Chapter 5

My muscles burned horribly-god I was too malnourished for this.

The Spire came into view, and I dropped out of the trees so ungracefully that I blacked out for a second, and I scrambled up the path, practically falling against the door as I pounded on it.

I was shaking so horribly, and oh god-

The door opened, and I fell forward, only just being caught before I hit the ground, "What-Teir, Teir what's wrong?"

I was straightened up, and my head lolled as I locked eyes with Sylvanas.

"Mom…bad…no food….no money…ate a rat…so hungry…" I was shaking so bad, and she was easing me down to the step with the orders to wait, and she disappeared back into the spire.

She returned again within a couple blinks, or maybe I had passed out, with a tray laden with meats and water, and a blonder, younger here.

"Vereesa…" I was coughing, and the younger elf sat in front of me, taking the tray from Sylvanas and starting to get food into my system.

"How long did you leave them, Sylvanas?" Vereesa asked, her voice laden with shock as I inhaled whatever she put in my mouth.

"98 days," I said, knowing for a fact, and Sylvanas winced as Vereesa gasped.

"Sylvanas!"

"I thought she would write!" Sylvanas retorted, crouching down beside me and holding the pitcher of water to my lips.

"I did," I said after I had drunk my fill, "Never sent the letters…there were so many…so many…"

"She's practically delirious, by the Sunwell she needs a healer," Vereesa looked so concerned, and so did Sylvanas-it was like having two blonde mothers.

"I'll get her some potions," Sylvanas left, and was back again a few blinks later with oddly coloured liquids, which she bullied me into drinking, and I felt so much better.

"God I feel normal again," I sighed, and the Windrunners snorted.

"Welcome back to the realm of the heal-."

We all turned to see a man running up, a woman curled in his arms-she was bleeding.

"Lor'Themar, what brings you? Who is this?" Sylvanas stood, stepping over me to meet the panicked man-her second, Lor'Themar Theron.

"Please, Sylvanas, this is Elynae Bloodstrider, border guard. She's my lifemate and she's hurt!" Lor'Themar was a slender but well built man with long platinum hair, and indeed his woman-Elynae-was a border guard. She wore the golden garb, complete with golden tipped ears and black gloves that ended in metal talons. Her head lolled to the side as she groaned.

"Vereesa, take the woman inside," Vereesa took Elynae and raced over me, into the house, "What did this, Lor'Themar?"

"Undead! Scourge! Led by Prince Arthas! They've been wreaking havoc in Lordearon and they've breached the elf gate!"

I stood immediately, glad I brought all my weapons with me.

Nothing has breached the elf gate. Nothing.

"Son of a bitch." Sylvanas cursed, "Silvermoon. Now. Mobilize every team you encounter on my orders, get couriers moving. Take my Hawkstrider. Go!" he took off, and she turned to me, "We're going to tag team a butcher."

Excitement hummed through me as we took off for the south, and the scent of rot hung thick in the air. I saw other rangers, mages, and warriors moving along with us, and then I had an idea.

"I'm taking the trees, I won't be seen, and I can cause chaos throughout." I said, and she nodded.

I launched up, taking a moment to get my bearings, and my muscles felt much better now that I was fed, and I took off, shadowing Sylvanas and the others, until we got eyes on the-

Oh…my…god.

Lor'Themar hadn't been kidding when he said undead. Ghouls, banshees, monstrous abominations which looked to be different body parts sewn together, and a host of other foul creatures, and at the head of it-

Arthas, the fallen Prince.

I nocked an arrow and fired, and it lodged into the arm of a ghoul, which showed no reaction.

Okay, so arrows won't-

Hold up, corpses burn and they're really close together.

I nocked three more arrows, whispering hurried fire spells, and let fly.

There we go! The arrows lodged, and this time the ghouls did react as the fire erupted all over them, and spread quickly to the surrounding ones, and they went into a frenzy, knocking into each other and the dead behind them, spreading it further.

I crawled along, staring in horror at the trees that they'd passed-they were dead.

The rangers collided with the front line, and I scrambled along, careful of the brittle branches, and I shot the flying ones out of the sky, letting them crush the dead below them, and let more fire spread across the army.

"Enough of this!" Arthas roared, unsheathing a broadsword which made me feel dread, and I got worried.

I continued firing where ever I could, and I got an idea.

I whispered an explosive spell, and fired four arrows at the undead steed the prince was riding on.

It blew up the horse and sent him flying with a roar. I nocked more arrows and lodged them in his arm, but it didn't seem to slow him down as he looked around blindly in a rage, before presuming to slice through whatever got in his way.

That blade had to be cursed; it sliced through a ranger, and the wisp of her spirit was sucked into the blade, and it glowed brighter.

Oh Azeroth.

I looked for Sylvanas, and saw her colliding with ghouls, ripping through them with her blades, and I tried to think of more ways to-

Oh, that could work.

I slid very carefully forward, taking a handful of leaves from my tree and whispering frantically, before tossing them to the wind.

They smoked as they floated downward, and as they brushed the top of an abomination's head, vines sprung from the ground, wrapping around it and squeezing until it exploded with a vile noise and a spray of gore.

This caused some chaos, and I continued shooting fire and leaves and all sorts of other nasty things into the fray, doing as much damage as I could.

"Shindu Fallah na! Too many!"

I panicked, turning tail and darting to the healthier trees-Sylvanas was calling for a retreat to the Tranquilen River!

I darted along, sewing what chaos I could, and we got to the river, with me in a tree, and Sylvanas at the edge of the bridge, Arthas was standing at the opposite side, along with the rest of his unstoppable army.

"Give up, elf. Stop running from the inevitable."

I recognized the tactic-we had trained with this. I nocked half of my arrows, whispering explosive spells frantically, wrapping my legs around the branch I was straddling and leaning out of the leaf line just slightly, arms strained-

"You think I'm running from you?" Sylvanas sounded amused, and I watched her fingers, "Clearly you've never fought elves before."

There! Her fingers flinched like pulling a trigger, and I left fly, hitting the middle of the bridge and sinking the entire thing, leaving a river in the way.

Arthas roared, and that with the force of the explosion shook my tree violently, and I couldn't get a grip fast enough-

I fell.

I landed in a crouch, and Sylvanas gave me a panicked look as she fell back to fortify more traps, and I was in direct sight of Arthas. I froze.

"So you're the one who's been harassing us."

I nocked arrows, whispered panicked spells and fired. They hit the giant blade and exploded, knocking him back into the army behind him.

I took the opportunity to run like hell.

I made it to our front line, and Sylvanas gave me a quick once over and let out a sigh of relief, "Silvermoon is being fortified as we speak. Villages are being evacuated. Fall back to the second elf gate. Teir." She gave me a hard look, "Get your mom."

With a heart shattering slam I remembered: She's alone.

I took off, hitting the trees and moving through them fast enough to knock off leaves, the smell of the dead encroaching and I thought I was going to-

I landed beside the house, looking for the scourge, Arthas, any sign of them.

When there was none, I went inside and-

"Mom!"

She was laying there, looking up at the heavens, her heart silent.

I screamed, the sound ripping through me like a quiver of arrows, and I felt that vault in the back of my head convulse violently, the screaming joining my own as I cradled her corpse, tears burning my skin.

I smelled the rot, I smelled Arthas, they were coming, but Mom-

"Oh dear."

I looked up, panicked, and curled around her corpse protectively, "Stay away from her, butcher!" I snarled, my voice quivering as my vision tunneled-the screaming threatened to overwhelm me with grief.

Arthas smiled, a scary sight, the large blade at his side, and his lanky blonde hair hanging limply down, "Who is this? Your sister? Friend? Mother?" He grinned when I flinched, "Ah, your mother…dead. From a sickness. This house is…yours? Oh, how tragic." He was reveling in this, and I was drowning in my grief.

"If you want to kill me, do it already, kim'jael." I spat, bowing my head and bracing for the slice of that blade-

I felt a hand instead.

I flinched, pulling back with Mom's body to see that this prince of death had knelt before me, his face looking almost…kind?

"What are you waiting for, Orielis?"

He cocked his head to the side, and his fingers brushed my cheek, and I flinched so hard I nearly fell over.

"You loved her. I can see it in your soul. You've spent years slaving away for her." He said quietly, and I was so intensely freaked out that I was visibly shaking. The screaming had subsided somewhat.

"I could bring her back to you."

I jerked, staring at him with a startled expression, raw need clawing at me. "You-."

"I can't do it for free, but if it is what you truly desire, then I can bring her back. I have that power." Arthas' eyes were bright and sincere.

"Please." I croaked, my eyes burning with tears, "I'd do anything."

"Anything?"

I felt like my pride had truly died, because I bowed my head, looking down at the lifeless face of my beautiful mother, "Anything." I whispered, tears falling onto her pocked cheeks.

He gently took her body from my arms, laying her down in her bed, and pulled me to my feet. He looked at me with this intensity that scared the crap out of me, and a disgusting amount of arousal…my taste was for women for a reason.

His fingers traced my face, and I squeezed my eyes shut, heart thundering with terror as he proceeded to do what he wished-I had said anything.

It felt like hours later when I was lain down on the floor, perverted and crying silently, as the butcher dressed.

"Bring her back," I croaked, eyes on the lifeless corpse in her bed.

"One more thing, little one." He cooed, and I cringed as he brought me to my feet.

I looked him in the face, but didn't see any more of that disgusting hunger. He unsheathed his blade.

"What-."

I gasped, the breath shooting out of me as he impaled me with that blade, down to the hilt, and my vision tunneled as blood proceeded to gush, and the blade glowed painfully hot in my stomach.

"You shall join me, young elf. You are a creative and brutal soldier. You shall be my champion." He said, grunting and shoving the blade deeper, and I cried out, the agony all consuming, and The Mist surrounded us, not daring to come closer.

"Release her soul, Butcher!"

The Mist Speaker, in all of her emaciated glory.

"The dead belong to me! She is mine!" Arthas snarled, his eyes glowing, and my head lolled back as I screamed in agony, falling to my knees, the blade burning hotter and hotter.

The screaming in my head was so great that I could not tell what was madness and what was reality.

"Release her! The dead are not yours!" The woman roared, and suddenly she looked like an elf not a zombie, and she was glowing.

"She made an oath! I wield power greater than your comprehension, witch!" Arthas snarled, pulling the blade back only to thrust it in again, this time while it was glowing so bright I was sure my intestines were branded, and I screamed ever louder, the madness in my mind so painful.

"She is a young elf of the living! You steal her before her time!" The lady roared, the mist growing so ominous, their whispers so loud.

"She is mine! I claimed her!" He roared back, shoving part of the hilt in as well, and I choked on my own blood as it gurgled out of my mouth, my vision growing so dim.

"My….Mother…!" I wheezed, coughing blood as the pain threatened to consume me.

"I will, dear. As soon as I'm finished," Arthas said menacingly, and I screamed again, the agony consuming me.

"Teir Tortheldrin, you shall be an unstoppable force." I screamed.

"You shall be an immortal warrior." I fell back, only upright by the will of the cursed blade.

"You shall lay waste to my enemies." My strength was fading, as blood poured out, and my head lolled back, and the world was upside down.

"You shall be the strongest woman to ever take the battlefield." The screaming in my mind was a cacophonous roar.

"You will serve with unbreaking obedience." I gasped for air, my lungs burning as blood continued to drown me.

"You will raise more armies to fight."

"You…" I coughed, my head jerked forward to look Arthas in the eyes, his face alight with manic glee.

"You…will be my champion."

I convulsed around the blade, my heart beating erratically as I ran out of blood.

"You will be an harbinger of death."

I fell to the ground, the blade finally pulled free of my body, but it was too late. I looked up at the ceiling of my birth home, chest heaving as I struggled to live.

"You will enforce my will."

Arthas stood over me now, raising the blade parallel to my body. It was glowing painfully bright.

"My…mother…" I gurgled.

"You will never flinch, never waver." He continued, and the blade's glow seemed to reach out to me.

"Mom…" I was dying, I was dying.

My body began to rise off of the ground, and my head lolled back, my strength gone. My arms and legs hung limply.

I was enveloped in the glow of the blade, the world turned icy blue and painfully bright as the screaming grew.

"Teir Tortheldrin."

I blinked slowly, my last breath heaving.

In…

"You will be."

Out…

"My Death Knight."

I died.