have to hurt her? Why? Take me in her place. Let her live!" and somewhat reluctantly, he added, "I beg of you."
"Ah, touching," Ner'zhul chuckled. "Even though you humans are an honourless race, you can be truly altruistic when it comes to your children."
Sylvanas stood from crouching position and pointed her weapon at the lich king, "Not that I care anything for Alanen, but his daughter is innocent of this war. You've gone too far, Ner'zhul." She gave her words to fight for Elma's freedom, and she would not give Ner'zhul a chance to mock her.
"There is to be war between us then," Ner'zhul drew Forstmourne and raised it skyward, once again, opening the gateway between life and afterlife. His Naga Sea Witch hummed, and dead warriors were lured to the scene--footmen, knights, dwarves, and some other unidentifiable horrors. There had been many, many deaths in Dalaran, and Sylvanas suddenly realized why Ner'zhul had chosen Dalaran as the battleground. The land itself was packed with dead warriors. It was not necessary to bring with him his own.
"The deal is that you'd dedicate Elma to me, Alanen," the lich king told the human. "She has high potentials, if you have not realized. I could turn her into the most powerful being of all--even more powerful than you, or me. I'd save her. I'd dig her out from her grave and bring her back to life, but you'd never see her again."
"No," the human grew more and more desperate. He did not mind if he had to give his life, but to dedicate Elma to the lich king seemed to be an even worse fate than being buried alive...
"Such is the suggestion of Lady Meris. Do you remember her?"
Alanen shook his head no.
"She was the young woman whom you murdered in the woods, the banshee who stole your child," the lich king sent pictures of how Meris fell by the human's own blade. Alanen's face paled by another two shades.
The farmer Jon was her father. He asked Alanen for help, which he could not provide. Jon lost his beloved daughter forever...and Meris...Meris would have her murderer pay for the wrong he did her!
"And now--" Ner'zhul gestured to Vashj, "This is she. In order to lure you into this trap, she possessed the body of a Naga and led you here."
Kael had just merely managed to stand up with the undead healer's help, but he was angry enough to yell at the banshee, "And what about Vashj? You killed her for your own vengeance. Who is to avenge her then?"
"I wouldn't advise you to get angry," Ner'zhul shook his head. "The poison would work its way quicker into your heart. But no, Kael'thas, Lady Vashj is not dead. Sylvanas has sensed it--but she didn't tell you, did she? Vashj is still trapped in that shell. Every breath that she takes is bubbling agony. She begs for rest, but she never can. She fights to regain control, but she never will."
"Vashj..." Kael coughed up another mouthful of blood.
"What is it that you truly want?" Sylvanas interrupted with her bow still pointed at the lich king. She took a step forward.
In the background, Kael coughed some more.
"Your king will die soon," Ner'zhul tempted her. "Would you give up your quest to destroy me to save his life?"
The Dark Lady gritted her teeth and cursed, "Damn bastard." He knew it--that she was prepared to give everything to defeat him. He was tugging on the one last thing she was not quite ready to let go. If she did not get Kael away from there, he would not survive the battle. And if she did get him away from there, she would lose her chance to finish Ner'zhul for good.
"Um..." came Ner'zhul's advice, "While you are in your mental struggle, I'd suggest that you watch your king's back."
Ghouls and dead soldiers came between Sylvanas and Kael. She let her arrow fly and penetrate through one of the zombie creatures. The battle had begun. She tried to concentrate, but all she could hear was Ner'zhul's mocking laughter. "This is not supposed to happen, Sylvanas, if only you had paid attention to my mind instead. Though you are strong, you still need a lot of work. You are not fit to destroy me yet."
She didn't bother to reply. She reached out to her own troops with her telepathic powers as the two parties clashed in battle. Immediately, the battlefield became a lot clearer to her--she could see through every one of her soldier's eyes.
She could sense it as Vashj slithered towards Kael with her bow in hand. Forgetting all her earlier efforts to keep her emotions in check, Sylvanas screamed out a warning. Mondelv reacted at once and sent a glob of light towards Vashj, but the Naga, empowered by Ner'zhul's telepathy, only knocked him out of the way with two flaming arrows.
The Naga had her weapon pointed at Kael. If she released the string, Kael would be a dead man.
Well, he would be anyway in a few hours.
Gazes locked. Vashj's against Kael's.
Sylvanas sent a few of her soldiers to aid Kael. In response to her action, Ner'zhul lent the Naga some of his power. Her bow flared with eerie white fire and she fitted four searing arrows to her bow and fired them at once, hitting four targets before they could come near.
Alanen gave a cry as he swung his sword at Ner'zhul who blocked it, and returned a blow so forceful that almost knocked the weapon out of the human's hand.
"Die, human!" Ner'zhul taunted. "Perhaps that would help you accept the fact--your daughter will be mine one way or another."
"Never!"
Anger took away any self-restrain Alanen had left and he charged at the lich king like a mad bull and swung his sword. Black energy waves erupted from his free hand, burrowing themselves into the lich king's undead body. Ner'zhul did not even flinch, but the attacks had undoubtedly slowed him down.
"But she will come willingly when I call out to her," Ner'zhul assured him again, deliberately trying to aggravate him more. He wanted to test the limits of this human. He wanted to know how far he could go before he would lose his mind completely. "Do you even know what she is?"
"I don't know what you're talking about!" Alanen exploded. His sword went whisking past Ner'zhul's white long hair. Sizzling energy blackened the blade of his sword as he prepared to make that final blow.
The lich king engulfed himself in a shell of death energy to protect himself against the black magic, "Oh no. I think you know exactly what I mean!"
"Ahhh!"
Sylvanas punched Vashj in the face, abandoning all notions of 'cultured' elven fighting. The Naga slithered further from her and returned an arrow. The Dark Lady ducked to avoid it and conjured a spell of blue fire against the possessed Naga.
"Vashj!" Kael called--he was now crouching on the ground amid the fighting warriors, helpless, defenceless. "Sylvanas, don't hurt her!"
The Naga tail flung forcefully towards the Dark Lady who barely managed to get out of the way.
She yelled back at Kael, "But if she's hurting me?"
"Vashj please! You have to come back!" Kael cried again.
Meris grimaced. She did not like that name. She did not like his voice. There was something in his voice that made her feel weak--wait--that made Vashj feel weak. Meris loathed that feeling.
Kill him! She shrieked in fury. Kill him!
But the body did not respond as she wanted it to.
Kael felt another spasm of pain taking hold of him. The poison!
Before he knew it, Vashj threw herself on top of him, the impact knocking him backwards, sprawled on the ground. She was ready to kill him.
"Kael!" Sylvanas shot the Naga through the heart. But it no longer seemed to affect her. Meris was in control. She did not die from pain--she fed on Vashj's pain. She pulled the arrow out and raised it to Kael's head...
A bloody gash appeared across Alanen's stomach. He cringed--and the lich king kicked him, sending him sliding across the ground at Sylvanas. She foresaw it, and sidestepped before the warrior hit her.
In her mind Sylvanas heard Ner'zhul laughing at her again. As much as she hated to agree, he was right. She was still not ready to kill him. Even though fighting two terrible opponents, Ner'zhul still knew exactly how Meris was doing and was in time to send her the aid she needed.
The distraction worked. It bought all the time the possessed Naga needed.
She brought her arrow down.
Kael grabbed her wrist to save himself. Though weakened by the poison, he knew he must fight to save his own life--and she was so strong!
Sylvanas sent two more arrows, both piercing the Naga through her side. But already driven mad by her anguish, Vashj would never stop until her victim's life was claimed.
Alanen picked himself up and gripped his sword in one hand again. With the other he covered his own bleeding wound, as if that would help him with the pain.
The lich king landed another kick on his opponent's stomach, "With your strong powers and the help of your daughter, you could have retaken Lordaeron from me. A pity you contended with those puny humans--they were just too weak to fight against the Scourge. If you have had embraced darkness earlier, you could have succeeded."
Alanen almost lost his footing again, but he held his ground, "Whatever you wish to say."
"Deny no longer," the lich king took a step forward and swung Frostmourne at Alanen's head. "Your daughter is a true prize. She is your source of power. You look out for her, and in return, she is your sigil of protection."
The human did not even try to respond.
"The cut on your stomach was made by a runeblade," the lich king smiled. "Do you know what it means?"
It could mean many things, but in Alanen's mind it only meant one. "You won't be able to steal my soul," he responded. "Save your effort."
"We shall see," and the king of the undead began chanting a soul-capturing spell.
A sword slashed Sylvanas on the shoulder from behind. The pain greeted her like a whip and her wound bled freely. It had been a long time since she felt so...alive.
But it did not bother her.
Five dead footmen behind her, she saw it in her mind, yet she had no time to fight them.
"Varimathras!" she called her dreadlord who came running over. "Help me!"
He put the dead to sleep, and then caused fire to rain down upon them, allowing Sylvanas to avoid a confrontation with them. But obviously having sensed her moving against Vashj, Ner'zhul sent more of the dead over, blocking her way, separating her from her king.
Kael groaned as Vashj punched him across the face. Now the poison was really gripping at him and he felt like his arms were made of sand. He knew he would die by her hands, but still he stubbornly refused to do so.
"Vashj, do you hear me? I know you hear me!"
Shut up! The banshee shrieked. Shut up and I'll make sure you die quickly!
But he did not, "You have to fight her! Please!"
And Vashj began to cry.
The sudden outburst of emotions almost threw Meris off. The Naga's essence won over momentarily. Tears slid down the scaled face that distorted into an expression of remorse.
Kael was dying. He was dying. Leaving.
Banishing all other thoughts, Vashj put her lips to Kael's wound and began sucking the bad blood out. The poison was quick, and it could have already spread through his veins. But she did not care. She would race against time.
"Vashj..."
She did not have time to answer him. She spit the poison out and resumed what she was doing. She cried out once when Meris tried to regain control, inducing extreme pain in her mind. But she did not stop.
She acted in such haste that she swallowed a few mouthfuls of blood. But she could not afford to worry about it. The only concern was to save his life.
Meris screamed. Damned weakness! Stop this madness!
But Vashj ignored her. Through tearful eyes, she watched as Kael's breathing calmed and the pain disappeared from his face. She hesitated only when he put his arms around her in gratefulness, unable to put his thoughts into words.
She knew she would die in his place, but to know that he would live--it was enough.
She helped him sit upright and indulged herself in his embrace for a while longer before confessing the truth in a single broken word, "Poison."
Shock and guilt wrote on his face, "Vashj...no!" She had swallowed his poison into herself.
"Put your fingers in her throat!" Sylvanas suggested, shouting over the battlefield of tormented cries but Kael heard her fine. If he could make Vashj vomit the poison, it would save her life...but the Naga shook her head.
"Kill me," she uttered, her pronunciation robbed with her tongue.
"No!" he refused. "You're gonna be all right. We can do something about the poison."
"Pain..."
And then he understood.
She was in terrible pain, as the lich king said. But she could not die until Meris was gone. He had to be the one to release her from the pain if that was the only thing he could do to repay her. Yet it still hurt so much...he hugged her tightly again, and she wrapped her arms about him.
"Now..." she whispered.
Calling upon the black energies inside of him, he struck her. She did not even try to defend herself. She fell silently, as fragile as any living being. Her essence dissipated, faded into nothingness.
Meris was repelled out of the shell as Kael's blow landed. She loathed the feeling of being exposed again, as though she was naked. Yet that was not her only concern.
Kael gently laid Vashj's body down, and stood up. With the vast amount of blood he lost, it was no easy task. But his fury sustained him. He struck the banshee.
Both Sylvanas and Ner'zhul felt Kael's magic. It was different from before. It was dark, and raging with murderous anger.
"It is useless," the banshee felt herself weakening, yet she refused to submit. "I would be regenerated in a matter of days. I can never die until the master who granted me eternal life is dead."
But he would have none of that. Raising his hands in the air again, he called out to the energies around him, drawing in all essence into himself. He conjured a giant, black phoenix. It opened its mouth to create a dark vortex, sucking up the banshee, stripping her of all power. And within seconds, she was destroyed beyond recovery.
"Kael!"
It had to be Sylvanas's voice. But he could not make it out. He was so tired he just wanted to lie down and sleep. Casting a last look at Vashj--a great friend who saved his life, he joined her in her slumber.
Meris was destroyed.
But what of Elma now?
Alanen was prepared to resist Ner'zhul's spell, yet he had no idea how painful it would be. He dropped his sword and clutched his hands on both ears, trying his desperate best to block out Ner'zhul's voice in his head that was tormenting him, tugging at his sanity.
"You...bastard..." the pain was obvious on his pallid face.
"Take it easy on yourself," Ner'zhul only replied coldly. "I have not expected you to hold on for so long." And it was true. In spite of the obviously failing body, Alanen's will was still quite intact. He reached into the human's mind, retrieving his memories.
Memories of the strange encounter in the woods a year ago when he had been so bothered about the brutal deaths of Meris and Jon. He walked into the night forest alone to rethink what he had done when something interrupted and caught his attention.
"Who are you?" Alanen had asked.
A ghostly voice spoke, his words in riddles, "I am your darkness."
The spectre showed himself to Alanen, mirroring the human, copying his image, reaching into, raking his soul. He should have fallen that night...but the ghostlike shrank back when Elma appeared out of thin air--one who appeared to be a totally harmless child. She suddenly radiated with dark energies so strong, so threatening and cold, that she drove the phantom back, away from her father.
Alanen had seen this--and more than once. But it had not registered in his mind--until then, when Frostmourne touched him. Recognition dawned on his face, and he stared at Ner'zhul in pure horror, "How...did you know¡Kthis? Was this why...you had to capture her?"
And in the dark grove where Alanen battled the hundred banshees that hung themselves on trees, he had, again, almost fallen under their deafening wails. The crazed banshees struck on his soul mortal blows, tearing at his quintessence until he was sure he would fall apart.
But it was Elma who held him despite the danger, he remembered clearly now, how she clutched her little hands around his muscular arm. Her knuckles had been white though her green eyes were composed. She told him not to be afraid.
It was she who supplied him with enough power to stay alive, she who kept their enemies at bay.
He watched in disbelief as the banshees charged at them but never reached them. Instead they hit an invisible shield that wrapped protectively around the father and child and were rebounded. The ghosts had not been able to kill them. After shrieking furiously for some time, they left.
It was Elma who had been guarding her father all along, though unknowingly.
She led him back home, when he was certain he could not have made it on his own.
And then she was exhausted from her use of power and fell into deep sleep. That was when Meris the banshee overpowered her and took her away from home.
Ner'zhul gave him no direct answer, and instead said, "Do not resist me. You will fall tonight, and you will die alone. But if you dedicate your daughter to me now, I will let you see her when you breathe your last."
"No!" Alanen screamed--his voice now filled with agony. "Never!"
Sylvanas's black arrow cut through the darkened battlefield. Ner'zhul rolled out of the way and it thrashed harmlessly down on the ruined stairways of the keep. But the Dark Lady and Varimathras advanced.
Sunlight had left the battleground completely. There was no moon. No stars.
The lich king abandoned Alanen, who slumped lifelessly to the floor at once. He cast a death spell against Sylvanas whose loyal dreadlord enfolded his own wings about her, protecting her from the nasty effect of the magic. She returned a few magic arrows.
"Ner'zhul!" Alanen shouted through his pain, attempting in everyway to get back up on his feet and failing. "Ner'zhul! I want...my daughter...back!"
"So that you can continue using her as your human shield?" the lich king asked with evident mockery in his tone.
"No," the human replied. "Because...I love her."
Ner'zhul sent sizzling death energies at him, and he collapsed with a cry, not rising again.
Varimathras cast rain of fire, but Ner'zhul carefully weaved through each falling comet, approaching the dreadlord until he was close enough to drive the runeblade into his gut. Sylvanas tried to get her lieutenant to move aside, but was not quick enough. The dreadlord crumbled.
"Another few more minutes, Dark Lady," the lich king laughed again. "You'd find yourself standing alone. Would you leave your friends to die? Or are you already too consumed in your hatred to care about anyone any more?" He was giving her the chance to escape, to walk away from battle--giving himself another reason to scorn her.
Sylvanas then realized she had no choice. She was reluctant to give up on what she was so close to achieving--she needed but push her warriors a little more. But since he put it this way...
Her lips moved in a mass teleport spell, and she brought every one of her allies away--Vashj's remains included.
*~*~*~*
"Our king would be all right with sufficient rest," said a blood elven priest when he emerged from Kael's room. "We have treated whatever side-effects of the poison and dressed his wounds."
Sylvanas breathed a sigh of relief. If it was not for Vashj's sudden change of heart, she could have lost Kael forever...
"Milady, your shoulder is still bleeding..."
It was then Sylvanas cast her own shoulder a look. The dead footman's blade left there a cut, but she had been through much worse pain to notice the minor wound.
"It might get inflamed if it is not treated," the healer insisted on tending to it--it was his instinct that he could not turn away from any signs of pain.
She changed the subject before he had the chance to try again, "How's Alanen?"
The priest sighed.
The Dark Lady set foot quietly into the guestroom where Alanen had been placed. The human laid sprawled on the bed, breathing in shallow gasps. The war wounds left by Frostmourne's blade were not deep, but they were eating away his life. He was failing, slowly and painfully, just as Sylvanas had when she was first struck by the cursed runeblade--when she was a ranger general trying to defend Silvermoon from its inevitable fall.
In his eyes, she could see extreme pain--mental pain.
When he was now lying in ruins, his thought was still on that little girl he failed to save though he had already tried and given everything.
"Alanen..." she whispered his name, placing a cool hand on his forehead. She still hated him for all he had done to her, but it was hard to ignore his pain when she could feel it in her mind, so real and so intense--she felt as if she was looking at herself dying three years back then.
"Be at peace," she knew her words could do little to make him feel better. She had no power to heal him, and watching him dying had not brought her ecstasy she thought she would feel. Out of impulse, she made him a vow, "I'd get Elma out safe. I swear this on my life and everything that lives. I won't let Ner'zhul win!"
Alanen seemed to want to say something else, but he died before he could make a sound.
*~*~*~*
Coming up next: Naw, we don't need a teaser!! But since I'm evil I'll stick 2 up here. #1 Huge hint. Elma is gaining significance with each chapter. Shocked to find that she's not just another little bothersome defenceless brat who wants to play tag with everyone--and that she'd soon evolve into an object of conflict??! There are so many missing pieces about her power...because she simply wasn't that important in my first draft. But since I want to...mumble muffle mmm *shuts up*. #2 Kael finally said 'happy birthday' to me after 2 months have lapsed and can you believe he ran away before I could grab him and give him a kiss??! Grrr. He'll know what it is like to incur my wrathful...obsession in the next chapter.
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J NoBo:
Hope you enjoyed the super long 8000-word-chapter! R.G. is coming to an end! I have NO idea how many more chapters till the absolute end, but the number would be between 1 to 3 O_o. Possibly 14!! I'm never terribly good at math. Despite of my final exams which I never quite care about, I'll try to wrap it up before Xmas, when I will be away from this world...I mean, away from Canada and won't have Microsoft Words to help me.
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TequilaMan: I WISH Blizzard would hire me and I could kick Arthas ass...but it looks like they still prefer that traitorous human prince over me. Too bad for them I won't even send them my resume (ha!). Thanks for your compliments anyways.
San: Kael fan, are ya? Don't blame ya. Mwahahaha I'm so cruel. I didn't free Elma. Perhaps she'll still be of some use to...me?! Definitely agree with you on the elder brother/sister issue ^_^. At least I've done my best to twist my brother's mind mwahahaha. As for To Honour...since you asked about it, I haven't abandoned it. It just suddenly became so extremely 'Sylv-centred' (ah-ha. An absolute Syl nut wondering why O_o) I've decided to re-release it after RG is completed. It'll still be KaelxJaina, though it will no longer be a pure romance fic. I admit it now I'm never good at those things!
Lord Cirenmas: Thanks ^_^.
Jackal2332: Definitely I'm spending too much time and effort on this story, which means sacrificing my schoolwork sometimes...er, don't try this at home. Thanks for reading ^_^. Well, I'd say there isn't a lot, if any, contact between the citizens of Quel'dara and the Azeroth humans. Quel'dara is really a hidden city located south of Khaz Modan. Illidan knows that the humans won't exactly welcome him into their territory, while the Blood Elves prefer to stay in hiding--and also because of Kael's massacre in the Dalaran prison, the humans might not want him near.
wingchumonZero: *agrees* Yay! Kael gotta do some magic! I always love badass mages.
shadowblack: Aaaay!! Thanks. I'd love to see your Warcraft fic up here on ff.net soon ^_^. Yup, I definitely did take into account the fact that heroes cannot be possessed by banshees of any form, but I don't really like to think in terms of hero or non-hero in my story. Instead I prefer judging a character by his or her strength of mind. Heroes, so to speak, have stronger willpower. Vashj had undergone enough 'torturing' before her encounter with Meris, and her will was drained--which gave the banshee an opportunity to possess her. Besides, Ner'zhul obviously knew how to make a Naga submit (in my story...I don't know about the canon but I guess he does if he's omniscience). By instructing Meris to first disconnect Vashj from her four souls, it became a task so much easier. BTW, I do get tired of male units, and I'm so glad they put more female characters in there e.g. Sylvanas!! and Jaina--my two absolute favs. But War2 male elven archers have such a sexy voice...never mind. Dirty version...of what, you asked. You know that I'm a very nasty Kael fangirl and the biggest fan of KaelxSyl (since I'm the first if not only writer doing this). *grins evilly* must I make everything so clear???