Scouting the Commander
"See anything?"
Viraleth shook her head and looked back to Clea. "Nothing out of the ordinary." She told her, looking back to what looked to be the demon in question, but nothing so far in terms of guards or other demons in the area. "For some reason, this doesn't feel right. " She muttered, returning her attention to Clea. "This is meant to be a commander for the Burning Legion right? But he is standing more or less in the open, without guards or any other demons nearby to speak of." She frowned and looked back to the demon again. "The demons aren't stupid enough to leave a commander in the open without backup, so something is going on and we're just not seeing it."
"These commanders are normally warlocks too." Melonara said, resting beside a nearby rock and watching their backs in case of an ambush. "Perhaps he will summon his guards the moment the fighting starts."
"Maybe..." Viraleth muttered, stroking the fletchling of one of her arrows. "That doesn't explain how the Grand Magister and his mages saw a couple of guards with this commander when they were out here."
"Maybe this commander sensed something was up." Clea said. "We're not magic users, maybe he sensed their magic and summoned them as a defensive play." She then suggested. "It worked, since we're here now to scout him out as we was clearly threatening enough to warrant such a move."
Viraleth smiled and looked back to Clea and Melonara. "Have I ever told you how much I love the professionalism you two have when Anya isn't around?"
Clea and Melonara looked at each other, forcing them to both let out a laugh. "It's sickening isn't it?" Clea asked, getting a chuckle from Viraleth. "How would our company ever function if we were like this all the time?"
"Some might say like a well oiled machine." Viraleth told them, getting a couple more laughs. "But that just wouldn't be fun."
"And now that the General has married Athrodar, we get to annoy him more with the three of us instead of just me and Mel." Clea said, looking over to Melonara. "Anya just brings it all together."
Viraleth smiled and looked back to the demon commander in the distance. "I suppose we should head back and inform the General. This commander is alone out here but might summon his guards the moment he senses danger. Something we'll only know for sure if we risk engagement, or we attack with the full force of rangers we have."
"I think it's safer to wait for everyone." Clea told her, walking back to Falcon Watch with Viraleth and the rest of the scouts.
Sylvanas collapsed down on top of Athrodar, panting and sweating after they had found a rare window to be alone together since their marriage. "Remind me... To thank... Liadrin... Later." She breathed, planting a couple of kisses on Athrodar's chest. "She distracted our kids... For this time alone..."
Athrodar stroked his General's hair and smiled when kissed him on the chest a few more times. "Come here." He said, pulling her up his body so she was face to face with him. "There you are." He whispered, kissing his wife and having her kiss him back. "We need more opportunities like this."
Sylvanas moved off his body to lay down beside him, moving her arms around him and pressing her head against the side of his. "It won't be easy." She whispered, closing her eyes and growing a wide smile on her face when Athrodar moved to lay on his side, pulling her in against his body and feeling his arms wrap around her in a protective hold. "But if I get to lay here like this for at least an hour, I will try to force this to happen more."
"Having it so my beautiful wife is laying down beside me, naked, exhausted and holding onto me?" Athrodar smiled and nodded his head slowly. "I think I can make this happen more often too now that I think about it." He told her, looking over to Sylvanas who kept her eyes closed, but smiled at his words.
"Thank the Titans that we have powerful roles in our society then." Sylvanas muttered, yawning shortly after and cuddling up to her husband. "I'm going to nap for a while. I just need you to hold me the entire time otherwise I might not be able to sleep."
Athrodar chuckled and nodded his head, kissing the top of her head and tightening his arms around her a little. "I won't move, nor will I let go of you."
"Good. Thank you." Sylvanas muttered, pressing her ear against chest.
Staying in the General's designated room in one of the spires of Falcon Watch, Athrodar had also fallen asleep shortly after the General did and neither of them were interrupted until there was a light knock on their door. "Dad?" A soft voice belonging to Victoria called out, slowly opening the door and poking her head into the room. She began to smile when she saw both Athrodar and Sylvanas asleep in bed, holding onto each other and deciding to slowly sneak in. "Dad." She called out again, crouching down beside her father's side of the bed and lightly shaking him awake. "Dad." She called out again.
"Hmm?" Athrodar opened his eyes a little and looked down to Sylvanas who remained asleep in his arms, feeling the hands on his arm shaking him lightly and turning his head around to look at the owner of the hands. "Vic?"
"The scouts are back." Victoria told her, looking over to Sylvanas who moved a little closer to Athrodar when she felt him move. "I'm sorry to wake you both us, but I know they would try to come here to find you both so I offered to go instead."
Athrodar could help but smile. She wanted to be the one to wake them up instead of one of their rangers, not because she wanted to be the one to wake them up from their sleep, but because she knew that the rangers wouldn't be as caring as she would when it came to waking them up. "Give us five minutes, okay?" He said softly, taking hold of her hand and kissing the top of it. "And thank you. I think you were the best option to wake us up."
Victoria smiled brightly and hugged Athrodar. "I'm happy I'm here, dad." She told him. "Anya has been training me too whilst you and the General were busy. Along with Clea and Melonara when they're here too."
Something about having those three help his daughter with her ranger training scared him a little. Not that they were bad rangers, their skills were some of the best in the General's company. It was that all three of them together were the least professional grouping of rangers in the entire military. Of course, that was Athrodar's own opinion that he shared with nobody else as he was their target. "Are they teaching you to be a ranger, or are they teaching you how to be anything but a ranger?"
"They're teaching me to be a ranger, dad." Victoria told him, not blind to what Anya, Clea and Melonara do to him, but she really was just getting a ranger education from those three and nothing else. "I need to go now. Liadrin doesn't know that I left her for a few minutes... At least, I hope she doesn't know."
Athrodar chuckled and nodded his head. "Go, I'll wake her up and we'll be outside in a few minutes."
Returning to the scouts outside the spire, Victoria was on the search for her brother now and saw him playing with Viraleth's daughter Anvia. "Did you tell him?" Clea asked after spotting her.
"He said they will be down here in about five minutes." Victoria told her, smiling up at the ranger. "It was best that I went. They were both sleeping."
Clea smiled and nodded her head in agreement. "Good call, little one." She said, placing a hand on the back of her head. "How are you finding it, having them as your parents now?" She now asked, wanting to shift to a more serious topic whilst trying to understand how she felt about Sylvanas and Athrodar being her new mom and dad.
"They're really nice and kind." Victoria said, smiling at her own words when she thought about them. "Dad does everything he can to make sure I'm happy and Sylvanas... I don't really know her yet, but I can see she is trying to make me feel comfortable with the idea of her being my new mom."
"And can she?" Clea now asked, watching the smile lessen a little on the young elf's face, but not disappear completely.
"I.. I think so." Victoria told her, looking back to the spire. "It would be really cool to have her as my mom. I think she would love it if I called her mom too, I just..."
"You're not over your real parents dying." Clea said for her, watching the little elf nod her nod slowly. "If it means anything, Sylvanas knows what you're going through and if ever you need to talk to someone about it, her door is always open." Clea told her, looking over to the spire and watching both Athrodar and Sylvanas walk out of it, the General still trying to wake up as she hugged Athrodar's arm and yawned.
"What have you found?" Athrodar asked Clea, being joined by Viraleth and Melonara shortly after he spoke.
"The commander was on his own." Viraleth told him, looking over to Sylvanas who looked too tired to be here right now, but not wanting to part from her husband. "No demons, no guards, nothing." She said, returning her attention to Athrodar. "We believe he sensed the Grand Magister's magic and summoned his guards when they saw him, but since none of us are magic users, he couldn't sense any magic and kept his guard down."
"This could be good for us." Athrodar said, looking down to his wife on his arm and smiling when he saw her close her eyes. "We won't go now, but I will ask you to scout again later in the day without any magic users to be sure." He looked back to Viraleth who nodded her had. "Also. I need a couple of scouts that you can spare."
"Of course." Viraleth said, looking back to Sylvanas. "What for?" She asked, smiling a little when she saw the General's head slowly slide down Athrodar's arm before waking up and regaining her balance.
"I want to send them west to find out what's over there. Shattrath is to our south-west, so I want to start our journey there by finding a safe path towards the city."
Viraleth nodded her head at his request, looking around Falcon Watch to find a handful of scouts. "I can give you Velonara as lead scout and she can pick out two more."
"Good, thank you." Athrodar said, kissing the top of Sylvanas' head when she leaned on him again. "Right now, I need to get this one back to bed, check in on our son and get a letter written up to the King." He looked back to Viraleth for the final time. "I take it Talanas is with Anvia?"
"He is." Viraleth told him. "They should be with Thelian."
Athrodar looked over to the smithy they had built and saw Viraleth's husband, daughter and his son beside it. "So they are, thank you." He told her, squeezing Sylvanas' hand and looked down to her again. "Let's get you back to bed."
"Okay." Sylvanas muttered, walking with her husband back into the spire whilst Viraleth set off to find Velonara and inform her of her new task that would send her west.
"Tell me you've got something for me to do." Liadrin asked, sitting down beside the ranger barracks and looking up at Melonara who was grinning at her.
"Lucky for you, I have been given a mission for someone to take care of and since you're clearly bored and have done nothing, I am giving it to you." Melonara beckoned for the paladin to follow her, taking her to the other side of the Falcon Watch and stopping just on the outskirts. "Here we are."
Liadrin looked around, frowning when she saw nothing immediately and turning her attention to Melonara who smiled at her. "What is this mission? There's nothing here."
"Exactly." Melonara said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "There's nothing here. Something us rangers have known since day one, yet we have to guard this place from all the threats you can see here." She smiled brightly at the paladin. "So, your mission is to be guards for us this time, whilst we get to rest like you and your paladins." She held up her hand to interrupt Liadrin when she saw she was about to argue. "Now don't worry, I am going to get your paladins so they can join you."
"But..." Liadrin whined, watching Melonara begin to walk away. "This isn't what I meant when I asked for something to do!" She cried, sticking out her bottom lip at the ranger when she looked back at her.
"Chin up, Liadrin. If you're nice and behave, I can ask Athrodar to find you a real mission." Melonara smiled brightly at the saddened paladin. "Welcome to life at Falcon Watch." She told her, laughing and waving goodbye as she went back into town to find more paladins.
Walking through Falcon Watch, Athrodar watched a laughing Melonara make her way towards the ranger barracks. "What has she done now?" He asked himself, looking down to Victoria who was shadowing him for a few hours until her grandmother arrived later in the day. "Let's go see what auntie Melonara is up to. I have a bad feeling she is misbehaving."
"I saw her leave with Liadrin earlier." Victoria told him, hearing Athrodar let out a long sigh. "What?"
"She has probably messed with Liadrin somehow." Athrodar told her, squeezing his daughter's hand. "Come on. Might as well get the truth out of her instead of guessing."
Entering the ranger barracks, both Athrodar and Victoria received a lot more attention than any of them thought they would get. Athrodar being married to their General and Victoria being his daughter meant they were respected by the lot of them. In their eyes, if their General loved and respected someone this much, they had to be a good person. "Okay, what happened?" Viraleth asked, standing in front of the two of them. "You only come in here if... Actually, you've never been in here. So I know something has happened."
Athrodar let out a laugh and nodded his head. "Okay, you've got me. I'm looking for Mel. She was seen with Liadrin not too long ago and has returned without her. I need to know what she did with our paladin."
Viraleth sighed and shook her head, looking through the groups of rangers and finding Melonara near the back of the barracks. "Mel!" She yelled, having the ranger make her way towards them with speed. "What did you do with Liadrin?"
"I left her on guard duty to the south." Melonara told her, smiling up at Athrodar who let out a long sigh this time. "What? She has done nothing since she arrived and was asking for a mission. So I gave her a mission."
"That's not her mission, Mel..." Athrodar told her, looking over to Victoria who was looking around the ranger barracks. "I wanted her to prepare her paladins for the fight against that demon commander in a couple of days."
"Oh." Melonara shrugged her shoulders and smiled at him. "I suppose you should tell her that then."
"I'll tell her." Victoria told him. "You can stay here."
"We'll go together." Athrodar then told his daughter. "We don't really know this planet and I wouldn't feel comfortable having you walking around on the outskirts of camp until we know this place is safe."
Victoria nodded her head, figuring he was right and smiling at Melonara a little when she looked up at her. "Are we training later?"
"Of course!" Melonara said, smiling brightly at her. "It will be like last time and I'm sure you will improve again."
"Let's go." Athrodar told her, looking over to Melonara. "And please, leave Liadrin alone. It's bad enough I have to be in charge of you all, I don't need you and the paladins making my life more difficult because you can't work together."
Rolling her eyes, Melonara waved away his concern. "You have nothing to worry about. It was just a harmless joke, I'm sure nothing will come of it."
"You better hope so." Athrodar told her, leaving the barracks with his daughter and making his way towards Liadrin. The moment they reached the paladin however, Athrodar stopped several steps away from her when he saw she was focused on something in the distance. "Stay here." He told Victoria, making his way towards Liadrin until he stood beside her and tried to look for whatever had her attention. "What is it?" He asked quietly.
"I'm not sure." Liadrin told him. "I felt a light tremor and then nothing." She then said, glancing over to Athrodar. "I remember reports of a giant demonic construction roaming these lands. If it's as big as what they say, that could be what I felt."
Nodding his head slowly, Athrodar scanned the horizon with her and quickly found nothing that would match that description. "Whatever it was, it doesn't seem to be around here." His attention turned to the paladin who kept her focus on the land before them. "This is a dying planet. For all we know, you probably felt one of those eruptions we keep seeing."
"Maybe." Liadrin said, looking over to Athrodar properly this time and then to Victoria who was waiting behind them. "What are you doing here anyway? And where's Mel? She said she was bringing a few more paladins over here so I wouldn't be alone."
"About that." Athrodar sighed and rubbed his eyes with his hand. "For some reason, she thought it would be funny to send you here on your own and stick you on guard duty without telling me. It was only when we noticed her laughing to herself and returning to the barracks did we know something was up." He saw anger begin to boil up in the paladin in front of him and quickly placed a hand on her arm to keep her put. "Deal with her another time. I need you to get your paladins ready for when we attack that commander. Sylvanas and I have discussed it and we agreed to your plan. You and your paladins will lead the charge whilst the rest of us fight off the reinforcements."
The anger in her quickly began to disappear and was replaced by joy and excitement. "Really!?" She said, smiling brightly up at him. "I get to lead my first mission and it's to fight a commander!?" She quickly jumped for joy before Athrodar could answer her, throwing herself at him and hugging him tightly. "I won't let you down, I promise!"
Athrodar began to chuckle and hug the paladin back, though it was nowhere near as tight. "I know you won't. Which is why we both believed you would be perfect for this."
"I can't thank you enough for this." Liadrin told him, keeping her hug going for as long as she could. "You are right up there with Thal for my favourite person right now."
"And here I thought I was your favourite person." Athrodar muttered, squeezing the paladin tightly for a few seconds before letting go of her. "Go inform your paladins. You don't have to be on guard duty at all and get them ready."
Victoria smiled at Liadrin who ran passed her, looking over to Athrodar who exhaled and dropped his shoulders. "Do you miss being just a Lieutenant Ranger?" She asked him, watching a smile slowly grow on his face.
"I do." He told her, looking over to his daughter. "Much less stress and having to fix whatever those three decide to break or disrupt."
Victoria walked towards her father and hugged him. "Then I will try my best to make sure your life isn't any more difficult."
Athrodar couldn't help but smile, kissing the top of his daughter's head and squeezing her in a tight hug. "Thank you."
"The Commander seems to be doing the same thing as last time." Viraleth said, reporting in to Athrodar, Sylvanas, Telremar and Liadrin. "At least, until we told the mage with us to get closer and cast a spell. Next thing we know, we saw two demons appear around him as if they were cloaked in stealth."
"That explains why they couldn't see them before." Athrodar said, looking over to Sylvanas who nodded her head in agreement. "No doubt he will still summon more demons should he actually get into a fight, which we will need to be ready for."
"That's why we'll be at the back whilst Liadrin and her Paladins keep his attention." Sylvanas told him, looking over to Liadrin who couldn't help but look excited. "As long as she keeps a level head and doesn't do anything risky, we should be fine when it comes to fighting him."
"You can rely on me!" Liadrin told them, having the biggest smile on her face either of them had ever seen. "I will make sure we keep his attention whilst you guys deal with the demons. Then I will stick him with my sword, kill him and then my name will go down in history as; Liadrin, the Paladin who slayed a Demon Commander!"
"I'm sure they will say something similar." Sylvanas told her, looking up to Athrodar. "If they don't talk about the famous General that is leading the rangers here, or the Sunblade in charge of it all who is also the King's right hand."
Liadrin looked over to Sylvanas and then Athrodar, returning her attention to the General and sticking out her bottom lip. "You wouldn't take this away from me, right?"
Smiling at the Paladin, Sylvanas took a few steps towards her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'll tell the song writers and story tellers the truth. What they do after that is their decision."
"Look at it this way." Viraleth said, catching the paladin's attention. "They never write, talk or sing about the rest of us. So if you even get a mention that's a huge win. Songs, stories and titles are for the highborn and the extremely gifted." She glanced over to Sylvanas just as she rolled her eyes. "She won't admit it, but the General really loves the songs and stories told about her."
"I hate them." Sylvanas said, not fooling anybody or even herself for that matter. She really did love the attention her exploits would bring.
"Of course you do." Athrodar whispered in her ear, planting a kiss there shortly after. "Just like how I hated all the women wanting to be with me because of my family's name and their money."
Sylvanas began to smirk, leaning on her husband shortly after. "Looks like I won in the end. Losers." She muttered, making Athrodar chuckle and move an arm around her.
"Yes you did." Athrodar agreed, watching Viraleth inform Liadrin of their plan and where she would attack the commander from. "Once this Commander has been dealt with, we will wait for our other scouts to return and then we will set off towards Shattrath, leaving the Grand Magister in charge of this place."
"And what about Illana and our kids?" Sylvanas asked him. "I don't want to leave them here, but I don't want to bring them on the trip to Shattrath either. It could be dangerous."
"I'll tell my mother to return to Silvermoon until we arrive at this new city. I know she has only just arrived here, but she will understand." Athrodar took hold of the General's hand and smiled at her. "Then once we get a portal set up in this new city, they can join us again."
"It should be safer for them there too." Sylvanas added, kissing her husband lightly and returning her attention to her Chief Scout. "When do you advise we move out to deal with him?"
"After scouting him for a few days, I would say it's probably safe to go tomorrow." Viraleth told her. "His guard is up now after we forced him to show his guards, so I think waiting until tomorrow to start the attack would be best. He doesn't do much, if anything, unless we force his hand again."
"Which we will be doing the moment we get close." Athrodar said, looking over to the Grand Magister. "Make sure your mages are ready, Telremar."
"They will be, don't you worry." The Grand Magister said, bowing his head to Athrodar. "I'll leave now to make sure they are well rested and prepared for tomorrow."
Liadrin watched the Grand Magister leave, looking over to Athrodar now. "I will do the same with my paladins." She told him, bowing her head to the General and hugging Athrodar. "Thank you again."
Athrodar chuckled and pat her on the back. "No worries." He told her, watching her leave him with Sylvanas and Viraleth. "We should call it a night too."
Growing a mischievous smile on her face, Sylvanas took hold of her husband's hand and looked up at him. "Deal." She purred, ignoring Viraleth who let out an exasperated sigh. "Go be with your husband and daughter, Viraleth." She told her, placing her hands on Athrodar's face. "I am going to spend time with my husband and my children before we head out."
"Most likely not in that order." Athrodar told the Chief Scout, smiling at her when she bowed her head to him.
"I'll take my leave then." Viraleth said, leaving her General and Athrodar alone.
"Let's go spend time with our little ones for a couple hours before I lock you away in our room for the rest of the night." Sylvanas whispered in his ear, biting the bottom of it shortly after and dragging him out the room, forcing her plan to happen without hearing his opinion on it.
