New chapter up. Enjoy! And many thanks for reading.

Lantash heard Kia scream out in pain in his mind, then her mind went silent. She was either unconscious or dead, he could not tell which.

Lantash roared in fury as he approached the battle at full speed. The demon was seriously injured, a gaping wound on the back of its neck bleeding freely, along with several other large gashes along its legs and sides. The thing was now only mere meters away from the gates of Stormwind, but his pace had decreased significantly by its injuries.

Lantash built up speed, bracing himself and collided with the demon going as fast as he could. He was about two thirds the size of the demon, but he was going fast enough to knock it backwards, it's fall slow enough to allow the soldiers behind it to get out of the way before it hit the ground. It only lay still for a moment before trying to get back to its feet.

Lantash circled back and landed a few feet from its head. The demon looked upon the mighty dragon, preparing to spew fire, but Lantash launched his own fiery attack first. His intense white/blue fire hit the demon in the face, igniting its blood. Even though the demon's skin was impervious to dragon fire, its blood was highly combustible. Around the demon, magic users and archers took advantage of the demon's prone state and fired at point blank range.

With a blood curdling scream, the creature rolled around for a few minutes in agony, then disintegrated into nothing and the portal closed.

The soldiers continued to fight against the remaining demons, but with the portal closed, they were able to eventually get the upper hand and kill every last demon. They had stopped the attack mere feet from the city.

Lantash looked around the decimated forest, looking for Kia. He couldn't sense her anymore. After a few minutes, he found Rell and another night elf near a large tree, where Kia lay motionless. Rell had Kia's bow and sword in his hand, the sword's blade still black and slick with demon blood.

The dragon crept slowly towards her, doing his best not to step on anyone. He laid his bulk down on the ground, so his head was only about a foot away from his fallen friend. Rel looked over at the dragon, placing a gentle hand on his snout. They both looked on helplessly as Sheldras knelt by Kia.

Anduin walked among the injured, healing as he went along. The most heavily injured had been portaled back to Stormwind, but those still capable of walking were being healed in the field.

As much as the king loved that he could help heal the injured, he didn't want to be here. He wanted to be back in Stormwind with Kia. She had been very seriously injured and though he had been assured by Sheldras that she would survive her injuries, Anduin still longed to be at her side. He needed to see she was alright for himself, with his own eyes.

He had seen her land on the demon and attack, but he had also seen her get thrown across the forest. It took everything in his power to continue to fight and not run to her.

Rodrick came up the Anduin, standing at attention.

"You've done enough, your Majesty. There are enough healers from Stormwind and Ironforge now. They can take care of the rest of the injured. Go back to Stormwind and check up on Kia."

Anduin shook his head. "The king's place is here." he said, though he didn't sound very convincing.

"Maybe." Rodrick said. "But the king's place is also by the side of the woman he loves. You've done all you can. Go to her."

Anduin sighed and nodded, turning to where Quinn was waiting for him. The cat had stayed behind when Kia was moved, to help keep an eye on the king. The cat had battled by Anduin's side, considering it was difficult to stay with Kia in her stormcrow form.

"You ready to see Ki?" Anduin asked Quinn, running his hand along her side. The sabercat was dirty and had a few burns along her neck. He quickly healed the burns for her, causing her to mew appreciatively.

Quinn then roared, lowering herself slightly so Anduin could climb onto her back She wasn't wearing a saddle, but this wasn't the first time Anduin had road the sabercat bareback. They sped off towards the city at full speed. Anduin had to admit, it was fun riding a sabercat. The gate of their movements were smoother and more graceful than any horse.

They raced by the citizens of Stormwind. The people acknowledged their king, but his mind was focused on getting to Kia.

Quinn stopped just outside of the infirmary, once again crouching down so Anduin could slide off her back. He didn't even pause as he quickly walked inside.

There were hundreds of injured, but it could have been so much worse. If the demon had managed to reach Stormwind, there would be countless innocent deaths of men, women and children. Those behind the gate who were too young, old or inexperienced to fight. They had been lucky.

Anduin scanned the crowd and found Kia sitting on a cot near the back. A priest was carefully healing her right arm, but Kia didn't look happy about it.

"Will you stop. I'm fine." Kia said, trying to pull away from the priest.

"You are not fine, my lady." The priest said in an exasperated tone as he tightened his grip on her arm. Kia was actually too weak to fight back. "Your arm was shattered, your shoulder was pulled out of its socket and you broke most of her ribs. Please remain still. I'm almost done." He said firmly.

Kia sighed, closing her eyes as a wave of exhaustion hit her.

"I've got her from here."

Kia's eyes shot open and she looked up at Anduin. They were both covered in dirt, sweat and worse, but that didn't matter. Kia leap into his arms and hugged him as hard as her weakened state would allow. Anduin hugged her back just as hard, being mindful of the fact she was still recovering from serious injury.

"Thank the Light." Anduin said, relief in his voice. "I was so worried." He pulled away from her, kissing her gently, then returning to the hug. "Promise me you'll never do that to me again."

Kia chuckled. "I'll do my best to never to take on a greater demon again, but no promises."

They held each other as if there were alone and not in the middle of an infirmary full of people.

Neither of them noticed the infirmary had gotten very quiet. Even the moans of the injured stopped as everyone watched their king and future queen.

Truth be told, when Anduin made the announcement of their engagement, many believed the marriage was some sort of arranged agreement between the night elves and the humans. That they were getting married for political reasons. At that moment, everyone in the infirmary knew better. No one could deny the love they saw between them as they embraced, without care of who might be watching. They also couldn't doubt that Kia would make a good queen. Any woman willing to risk her own life to defend the city was more than qualified for the position.

Attros watched the encounter from the side. He had gone out to fight, having sustained a few burns. Helena had stayed behind the gates and had joined Attros when he returned to be healed. Attros looked over at his wife, seeing the jealous look in her eye as the king and his future queen had their moment. He couldn't help but think the battle had been an example of the exact reason Helana's proposal to the king to marry prince Anduin had been rejected. The king needed someone by his side willing to fight and die for the city and all the people in it. Helana would've never fix that description.

Kia, on the other hand, would make an amazing queen.

To Be Continued...