The Dance of Death

"Remember the plan?" Athrodar asked Liadrin, watching her nod her head.

"Of course. We distract the commander and fight him, whilst you all sit back and kill the other demons." Liadrin cracked her knuckles and grinned at him. "Time for me to be the badass of our group."

"Ever since he became a politician, I think it shouldn't be too hard." Sylvanas told the paladin, smirking when she heard Athrodar sigh. "It just means I get to come home to him more often knowing he won't always be out in the forests, risking his life."

"Unless we're on an incredibly red, hot planet where the air is dry and there are demons almost everywhere." Athrodar said, looking over to his wife who hugged his arm. "Are our rangers in place?"

"They are." Sylvanas told him, looking up at Athrodar and smiling at him. "They're just waiting for the rest of us to turn up and then the attack is under way."

Liadrin looked over to Athrodar and then to Sylvanas, slowly smiling when she recognised the look in the General's eyes as she continued to look up at Athrodar. "I'll return to my paladins and inform the Grand Magister that you will be ready in five minutes."

Watching the paladin leave, Sylvanas smiled brightly and looked back to Athrodar who moved his arms around her the second they were alone. "It's nice to know we have friends who can read the room." She told him, laughing lightly when Athrodar kissed the top of her head. "Five minutes is not enough, but we have a bigger problem right now and that's to deal with this commander."

Athrodar nodded his head in agreement whilst Sylvanas hugged him tightly. "Five minutes is definitely not long enough." He whispered, hugging the General just as tightly and pressing his cheek against the top of her head whilst her ear was pressed against chest. "I need to go to Honor Hold once this Commander has been dealt with. No doubt Trollbane has had problems with him and he needs to be informed."

"I'll join you with a small squad of rangers." Sylvanas told him. "The Alliance are probably there by now and would have informed them of everything that has gone on. Lordaeron, us splitting from the Alliance and the Horde settling down in Kalimdor." She squeezed him a little tighter, kissing him when she pulled back and looked up at him again, the pair of them pressing their heads together. "They might be hostile, which is why I'm coming with you."

"I won't argue against it." Athrodar said, closing his eyes and trying to live in this moment for as long as possible before they had to leave. "Then we can focus on Shattrath and finding your sister."

Closing her eyes too, Sylvanas just smiled and tried to live in the moment as well in the safety of her husband's arms before their first real fight in this place. "I love you, so much." She whispered to him.

"I love you too, my beautiful General." Athrodar whispered back, opening his eyes and noticing a tear roll down her cheek, wiping it away with his thumb and watching her smile at the action. "I will always love you, you don't have to worry about that ever changing."

"I know." She muttered, opening her eyes and knowing he could see the tears in them. "I'm not sad." She told him before he said anything. "It's moments like this that remind me that I finally have you forever, until our time comes to join our family in the afterlife."

Athrodar smiled, knowing she wasn't sad in the slightest as this had been the forth time he had caught her like this. It made him happy as he was one of the very few who got to see her like this. "Let's hope we don't join them for a very long time." He told her, placing a hand on her cheek and tenderly kissing her on the lips. "Ready?" He whispered.

"Ready." She whispered back.

They joined the rest of their army and began to make their way towards the demon Commander in the area. Liadrin led the way with her Paladins, being joined by Viraleth and a handful of scouts who were more familiar with the land having spent over a week scouting it. "Don't engage until the General tells you." The Chief Scout told the paladin, making her roll her eyes.

"I'm not a child. I can wait for the signal just like everyone else." Liadrin said back to her, moving her arms above her head so she could stretch. "But I am excited."

"I can tell." Viraleth muttered, looking back to the General in the distance. "Don't tell them, but I am going to try my hardest to protect those two throughout this campaign." She glanced over to Liadrin when she looked back to Sylvanas too. "They have been married for such a short time that I want them to be together for decades before either them even think of dying."

"That's been my plan since I arrived here." Liadrin confessed, smiling at the Chief Scout's raised eyebrow. "What? He is my best friend, and I know what it's like to lose your parents, I don't want Talanas or Victoria to go through that. Especially Victoria as she has already lost one set of parents. Two might just break her completely."

"Then it looks like Sylvanas and Athrodar are going to have a lot of eyes on them, making sure they remain safe and alive." Viraleth said, smiling at the fact. "Good." She then said to herself.

The march to the Pools of Aggonar took just under an hour with the General setting up her rangers and sending Viraleth ahead with Liadrin to get the paladins in position. "When Viraleth returns, we will start the attack." Sylvanas said, looking over to the Grand Magister who nodded his head in agreement to her plan. "Once it begins, I will need you and a handful of your mages to work on countering his spells, should he cast any."

"We can do that." Telremar said with confidence. "I would be a poor Grand Magister if I couldn't counter a few spells."

"Thankfully you're not a bad Grand Magister." Athrodar said, smiling at him and watching Telremar smile back and bow his head.

Sylvanas watched the Grand Magister leave to inform his mages of their task, glancing up to Athrodar with a smirk whilst he also watched the Grand Magister get into position. "Trying to woo the Grand Magister so you guarantee his support later on down the line should something come up?"

Athrodar let out a light chuckle. "Of course not." He said, shaking his head and glancing down to Sylvanas who continued to smirk at him. "Why, do you think it worked?"

"I think so. But Telremar has always been loyal to your father and mother, so seeing as you're now the Sunblade in charge along with Dael'Thaelas, I think you might not need much to convince him." Sylvanas smiled at her husband when he began to think about what she said. "I'll also have voting power and will be by your side in whatever political maneuvering you'll be undertaking once we return home."

"Marrying the Ranger-General does have its added perks outside of tying down the most beautiful elf and amazing mother to our children." Athrodar said, getting a laugh from Sylvanas now.

"I'll have you know I tied you down, Mister Sunblade. The second you proposed, I dragged you to Liadrin and forced her to marry us on the spot." Sylvanas smiled brightly as she reminded herself of that day, hugging Athrodar's arm and resting her head against it too. She knew they only had a minute, maybe two at best of this before the attack would start, but she wanted to make the most of this time. "But you are correct that I am the most beautiful elf and an amazing mother to our children. You could not do better even if you tried."

It was Athrodar's turn to chuckle now, kissing the top of the General's head and feeling her squeeze his arm a little tighter. "I don't even want to take you up on that. Too tired and comfortable to look for someone else." He teased, taking hold of her hand whilst she continued to hug his arm. "I'm much better here, on a different planet with my wife and her loyal rangers, fighting an unknown number of enemies and searching for a missing ranger who means a lot to said wife."

"Which reminds me." Sylvanas said, watching Telremar get his mages into position. "I need to speak to Vereesa sometime soon. I haven't spoken to her since we married and I miss her."

Athrodar smiled at the innocent reason behind it and nodded his head slowly. "I'm sure she would love to know you're safe out here and that we've finally caught up with, or if you're me, finally met Arator."

"It's just finding the free time to do that." Sylvanas muttered, letting go of Athrodar when she saw the Grand Magister look over to them and give them a nod of approval, signalling that they were ready. "I know it doesn't have to be said, but I'll say it anyway." She looked up at Athrodar who was awaiting her command, seeing as this was a military mission and she was now the highest ranking member here. "Stay beside me and don't do anything foolish. Play it safe and stick to the plan and we should both make it through this."

Athrodar just smiled and bowed his head to her slightly. "It's almost like you're worried, General." He teased, making Sylvanas give him a stern, yet slightly scared look.

"Just... Promise me you won't try to be a hero, Lieutenant." She said, using his title to show her authority over him for this mission.

Something Athrodar caught onto immediately as she had never used his title outside of formal conversations, the last time being before he left for Stormwind. "I will stay beside my General." He said, bowing his head slightly lower than normal, respecting her rank and title. "And my wife." He added, quieter and with a slight grin, getting a small smile from her in return.

Making her way towards them, Viraleth bowed her head to the General who turned her attention to the Chief Scout the second she saw her coming towards them. "We're ready to go. The Commander has summoned his guards the moment we got close after sensing our mages, so we're expecting a fight."

"On top of whatever other demon reinforcements he might summon." Athrodar said, looking over to the General. "We should send word to Liadrin to start the attack."

Sylvanas nodded her head in agreement, looking over to Viraleth who was waiting for her orders. "Tell Liadrin to start the attack. We'll deal with his guards and the Grand Magister will try to counter his spells."

Viraleth made her way to Liadrin and her paladins whilst the General and Athrodar made their way to their rangers, all of them nocking arrows in place on their bows and waiting for the fighting to start. "Don't fall here, sisters." Clea said, looking around at the rangers with her. "Not at the first hurdle."

Once she received the orders to attack, Liadrin and her paladins charged towards the demon commander, enchanting their swords in holy light and clashing with his bodyguards first as they looked to protect their commander. The moment Liadrin saw him however, she pulled away from the bodyguards and began to engage in combat with the demon commander, swinging twice and having her sword either blocked or dodged by the demon. "I have to say, you move fast for a big, red demon." The Paladin said, eyeing the commander closely.

There was a loud laugh coming from the commander shortly before he cast a ball of fel fire in the palm of his hand. "Do you even know who I am, little warrior of light?"

Liadrin frowned at the commander, holding onto her sword tightly and trying to find a weakness she could exploit. "No, should I?"

The commander laughed a little louder, casting a second fel fire spell in his other hand. "I am Arazzius the Cruel." He told her, raising his hands into the sky. "It will be the last name you learn today."

"Oh good." Liadrin said, watching as several demonic meteors came crashing down around her and her paladins. "I don't really like learning new names." She told him, smirking when several arrows hit his first set of body guards, killing them the moment the meteors crashed into the ground. "Especially when I will forget them the moment I kill their owners."

"There are the rest of his reinforcements." Sylvanas said, aiming an arrow at one of the infernals that began to rise from the meteors. "Grand Magister, be ready with the silencing spells, we're going to engage the infernals."

Telremar nodded his head to the General. "We're already working on it."

Athrodar let loose an arrow towards an infernal, watching the arrow bounce off one of the many rocks making up the demonic creature and having his ear twitch when he heard distant howls. "Something else is coming." He said, looking over to where he heard the noise and hearing another, louder howl. "And it's moving fast."

"Felhounds." Sylvanas told him, hearing the howls too and looking over to one of her nearby rangers. "Clea, gather a group and come here." She commanded, having the ranger do what she was told and returning to the General with a group of ten rangers. "We have felhounds coming behind us, I need you all to stay here and make sure they don't surround us. You'll hear them before you see them, but you should be able to stop them before the get too close."

Clea bowed her head slightly to the General. "We'll make sure none of them get through."

Liadrin continued to fight with the commander on her own, occasionally being joined by one of her paladins for a few seconds before they had to fight off another bodyguard or infernal. "Looks like you're struggling to cast some of your spells." Liadrin said, grinning at the commander who began to glare at her. "Those mages you sensed are stronger than you probably thought. Centuries of studying has allowed them to counter even the toughest of spells."

Arazzius began to look around for the mages she was talking about, spotting them in the distance and making his way over to them, much to Liadrin's annoyance as she tried and failed to keep him in the same place and engaged in a fight with her. "Pesky little insects. You are going to regret trying to slay me!" He roared, being hit by several arrows and almost brushing them off like they were droplets of water landing on him. "My lord Kil'jaeden will see to it that you are never returning home."

As soon as the commander made it to the mages, he brought down a giant clawed hand that was stopped by an arcane barrier erected by the Grand Magister. "I can only.. Hold him.. For so long!" He strained, hoping the General and her rangers could deal with the commander in the meantime.

Forcing the Grand Magister down onto one knee, Arazzius continued to push down on the arcane barrier and trying to force it to break so he could silence Telremar for good, ignoring the group of rangers taking aim at him to his left until they pierced him with several arrows. "Gah!" He yelled, removing his hands from the arcane barrier and looking over to the group of rangers. "You fools! Now you have made me angry." He told them, casting a new spell in his hands and causing many more meteors to rain down from the sky. At the same time, several portals opened up around them with many demons pouring out of the same portals seconds later, quick surrounding the elves.

"Don't worry Athrodar, I have got this!" Liadrin yelled, charging towards the commander and sticking her sword into his leg, making him collapse down onto one knee and close the portals before any more demons joined them. "Take care of the infernals!" She commanded her paladins, pulling out her sword and quickly sticking it into his other leg before he could get to her, ducking under his arm when he swiped at her.

"Looks like we have a long fight on our hands." Athrodar muttered, looking around at the many demons slowly closing in around them and catching a glimpse of Sylvanas stroking the fletching on the arrow in her hand. "Ready?"

"Definitely." The General said, placing the arrow on her bow and drawing it back. "Let's finish off this bastard."

Fighting with her rangers, Viraleth cut down a demon and dodged out the way of a spell from another. When she made her way towards the demon that launched its spell at her, she cut off the head of the demon and looked around to find the other rangers doing the same thing. Two that caught her attention though were Sylvanas and Athrodar. It wasn't because they were in danger or hurt, but because she saw something she didn't think she would see in her lifetime. There were many stories in the past of two elves fighting beside each other, knowing what one of them would do before they even knew they would do it, fighting with such fluidity and grace that it had almost looked like a dance of death.

Both of them, General and Lieutenant, husband and wife, were fighting beside each other, looking out for each other and making sure none of them would be hurt. Athrodar would force one sword into the first demon to get to them, dodging an attack coming from a different demon and sticking his second sword into their chest shortly after. Meanwhile, Sylvanas had let loose an arrow into a distant demon, dodging an attack herself and taking hold of Athrodar's sword in the first demon, pulling it out and using it to cut off the head of the demon she had dodged.

The two of them danced around each other, not getting in the way of one another as they cut down any demon that got close to them. No words were said, not even a glancing look was shared. The only communication that went on between them was the demon blood they had shared. When Athrodar killed one, Sylvanas killed another that got close. Each of them killing any demon that got close to them without even receiving a scratch in return.

The demons that were summoned had only lasted a few minutes as they were cut down with ease and a lack of commands from Arazzius who was quickly being cut down by Liadrin and a handful of paladins that joined her with cutting him down. "General." Viraleth said, making her way beside Sylvanas. "I don't know if you noticed, but you two had just performed the Dance of Death."

Athrodar frowned when he overheard her, looking over to Sylvanas who tilted her head at her Chief Scout. "The what?" He asked.

"The Dance of Death." Viraleth told him. "Only a handful of elves have performed it in the past. But it's basically when two elves who know each other inside and out, or at the very least, have a strong connection to each other, fight beside one another with such grace that it almost looks like a dance as they cut down their enemies." She smiled at the pair of them when she saw the two of them look at each other. "The last recorded elves to do that were Kael'thas' grandparents."

Sylvanas began to smile at her husband, placing a hand on his face but quickly dropping it to her side when she heard the commander begin to struggle. "We'll talk about this later." She whispered to him, kissing him lightly before making her way over to Arazzius and the paladins keeping him on the ground with holy spells.

"Just say the word General and I'll end him right here." Liadrin said, keeping her blade across the throat of the commander.

Looking him up and down, Sylvanas gave the paladin a slight nod and watching her slice her blade across the commander's throat, ending his life and moving her gaze to all the fallen elves that didn't make it through this first fight. "How many have we lost?" She asked, looking over to Clea who bowed her head slightly and went to get a head count of their fallen.

When she returned, she double checked her results with the two other elves who were doing the same, nodding her head when they all had the same answer and looking over to Sylvanas. "We have lost eight rangers, two mages and a paladin." She told the General.

"Not a lot, but not great either." Sylvanas said, looking over to Athrodar who was inspecting Liadrin and smiling a little when she saw the paladin try to push him away. "You saw them more than I did, how were our paladins?"

"They held their own and were probably better than I first thought." Clea told her, looking over to Anya and Mel who were cleaning their blades and the demon blood from their faces. "They could be very useful in the future against any more demons we have to fight."

"Are you impressed with me?" Liadrin asked, trying to push Athrodar away when he wiped some blood from her cheek. "Stop it!" She cried, laughing when he continued to tease her. "I am not your daughter, I am your best friend who slayed a demon commander just moments ago!"

"And yet, you get messy like you're a child so... Here I am." Athrodar told her, pulled back and placing his hands on her arms to look at her. "But yes, I am impressed and proud, Liadrin. You held your own and proved to me and the General that you are a capable warrior of the light and maybe even a leader of our people some day."

Liadrin gave him the biggest smile possible, loving the idea of being one of the leader of Silvermoon in the near future. "That would be the best thing ever." She told him, looking over to the General when she made her way over to them. "I am going to leave you two alone whilst I go check on my paladins and plan my future as the leader of our people!"

"One of the leaders." Athrodar told her, though he knew it fell on deaf ears.

"Do I even want to know?" Sylvanas asked, watching Liadrin make her way over to her paladins.

"I hope you didn't." Athrodar muttered, kissing his General and having her kiss him back. "So how many did we lose?"

"Eight rangers, two mages and a paladin." Sylvanas told him, smiling when she saw he was unharmed. "Not even a scratch." She whispered, smiling and stroking her hand over his face lightly. "Maybe we really did perform the Dance of Death."

"Which is what, exactly?" Athrodar asked her, watching his General smile brightly at the question and knowing she was going to enjoy telling him.

"In basic terms, we became untouchable in that battle." Sylvanas told him, taking hold of his hand. "The long version of it is that we knew what each other were going to do before we even knew it. It happens when two elves, who know each other inside and out, or at the very least, have a very strong connection to one another as well as being skilled enough to fight beside one another without being hit." She took hold of his other hand and squeezed them lightly. "Like for instance, a General and a Lieutenant who could become a Captain someday soon."

"We did that?" Athrodar asked, surprised he could even do such a thing. "Wait." He then said, frowning and tilting his head at the General. "Did you say Captain?"

"I did." Sylvanas said, letting go of his hands and moving her arms around him. "After our campaign here, I was going to talk to the King about promoting you to Captain early. I don't think either of us can wait for the day your recruits graduate from the academy."

"That would be a wise decision." Athrodar said, getting a laugh from the General.

"Of course you'd say that, it's your promotion." Sylvanas said, closing her eyes and hugging him tightly. "Do you know how much I love the idea that we've done the Dance of Death? It means that no matter how many battles we're in together, there's a good chance we will make it through them, as long as we're together."

"Let's just hope we don't get separated before or during a battle." Athrodar told her, pressing his head against the General's. "Otherwise a stray arrow or spell might not end well."

"Then we best get some chains and make sure we're never separated." Sylvanas said, looking over to Anya, Clea and Melonara who were making their way over to them, pressing her ear against Athrodar's chest and sighing. "I love them, but I want at least a few minutes alone with you."

Noticing the three elves were making their way over to him, Athrodar sighed and held onto the General tightly, trying to get as much comfort from his hug with the General as possible before they were interrupted. "What do you three want?"

"We just wanted to check on you two." Anya said, smiling brightly at both Athrodar and Sylvanas. "Make sure you're safe and unharmed."

"They're fine." Viraleth said, having a feeling that she had to save the two of them from Anya, Clea and Melonara. "They performed the Dance of Death after all, I'd be surprised if anything touched them."

Anya widened her eyes and smiled brightly at the two of them. "No way!" She yelled, launched herself at the two of them. "That's so cool!"

"The what?" Melonara asked, looking over to Clea who shrugged her shoulders at her.

"I'll tell you all about it later." Anya said, hugging the General tightly. "I read about it and about who has ever performed it. The last being the King's grandfather and before that there have only been about twenty or thirty couples throughout the years that have performed it. It's a beautiful thing where two elves dance and fight beside each other on the battlefield, killing their enemies and not being hit once. I just wished I could have seen it."

Melonara, Clea, Viraleth and Athrodar all looked at one another, finding it surprising that Anya was actually knew more on a topic than they did. "So she can be smart." Melonara muttered, getting a laugh from Clea whilst they all watched Anya continue to hug the General.

"We should probably return to Falcon Watch." Sylvanas said, looking over to the Grand Magister who had made his way towards them now. "At least, the majority of us." She then said, looking over to Athrodar. "We have to go to Honor Hold and speak to Trollbane."

"That we do." Athrodar agreed, turning his attention to Viraleth. "Trust you to lead everyone back whilst we're away?" He asked the Chief Scout, getting a nod as a reply.

"Thank you." Sylvanas said to her, smiling at her best friend.