Testing Relationships

"I'm still not sure about this." Alina said, watching the walls on the other side of Tranquillien fall to the undead's constant assault on them, followed by the massive army pouring through the breach and rushing towards them.

"We just have to hold them for a few minutes." Athrodar told the Captain, nocking an arrow in place on his bow and drawing it back when the undead grew closer. "Get ready."

As one, Alina and her company, along with Athrodar, let loose a volley of arrows into the charging undead, nocking, drawing and letting loose another volley just as they reached the walls and pulling out their swords to deal with the nerubians climbing up the side of the walls first. "I can't wait for the day these bastards are dead." Alina said, dodging a strike from the nerubian and thrusting her sword into its mouth. "I hate spiders!" She yelled, pulling out her sword and cutting off its head shortly after.

Glancing over his shoulder, Athrodar noticed the retreating elves were almost out of sight, smiling a little as he knew they only had to hold here for a minute, maybe two longer until retreating too. "Just hold out a little longer, Alina." He told her, pulling out an arrow and letting it loose into the nerubian climbing the wall in front of him. "They're almost safe."

Cutting down another nerubian, Athrodar pushed its body off the side of the wall with his foot and looked to fight the next one charging straight for him. He dodged the first attack, parried the second and thrust one of his blades in before the undead spider could get a third strike off. The second his blade stopped passing through the nerubian however, the undead spider began to collapse forward and onto him. Knowing he had to act quickly, Athrodar tried to pull the blade free from the nerubian's body but failed when it got stuck on something, letting go of the blade though it was all for nothing as both he and the now dead nerubian fell off the other side of the wall and onto the ground below, the nerubian landing on top of him as he landed on several crates of supplies outside of Tranquillien.

"Athrodar!" Alina yelled, watching both him and the dead nerubian on top of him and hoping she could see movement. When several seconds passed by, she knew she had to act quickly and done something she knew she would later regret when she reunited with the rest of them. "Fall back!" She yelled, pulling out the war horn on her belt and calling for a retreat to those who couldn't hear her over the fighting.

climbing down off the wall from the opposite side of the undead, Alina told her company to continue without her, looking over to the nerubian and Athrodar and noticing no movement. "If you're still alive, you better act like you're dead." She told him, knowing he most likely couldn't hear her and retreating with her company shortly after.

"That should be everyone." Dael'Thaelas said, looking towards the south. "Now we wait for Alina, Athrodar and company and we should be ready for the next wave to hold them back."

Kael'thas, panting beside Lord Sunblade, nodded his head and watched as the injured made their way through their ranks and towards Silvermoon in the distance. "Let's hope this plan works, otherwise we may have no chance of containing the undead if they run rampant through the forests."

Standing in the open, those who were fit enough to fight were waiting for Alina and her company to appear in the distance, albeit impatiently. A minute crept by slowly for them until the first few rangers came into view, making many of them smile and let out a sigh of relief until they saw the hordes upon hordes of undead behind them. "Get ready!" Dael'Thaelas commanded, having all the rangers present pull out arrows from their quivers, nocking them in place and drawing back on their bows. "First row, fire at will, second row, let loose your arrows after then draw swords!"

Once the first few rangers made it through the ranks of rangers, Dael'Thaelas and the first row of rangers all let loose their arrows into the pursuing undead, taking out their arrows from their quivers and getting set as the second row let loose their own volley and took down several more undead, though it seemed to be doing almost nothing to their numbers. "Loose!" Dael'Thaelas yelled again as the first row of rangers let loose their arrows. Just as the projectiles hit the undead in front of them, the second row were ordered to charge whilst the first row nocked and drew back their third and final arrows into their bows, aiming up a little to fire over their front lines and into the undead further back. "Charge!" Lord Sunblade commanded once more, charging into the fight with the first row whilst Kael'thas and a handful of mages launched several spells into the undead too.

Making her way passed the King, Alina stopped beside Kael'thas and placed a hand on his arm, making his look at the Captain and reading the look on her face as nothing but bad news. "Where is he?" Kael'thas asked when he noticed Athrodar wasn't there.

"He fell off the wall when he was attacked by three nerubians, one after another in quick succession." Alina told him. "I don't know if he's dead or alive or if the undead have got him. The last I saw him, he landed on several supply crates left outside the town with a dead nerubian on him."

Kael'thas nodded his head slowly, looking over to Lord Sunblade who was too busy fighting to have noticed. "Send a runner to Silvermoon and find a mage to make you a portal to Darnassus." Kael'thas told her, looking back to Alina. "It's time for our new allies to show their worth. We came to their aid during the Legion's invasion and dealing with the orcs, let's see if they return the favour."

Alina nodded her head and made her way towards her company who were still in retreat, aiming to set up a defence on the other side of the river splitting Quel'Thalas into two halves and sending a runner back to Silvermoon as per the King's request.

Sylvanas, Lor'themar and Halduron, along with their companies, were waiting in one of the districts they had cleared out only hours earlier, watching Alexandros talk to his officers for close for five minutes now. Something that was worrying the Ranger-General a little, especially after everything that had happened with the Scarlet Crusaders.

"I don't like this." Sylvanas said quietly to the two officers with her. "After everything that has happened, there might be a chance they turn against us too."

Lor'themar shook his head. "I don't think so." The Ranger Lord told her. "They wouldn't have fought beside us against the Scarlet Crusade if he planned to do that."

Sylvanas continued to frown, growing uncertain about what was happening and knowing she had to find out. "Wait here." She told them, making her way towards the Highlord and his officers. "What are we waiting for?" She asked the moment she stood beside them.

"We're deciding whether or not to wait here for reinforcements." Alexandros told the General, looking over to her shortly afterwards. "We are sending you all back to Silvermoon, your services are no longer required until we decide to take that floating fortress out there. We can handle it from here with whatever Lord Fordring sends to us."

"Tirion is still alive?" Sylvanas asked, knowing the names of all the great Paladins in the Alliance of old and being genuinely surprised another one was still around.

Alexandros smiled a little and nodded his head. "He is. He is the Lord of Mardenholde Keep in Hearthglen where we have stationed the Silver Hand. He and his son are working hard to try and dismantle the Scarlet Crusaders who are quickly defecting from the order, but with news of Saidan surely reaching him sometime soon as well as his death, I think it will be an easy thing to accomplish in the end."

"You're sending us back?" Sylvanas asked him for clarification. "We can help you clear the rest of the city, it's no problem."

Alexandros smiled but waved away her offer. "That's okay. We are going to hold out here for now and make the sections we have cleared out as our base of operations. Once the reinforcements from Hearthglen arrive, we can then launch attacks further into the city from here." The Highlord looked over to the rest of the elves in the distance. "Besides, you have helped us enough already and I couldn't ask you to continue. Not when you've got wounded and fallen elves to take back home. Especially since we're in the middle of hostile territory still."

Sylvanas sighed and dropped her shoulders a little. "You're not going to change your mind, no matter what I offer you, are you?"

"Unfortunately not, General." Alexandros told her. "This is something that won't require your help I'm afraid." He looked over to his officers who were keeping quiet on the matter. "This is better off as a matter we handle within our ranks. Especially after Saidan and his demon corruption."

Sylvanas nodded her head slowly. "I can't say I'm not disappointed, but I do understand." She told him, looking back to her rangers. "If one of my officers and lifelong friends were corrupted by a demon, I don't think I would seek outside help until we are certain everything is sorted." She looked back to the Highlord and extended out a hand towards him. "If ever you need anything, you know where to find us."

Alexandros smiled once more and took hold of her hand, shaking it and bowing his head to her a little. "Until we meet again, General."

"And you, Highlord." Sylvanas said before returning to her officers. "Looks like we're returning home." She told them the moment she stood in front of both Lor'themar and Halduron. "They want to tackle the rest of the city on their own once reinforcements arrive from Hearthglen."

Joining the conversation nearer the end, Vandellor and Liadrin frowned at the General who had just told both ranger officers with her to get everyone ready to leave. "We're returning home already?" Liadrin asked. "But we've not finished clearing out the rest of the city."

"Alexandros wants to hold this position until reinforcements arrive from Hearthglen. In the meantime, we are no longer needed here as he wants the humans to deal with the rest of the city." She looked over to Vandellor who was nodding his head slowly. "Especially after Saidan."

"I understand." The High Priest said, looking to Liadrin who scoffed. "It's not our fight, little one. If the humans want to deal with this on their own, we're not going to stand in their way or argue against it. After all, this is still their land, even if the undead roam it."

Liadrin let out a defeated sigh, slumping her shoulders and sheathing her sword on her back. "I just wanted to slap around some more undead."

Vandellor smiled and placed a hand on the top of her head. "Maybe next time, little one."

"I'll go gather our paladins..." Liadrin muttered, almost sulking as she shuffled back towards the paladins she was meant to be commanding.

"I'm annoyed we have to return early, but at the same time relieved as I get to have my son in my arms sooner than I thought." Sylvanas said, making the High Priest smile. "And maybe returning to Athrodar..."

"There it is." Vandellor said, grinning at the General. "Nobody judges you for thinking that way. It's clear to all of us that you love him, I'm just surprised you didn't ask him to come with us."

"He's not a ranger." Sylvanas told the High Priest who continued to grin at her. "It would be against the rules."

Vandellor leaned in closer to the General so he could whisper to her. "When has that ever stopped you in the past?" He asked, bowing his head to the General once he pulled back and began to return to the paladins they brought with them.

The fighting in Quel'thalas had gone on through to the night with the High Elves holding out for as long as they could until they called a retreat over the river, destroying the bridge between them and the undead and now setting up a defence that hoped to hold them back until the Kaldorei arrived. At least that was the plan when Alina informed the King she had sent out a runner.

"These new allies of ours are testing my patience." Lord Sunblade said, looking back to Silvermoon every few minutes to see if he could find the Night Elves making their way towards them. "If Silvermoon falls, the General will know our allies didn't come to our side when she returns."

"They'll be here." Kael'thas told him, looking over to Lord Sunblade. "You should be more worried about Athrodar being out there still than the allies we have."

"He will be fine." Lord Sunblade told him. "He's a Sunblade. We don't fall so easily."

Kael'thas bit his tongue, knowing that the old Dael'Thaelas was creeping back in only a couple weeks after he seemed to have turned a new leaf. "You better pray to whatever Gods are listening that he is okay." The King told him. "Otherwise the General will have your head when she finds out and I won't stand in her way when she is on her war path."

"He will be fine." Lord Sunblade repeated, looking back to Silvermoon again. "The question is; will we be fine?" He looked over to the undead on the opposite side of the river. "As soon as they start the attack, we will have to retreat immediately or fight for as long as we can until these supposed reinforcements from our new allies arrive."

"They will be here." Kael'thas told him again. "And if I hear one more word about the Kaldorei that paints them in a negative light, I will strip you from your position on the Convocation. Now is not the time to question loyalties when death is staring right at us from the other side of this river."

Knowing his King was serious, Dael'Thaelas nodded his head slowly and kept his attention on the undead. "What do you think is keeping them from crossing?"

"I don't know, but I can only hope they're not trying to reanimate the dead or searching for survivors of the attack." Kael'thas told him, engulfing Felo'melorn in flames once more. "Tell Alina and her company to come to the front. If they won't attack us yet, we will try to thin out their numbers some more whilst they wait."

"If that leader of theirs is smart, she will attack the moment we do." Lord Sunblade told the King. "The water will slow them down, but with the sheer size of their army, I shouldn't think it would take them long to make a bridge of their own with their bodies alone."

Kael'thas nodded his head slowly, engulfing his hand with flames too. "Let's hope our mages can burn down their bridge of bodies quick enough to stop that from happening then."

Leaving to gather Alina and her company, Lord Sunblade left the King on his own along with Grand Magisters Belo'vir and Telramar Dawnstrider. "What do you need us to do, my King?" Belo'vir asked, standing beside Kael'thas.

"Make sure our mages are casting fire spells." Kael'thas told them. "When they start to cross the river, try to slow them down as much as you can by burning their bodies to ash or creating a wall of fire they have to pass through." He looked over to Belo'vir who agreed with him and then over to Telramar who was nodding his head in agreement too. "Good, go inform your mages."

Whilst Belo'vir was leaving to do just that, Telramar stayed beside the King which caught Kael'thas' attention. "Is it true about Athrodar?" He asked, hearing the King sigh and nod his head. "You know I was close to his father. Along with Thalina and Vilandil being close to Athrodar, I can't help but worry for him. Is there any plan to rescue him?"

"Not at the moment, no." Kael'thas told him, knowing the Grand Magister didn't want to hear that. "I'm sorry, but he is not my top priority right now." He watched Telramar look away and placed a hand on his arm to grab his attention. "It's not that I don't care that he is out there, Telramar. But my top priority at the moment is looking out for my people by stopping the undead from getting to the city." He saw Telramar still didn't feel too comfortable with his answer and knowing he had to raise his morale a little. "We'll send out a group after this fight, whether it's us retreating or them being forced back."

Telramar smiled a little and nodded his head in agreement to the King's plan. "If it's okay with you, my King, I would like to join that group. I promised his mother I would look out for him when I last saw her shortly after her husband's funeral, I would feel much better if I was there to find him. As well as having a mage with the group to teleport us back to Silvermoon should we be in danger."

Kael'thas smiled at the Grand Magister. "You have convinced me, Grand Magister." He said, looking over Telramar's shoulder and smiling a little brighter. "Though I think we will all be looking for survivors together. Seeing as our allies have come with reinforcements."

Telramar looked over to where the King was looking, noticing the Kaldorei army as well as a human mage riding at the front with the Night Elf General Shandris Feathermoon. "I see Lady Proudmoore has joined them." The Grand Magister said, looking over to Kael'thas who looked to smile even brighter. "I take it you wasn't expecting her to be here."

"I was not." Kael'thas said, making his way towards them and stopping beside Jaina's horse, helping her climb off it. "I was not expecting you here, my Lady."

Jaina smiled at the King. "I was here to visit you, your Majesty. When I found General Feathermoon and an army of Kaldorei outside Sunfury Spire, I knew something was wrong." She continue to smile at the King, stepping forward and hugging him after a few seconds and receiving a hug in return. "I am glad you're okay, Kael'thas. But I have to say, I was expecting a lot more of your rangers to be here."

Kael'thas pulled back from the hug and looked over to Shandris who gave him a nod of respect before setting up her army with the High Elves. Even bringing several druids and Priestesses of Elune with her to help deal with the wounded and to fight the undead. "The General and half of our rangers are in Stratholme with Highlord Mograine and his Paladins, helping to reclaim the city for the humans." Kael'thas said, looking back to Jaina who looked shocked. "You didn't know he was still alive, did you?"

"I did not." Jaina admitted, slowly smiling once again at the King. "It's good to see there are still humans alive out there." She looked over to the army of undead on the other side of the river. "How have you been dealing with them so far?" She asked, curious on what the plan was to deal with the undead that had pushed the High Elves so far back from their front lines.

"With fire and arrows mostly. Some Holy spells too when our priests and paladins aren't dealing with the wounded." Kael'thas told her. "Why, do you have a plan?"

"As you know I am not as versed in the art of fire as I am frost and arcane." Jaina told him, looking back to the King. "So I was thinking I could try to freeze the middle of their army whilst your mages focus on burning those that are in the front?" She suggested, getting a slow nod from the King.

"It could work." Kael'thas said, looking over to Shandris and Lord Sunblade who had both joined their conversation. "What can your druids do?" The King asked the Night Elf General.

"Slow them down, though that's not all." Shandris said, looking over to the undead army. "They're in the middle of the forest still, so the roots of the trees and anything else that can be used will help deal with a lot of them too. If they're anything like the undead we faced a couple years back whilst we were defending Hyjal, this should be a walk in the park."

"Good." Kael'thas said, looking over to the undead army too. "We may have a few injured left behind, so the sooner we can clear out the undead here, the sooner we can rescue them and bring them home to be treated."

Shandris nodded her head in understanding, calling over her officers. "We'll clear them out, your Majesty." The General said. "It's the least we can do after you helped us with Hyjal and then the orcs in Ashenvale."

"Something seems off." Sylvanas said the moment they entered Quel'Thalas, looking around at the destruction that had happened at the first Elf Gate and the flattened grass and dying trees leading further into the forest. "You don't think...?"

"That the undead have attacked us whilst we've been away?" Lor'themar suggested, getting a nod from the Ranger-General. "It's looking more and more likely the longer we stay here." He saw the worry on the Ranger-General's face and placed a hand on her back. "We need to get going to Tranquillien to help out their defence if this was recent."

"Let's hope it was recent then." Sylvanas told him, leading them all further into Quel'Thalas. "Otherwise, I don't think they will be able to hold back all the undead that were gathering outside that floating fortress."

Making their way through Southern Quel'Thalas, every elf there could see more and more destruction the further north they traveled, so much so that the Ranger-General decided to herself that they were in fact going to see a destroyed Tranquillien, or at least a destructive path through the town and towards Silvermoon where she believed they would hold out their defence. She was just praying to the Titans that most if not all of them had made it through the fights relatively unscathed and were holding out at the city walls.

The moment Tranquillien came into view, several hearts sunk at once from the rangers, paladins and priests in their group as they gazed upon the hole in the town's walls. "Fan out." Sylvanas said the moment they arrived in the town, placing two fingers on the neck of an elf and closing her eyes when she couldn't feel a pulse. "Find anyone still alive and take care of them." She looked over to Clea who was helping Anya pull a gargoyle off one of the fallen rangers. "Clea, gather a group of scouts and head north. Try to find where the undead are and report back to me as soon as possible."

"How far away do you think they are?" Viraleth asked, standing beside the General who was spinning the ring on her finger around slowly, noticing the action and knowing she was concerned for the elf who gave her the ring.

"I'm hoping they're not far so we can help as soon as possible." Sylvanas told her Chief Scout. "If they're outside Silvermoon, then I am worried they will push through before we can get there."

"That makes sense." Viraleth said, looking around the town and watching several rangers check on the fallen elves, finding a handful of survivors, though most of the elves they had checked were dead. "They looked familiar." Viraleth said, noticing two elves who were being carried away by a few rangers. "Wait a minute."

Sylvanas looked over to the two elves, frowning at first and quickly realising who the elves were. "Why are they here?" She asked, making her way, along with Viraleth, towards the two elves. "Victoria's parents, right?" She asked, looking over to Viraleth who nodded her head.

"That poor girl has lost both her parents in one attack." Viraleth said, looking over to Sylvanas who couldn't help but feel terrible for the little elf. "I hope Athrodar's fine. Otherwise..."

"Don't even think about it." Sylvanas said, looking over to Anya and Clea who were returning quicker than she was expecting. "Where are they?"

"The river." Clea told her, looking over to Anya who looked disturbed, something both Viraleth and Sylvanas noticed as it was highly unusual for her to be anything but happy, even in the worst of times.

"What is it?" Sylvanas asked the ranger, watching Anya shake her head. "Anya, tell me."

"We found something." Anya said quietly, looking over to the north of the village and pointing towards the hole in the wall. "To the right of the breach, by the supply crates."

Following her directions, Sylvanas, Viraleth and several rangers that the Chief Scout had called over, made there way to what Anya and Clea had found, quickly noticing Athrodar under the body of a nerubian. "Help me move this thing." Viraleth said, pulling the nerubian off Athrodar's body and watching Sylvanas kneel down beside him, checking his neck for a pulse and letting out a sigh of relief when she felt one.

"He's alive." She said, moving a hand to his cheek and brushing a thumb across it. "Get Liadrin." The General said, moving Athrodar onto her lap and stroking a hand through his hair. "Stay with us." She whispered, taking off the ring Athrodar had left her and placing it on one of his fingers, not knowing whether or not that would change anything but hoping, deep down, that it would. "Please." She whispered.

Returning with Liadrin, Viraleth sat down beside her General's side and held onto her hand to comfort her, smiling at Sylvanas who looked over to her the moment she took hold of her hand. "I am not your Chief Scout for this." She told Sylvanas. "I am your life long friend, okay?"

Sylvanas smiled and squeezed Viraleth's hand. "Okay." She said, looking over to Liadrin who was examining Athrodar. "How is he?"

"A few broken ribs, a broken arm and some internal bleeding, but as long as he gets some rest and daily healing, he should be back to normal in a couple weeks." Liadrin told them, watching Athrodar slowly open his eyes and smiling at him. "There he is. Nice of you to finally join us."

Looking up to Sylvanas, Athrodar smiled and let out a little chuckle when he saw the concern on her face. "Okay." He said weakly. "What killed me? Because you are meant to be in Stratholme and I must be in the afterlife if I'm waking up with you looking down at me."

Sylvanas let out a small laugh and rolled her eyes. "You're not dead." She told him, stroking a couple fingers across his cheek. "You're reckless and injured, but not dead."

"Okay." Athrodar whispered, closing his eyes tightly as a wave of pain coursed through him momentarily. "That's good. I promised myself I would marry you before I died."

Liadrin looked up and over to Sylvanas who looked surprised to have heard him say that, knowing she had to come to Athrodar's defence whilst he seemed to be a little out of it. "I think he's a little delusional, General. I don't think he can control or even knows what he is saying right now. So take what he says with a grain of salt.

"I think a part of him means what he is saying." Viraleth said, watching Athrodar grit his teeth in pain. "Though he seems to know he is pain at the moment."

"I am rapidly healing his internal wounds." Liadrin told them. "It's going to hurt like a bitch, but he won't remember much of what has happened here so now's the best time to cause him a lot of pain so he won't hate me later on."

Looking over to Anya and Clea who were standing nearby silently, Sylvanas locked eyes with the latter when she looked up at the General and shared a smile with her. "Tell Theron, Vandellor and Halduron to march north and help the King defeat the undead. Leave a handful of rangers here to protect us should the undead retreat our way and find a mage to send over to us the moment you reach the main army."

"General." Clea said, saluting and bowing her head to Sylvanas and leaving with Anya to find Lord Theron, Vandellor and Halduron.

"We will need to move him away from the road." Viraleth told the General. "Just to be safe."

Sylvanas looked up to Liadrin who nodded her head in agreement to her. "It would be best, General." Liadrin told her, helping the Paladin lift Athrodar up when she agreed to their plan, moving away from the main road and hiding further into the forests.

"Set up a perimeter." She told the ranger who came to help guard both her and Athrodar. "So the mage Anya and Clea send our way can find us."

Once everything was set up, Sylvanas placed Athrodar's head on her lap again and began to stroke his hair. "I need to tell him that Victoria's parents were killed." She said, looking over to Liadrin who didn't even know they were out here. "My guess is Kael'thas ordered a call to arms whilst we were away and they both volunteered to help defend the Kingdom." She sighed and stroked Athrodar's hair some more. "I hope she doesn't blame him when she finds out. No doubt she knew and Athrodar promised to keep them safe."

Liadrin smiled at little. "Knowing Athrodar, that was the first thing he said when he found out they were here." The Paladin told her, keeping her hands on his chest and healing him some more. "I just hope the King and the rest of them are holding out at the river better than how they held out here."

"I hope so too." Sylvanas said, looking over to Viraleth who was helping with the perimeter.