As It Burns: Chapter 3: Aeleria Frostheart

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A/N: This is an Alliance character's perspective. Aeleria is a Draenei Death Knight, and a good friend of Crysanthemum Hexknot. Hopefully I've done her some justice here. If you want a little backstory to get to know her a bit better, part of her story has been told in my "Moments" drabble fic. Thank you all again!

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"Aeleria, could you help me carry this to the well?" Came a light voice. Aeleria turned her head infinitesimally towards the voice, her cold glowing eyes following until they stopped upon a young elf, her bright green hair wild and free, her bright eyes tired and worn. Teldrassil's fortifications had caused much tension to manifest within the World Tree, many of the elves, worgen, humans and others within, working to help the injured sentinals from Darnassus and Silithus that flowed in from Gryphon back and mage portals. The young elf, Lysendra was a novice priest, and she carried with her the burden most of her kind did; Caring for the injured, sick, and war-torn.

There were many of those today.

Aeleria had seen many wars. She'd been killed during a scourge raid long before the battle of Icecrown, and raised to serve in the Lich King, Arthas Menethil's, undead arsenal. For years, she and others like her had fought, slaughtering hundreds, thousands of innocents, and paving a path of violence and blood so thick it would drown her ledger for eternity. Once, in life, she'd been a Paladin, helping people, healing the wounded and sick. Now, it was all it took not to succumb to the whisper's that death's price demanded.

Aeleria knelt down and grasped two basins in her arms, following Lysendra to the well, where several mats with broken bodies were placed. She could smell the beginnings of decay on one, far to the left, and the lack of breathing told her what the priests had yet to notice.

"The far sentinel has passed." Aeleria told the young elf, gesturing to the sentinel in question. Lysendra set her basin down, running the back of her hand across her forehead to wipe the sweat away. She peered over to the sentinel, a grimace besetting her pale lips.

"That's the second one today." She said, her voice sad. "We can signal over one of the mortuaries, they can take her body to the staging area. There will be a ceremony to lay them all to rest at sunset." Aeleria nodded, waving an arm at one of the mortuaries, a worgen male with a graying muzzle, who quickly made his way over, peering at the sentinel brusquely.

"Another, eh?" He gruffed out. He gently, with more grace then Aeleria would have expected from the creature, grasped the sentinel and made off with her body, taking with him the scent of her death.

"We need another priest here!" A strained voice said, turning Aeleria's attention away from the worgen man. Lysendra sighed and placed a hand on the draenei's arm.

" Can you handle the rest? I need to assist wherever I can."

"Of course." Aeleria replied, her echoed voice eerily disappearing into the strangely foreboding wind. Aeleria moved quickly back into the small structure, tucking another basin underneath her arm when the screaming started.

Reflex engaged her, and her two handed weapon, imbued with frost runes was brandished before her, her eyes scanning for the Horde threat. But instead, her senses were assaulted by something else.

"Smoke! Fire!"

The screaming increased, like a crescendo for a song reaching its peak, and Aeleria spotted flames licking at the edge of the World Tree's edge. A gasp came from her lips as a memory, faded and dim with time, flashed across her eyes.

The fire was spreading. Aeleria coughed, her eyes watering as the smoke threatened to consume her. The scourge was here. They were coming. There was no more time. She turned her head to the left, falling upon Samuel, his golden eyes dim and dark skin paler than normal. He was dead, this she knew. They'd all died. They'd all failed. She'd failed. She crawled to him, running her hand down his forehead and closing his eyes.

"At least…" She thought to herself as the fire slowly crawled towards her. "The fire will burn our bodies to ash, that we may never be raised to serve that monstrosity." The tears trailed in the soot down her face and she choked, waiting for the smoke to consume her lungs. Fogginess ensued and her vision began to blur when she heard a shuffling movement to her right. Turning herself, grip tightening around her mace, she steeled herself to fight in her final moments. Her eyes landed on a creature she'd seen many of before her people's trek to Azeroth. An Orc, imposing and tall, wearing dark, rusting armor, his eyes a cold, glowing blue, stood over her broken body, a runic axe borne in his hands. His lips curled in disgust, and Aeleria found she could not summon enough light to even lift her mace.

"You won't get that reprieve, Draenei." The orc said, lifting his axe above his head, his echoed voice chilling her to the bone. She closed her eyes, and prayed to the light that her death be swift.

She shook herself from the memory and snarled at the fire, unsure of what else to do. She sheathed her weapon and quickly ran to one of the wells, grabbing a large bucket.

"Move! Start putting out the fires! Get the injured through portals! Do it NOW!" Citizens and heroes alike listened, urging fleeing citizens towards the mage in the central square, who had already begun to cast portals to Stormwind. Aeleria took one look at how many there were, and knew it would not be enough.

"Do you have to go?" He asked her, his hand resting against her cheek. She leaned into his hand, closing her eyes and just feeling his warmth against her face.

"It should be a short mission." She told him, smile tight on her lips. "I will be home with you both before you know it." They both turned to the sleeping child that lay there, her greenish curls framing her cherubic face softly. Aeleria stepped over to the cradle, running a gentle finger down her daughter's cheek.

"I'll be home soon, my darling Havanna."

"Quickly! We have to hurry!" Aeleria shouted, commanding those frozen in fear into action. "Some of you need to remain behind to fight the fire. Anyone who is able, carry the sick, the elderly, get them to the portals!" The tree was burning. The fire spread so fast she was certain it was too late to save the world tree. Her new primary focus was to evacuate. She nodded to a night elf hunter, her violet locks braided tight against her head, her pet Panther growling at her side.

"We have to evacuate them all." She told the death knight, her voice quavering in anger. "That wretched Banshee Queen set fire to our beloved home. What will remain here but sorrow and ashes?" Aeleria found she had no response.

"This isn't the time to dwell on the actions of others." The Death Knight reminded her after a moment. "Who did it is irrelevant now. We must move to save as many as we can." The Elf's brow furrowed but she didn't argue, instead following the Draenei to the central buildings, that were now on fire.

"Do you know anyone else in the tree who can help?" Aeleria asked, watching panicked citizens trying to avoid the flames.

"No, my guild-mates have already left the tree to fight on the shore." She replied bitterly. "I remained here to help my sister transport the wounded to safety."

"You said you need help?" A voice, rough with anger called. Aeleria turned to see two Night Elves jogging towards them, soot streaks across their cheeks and anger in their expressions. Both had lavender-pink skin, but the hunter had dark violet hair, while the other had moonlight touched white, and the daggers at her hip suggested she was a rogue.

"As much as can be afforded." Aeleria said grimly. "We don't have a moment to lose."

"The Gilnean Queen has been ushering citizens towards the portals." The white haired elf said, her voice rough, likely from smoke inhalation. "The western section has been evacuated. But there's still too many left."

Screaming stopped their conversation and they all turned to the burning structures, eye's widening in horror as they realized people were still trapped inside.

"We have to help them!" The white haired elf shouted, moving with a speed that nearly stunned Aeleria, dodging the flames as they spread across the flammable wood. The two hunters moved nearly as quickly, their bodies flexible and pliant as they scaled the sides of the buildings, their pets circling the ground at the bases of the structures, eyes wide and watchful.

Aeleria ran to the buildings and set her weapon into the ground. She focused her frost magic carefully, willing it to smother the flames. If she could clear the path for the hunters and rogue to clear the house, they could get these civilians free. The frost magic slowly creeped into the fire, smothering the flames and allowing the area to cool temporarily. Around them, the inferno increased. Weeping and crying and screaming permeated the air the same as the smoke and ash and flames. She scrunched her nose in concentration, watching the Night Elves usher their kin down the cleared staircases.

A broken sob threatened to tear her out of her concentration, and she turned her head a fraction to the left, and spotted a rustling bush with a foot sticking out of it. Just one. Taking a glance at the houses to ensure the elves were free with the civilians, she released the frost magic suffocating the flames, and quickly turned heel to check the bush.

A child. No more than at least ten years, if she had to guess, lay there with scorch marks across her cheeks and arms, bare but for a simple leather armband. She whimpered, her eyes shut and scrunched in what Aeleria could only imagine was excruciating pain. She knelt down and pushed aside the bushel when she noticed that the reason her other leg was hidden from view, is because it wasn't there at all. The bleeding was profuse and Aeleria couldn't think of any reason for her entire leg to be missing. She wasn't even sure where the girl came from to begin with. She touched her forehead gently, and the girl's eyes snapped open, wheeling around until they settled on the Death Knight's face.

"Shhh. Child." Aeleria said softly, watching as the child cringed further into the bushes, her bright blue eyes wide in pain and panic. "We need to get you out of here. You're injured."

"I'm scared." The child said, her accent clearly Gilnean. "I want my mum, my papa!" Aeleria gritted her teeth and peered around for any sign of the child's parents. There was none. Nothing but flames and smoke. She turned back to the child, who's skin was pale and near cold to the touch. She wouldn't make it much longer without something to stem the bleeding.

"I'm going to wrap your leg, and then I'm going to carry you out of here." Aeleria told the girl without inflection. The girl's tears made her uncomfortable in a way she couldn't quite understand.

"You're hurting mama…" Havanna had said, her hand on her mother's neck, covering the grisly sutured scar from her decapitation at the hands of a death knight years ago. "But you don't let anyone see how much."

Aeleria reached into her bag and pulled free the silkweave bandages she had stored inside. She personally hadn't needed them, but they would do this child good, with magical properties that would stem the bleeding until she could be seen by a priest, or druid. Wrapping quickly and tightly around the stump that was left of her leg, she reached around the child's back gingerly and lifted her, almost weightless, against her chest. She began to run, the flames encasing the drying grass and blocking their path. A low oath passed Aeleria's lips and she scanned from side to side, quickly searching for a route with the least amount of fire. She could hear familiar shouting and peered forth to see a white-haired Worgen gesturing wildly to a few of the Elven priestesses. Aeleria tucked the child against herself as carefully as she could, and vaulted over a majority of the flames, landing jarringly on the ground just passed the center circle.

King Greymane was holding his wife, who looked to be unconscious, his shouting indiscernable over the sound of crackling and burning wood around them. Aeleria spotted the Elves she'd helped earlier, passing the last of their saved citizens through the portal. One of them, the one with Violet hair and black and red armor stepped forward, her expression inscrutable as she assessed the little one.

"Her parents?" She asked softly. Aeleria shook her head imperceptibly, knowing the girl's eyes were on her. The elf grimaced, anger flashing in her eyes as hot as the flames that surrounded them.

"We cannot stay much longer, sister!" The white-haired elf called to the hunter, her eyes shining with tears. Though from sadness or from the smoke, Aeleria could not tell. Tears did not flow in this barren body of hers. She felt nothing but silence as the screams began to wane. Aeleria stepped forward, nudging the elf with her arm. She turned to the Draenei, a questioning look in her eye.

"Take her." Aeleria said, the command in her voice clear. "Take her through the portal. I will stay as long as I can to assist the mages." The elf passed an unreadable expression Aeleria's way, but made no comment, instead merely holding out her arms to take the burden from the Death Knight's arm. Aeleria deposited the child gently into the elf's care, before turning away from the group, her eyes watching the dancing flames.

"King Greymane." She said, her voice low. She knew the Worgen King could hear her however. "Please ensure the child is taken care of."

"No one will be left untended after this, Death Knight." He said gruffly, turning toward's the portal, wife in hand. "I thank you for your service to the Alliance." Aeleria merely nodded, not turning her eyes to look behind her.

"Champion, you shouldn't, there's not time-"

"I am going to do one last sweep. Please try to keep the portals open a while longer." Aeleria said smoothly, her echoed voice cold. No one replied and she wasted no more time sending orders around. Her hooves carried her as swiftly as they could, and her eyes scanned each area, searching for bodies, for living beings, for anything that could be saved.

The smoke was thick. Choking.

She wasn't sure how long it had been since she'd set off into the flames. Minutes? Hours? Time meant little to one of her status. Undeath froze time, as it had frozen her blood, her bones. Her flesh. The heat seemed into her skin but she didn't feel it. Searching for too long would risk the mage's dying, but she couldn't just leave the tree and its inhabitants to burn. But, her senses as sharp as ever, told her what she was trying to deny; Anyone who'd still been in this area as it burned, was likely dead now. To confirm her suspicions, she walked past a particularly wall-like inferno blocking the doorway of a small cottage like house. Inside, in each other's arms, eyes closed and skin ashen, were two elves. The stench of death was familiar. It made her close her eyes, letting loose a sigh.

Her eyes flew open at a sound that belayed the danger long before it would manifest itself. The echoing crack sounded through the charcoal and blood sky, and she knew the tree's limbs were beginning to fall, and would crush everything and anything remaining in the area.

Her feet carried her quickly and to her chagrin, she realized she'd been gone longer than she thought. The central plaza where the mages had stayed was not close, and she found herself pushing her legs to move faster, trying to ensure the mages didn't die due to her mistake, and nearly cried out in the crackling tree in an attempt to warn them before they were consumed by the inferno. She spotted the plaza from a distance and sprinted, her plate armor clinking and crackling as sparks fell onto it. Only one mage remained, her shoulders stooped and body shaking as she held up the portal, posture frought with terror.

"Get through the portal!" Aeleria called, her voice roaring over the deafening flames. The mage started, turning in shock to the death knight, and the portal began to flicker. A deafening crack resounded above the girl, and Aeleria's eyes shot up in shock as a large limb, doused in flames, fell free from its hold and fell toward's the mage. Aeleria reached a hand forward and just barely yanked the girl out of the path and shooting several feet away before the limb crashed into the plaza.

"What were you thinking?" Aeleria shouted, wrenching the girl up. "You could have died."

The girl's eyes were shining with tears.

"So many have died here this day." She said, her voice hoarse and rough. "It will never leave me, the sound of their deaths." Aeleria blinked, unsure of how to respond. But common sense kicked in quickly, and she began immediately to summon a death gate.

"I'm going to get you out of here." Aeleria said, wrapping an arm around the girl's waist. "It won't be pleasant, but you will live." She paused.

"To fight another day."

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Aeleria struggles most with how she couldn't be there for her husband and daughter after her untimely death and unwanted resurrection. She mostly remains outside of Stormwind, and though she serves the King as many other Alliance, she has seen many a war. She knows that protecting even one life means more than allowing that one to die for her.

I don't know who I'm going to do next, but just stay tuned! And as always, thank you so much for reading!