To The South
"How many do we have now?" Alleria asked her mother, watching her place her bow over her shoulder as they were getting ready to find Athrodar and Cedani.
"Including you, me and Tana, we have three." Sylvanas told her, tightening the quiver she placed on her back aggressively. "Ten years this family gave to Stormwind and its people and they can't even spare one person to help us." She continued to pull on the strap of her quiver to try and tighten it to her chest. "The years you and your siblings have given them too. Tanadia as a High Priestess and healer and you two as rangers of their military." She let out a frustrated groan when the strap to her quiver wouldn't tighten properly. "Why won't this fucking thing tighten!"
"Here, let me." Alleria said, watching her mother struggle with the quiver and taking over for her. "What about Liadrin?" She asked, keeping her voice calm to try and calm her mother down too. "Is she not coming with us?"
"I sent Tana out to find her and ask." Sylvanas told her, watching her daughter tighten the strap of her quiver and smiling a little. "Thank you." She said, placing a hand on her cheek. "Turns out after all these years, this family is still the only thing I can trust."
"We were taught to always look after our own." Alleria told her mother, smiling back at her when she saw Sylvanas smile at her remembering their most crucial rule. "Even if we tease each other relentlessly." She then said, looking back to their ship in the port behind her and frowning a little. "What about all your followers? Surely they could help out?"
Sylvanas sighed and looked back to her ship. "They're going to repair our ship then sail around this island, hopefully finding them along the coastline." Her attention returned to her daughter, smiling at her again because she remembered her one main rule she taught her when growing up. "Our goal was to always have our family as the strongest group of people that the world could rely on. It turns out, we can't expect the same back." Sylvanas told her, looking over to Tanadia when she saw her walking towards them with Liadrin. "Besides close family friends, that is."
"Is this it?" Liadrin asked, watching both Sylvanas and Little Alleria nod their heads. "Ungrateful assholes..." She muttered, looking over to Tanadia who always tried to look at the positives in life but even she couldn't hide the sadness and frustration about the whole thing. "I suppose we best get going." She then said, looking over to Little Alleria. "Your brothers not joining?"
"They're going with auntie Alleria and keeping an eye out during their travels." She told the Paladin. "So whilst they aren't focusing on just looking for dad and Cedani, they will keep an eye out in the meantime."
"I suppose that's more than what the rest of them are doing." Liadrin then said, stepping towards Sylvanas and placing a hand on her arm. "We'll find them." She told her, getting a smile from the family matriarch. "First week away from your home and they're already missing. I'm starting to understand why you both stay in Pandaria."
"Other than the view, the reason is because it's safe." Sylvanas told her, taking hold of Tanadia's hand when she offered it and smiling at the High Priestess when she smiled at her. "Let's go find them."
"We're right behind you, mom." Tanadia said, following Sylvanas with Liadrin beside her and Little Alleria bringing up the rear.
"How are you feeling?" Cedani asked, inspecting one of the many cuts Athrodar had received and hearing him wince when she touched it. "I need to freeze it for the time being, otherwise you will slowly bleed out as it doesn't seem to want to stop unless we stay put." She looked up at him when he clenched his teeth. "And we both know you can't stay put whilst we're out here and mom and the rest of our family are probably looking for us."
Athrodar watched Cedani engulf her hand in ice before watching her slowly place it over a wound. "Are you sure this will work?" He asked the moment she began to freeze it.
"No." Cedani told him honestly. "But I did read that it should work, so it's best to try it and find out instead of leaving it and realising it's too late to try."
Knowing it was probably better than to argue against her with his lack of knowledge on the situation, Athrodar decided to sit back and let her continue her work. "Do you think he will wake up before we leave?" He asked, looking over to the druid in the distance.
Cedani, finishing her work for now, looked over to the druid too. "Probably not." She said, returning her attention to her father. "I would ask where we plan to go today, but this is a new land and we have no idea where we are."
"I suppose we head further in land until we find some source of food." Athrodar told her, being helped up onto his feet when Cedani saw him try to stand. "We wouldn't do the others much good having starved to death whilst they're trying to find us."
Cedani smiled and held onto her father's arm as they left the cave, looking around their surroundings once more to try and take in this new land before they both began to make their way further inland. "Do you think we could ride a dragon whilst we're here?" She asked.
"I have no idea." Athrodar told her honestly. "But if the opportunity ever presents itself, I am sure you will try to take it."
"I would." Cedani said, thinking about what it would be like. "I have never flown before. I haven't been on the gryphons back home, or a wyvern. Not even the air ship we have or a goblin zeppelin." She looked over to Athrodar who looked as surprised as she thought he would be. "I know you have ridden a frostwyrm. It's hard to not hear about that story whenever the talk of dragons and Stormwind comes up. It's talked about a lot then. Only beaten by Deathwing of course, but that's because he destroyed some of the city and landed on it at one point."
"Your mother is scared of heights." Athrodar told her, smiling at the many times Sylvanas had held onto him tightly whenever he had talked her into riding the Cloud Serpents back home. "Maybe you have that fear, which is why you've not gone out of your way to ride something that can fly."
"Maybe..." Cedani muttered, furrowing her brow when she thought about it. "But I really want to fly on a dragon."
Athrodar chuckled and pulled his daughter close to him, kissing the top of her head. "Then we will find you a dragon you can fly on."
"Yay." Cedani said, excited and holding onto her father's arm tightly as they made their way further in land. "Maybe it will make it easier to find our family if we're flying."
"Oh I'm sure it will." Athrodar told her.
"At least we know where we are." Little Alleria said, purchasing a map and making her way over to her mother, sister and Liadrin after she was told by the seller where exactly they were. "We're in a place called The Waking Shores." She told them, pointing at the map when she handed it to Sylvanas. "My guess is they're here, in the Ohn'Ahran Plains. It's roughly where we sailed around."
"Then that's where we'll look first." Sylvanas told her, folding up the map and looking over to Tanadia who smiled and nodded her head once at her, agreeing with her plan. "Let's just hope they haven't started exploring, otherwise it will be more difficult to find them."
"Knowing Cedani, I feel like that's a possibility." Little Alleria told her mother. "She was the most excited out of all of us when it came to exploring this place."
Sylvanas sighed and looked over to Liadrin who gave her a sympathetic smile. "Looks like we'll most likely be chasing them around until we catch up to them, or run into them."
"Let me ask about this Ohn'Ahran Plains." Little Alleria said, looking around the small camp they were in, trying to find a local to ask and finding one in the distance. "Hopefully we can get some good information."
Liadrin placed a hand on Sylvanas' back when she saw her looking distant, making her jump a little and smiling at the woman she considers a close friend. "We'll find them." She told her, something that she had heard constantly since her husband and daughter went missing, but there was nothing else to really say other than that. "I know that's all you keep hearing, but I need you to keep up that belief. Otherwise it's a slippery slope down to believing they're dead and giving up and we can't have that."
Sylvanas smiled at her words and moved to hug the paladin, being hugged by her first and holding onto her tightly once she moved her arms around the warrior of Light. "I haven't given up hope." She whispered to her old friend. "They're out there, alive and most likely trying to find their way towards us." She let out a quick laugh, shaking her head a little. "Which is going to be annoying, because they would be easier to find if they stay put."
"Or we can get lucky and they will run into us." Liadrin told her, watching Sylvanas' smile widen. "Let's pray we do run into them."
"Good and bad news." Little Alleria said, returning to her mother with a less than enthusiastic look.
"What's the good news?" Tanadia asked her.
"I know what to expect when we get to Ohn'Ahran Plains." Little Alleria told her, looking over to her mother when she asked for the bad news. "It's infested with Centaur. The dragons don't seem friendly with them, which means they might not be friendly with us too."
Sylvanas sighed and closed her eyes, trying to stay calm. "Of course the one place we are almost certain they washed up at, is full of Centaur."
"And like Alleria said, they're not exactly a friendly race." Tanadia said. "The Tauren can tell you that."
Knowing her husband and daughter might be in even more danger than she originally thought, Sylvanas pulled on the strap of her quiver that laid across her chest and looked down the path that would take them to Ohn'Ahran Plains. "We best get moving. Every minute we stand around here is another minute they will be out there, lost and away from us."
"And we don't want that." Little Alleria said, getting a nod and a smile from her mother. "It's a shame, this place looks beautiful and we're going to spend most of our time looking for lost family members and not at the scenery."
"I'm sure you can look at the scenery too whilst we look for them." Tanadia told her sister. "I know I will be." She then said, looking over to Sylvanas. "Mom on the other hand, might not."
Little Alleria gave her sister a sad smile. "She lost the love of her life out here, I don't think her mind will be focused on anything else other than getting him back. On top of that, Cedani is out there too. They might not even be together, which I am sure is playing on her mind as well."
"They'll be together." Tanadia told her with confidence, smiling at her younger sister. "Dad held onto her tightly as they fell, I know he wouldn't let her be out here on her own. So he is definitely with her."
Nodding at her sister, Little Alleria's smile turned happy after hearing her words. "They're together." She agreed, looking at the back of Sylvanas' head who was leading them from the front and several paces ahead now as she upped her pace. "We'll find them, mom will hug dad tightly and never let him go, Cedani will throw herself at either one of us and wait patiently until mom and dad eventually break apart, then she will hug mom tightly."
"And you will throw yourself at dad the moment their hug ends." Tanadia said, teasingly and with a grin. Her aim was to get a reaction out of her sister and she was successful in it when she saw Little Alleria glare at her. "Am I wrong?"
"You're not wrong and you know it." Little Alleria told her through gritted teeth. "And can you please, for the love of all the Gods, Titans and even Elune herself, stop teasing me about this!"
Liadrin, overhearing them, stepped closer to both Tanadia and Little Alleria, noticing the glare on the younger elf's face. "What's going on back here, huh?"
"Nothing." Little Alleria said, looking away from the pair of them. "I'm going to catch up to mom."
Tanadia, feeling bad for her teasing, tried to place a hand on her sister's shoulder but was just too slow as she watched her jog forward and catch up to Sylvanas. "Li Li... I think I am a bad person."
"Impossible." Liadrin said almost instantly. "Continue."
"I know something very sensitive about my sister and she entrusts me to keep it a secret, but I keep teasing her about it whenever the opportunity presents itself and I think it's going too far now." She looked over to Liadrin who was walking beside her, nodding her head slowly as she listened to the High Priestesses concerns. "I should stop, right?"
"You should." Liadrin told her, looking over to her former apprentice and smiling at her when she saw sadness on her features. "Apologise too. Clearly it's a touchy subject, like you mentioned. I don't think you'd enjoy it if she knew something personal you wanted to keep a secret and teased you for it."
Tanadia nodded her head slowly, knowing what she had to do and thanking the paladin. She made her way towards Sylvanas and Little Alleria, placing a hand on her sister's arm and making her look over to her. "I'm sorry for teasing you so much." She told her, looking down at the floor. "Sometimes I feel like I missed out on this sort of thing because I was already a High Priestess by the time you all came of age that I was made into the role model you all looked up to and came to instead of a sibling."
Little Alleria frowned at her. "I didn't know you felt like that. I always saw you as my big sister that I could come to with my problems." She sighed a little when she thought about those years growing up and in Stormwind as a ranger. "But, I suppose you are right in a way. You were forced into being this role model for us that we all aspired to be instead of treating you as our older sister."
Tanadia smiled a little and took hold of her sister's hand. "I'm happy you came to me with your problem. But now I feel guilty as I know your biggest secret and you don't know mine." She took a deep breath and saw her sister was about to speak, deciding to cut her off instead. "I have never been with someone." She told her, getting it out just in time so Little Alleria didn't cut her off and noticing her sister's surprised look once she had said it. "Th-that's right... I'm a.." She looked over to Liadrin who was too far behind to hear her and then over to Sylvanas who was too focused on finding their family members to hear her too. "I'm a virgin." She told her quietly.
"Wow..." Little Alleria said, not sure what to say after that. "I... I am a little surprised." She told her honestly, watching Tanadia's face go red a little. "I mean... You're the perfect High Priestess. You're beautiful, confident, kind, caring. You're the beacon of faith that everyone looks to back home and..." She saw Tanadia was becoming uncomfortable with the compliments, stopping before she went any further and taking hold of her hand. "Thank you for telling me." She said softly, smiling at her. "Can I ask one question though?"
"Of course." Tanadia said, smiling a little at her sister. "As long as it's not embarrassing... Or making fun of me."
"It won't be." Little Alleria told her, looking back to Liadrin just to make sure they were far enough away for it to still be a somewhat private conversation. "Can I ask why, or how? I mean... I've had at least ten, maybe twenty people try to get me into bed just because I'm a Windrunner and an elf. You're older than me by at least a decade, so I would have thought you'd get more, no?"
"I.. Ah.." Tanadia let out a nervous laugh and began to rub her arm. "I have had a few people ask me... It's just." She looked away from her sister again for the next part. "I'm scared, that's all. I've had to heal women in the past who have had injuries during... That. I was scared I would get hurt so I just haven't accepted anyone's advances."
Little Alleria nodded her head slowly. "Huh..." She said, thinking back to her first time. "My first time hurt a bit, but it definitely gets better after that." She told her, looking over to a shocked Tanadia. "What?"
"Since when did you have sex?" She asked her a little too loudly, making Liadrin raise an eyebrow at her and making Sylvanas look back to them.
"What was that?" Sylvanas asked, slowing down until she was walking with her daughters.
Little Alleria rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Unbelievable..." She muttered, looking over to her mother who was waiting for her to clarify what they were talking about. "I've had sex, okay? I'm twenty six years old, I've graduated the Farstrider Academy almost a decade ago now and I have been a fully functioning ranger since then. I think I'm entitled to letting my hair down and having some fun without my family judging me."
Sylvanas just stared at her daughter, a little loss for words considering her feelings towards her own father. "I didn't know you were having sex." She told her, hearing her daughter groan and then let out a long sigh.
"I didn't think it would be appropriate for my own mother to know my sex life. Especially since..." She stopped talking before she said something she would later regret. "Let's just focus on finding dad and Cedani, okay?" She glanced over to Tanadia who gave her an apologetic look. "Before anything else is said that would ruin this group's mood."
Night fell in the Ohn'ahran Plains and Cedani was still awake, sitting near her sleeping father and looking up at the many stars in the night sky. "This place is so beautiful." She said, looking back to Athrodar who she had only just noticed was asleep. "Oh..." She smiled and looked back to the night sky. "I'm sure we'll find our way to our family soon." She then said to herself, hugging her legs as she tucked in her knees to her chest and gazing up at the stars. "Then we can explore this place properly."
She thought about turning in for the night, knowing Athrodar would want to get moving the moment he woke up as well as waking her up too, even if she had less sleep. She knew it would be better to get some sleep in instead of none, so she stood up after watching the sky for a few minutes longer, stretched and took two steps towards where her father was sleeping, hearing a distant roar and turning around to look out for whatever caused it. "Please be a dragon." She muttered under her breath, hearing the roar again, only this time it was louder.
When the creature came into her field of vision, Cedani smiled brightly and tried to keep her excitement bottled up when she saw several green dragons flying through the clear night sky, looking back to her father and trying to keep her excitement bottled up just a little longer so he could sleep. "I.. I can't do it." She said to herself, looking up at the dragons again and waving at them in hopes that they could see her. "Hey, dragon!" She yelled, waving her arms around and laughing when she heard them roar.
Hearing his daughter yell, Athrodar woke up and looked over to his daughter who continued to laugh and wave at the dragons in the sky. "Cedani?" He asked, sitting up and looking at the dragons too. "Wait, Cedani!" He said, standing up and making his way over to her, looking up at the dragons in the sky and noticing they were starting to circle them. "Cedani get back." He told her, moving his daughter behind him slowly and having her move on her own too. "What dragons are they?"
"I think they're green, papa." She told him, taking hold of his hand and looking up at the dragons. "Do you think they know who we are?" She now asked, watching them circle lower now. "Papa?" She called, hoping he would answer her.
"I don't know." He said, stepping back when one of the dragons flew low enough to land in front of them, covering his eyes and having Cedani do the same when the wings of the dragon kicked up some dirt and dust.
"Curious." The dragon said, looking back and forth between Athrodar and Cedani, the latter of which looked more scared than excited now that the dragon was directly in front of them. "Two elves, so far from home."
"We were attacked." Athrodar told the dragon, feeling his daughter squeeze his hand tightly and knowing she was scared now that the dragon was up close. "We came with the expedition, but we were attacked by several dragons breathing lightning at us." He looked back to his daughter and smiled at her, hoping it would calm her down a little. "We were blown off the side by an explosion and ended up nearby. We're just trying to get back to our family now."
A couple more green dragons landed nearby, the first one shifting into their visage form. The visage form took one of a night woman with a set of horns, long green hair that seemed to have leaves almost woven into the many strands of luscious, green locks of hair. "Windrunner?" She asked, her voice soft and her eyes kind.
"Yes. How did you know?" Athrodar asked her, having Cedani move to stand beside him now upon seeing the visage form.
"You're Merithra." Cedani said, looking at the visage formed dragon and noticing her warm smile. "The leader of the Green Dragonflight." She looked over to her father who frowned at her. "I read, okay?"
"Fair enough." Athrodar said, looking back to the dragon in front of them when he noticed she didn't respond. "Again, how did you know we're Windrunner?"
"We heard about the attack." Merithra said, stepping towards Cedani and placing a hand on her face. "You wield power that shouldn't be possible, little one." She glanced over to Athrodar. "Outside of death itself at least."
Knowing what she meant, Athrodar felt himself shrink away a little, keeping his attention on his daughter now. "Do you think you can take us to our family?" He asked her, squeezing his daughter's hand and making her look over to him now. "They will want to know we're alive."
Merithra looked back to the two dragons either side of her and began to think. "I know you wish to reunite with your family and I believe I can help with that." She looked over to Cedani who let out a sigh of relief. "But this one... I am curious about."
Athrodar frowned and stepped towards his daughter, almost blocking her off entirely from Merithra's view. "What are you planning?"
"Nothing that would harm her, I assure you." Merithra told Athrodar, watching Cedani poke her head around from behind her father again. "There's a place to the south-west of here, known as The Azure Span." She said, looking up at the night sky and towards the moon. "It's home to the Blue Dragonflight. I am sure Kalecgos will be heading there, and he could help you understand your powers, little one. After all, he is the Aspect of Magic."
Cedani pulled on her father's hand to get his attention, looking up at him when he turned to face her. "We have to go there, papa." She told him, instantly noticing a warring expression on his face. "I know mama and the rest of our family are looking for us, but this might be the one chance I get to fully understand who and what I am."
Athrodar saw her pleading eyes, taking hold of both her hands now and turning to face her fully. "Honey..." He said softly, moving one of his hands up to her cheek and watching her press her face against it. "You're my daughter. A Windrunner and a very special little elf." He saw her smile a little, knowing she had heard him but not fully agreeing with him. "I won't force you to do anything, but perhaps this one time, we should return to our family before we go anywhere else. We both know they're looking for us and it would be a lot easier for them if we start to head towards them too and not potentially in the opposite direction."
"If it helps." Merithra said, stepping forward. "I could send one of my Dragonflight to find your family and inform them of where you are." She saw both Cedani and Athrodar look over to her. "Knowing Kalecgos, he will be in a place called the Azure Archives." She stepped forward and stood beside them both now, placing a hand gently on Cedani's back and looking over to Athrodar. "From what I have heard, it's a place full of magic and is heavy on its knowledge. If she was to get an education on what she can do, that would be the best place to look."
"Please papa." Cedani begged, using her special hidden power of getting anything she wanted by flashing her father the biggest set of puppy eyes, a quivering bottom lip and manifesting the illusion of innocence on her father that always won him over without failure.
Something Athrodar knew she was doing, but always found himself powerless to decline. He let out a long sigh, smiled and shook his head. "Okay." He said opening her arms and having Cedani hug him tightly. "We will go see Kalecgos." He agreed, looking over to Merithra who smiled at them. "I take it we will have to walk there though?"
"Not at all." Merithra said, gesturing to one of the dragons that landed beside her. "Hesthera will take you there, whilst Berinus," she gestured to a younger looking dragon beside Hesthera, "will inform your family of where you are and how to get there."
"We... We get to fly on a dragon?" Cedani asked, hopeful what she heard was true but also a little scared as she had never flown before. "Like.. Really fly on one?"
"Yes you do." Merithra said, letting out a calm, soothing laugh that seemed to put Cedani at ease a little. "Hesthera will be gentle, I promise you that." She looked over to the dragon with question. "I trust her to take you there in one piece."
Cedani began to pull on Athrodar's arm. "Let's go!" She said, excited now at the opportunity to fly on a dragon and to learn more about her own magic.
"Thank you for this." Athrodar said, standing beside Hesthera whilst Cedani climbed onto her back. "And for telling our family where we will be."
Merithra smiled warmly at the two of them. "Just make sure she gets there in one piece. Your daughter is special." She smiled at her own words. "As I suppose your High Priestess daughter is too. Alexstrasza will want to meet her soon as she became very curious upon learning about the elf who brought back her father from the dead."
"I'm sure she will find her soon enough." Athrodar said, climbing onto the back of the dragon and watching Merithra transform from her visage form into her dragon form once again. "Thank you again."
"Go now. You will arrive just before the sun rises." Merithra said, flying up and towards the green dragons flying above them.
"Hold on." Hesthera told them, Athrodar sitting behind his daughter and wrapping an arm around her abdomen to keep her safe the second the dragon began to flap its wings and lift off into the sky at a rapid pace.
"Wooo!" Cedani screamed, laughing, giggling and overall enjoying the sensation of flying. "This is so cool!"
Athrodar smiled when he heard his daughter's excitement for flying, knowing she had instantly fallen in love with it when they began to level out and glide through the clear skies. "See what you have missed out on?" He asked her, feeling her lean back against him and watching her spread her arms out either side of her.
"I should have done this sooner." Cedani said, closing her eyes and feeling the wind in her hair, on her face and the feeling of freedom she had never felt before. "I don't think I want to do anything else."
Athrodar chuckled and held onto his daughter tightly, just to make sure she didn't fall. "We have cloud serpents at home. I'm sure I can speak to the owner of them near our village whenever you want to ride one."
"That would be perfect." Cedani said, pulling her arms back in and placing her hands on the back of the dragon, feeling each scale with her hands. "I am never going to forget this though."
"No, I don't imagine that you would." Athrodar agreed, looking up at the night sky as they flew lazily towards their next destination.
