Attack of Allerian Stronghold

"What have the scouts said?" Kael'thas asked, sitting in on the Convocation meeting taking place.

"Halduron believes the undead and Nathanos are going to side with the Horde." Dael'Thaelas told him, looking at the report in his hand. "Apparently, a group of Amani trolls and some orcs visited Capital City and were in there for two days before leaving and returning to their ships in the Hinterlands. On top of that, there have been more skirmishes between the undead and the Alliance to the south. A village Southshore and a village called Tarren Mill seem to be the two staging areas for both factions, so that might sway the Horde into accepting them even quicker if they're fighting with the humans."

"And I suppose the Amani will want them to join as a close ally to deal with us when they decide to attack us again." Kael'thas said, watching Lord Sunblade nod his head at him. "Very well. It looks like we might as well sure up our defences a bit more, just in case."

"That would be wise, my King." Grand Magister Belo'vir said, standing up off his chair. "I will see what I can do. The Gatekeeper might need a few tweaks but I believe it's fully operational and will repel anything magical with ease."

"Good, thank you." Kael'thas said, returning his attention to Lord Sunblade once the Grand Magister had left. "Now onto our General. What's the situation over there?"

Dael'Thaelas looked through the reports, finding the one sent from Sylvanas and skimming through it quickly. "They found that city they were looking for, Shattrath. Viraleth is leading the main scouting company into the marshlands they marched through a week ago. Anya and Clea are in talks with our kin who went through with Alleria some decades ago. There is still no sign of her, but the stronghold they have constructed is still intact and housing most of her rangers apparently."

"At least we know they can survive on that new planet." Kael'thas said, looking over to Vandellor now. "What about Grand Magister Dawnstrider and Liadrin? Any news from them?"

"Nothing important of note." Vandellor told him, looking at the report from his daughter. "Liadrin is bored, the Grand Magister is doing a host of experiments and research and the general feel of the place is that they're bored if they're not a mage. Or very excited if they are a mage."

Kael'thas chuckled and nodded his head understandingly. "Fair enough." He said, looking around at the rest of the Convocation. "Anything else to report in?" He asked them, having everyone at the table begin to look at each other and whisper. Watching them all occasionally glance over to him, yet keep quiet began to annoy the King a little, forcing out a sigh from him when it began to get too much. "Okay, out with it." Kael'thas said, having everyone look at him now. "Whatever you're all afraid to say, just say it. Nobody is going to be removed from this council if they do."

"It's about your heir, my King." Dael'Thaelas said, deciding to speak for them as the only head of the Convocation present. "The sooner we sort out who will be your heir, the sooner we can move on from this discussion and never have to visit it again until the day said heir takes the throne."

"And if I don't have an heir? Who does this throne fall to then?" Kael'thas asked, looking around at the Convocation. "There's no way any of you will be able to agree on someone if it's meant to fall to the Convocation."

"We would all rule as a council." Dael'Thaelas told him. "Your father has already made that clear long before you were born, my King. Should there be no legitimate heir to the throne, this Convocation will rule as a council."

"That's not even mentioning the fact that there may be a military coup should the Ranger-General at the time decide they want to lead." Belo'vir reminded them. "Overall, it will get very messy if we don't have an heir ready before you die, my King." The Grand Magister saw the King begin to ponder his answer, sitting forward a little to look at him more clearly from where he sat. "If it helps, you told me Lady Jaina is visiting in the next few days. If you can confirm after her visit that you plan to make her Queen one day, I'm sure we can all agree to sit back and wait for that to happen."

Kael'thas looked around at the Convocation and saw most of them nod, noticing Dael'Thaelas and a handful not respond to the Grand Magister's proposal and knowing how anti-human they all were. "I'll think about it, Grand Magister. I have not hidden my feelings towards her and that's something you all know, so if I get a slight hint of similar feelings towards me, I will inform you all." He stood up and made his way towards the doors to the Convocation Hall. "Now if you don't mind me, I have some personal business to attend to."

"There is definitely a group of demons gathering." Athrodar told the General, placing his bow down and taking off his quiver. "I counted around two hundred. But there are a few abandoned buildings and small caves that they seem to be coming and going from, so I would suggest doubling that figure to four hundred."

Sylvanas sighed and looked over to her rangers who were building up the defences. "Not that you were looking out for them, but did many have wings or look like they could fly?" She asked him, noticing Athrodar frown at her and getting the answer to her question immediately. "Okay, no problem. We'll just have to keep an eye out for attacks in the sky too."

"I can go back out and check?" Athrodar suggested, having Sylvanas take hold of his arm the second he began to turn back towards the entrance of the stronghold.

"No!" She said all too quickly, holding him in place. "I don't want you to go back out there. Not until we have dealt with the demons."

Athrodar opened his mouth to argue, but stopped himself when he saw her eyes were pleading with him to stay, closing his mouth and smiling at the General. "I'll stay." He told her softly, stepping forward and placing a hand on her cheek. "I'm sure we can deal with whatever flying demons they have anyway. Those who have been stuck here for years almost likely know how to deal with them."

"Exactly." Sylvanas agreed, stepping forward and pressing her head to his chest. "We don't need to risk anything else until the fight begins anyway. We should just stay here, prepare our defences and not risk our lives on scouting missions." She then told him, closing her eyes when she felt him wrap his arms around her. "I'm not going soft on you, I just don't want to lose my best scout and my husband."

"I didn't say anything about you getting soft." Athrodar whispered to her, kissing the top of her head and holding onto her tightly. "When the time comes to fight, you will show everyone you are still a badass General who will kill anyone and anything that tries to harm her or anyone she loves."

"That's true..." Sylvanas muttered, holding onto him just as tightly as he was her. "I wouldn't let a single arrow, spell, blade or hammer hit you. No axe, spear or fist either." Sylvanas then told him, pulling back and cupping his face in her hands. "You are my heart and if anything injures my heart, I will be weaker for it."

Athrodar smiled and moved his hands down her body until he rested them on her ass, pulling her in just a little closer and gazing into her eyes. "I will be safe, as long as I am by your side."

"Yes you will." Sylvanas agreed in a whisper, pulling his head down so she could kiss him and fastening her lips onto his when he was millimeters from her. It was a kiss that consumed either one of them, born from the desperate need of the General to feel him on her lips before anything bad happened. They didn't know when the demons would attack. It could be within the next hour or within the next week, all they did know is they needed this kiss just as a distraction from everything that was going on and how quickly they had been moving from one place to another since they arrived on this planet just less than a month ago.

When they broke apart from one another, Sylvanas quickly moved her head under his chin again and held onto him tightly, having Athrodar move one of his hands up to the middle of her back and hold onto her again. "We're going to be okay." He whispered to her, feeling the General nod her head.

"I'm just scared, okay?" Sylvanas whispered back. "The last time we faced demons, you left me. I know it won't happen again, but I can't help but feel sad and scared at the slightest chance it will. Be it you leaving me again, or you're killed by them." She closed her eyes and shook her head a little, letting a couple tears drop from her eyes. "I just need you to hold me right now. I'm feeling really weak and I need to be in your arms."

"You'll be safe." Athrodar whispered to her, reassuring his General once again and smiling when he felt her continue to hold onto him tightly. "The Dance of Death, remember?" He said, kissing the top of her head. "We won't be touched."

"I know, but it's not definite." She told him, pulling back and cupping his face in her hands. "I'm happy the squads were cut from four to three, because now you are always with me." She looked over to some of her rangers in the distance. "But we do now have one less squad for scouting."

"But our squads are stronger overall as we have more rangers." Athrodar told her. "More rangers to protect us, more rangers to deal with the demons." He stroked a few strands of hair behind her ear, smiling when it twitched the moment his fingers lightly touched her ear. "You are beyond beautiful my General." He whispered, gazing into her eyes and placing a hand on her cheek lightly. "Too beautiful to be here. I should have convinced the King to keep you off this planet, away from harm."

Sylvanas gazed into his eyes, pressing her head against his and closing her eyes shortly after. "And if I were to stay away from this planet, I would have kept you with me." She told him, hearing two sets of footsteps making their way towards her and letting out a long sigh. "Interrupted just as I was about to enjoy our closeness."

"General." One of them said, this one being Captain Auric Sunchaser. He was in charge of Allerian Stronghold until Alleria returned, something that was looking like a permanent placing for everyone who called this place their home. "Any word on the demons gathering nearby?"

"They're growing in number." Sylvanas told him, looking over to Athrodar. "Maybe a week away at most until they attack, but we should still be prepared every day as it could happen whenever."

Auric nodded his head, glancing over to Tamaria who was the other elf with him. "We'll make sure we're prepared."

"We know this place like the back of our hands now." Tamaria told them General, looking over to her daughter in the distance who was talking to several rangers, smiling to herself when she saw Anya look as happy as she had always been. "We can defend it with sticks if needed."

"I'd prefer it if we didn't." Athrodar said, getting a chuckle from the other three rangers.

"I'm sure you could do it blindfolded." Tamaria said, placing a hand on Athrodar's arm. "And with one hand behind your back."

Sylvanas cleared her throat when she saw Tamaria walking her fingers up her husband's arm. "Tamaria..." She said, her voice low and cold. "One more second and I will take your arm." She threatened, placing a hand on the hilt of her sword.

Knowing her General was being serious, Tamaria let go of Athrodar's arm and began to pout at Sylvanas. "You're no fun." She said, sulking beside the Captain.

"Then do as I say and leave my husband alone." Sylvanas told her, holding onto Athrodar's arm possessively and pressing her cheek up against it shortly after. "He's mine and nobody else's. There will be no sharing at all."

Whilst the General was showing Tamaria that she was the only one allowed to have Athrodar, both the Captain and Lieutenant shook their heads and smiled at what was going on. "I spotted the demons in a camp to the west of here." Athrodar told the Captain, trying his best to ignore the two of them. "I'd say they are four or five times us in number at the very least. But we have experience and defences on our side, so it should even things out."

Captain Auric nodded his head at the Lieutenant's assessment of the situation. "If only fighting was that simple." He told Athrodar, getting a laugh in return. "With the reinforcements you've brought with you, we should be fine when it comes to dealing with the demons, but we must prepare carefully all the same."

"Just tell us what we have to do and I am sure we can do it." Athrodar told him, looking down towards Sylvanas who continued to hold onto him whilst her gaze was fixed on Tamaria. "Or at the very least, we'll find someone who can. Seeing as I am stuck here."

Overhearing her husband, Sylvanas looked up at Athrodar and pouted at him. "You're not stuck here, I just don't want you to be out there again."

Athrodar watched Captain Auric laugh, bow his head and then take his leave, being followed by Tamaria when she had given up with her attempts to annoy the General for now. "I know I'm not stuck here." Athrodar told the General, leaning down and kissing her on the nose. "And if I were to be stuck here, I can't help but feel like I am being spoiled because I have my beautiful wife with me."

Sylvanas chuckled and cupped his face in her hands. "Good answer." She told him, kissing him shortly after.

"Any idea what these pumps are for?" Melonara asked, flicking the switches and pressing random buttons on the control panel that had an axe embedded into it, destroying any chance of it working. "If it's to suck up the water in this place, I want to know what they are using the water for. I would have thought the Naga would like to keep the water where it is."

"I'm sure there's a good reason." Viraleth told her, looking over to the Kaldorei with them who were interrogating the handful of Naga they had captured. "Though I don't know if the Captain will get anything out of them."

Melonara shook her head. "No, probably not. They seemed determined to kill us and when we captured them, there was nothing but anger in their eyes. A look I've seen from many trolls in the past." She sighed and looked around at their company. "They're going to say nothing and take their secrets to the grave."

"Brilliant..." Viraleth muttered, looking around at their surroundings. They were in the marshlands of Zangarmarsh, protecting the druids located there whenever they decided to go on a mission of their own, whilst also going about their own missions given to them by the Convocation and therefore, Sylvanas. "I still can't get over the drastic change between here and Hellfire. It's like one of them is what the other could be if things went differently."

"I know what you mean." Melonara agreed, looking up at one of the giant mushrooms surrounding them. "This place is teeming with life whilst the other one is lucky to have what it has."

Viraleth sighed and slumped her shoulders a little, looking around at the dead Naga. "Well, we might as well report in to the druids in town. Tell them what we've found, how many we've killed and speculation on what is happening out here."

Melonara nodded her head in agreement, flicking another dormant switch and watching nothing happen. "Alright. After you."

"They're coming." Athrodar told Captain Auric, helping the guards close the gates behind him and moving a beam of wood over the door to barricade it. "All of them. Most are on foot, but the ones that can fly are charging in first."

Auric nodded his head, unhooking his war horn from his waist and blowing on it to get everyone's attention. "Listen up! The demons are coming! The flying demons are heading this way first, no doubt to soften up our defences. Keep your eyes on the skies and kill anything that gets close!"

Sylvanas unslung her bow from her shoulder, pulling out an arrow and nocking it in place on her bow. "How far away?" She asked Athrodar who returned to her side.

"A couple minutes." Athrodar told her, pulling out his bow and nocking an arrow in place too. "We should have enough with our half of the company, right?"

There was a small hesitant nod from the General who glanced over to Athrodar after a few seconds of silence. "I think so?" She told him. "I've fought demons once and we had a lot more of us back then than we do now."

"Well... I'm sure we will be fine." Athrodar muttered, pulling back the arrow on his bow. "We just have to stick together, protect each other's backs and deal with these demons."

Sylvanas smiled and nodded her head in agreement. "Sounds like a good plan to me." She told him, letting loose an arrow into one of the demons flying above them and watching it fall out of the sky when the arrow hit it.

More demons flew overhead with most of them falling out of the sky when the many rangers present in the Stronghold shot them full of arrows. Those who weren't hit, began to land and attack the defenders for a few seconds before being cut down by the elves. "So far so good." Athrodar commented, when the last demon fell, noticing only a handful of rangers were injured, but none had died. "Over half of our arrows left too." He said, looking at Sylvanas' quiver on her back.

"We still have the army marching towards us." She told him, placing a hand on his face and smiling when he closed his eyes the second her thumb stroked his cheek lightly. "I love you."

"I love you too." Athrodar told her, opening his eyes when he heard a bang at the gates. "They're here."

"Stay close to me." Sylvanas told him, pulling back an arrow on her bow and aiming it at the gates.

"Always." Athrodar said, doing the same thing and being joined by the rest of them whilst those on the wall were letting loose arrows into the army below them.

When a piece of the gate crumbled, several rangers let loose their arrows into the gap, killing a few of the demons trying to break it down, though that didn't stop the banging. "Get ready." Sylvanas told him, letting loose an arrow into a different hole in the gate when another piece broke off. "They won't take any prisoners." She then said, glancing over to many of the rangers around her. "So fight until your last breath and kill anything that comes close to you."

The second the gates fell, a volley of arrows hit the demons breaking in, killing all of the first wave at the gate and slowing down their attack by just a couple of seconds. "Here they come." Athrodar said, watching several demons charge through the gates and letting loose an arrow into one of them. Many of the first wave were felhounds who were running through their ranks and trying to find any magic users in their army. "Cut them down! Protect our mages and healers!"

Sylvanas shot two arrows in quick succession at a felhound, pulling out one of her swords and slicing it across the tendrils on another felhound's back. "Athrodar." She said, looking over to the Lieutenant. "Get to the walls and command the rangers up there, I'll lead everyone down here."

Athrodar nodded his head. "On it." He said, slinging his bow over his shoulder and pulling out his swords, cutting down a felguard and ducking under another one's axe, slicing his sword across their leg. Once he made it to the walls, he commanded the rangers to target the felhounds who were running through their ranks on the ground. "They're going for our mages." He then told them, pulling his bow back out and nocking an arrow in place "Take care of the hounds and we will win this."

Auric, standing in the front lines with the rest of the soldiers, cut down two demons quickly, glancing up to Athrodar who was leading their rangers on the wall. "Shoot them before they get through! We can keep them pinned between us and the gates." He told the Lieutenant, blocking two attacks from a felguard with his shield.

"You heard him, kill the demons at the front gates, stop them from pouring into the stronghold." Athrodar told the rangers on the wall, letting loose an arrow into a demon below.

The fighting raged on for just over ten minutes with the demons numbers dropping quickly, but the elves numbers were dwindling too, just not as quickly. The elves on the walls were the first to go, many of them falling to spells and demonic archers, leaving those that remained to fall back and rejoin with the General. "I think we might win this." Sylvanas said, falling back to the rear of their rangers and checking Athrodar for cuts, bruises or wounds of any kind. "Now that we have nobody on the walls, you are staying close to me."

"Of course." Athrodar agreed, looking behind the General and spotting the demons being held back by Captain Auric and his soldiers who were seasoned in fighting these demons. "How many arrows do you have left?" He asked her, returning his attention to Sylvanas.

"Four, maybe five." She told him, placing a hand on her quiver and counting the arrows. "Four." She then confirmed, looking back towards the demons. "And you have none, so it looks like we are going into melee for the remainder of this fight."

"At least we will have fun." Athrodar said, getting a chuckle from the General.

"Yes we will." She agreed, both of them making their way back into the fight, sticking beside one another and cutting down two demons with ease.

Clea and Anya, fighting nearby, noticed both the General and the Lieutenant were fighting beside one another again, watching as they both cut down demons with ease. "I think it's happening again." Clea said, ducking under a thrusting spear and having Anya kill the demon shortly after. "The Dance of Death."

"I think we should expect this a lot now." Anya said, killing another demon and watching Athrodar and Sylvanas fight beside one another, killing anything that got near them with ease. "I am jealous though."

"So am I." Clea agreed, killing a demon by pushing her sword through it's neck. "But I am also happy our General has someone she can perform it with."

Sylvanas dodged to the left, making the demon miss its thrust by inches and watching Athrodar slice the arm off the felguard who tried to kill her. Once the arm was cut off, Sylvanas span her sword around and sliced off the felguard's head, ducking under the next attack and forcing her swords into the next demon's stomach.

Moving behind the General, Athrodar pulled out one of the four arrows from the General's quiver and let loose an arrow towards a charging demon, hitting them between their eyes and dropping his bow onto the floor, blocking an axe from swinging down towards Sylvanas with his blades and having the General slice her swords across the chest of the demon, spinning back around and plunging one of her swords into its heart.

The two of them continued to fight beside one another in such close quarters, parrying and dodging, killing and slicing any demon that came close to them and leaving a pile of their bodies around them. When Athrodar plunged his sword into the chest of a demon, Sylvanas pulled the blade out and killed the next demon closest to them with the same blade.

The fighting lasted for another ten minutes before the remaining demons began to fall back. "They have a commander at least." Auric said, finishing off some demons that were still alive, but were unable to escape. "Otherwise it would have been to the death."

"Should we go after them?" Sylvanas asked, standing beside the Captain and watching him shake his head. "Why not? If we deal with the Commander, they will have no leadership and they won't come back here."

"Their commander is most likely held up somewhere far away. The demons have strong connections to their masters and they have well fortified defences around them so they can't get killed by the likes of you or me." Auric told her, cleaning off his sword. "If we were to kill this commander, it will make things difficult for them. Good for us, bad for them."

Athrodar sighed. "So that's a definite no on killing that commander."

"With what we have here, it's definitely a no." Auric told them. "The Alliance or Horde, they will have the individual numbers to do it, but if what you say is true, that we are on our own with our Kaldorei cousins, then we definitely can't do it. Maybe a skirmish here or there, but an outright attack on a demonic stronghold? I'd be surprised if half of us return."

"At least we can skirmish." Athrodar said, smiling a little. "Silver lining and all that."

"Something for us to do later then." Sylvanas said, placing a hand on Athrodar's back. "I'm sure we can have some fun skirmishing with the demons. Maybe set up an ambush or two."

"Good plan for the future then." Athrodar agreed.