Undercity was bustling with activity. We had been back for almost a month, and we'd been busy ever since, because being gone for as long as we had been, which hadn't been all that long, really, had made several Forsaken worry about whether Sylvanas had deserted them.

I was still in my room, finishing my preparations for my trip to Dalaran. Sylvanas had sent a letter to the magical city to let them know that several of us would be arriving, and I was getting ready to join the mages who would be opening the portal for us to go through.

Putting my hair in a high ponytail and tying it with a wide black ribbon for most of its length, I picked up my bag and left, nearly running into Sylvanas who was walking by.

She didn't say anything to me, merely looking at me up and down and nodding. We'd had an okay few weeks, although we hadn't spent as much time together, because we had both been busy. Varimathras had run the city well during her absence, but I had heard her say that she preferred the way she did things.

"So, I guess I'll see you in a couple of weeks?" I asked her. I was dreading having to leave her for so long, and I could tell by the look on her face that she knew it.

"Looks like it."

Originally, she had meant to send us there for portal training, but it had turned into something quite big on the subject of the Scourge. Several high-ranking members of the Alliance would be in attendance, and I'd heard that Thrall would be sending a few of his people there as well.

Just the previous week, I had taken several members of the First Magi Corps with me and had ventured into the Plaguelands, an area that I loathed, because the corruption there was worse than anything in Tirisfal. We had observed activity in a new fortress called Scholomance, and I'd been more than a little horrified at what I'd seen. We'd gone as far as the Thondoril River to the east before retreating, needing to be careful to not fall in Scourge traps. As it was, I'd lost two of my mages to a persistent gargoyle who hadn't left us alone. I'd managed to kill it in the end, but it had been too late.

I smiled a little, turning to leave.

"Faith… be careful, okay?"

"Sure. Sure I will."

I made my way to the Magic Quarter, where fifteen out of my twenty elite mages were already waiting for me. They greeted me as I walked to them, some nodding, others being friendly. The Forsaken had always been very mixed about the way they interacted with me. Most of them had accepted me as a lieutenant as soon as Sylvanas had promoted me the previous week, but a few of the others were still reserved. I was alive, and because of that difference, their trust in me was limited.

The last five mages arrived, and we worked on creating the portal together at the time we'd agreed upon with the mages in Dalaran. After a few minutes, a swirling portal appeared, first glowing with faint colors, then solidifying a little until we finally saw a shimmering city on the other side. My head was aching with the concentration of helping with the portal, but everyone was able to go through. I stepped through it just seconds before it collapsed on itself, sealing the gateway between Dalaran and Undercity.

The change in air was immediate. It was crisper, fresher, and definitely colder, although the air of Undercity was cold as well, with the chill of death permeating the walls of the catacombs.

People were waiting for us, mostly humans, dwarves, and gnomes who looked a little suspicious of the Forsaken, but relaxed when I came through.

"We didn't know there were elves with the Forsaken," said one of the humans. "Are you their prisoner?"

"Were I a prisoner in Undercity, Lady Sylvanas Windrunner would hardly let me come to Dalaran, would she?" I smiled, "My name is Faith Everstone, and I'm a lieutenant in the First Magi Corps of Undercity."

"I know that name," said a voice I recognized immediately. My knees weakened, and I my mind flashed back to Quel'Thalas, to a time when we had all been laughing around on the beaches near Windrunner Village. "Faith? Is that really you?"

I turned around. Rhonin. Vereesa Windrunner's husband, which made him Sylvanas's brother-in-law. "Rhonin…" I whispered. I had heard of him being in Dalaran as the new leader of the Kirin Tor, but I hadn't expected to see him.

He walked to me, and the others let him pass, seeing the completely stunned look on his face, "We all thought you were dead…" He hugged me suddenly.

"How did you survive?"

"Sylvanas."

He looked at me, his eyes getting sad, "Of course she would have saved you."

"She evacuated me to Silvermoon with the rest of Fairbreeze Village before…" my voice caught and I cleared my throat, "you know."

"It's true then. Arthas raised her and she got her body back?"

I nodded, and began walking with him around Dalaran, telling him what had happened to my family and to Sylvanas. It was a difficult tale, and several times, I was so overcome with grief that I couldn't speak. Rhonin looked stunned by the time I finished speaking.

"I don't know how I'll be able to tell this to Vereesa," he said. "She brought the boys here for a little vacation."

"The boys?" I looked over to him, confused.

"Right, you wouldn't know… our sons".

Sons? Vereesa had had sons? It was as though a light had begun to fill me, creeping into the dark recesses of my soul. "You… you and Vereesa have children?" I hadn't cried out of happiness in so long that the feeling seemed alien. I hugged Rhonin tightly, "That's wonderful news, Rhonin. Congratulations!"

"Come and meet them. I know that Vereesa will be overjoyed to see you." We started walking again, only to stop. Rhonin's face lit up as he looked upon a beautiful elven woman with pale blonde hair, who was slowly leading two small figures by the hand. Even from where I stood, I noticed that the children were twins, identical down to the last strand of red hair.

The one on the left saw Rhonin and let go of his mother's hand, beginning to toddle towards him a little faster, crying out in delight.

Rhonin caught him and swung him around, laughing, "Giramar," he said. "Hello, my son."

Vereesa smiled and turned her head towards me. I saw recognition hit her, and for a moment, she staggered back. "Faith?"

"Hi, Vereesa," I said quietly to her.

"You're alive… how are you alive?"

"Sit down," I said, going to her. "You look like you're going to faint."

She sat on a nearby bench, pulling her second son onto her lap and resting her head against his. Rhonin went to her, sitting down as well and putting a hand on her back.

"Sylvanas… is Sylvanas with you? Is she alive? Did we hear it wrong?"

I couldn't bear to tell the tale again, so Rhonin took care of that, glossing over the details.

"So… you haven't heard what happened to the rest of my family?"

"I didn't see them when I got to Silvermoon, and Sylvanas hadn't been able to get home to check on them before she got to me." There was a slim possibility that they had made it, but there was no way for me to make sure of that.

"I told you, honey," said Rhonin to her, "Your grandfather had to kill your uncle when he was turned."

She nodded, "But what about my parents? Nobody's heard anything from them. Where are they?"

My world had ended when I'd lost Sylvanas to the Scourge. I hadn't really considered finding out whether anybody else in her family had made it, having guessed that they had died like everyone else.

"If nobody's heard from them after nearly two years…" I didn't want to say the rest, but I didn't need to. Vereesa had already known, probably ever since the war had ended, that almost nothing remained of her family.

"Your family's gone too, isn't it?" she asked me.

"I'm all that's left," I told her.

"I wish I'd been there. Maybe I would have been able to help them."

"Vereesa. Sylvanas didn't survive the Scourge. The only reason I made it out of there was because she sacrificed herself for me."

"They would have killed you, honey, you have to know that."

"I don't have to know anything!" she cried. The boy in her lap began to cry and she handed him to me without a thought. I took him, surprised, glancing at Rhonin.

"Galadin," he said to me.

I hadn't handled an infant since before the Scourge had struck us, and worried that I would drop him, but he settled into my arms quicker than I could have hoped, sniffling and looking at Vereesa with wide blue eyes. I stroked the top of his head, gently, and an impossible thought ran through me, one of Sylvanas and I raising a family together. How she would laugh if I were to tell her about that thought.

Little by little, Vereesa got herself under control, taking Galadin back from me. "Would you like to come to dinner at our home? We would be happy to have you."

I was about to say that I didn't want to intrude and that she probably needed some time to digest everything, but Rhonin nodded at me. "We won't take no for an answer."

"I'm afraid I really won't be able to stay for dinner."

"Are you telling me that the Forsaken eat things fit for elven consumption?" asked Vereesa.

"No. They don't eat at all, actually. But I want to make sure they settle in all right."

"Go see them, then, and come to our house later."

It seemed as though I had no choice, so I took my leave for a brief amount of time and went to see where the Magi Corps had been housed. The quarters they were in would have been comfortable enough for humans and elves, and I nodded. There was plenty of furniture around, all magically protected against the grime the Forsaken always left behind, and various books and parchment.

A room had been set aside for me, so I unpacked my bags and changed my clothes before going out again. Most of the corps were visiting Dalaran. It occurred to me that they had all seen the city before the Scourge had invaded, and I wondered how much it had changed since it had been rebuilt and transported to Northrend.

"Icecrown Citadel is right over those mountains," said a passerby, watching me as I looked around. "Look, you can see its spires from here."

I stared. Icecrown Citadel? I was this close to Arthas?

"Why is Dalaran so close?"

"To remind us of what we face every day. It's easy to feel safe here because we're above everything and not much can touch us this high. But the people below us are still suffering. In Lordaeron too."

"Now I know why Sylvanas told me not to do anything stupid," I whispered, walking towards where Rhonin had said his house was. It would have been so easy to go to the citadel and slaughter the Lich King where he sat. That there would be several thousand members of the Scourge standing between me and him didn't concern me: my thirst for revenge was raging too fiercely within me for me to pay it any attention.

But I'd promised her. I'd promised that I wouldn't do anything reckless.

Sylvanas.

It was with tears running down my face that I knocked at Rhonin's door. If he was surprised to see me crying, he didn't say anything, instead pulling me inside and hugging me.

"I cannot imagine how difficult it was for you to lose Sylvanas in that manner. I'm just happy that you didn't actually see it happen, or it might have driven you mad."

Vereesa stood by, her own grief reflected in her eyes, "You're still holding onto her, aren't you?"

"She's the love of my life, even now, Vereesa."

"She loved you. She never actually told me this, but I saw how much she loved you. That she died for you… I think it might have been the first time that she didn't think about the greater good. It would have been better for Quel'Thalas if you'd died and she had lived, but she loved you so much that she only listened to her heart."

Rhonin frowned at her, "You think it would have been better for Faith to be turned into a banshee? Imagine what Sylvanas would have done."

"She would have been able to kill Arthas."

It hit me.

It was my fault that Sylvanas had died. She'd evacuated me to Silvermoon instead of leaving me there to block the Scourge with fire while she and the others made their escape. She had come to Everstone Village to help me instead of going to find her family. She had saved me in more ways than one. And she had died.

A white veil of shock slipped over my body. I was the reason Sylvanas had been turned into the monstrous creature she now was.

I didn't hear Rhonin scolding Vereesa, nor did I see him creating a portal to Undercity, which he pushed me through. All I knew is that, one moment, I was standing in Dalaran, and the next, I was in the Ruins of Lordaeron.

Blindly, numbly, I stumbled around for over an hour before I managed to reach Undercity's Royal Quarter.

Sylvanas hadn't been expecting me. When she saw me, her eyes widened, and she rose out of her chair, coming to me. "What are you doing back so soon? What did you… what happened?"

I burst into sobs, "It's my fault you died!" I wailed.

"Oh, for the Sunwell's sake, not again," she muttered. "Faith, I don't believe you…"

"You should have been the one to live, not me."

Holding me at arm's length, Sylvanas studied me for a second, before her hand slapped me so hard across the face that I fell.

"That's enough. I grow weary of you bringing this up every single time, and I've had it. You will deal with what happened!"

"S-Sylvanas…" I whimpered.

"No. Now, you're going to get up and get back to Dalaran. I don't know what you saw there that made you lose your mind again, and I don't care. The only thing I care about right now is that you do your job so that we can defeat the Scourge. And you will do your job, young one."

She summoned several mages, who got to work on creating a portal.

"How did you get back here anyway?" she asked me after a few minutes, while I wiped blood from my lip. Sylvanas had never struck me before.

"Rhonin sent me back."

"Rhonin. Did you see Vereesa?"

I nodded. I was already getting a headache. "They have two little boys, did you know?"

"No." But the mention of the twins seemed to lift something from her eyes, if only for a second.

I swallowed and got to my feet, already feeling a bruise forming where Sylvanas had hit me, "She said that nobody's heard anything from the rest of your family."

"That doesn't surprise me. I didn't see them while I was in the Scourge, but that doesn't mean that they're not still in Quel'Thalas in some way or another."

An hour later, I was back in Dalaran. I felt ill, and so went straight to bed, where my dreams were plagued with Sylvanas in all her forms, alive and undead, first making love to me, then beating me savagely and attempting to kill me. I screamed so loudly in my sleep that I woke up with a sore throat, barely able to speak.

"What happened to you, Lieutenant?" asked one of my mages, Felicity, who hadn't been more than seventeen when she'd been killed.

"It's nothing, don't worry."

"I've never heard you scream quite so loudly in your sleep before," she said. "Would you like some tea?"

I did, actually, but I didn't trust anything that the Forsaken made, because I sometimes found bits of decayed flesh in whatever I was eating or drinking, and I felt sick enough as it was. "I'll be all right, thank you," I said, smiling at her. It hurt to smile. Sylvanas had hit me very hard indeed, and I felt a little betrayed by that. But I couldn't help but think over what Rhonin and Vereesa had said to me the previous evening.

What would Sylvanas had done if I'd been turned into a banshee? She wouldn't have been wallowing the same way I'd been doing since she'd died. She would have felt her grief, shoved it aside, and killed everything in her path. In her way, she might have become a banshee in her own right, more fearful than anything I could encounter.

It was time for me to stop crying.

It was easier said than done, I realized. I'd been crying too long to stop immediately, and I couldn't control my nightmares, but I tried.

I saw Rhonin at the first meeting I went to. He looked surprised to see me there, and frowned when he noticed the bruise spreading from my eye down to my lip, which was split open.

"Did you get that when I pushed you through the portal?"

"Something like that," I told him. "Incidentally, how did you create that portal so fast?"

"Oh, I used to know Lordaeron very well, and remembered where I needed to cast my portal from here. It drained me, I have to say – I'm not used to casting portals on my own, but I've had to perform more complex magical feats on my own lately. I'll teach you how to do it before you leave." He squeezed my shoulder, "I'm sorry about what Vereesa said to you. She didn't mean it like that."

"You don't need to apologize, Rhonin, I get it." I smiled and sat down, pulling out a blank collection of parchment pages that had been bound together like a book.

Others joined us in the large room. Twenty of us sat at the central table, while others, including most of the Forsaken, stood behind us or sat on wooden chairs.

"We are here," said Rhonin, "to discuss the plague on Azeroth known as the Scourge. As you all know, many of us were hit by the Plague of Undeath, though none more than the people of Lordaeron, who, in turn, went on to shatter the kingdom of Quel'Thalas." He nodded to me. "To that end, I would like to invite you to speak and tell us what you know about the Scourge in your lands."

It was a long meeting. I learned that the Scourge was active as far south as Duskwood, as well as in the Barrens.

"Although it's not really that bad in Duskwood. Only a few areas are affected by them," said a sergeant. "Mostly, our undead aren't members of the Scourge, as far as we know."

I made a note of that, but from what I understood, the Alliance was more than capable of taking care of the problem there.

"The problem in Lordaeron, however, is much more pressing," said Rhonin. "Faith, what can you tell us about that?"

I began to talk about the raids the Magi Corps had led on the Scourge in Tirisfal Glades and in the Western Plaguelands. "We kill hundreds of them a day, and yet they keep coming back. I can only suspect that they raid the graveyards and resurrect everything that was ever buried in Lordaeron. We also have to contend with the Scarlet Crusade, who's not making our jobs any easier."

"Yeah, we have to deal with them too in the Eastern Plaguelands," said someone else.

I nodded, "Before we came here, the corps and I went as far as the Thondoril River, and noticed a lot of activity in Caer Darrow. From what we ascertained, it's an academy for Scourge necromancers called Scholomance."

"A school for the Scourge?" asked a paladin, looking pale.

"We were as shocked as you are," I said.

"Did you go inside?"

"That would like me asking you whether you've gone into Stratholme on your own, Captain," I told him. "I wouldn't venture into Scholomance unless I had a damn good reason to."

"So you don't know what's in there," said Rhonin to me.

"Judging by the activity on the island, I think we can surmise that there are a lot of undead there. We did hear that the Barov family of Lordaeron had promised to serve the Lich King, so I presume that they've been turned."

Rhonin seemed sad to hear of this, "That is a grave bit of news you're giving me, Lady Everstone. Are there plans to get rid of the school?"

I winced, "We could dispatch forces down there, but Sylvanas will tell you that we have more pressing matters in Tirisfal Glades. I do agree that it's something we absolutely have to look at, though."

"What about Andorhal?"

"Thirty-thousand fiends and counting," I said promptly. "Give or take a few thousands. There's also a school beneath it, but we haven't been able to get anywhere near that – the Scourge is too dense there. It's their base of operations for all of Western Lordaeron."

"So right now, Undercity is holding defensive positions within Tirisfal Glades."

"No," I said. "We go out every day to kill the Scourge on our lands. The Warchief will be sending us more troops, but he's also got other things to worry about. If you would like us to actively clear the Western Plaguelands, you can let me know and I'll pass the message along to Her Majesty."

Rhonin made a note and moved on, "What about the Scourge in the Eastern Plaguelands, Captain?"

I listened to what he had to say. Apparently, Light's Hope Chapel was being attacked on an almost daily basis, and, while the Scarlet Crusade in Tyr's Hand was working with them, they were facing their own problems.

"And I don't suppose that the Forsaken could help us," said the captain, looking at me.

"We're stretched thin as it is, Captain. Plus, I'm thinking that if the Forsaken showed up in Tyr's Hand, things wouldn't go well for any of us. As I mentioned, we're having enough issues with them in Tirisfal Glades."

"So the situation's dire on every front," said Rhonin quietly. "And we haven't even gotten to what's going on in Quel'Thalas."

My ears twitched, "What about Quel'Thalas?" I asked.

"The Scourge is very active there. I've heard that Dar'Khan has been killed and raised in service to the Lich King, and he's in Deatholme now. Faith, are you all right?"

I was shaking. Dar'Khan. Every elf who had survived the Scourge knew that name. He had been the one to grant Arthas passage into our homeland. He'd been killed and raised as an undead after having tried to betray Arthas the same way he'd betrayed us, but I hadn't realized that he was still in Quel'Thalas.

"Faith?"

I looked up, "I'm fine. But I think I can speak for Lady Sylvanas when I say that the Forsaken will make it their mission to eradicate the Scourge in Quel'Thalas."

"Are you sure?"

There was no doubt in my mind that Sylvanas wanted the Scourge out of Quel'Thalas more than she wanted anything, "I'm absolutely positive."

"Thank you, Faith, that'll be one thing covered."

"Could I ask you why your name is Faith?" asked someone seated opposite me. "It's a human name, and you're an elf."

I smiled, "My mother named me after a dear human friend who was killed a month before I was born. She had a fondness for humans, my mother."

"Is she still…" the man's voice trailed off.

"Our village was one of the first ones raided by the Scourge when it invaded Quel'Thalas. I'm afraid my family didn't make it, just like many of the others."

"I understand then why you're so eager to see the Scourge destroyed."

"I am, and I'll do everything I can to help all of you. But understand that my priority is to see Lady Sylvanas's will done. Since she and I want the same thing in this case, I don't foresee any problems."

"What makes you so qualified to kill the Scourge?" asked one of the priests behind me.

"Have you ever heard of someone called Blackfire?" asked Felicity.

"The elf in Quel'Thalas who kills undead with fire that's black in color, sure. Everyone has. She's a legend."

Felicity nodded towards me, "That's her right there."

"But… she destroyed Silvermoon."

"Silvermoon was best burned to the ground than left to the Scourge. But I didn't burn all of it, just a part of it, I think," I said. I felt a familiar dread coming over me, and quelled it. Now wasn't the time for that.

Rhonin smiled, "I think that your ability will be a very useful one in our fight against the Scourge."

"It already is," said one of my mages, Corporal Carious. "You should see her in action."

"Thank you, Corporal," I said, looking back at him before turning to Rhonin again, "I have to say, though, that using that fire is draining. I'd like to know whether there's a way for it not to wear me out after ten minutes."

"That's true, you never had any formal training, did you?"

I shook my head, "I was thrown into the fire, you might say, when the Scourge invaded, although I've been using fire magic for a century."

"We'll remedy that immediately," he said.