Friend or Foe

"I have to say, despite being stuck on an unknown planet for however long it's been, this place is pretty impressive." Athrodar said, looking at Honor Hold in the distance as they made their way towards the Alliance stronghold.

"What part. The walls that are forever falling apart or the very limited manpower?" Sylvanas asked him, looking less impressed by the architecture than her husband.

"Both." Athrodar told her, making Sylvanas roll her eyes and shake her head. "Besides, what do we have? A couple of spires and a building or two on a smaller hill, with a portal connected to Silvermoon." He looked over to the guards at the entrance of Honor Hold, slowing his movements when he saw their less than welcoming looks as they made their way towards the two of them. "Something's not right." He muttered, holding onto the General's wrist as the both stopped at the foot of the hill leading them to Honor Hold.

"Let me talk to them." Sylvanas told him.

"You shouldn't be here." One of the guards said, placing their hand on the hilt of their sword. "We have been informed of your disloyalty to the Alliance and how you have broken away from it."

"So the Alliance have broken through and arrived at Honor Hold." Athrodar muttered. "I suppose it shouldn't be much of a surprise, since it's been over a week now."

"We're here to talk to Trollbane." Sylvanas said, not ignoring Athrodar but acknowledging him by squeezing his hand. "We have information for him that he might want to hear."

The two guards looked at each other and exchanged some words in quiet, looking over to Athrodar and Sylvanas for a second before looking back to each other. "Okay, come with us and don't wander away, otherwise we will lock you up."

"We'll follow." Sylvanas said, glancing over to Athrodar and squeezing his hand. "And we won't wander away." She then said only to Athrodar, knowing he wasn't always the most reliable when it comes to following rules, even if it meant he would be imprisoned if he broke said rules.

The two of them were escorted towards the Keep where Danath Trollbane was pouring over the maps of Hellfire on his own, ignoring the glares and less than friendly looks from the Alliance soldiers placed in Honor Hold. There were a few who gave them a warm smile or two, though they were very few in number as the garrison left on this planet was depleted compared to the reinforcements that had arrived. "He's in here." One of the guards said, opening the door to the room Danath was in and closing it behind the General and Lieutenant once they were inside the room.

"I see a lot has changed in the week we left here." Athrodar said once they were alone with Danath, hearing him sigh lightly.

"Let's just say, the last decade or two since we left haven't been kind to the Alliance and their relations with Silvermoon and even the human Kingdoms up north." Danath told them, looking over to Sylvanas and Athrodar. "What can I do for you?"

"It's more what we can do for you, Danath." Sylvanas said, pulling off a pouch that sat on her waist and placing it on the table between them and Danath. "We have a feeling you had a bit of a demon problem to the north." She said, watching him open up the pouch and pull out two red fingers. "His name was Arazzius and he was commanding demons at the Pools of Aggonar."

"We have had scouts check on him every now and then." Danath said, placing the fingers back in the pouch. "We just didn't have the manpower to deal with him." He smiled a little and looked over to the General and Lieutenant. "I believe thanks are in order. Without your input, we may still have a demon problem to the north that could have gotten worse before it got better."

"No need for a thanks, Danath." Sylvanas told him, smiling at the old warrior. "Though if you could give us a place to stay for the night." She looked out a nearby window just to make sure it was getting dark. "That would be great."

Danath nodded his head slowly, looking out the window too. "It might be tough, and you might not be welcome there, but the inn outside has a spare room or two. As long as you tell the innkeeper that I am the one to give you the room, you should be fine."

"If there is trouble, I'm sure it's nothing we can't handle." Athrodar told him.

"Just... Make sure you don't kill anyone." Danath advised. "We still need the reinforcements for future missions, even if they do start the fight."

"I'll make sure he behaves." Sylvanas said, placing a hand on Athrodar's back and looking over to him. "And if he doesn't, I can always punish him once we return to Falcon Watch by giving him some boring tasks."

"More reason to behave." Athrodar then said, getting a light chuckle from Danath. "Thank you for this. We're still new here and walking around out there in the dark isn't the wisest decision."

"Plus this place is always more dangerous in the dark, even for a veteran like me." Danath told them, bowing his head to them and watching them leave shortly after.

Making their way out of the keep and towards the Inn, both Athrodar and Sylvanas noticed the many unfriendly looks they were getting and trying their best to ignore them. It was only when a group of soldiers stood at the entrance of the Inn did the two of them begin to feel some hostility coming their way that they had to deal with.

"The only elves allowed in here are the ones loyal to the Alliance. And last I checked, that wasn't two Silvermoon rats." One of the soldiers said, getting a chuckle from his friends as he stood in front of the two of them. "Now, move along before things get real bad for you both."

Sensing Athrodar was about to fight back with more than just words, Sylvanas placed a hand on his arm and stood forward, an action they all noticed as they began to laugh. "You're going to move out the way now and let us in, before you do something you're going to regret."

"Are you really letting her talk for you?" The soldier said, looking over Sylvanas and towards Athrodar. "I suppose the men up there really are weak." He chuckled, looking back down to Sylvanas. "Listen here hon, if you want a real man." He looked over to the other soldiers with him and smirked at them. "Or some real men, we'll let you in and send this wimp to the stables."

"Who do you think you can take?" Sylvanas asked, speaking in Thalassian so only he could understand her.

"Probably this cocky asshole and two others. Do you want the other two?" Athrodar asked her, speaking in their mother tongue too.

"I want to take them all, but I figured you'd want to kill this guy." Sylvanas said, smiling at the human who began to get a cocky grin. "Just no weapons."

"But I want to hurt this guy." Athrodar complained, having Sylvanas looked back to him.

"No. Weapons." She said in a stern tone.

"Looks like she has decided to come with us, boys." The soldier said, moving an arm around Sylvanas who glanced over to Athrodar. "Let us show you how to have a good time."

"Okay, maybe you can cut him a little." Sylvanas told Athrodar, watching him pull out a knife slowly. "I'll deal with these two on the left."

"After you, my love." Athrodar said, holding the knife in his hand and knowing they hadn't noticed as they had yet to acknowledge him.

Curling her fist into a tight ball, Sylvanas elbowed the solder with his arm around her and punched him across the face, dodging a punch from a different soldier and moving to deal with her two soldiers whilst Athrodar sliced his knife across the arm of the group leader, dodging and punching the next soldier who tried to help his friend and slicing his knife across the third soldiers cheek.

They both dealt with four of the soldiers with ease, leaving the leader of their group for last. Athrodar held him up against the inn with his knife across his throat whilst Sylvanas stood beside her husband and looked at the soldier. "I think an apology is called for." The General said, looking over to Athrodar and smiling when he saw the anger in his eyes. "For both of us."

"I'm not apologising to either of you." He said, spitting on the floor between both elves. "You aren't welcome here and I will stand by that."

Sylvanas sighed and placed a hand on Athrodar's back. "Hold him still." She said, removing her hand and placing it on the human's arm. "Last chance."

The soldier laughed. "What are you going to do, beautiful? You don't scare me."

Sylvanas rolled her eyes. "Don't say I didn't warn you." She told him, bringing her knee up and hitting him between the legs, forcing him to collapse down onto the ground with a groan. "Ready?" She asked, looking over to Athrodar who couldn't help but smile.

"I am." The Lieutenant said, walking into the inn with his General and making their way to the innkeeper. A few words were exchanged between them and the innkeeper, with Sylvanas telling them about Danath and just staying for one night, eventually getting the room they had been promised. Athrodar closed the door behind him once they walked inside, turning around and watching Sylvanas fall backwards onto their bed, smiling when he heard her let out an exhausted sigh. "Tired?"

"I am exhausted." Sylvanas said, closing her eyes and smiling at the comfort she was receiving from this bed.

Athrodar made his way towards the General, kneeling down beside her and placing a hand on her leg. "Then you should sleep." He told her. "Shame, I thought now that we're alone, we could have some fun. But since you're exhausted, I don't want to bother you."

Opening her eyes when she felt Athrodar remove his hand from her leg, Sylvanas whimpered when she watched him begin to walk away. "W-wait." She stuttered, sitting up and taking hold of his hand. "I'm not that exhausted."

"Of course you are." Athrodar said, looking to tease his General now as he brought her hand up to his lips, kissing the back of it. "We fought demons, been on our feet for hours walking to the Pools of Aggonar and then to here too. I won't judge you if you sleep now, I am thinking of going to sleep soon anyway."

"Don't you dare." Sylvanas told him, pulling on his arm and forcing him onto his knees and on top of her on the bed. "You are going to make me forget about those assholes outside." She whispered, closing her eyes when he leaned down and kissed her lightly. "And then you are going to hold me after we've exhausted ourselves in this bed." She then told him, tilting her head to the side when Athrodar began to kiss her on the neck. "And when we wake up tomorrow, I will still be in your arms and we will slowly get out of bed, not wanting to part from each other but knowing we have to as we're not exactly welcome here."

"Then we will return to Falcon Watch and be with our family until the scouts I sent west return with some news." Athrodar side, undressing his General whilst she gazed into his eyes. "Deal?"

"Deal." She breathed, giggling when he began to explore her body with his lips.


"Any news on the Amani?"

Lor'themar looked over to the King who had asked the question, smiling a little at him and then looking back at his hands that were resting on the table in front of him. "I'm afraid not. Ever since that portal opened up to the south, things have gone quiet on the Amani front. So much so that Aerinan and Halduron have pulled back and are now in the city again with their companies."

"What about Lordaeron and the undead?" Vandellor asked.

"The Silver Hand have taken Stratholme, most of the region we now call the Western Plaguelands and they're cleansing the Eastern Plaguelands at the same time." Lor'themar sat back on his chair and looked over to the High Priest. "That floating fortress of Naxxramas has gone too. Reports say it floated towards Northrend, others say it just disappeared over night."

"I'd say it's safer to bet on it going towards Northrend." Dael'Thaelas said, turning his attention to the King. "What news on our expedition in Outland?"

Kael'thas turned his attention to Lord Sunblade and gave him a knowing smile. "Athrodar and Sylvanas have created an outpost as we were told they would be doing. They have also slain a demon Commander and have scouts looking for a safe way to the city on that planet known as Shattrath. There they will talk to Khadgar who is presumably still alive and they'll go from there."

"Slain a Commander already?" Belo'vir asked, the Grand Magister smiling and nodding his head slowly, turning his attention to Vandellor who also looked impressed. "No doubt Liadrin pushed to be a part of that."

"It wouldn't surprise me if she did." Vandellor told him, both of them chuckling lightly.

"There was something else about Lordaeron." Lor'themar said, remember something else he was told and looking over to the King. "There's a group of undead that broke free from Arthas and have made a rebellion of sorts. They are currently occupying parts of Tirisfal Glades and Silverpine Forest. I believe they have Capital City too."

"What's the chances this will be a problem for us?" Dael'Thaelas asked his fellow Ranger Lord.

"As far as I know, their numbers aren't great at the moment. There's also some hostilities between them and the crusaders to their east in the Plaguelands, so things might resolve themselves." Lor'themar told them, looking over to the King. "We do however have a good idea on who their leader is and it might be a problem in the future."

"Who is it?" Kael'thas asked.

"It's actually someone we know." The Ranger Lord said, looking over to Dael'Thaelas now. "Nathanos."

"Great." Lord Sunblade said, tapping a finger on the table as he began to think of the many ways this could or could not help them. "He will either be an asset we could use in the future, allowing us to ask for their help should the Scourge return, or he will be a threat and see the living as the enemy."

"I think that also depends on what that faction of paladins do." Vandellor reminded the Ranger Lord. "If they're hostile towards this new group of free undead, they might be hostile back to them and to anyone else who is living."

"And when the General finds out, she will want to talk to him, or at the very least see if he is undead." Lor'themar told them all. "Knowing Sylvanas, she will either try to help him, or if she has no other choice, she may try to put him down."

"Which could lead to hostilities between us and them." Kael'thas muttered, getting nods from everyone around the table. "Looks like we could use one of those ranger companies to keep an eye on them." He then said, looking over to Lor'themar who was acting head of their military until Sylvanas returned from Outland. "Your choice, but I will want weekly updates if possible, every fortnight at most."

"I'll get Halduron on it." Lor'themar said, glancing over to Dael'Thaelas in an attempt to see some sort of smile or gratitude at his choice of keeping his son in Silvermoon and getting none before he left.

"I'll send a report to the General and Athrodar." Vandellor said, standing up and bowing to the King. "Should I involve the part about Nathanos?"

Kael'thas tapped his fingers on the table, nodding his head slowly at the question. "Not now, but when we get some more information on Nathanos and these free undead, I will inform you and you can then tell the General."

"Very well." Vandellor said, bowing to him again and then the rest of the Convocation. "I'll be going."


"Is that everything?" Sylvanas asked, looking around the room they had stayed in for the night.

"It is." Athrodar told her for what felt like the tenth time. "We didn't bring anything extra and I even dressed you because you were practically begging me to, so I know we have everything."

Sylvanas rolled her eyes as she was lightly pushed out of their room and down the stairs. "I didn't beg you. I just didn't want to let go of you."

"Uhuh." Athrodar replied, unconvinced as his point of view was her taking a lot longer than usual to get dressed and even handing him a few of her clothes for him to put onto her. "Just wait here whilst I return the key to our room."

"Fine." The General said, pouting at him whilst he chuckled and made his way to the innkeeper. Whilst Athrodar spoke to the innkeeper, she looked around the inn and saw a couple of looks coming their way, though she chose to ignore them whilst her attention was drawn back to her husband making his way over to her. "Are we good to go?" She asked him quietly, trying to limit those who could hear her.

"We are." Athrodar replied in an equally quiet voice, cupping her face in his hands. "I love you." He whispered to her, watching her smile warmly at him just by hearing those three words.

"I love you too." She whispered back to him, placing a hand on one of the hands cupping her face. "Now we can return to our little ones." She then said, leaning on one of his hands. "Just one thing before we leave."

"And that is?" Athrodar asked, smiling at her.

"Kiss me in front of these humans who want nothing more than to kick us out as soon as possible." Sylvanas said, making Athrodar laugh lightly.

"With pleasure." He replied, kissing her on the lips and having the General deepen the kiss.

When they pulled away, Sylvanas bit her bottom lip and gazed into his eyes. "That makes me want to continue what we were doing last night." She cooed, looking around the inn again and smiling to herself. "Let's return to Falcon Watch before I do something I will regret."

"I'm right behind you." Athrodar said, chuckling lightly when Sylvanas laughed at his choice of words. "And I will be all the way to our bedroom back at Sunfury Spire." He whispered in her ear, slowly pushing her out the inn too and into the open fortress that is Honor Hold.

"I'm hoping you will still be behind me in our bedroom at Sunfury Spire." She teased, getting a throaty chuckle from Athrodar who kissed her on the cheek.

"Behind, below, on top of. Whatever you want." He told her, making the General laugh this time.

"Good boy." She purred, looking over to the Keep. "Should we say goodbye to Danath before we leave?"

Athrodar looked over to the Keep too and shook his head. "I don't think he will be offended or hurt if we just left. He knows we are busy just like he is now that he has his reinforcements after a decade or two."

"Okay." Sylvanas looked back over to Athrodar and took hold of his hand. "Then off we go to Falcon Watch." She said, dragging him along with her as they made their way out of Honor Hold and heading west towards their outpost in this new world.

The journey back to Falcon Watch took a couple hours on foot, something that would have taken half of that time if they weren't taking this cautious when they heard clashing steel nearby and spotting a group of Alliance soldiers fighting off what looked to be fel orcs, a demonic variant of the orcs they had seen in the past, except just like their name suggested, they were lost to the fel. On top of that, they had seen a few less than friendly looking beasts on their way back too, the same creatures that had scythe like hands near Falcon Watch as well as giant worm like creatures that burrowed underground in the distance.

"I'm going to go check in with Liadrin and the Grand Magister, you go find our little ones." Athrodar said once they returned to Falcon Watch, placing a hand on Sylvanas' cheek when she looked up at him with eyes that were telling him to go with her and talk to them later. "I'll be a couple minutes, I promise."

"You better be." Sylvanas said, holding onto his for as long as she could until they were forced to let go due to the increased distance.

Athrodar watched Sylvanas blow him a kiss, smiling and catching it in his hand before placing his hand on his heart, both of them mouthing their love for each other before he made his way towards Liadrin and her paladins in a nearby building. "Nice to know everything is still standing, even if I left you alone for the night."

Liadrin sighed and rolled her eyes. "I'm not destructive, Athrodar." She told him, hugging the Lieutenant when he made his way over to her. "I'm more protective of what I have than anything else."

"Like a best friend who trusted you to lead the assault and someone you didn't disappoint?" Athrodar asked, feeling Liadrin squeeze him tightly.

"Exactly." Liadrin said, smiling brightly at him. "Wait until I tell Thal. She will want to join us just so she doesn't miss out on all of the cool things we're going to do here."

Athrodar chuckled and shook his head. "I don't see her as much of a fighting person, do you?"

"I do." Liadrin told him. "She gets feisty when angry and if anyone can get her angry, it would be demons trying to kill her friends."

"That's a good point." Athrodar agreed, pulling back and placing a hand on her shoulder. "I need to head back to the General. She's been a bit off today."

"Anything to be concerned about?" Liadrin asked, watching Athrodar begin to think about it. "And off how? What's wrong with her?"

"She's been a bit too clingy today. I usually don't mind her want and need to be around me a lot, but today feels different. It's like she's scared to be alone." Athrodar sighed and saw Liadrin frown at him. "I'm not sure why."

"You don't think it would have anything to do with the demon Commander, do you?" Liadrin asked him, watching Athrodar shake his head. "No, I didn't think so. She has been in many battles, that would be a shock if that was the case."

Athrodar continued to think about it, nodding his head slowly when he began to realise what it was. "There was an incident at Honor Hold. But we dealt with it ourselves so I'm surprised if it's the thing that's causing this."

Liadrin looked around their immediate surroundings to make sure they were alone. "What happened at Honor Hold?" She asked him.

"Five soldiers tried to scare us into not staying in the inn there after we were allowed entry. We handled it and made sure they would never try to stop us in the future." Athrodar began to think about that incident. "They did try to drag her away into the inn to show her what a real man looked like." He then said, clenching his fist tightly without even realising he was doing it. "But like I said, we handled the situation."

"Yeah... But they were going to take your wife away from you so they could have their way with her." Liadrin said, taking hold of his hand that was clenched into a tight ball. "That may have been the first time she has been in a situation like that. Seeing as the Trolls would rather kill us than have their way with us." She smiled a little at him, squeezing his hand. "Go be with her, make sure she knows she is safe." Liadrin moved her hand to his arm. "And tell her that I will kick their asses if they ever come near her again."

Athrodar laughed lightly and nodded his head. "I'll tell her. Tell the Grand Magister that I am happy with his contribution and that if ever he needs something, he just has to ask."

"Will do." Liadrin said, watching Athrodar leave and make his way back to the General.

The moment Athrodar returned to the General however, he was assaulted by a smaller elf who hugged him tightly before his wife could get to him. "I thought you were dead." Victoria muttered, holding onto her father tightly as if he life depended on it. Or this moment in time, as if his life depended on it. "When everyone returned here and you and the General weren't a part of them, I was scared you had died and I had nobody left."

Athrodar looked over to Sylvanas who gave him a warm smile, placing a hand on Victoria's back and kissing Athrodar when she was close enough. "I told her it would take more than some demon Commander to kill us." She said, planting a kiss on the top of Victoria's head now. "Our son is currently asleep in the next room."

"That makes life a little easier, knowing he is safe and secure in the other room." Athrodar said, looking at Sylvanas and only her. "Can you give us a few minutes?" He asked, glancing down to Victoria when she pulled back to look at him. "I need to talk to the General."

"Okay." Victoria said, hugging Athrodar tightly once more before letting go and hugging the General, letting go of her shortly after and leaving the room so they could be left alone.

The second they were alone, Sylvanas hugged Athrodar tightly whilst burying her head in his chest. "A couple minutes is too long."

"It wasn't that long." Athrodar said, laughing lightly and kissing the top of her head. "So what's up with you today? I have never seen you so clingy." When there was silence, he knew he was correct. "Was it those soldiers outside the inn last night?"

There was nothing but silence from her until she did eventually speak. "Yes." She said quietly, holding onto Athrodar tightly. "When he moved his arm around me, a part of me was angry, but another got scared." She pulled back a little and looked up at him. "Really scared. If we didn't act when we did, I don't know what would have happened."

"Hey." Athrodar said softly, placing a hand on her face and brushing his thumb across her cheek. "I would never let anything like that happen to you. I would have fought all five of them to get you away from there if I had to." He kissed her on the forehead and pulled her in for a tight hug. "You are my wife. I love you more than anything and I would kill anyone who touches you without your permission or in an inappropriate way... Basically if anyone apart from family or especially me touches you, I will kill them."

Sylvanas smiled brightly whilst she hugged him, closing her eyes and having a few tears roll down her face when she let his words sink in. She was safe with him and she knew he was just as angry as she was when they touched her, putting her mind at ease a little knowing that he would protect her as much as she would protect him and their family. "I just want to make sure we're not pulled away again. I didn't like those decades we were apart before I told you, hated those handful of years we were separated after I hurt you and I don't want to experience either of them again."

"You don't have to worry about that." Athrodar told her, looking over to Victoria when she slowly walked into the room. "We will all make sure that will never happen again."

"It's true." Victoria said, smiling at Sylvanas when she looked over to her with watery eyes. "Sorry, I couldn't help but overhear... Mostly because I was trying to." She said, smiling innocently now at both of them. "But dad is right. I will try my hardest to make sure that never happens again. Neither will dad."

Athrodar smiled at his wife who smiled back at him, the pair of them kissing and pressing their heads together shortly after. "Now will you stop worrying? I don't like it when you're like this, because that means you're upset and I never want to see you upset."

"It won't happen again." Sylvanas muttered, holding onto her husband tightly and pressing her ear to his chest. "I promise, not with our family here."

"That's good to hear." Athrodar said, looking over to the entrance of the building now when Viraleth walked in on them. "We're back." He said to her, watching the Chief Scout roll her eyes and fold her arms across her chest. "What?"

"Your scouts have returned. Or should I say my scouts have returned." Viraleth told him. "They say they have found a path to Shattrath, though it will take us through some marshlands and we will run into the Cenarion Circle in the meantime and some friends of our in the form of a Kaldorei garrison that has been there two days after we arrived here."

"Did they say who was in charge?" Athrodar asked the Chief Scout, getting a slight grin on her face.

"Our favourite Captain. Elaria Moonbow is in charge and yes, she has brought her sister too. So this should be a fun, happy reunion." Viraleth told them, watching Athrodar smile too. "Glad you agree." She then said, noticing Sylvanas was still holding onto Athrodar tightly. "I'll leave you three alone." Her gaze turned towards Victoria who had a hand rested on the General's back. "No doubt you'll have something to talk about soon."