The Stench Of Death

"What do you mean you're going south?"

"It means I'm going south, Liadrin." Vandellor said, looking his adopted daughter in the eyes and smiling at her. "And you're coming with me. They have rangers and mages down south, but no healers. Apparently Belo'vir isn't as good at planning things as he thinks he is."

Liadrin began to get giddy with excitement, always enjoying the front lines and being in the mix of things, even if she was just healing the wounded. "When do we leave?"

"Soon" Vandellor said with a laugh, taking hold of her arm when she began to leave before he was even ready. "Hold on. I still need you to do something."

"What?" Liadrin asked, looking up at her adoptive father.

Vandellor smiled at her again. "I need you to gather another twenty or so priests to take south with us. The two of us can't heal everyone, even if you believe you're the best priestess in the world."

"I'll get twenty of the best!" Liadrin said loudly and with a lot of excitement, running off towards where most of the priests and priestesses train.

"It doesn't have to be twenty, it can be more!" Vandellor yelled, smiling and shaking his head when he saw her run up a flight of steps and almost trip over. "And be careful!"

"Are you sure they won't get through here?" Athrodar asked, looking at his father who was looking up at the great elf gate. "Dad?"

"The General believes the gate will hold." Tahnir said, looking over to his son who had now turned his attention towards the elf gate. "So I have to believe it will hold too."

"I'm going to go talk to him." Sylvanas said, standing far enough away to not draw attention to her constant focus on Athrodar, but not far enough away to not make him out in the crowd of rangers surrounding him and his dad. "I am. I'm going to talk to him, tell him everything and we will live happily ever after."

"And you believe that will happen?" Viraleth asked, standing beside the General with her arms crossed and an eyebrow raised.

Sylvanas sighed and closed her eyes, lowering her head. "No..." She turned her attention to the ranger beside her. "Has he figured it out yet that you're only in his unit to spy on him for me?"

Viraleth began to smirk. "Nice to see you still don't trust my ability to keep things a secret."

Sylvanas groaned and pressed her head against Viraleth's shoulder. "I'm sorry, I do trust you. I'm overreacting, I know, but I haven't exactly been this close to him since this whole thing started."

Viraleth's smirk turned into a wide grin. "You're nervous."

"I'm not nervous!" Sylvanas exclaimed, making several nearby rangers look over to their General. "It's just... I made a mistake and threw all my eggs in one basket and if this arrangement doesn't work out, I am scared I will die alone."

"I'll pretend our friendship for the past several decades wasn't a part of that and that you still do love me like a sister." Viraleth began to grin even wider now when she watched her General roll her eyes. "Look, I've been in his company for a few years and he loves me." She held up her hand when she saw Sylvanas raise an eyebrow at her. "Not like that. I'm his third in command and if he loves me in his unit and I hope you still love me, I could be the one thing you two connect over if things are dire..."

"So you're saying our only topic of conversation will be my Chief Scout who I placed there so she can spy on him?" Sylvanas let out a nervous laugh. "Great... That's filled me with confidence."

Viraleth let out a small laugh, loving that the leader of the Rangers and the youngest ever Ranger-General in history, was worried about a Lieutenant she could command to go anywhere, saying no to her advances if she ever made one. "You know, I am so grateful that you came to me with this. We get to sit back, relax, and watch you go into a meltdown whenever you have slight doubts about your future with him."

Sylvanas groaned and placed her head in her hands. "Please stop."

"Fine, fine." Viraleth looked over to Athrodar and Tahnir again. "I suppose I should report in. He's actually really nice, especially to any of the civilians who we come across and need our help." She took a couple steps forward, glancing over her shoulder to Sylvanas when she had one more thing to tell her. "Anyone would be lucky to be with him."

Sylvanas began to smile, watching Viraleth walk away from her again. "Thank you, Viraleth."

"Any time." She said, falling back into the character of a normal ranger and not the best friend of the Ranger General. Once she stood beside both Lieutenant and Captain Sunblade, she bowed her head to the pair of them when they looked over to her. "The General wants us to scout near the first gate. We have to stay there too until the enemy is within our sights and then we just hold them off for as long as possible before retreating back here." Viraleth looked over to Tahnir who sighed, smiling a little at him. "I'll keep him safe if you're worried, Captain."

"Thank you, Viraleth." Tahnir said, placing a hand on her shoulder and looking over to his son. "Don't do any unnecessary risks."

"I promise I won't risk anyone's lives unless it's necessary. And if I have to, I will be the first to risk my life." Athrodar saw his father was a little uncomfortable at the prospect of him laying his life on the line if it came down to it, smiling warmly at him to try and calm his nerves. "This is what I do, dad. I am the Lieutenant of your Scout Vanguard unit, I would be a bad leader if I didn't put my name forward."

"Your mother would kill me if she knew I was allowing you to say such things with no arguments." Both father and son laughed, stepping forward and hugging each other tightly. "Just promise me you'll try to return in one piece?"

Athrodar nodded. "I promise I will try." He glanced over to Viraleth who was waiting for him. "And I'm sure Viraleth and Melonara will try to get me to return too."

"I don't exactly want to face whatever Lord Sunblade has in store for our unit if you don't." Viraleth muttered, getting another laugh from Tahnir. "I will try my best to return him to you in one piece, Captain."

"Thank you." Tahnir said, smiling at the Chief Scout. "Why the General gave you to us and didn't keep you is still a mystery to me."

"Perhaps it's because I'm best suited to scouting. Only the General really knows, but that's my best guess." Viraleth told them, looking back to Athrodar. "Should I gather the unit?"

"Yes. Thank you, Viraleth."

"The Ranger-General and her Farstriders are in Tranquillien. Belo'vir and his mages arrived shortly after and Vandellor along with Liadrin and twenty other priests have just left to heal any of the injured and help in the defense."

"Thank you, Larysa." Anasterian said, watching her bow her head. "Despite what he said, you don't have to keep my updated every thirty minutes. I'm sure you have better things to do than wait around with your King."

Larysa smiled a little and shook her head. "In all honesty, my King, I don't. And since the rest of my family are at Tranquillien with the Ranger-General, I have nobody else to talk to."

Anasterian frowned and tilted his head a little at the elf. "What about your daughter-in-law. What was her name? The one that married Tahnir."

"Illana?" Larysa asked, watching her King nod his head. "She's okay, we just don't have the same interests. I am around politicians all day whilst she is... A Jewelcrafter? I think?"

Anasterian began to laugh a little. "It's been centuries, yet you always remind me on why Dael'Thaelas chose you to marry his son. You're too much like him, keeping your nose in the goings on of Silvermoon, working hard to climb the ranks and to become more reputable. But at the same time, you're not too focused on what is happening with your family."

Larysa smiled a little, though she did feel a little guilty at the same time. "I've just been busy. Tahnir knows that, as he is busy too and visits when he can." She looked back to her King who was looking at his throne. "I'm sure it's the same for you and Kael'thas."

Anasterian's smile faded when his son's name was brought up. "It's not. I think of him often, how I failed in keeping his mother alive. How I can't even keep him at home for more than a few weeks before he goes back to Dalaran and those humans." He looked over to Larysa who didn't know what to say. "I'm sorry, I know this wasn't what you wanted to hear."

Larysa shook her head and smiled at him. "It's fine, my King. Dael'Thaelas has also left me with you so you can talk about what's on your mind, as well as anything political."

"Ah, see. I know Dael'Thaelas and if you are here for that, then he wants something." The King began to laugh to himself. "What did he tell you to try to get out of me?" He saw Larysa had remained silent, smiling a little wider and chuckling again. "Oh, I get it. It's something big, isn't it?"

"Not in terms of size." Larysa told her King. "But it does have something to do with the Ranger-General and my son, Tahnir."

"Is he still standing in the way of that arrangement?" Anasterian asked, surprised Dael'Thaelas hadn't gotten what he wanted, as well as the Ranger-General. "What was the reason again?"

"Grand Magister Dawnstrider has a daughter that grew up with Athrodar. Both sets of parents believe they're a perfect match, yet neither party has really done anything to get them together. Tahnir is holding off telling Athrodar and Dael'Thaelas and Sylvanas both agreed that he should make up his mind about the Grand Magister's daughter first before they reveal their arrangement."

"I'm surprised both Sylvanas and Dael'Thaelas have the patience." Anasterian commented, laughing to himself once more. "No doubt Lord Sunblade is stressed that this might not happen." He looked over to Larysa again. "Did he ever tell you that before he was born, if Athrodar was a girl, we were going to marry him off to my son?"

"I believe it has come up once or twice. Though Tahnir and Athrodar both don't know anything about it, I don't think my son would be surprised if he ever found out." Larysa looked out the window and figured it was midday. "I should get going, I have a lot of work to do. But I will stay nearby if you need me, my King."

"Before you leave, you never told me what Dael'Thaelas wanted." Anasterian watched as Larysa stopped beside the door, knowing she respected him too much to walk out. "Care to tell me?"

"He wanted you to talk to Grand Magister Dawnstrider and tell him to convince Tahnir that Thalina isn't interested, or at the very least, get him to back down from blocking the arrangement from happening." Larysa heard her King sigh and smiled a little. "You said you wanted to know."

"Trust Dael'Thaelas to come asking his King for something so petty." Anasterian sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "But I do owe him a favor after that party we will never speak of. I'll think of something, you can go now."

Larysa smiled and bowed her head. "My King."

"It's all quiet so far, though I remember the scenery looking a lot nicer." Melonara looked over to Athrodar who stood beside her atop the walls of the Elf Gate. "It was a lot more green."

"Let's hope whatever has happened here, stays in Lordaeron. I'm not sure what would happen if it begins to taint our forests." Athrodar looked back to the forests of Quel'Thalas behind him and saw a handful from his unit sleeping by trees and in tents. "The one downside to this unit is our lack of rest."

Melonara looked back to the sleeping rangers and smiled a little. "It comes with the job. Can't be the most advanced scouting unit without cutting corners here and there. One of them being our ability to rest for two months like everyone else."

"Sounds like a dream." Athrodar joked, getting a laugh from his second. "Last time I had two months was just before I was put in charge of this unit. At the time I was told to savor it and was confused, now I know why." He looked back towards Lordaeron before him. "Longest rest I've had since then is a week and a half."

"Ouch." Melonara pat her Lieutenant on the back. "Shouldn't have tried so hard to be an Officer."

Athrodar laughed this time, nodding his head in agreement. "If I had known I would get a week here, a few days there, I wouldn't have tried to get this promotion."

"I suppose that's why I like it here, in this unit. As you know, my family were wiped out by the Amani during the Second War. So I have nobody waiting for me back home. It's empty for the majority of the year, but I don't mind." Melonara smiled at her Lieutenant. "This unit and the company it belongs too are my family. So I try to take as few days off as I can."

Athrodar smiled a little but remained quiet after that. The Second War wasn't a subject he enjoyed, even if it came up in conversation to explain when something happened. He was only a recruit at the time it happened and he had lost every one of his friends he made during his time at the Farstrider Academy during that war. He even lost his Great Grandmother, Dael'Thaelas' wife, and she was someone who loved life and everyone in hers, a stark contrast to Dael'Thaelas who did love his family, but mostly if they helped further the Sunblade name.

"Remind me to take a break when you do." He eventually said, making Melonara look over to him. "I'm going to show you what we're both missing out on by staying busy. And that's an order, by the way. The next time you have a week off, so am I and I'm dragging you to all of the fun places this Kingdom has to offer."

"As long as I know that I will be safe, you have a deal."

Athrodar smiled and looked back towards Lordaeron. "I can't promise you'll be entirely safe."

Melonara sighed and shook her head. "Will I die?"

"Definitely not." Athrodar told her, looking down at her hand when she offered it to him.

"Promise?" She asked just to make sure, having Athrodar take hold of and shake her hand.

"Promise." He replied with a grin. "What I can't promise is if you'll remember the night before or not."

"Belore... You're going to make me drink, aren't you?" She now asked, hearing him laugh. "You know I am a light weight. I'm nothing like you or those guys you drink with. Especially that priest, what's his name?"

"Vilandil. And no you're not, which is what will make it fun for me."

"Great, so you will get to have fun, watching me struggle to drink one pint of ale whilst I question why I agreed to come with you." As soon as Melonara stopped talking, both her and Athrodar, followed by the other rangers of the wall with them, began to cover their noses and mouths with their masks. "Gods, what is that revolting smell?"

"That has to be them." Athrodar said, looking back to the rest of his unit and watching them all cover their mouths and noses. "Have any of the scouting parties returned?"

"All but one." Viraleth told him, making her way up to both him and Melonara. "Do you think it's them? It definitely smells like death."

"It's them." Melonara said, signalling for the rest of their unit to join them on the wall. "I'll return to the General and tell her Arthas is at the gates."

"Be quick." Athrodar told her. "With how quickly that smell hit us whilst we can't even see or hear them, there's going to be thousands of them. So they need to get ready."

Melonara nodded at him. "I'll leave with two of our quickest runners."

Viraleth watched them leave, being promoted to second in command now and Athrodar's right hand in their defense of the first gate. "How long are we expected to hold them back?"

"Until they break through the gate." Athrodar told her, watching his unit all line up either side of them and nock arrows into place on their bows. "This is a foe we've not faced before, so stay alert and if any of you find an affective way to kill them, yell it out to us, maybe we might be able to deal a good portion of damage to his army."

"And if we can't kill any?" Viraleth asked him, needing to know what to do if that possibility occurred.

"Then we retreat to Tranquillien and give them the gate." He told her. "I just hope it doesn't come to that. I want to have done something here, to have taken out a portion of his army before we retreat."

"Did she call you a bad name?" Anya asked, walking on Sylvanas' left.

"No." Sylvanas told her, walking up and down their defenses, inspecting and making sure they will hold the undead back.

"Did you call her a bad name?" Clea now asked, walking on Sylvanas' right.

"No. We didn't have any name calling." Sylvanas told the other one.

"Then I just don't get it." Anya said, coming to a halt and folding her arms. "Viraleth is, or was, your best friend. Why is she in the suicide unit?"

Sylvanas sighed and looked back to Anya, having Clea stop beside her and look back to the ranger too. "Two things. She is still my best friend, no matter how hard you two push me to name you as my best friends instead. And it's not the suicide unit, it's the Scout Vanguard unit. An elite hybrid of a scouting unit and a vanguard unit. They do what none of you have the guts to do and that's to stay out for days if not weeks on end, have next to no rest and still have the duty of being the first in a fight if and when needed."

Clea tilted her head a little and looked at her Ranger-General. "We aren't classed as your best friends?"

"Yeah!" Anya agreed. "are we not your best friends too?"

"With how you two like to corner and gang up on me in these situations, I'd say you're more annoyances than best friends." Sylvanas muttered, looking over to Clea who gasped. "What?" She asked when they both looked hurt by her comment.

"And I was going to be your mystery Winter's Veil gift giver..." Anya said quietly, hurt by her General's comments.

"It's the middle of summer." Sylvanas told her, looking over to Clea who began to make her way towards Anya, hugging her to comfort her fellow ranger. "You too, really? Midsummer Fire Festival is literally next week, you can get me a gift then."

"It won't be the same!" Anya cried, hugging Clea back who was rubbing her arm to keep her calm.

Just as Sylvanas was about to argue her case to both rangers in front of her, a messenger managed to interrupt her before she lost her mind. "High Priest Vandellor and High Priestess Liadrin have arrived with a handful of healers." They said, bowing to the Ranger-General who thanked them soon after.

"This conversation never happened." Sylvanas told the pair of them. "And believe me, I will be forgetting whatever this was."

"Big meanie." Anya muttered, getting a laugh from Clea as Sylvanas walked away with a long sigh.

Sylvanas made her way to the group of priests, shaking hands with High Priestess Vandellor when they were close enough. "I'm glad to see you here." Sylvanas said, looking over to Liadrin and the rest of the priests with them. "I had hoped the defenses will hold them off and we won't need healers, but it doesn't hurt to have you all here."

Liadrin smiled and bowed her head a little to the Ranger-General, though she was distracted by someone in the distance when they walked into her line of sight. "Excuse me." She said, smiling at Sylvanas and then Vandellor, making her way over to the elf and tapping them on the shoulder. "Hey."

"Liadrin." Tahnir said, smiling and then hugging her. "No doubt you've come over here to see Athrodar."

"I haven't seen him in months, so I was hoping to run into him here at the biggest grouping of Farstriders since the Second War." Liadrin looked around to try to find him. "He is here, right?"

Tahnir shook his head. "I'm afraid not. He and his unit have gone further south."

Liadrin sighed and lowered her head a little. "I should have expected as much. That boy loves his job so much that sometimes I think he forgets that he has friends that miss him."

"Speaking of friends." Tahnir said, making Liadrin look around when she saw his gaze was focused on a priest coming their way. "Vilandil Dawnstrider. How you have grown."

"He's not here, is he?" Vilandil asked, looking down to Liadrin who shook her head. "Busy as usual." He said with a laugh.

"How's your sister?" Tahnir asked, watching Vilandil smile.

"She's with dad a lot. He took over her class a few months ago and she has been studying so hard just to impress him." Vilandil saw Liadrin smile at the news and leaned closer to her. "She is pushing herself too hard sometimes. Apparently sleeping in for hours on end just to recover her energy."

"I'll visit her after we're done here." Liadrin said, looking up at Vilandil. "Perhaps a visit from her friend will get her to slow down."

Tahnir looked over to the gates when they began to open, watching Melonara and two over rangers walk through them and make their way towards the Ranger-General. "That's not good." He said, looking back to Liadrin and Vilandil. "Excuse me."

"We left the moment we could smell them. We think there are thousands of them and will attack the first gate any minute now." Melonara looked to the two rangers who came with her, telling them to get some food and get ready for the attack here. "Lieutenant Athrodar plans to hold them off for as long as possible and will order a retreat when the gate starts to collapse."

Sylvanas nodded and pat the ranger on the arm. "Thank you." She said, looking around the town of Tranquillien and saw the many eyes on her now, waiting for the order. "Prepare the defenses, check your quivers and report in to your Captains. The undead are at the first gate and will be here in a matter of hours." She looked over to Halduron who stood nearby. "Brightwing. Set up a scouting party and order them to keep an eye out for Lieutenant Sunblade's unit. They should be returning from the first gate minutes before Arthas and his army, if not seconds."

Halduron saluted his General. "I'll get the scouting party set up now."

Watching everyone begin to get into place, Sylvanas placed a hand over the sapphire necklace around her neck, a necklace her sister Alleria sent back to her before she went through the Dark Portal. She held it in her hand whenever she wanted to feel close to Alleria, especially before something as big and important as the upcoming attacking. "We'll be fine." She muttered to herself, closing her eyes and focusing on the necklace around her neck and in her hand. "The Gatekeeper will keep them at bay, we'll make it through this and then I will find the courage to tell him everything."

"Are you ready, General?" Dael'Thaelas asked, standing beside her.

Sylvanas removed her hand from her necklace, keeping the piece of jewellery under her tunic before turning to face him. "I am. Are you?"

Dael'Thaelas began to grin at her, overhearing her little pep talk and looking over to the many rangers getting into position. "Don't worry, once this is all over, he will be yours. I have made plans for it to happen soon, Tahnir won't be standing in your way for much longer."

Sylvanas narrowed her eyes and focused on Dael'Thaelas and his movements. "What did you do?"

"I used my connections, General. He has been a thorn in our side for too long now and it's about time we got this arrangement underway." Dael'Thaelas saw she was still sceptical about the whole thing, laughing a little at her. "I'm not going to kill him, so stop thinking that. But he will be made to step aside once we push back the traitor Prince and his army."

Sylvanas watched the Ranger Lord begin to walk away from her, suddenly feeling a little weak in the knees after that exchange. She didn't expect the deal to happen so soon, even if she told herself she would be the one to force it.

Knowing she had to focus, she shook her head to clear her thoughts and focused on the elf gate before her. "Just get through this fight and we'll think about it after."