Chapter 30

Five weeks later …

Sitting on a wall in the Argent Strand compound, Alyna inspected the arrow shaft she held carefully for damage before passing it as fit for duty and stowing it back in her quiver. When she reached for another, she realised there were none left to inspect so she turned her attention to the discard pile. She selected an arrow she had rejected because the fletching was damaged, and she delicately began to remove the faulty feathers so she could re-fletch it eventually.

A loud irritated complaint came from a familiar female voice behind her. "Come to Zul'Drak, they said. See the sights, they said. Well. I want my gold back."

Alyna looked up and surveyed the vista before her. Being in the shadow of the Storm Peaks meant the ground was cold, hard and dark. Little grew here anymore, and what did was also in dark muted colours of purple, brown and near-black. They were in the land of the ice trolls of the Drakkari Empire, and all around her were the dark crumbling monuments to a once powerful civilisation. Aqueducts, temples, homes, fountains, the remains of long abandoned farms, and more, were simply everywhere she looked. Even the sky was dark, the low thick clouds seemingly permanent in this land.

She rather liked it.

Liadrin made her divergent opinion known on a regular basis. "I've never been in such a miserable, colourless place. I know trolls are hardly civilised, but is a bit of colour just that hard?"

With the old fletching removed, Alyna worked on cleaning the shaft of any remaining glue. "They did, before the Scourge arrived and forced them and their colour to retreat to Gundrak." She knew, of course. She had been part of the initial assault not long after Arthas had become the Lich King. The troll's capital was only a few kilometres to the north east. She did not bother pointing out all the obvious signs of advanced society around them. When it came to trolls, Liadrin was unapologetically racist.

"So, the Alliance was there?"

Just like that, the subject was changed. The ranger captain rolled her eyes, knowing the woman behind her could not see the motion. The matriarch was between duty shifts and was bored. When she had no one to boss around she looked for Alyna to annoy. Or so it felt that way.

"Mhmm," she confirmed. She put the de-fletched arrow down and picked up one with a chipped arrowhead. She spoke as she worked to remove it from the shaft. "That was a strange few minutes," she admitted. "It seems King Wrynn had decided to 'reclaim' Lordaeron for its people, conveniently ignoring the fact that the people of Lordaeron are already living there as Forsaken. He attacked but that Proudmoore archmage froze us all, and then teleported the Alliance away."

"She did a you?" There was surprise in Liadrin's voice.

"A me?"

"The mass teleporting thing."

"Hrm." Alyna discarded the ruined arrowhead and began checking the shaft to make sure it could handle a new one. "My runeblade allows me to do that, and at Utgarde I had just taken in a lot of power." Finding the shaft to be solid, she placed it with the previous salvaged arrow. "Proudmoore? I saw no runeblade on her, just her staff. Yet she froze around a hundred people and teleported half of them away."

She heard Liadrin give a low impressed whistle. "Yeah, that's bigger than you."

Alyna blinked and made a small amused sound. "Any person deemed an archmage by Dalaran is immensely powerful. I was a barely qualified arcanist."

"You're an arcanist with a runeblade and you have that Sanlin thing going on." Liadrin finally came into view, likely grasping that Alyna was not going to turn around for this conversation. She rested her shield and scabbard against the inside of the wall and tried to lift her leg over it to straddle it in her armour. While the wall was low on that side, the ground dropped away in the direction the captain was facing to a lower level of the compound. Alyna watched in unconcealed fascination as the crimson and bronze-clad paladin contorted, twisted, scraped and forced her restricted body over the wall so she could sit next to the dark ranger. After a few deep breaths she turned to Alyna, slightly red-faced despite the cool air. "Well?"

"It's San'layn." The captain shook her head in bemusement. "And I don't deny having certain bestowed advantages. Like, sensible clothing." She made a show of looking the bright colourful beacon of a woman up and down. "Don't you miss wearing robes?"

The matriarch fidgeted. Alyna guessed plate armour was not the most comfortable thing to sit on a wall in. "They were simpler to take on and off, sure."

"But?"

Liadrin shrugged lightly. "This is what I am now." Alyna felt her own body shifting slightly. The matriarch noticed and tilted her head slightly at the captain. "Does that unsettle you? You were once a woman of deep faith in the Light." The question held no challenge but was asked out of concern.

Alyna replied honestly. "Anything to do with the Light unsettles me now."

"Because of your condition." Liadrin and subtlety rarely worked.

Alyna glanced at the woman and then did a double take. "My … condition? I am not sick, Liadrin. I am undead. There is quite a substantial difference!"

The woman infuriatingly waved away her words. "If we were talking about your body, yes. I was referring to your soul, Alyna. Your soul is …" she struggled to find the right word.

Black eyes narrowed angrily at the paladin, but her voice was emotionally flat as she said, "There are no words to describe what my soul is now."

Liadrin looked at her closely, and Alyna felt the gaze penetrate her being through a delicate tingling that spread through her torso as she was magically studied. The captain knew she could block the unasked-for examination, but she decided to allow it. Eventually, the paladin blinked and looked away, rubbing her temples momentarily.

Liadrin then smiled awkwardly at her. "There is still hope."

Alyna barked a short humourless laugh. "How is there hope, Liadrin? I don't even have most of my soul."

"Your romantic relationship with Sylvanas!"

The captain immediately looked around at the mention of her relationship with her queen. She had told Liadrin about the significant shift in their status that had happened several weeks ago in confidence, and only after persistent nagging. Both Sylvanas and Alyna had agreed to keep their relationship a private matter. Thankfully, it appeared no one had taken notice of their conversation.

Liadrin blushed lightly. "Sorry. I didn't intend to yell that." She shrugged as much as her armour allowed. "If you were truly this damned and monstrous creature, you would not be capable of it."

Alyna scowled at the woman before turning back to her next arrow and more fletch to remove, her words bitter. "I'm in a relationship with a woman I do not, and cannot, love. How is there hope in that?" She grunted in self-loathing. "I've already been accused of leading her on." Kyala had been typically blunt in her opinion when she noticed things had progressed.

The matriarch's reply was surprisingly soft. "You're not leading her on, Alyna. She knows you and has still chosen this path. And you're both happy in this, are you not?"

The captain closed her eyes for a second and nodded. "As much as we can be, yes. The month we had while I was in Undercity was … good." That was an understatement, and she knew it. Thankfully, blushing was not an undead trait.

Liadrin groaned. "Stop putting limits on this. 'As much as we can be' – you're comparing what you have to everyone else, when nothing can ever truly relate." When Alyna turned to look at her, Liadrin was studying her intently. "As for love, what is love? Yes, it's an emotion. But it's also in what we do, say, and how we treat people. There are parts of yourself you cannot give because of what has happened, fine, but from what I see, you have a willingness to give her all that remains." She sat back and gestured at the captain. "Looks a great deal like love to me."

It was several seconds before Alyna realised she was staring in shock at Liadrin, and a few more before she closed her mouth and shook her head in amazement. "When the hell did you suddenly become the font of all knowledge on love?"

"Eh," she dismissed. "I've just had a lot of experience watching and learning from those around me as they make complete fools of themselves on the subject." She gave Alyna a pointed look.

The captain frowned back when she grasped the implication. "You're an ass."

"Ah, but I'm your a— no! Wait. I'm not finishing that." She blushed deeply.

Alyna chuckled at the redhead. A throat clearing itself caught her attention and she looked down before her to see Kyala trying to get her attention.

"Excuse me, Captain. You asked to be notified when Talnia's company arrived."

She nodded at her lieutenant and turned to the now composed matriarch. "Once I've briefed my replacement, I'll be heading to Dalaran to join Sylvanas back in the Undercity." She hesitated. "It was … nice … seeing you, Liadrin. I will consider your insight."

"Light guide you, Alyna." She gave the captain a wide smile that reached her emerald green eyes.

Alyna gathered her things and slipped gracefully off the wall to the ground below to make her way to the command post set up for the dark rangers. As she walked away, she smirked briefly as she heard Liadrin's struggles to get off the wall. Her thoughts eventually drifted back over the last few minutes as she navigated her way through streets likely older than she was. She had not considered that love was more than an emotion. Though sometimes irritating, the matriarch had given her much to think about.

The captain nodded at her handful of dark rangers as she entered the stone structure that sufficed as her command centre, moving to her desk. Sylvanas had sent her to Zul'Drak in response to a request from the Argent Crusade for knowledge and reinforcements. With both the Horde and Alliance no longer closely cooperating, the holy order had stepped up its operations to try and maintain the offensive. Alyna was there to pave the way for the full mobilisation of Talnia's company into the region.

She reached out to drop the half-prepared arrows onto her desk and gasped slightly as first her hand trembled, and then the rest of her body. It happened for just an instant, but she felt the need to lean onto the desk for support. Alyna closed her eyes and grunted as she assessed how she felt. She had been keeping herself well fed for such a long period now that when her energy levels dipped even slightly, she felt it acutely. It was a recent development, and with the tremors came an increased desire to feed.

A knock sounded at the entryway. She let go of the arrows and turned to see Talnia watching her keenly. She growled at the timing of the disturbance but waved the captain forward.

Talnia chuckled lowly as she strolled towards the desk. "Nice to see you too." She received a glare in response to the quip. She came to a stop just before Alyna and raised her eyebrow. "And here I thought we were friends."

Whether it was her hunger or just her loathing for the woman, all Alyna saw was her own rage. She reached out and grabbed the back of Talnia's neck through her hood and turned, dragging the woman forward to slam her bodily down onto the desk before she had a chance to react.

As Talnia attempted to struggle, Alyna leant down to hiss angrily, "You are not my friend!" The woman's hood prevented her from seeing Talnia's face clearly but she felt her body tense. "You are here because you are useful. It does not erase what you did." She tightened her grip further on the woman's neck and pressed her elbow into her back. "Do not delude yourself into believing that I have forgiven you for any of it just because you helped me in Undercity." After pressing her face into the desk for a moment longer, Alyna stood back and released her.

Talnia rose slowly and turned, red eyes flashing angrily. "I spent nine months in those cells paying for what I did." She stabbed a finger at Alyna as she continued, "You know better than most what delightful 'entertainment' the Dark Lady arranges for her guests, and what she personally inflicts on those who fail her."

Alyna snarled, "Nine months was not enough!"

They held each other's stare until Talnia dropped her eyes first. "Maybe not. But we're at war and when the Dark Lady calls, we all answer." She shifted her weight between her feet. "Look. We both know I'm being given a chance, and I have no intention of fucking this up, though I certainly can't blame you if that's what you'd like to see." She spread her hands a little as she added, "I'm here to serve. Same as you."

Alyna narrowed her black eyes at the woman, trying to gauge if she was playing any kind of trick. There was no tell-tale ear twitch or facial tic that could signify deceit. For now, at least, the reinstated captain appeared sincere.

"I would enjoy seeing you fail, as you say, but if you do it will not be through any action of mine." The truth was, if she were to move against Talnia in any way it would likely compromise the interests of the Forsaken, and therefore Sylvanas.

That was unacceptable.

She gave Talnia one last glare before she turned for the exit, speaking as she moved towards it. "Come then. I'll show you what you're up against first." She did not wait for an answer.

Alyna pressed her hand against the female troll's chest, forcing her magic into its heart to keep it beating as she fed on the unconscious rogue. She swallowed mouthfuls of hot blood as she cradled the ice troll sagging in her arms, but it was not enough. The pull of more throbbed almost painfully through her body and she allowed it to drag her senses to the realm she was increasingly considering beautiful, that where souls shone and sung to her. The woman's bright living soul was so close it was almost blinding.

Then, it was gone.

The ranger sat back on her heels, the body in her arms left to drop into the fresh snow that was still falling. In battle, she had no time to savour the sensation that consuming a soul gave her, nor could she appreciate the pleasurable jolt it provided her body as potent new power coursed through her. She had to feed; it was an inevitability of her existence she had struggled to accept. She was learning though that blood was clumsy, not as powerful, slow to consume and increasingly not as satisfying. No matter how unconscious they were, she could still feel the anguish her prey suffered as she fed. For a busy captain, this was surely better.

She rose and stepped into the shadows for her short jog back to the Argent Strand, the drakkari spy already forgotten and soon to be buried in fresh snow. She slipped silently into the Forsaken command post expecting to see Talnia there going over the work she had compiled for the captain, but she was alone. Catching her reflection in the blade of a sword on a rack she raised her forearm and self-consciously wiped some blood from her mouth. When she lowered her arm, she noticed a package on the desk and moved towards it. She could feel familiar magic in whatever was inside, and it piqued her curiosity. To her surprise, her name had been printed in capitals on the brown paper. Feeling drawn to the parcel she tore at the wrapping and removed what appeared to be a choker.

Dark magic coursed through her body and she gasped. She tried to put the choker down, but she found she could not let go of it. A memory flashed through her mind and with growing horror, she knew why.

"N-no … no!" she stammered in shock. She turned and shouted for Kyala, the woman immediately appearing at the door. When she saw the near panic in her captain's features she stepped forward in concern.

Alyna closed her eyes to focus. The magic in the choker was pulling at her mind, trying to coax her into wearing it. Eventually, she pushed the sensation away, for now. She still could not let go of the object. When she opened her eyes, Kyala was right before her.

"Captain? What's wrong?" Her eyes fell to the choker and then rose again. "What is that?"

Instead of answering, she asked, "There was a package for me on the desk. Who delivered it?"

Kyala looked at the remains of the parcel and shrugged. "I don't know anything about it. What's going on?"

Alyna grimaced as another compulsion to wear the choker flowed through her. "The choker is a Scourge device. Enchanted for a specific recipient." She looked up at her friend, unable to hide her fear as her voice cracked. "For m-me. I can't let go of it, Kyala. If I put it on, I'll be his again."

The lieutenant took hold of Alyna's hands and tried to prise her fingers loose from the choker, but she held on tightly, unable to will herself to loosen her grip. She shook her head and looked up, worry etched on her face. "Can we destroy it?"

She shook her head slowly. "I don't know how. While I've had one used on me before, and I also ordered their use, I never actually created one myself."

"What are they for?" Alyna's hands began rise and Kyala immediately pushed them back down, trying to hold the captain's attention with her eyes. "Who makes them?"

"Uh, they … they are used to gain control over a person or creature. They subvert the w-will of the wearer entirely and c-compel obedience to whomever the choker has been enchanted to be the m-master." She began to mentally list those she knew had made such a thing in the past as she quelled the next rush of compulsion, and then asked, "You said a few days ago there were death knights not far from here?"

Kyala nodded, "Yes. An Ebon Blade encampment."

"T-take me to them." She groaned with the effort to not wear the choker. Her arms were straining against Kyala's hold.

The lieutenant blinked. "How the hell do I get you there? You're already fighting me and it's an hour's ride at least on horseback."

"Th-think of something!"

The woman growled and then muttered, "Dark Lady forgive me …"

Alyna felt her body bouncing rhythmically for a few moments before her memories came rushing back. Her head snapped up and she opened her eyes. An arm tightened around her waist.

"Easy," came Kyala's low warning from behind her. "I've got you."

She tried to raise her hands but found they did not respond. Alyna looked down to discover they had been tied to the pommel of a saddle. Her awareness began to kick in along with the magic of the choker and she noted she was on an undead horse with Kyala sitting behind her. Alaana and Minea rode each side of them, looking at her with concern.

She could feel a dull throb at her temple. She half-turned to look back at her lieutenant. "That hurt."

Kyala's eyebrow raised in amusement. "You're a hard one to knock out."

That was an understatement, she thought. Kyala had thrown her bodily around the office several times before finally managing to knock her out. Talnia was going to need a new desk, at the very least.

Alyna winced as she tried to push away the magical coercion, her wrists straining at her bindings. They were not just any bindings she noted with a wave of appreciation for Kyala's forward thinking, but ones used to suppress the magic of mages. Unfortunately, it just acted on Alyna herself and had no effect on magic being used on her, like the choker.

"How l-long have I been out?"

"Not long enough," came the vague reply. "Try to focus on something else, if you can, to distract yourself."

The captain sighed. "Like how m-my unconscious b-body was carted through the c-camp and tied to a horse?"

Kyala could not keep the humour from her voice as she replied, "Perhaps something more positive."

Alyna rolled her eyes and tried to settle down for the ride. The most positive thing she could think of was the recent month she had shared with Sylvanas. A slow smirk spread across her lips as she vividly recalled their private time together. Being undead, their physical response to touch was not as acute as it had been when they were alive except for when they had experienced their 'awakenings'. Sylvanas had taken it upon herself to try and replicate the sensitivity for Alyna and she had partially succeeded.

The queen was a master at poisons and had developed one that sensitised the skin around any wound it entered. The result had been a very intense session where Sylvanas had bound Alyna, blindfolded her, and had proceeded to cut her skin in specific places to apply the poison. Though she knew it would sound barbaric to the living, it was something the undead ranger had barely felt. Sylvanas had then commanded her to heal her wounds, but to not purge the poison, leaving the captain with areas of her body that responded strongly to her queen's lightest touch.

When they had been alive, the couple had experimented with elements of less orthodox methods of sexual play, but not extensively. Now, with her body being able to handle considerably rougher treatment without permanent injury, they had started to explore this new dynamic in their relationship. It had been a pleasant surprise for both of them.

She heard an irritated whisper up against her ear. "You had better be grinding against that pommel for reasons other than the one I can think of."

Alyna chuckled, not realising she had been doing such a thing. "You t-told me to distract m-myself."

Kyala growled, "If you carry on, I will knock you out again even if I have to throw this horse around to do it!"

That drew a strained laugh from the captain. She tried to refocus on something that was not sex with Sylvanas. She was not entirely successful, but it appeared that trying to not think about something was just as distracting as thinking about it. Before she knew it, they had arrived at the camp made by the death knights.

A grey-haired human in dark purple plate armour and wearing the tabard of the Ebon Blade approached the dark rangers warily. When Alyna made eye contact with him, he half-snorted a surprised laugh. "Small continent, Princess." He pronounced her former title with heavy sarcasm. Alyna felt her body tremble suddenly and she grunted at what the choker was doing to her. By the time she looked back at the death knight he was already eyeing the object in her bound hands. "I see you have a serious problem."

"Can you f-fix it?" she demanded.

If he took offense at her tone, he did not show it. "Yes. Some reagents will have to be gathered but I trust your friends can handle that?"

Alyna did not immediately respond, needing to concentrate on her issue for a few seconds. Kyala replied in her stead, "Whatever you need." The death knight nodded.

It took the pair of them working together to restrain Alyna as they moved her into the camp and tied her up against a post. Once her rangers had their orders, they left her to the careful watch of the ebon knight she knew as Stefan Vadu.

She struggled against her bonds though not through any conscious decision. She was not wearing the choker, but her continued exposure to it would eventually overwhelm her without the need to put it on. She snarled at her predicament as the death knight approached.

He knelt before her, clearly amused. "Not how I thought I'd be seeing you again."

"I get that a lot lately," she retorted.

"I bet you do." His expression turned serious. "I suppose you should be honoured. Arthas hasn't come for any of us yet, but here you are with one of his toys. What did you do to get his attention?"

Alyna shrugged between shudders, her sentences stunted by her effort. "Only b-been here few days. Was about to l-leave. Killed Keleseth. While ago."

Stefan chuckled. "Yes, we heard about that. You perhaps gained yourself an admirer or two in the order with that move. But you're right, that was a while ago." He turned and looked over his shoulder. Alyna followed his gaze towards a dark Scourge necropolis hovering in the far distance. When the death knight looked at her again, his brow was furrowed in thought. "It takes power and resources to craft your choker. Not just any Scourge can handle that."

Trying to sit still was becoming an issue for the captain. "Who?" she uttered.

"The necropolis, Voltarus, has a new master. A drakkari troll called Drakuru. He's freshly Scourged, but powerful, and we believe he is up to something." He tilted his head as he watched Alyna squirm. "Bringing you back into the fold would no doubt get him rewarded with more power. A nice bonus for someone new trying to prove themselves."

She growled her words. "Not. Happening." Stefan's glowing blue eyes hardened as he continued to stare at Alyna, making her feel distinctly uneasy. "Speak," she demanded, guessing he had more to say.

"We've been trying to get into Voltarus, but it's too heavily defended. The only way to find out what Drakuru is up to is from the troll himself." Alyna narrowed her eyes suspiciously at the death knight as he continued, "I can break the choker's bond to you, but what if you were to wear it and pretend he has captured you to get inside?"

She laughed awkwardly. "No."

The death knight stroked the short grey beard he wore, likely a habit from his living days. "If the Scourge defeat the drakkari empire, Arthas gains a new army. Perhaps the Argent Crusade will stop that from happening, after many months and lives spent. Or we can take the necropolis down from the inside in weeks, perhaps days."

Alyna pressed her head back against the post she was tied to. To her own horror, she was considering his idea. "Plan?" she practically spat through grit teeth.

He smiled slowly at her curiosity, his undead skin cracking as he did so. "Killing Drakuru won't put an end to whatever is happening here; the Lich King will just replace him, and it will continue. You would have to do whatever is required to find out what that plan is and stop it." He paused for a moment. "And then kill him."

Unable to respond anymore, Alyna tried to focus on not losing her mind to the choker. Stefan's demeanour at her situation grew less jovial. He and another death knight, a female blood elf, began to prepare for the ritual to break the choker's hold so no time was wasted once the rangers returned.

She just hoped it would be in time.