Hearthglen echoed with the happy sound of a fiddle as the new members of the Argent Dawn were presented with their tabard – black with a silver sun depicted on it. I put it on immediately, liking the look of it on my black robes.

I was proud that we had all made it, even Hamu. Being a part of the Argent Dawn felt as though we were aggressively defying the Scourge, although, of course, we already had been. The fact that Arthas had actively tried to hurt me meant that I was doing something right.

However, despite what I told people, I was terrified of the Scourge. The nightmares had probably gotten to me, and I was afraid of what else I would see when I fought them.

Because every time I fought against them, I got flashbacks to the very first time, when everything had ended. Every time, I saw Ravenna dead on the ground, Taegan getting killed, my mother with terrified and wide unseeing eyes, Estelien with a gaping wound at his side, and finally, my father shot down by multiple arrows.

I barely kept myself focused enough to bring the fiends down when this happened. I felt lucky that I hadn't seen Sylvanas' murder, although I knew enough to imagine the scenario in a thousand different ways.

Would I ever stop being scared? Although Sylvanas had told me that I wouldn't, I hoped that, one day, the fear would disappear.

I began to shake, and soon found myself curled up in between my bags, my limbs practically knotted together as memories unfolded inside my mind. I wanted to scream, but couldn't. A tear ran down my face. Sylvanas. Why weren't we together at that moment? I wanted us to be. I shouldn't have left her, even to be where I was.

I want to go home, I thought for what felt like the millionth time. My real home. The home where I hadn't been afraid to get up in the morning, the one where I would eagerly await Sylvanas' return.

After some time, I got to my feet and went to find Lord Tirion. He was having a drink with some Forsaken, listening to them telling stories about when they'd been alive. It almost made me smile.

"Faith!" he exclaimed. "Sit down, sit down, have a mug of ale, it's cold and sweet."

"Thank you, but I was coming to you to ask you for permission to return to Undercity for a couple of hours. I told Sylvanas I would update her on our progress here."

"Oh, certainly. You have my permission, Faith. As long as you don't tell her that I allowed you to fight a necromancer on your own."

I did smile this time, "Deal."

Less than ten minutes later, I had collected various reports from the Forsaken who had accompanied me, and had appeared in Undercity's Royal Quarter, surprised to find it empty except for a few guards.

I felt a shimmer of disquiet. Not even Ambassador Sunsorrow was there from Silvermoon. I went to one of the guards, "Where is everyone?" I asked him.

"I believe Lady Sylvanas is down at the prison, interrogating someone."

"Interrogating…" I walked away from him, not listening to his cry that Sylvanas had asked not to be disturbed under pain of death.

I heard the cries as soon as I arrived at the lower levels of Undercity, which were just as cold as I remembered. The sound of a whip cracking against skin followed the cries, and I hurried along.

"I'm sorry, Captain Everstone, but you can't go in there," said one of the guards, barring my way. "By order of Lady Sylvanas."

There was a terrible scream, and my skin chilled. That voice sounded familiar.

"Anar'alah Belore…" I whispered. "She's got Shaladyn in there?"

"The queen asked not to be disturbed."

"Do you know why the Scourge calls me Blackfire?" I asked pleasantly. In my hands, black flames crackled to life.

The guard looked down at my hand, and I saw him tense, "Captain, please. The queen will have my head."

"I will turn you to ash if you don't let me pass in three… two…"

The guard moved aside, visibly shaken.

I hastened past him, bursting into the interrogation room the screams were coming from.

My jaw dropped.

Shaladyn was lying on the floor, naked, the skin broken open and bleeding from half a dozen whip lashes. Sylvanas stood there, her uniform spattered with blood, and her hood down to reveal her silver hair. She looked absolutely furious, and I found myself afraid of her.

"What in the Sunwell are you doing here, Faith?" she asked me, outraged.

"What is this?" I cried, gesturing to where Shaladyn lay sobbing. I conjured a blanket for her, draping it over her body. "Have you lost your mind, Sylvanas? Do you have any idea what you're doing?"

"I know exactly what I'm doing. Now get out of here."

"No!" I positioned myself between here and the night elf, "The Cenarion Circle, not to mention Darnassus, will fall on you for this! What could you possibly have been thinking?"

"I told you I was going to get her. Did you think I was kidding?"

"No, I didn't think you were kidding. Who did you send after her? Am I supposed to believe that she stumbled upon your territory?"

"Our territory. And as a matter of fact, she did. Rotvine found her at the Bulwark. She'd just crossed into Tirisfal Glades."

I turned to Shaladyn, who was looking at me. "Is this true?" I asked her.

"I… I wanted to see you…"

"Is this true? Did you cross into Forsaken territory?"

She nodded once.

"Oh, this is a nightmare," I muttered. "Why would you do that? I told you she was dangerous."

Shaladyn reached out towards me, but I backed away, "Faith, please…"

"What did you think was going to happen? Did you think you were going to find me somehow, and I would think you brave? That I would chose you instead of the woman I have loved for nearly a century?"

"But she's dead. L-look at what she's done to me…"

"You brought that upon yourself."

"But I… I said I knew you."

I gave an exasperated sigh and turned back towards Sylvanas, who was glaring at me. She was furious with me, and I knew that, whatever my punishment was going to be, I was going to hate it. "Sylvanas, please let her go. She's clearly not in her right mind."

"You want me… to let a night elf who sexually molested you… just go?"

"You're going to start a war that we can't afford to fight right now. We're already fighting the Burning Legion and the Scourge. Please don't add the Alliance to that as well. Please."

Her look pierced right through me, "You do realize I'm doing this for you."

"I know, Sylvanas." I shook my head, hearing voices due to the dark magics about the place. "And I appreciate that, but you're wrong. On this point, you're wrong."

"She crossed over into Forsaken territory. I had every right to make her prisoner."

"Make her prisoner, yes. But torturing her like this? She could have been on the run from the Scourge!"

"Oh, that's rich. You know that wasn't the case."

I did know.

Shaladyn took my hand and struggled to her feet, holding on to me. One of her hands stroked my side and Sylvanas snarled, uncoiling her whip and getting ready to strike.

I jumped away from the night elf and wrapped my arms around Sylvanas, stopping her from doing what she undoubtedly wanted to do. "Sylvanas, no. Don't."

"Let me go, Faith, or so help me I will strike you as well."

"No you won't." I put a hand on her cheek, "You won't hit me because you love me. You won't hurt me because you wouldn't be able to live with yourself." I kissed her, my tongue stroking hers. I heard an anguished moan coming from Shaladyn and pulled away from Sylvanas, looking back at her, "Do you understand now? I will never leave her."

Sylvanas put an arm around me. I could tell she was still furious with me, but she knew what I was getting at. "Maybe I should fuck you right here and see how she takes it."

"That's tempting…" I said sarcastically. "In a freezing prison dripping with who knows what, and magic that makes me hear the death of my family and remember the day Arthas marched into Silvermoon." I kissed her again, "Please release her."

Sylvanas exhaled, a frustrated reaction, "Fine. I'll release her. But if she ever sets foot in one of my territories again, I won't hesitate to kill her."

"Okay."

She looked past me to the druid, "And if you ever touch Faith again, I will make you wish you'd never been born." She called the guards, ordering them to take Shaladyn back to the Royal Quarter and to bring her something to wear. Once she was gone, she glared at me, "I am mad at you, you know."

I nodded, "I know." I dropped my arm from her waist, but she didn't release me, instead leading me out of the prison.

"What were you doing here anyway?"

"Ah… I just wanted to see you. And to tell you that all of us joined the Argent Dawn. Lord Tirion Fordring is willing to allow anybody else from Undercity to join, should they wish."

"Good. I suppose you have to return to Hearthglen?"

"In about an hour, yes. Why, do you want me to stay?"

"I've half a mind to exile you from Undercity for a month for the way that you defied me in there."

I glanced at her, "If that's the way you feel, I won't object."

"Like hell you won't. You'll beg me not to do that."

"I'll probably need to stay in Hearthglen that long anyway. I'm not sure what Lord Tirion has planned for us. Oh, by the way, he's refusing to strike out at Andorhal."

"Everyone's refusing to do that. Too many of them."

"So we're just going to let them multiply in there?"

"What do you suggest I do? I can't empty Undercity in an attack on Andorhal, not now, and that's what it would take."

"That's because you're refusing to work with the Alliance, and Lord Tirion's forces are spread too thin."

"I'm going to say this once and for all. I do not want you anywhere near Andorhal, is that understood?"

"Yes, my Lady," I said, bowing my head to her.

"Promise me."

I stopped walking and looked into her eyes, "I promise you, Sylvanas. I won't go near Andorhal." I pressed my forehead against hers, and she held me for a moment, briefly closing her eyes, "What were you planning on doing to her?"

"I was going to hold her here a while. A few months, maybe. She trespassed into Horde lands. Normally, it would be death."

"But you sent someone after her, Sylvanas."

She grabbed my arm hard enough to make me cry out, "That was my prerogative. The fact that she made it so easy for us was an unexpected bonus."

We arrived at the throne room, where Shaladyn was wearing a ragged black robe, and had been forced to kneel in front of Sylvanas' chair.

Sylvanas sat down, and I stood on her right, looking down at where the night elf was kneeling. "You're lucky that I'm so magnanimous," she began. "Ordinarily, the penalty for trespassing upon my lands is execution. But you can thank Faith for her generosity, because she is the only reason I will be letting you go."

Shaladyn looked up, and I saw that her silver eyes were full of defiance, "You think that you scare me? You're letting your lover tell you what to do like some weakling." She spat at Sylvanas' feet, and I would have bounced has Sylvanas not held on to me.

"Get her out of here," she said to the guards. "Just outside the Bulwark."

"You don't deserve her!" she screamed as the guards grabbed her. "She's far too good to be with you! It's your fault that so many people died! It's what everyone's saying! You goaded Arthas!"

"That's enough!" I cried. Magic crackled around me in my anger. "Hold your tongue, you fool, before she cuts it out of your mouth."

"If you won't be with me, than I won't let you be with her either!"

Faster than I could have thought possible, Shaladyn shook she guards off her and transformed into a massive snarling bear, pouncing right at Sylvanas, her claws aiming for her throat.

I screamed and moved, teleporting myself right in front of her, my arm raised. My spellblade, which was in my hand, pierced Shaladyn's hide. I felt it puncture tissue, snap bone, and slice an organ – her heart. Blood sprayed all over me, covering my face as Shaladyn fell, transforming back into herself as her body convulsed. I staggered back in complete shock, falling over the stairs that led to the chair Sylvanas had risen from.

Shaladyn died right in front of me, her eyes open wide, tears rolling down her cheeks. I couldn't breathe.

I had just killed an Alliance prisoner. A member of the Cenarion Circle. My head spun, and before I knew it, I was vomiting over and over again, and Sylvanas was supporting me, holding my hair back. I pushed at her and stumbled away, crying out.

"I didn't m-mean to!"

"She moved so fast I hardly saw it," Sylvanas told me, still coming towards me. "You acted on instinct."

"I killed an Alliance prisoner!"

"Yes. One who was going to assassinate me."

That stopped me. "What?"

"She was going to kill me. You did understand that, didn't you?"

I had jumped in front of Sylvanas without even thinking about it. The look in Shaladyn's eyes as she had turned into a bear had been murderous. Had that been her plan all along? To murder her?

Sylvanas reached me, but didn't touch me, "You just… Faith, had she landed on you, she would have killed you."

"She was aiming for you," I said.

"And you killed her to save me." She looked at one of the guards, "Clean this up. And contact the Cenarion Circle. I need to explain what happened here."

"No, Sylvanas. It's my fault, I'll do it."

She came very close to me, her face an inch from mine, "Don't even think about it. This is my responsibility."

"I can't let you take the blame for this. It'll start a war."

"And if you go, they could execute you, even though you acted in my defense."

I didn't care about that. I couldn't let Sylvanas take the blame for this. I couldn't.

"Go back to Hearthglen, honey. I'll take care of this, okay?" She kissed my cheek, "And don't tell anybody about this."

How could I act as though nothing had happened? I did go back to Hearthglen, but as I was still covered in blood, people immediately asked me what was wrong.

"You did what?" Hamu stared at me in shock when I told him.

"Shaladyn, the girl who… the druid?"

I nodded. "I didn't mean to… but she attacked Sylvanas. I…"

Lord Tirion was staring at me, "And what are you going to do about it?"

"I need to go to Moonglade. Or maybe to Darnassus."

"We can make you a portal to Nighthaven. But I'm not sure what they're going to do to you there."

"I don't care what they do to me. I have to talk to them myself."

"Faith, they could kill you."

"So let them."

One of the druids of Argent Dawn, a tauren, created a portal for me to Nighthaven, the capital city of Moonglade, and I stepped through it, unaware that five Forsaken and Hamu were following me.

"You don't have to come with me."

"Of course we do," said Jester, fingering the blades at his hips. "We won't let them kill you without a fight."

"I don't think they're going to execute me," I said, showing them my arm. Shaladyn had clawed at me when I'd stabbed her, "I'm hoping they'll see this and understand that I hadn't set out to kill her."

I stepped through the portal, ending up in a green and luscious world that seemed peaceful and beautiful. I'd never been to Moonglade before, but I'd heard of it. The air here was fresh and green, delicious and rich with life. It soothed me.

"One of our children dies, and her killer comes to Moonglade to confess," came a soft voice, surrounding me the moment my feet touched the earth surrounding the night elven village. "You must be very brave to come here. Or very foolish."

The voice held power, power such as I'd never heard before. I almost thought I was hearing Cenarius, the demigod who had given birth to druidism, but he was dead.

A form materialized out of the mist. It looked like a centaur with a night elven upper body with antlers and the lower body of an enormous stag. One of his hands ended in what appeared to be a wooden talon, while the other held a beautiful flower that grew as I watched.

"Cenarius is my father," he said. "I am Remulos, and I am surprised to see you here, Faith Everstone."

I bowed, "I… you know about Shaladyn?"

"I know she did not die of natural causes, although I'm certain that you have an explanation for me."

"I didn't mean for it to happen."

"But it did." He stepped towards me, his hand taking my arm and examining the claw marks Shaladyn had left there, "She fought you."

"She… I don't think she'd expected me to do anything."

He looked up, "Ah, someone else arrives."

I turned my head, stunned to see two portals opening, and three people coming from them. Sylvanas stepped out from the portal closest to me, and Archdruid Fandral Staghelm and Tyrande Whisperwind from the second one.

"Sylvanas –."

"Faith, what are you doing here? I told you I'd take care of this!"

"What's going on here?" asked Tyrande, leader of the night elves. "I got word that one of our druids was killed, and the next thing I know, I'm here. What in the world happened?"

"I believe this young one here has just confessed to killing Shaladyn," said Remulos.

The archdruid turned to me, his staff raised. Quick as a flash, Sylvanas placed herself between the two of us, "If there's anybody you're going to talk to about this, it's going to be me, not her."

"Lady Windrunner. We certainly did not expect a banshee to come here."

"This way, please," said Remulos, gently ushering us inside one of the buildings. Moonglade guards stood around the table where we took our seats. I couldn't help but notice that I was seated as far away from Sylvanas as possible, and I hated it. So did she.

"What happened?" asked Tyrande. She was looking at Sylvanas. "How did Shaladyn get to Tirisfal Glades?"

Sylvanas explained about how Shaladyn had been caught inside Forsaken lands and had been taken to Undercity.

"And what happened between her and Faith in Outland had nothing to do with it?" asked the archdruid, glaring at me.

"It most certainly didn't help her case," said Sylvanas, not bothering to ask him how he knew about that.

"You wanted her dead, and now she is dead. Don't you find that convenient, Banshee?"

"Sylvanas didn't kill her," I said quickly, pulling up my sleeve to show where Shaladyn's claws had marked my arm. "I did."

"And why did you kill her?"

"We were releasing her. Guards were going to take her to be released just outside the Bulwark, but she wasn't happy about that." I told them what had happened next, haltingly, trying not to let me emotions get the best of me.

"You claim that she transformed into a bear and willingly tried to attack Sylvanas. No druid would do that."

"This one did," I said. "I would have never touched her otherwise."

"She's telling the truth, Fandral," said Remulos.

"So, because she's telling the truth, I'm supposed to let this go?"

"Yes," said Remulos simply, "you are."

Tyrande shook her head, "Look, there were multiple incidents with Shaladyn. Faith wasn't the only one she got too close to without permission. She's been reprimanded time and again, which was why we had sent her to Outland, hoping that she would learn some control there."

"She was one of my best students."

"Then you should have addressed the problem sooner. She ventured into Tirisfal Glades on purpose, which everyone in the Alliance knows carries the penalty of death unless the Scourge is right there."

"How do any of us know that the Scourge wasn't there?"

"No Forsaken would ever capture someone who was fighting the Scourge," I snarled. Sylvanas glanced at me, her eyebrow raised.

"It seems to me that we don't have grounds to hold Faith here," said Tyrande. "I do thank you for coming to us to clear this matter up." She got to her feet, and everybody else followed suit. Fandral was livid, I could see that, but he didn't dare say anything against Tyrande.

"This had better never happen again," he said menacingly to Sylvanas.

"Keep your people off my lands, and it shouldn't," she replied to him before coming to me and taking my arm.

She nearly dragged me away from Moonglade, ordering the mages to make us a portal to Undercity immediately.

"Look I –."

"Shut up, Faith. I mean it."

We arrived in Undercity, and Sylvanas threw me to the floor.

"What was going through your mind when you did that? Do you have any idea what they could have done to you?"

"They didn't do anything!" I cried, slowly getting to my feet. "And be glad I didn't mention the fact that you had Rotvine looking for Shaladyn."

She slapped me, hard, and I fell again, "You deliberately disobeyed a direct order, Faith. What am I supposed to do with you now? You do whatever you want, regardless of the consequences."

"So did you!" I screamed at her, tears unwillingly welling in my eyes. "What did you think was going to happen with her?"

"We'll never know now. But what I do know is that you have an hour to clear out of here. Don't come back until I call for you again. If I call for you."

I stared at her, shock washing over my body and turning it cold, "What?"

"You heard me. You joined the Argent Dawn, go be with them. Undercity certainly doesn't need you anymore."

"You don't mean that!"

"Oh, I assure you, Faith, I mean it. Now get the hell out of here."

"No…"

"No?" She pulled me to my feet, hurting me and not caring, "You will get out of here. I don't care what you promised yourself. You're done here."

"You don't really want me gone, do you?" my voice was small, choked. I couldn't believe she was doing this. "You love me, Sylvanas, you can't…"

"Get. Out."