Making Port
"What do you mean they've all left!?" Anasterian yelled, standing up from his chair at the Convocation table and narrowing his eyes at Dael'Thaelas. "You had one job and that was to watch the Amani, not let them leave the forests and regroup with their sister tribe!"
Vandellor looked over to Lord Sunblade and then over to his King. "Is this really such a bad thing, my King?" He asked.
"I'm with Vandellor." Belo'vir said. "They've tried again and again to breach our defenses and take Silvermoon and the Sunwell from us, yet the Gatekeeper has held them back."
"It's a problem because with the combined might of Zul'Aman and Jintha'Alor, they may just have enough hexxers and priests to break through the magical barriers that protect us." Anasterian told them, looking over to Dael'Thaelas who kept his composure despite being in the crossfire of his King's ire. "Send scouts to the Hinterlands and keep an eye on them."
Dael'Thaelas bowed deeply. "My King." He said, not risking anything and being respectful to him and the Convocation. "I'll send two parties to make sure we don't have any surprises."
"Make sure we don't." Anasterian told him, waving away the Ranger Lord and looking over to the Convocation in front of him. "Belo'vir, how are our defenses after your mages had a look at them?"
"Stronger than they were." Belo'vir told him, catching a glimpse of Dael'Thaelas as he left the council hall. "I'm sure the Gatekeeper can hold them back if they attack, but I wouldn't rely on just that."
"I could train some of our more ambitious priests to become fighters." Vandellor suggested, looking around at the rest of the Convocation. "The humans have fighters called Paladins as we know. They were priests but trained with sword and hammer and became formidable fighters whilst still using their priest abilities to both heal and attack."
"That plan is great and all, but you don't know how to fight." Belo'vir said.
"True, which is why I was going to suggest Captain Brightwing to help with that." Vandellor said, looking over to his King. "We could have our own unit of Paladins. The Light is effective against the undead as well as fire, so we could have them as our front lines against the undead in Lordaeron should they ever turn their attention towards us again."
"Who will lead this group?" Anasterian asked, slowly walking back and forth around the council hall. "I presume you have someone in mind to be the leader of the Paladins?"
"My daughter Liadrin." Vandellor said, watching Anasterian turn to face him. "She's more than capable of leading, she does for most of my classes anyway. And I believe she has the drive to train harder than anyone else we pick, so there's no need to worry about her falling behind any targets or objectives we have."
"Have you discussed this with her?" Anasterian asked him, watching Vandellor nod his head.
"She proposed the idea herself, but felt I would have better sway in court that she would." Vandellor smiled when he saw the King smile.
"Very well. Tell her to pick out twenty of the best volunteers. I don't want to force this sudden switch in role on our priests unless they want to do this." Anasterian took a couple steps towards his chair, stumbling forward a little and forcing everyone at the table to stand up from their chairs. "I'm fine." He told them, holding up his hand when he saw Vandellor more than anyone grow concerned. "I wasn't paying attention."
"That's not good." Belo'vir whispered to the High Priest on his left, glancing over to him. "I have known him for centuries and not once has he lost balance like that."
"I'll see if I can do some tests on him in private, away from prying eyes." Vandellor told him, sitting back down on his chair when the King returned to the table and sat down. "Anything else, my King?" He asked, forcing a change of subject.
"Not that I am aware of, though don't go too far." He told them, watching them stand up but not leave the table. "We should be getting word soon on the Ranger-General and the Prince's arrival on Kalimdor. The messenger should will return to them if we have any questions or tasks of our own for them."
"My King." The Convocation all bowed to Anasterian and began to walk out the room, leaving Anasterian alone.
"How long have you known?" Vandellor asked, standing near the King who looked over to him.
"What do you mean?" He asked, watching the High Priest fold his arms and stare at him, knowing Vandellor was smarter than the others members. "About a year now."
"Does anyone else know?" Vandellor now asked, leaning against the table he stood behind.
"Dael'Thaelas knows, but that's it." Anasterian told him.
"Do you know what it is?" Vandellor watched him nod, waiting for his answer.
"Old age, I'm afraid." Anasterian told him, watching sadness slowly creep onto Vandellor's face. "I don't suppose you have a cure for that, do you?"
The High Priest smiled sadly at him. "I'm afraid not. How long do you have left?"
"By my guess, a decade?" Anasterian said, trying to convince himself that he had that long. "You could run a few tests if you want, though it does run the risk of giving me less time than I think I have."
Vandellor smiled a little wider and bowed his head. "I'll leave you to it then, my King. Wouldn't want to give you any more bad news today."
Anasterian smiled back at him. "Thank you, Vandellor. And if you can, don't tell anyone else."
Vandellor shook his head. "I won't, my King. I'll leave that to you."
"This place his hot and dry." Athrodar muttered, placing his hand between the sun and his eyes. "And really bright. Why did we set anchor here?" He asked, looking over to Sylvanas who was hiding in the one bit of shade she could find.
"Because it's got a goblin town nearby that we can trade with if we need anything." Sylvanas told him, noticing Anya slow sneak up on him and keeping her mouth shut. "We won't stay here long, maybe a couple of hours here and in the town then we're moving to find a place with trees and water that isn't sea water."
"Brilliant..." Athrodar muttered, seconds before being taken off his feet and pinned to the hot, desert floor. "Ow, hot, hot!" He tried to sit up but was kept down by Anya who grinned at him. "Please, this floor is burning my back."
"Tough." Anya said, giggling at his struggle. "I have you for two hours, courtesy of the General and her deal with me."
"Before you drag him away to whatever cave you're going to hide him in for two hours, let me talk to him for a few seconds." Sylvanas said, watching Anya pout and climb off Athrodar. "I'll make sure she never gets a single minute like this again once it's all over, okay?" She smiled when she saw his grumpy face. "Good, you heard me. Now one more thing." She leaned down and kissed him lightly, stroking her fingers across his cheek lightly when they broke apart. "I love you."
"Love you too." He whispered back to her, groaning when Anya pounced on him again. "I dislike you a lot." He said, looking at Anya who was too busy hugging him.
"I'll make you love your little sister like a big brother should." Anya told him,hugging him tightly whilst he remained on the hot Barrens ground.
"Melonara, since Athrodar is busy for a couple of hours, I need you to scout ahead." Sylvanas said, looking over to her stand in Scout Captain. "Take Velonara with you, she took Viraleth's place whilst she was in your company but now you and Athrodar are here, you'll be my new scouts until Viraleth returns."
Melonara bowed to the General. "I'll find her and set off now."
"Good, thank you." Sylvanas said, looking over to the rest of her company. "Clea, set up patrol groups for camp tonight and in the future. We'll need to stay alert on this continent until we are certain we are safe."
Clea bowed her head now. "I'll have it done within the hour, General." She said, taking a couple steps before stopping when she saw Anya and Athrodar in the distance. "Is Athrodar included in the patrols?" She asked, looking back at Sylvanas.
The General shook her head. "He'll be busy with scouting this continent for us. Same with Melonara and Velonara if they need a third member."
Clea nodded her head in understanding. "Alright, I can still make it work."
Sylvanas looked over to Kael'Thas, Jaina and the humans they were escorting, watching them make their way towards the nearby goblin town of Ratchet. "Show me the timetable of the patrols in an hour, we'll be in the goblin town for a couple of hours yet, but it won't hurt to have them keeping guard whilst we wait."
"Understood, General." Clea said, watching Sylvanas leave to follow the Prince and humans as well as Ranger Lord Lor'themar and his company towards Ratchet.
"I've never been one for accepting the hospitality of goblins." Sylvanas muttered, walking beside Lor'themar who let out a small laugh.
"I agree with you there, General." He whispered back to her. "Thankfully we're here for a couple hours before leaving." He looked around for Athrodar and noticed he was missing from their entourage. "Lieutenant Sunblade preoccupied with something?"
"In a way, yes. He's in a bit of a bind right now, but should join us in a couple hours." Sylvanas told him.
"So when we leave this place." Lor'themar corrected, getting a laugh from the General. "He spoke to Anya, didn't he?"
"He's been told not to, but he doesn't seem to listen." Sylvanas said, getting a laugh from Lor'themar now. "Hopefully he will learn from his mistakes now."
"You've picked quite the mate." Lor'themar told her, watching her smile when she thought about Athrodar. "One that I can see you are very fond of, especially when you think about him."
"The last five days on that ship has allowed me to open up to him more than I ever thought I would." Sylvanas placed a hand on the necklace her sister gave her. "He actually wanted to know things too, not that I expected him not to, but unlike most of the nobles who were trying to win my affection, he really did seem to care when I told him anything."
Lor'themar smiled when he saw Sylvanas keep the smile on her face whilst her mind was focused on Athrodar. "I'm happy for you, Sylv." He said, watching her focus turn to him with slight curiosity.
"Since when did you start calling me Sylv again?" She asked, hearing him chuckle.
"Since you have clearly loosened up a little and aren't as solely focused on work." He told her, watching her smile again.
"We don't have to tell anyone that though, right? I still have a reputation to uphold, you know."
"I'll take it to my grave." Lor'themar said, grinning at the General. "Though seeing you like this is refreshing"
"Then take it in." Sylvanas told him. "Once we're out on the field, it's serious Ranger-General mode again."
"Has he seen you like that?" Lor'themar asked her, watching Sylvanas begin to think.
"I don't know... I think he saw me during the defense of Tranquillien, but we weren't exactly in the same company, so he probably didn't notice whilst he done his own thing."
"Aren't you a little worried the General side of you may scare him a little?" Lor'themar asked her, watching Sylvanas slow down a little.
"No... He knows what I am." Sylvanas said, looking over to Lor'themar. "He'll understand what I do is because I'm the General and that it's never anything personal unless I tell you it is."
"You seem confident in that, so I'll leave you to it." Lor'themar told her, walking beside the General once more the moment they entered Ratchet.
"So Lord Sunblade has lost our ancient enemy and now he has asked me to step in and help?"
"Your grandfather wants you to put a hold on your personal crusade against this family and to help us keep an eye on the Amani." Aerinan told his son, visiting him at their family home.
"What do I get out of helping that old fool?" Tahnir asked, glancing over to his wife Illana who was pretending not to listen whilst she made lunch for the three of them.
"That's something you will have to take up with him." Aerinan told him. "After you've returned from the Hinterlands with information on the Amani we can use."
"Such as?" Tahnir asked his father now.
"If they plan to attack, what they're doing in Jintha'Alor and how many trolls are actually there." Aerinan pulled out a folded piece of parchment, handing to his son. "You will also be told to report back when the Convocation think they have everything they need to know."
"So potentially, I'm in the Hinterlands for months until the Convocation get the same information again and again until they're bored of it?" Tahnir asked his father now, watching him nod his head and letting out a sigh at his response. "Fine... And what will you and Lord Sunblade be doing?"
"Preparing the defenses here in case of an Amani attack or the undead trying their luck again against us." Aerinan told him, watching his son nod his head now. "They've arrived on Kalimdor by the way. About an hour ago now." He then told his son, watching Tahnir smile a little.
"At least they made it there unharmed." Tahnir said, standing up and stretching before making his way over to Illana and helping her prepare the food. "I'll leave in a couple minutes." He said, though it was mostly to Illana who smiled and kissed him on the cheek.
"Be safe." Illana whispered to him, kissing him on the cheek again. "Can't leave annoying your grandfather all down to me, so I'll need you to return to me."
"You know I'd never leave it up to only you to annoy Dael'Thaelas." Tahnir whispered back to her, smiling when she took hold of his hand. "I'll be back in a few months, then we can go about being the black sheep of the family again."
"Good." Illana said with a laugh, pressing her head against his. "I'll be waiting patiently here for your return then. No doubt Larysa won't visit either, she's never liked me anyway."
"My mother has more or less forgotten I've existed, so that doesn't surprise me." Tahnir told her, looking over to his father. "He will visit though, I'll make sure he does."
"If Athrodar were here, I wouldn't be worried as much, because he can always calm me down." Illana told him, looking back to Aerinan too. "I suppose it's a good opportunity to grow closer to your father again before Larysa and Dael'Thaelas began to drag him away from us."
"Maybe you'll make him see that my mother and grandfather aren't to be fully trusted." Tahnir whispered to her.
"Ready to leave?" Aerinan asked, watching his son nod and kiss his wife once more. "I've sent word to your company, they should be in Tranquillien waiting for you."
"I suppose this is it then." Tahnir said, extending his hand out to his father, having him shake him when he saw the gesture. "Look in on her, please? I wouldn't normally ask you to do this, but since Athrodar isn't here I have nobody else to turn to. The Dawnstrider family will also look in on her, but she will want to talk to family too at times."
Aerinan nodded his head slowly. "I'll visit when I can." He told him, watching his son smile.
"Thank you, father." Tahnir said, stepping forward and hugging him. "Off to the Hinterlands then."
"Good luck." Aerinan said, watching him smile and bow his head before leaving to make his way to Tranquillien.
"There might be a problem." Melonara said, reporting in to Sylvanas shortly after returning from her scout mission.
"What is it?" Kael'thas asked, being present along with Jaina and Lor'themar.
"There are orcs on this continent and not too far from us." Melonara told them. "Maybe thirty minutes away, an hour if we're lucky."
"What are they doing on Kalimdor?" Lor'themar asked, looking over to the other three with him. "The last I heard, they were in internment camps around the human kingdoms. How did they get here?"
"They probably followed us." Jaina suggested, looking over to Kael'thas. "I just don't know how. We left from Quel'Thalas, they couldn't have seen us until we went near the coasts of Lower Lordaeron."
"Maybe..." Kael'thas muttered, thinking over the situation. "This prophet may have also spoken to them and told them to come here too." He suggested, looking over to the General who looked to be thinking too. "Something on your mind, General?"
"Just thinking of a strategy to use should they pose any sort of threat." Sylvanas told them, looking over to Lor'themar. "They're heavy hitters, but they're slow. We can take out a group or two with ease, but if they have similar numbers to us, we will have trouble. They can take five or so arrows before slowing down enough to get a clean kill, so as long as we find small groups of no more than ten, maybe fifteen, we won't have any problems."
"They weren't in an army." Melonara told them. "They looked like hunting groups, though if they can find anything out here with enough meat on its bones to feed the rest of them, then I'd say that's an accomplishment."
"When do you want to move out?" Lor'themar asked them, though it was mostly aimed at Jaina and Kael'thas.
"Five minutes?" The Prince asked, looking over to Jaina who nodded her head. "Get your companies ready then, we're leaving in five minutes."
Both Sylvanas and Lor'themar as well as Melonara bowed their heads to the Prince, leaving him and Jaina alone whilst they went to get their ranger companies ready to leave.
Sylvanas looked around for her company, trying to find one elf in particular. "Clea." She yelled, watching a ranger run over to her and smiling up at the General.
"General." Clea said, saluting to her.
"Get everyone ready, we're moving out. Take Anya away from Athrodar too, if she complains tell her the two hours are up."
"And if she complains?" Clea asked.
"Then tell her to complain to me. We'll see if she has a problem then." Sylvanas told her, watching Clea smirk at her. "Thank you again for the detailed patrol list. It's really good."
Clea smiled brightly at her, feeling warmth from the compliment. "It was nothing, General."
Waiting on the outskirts of Ratchet, Sylvanas watched as Lor'themar gathered his company and looking over to her company that were almost ready too, smiling when she saw Melonara, Anya and Clea mess around with a tired looking Athrodar. "Better go save him." She whispered to herself, making her way over to them.
"You just had me pinned on the floor for two hours, can't you leave me alone for at least five minutes?" Athrodar asked, feeling Anya pull on his arm whilst both Clea and Melonara poked and prodded him.
"Hey, a word?" Sylvanas asked, standing in front of Athrodar who looked relieved to see her.
"Anything to get away from the three of them." He replied, following Sylvanas away from the rest of the company.
"Clea, come get me when they start to move out." Sylvanas said, looking over to the ranger who nodded once. "Thank you."
Once they walked away and were alone, Sylvanas watched Athrodar walk to the closest bit of shade and laughed lightly. "She must have kept you out in the sun the entire time."
"She did and now I never want to be in the sun again." Athrodar told her, hearing her chuckle and narrowing his eyes at the General. "Glad you find it funny."
Sylvanas made her way over to him and placed a hand gently on his cheek. "I'm sorry, but I hope you have learnt from your mistake. Never trust Anya."
"Oh I have definitely learned from that mistake." Athrodar told her, closing his eyes and leaning against her hand when she placed her second one on his other cheek. "Longest two hours of my life." He whispered to her.
"Make the most of this time with me then." Sylvanas whispered back to him, leaning forward and pressing her head against his. "The moment we leave here, I will be a lot less tolerable to the games you like to play." She saw him open his eyes and smiled a little at him. "I won't stop you from occasionally teasing me, but not in front of the others. The others will also say I've gone 'Ranger-General mode' but that's just their nickname for what I'm like when I'm on duty."
Athrodar smirked and looked her in the eyes. "Cute." He whispered, hearing her sigh. "Dragging me over here to make sure I understand why you'll be less fun in the next few weeks or months." He placed his hand over one of hers and moved his head a little to kiss her, having Sylvanas close the remaining distance and kiss him lightly.
"When we get moving, I'm going to need you to take Melonara and maybe my scout Velonara and scout ahead. There are orcs here, Melonara and Velonara both saw them, so I will need you to keep an eye on them and make sure they aren't coming our way." Sylvanas looked at Athrodar and waited for him to agree, frowning when she saw he looked angry? Upset? She couldn't tell, but he wasn't exactly thrilled to hear about the orcs. "Athrodar?"
"The orcs killed my great grandmother." Athrodar told her, clenching his fists tightly but also not noticing the lone tear that rolled down his cheek. "Only my family know this... But I was with her the day she died."
"Athrodar..." Sylvanas whispered watching a couple more tears roll down his cheek. "A-are you sure you want to talk about this? Y-you don't have to."
Athrodar shook his head. "It's about time I spoke about this to someone else." He told her, wiping his eyes with the back of his hands. "I was in her company for that year and we were visiting her childhood home for a week, not knowing the Amani and the Orcs were going to attack us. I don't remember much before the attack other than she was happy to spend time with me. When they did attack, I was fighting by her side for as long as I could, but I was hit on the side of my head by something hard. I think it was the pummel of a hammer or axe or something."
Sylvanas watched him place a hand on his head and move it through his hair as if he was searching for something, looking where his fingers were resting when he found it. "Is this..?"
"Where I was hit. I was knocked unconscious but I was bleeding. I think they must have thought I died because when I came to, I didn't have any other cuts or bruises on me." He closed his eyes tightly, placing a hand over his heart and gripping onto his tunic tightly, feeling his heart constrict tightly. "I went to... To look for survivors." He shook his head, feeling Sylvanas place a hand on his cheek.
"Shh, you don't have to tell me any more." She told him softly, watching him shake his head.
"I've started, I might as well finish." He told her, taking a deep breath to calm himself. "I found her with two of her rangers, surrounded by trolls and orcs. Nobody was alive in the room, though I could still hear fighting in the village." He felt Sylvanas hug him, placing his arms around her shortly after. "She fought to her last breath, I know she did." He whispered, holding onto her tightly and quietly crying into her shoulder. "I still see her... Whenever a ranger I serve with dies beside me, I only see her. I-I remember their names and faces for a few seconds u-until hers is the only one I can s-see."
Sylvanas felt her heart tighten in her chest, holding onto him tightly and hearing him cry into her shoulder. "Shh... You don't have to say anything else." She whispered to him, kissing him on the temple and not knowing a couple tears of her own had fallen from her eyes. "My mother died during that war." She told him, feeling him pull back from their hug and looking him in the eyes. "She and her rangers were ambushed by the Amani and the Orcs on a routine patrol. Many of them died with my mother and shortly after that, they moved on to Windrunner village and killed my brother..." She smiled a little at him and felt him wipe a tear from her cheek. "I suppose I just shared something else about me with you."
Athrodar chuckled lightly, stepping forward and hugging her again. "Not what I had in mind, but I'll take it." He whispered to her, feeling her hug him tightly. "I love you."
"I love you too." Sylvanas whispered back to him, feeling a lot closer to him now that she told him something as personal as that.