How many times had Arthas had to deal with the impudent existence of Light's Hope Chapel. It just sat there, mocking him. Floating above the mountains behind the chapel was Acherus. The sight of both disgusted Arthas.

Arthas turned away from the sight of his failures. Sapphire was held captive in Acherus by the traitorous Ebon Blade dogs. As a cultist and relatively unremarkable, Kiefer easily snuck into the Hold with the few other cultists who worked with them. As far as he could tell, Sapphire was still alive and relatively unharmed though he noticed her arm had been bandaged.

Arthas entered the crypt he was using as his temporary hideout. Down below, robed cultists moved out of his way as he walked through. These were the remnants of the Cult of the Damned. If they could even be called that. Mediocre apprentices and decrepit elderly worked silently worked in the crypt. Some stitched up zombies while others carved up maggot riddled corpses. How the cult had fallen. Instead of supporting armies of undead, necromancers skulked around graveyards to rob corpses. Even worse, it seems that after his fall, the Cult of the Damned turned in on itself and infighting splintered the cult. Some broke off and become independent organizations reviled with the living. Some remained loyal to Arthas. The most of them, concentrated in Northrend remained in service to Icecrown and Arthas's successor on the Frozen Throne.

How Arthas missed Kel'thuzad. The archlich would know how to bolster the cult back to its full glory. No rumor or whisper of Kel'thuzad's whereabouts reached Arthas's ears. Kel'thuzad had been Arthas's second in command and even more so...his friend. Instead, Arthas had Kiefer. A half kobold necromancer who could barely make a portal even with Arthas's help.

And Lethumo, who at that moment was softly playing his lute while trying to ignore the ghoul that stared at him. When Arthas approached Lethumo, the elf quickly stopped.

"Arthas! Please tell me you have a plan?" Lethumo asked desperately. Though he willingly came on this venture to help Sapphire, he had not signed up to sleeping in a crypt surrounded by insane cultists.

"Not yet," Arthas admitted.

The elf's ears suddenly perked up. "Hey wait! I have an idea! I could go get a gryphon from Light's Hope, fly up to Acherus and then ask them for Sapphire!"

Arthas curled up his lip in disdain. "And get a sword in your gut for your troubles."

That quickly spoiled the elf's enthusiasm.

"Well uh maybe-"

"-This is why I did not want you coming. You're useless," Arthas snapped.

Lethumo frowned, but before he could say anything a cultist came rushing up to the two of them.

"Sir, there is a deathknight approaching!" The cultist gasped out between heavy breaths.

Arthas rushed out of the crypt, sword drawn and ready to kill. He saw the lone rider approaching on his deathcharger. He expected some lowly novice off exploring the plaguelands. Instead, this one he knew very well.

"Horseman," Arthas stated simply.

Salanar inclined his head respectfully. No fear or hesitation showed in those green eyes. The damned knight urged his horse forward until they were at a more comfortable speaking distance. He did not dismount.

"My, my. Arthas Menethil. Forgive me, I'm not sure what title to give you. Not the Lich King, yet not a prince anymore."

This was nothing but an attempt to irritate Arthas. It worked, but he refused to show that to the bastard.

"Arthas will suffice. What brings you to the land of the living? Got bored of the shadows?"

Salanar's shrugged casually. "No, I would much prefer to return. Instead, I had to herd a lost lamb back to her pasture."

That explained everything. How Sapphire managed to leave Moonglade so suddenly and travel from one continent to the other. She traveled through the realms of shadow.

"How?" He demanded from Salanar. Mortals don't just accidently find their way there.

The deathknight glowered. "An ignorant ram decided to break the fence."

"Stallion, not ram. Not a fan of sheep," Arthas retorted.

Salanar chuckled darkly. "Ram or stallion, your arrogance is evident. I found your little lamb and led her back."

"I appreciate that. For that, I won't snap your neck. Bring her to me now."

Beneath the Horseman, the horse grew skittish at Arthas's tone and backed up a few steps. Salanar grabbed its reins and steadied it with a soft touch on its neck.

"If only I could. You should know mares are very protective of their foals."

Anger rose up in Arthas and he snapped back at the deathknight. "Damn it, you bastard. Enough of that."

Though Arthas could not see his face, he knew Salanar was finding all of this highly amusing. The Horseman never took anything seriously even when apart of the Scourge. He spent so much time in the shadows, he rarely spoke to others. So conversations like these were rare and he desired as much entertainment as he could.

"Fine, ex king. Jaina Proudmoore found your daughter and is incredibly defensive over her."

Jaina? She found Sapphire? Inwardly, Arthas cursed. He should have known. Jaina did not even come to tell him where Sapphire was and instead sent an expendable novice. Jaina realized who he was looking for. Too smart for her own good. As emotionally unstable as Jaina was, Arthas was surprised Acherus remained intact. She had no qualms about murdering some orcs. Why not a bunch of neutral deathknights that no one would miss?

"I suppose Jaina has whisked her away to the City of Mages?" Arthas asked.

Salanar shook his head.

"Highlord Mograine would not let some Menethil spawn be taken so easily. No, he's been adamant at sending Sapphire to Hearthglen."

The name Hearthglen enraged Arthas. A festering pit of holy idiots led by a senile old man. Atleast it was not far from where Arthas and his cultists hid. Little more than a week and Arthas would slaughter ever single one of them if he had even a dozen deathknights. Instead, he had a musician with a few dozen pale mortals.

He then examined Salanar closely and narrowed his eyes.

"Why are you telling me this? I highly doubt you wish to help me?"

Salanar threw back his head and laughed. "Oh no. Not you. As much as I would love to watch Sapphire wreak havoc amongst mortals, I doubt she could destroy either Hearthglen or Dalaran. A dead lichling is of no use to anyone."

Lichling. Salanar knew about Sapphire and the shard. He was right. Sapphire could not control herself. Even Arthas did not know what effects Frostmourne had on Sapphire though if the incident where she turned into that skull headed beast was any indication, Sapphire was dangerous. He too did not care much if Sapphire destroyed mortals by the dozens, but she was not invincible. Her heart contained only a tiny piece of Frostmourne, barely as large as one of Arthas's thumbs.

He needed to get her away from Jaina. Arthas turned to go back down into the crypt, but Salanar stopped him.

"Wait. While I will not help you due to our own past...I can atleast reunite you with a friend," The Horseman said before letting out a sharp whistle. Magic prickled Arthas's skin.

Hoofbeats echoed from the distance and suddenly a large figure emerged from the foggy forest. Arthas stared at the horse in disbelief.

Invincible nodded his head and let out an exuberant neigh before leaping into a gallop to close the distance between the two of them. Arthas rushed forward in turn. The horse shoved Arthas quite forcefully with his head. Arthas wrapped his arms around the horse's neck.

"Hey, buddy," Arthas mumbled. Invincible, his ever loyal mount, whickered happily and shoved his bony muzzle against his owner. Arthas briefly glanced back to Salanar, but the Horseman had disappeared as quickly as Invincible had appeared.


Everything felt strange. Here she stood in Acherus, ready to leave Next to her was her mother, who she did not know existed until the day before. Rot and Tanomoan at least were familiar to her. Her mother had been kind enough to Tanomoan and Rot, but when Tryg came shambling toward Sapphire, she frowned.

"This is my friend Tryg," Sapphire said confidently.

"Would he not be happier to stay here? With the...others?" Her mother asked, gesturing to other undead.

Sapphire glanced at Tryg. "Would you? Prefer to stay with the others?"

Tryg immediately stuck out his tongue and shook his head petulantly. "Me like Sapphire. Sapphire nice."

With that, Sapphire nodded. If the ghoul wanted to follow her, she was not going to question it or tell him what to do. Yet, Already the memory of ordering the deaths of those deathknights darkened her thoughts. Was he only following her because of some tie to the piece of Frostmourne in her?

Jaina did not protest any further. Salanar came strutting up to them with a heavy step. He pulled Sapphire aside to speak with her. Sapphire could tell he was angry about something but when she asked earlier, the knight brushed her off. Some sort of hunting horn made of bone hung from his hip. Even before Sapphire could ask about it, he took it off his belt and handed it to her. She took it in her hand, curious.

"What's this for?" She asked, starting to put her mouth on the horn in order to blow it. Salanar immediately stopped her and firmly gripped her wrist.

"Only use this if you find yourself lost in the shadows. I recommend never doing that again."

He sounded serious. Sapphire had not even meant to enter Thros again. She meant to go to the Emerald Dream, but perhaps she could not go there because she was part Drust or something. Did that mean she couldn't be a real druid? Sapphire shook that thought out immediately. No, she was a druid! She could make plants grow and could turn into animals. Going to sleep and waking up in some green place doesn't make someone a druid! Besides, she had Tanomoan. Could a fake druid have their own dragon?

"I'll try not to go to Thros again," Sapphire promised.

Salanar's eyes narrowed. "And if you do, only use that horn if you are in dire need. Other things can hear its call and be summoned. Not all of them are as friendly as I."

Sapphire then smiled. "Are we friends then? Can I call you Sally like Lord Thorval does?"

"Not if you like your intestines inside your body," Salanar threatened darkly. Sapphire nodded. She would just call him Salanar then. The deathknight put one hand on her shoulder.

"Have fun with the mortals." With that, he left her in the care of Jaina. The mage was summoning up a portal with Highlord Mograine looking on. He probably wanted to make sure her mother was making a portal for Hearthglen. The two of them had an argument previously about the place. Sapphire did not really know much of Hearthglen, but she had never been through a mage's portal before. It sounded like fun. As soon as Jaina was finished, she gestured for Sapphire to come over. Sapphire clutched the horn tightly as she returned to her mother's side. Sapphire saw the woman's empty hand and thought of the time she tried to hold Arthas's hand.

Sapphire reached out and grasped her mother's hand tightly. Jaina looked down in surprise.

"Oh!" She did not pull away. She behaved so stiffly around Sapphire, as if she did not know how to act. Was this just as awkward for her as it was for Sapphire? She knew nothing of mothers or how daughters were supposed to act around them.

"Do...do I call you Mother?"

The woman smiled softly. "I would like that very much, but if you are not comfortable with it-"

Sapphire shook her head immediately and tightened her grip on her mother's hand. "I'd like to call you Mother."