I was shivering, in the grips of a nightmare that had begun as an unusually good dream. I was trying to wake up, but the dark shadows of my dream kept pulling me back. I screamed.

"Faith, honey, wake up."

That voice. I knew that voice. Sylvanas.

"Come back to me."

An icy hand stroked my cheek. Cold dry lips touched mine. She had kissed me.

"Help me…" I whispered.

"Come back to me," she whispered again. "Come on, Faith."

I opened my eyes. The first thing I saw was Sylvanas, right there, lying down with me, her face inches from mine. Her lips were cracked because I hadn't been around lately to renew my spells on her, but she was still my beautiful Sylvanas. I held onto her.

"Shh, it's all right."

"You've never been this patient with me," I told her.

"What about that time you got sick while we were taking a walk around the village and I carried you home?"

"That was Taegan's fault. He tricked me into eating something that was bad."

She smiled, "Yes, he most certainly did."

"Is he still here?"

A nod, "Yes. The shaman are looking into it, but so far, he hasn't responded to anything they've done."

"Do you think they'll be able to put him back in his body?"

Sylvanas looked at me, her red gaze even, "I don't think you'd like that, honey. His body was probably burned beyond all recognition. I doubt he'd look even remotely like himself. Never mind the fact that he died six years ago. Even if his body hadn't been burned, you wouldn't want him in it."

"So, what are they doing?"

"They're trying to find a way to get him to move on, somehow."

"What if they can't?"

"If they can't, then he'll stay here, and it'll be okay. You don't need to worry about him now, all right?"

"But he's my brother."

She kissed me again, leaving her taste on my lips, "I know." She rubbed my side gently, "How are you feeling?"

"I don't know. I don't really remember…"

"Shh, it's okay. You don't have to talk about it." She slowly pulled me into a sitting position so that she could take off the nightgown I was wearing, which was soaked with sweat. "Are you up for a bath?"

I shrugged, "I guess, yeah."

I watched her as she heated up water for me. I hadn't often gotten a chance to observe her doing everyday things, and I found it very domestic. She finished undressing me and led me to the tub, helping me climb in. The water was soothingly warm, and for a while, I just sat there, trying to relax a little.

"I got some news from Dalaran today," said Sylvanas, taking a sponge and rubbing soap on it. "Krasus was here earlier, but you were sleeping. He said they found High Priest Reven dead in the sewers."

"So he really was with the Scourge…" I whispered. "He was supposed to help me."

Sylvanas winced, "Oh, honey, I know." She began to softly wash my back, "For what it's worth, I don't think he was with the Scourge. I think they seduced him somehow, and made him want to help them, with the promise of undeath. And once he gave them what they wanted, they killed him without raising him."

"How do they do that? How do they get people to want something like that?"

"They make undeath sound like a holiday. They speak of unlimited power, and the fact that one doesn't need to eat or sleep, although some of them eat for fun, I suppose."

I couldn't imagine it. I couldn't imagine anybody truly wanting something like that. What was the point? "Does it hurt? Being undead?"

Sylvanas' hand stilled on my shoulder, "The pain is unbearable when you're raised. It felt like a hundred knives being slowly impaled into every part of your body and taken out just as slowly, only to be pushed in again. But the pain recedes after a while. I'm not in pain now, if that's what you're asking."

"You promise?"

She smiled a little, moving the sponge down towards my breasts, "I promise."

I kept my eyes on her hand as she washed me. Her movements were controlled, not sexual, but methodical.

"Your hand is between my legs," I said quietly.

She looked down into the tub, "So it would appear. Don't get any ideas."

But I wasn't excited, not really. I'd heard what the priests had said about my having been raped. I couldn't remember it, which I figured was a small mercy, but I felt confused. Scared to know that someone had done this to me and that I hadn't been able to stop them.

"Sylvanas?"

She looked up at me and immediately dropped the sponge, "What's wrong?"

My chin trembled, "Why did they do this to me?"

"Because they're the Scourge." She helped me stand up and wrapped a towel around my body before picking me up and bringing me back to the bed. "All they want to do is hurt living beings. Especially beings like you who have been a thorn in their side ever since they first invaded us. This was probably revenge for what we did in Deatholme."

"He's never going to stop coming after me, is he?"

She gave a humorless chuckle, "And are you ever going to stop going after him?"

"Of course not." As if I would. He had killed my Sylvanas, and I would pay him back in kind, no matter what he did to me.

"Good. Focus on that. I want you to fight, honey, do you hear me? That's the best thing you can do. Take your power back, and throw everything you have at them." She kissed me softly, "In the meantime, I'm right here."

It was another three days before I was deemed fit enough to leave Sylvanas' chambers. We were told on that day that Rhonin had made a full recovery, for which I was profoundly grateful.

"He could have been killed because of me."

"Don't be ridiculous," Sylvanas told me. "You didn't ask for him to get poisoned."

No, I hadn't, but I still felt guilty over it. "But they poisoned him to get to me."

"He's fine. You don't need to worry about him for now."

Maybe I didn't. But my next few nights were peppered with nightmares involving Rhonin dying at the hands of the Scourge, who were just looking for a way to hurt Sylvanas and I. I woke up screaming again, and, more often than not, I was alone, because Sylvanas was busy at that point.

The Dark Portal to Outland had been opened again, and Undercity would be sending a few forces there. I wanted to go, but Sylvanas was adamant about my staying home.

"I'm okay now, you know," I told her. "I don't need to stay here with you."

"You are not leaving my side until I deem you fit for active duty," she said shortly.

"Sylvanas –."

"That's my final word, Faith."

Hearing the warning in her voice, I backed down. But I wasn't altogether happy sitting in Undercity gathering dust while Rotvine took part of the First Magi Corps to Hellfire Peninsula in my stead.

"Why are you in such a hurry to leave me?" Sylvanas asked me one evening as I was getting ready for bed.

"Leave you? Is that what you think I want to do?" I looked over at her and finished putting on my pajamas. "You know that's not it at all." I sighed, "In a perfect world, you would be alive, and you and I would be married by now."

She looked up, "Faith."

"We would never leave each other's side, and we'd most probably drive each other insane, but we would be together. We would make love, and…" my voice trailed off and I cleared my throat, unable to go on.

"But we don't live in a perfect world. Far from it. That doesn't explain why you're in such a hurry to leave."

"Because I want to do something. I don't just want to sit here and watch everyone fighting a war against the Burning Legion, when I know I could help." I looked down at my hands, "I want to look for Alleria and Turalyon."

Whatever Sylvanas had expected me to say, that clearly hadn't been it. "You want to what?" She was staring at me as though I had told her that I'd decided to turn myself into a dragon.

"You heard me."

"What in the world makes you think that you're going to be able to find them, when others have tried and failed?"

"I know where she would go."

"No you don't. She went to Outland to kill the orcs because of what they did to Lirath. I would have gone with her had I not been Ranger-General." She put a gloved hand on my face, "Alleria's dead, Faith. Accept it."

"But –."

"Stop holding onto the past, please."

"I can't," I said.

Her hand moved down to both of my wrists, which she held lightly, running her thumbs over the very faint scars there, "You have to let it go."

"You haven't let it go."

"I live it. But you don't have to."

"Look, Sylvanas, I'm going to say this once. When I gave you that ring on the day you died, I was marrying you, and I know you know that. Had you proposed to me, I would have said yes without hesitation. Anything that happens to you affects me, whether it be good or bad."

I stepped away from her and began to pack a bag, "Now, I will go to Outland for a bit."

"No, you won't. It's in another world, Faith. You won't have any contact with Undercity at all. Are you ready for that?"

No contact with Sylvanas?

"Isn't that what you wanted, though? For us to spend some time apart so that I could learn to do things without you?"

"I'm not the one who wanted that. The ones who took you away from me in Silvermoon seemed to think it was the best option for you."

"And what do you want now?"

"I want you to stay."

"I could serve you better out there, Sylvanas."

Sylvanas closed her eyes, "You're impossible. Fine. Go. But know that you don't have my blessing to go to Outland."

"Noted." I kissed the corner of her mouth, "I love you, you know."

"Yeah, I know." She shook her head at me, "If you didn't, I'd have probably killed you by now."

I hugged her suddenly, kissing her lips, "I'll miss you."

Sylvanas made a small sound in the back of her throat, "This time, you're leaving me on your own volition. I didn't order you to go anywhere." She squeezed me very briefly, "I could always order you tied up, so that you'd stay."

"Why, Sylvanas, I didn't know you wanted to tie me up. We'll have to try that when I get back."

I could swear I saw the ghost of a smile flickering onto her face.

I left Undercity the following week. I was apprehensive, but physically, I felt perfectly fine. All my wounds had healed in the month I had spent home, and I hadn't suffered any permanent damage from the torture.

In a way, I was happy to be leaving the Scourge behind. The Burning Legion was worse as an enemy, but they didn't scare me as badly. In fact, being as they had been the ones to create the Scourge in the first place, I was rather looking forward to fighting them.

When I stepped through the Dark Portal, I wasn't sure what to expect. I'd heard that Hellfire Peninsula had been a luscious jungle that had been all but destroyed when the fel energies had torn the planet of Draenor apart.

But I hadn't expected this.

It almost felt like an extension of the Blasted Lands, but worse. The sky couldn't be natural. I could see the Twisting Nether, and a planet that was so close to us that it looked as though it could have collided with us at any moment.

It was punishingly hot. I felt like I was baking, although I couldn't see any sort of sun anywhere.

"This place is aptly named," I muttered to one of the people who had come with me.

The paladin next to me, a man, from what I could tell, glared at me and nodded. "Good luck," he said, clearly not meaning it.

I shrugged and moved towards where members of the Horde were amassing supplies and gear that had freshly arrived from Azeroth. It was noisy and crowded, and the sound of battle reached my ears, but I wasn't needed there.

A commander nodded to me when I arrived, and directed me to where flying transportation had been arranged for the newest soldiers.

"You'll be going to Falcon Watch," he told me. "So you take that second transport with that tauren over there."

I turned towards the tauren, and gave a happy cry. "Hamu!"

He was grinning at me, "I thought you'd be coming here, little sister." He caught me in his arms and twirled me around, "What has happened to you? Our parents have been frantic."

"Oh, you know… the Scourge."

"You. You tried to end your life!" He smacked me, "How could you do that to us?"

"I'm sorry, okay, I just couldn't take it anymore."

"Are you sure you should be here?"

I nodded, "I have to do something. You understand, right?"

"Of course I understand. The moment we heard that you'd left Undercity to come here, Mother and Father sent me over to look after you."

"Look after me? I don't need anybody to look after me."

"Yes you do. You'll get into trouble otherwise."

I rolled my eyes, "How did you hear about my coming here?"

"Sylvanas sent word to us."

Sylvanas. Of course, she would have done this to ensure that somebody who cared about me would be coming with me to Outland. The fact that she was looking after me, even here, touched me, and made me miss her more than I cared to admit.

I hadn't seen her in over a week already.

Hamu put a hand on my shoulder as the transport began to leave with only the two of us on board. "What happened to you, Faith? Why did you do it?"

I told him. He listened to me, and held me as I released a few tears, but there wasn't much to say.

"I don't know what it's like to love someone as much as you love Sylvanas. But I do know that if someone loved me like that, I wouldn't treat her the way she treats you."

"Yes, I know you don't like her," I said.

"It's not that. It's just… you love her so much, and she makes light of it."

"Trust me, she doesn't. The thing that I guess I hadn't come to terms with is the fact that the person I loved is gone. The Sylvanas I know now is changed, almost a completely different person, although she's got the same memories, and lingering feelings that she had in life. It's a big thing for her to show any kind of positive emotion."

"You know her best, I guess."

Hamu and I caught up with each other during the entire trip to Falcon Watch. Except for the battle at the portal, Hellfire Peninsula seemed to be quiet that day. I didn't know whether that was normal or not, and the driver didn't seem inclined to answer questions.

"How bad is it here?" Hamu asked me. "Do you know?"

"It seems to be pretty bad, if we're repelling the Legion right at the portal. I don't want to think of what would happen to us if one of those horrible pit lords were to enter Azeroth."

"We should be fighting them, then."

"We're needed elsewhere."

We arrived at Falcon Watch at what I assumed to be ten o'clock at night. I was tired, but Ranger-Captain Venn'ren greeted us with such a smile that I forgot about the long trip we'd had, and answered his questions.

"We have definitely had trouble, I'll grant you that," he said to us as we ate some hearty bread and cheese. "These fel orcs at the Hellfire Citadel are as foul as anything I've ever seen."

"Have you sent the First Magi Corps against them?"

He shook his head, "No. I had to send them to the Pools of Aggonar to deal with an Eredar."

"All of them?" I cried.

"Goodness, no. Only fifty of them. Some of the others I had to dispatch to Zangarmarsh because of the naga situation."

"What naga situation?" I asked. I loathed the naga.

"It appears that Illidan Stormrage brought them here from Azeroth. They've become quite powerful, and the Cenarion Circle down there doesn't really know what to do with them."

There was a map of Outland on the wall, and I located some pins, using them to mark the area where my troops were. "So, you have fifty at the Pools, here," I put a green pin there. "How many in Zangarmarsh?"

"One hundred of them were requested."

"What about the other hundred and fifty?"

"They're in Nagrand, keeping an eye on the Burning Legion forge camps there."

"Forge camps," I repeated, placing a violet pin there. "Is that where they make the fel reavers?"

"That's right, amongst other things. We're trying to kill the leaders in these camps, because we'd love to deactivate them. We have one fel reaver in Hellfire that wreaks havoc wherever it goes. It's huge, and damned near impossible to bring down."

"That's good to know," I said. "I'll go round them up and take them to Shadowmoon Valley."

"You're going to go against Illidan Stormrage?" The captain sounded awed.

"No. The First Magi Corps has been tasked with helping the Horde against the Burning Legion. It won't be easy, and I suspect that we may lose the entirety of our forces, but we're good at what we do, if people allow us to do our job."

Hamu and I left for the pools of Aggonar the next day. It was a rough journey that took us several days, and even with a few elven rangers, we got into trouble more than once, having to fight fel orcs with their red skin covered in what appeared to be Eredar tattoos.

"I would comment on the fact that it's great to be able to visit new places, but I have to say that I could have lived a lifetime and been happy to never set foot here," I said as we approached the area that contained the fel pools.

"So why did you come? I thought you said that Sylvanas wanted you to stay?"

"She did. But do I look like the kind of person who's going to sit by and do nothing while others fight? The First Magi Corps are my soldiers. I trained them to fight the Scourge. I'm not about leave them here without me."

We crept forward cautiously. Not a breath of wind stirred, nor could we hear any other sound, except for the bubbling green water in the pools.

But I saw the dreadlords without needing to hear them.

"Nathrezim," I hissed.

Everyone tensed. If there were living dreadlords at the pools, I had little hope for the fifty members of the corps that had been dispatched here.

"Do you think they're still alive?"

I shook my head, "They weren't alive to begin with, Hamu. Still, I hope they haven't perished completely."

It was one of the things that was unfortunate about the Forsaken. People treated them like cannon fodder because they were undead, not caring about whether they lived or died. I'd caught Sylvanas at this as well, although she denied it all the time, stating that she did care about them.

We were about to advance, when I saw flashes of light emanating from beneath the dreadlord's hooves.

"By the Sunwell, there they are. Move!"

I led the charge, reaching what remained of the forces at the pools less than five minutes later. I had no time to count immediately, but I estimated that about thirty of them remained.

Together, we were able to bring the dreadlord down, banishing it back to the Twisting Nether. I hoped that it would stay there for quite some time.

"Eliza," I said to the female Forsaken who was obviously leading this band.

She turned to me and bowed awkwardly, "Captain Everstone. We didn't realize you would be coming. You just saved us."

"I'm happy you guys made it. What happened?"

"We were sent here to take care of an Eredar. But I don't think that they'd counted on him having so many demons around him. By the time we realized we had to retreat, it was too late, so we thought we'd go down fighting."

"Well, you did a good job, all of you."

"Are you here to bring us home?" she asked me as we began to run out of there before demons began to come after us.

"I'm afraid not. I need to round all of you up and take you to Shadowmoon Valley, where we will be launching a direct assault on the Burning Legion."

"Did the Dark Lady order that?"

I shook my head, "I'm afraid Thrall did. I got the order when I got to the Blasted Lands." I could only imagine how Sylvanas had handled that bit of news.

"So, what are we going to do now?"

I gave them a brief explanation. It wouldn't be easy. I didn't really fancy having to travel through Outland with a large group of Forsaken with me – we would make too big a target. "I will send you all to Shattrath City tomorrow, and maybe keep a couple of you with me to go get the others. We'll meet back there before we go on to Shadowmoon Valley."