FIt was much hotter in Durotar than I thought it would have been. We were built for the cold and damp, and this hot and arid weather didn't suit us at all. Had it not been for Faith, even I would have started to lose bits of skin as soon as we disembarked. But she had put a spell on all of us, one she'd have to recast on us periodically, so that we were kept cool.

"It should keep the flies away," she told me.

I would have laughed, but the looks we were getting from the orcs were far from encouraging. The tauren looked a little more accepting, and so it was to them that I first went, following Faith when I saw her hugging a male with pale curved horns and golden-brown fur.

"Sylvanas," she said to me, "this is my brother Hamu. And these are my tauren parents, Taisha and Atalo."

I nodded to them, trying to recall past bits of politeness that I had used on such occasions, "It is nice to meet you. Thank you for taking care of Faith when she got to Kalimdor. I appreciate it."

"It was a pleasure," said Atalo to me, looking at me up and down. He glanced at Faith, who was looking apprehensively from one to the other. "Although I do wish we could have met her under other circumstances."

"That would have been good for all."

Slowly, we walked towards Orgrimmar, a huge city of wood, iron, and taught hides. Orcs were building as we walked, replacing the hides with stone and other materials.

"It's already changed since the last time I was here," said Faith.

"You've been gone for several months," I told her. "Places and people evolve in our absence, no matter how mind-boggling that is to us. You've changed too in that period of time, you know."

"For the better?" she asked me.

I glanced at her, "Considering the fact that you couldn't look at me without falling apart when you first came to Undercity, I'd say so, yes."

Her hand brushed mine, and I looked down, but it seemed to have been an accident. Nevertheless, I did notice a tinge of red on her cheeks, and so moved slightly away from her so that she wouldn't feel tempted to grab my hand.

Thrall welcomed us to the Horde with great ceremony. He had a feast for all of the living attendees, but since we didn't eat or drink, we stood by, making conversation with the ones who were interested in talking to us.

Faith was sitting with her tauren parents, eating some sort of stew and thoroughly enjoying it, if the look on her face was anything to go by. At least once a minute, she looked up from her meal and her eyes found me, as though she were afraid that I would disappear entirely from her sight.

Hamu walked over to me and I regarded him, wondering what exactly he wanted with me.

"When we met Faith, she could barely breathe whenever she thought about you," he said in a calm voice. "I thought that she wouldn't ever be okay, she was in so much pain. She barely ate anything, although she tried to make us think she did by taking very small portions and cleaning out her plate."

I waited for him to continue, looking over at Faith.

"You were dead, and I don't think she wanted to live anymore without you."

I believed that.

"Except that she had made a promise to you. She had promised that she would move on and live without you if anything happened to you."

"I remember forcing her to make that promise," I said. "She would have never left me otherwise." Although the only reason she'd truly left had been because I'd trained Prince to obey my every command. He hadn't obeyed that first time and had allowed Faith to come back to me to give me her ring. But the second time, he'd carried her away from me for good.

"She did not leave you willingly."

I tore my eyes away from Faith and looked at the tauren standing next to me. He towered over me by nearly a foot, and while his manners seemed gentle, his eyes were blazing.

"I am well aware of the circumstances surrounding her leaving me to face Arthas and the Scourge, being as I forced her from my side."

"She would have died for you."

"And I was not willing to let her sacrifice her life. I wanted her to live."

"And now? Will you keep her with you? Is she to mindlessly serve you until her death? Or will you turn her into one of them?" he nodded to the Forsaken who were scattered around.

"I'm afraid that would never be able to raise Faith from the dead."

"Because you love her?"

"Because she's not human. I do not have the power to raise anybody other than humans. But even if I could, I would never raise Faith to Undeath." That, at least, I knew was completely true. I would never do such a thing to her.

"Do you think that she ought to be living surrounded by darkness? She should be living with us. We can make her happy."

I very nearly laughed. "Faith will never be happy again."

"I will make sure she's happy."

Now I really did let out a humorless chuckle, that must have sounded terrifying because several people around us turned to look at me, "Oh, I see." I couldn't believe that a tauren was trying to challenge me over Faith, even if he was her adoptive brother… who apparently cared about her in a completely different way than her real brothers had in life.

"You see what?" Hamu's tone was defensive.

"She is your sister now, you realize. Your parents officially adopted her?"

"Yes. What is it to you? You left her."

Yes, because I'd had a choice in the matter. "I died. She survived." I glanced over to see where Faith was, to find her staring at us with an odd expression on her face. She made to stand when she saw me looking, but I raised my hand briefly to keep her where she was. She didn't need to hear this conversation.

"I suppose it would be that easy for you, wouldn't it? You didn't care about what she went through after you left her all alone."

Something must have changed in my face, because I saw Faith getting up in a flash and walk over so quickly that she could have teleported herself there. Maybe she had. All I knew was that a rage so intense had descended upon me that I felt capable of killing everyone in the room.

"Is everything okay?" she asked.

I didn't answer, preferring to leave the festivity area, lest I do something that I would regret later.

But I should have known that Faith would follow me. She'd never been one to leave me alone for long when I was angry or upset. Come to think of it, I'd never left her alone either when she felt the same emotions.

"Go away," I told her, not even turning around.

"No. What did he say to you?"

"Nothing that I'll repeat to you, now go away."

Far from going away, however, Faith came to stand before me, "Sylvanas."

I sighed in exasperation, a leftover from my living ways, "Your new brother, if you want to call him that, is more protective over you than Taegan was, but not quite as loving as Estelien was. He also doesn't love you in the same way."

"What are you talking about?"

"Oh, never mind."

"Fine. If you won't tell me, he will." She started to leave, but I grabbed her arm so hard that she cried out. "Sylvanas! What…" her translucent amber eyes were wide and wet with sudden tears. "What's going on?"

"Your brother isn't very fond of me. Don't stir the pot, Faith."

"Could you loosen your grip? You're about to break my arm."

I let her go. "Leave it alone."

"You looked like you were about to murder someone."

"You've never seen me about to kill, Faith."

"Actually, I have. I couldn't see your features very clearly on account of you being a banshee for the Scourge, but it's not a look I'm likely to ever forget. You came after me with that look on your face."

I wondered how many times we would need to rehash this story. "I remember, Faith."

"So why won't you tell me what's going on?"

"Because it's not worth you getting upset about."

"It is if he made you that angry, Sylvanas."

Had she always been this frustrating? Probably so, but I must have found it endearing before my death. "You make me crazy, you know that?"

"Hate to break it to you, love, but you were always crazy."

Now that made me smile. It was brief, but I did it. "Go on, get out of here," I told her.

"You're okay?"

I nodded, "Only if you stop with the endearments."

"All right, my general." She shook her head at me, and walked away. I couldn't help but notice that, every few steps, she would turn around to look at me. After a few more minutes, I joined her. She was sitting with her family again, and made a space for me so that I could sit on the wooden bench with her.

"So you'll be going back then?" Hamu was asking her. "She's going to take you away?"

"Of course I'm going back. Why wouldn't I?"

"Because your family's in Thunder Bluff now."

"Hamu," warned Taisha.

He turned to me, "You're going to force her to follow you."

"The decision to return to Undercity or remain here is Faith's alone," I said after taking a few seconds to compose a reply. "I will not force her to do anything."

"Did you not compel her to leave you before you made your last stand?"

Faith made a sound such as I'd never heard from her. I turned my head to her and found that she had turned chalky white, her lips having turned almost the same color. I poured her a goblet of ale and handed it to her quickly. "Drink, Faith."

She shook her head.

"Don't make me force it down your throat."

She took the goblet from me and took a sip, meaning to put the drink down, but I kept my hand under it.

"More than that, come on."

"You don't have to make her drink if she doesn't want to!"

I nearly shouted at Hamu that I knew damn better than he did what was best for Faith, but managed to keep it in. It really wouldn't do to start fighting with Faith's new brother in the middle of a celebration.

Faith drank a little more, and then shook her head, putting cup the back on the table. A bit of color had returned to her cheeks, but I was certain that she was going to burst at any second.

"Now," I said. "Let me make one thing perfectly clear to you, because you won't let this go." I looked at Faith to make sure she wasn't going to faint, then fixed my glare upon Hamu, "I was murdered while making a last stand, so as to allow people to be evacuated to Silvermoon. I had Faith leave because I didn't want to be killed and raised as a member of the Scourge."

"Please stop…" begged Faith. "Please, Sylvanas…"

She was on the verge of tears.

"She is still grieving for you!" said Hamu, getting to his feet.

In a flash, I stood up, but before I could do anything, Faith had squarely placed herself in front of me, and Atalo had dragged Hamu away.

"I am so sorry, Lady Windrunner," said Taisha to me. "Hamu is very protective of his sister."

"And so am I."

Inwardly, I cursed myself for making that statement aloud. Faith turned and gave me such a look that the past year might have never happened. There was so much love in her eyes that my heart would have burst had it still been beating. But a moment later, despair seemed to crash back onto her. I saw it happen the way I would have seen a tidal wave obliterate a shore.

"I understand that," said Taisha. "You and Faith used to be very close."

"We were," I said, putting my arms on Faith's shoulders and moving her so that she didn't stand quite so close to me. "But I meant what I said, it's up to her to decide whether she wants to return to Tirisfal Glades with me or stay here with you."

"I'm not leaving you again."

I said nothing else about it and we moved onto other topics of conversation. Atalo returned and we spent some time talking about hunting, with him and Taisha telling me about how much Faith had contributed to their family by going hunting on a daily basis. I felt an odd sense of pride, remembering the few times I'd gone hunting with her. She'd been so scared at first, worried about making a mistake that I'd catch.

Night fell, and many bonfires were lit in Orgrimmar, but the celebration was coming to an end. Some of the more hardy orcs were trying to drink each other under the table, and Faith was nodding off beside me, nearly, but not quite, resting her head on my shoulder. I stood up, "I think it might be time for us to retire." I nodded to Faith, "She's going to fall asleep on me, and I'm not going to like that."

"You never used to…" Faith's voice trailed off.

Pretending not to hear her, I pulled her to her feet and waited for her to say goodbye to her tauren parents before leading her towards where our camp had been set up, right outside the city gates to avoid offending anybody with the ghastly smell of corpses. Faith had renewed the spells on us three times since we'd arrived to make it easier on everyone, and it had worked well.

Faith had her own tent set up, but I wasn't surprised when she came into mine and curled up in a corner, on the sleeping bag she'd brought with her. She had changed into small sleeping shorts and a matching tank top, both black, which contrasted with her pale skin. There was no reason for me to notice how smooth her legs looked, or how strong they'd become because of the constant fighting she was doing now.

"I want to go home," she said in a small voice.

I looked at her, unused to hearing her saying things like that to me. I was even more surprised that she didn't want to enjoy the company of the living for a little longer. "We're going back in a week or so."

"No… I mean… I want to go home. I miss my mother."

"Faith…" my voice was lower than a whisper. "You shouldn't think about that."

"I can't help it, Sylvanas… I miss my real parents. I miss the way we'd sit by the fire and drink cider after dinner. Remember those nights?"

Of course I did. I had spent many nights with the Everstone family, with Faith sitting at my side on the couch, not quite daring to touch me, although I'd felt her longing cutting through me like a knife.

"I miss the warmth of your body."

She was falling asleep now, arms wrapped around herself.

"I love you…" she whispered.

For the next few hours, Faith slept, and I watched her occasionally, while reviewing which troops I would be sending over to Orgrimmar. Thrall had mentioned that he needed some enchanters, which I had to spare. He would be sending over two dozen orcs back with me, and Cairne Bloodhoof had promised to send over some of his warriors to help us combat the Scourge.

"They'll want to send druids too, I expect, so that they can see what damage then Scourge has done to the land."

I was less thrilled about that. I knew the damage the Scourge had wreaked, and I didn't really want to make it better. It suited us Forsaken. But I was fairly certain that druids wouldn't be able to change the Tirisfal Glades landscape, so I'd let them stay in Undercity, if only so that Faith could have some living people to talk to.

Just as the sun was beginning to rise, Faith began to shriek my name. Used as I was to her nightmares by now, it still startled me to hear her scream like that. It brought back too many memories. I went to her and placed a hand on her back. She was pouring with sweat and crying, her body trembling.

"Faith."

The sound of my voice roused her, and she sat up so quickly that she would have hurt me had I not been ready for her. Her eyes were wide and terrified, tears running down her face.

"Sylvanas…" she whispered.

I looked at her, watching as the nightmare in her mind coalesced into reality. Her body seemed to sag against mine for a moment, but miraculously, she pulled herself together.

"We have got to do something about your nightmares," I said to her.

"I'm open to suggestions," she said to me, wiping at her eyes. "What time is it?"

"Not quite five o'clock. You can sleep for another hour if you want."

"No, I'm not going back to that."

I nodded, already getting up. It was pointless to argue with Faith about sleep, and she was of more use to me when she was awake. I watched shamelessly as she quickly washed herself and changed into short-sleeved black robes – formal business attire. She had the same long-sleeved model in Undercity.

For the rest of the week, we worked on strategy with Thrall, coming to terms on what our troops would do in each other's lands. I could tell he didn't feel reassured about letting us into the Horde, but he needed a foothold in the Eastern Kingdoms to combat the forces of Stormwind and Ironforge.

"Except that we can't really do all of that alone. They would annihilate us quickly if we attacked them. What we need is Silvermoon's backing."

"You think that you'll be able to get the elves to come out of hiding after everything that's happened to them?" He nodded to where Faith was standing, talking to a shaman. "If they're all like her, we'll be in trouble."

"No, actually, we'll be in great shape if they're all like Faith. She's an amazing combat mage. They call her Blackfire in the Scourge because of what she can do with fire." I quickly told him of how she had come up with her particular brand of fire magic that had decimated several ranks of the Scourge. "You would do well to take it under advisement, Warchief."

"But then we'd have to fight the Scourge in the elven lands as well. They're still there, aren't they?"

"Last time I checked, yes."

"We have to get rid of the Scourge in Quel'Thalas." Faith was with us now, standing as close to me as she could without actually touching me. "We can't just leave them there to destroy my home."

"I will certainly think about it," said Thrall. "In the meantime, we will work with what we have. Are you leaving tomorrow?"

I nodded, "I can't leave Undercity too long. The Scourge will think we've gone soft."

"Have your mages learned how to make a portal that will lead you here?"

Faith nodded this time, "Yes, Warchief. It shouldn't take us more than an hour for three of us to open a portal from Undercity to Orgrimmar. It won't stay open long, maybe not more than a few minutes, but I think it will do the job in a pinch."

"I'll be sending you and several of the Magi Corps to Dalaran regarding that very issue," I told Faith, looking down at her.

"You will? In Northrend?"

"Yes, in Northrend. And no, you will not be allowed to seek out Arthas and kill him. I don't really feel like seeing you as a member of the Scourge."

Faith didn't smile, "As you wish, my Lady."

We weren't the only ship departing Orgrimmar the following day. Two full orc ships accompanied us, filled with hearty warriors ready to fight, for the Horde, as they said. They suggested Faith ride with them, for comfort, but another nightmare had left her with little desire to leave my side. She rarely was more than ten feet away from me for the entire voyage, and once, after another bad dream, she'd had the audacity to curl up on my lap. I hadn't evicted her right away.

I seemed to be growing soft, as far as she was concerned.