Shattrath City
"They have arrived in the Cenarion Expedition outpost in a place called the Zangarmarsh." Thalina read out, looking over to her King who was nodding his head slowly. "Apparently they are going to be on their way to Shattrath after resting there for the night and once they arrive, they will use it as a base of operations."
"Makes sense." Kael'thas said. "It's where they will be safe if this map we have received of this new land is accurate, it looks like it's in the middle of the land, if you ignore this land to the north. Netherstorm." He looked over to the Magistrix and smiled at her when he saw she was reading through a couple more reports. "I need to send a letter to your father." She told her, making Thalina look up and over to him. "I need him to send some mages over to Netherstorm and see if he can find anything of worth to us there. If the description we heard of it is correct, it might hold some powerful magics there. Or at the very least, something worth studying."
"I can get that written up right away, my King." Thalina told him, bowing to Kael'thas and handing him the reports in her hand. "There is one from Halduron in there. I didn't read all of it, but it does mention the Forsaken and their movements."
Looking through the reports, Kael'thas pulled out the one from Halduron and began to read through it. "He's been watching them, sent scouts out to follow patrols but remain hidden." He skimmed through the report some more, frowning and re-reading one part of it. "Apparently, they have been fighting some humans from the Alliance and some forest troll scouts from the Horde. He said the humans looked to have the Stormwind insignia on their shields, which if that's the case, Stormwind are trying to capitalise on the weakened state of Lordaeron to claim its lands for themselves."
Thalina watched her King read more of the report, waiting for him to finish just in case he tasked her with another job. "Do you think they will be a threat? If they're anything like the undead we faced, anyone they kill they might raise into undeath and bolster their ranks."
Kael'thas read through the rest of the report, shaking his head at the Magistrix's question. "No. Halduron has seem them fight and they don't raise those they have killed." He told her, frowning at the report in his hands. "Then again, he said they seem to have more and more soldiers make their way into the city every day. So they have either found more undead that were free from Arthas' control and recruited them, or they're raising the dead somewhere away from prying eyes."
"Do you think they know they're being watched then?" Thalina now asked her King.
"Without a doubt." Kael'thas told her, folding up the report. "Nathanos is their leader and a former Ranger Lord of these lands. He definitely knows we have eyes on them because we will perceive them as a threat until told otherwise. Sylvanas taught him well in that regard, to know you are always being watched by your enemies and to act as if you aren't, or in this case, act innocently with raising the dead by raising them away from prying eyes." Kael'thas sighed and stood up from his throne. "Write up that report to your father. I need some time to think about this."
Thalina bowed her head to the King once again. "I'll be on my way, your Grace." She said, leaving the room shortly after.
"It's times like these where I need your help, father." Kael'thas said out loud, knowing he wouldn't get a response but hoping at least his father could help him in some way. "I don't want to go to war with these Forsaken if they ally themselves with the Alliance or Light forbid the Horde. We don't have the numbers here to deal with an entire army, not with the General so far away. But if my concerns for them raising the dead into their ranks is true, I fear we may not have a choice."
"Two more hours and we are leaving here for Shattrath." Sylvanas said, closing her eyes and smiling when she felt Athrodar wrap his arms around her from behind and kiss her on the neck. "I really wish there was somewhere private for the two of us to be alone together." She whispered to him, feeling Athrodar's hug tighten a little.
"This is as private as it gets, my love." He whispered in her ear, glancing over to the Tauren standing on the other side of the watchtower they were in. "I don't think he minds the company, but he will definitely complain if we do anything more than this."
"I do like this." Sylvanas purred, smiling wider and keeping her eyes closed and tilting her head to the side a little whilst her husband continued to plant kisses along her neck, biting her bottom lip to stop a lustful moan from breaking out when the feeling of him exploring her neck got the better of her. "I like this very much." She cooed, reaching back and placing a hand on his head to keep his lips against her neck. "Another reason we are in separate squads once we reach Shattrath." She told him, hearing Athrodar chuckle in response.
"Because you will be distracted by your husband and will find it difficult to lead your squad whilst I'm there?" Athrodar asked rhetorically, looking his wife in the eyes when she span on her heels to face him. "Am I wrong?"
"Not at all. You were spot on." Sylvanas told him, glancing to her right when she saw Viraleth climb up to the top of the watchtower. "Yes?" She asked her, watching Viraleth bow to the pair of them and hand the General a report shortly after.
"This just arrived from Silvermoon." She told her, waiting at the top of the watchtower whilst Sylvanas began to read through it.
Athrodar looked down at the report in the General's hand, catching a few words but finding it difficult to read it when Sylvanas began to pace whilst she read it herself. "I suppose I'll find out what it's about once she's finished." He said, standing beside Viraleth who began to smirk at him.
"I know you're the King's right hand, which means you're normally the go to for the reports, but I know she would have stolen it before you could read it so I gave it to her." Viraleth continued to watch Sylvanas pace back and forth, reaching the bottom of the report and then noticing her frown. "General?" She asked, having Sylvanas look over to the two of them.
"They think Nathanos is raising the dead into his army and will either attack the Alliance to the south, the paladins to the east or, Light forbid, join up with the Horde and will attack us with the Forest Trolls should they wish to return and take back Zul'Aman." Sylvanas looked over to Athrodar who looked as confused as she did. "He wouldn't do that, right?"
"I couldn't say." Athrodar told her. "I didn't know him, but if what you have told me about him is true, he wouldn't attack the place he spent his life defending and training in." He glanced over to Viraleth now. "Right?"
"I don't know." She told him, looking over to the General. "All I know is, Halduron is keeping an eye on them and he has yet to be wrong about an enemy he is scouting." She began to shrug at them. "Most if not all of his enemies have been the Amani however and we know them inside and out, so maybe not the best example of a good scout."
"That would also apply to the rest of us." Athrodar told her, making Sylvanas laugh lightly. "We're all terrible and unreliable scouts by that logic."
"Good point." Viraleth said, looking back to the General. "So what are we going to do about this Nathanos thing? Are we returning home or staying here?"
"We're staying." Sylvanas told her Chief Scout. "Halduron, Lor'themar, Dael'Thaelas and Aerinan are still home. Let alone several priests and mages that have been studying the undead since they first attacked and are now ready to deal with them as a fighting force should we get attacked again." She looked over to Athrodar and saw him nod his head in agreement. "We have a duty to our King to stay out here unless we're called back. We also have a duty to our kin that have been out here for years to get them home."
"Then I suppose I'll slowly start getting everyone ready." Viraleth said, bowing to both the General and Lieutenant. "We're leaving in two hours, correct?"
"We are." Sylvanas told her. "So make sure everyone is ready for then."
"Will do." Viraleth said, leaving them both alone.
Athrodar watched his wife and General look back down at the report in her hands and stepping towards her. "You're worried, aren't you?"
"I am." Sylvanas said, leaning against Athrodar when he stood beside her. "Quel'Thalas is everything to me. I have dedicated my life to protecting her forests and being so far away from it whilst potential danger is at her doorstep makes me want to return home." She folded the report and let out a small sigh. "But I also want to find my sister out here." She looked up at her husband who had moved an arm around her. "Tell me what to do."
"You seem to have already made up your mind." Athrodar told her, placing his hand under her chin and stroking a thumb across her bottom lip. "We're staying here to find your sister and help out those in need in the meantime." He moved his hand to her cheek and smiled when she leaned her head against it. "If things get worse, we can always return home, but it's also like you said, Halduron, Lor'themar, Dael'Thaelas and Aerinan are all back there. As well as the mages and priests in the city. If we are called back, we will return, but I think they are safe there without us."
Sylvanas stepped towards Athrodar and hugged him, pressing her ear against his chest and feeling him hug her back, having a hand travel to her hood and pull it down so he could stroke her hair and keep her held against him. Normally she would hate having her hood down and being restricted like this, but she found she liked this when it came from her husband because she both loved him and felt comfort in knowing he didn't want to be parted from her. A bit of a bonus really as she didn't want to be parted from him either.
"If the next two hours are like this, I am going to be very happy." Sylvanas whispered, listening to her husband's heart beat in his chest. "With nothing to do until then, I can't think of any other way to spend this time."
"It's a very good way to spend the next two hours whilst we wait." Athrodar told her, feeling Sylvanas' hug tighten. "And since can't spend it doing what we both really want to do, this is the next best thing." He then said, kissing the top of her head and pressing his cheek against that same spot shortly after.
The two hours went by quicker than either of them wanted as the General went up and down the lines of her company, making sure everyone was accounted for and reaching the end where Anya, Clea and Melonara had been placed to give her as little of a headache as possible on their march to Shattrath. "Once we arrive in the city and have found a place to rest up, I want you to come with me." She said, looking at Clea. "You'll be taking charge of a squad and I need you to be there with the other leaders so I can go over what to expect."
"I can do that, General." Clea said bowing her head to her.
"Will we all be in the same squad?" Anya asked, hopeful that they were.
"If you can behave between here and Shattrath as well as apologising for calling me old, sure." Sylvanas told her, looking at Anya who looked down and away from the General.
"I'm sorry." Anya muttered, kicking her foot back and forth and making both Melonara and Clea roll their eyes as she didn't sound sincere enough and they knew the General would keep them all standing there until she meant it.
"Anya." Sylvanas said, making the ranger look up at her with a pout. "Say it and mean it, otherwise everyone is standing here."
"Oh... Fine." Anya said, taking hold of the General's hand. "I'm sorry for calling you old, General. You're not old at all. In fact, you're very beautiful and youthful still and if you ever find yourself widowed, I will gladly be the next person to marry you." She told her, making Sylvanas raise an eyebrow at her words and raising her hand towards her lips so she could kiss the back of it.
"Okay." Sylvanas said, pulling her hand away. "I forgive you. Just... Don't call me old again... Or do whatever you were about to do to me again."
The three of them watched Sylvanas return to the front of the company. "What was that?" Clea asked, looking over to Anya who frowned at her.
"What?" She asked, feigning innocence.
"Did you seriously just flirt, or at the very least attempt to flirt, with the General?" Melonara asked her, making Anya smile brightly at them.
"I meant it with the compliments. I think we will all agree that she is beautiful." Anya told them, keeping her innocent smile on her face. "She spends a long time on her appearance and it has clearly paid off as she has a husband and two kids. So yes, I meant what I said."
Melonara nodded her head in agreement, nudging Clea with her elbow and nodding her head to her. "She makes a good point. I told Athrodar that I would sleep with her if ever given the opportunity."
Clea rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Fine. I suppose she is beautiful. Just... Don't flirt with her again, it clearly made her feel a little uncomfortable coming from you."
"Will do!" Anya said, saluting the two elves beside her.
"It's nice being in a forest again." Athrodar said, glancing over to the General who was walking beside him. "Hot, barren lands to a marshland and now a forest. I'd say this is the best place out of the three and probably where our kin have set up camp the entire time they've been here."
"That's what I was thinking." Sylvanas agreed, looking over to the city that they were closing in on. "If this city is as impressive on the inside as it is on the outside, this might be a place I will be happy keeping as our base of operations the entire time we're here."
Athrodar watched a beam of light that looked to be in the middle of the city, signal them in the moment they entered the forest, occasionally looking back to it to make sure they were heading in the right direction. "Whatever is making that light beam has to be powerful." He said, knowing that Sylvanas was nodding her head in agreement without even looking at her. "I also think that's where we'll find Khadgar. A powerful mage will want to be near something that strong."
"Good, that should make life easier for us then." Sylvanas said, following a path that turned towards the city, leaving her and Athrodar, as well as their company, shocked at what they saw. The beam of light gave them the idea that this would be a magnificent city, filled with holy powers as they all felt the light radiate off the beam of light, even if it was only a little, talks of it being a safe haven and where Khadgar was stationed made them think it held vast knowledge too. "It looks... Half destroyed." Sylvanas eventually said, noticing two guards posted outside the entrance.
"They seem to be Draenei too." Athrodar said, stepping towards the guards and the entrance to the city, being followed by the General and their company. "A race we are yet to fully introduce ourselves to." He then said, turning back to face the General. "If this is their city, I may have to play diplomat and ambassador over leading a squad."
Sylvanas nodded her head slowly, knowing this would happen during their campaign, she just didn't expect it to be that early. "No worries." She told him, placing a hand on his arm. "If you do, I will put Melonara in charge. She was your second and is also a very good scout. She will lead our main scouting party with Viraleth. We'll just have to cut our squad numbers from four to three and increase their size."
"Then that's what we'll have to do." Athrodar told her, kissing the General lightly and pressing his head against hers for a few seconds before turning back around. "Time to introduce ourselves and get them to show us to Khadgar. If he's still here of course."
Noticing the company of elves making their way towards them, both guards looked at each and nodded once before one of them ran off into the city. "Stop there." The other guard said, speaking the common tongue. "This is a neutral city. We don't want any trouble, but if you were to bring any, you will meet a swift demise."
"We're just here to find shelter." Sylvanas told the guard, stepping forward to stand beside Athrodar. "I'm Ranger-General Sylvanas Windrunner. I am a friend to Khadgar the human mage. We were told he is in this city and knows the whereabouts of my sister."
The guard looked back in the hopes to find the other guard returning, only to see the road leading them into the city. "You will have to wait until backup arrives. I can't leave this post unguarded." He told them, looking back to the General and Lieutenant. "So you will all have to wait out here for now." He then said, walking back towards his post and waiting outside of the entrance to the city on his own.
"Well..." Sylvanas said, looking over to Athrodar who had let out a sigh the moment they were alone. "That didn't go exactly to plan."
"I can understand it though." Athrodar said, albeit annoyed with the outcome of the conversation. "If an army of humans walked up to Silvermoon's gates and expected to walk in without question, I would want whoever is in charge to be stripped of what ever rank they have and maybe even locked up."
Seeing the guard walk away and her General not move into the city, Viraleth made her way towards both Sylvanas and Athrodar. "What's the problem?" She asked them, standing between the two and having them both look over to her.
"We don't have permission to enter yet." Sylvanas told her. "I told them my name and that I am a friend of Khadgar, but he can't leave his post to check if it's true because then this entrance will be unguarded. So we are waiting for his friend to return so he can then leave and find Khadgar to ask him if he knew us." The General shook her head and looked back to the guard. "If Khadgar is even in the city that is. Otherwise, we have wasted the day marching all the way over here just to be turned away."
"Frustrating but I understand it." Viraleth said, having Athrodar nod his head in agreement.
"I said the same thing." He told her, looking up at the beam of light in the middle of the city, feeling warmth from the light as they were closer to it than before. "We'll get inside soon enough." He said to himself, though he knew both Viraleth and Sylvanas could hear him. "Then we will talk to Khadgar, ask him about Alleria whilst have our little ones with us again." He looked over to Sylvanas who smiled at him. "We just have to be patient."
Sylvanas walked over to him and took hold of his hand. "Not necessarily." She said quietly, looking over to Viraleth who tilted her head at them. "We do have the best scouts in the Farstriders with us." She began to smile at the increasingly confused Chief Scout. "I think it would be a good idea to use their skills to sneak into the city and find Khadgar before this guard's friend comes back."
Viraleth sighed and slumped her shoulders. "Really? I just want to rest and wait here until the guard returns."
"Please." Sylvanas said, taking hold of her Chief Scouts hands and giving her a set of puppy eyes. "It would mean so much to me if you did this and we were allowed to enter the city quicker."
"Oh... Come on." Viraleth complained, knowing Sylvanas knew how to push the right buttons to get Viraleth doing what she wanted. "If I get caught, I will blame it on you."
"That's fair." Sylvanas agreed, pushing Viraleth forward a little. "Return to the company so they don't you see walk off into the forest, then try to find a way in."
Athrodar watched a reluctant Viraleth walk into the company of rangers, losing her in the mix of over a hundred bodies and glancing over to Sylvanas who had a content smile on her face. "Sometimes, I feel like we don't deserve her." He said to the General who nodded her head in agreement, turning to face Athrodar and giving him a cheerful smile.
"No we don't not." She agreed, laughing when she felt Athrodar kiss her on the forehead. "But we are lucky she loves me." She then told him, being pulled in for a hug that she welcomed at this moment in time as it was either this and waiting or being apart and waiting. Once she felt Athrodar hug her, she moved her arms around him and hooked her hands to his shoulders, pressing her ear to his chest and closing her eyes whilst she listened to his heart.
The rest of the company couldn't help but smile, or at the very least, feel happy for their General who they had all known for decades. Fighting beside her for that long had given them all a good insight as to how she was before Athrodar came into her life, the focus on being the General of her people and only that, not having a social or personal life outside of her sister and Viraleth was just something they had all come to expect for the rest of their careers. Now however, that she had that special someone, that husband and number two she had been missing, she was a lot happier, more open about her life and, best of all, she wasn't as strict to her company if they had one hair out of place as she used to be.
Perfection was her goal with her company beforehand, but now she had a family of her own she just wanted to make everyone's lives, including her own, so much easier by being more relaxed on her own rules. She still aimed for perfection in her company, but she wouldn't give her rangers hell for having a hair out of place.
"I needed this." Sylvanas muttered, feeling Athrodar kiss the top of her head and smiling to herself. "I know why we can't enter right away, but it still put me on edge and made me think we made our way over here for nothing." She tightened her hug a little more. "But now I know we will eventually get inside that city. Especially with Viraleth making her way inside and towards Khadgar."
"It shouldn't take too long." Athrodar told her, pulling down her hood and stroking her hair lightly, smiling when she let out a content sigh. "I keep telling you to let your hair be shown as you seem to enjoy it every time I stroke it."
"And I keep telling you I don't like having everyone look at my hair." She told him in response, pulling her hood back up and then pulling down Athrodar's hood. "How does that feel?"
"It feels fine." Athrodar said, giving her a cocky grin when she pulled back to look up at him. "I like the light breeze."
Sylvanas sighed and pulled his hood back up. "That was a waste of time." She muttered, hugging him tightly again.
The two of them stayed like this for another ten or so minutes before a group of guards made their way towards them. It was Sylvanas who noticed them as she was facing the city whilst Athrodar had his back to it, pulling back from the hug and moving a hand up to his face "They're here, aren't they?" Athrodar asked, looking over his shoulder when Sylvanas nodded and looking at the group of five Draenei guards as well as an elderly human mage.
"Khadgar." Sylvanas said softly, smiling at the aged mage who stepped forward and was hugged tightly by the Ranger-General before he was ready to accept such an action. "It feels like an age since I last saw you in Windrunner Village with my sister and the rest of you."
Khadgar hesitated at first but then had a warm smile on his face. He hugged the General back and chuckled lightly, his eyes showing his true age and not the accelerated aging magic that had affected him and made him look decades older than he was. "Sylvanas Windrunner. It feels like an age since I last saw you." He pulled back from the hug and saw her warm smile. "I should not be surprised to see you here, yet I still didn't expect it." He looked over to Athrodar who stood close to the General as if to introduce himself before the conversation got carried away. "I don't believe we've met." The mage said, offering him his hand. "The name's Khadgar, but judging by your face I can see that you already knew that."
"I did." Athrodar said with a chuckle, taking hold of his hand and shaking it. "Lieutenant Ranger Athrodar Sunblade." He then said, introducing himself to the mage who smiled at the name.
"Great Grandson to Dael'thaelas." Khadgar said, nodding his head slowly. "I can see it. You have that strong Sunblade jaw, though I hope you don't have his arrogance."
"Thankfully he doesn't." Sylvanas said, placing a hand on Athrodar's arm and smiling at him, telling Khadgar all he needed to know about their relationship in one simple action. "He's like his late father in that way, kind-hearted and cares for his family more than anyone else. Yet he is still loyal to his rangers."
Khadgar smiled, looking over to Viraleth who tentatively walked passed him and join the rest of the company. "How long since I last saw you did it take for you seduce this one?" He asked, looking at the General now who kept her eyes on only Athrodar.
"Too long." She said, placing her hands on her husband's face and smiling at him brightly. "I told him my feelings for him only three years ago. There were some ups and downs throughout the years but it took another two and a half years after that for him to be mine and two months ago we are married." She laughed lightly and leaned forward to kiss him, having Athrodar close the gap and kiss her first for a few seconds, only so they didn't embarrass everyone around them. "And hopefully, this city is safe enough for us to bring our children here."
"Wow." Khadgar said, laughing lightly. "You two work fast. Two kids and you've only known each other intimately for three years?"
"Well... Yes and no." Sylvanas said, shaking her head when she realised this wasn't the conversation she wanted out here in the open. "Khadgar, I need to know where she is." She said, wanting a change of subject as well as wanting to know the location of her sister, or at the very least, where she was last seen.
"Right to it, huh?" Khadgar nodded his head and gestured towards the city. "Come. I'll tell you all you want to know once we're inside and away from any prying eyes and ears."
Sylvanas followed Khadgar into the city, with Athrodar beside her and her company just behind, the five Draenei guards making up the rear as protection, not that an army of over one hundred rangers needed the protection. They first walked through a district known as Lower City. It wasn't much to look at, there were many refugees situated here as well as the sick and poor. It wasn't that they had been forced into this life, many of them were there to escape the war that had happened as well as now finding this the safest place for them. There were an abundance of races here, most of which none of the elves had ever seen before except the occasional Draenei or two the walked by.
"They seem to all be working together here." Sylvanas muttered, watching a group of different races help each other out with labor, trade, or even just having a conversation or two.
"That's because this is a safe haven for them." Khadgar told the General, leading them up a ramp to the next part of the city. "They come here to escape the war, or if they're sick or on a few occasions, because their village has been wiped out by a plague, fighting or a lack of generations to repopulate with." Khadgar had a sad smile on his face for that last one. "We have lost a few races to extinction ever since we arrived on this planet. Even orc clans who were opposed to that initial Horde during the first war. They were wiped out by the other clans who had remained on the planet and had taken up the demon blood curse."
They all made their way through the next level of the city, walking towards the center of Shattrath known as the Terrace of Light. "Before we enter here." Khadgar said, turning to face the General and Lieutenant. "There is a being here of immense power. You probably felt it but you definitely saw it." He pointed up at the beam of light in the middle of the city. "The being is called a Naaru and it's basically a God of the Light, to put in such few words. They are beings of pure light that have guided the Draenei for centuries." He looked over to Sylvanas and then over to Athrodar. "It's hard to explain it, but she will put any negative feelings you have at ease. Unless of course you're a being of the endless void, then she might try to purge you."
Sylvanas laughed and shook her head. "No, I think we're fine there."
"Good." Khadgar said, laughing with her. "Now let me inform those in charge that it's about to get crowded for a few hours in here, then you can join me."
Sylvanas nodded her head in agreement to that plan. "Take your time. We're inside the city now, so that's a good first step."
"Now we wait. Again." Athrodar said, folding his arms across his chest and looking over to Sylvanas who couldn't help but grin at him. "What?"
"You're as impatient as ever." She said, laughing lightly at him. "It's cute."
Whilst Sylvanas teased Athrodar, there was an elf in the city who spotted the General's company and began to widen her eyes, slowly making her way towards them and rubbing her eyes, just to make sure what she was seeing was true. "Sylvanas?" She called out when she saw the General. "Is that really you?"
Sylvanas looked over to the elf and widened her eyes when she saw the elf. "Tamaria?" She said, finding it hard to believe she was seeing her right now.
"Belore... It is you." Tamaria said, letting out a small laugh and feeling weak in the knees. "When... How?"
"The portal opened up again." Sylvanas told her, making her way to the elf and looking her up and down, shaking her head when she placed a hand on her arm and felt she was real. "You're alive."
Tamaria laughed and blinked hard, not stopping the tears forming in her eyes to roll down her cheeks. "We thought we were going to be stuck on this planet forever." She said, hugging the General hard. "Is she here with you?"
Sylvanas pulled back from the hug and nodded her head. "She is." She told her, frowning at the elf. "What do you mean we? Who else is here?"
"Just me in the city. But we have an outpost not too far from here. Captain Auric is in charge until your sister returns." Tamaria smiled a little at her, but she couldn't hide the sadness behind it. "We haven't seen her since just before the portal closed." She told Sylvanas, looking over to the company of elves who were talking amongst themselves, though a handful had noticed her. "We've looked for years, General. I don't know where she is or where Turalyon is."
Sylvanas' smiled saddened too upon hearing this, nodding her head slowly and looking back to Athrodar. "That hurts to hear, I won't lie." She said, sighing and shaking her head. "But we're here now. There's more eyes and if you have any evidence to say she is still alive, it would help a lot."
"I'll inform Auric." She told her, looking over to the company of elves again. "I need to see her, General."
Sylvanas placed a hand on her back and nodded her head. "Go."
Athrodar, overhearing their conversation, stepped forward and watched the elf make her way towards the increasing number of elves who had noticed her too. "So, who was that?" He asked the General.
"Anya's mother." She said nonchalantly, glancing over to Athrodar who had the look of surprise she was expecting on his face. "That's right, us Windrunner's can't get rid of the Eversong family so easily. They always manage to end up in our company."
"That's not what I'm surprised at." Athrodar said, moving an arm around her waist and pulling her in close. "I thought she was an orphan?"
"Yes and no." Sylvanas told him. "Most of those who had a family member go through the portal, when it closed they thought they had perished. Some of us, like myself, thought they were still alive, but we didn't blame those who believed their family members had died." She smiled when she saw Tamaria make her way through her company. "So if she told you she was an orphan, she wasn't really lying, but she wasn't telling the truth either."
"Is she anything like her mother?" Athrodar asked her. "Well, I should say is she anything like Anya?"
"Not at all." Sylvanas said, laughing and looking over to Athrodar, placing a hand on his arm. "She is a whole lot worse. Not in the teasing, but more in the flirting side of things." She frowned and took hold of Athrodar's hand this time. "Maybe I should keep you away from her."
"If she's just Anya, but flirting instead of teasing, I think you would be very wise to do that." Athrodar agreed, looking over to the company too. "I hope having her mother back in her life would calm her down a bit though."
"Let's hope so." Sylvanas said, laughing lightly. "If only to help you out."
Anya, Clea and Melonara had yet to notice the new elf to the party, talking amongst themselves whilst they waited outside the Terrace of Light with the rest of their company. "So you're not a fan of human architecture, but how about this place?" Melonara asked Anya who began to look around at the buildings of Shattrath.
"It's better than what the humans have." She said, looking around some more. "Hmm... Maybe just a bit better actually."
"It has been in a war or two." Clea reminded her. "Maybe if we saw this place before the war, I might have preferred it. It's not that bad for a war torn city."
"That is true..." Anya muttered, catching a glimpse of a ranger walking through the company and frowning to herself. "Mom?" She said out loud, noticing the elf again and realising she was coming her way. "Mom!?" She called out, pushing passed Clea and Melonara and making her way towards the ranger.
"Anya..." Tamaria muttered, being hugged tightly by her daughter the second she was close enough, collapsing down onto her knees when her legs became weak and dragging her daughter down with her. "I never thought I'd see you again. My precious little Anya."
"I thought she had no family?" Melonara asked, looking over to Clea who looked just as happy as Anya did.
"She didn't. I guess we were wrong." Clea said, taking hold of Melonara's arm and pulling her towards Tamaria. "Come on, let me introduce you to her. She's practically an aunt to me before she went through, she will treat you the same, I'm sure."
