Blood and Bone

[James]

((Basically I'm posting this here for two reasons:

A: Just in case it's deleted off the WoW forums, which some of my threads have disappeared lately.

B: I haven't posted a story on these forums yet and I thought I should, even if it isn't a new one.

Anywho:

((Welcome to the story, Blood and Bone! This story takes place in the Azeroth that has been shaped by two threads:
The Black Council: forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=80369847&sid=1&pageNo=1 and
To Conquer Stone:
forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=97670631&sid=1

The tale takes place a mere month after the ending of To Conquer Stone. I don’t think you need to read the threads to keep up with the main storyline of this story but then again perhaps I’m wrong. Perhaps you should try and tell me if I’m wrong

Only mere months ago the Dreadlord Varimathras had betrayed the Forsaken tore it to pieces. Seizing the chance the Lich King Arthas had the Scourge marched on the much weaken Forsaken and took control of Undercity in one quick battle. Since then the Scourge had taken control of the entire regions known as the Plaguelands, squashing the Argent Dawn in their feeble defence and have began to expand into Silverpine Forest as well. The Scourge had now turned it attention to the Sin’dorei, the Elven pests which must be exterminated to fully cleanse Lordaeron.

Anyway without any more ado I give you Blood and Bone!))

[James]

The night was cold and the world dark. In the Plaguelands, the juggernaut that was the Scourge waited for sunrise and their charge on Quel’Thalas. Behind the mountains, which separated the Plaguelands and the Ghostlands, the Blood Elves began to prepare their defenses. Lying low in the mountains were the noble Farstriders, willingly to face extermination just to give the remainders of the Blood Elves a fighting chance. In the city, the Sin’dorei army laid in wait, believing that they had a chance of outlasting a siege.

It would take a miracle for the Sin’dorei to survive this, the Regent Lord would not evacuate so soon after rebuilding their precious city, they would either win or lose. A miracle would be needed and the catalysts for that miracle were landing in a secluded area of the Ghostlands and just outside of Silvermoon. Two figures appeared in the dead forest of Ghostlands and another figure appeared just outside Silvermoon’s main gates. These three would be the catalyst that the Blood Elves would need to survive.

The two figures marched across the Ghostlands heading south towards the Plaguelands. One was a Blood Elf, his red robe hidden under a bronze cloak. The other was a human, completely hidden under a black cloak. The only weapons the pair had were the Elf’s swords and the human’s staff but that was all they needed to survive this harsh land.

“I don’t like it,” the human muttered to his companion.

“And why not? Scared of the Scourge? Or perhaps the Sin’dorei?” the Elf replied.

“I’m not afraid of either however I doubt the Sin’dorei will take too kindly to me. I may have been a good friend of Silvermoon before but now I expect that they hate all humans, including myself.”

“Don’t worry, I’m sure they will welcome any help from anyone and also I hardly think you’re too friendly with the Alliance these days, perhaps it will play in your favour,” the Blood Elf said, still taking long strides towards the looming mountains.

The human snorted as he continued to walk, “it’s easy for you to talk, you’re a Blood Elf.” His companion merely laughed and the pair walked on in silence. They entered the mountain passes and barely made it another couple of meters before a sharp voice called out.

“Halt! Who goes there?”

“An old friend! Unless you decide to attack me then a new enemy!” the human called back and within seconds three Elves were rushing down the slope to meet them. One was a small and slender female, another a rather tall and bulky male and finally another male Elf who bore the grab of being a captain.

“Carden!” cried the female elf running up and hugging the human. “We thought you were dead, we haven’t seen you since the Death Knight’s attack.” Amelia Dawnrunner said releasing the human.

“I have been busy Amelia, after we escaped through the forest I had to take my leave back towards Dalaran to try and warn them about Arthas and Kel’thuzad’s oncoming army but I didn’t reach them in time,” the human known as Carden said.

“Well perhaps you have come back to pay off that debt you owe me, man!” boomed the tall Tomathren as he slapped Rael across the back. Only the Captain looked unhappy at Carden’s appearance. He hung back as the others discussed what had happened in the last couple of years.

“Who’s your friend?” asked Amelia.

“I am Arras, my beautiful lady. I was the one who warned Carden of what was happening up north.” Arras said as Amelia blushed.

“Yes when I heard I immediately flew north to help out, although something has changed since when I use to visit Quel’Thalas but I can’t figure out what.” Carden said as he mockingly looked around at the trees.

The Blood Elf captain finally burst into speech. “Oh yes Carden, mock us as we watch our land suffer and die. Why are you here helping? Shouldn’t you be hatching some foolish scheme to take over the world with fel magic?” Captain Helios spat out viciously.

Amelia and Tomathren looked appalled at the captain’s outburst but Carden remained calm. “Well I thought I would, but Kael’thas has a bit of a head start on me so I thought what’s the point, might as well try and help you guys out,” Carden said smiling.

“What do you mean?” Helios spluttered.

“Oh don’t act like you don’t know” Carden replied. “Anyway however delightful it is talking to you all, the sun is about to rise and when it does the Scourge will be coming over that mountain in the thousands. We saw them as we flew over the Plaguelands to reach here.”

“Well then it’s time for us to embrace death and bring down as many Scourge as we can with us!” Helios said strongly.

“Why embrace death when you can cheat it?” Carden said, a smile forming on his face.

“What do you mean?” Amelia said quickly.

“He means, that Carden and myself came up with a plan as we made our way to Silvermoon.” Arras said in his low and calming voice. “Not only will it cause the Scourge massive casualties and the Farstriders minimal damage but also it will kill two birds with one stone.” Arras said as the other looked interested at this plan and Carden began to laugh into the darkness.

[James]

The other figure that had arrived in Quel’Thalas was now sitting in a small room off of where the figureheads of Silvermoon met. At first glance the figure was a Blood Elf but upon closer inspection of the eyes, he was a High Elf. The door swung open to the small room and out stepped Regent Lord, Lor'themar Theron. The Blood Elves’s leader looked a little surprised at the High Elf appearance but went over to shake his hand nevertheless.

“Lor’themar, I’m so glad you decided to see me,” the High Elf said.

“Well I was told that it was urgent, that you wanted to speak to me right away. What is it Tay Sunspire?” Lor’themar asked.

“Firstly I would ask that you take what I say into consideration, even though I decided to take a different path than what you took.” Tay said and Lor’themar nodded. “I come to aid you in your battle, my lord. I traveled quickly from Stormwind, where the Legion’s army of corrupted Orcs and Undead has been defeated to here to help you beat the Scourge. You may wonder how I think that one man has the chance to make a different but perhaps you have heard rumours of my power?”

“I have Tay, the rumours herald you as a master of the arcane and of nature. If they’re true then I will gladly accept your aid. However most of Silvermoon hold a deep mistrust for High Elves, they will very likely be hostile to you and with good reason.”

“With good reason?” Tay spluttered, “Do you forget how I ended up so far from Silvermoon? How I volunteer to help fight the incoming Scourge and how I was left to die, do you forget that? I have good reason to mistrust you, not the other way around.” Tay said bitterly.

Lor’themar bit his lip and then pretended he didn’t hear Tay’s outburst. “Yes, many might accept your aid out of desperation but many will not. However I will speak on your behalf. Is this all you needed to talk to me about, surely this could’ve waited until after the morning council?”

“No it isn’t,” Tay said. “I wonder if my eyes deceived me when I walked into Silvermoon and saw people still in their houses with no sign of leaving them. Why are we not evacuating the people to safety? To Kalimdor and the Horde? Or even to Stormwind and the Humans?”

“I will not have this city fall so quickly after rebuilding it. I will not have my people go back to Kalimdor. I will not have my people accept aid from the humans.” Lor’themar said coolly.

“So pride will kill us all then? The city is more important than the people in it? Pride is more important than life? Please heed my advice and send your people away from here.” Tay said, his voice full of command.

“This is not about pride!” Lor’themar said his fists trembling, “This is about defending what we worked so hard to create. There’s nothing stopping the civilians leaving, they stay on their own free will. They stay in hon…”

“They stay because they do not know the full danger! They stay because they trust their government to tell them if something is wrong and that they should leave because there is no chance in winning!” Tay said, his anger matching that of Lor’themar. “Please tell me you have at least sent a message to the Horde for aid?”

“Of course I have, two weeks ago we sent a ship and its crew to Durotar asking for aid.” Tay sighed in relief at this answered but Lor’themar carried on. “So we have no chance in winning do we? Is this a fool’s battle?”

“Perhaps or perhaps not, it depends on many different things. For instances are you just going to sit here and think you can outlast them? They will break down the city’s gates in seconds. Will Thrall send aid? If not, then I think the best you can do is delay the Scourge? Who commands the Scourge? The Lich King still sits in Northrend so is it a blubbering Ghoul or an intelligent Lich commanding them? For us to win everything will have to go in our favour.” Tay replied.

“I have no choice but to sit here, the Elven army is weak and broken. We do not have the strength to go and fight the Scourge outright, only the Farstriders have the organizational skills to do so.”

“Unless they think of something amazing, they’re dead in the first few seconds of the battle! And then the Scourge is at Silvermoon within days!” Tay said, his anger coming back again.

“Enough! Morning is nearly upon us and I must think about what you have said before the morning council. Know this though Tay, I’m no coward. If I had the men for it I would attack the Scourge as soon as they set foot in Quel’Thalas but I don’t. I shall speak to the council about you in the morning and perhaps they might speak to you in the afternoon. You shall sleep in the government house, sleeping at an inn or an old friend would be too dangerous for you. My guards will show you a spare room.” Lor’themar said leaving Tay alone with two guards.

Tay entered his room and the guards left him to go back to their posts. He had expected this, Lor’themar had too much pride to leave his city and it would be hard for the Blood Elves to accept advice from a High Elf. Tay rolled his eyes as he moved across to the window and stared out into the sleeping city of Silvermoon.

[James]

The sun crept up over the mountains and the Scourge began to move up the mountain, at a slow speed under orders from their General. The Lich King did not want to visit Azeroth just yet, not until he had the whole of the north of it devoid with life. Nor could he let the Scourge lose this battle against the Sin’dorei, so a skilled fighter would have to lead his army and he had just the person to do it.

At the back of the line rode a figure upon a skeletal horse, his armor made out of bones melded together with black metal. At his waist the Runeblade, Soulcleaver hung. The Lich King had sent one of his most trusted Death Knights to lead the assault, the Death Knight, Baron Wintermaul. One of the first Death Knights made after Arthas himself, he was a Paladin at Valgarde until the Lich King poisoned his mind. Now he was one of the most feared Death Knights around and his arrival in Quel’Thalas would signal the end of the Sin’dorei.

A crypt fiend appeared next to Wintermaul, its many eyes glistening in the sunrise. “My lord, the ghouls are just about to cross the boundary of the Elven lands. Any change in orders?” it hissed.

“Change in orders? No! We shall stay at this pace until we have our whole army in the Ghostlands. The Elves our too weak to launch a full-scale attack but there is no need to run into an ambush,” Baron Wintermaul said coolly. “And what about Baron Rivendare’s forces, has he not joined up with us as the Lich King commanded?”

“I’m afraid to say, Rivendare won’t be coming, my lord,” the crypt fiend said. “I sent some scouts out after he failed to arrive on time and they brought back bad news. Apparently just over seven months ago the Scarlet Crusade launched an attack on the Scourge and defeated them. They have barricaded their selves in the city and have placed Rivendare’s head on the main gate as a sign of their victory.”

Wintermaul’s face showed no sign of anger as he heard the news but it was obvious that he was when the crypt fiend was torn in two by Soulcleaver. “Lich!” Wintermaul called to a nearby lich, “Take the Scourge from the back line and march them to Stratholme. I want the city back under our command when I come back from Silvermoon.” The lich nodded and began to siphon off undead from the back lines.

Within mere weeks the whole of northern Azeroth would be in the Lich King’s command, Wintermaul thought. The Death Knight smiled as he placed his helmet upon his head and little did he know it, the Lich King was thinking the exact same thing.

[James]

Captain Helios waited up in the mountainside as he saw the Scourge approached; all around him dotted around the mountain were other Farstirders too. Amelia, Tomathren and a couple of others had gone with Carden and Arras to set in action this master plan, Helios didn’t like it but he would go along with it for now. The Scourge was now in range but still Helios waited, timing would’ve to be perfect to get the most damage done.

“FIRE!” Helios roared as the Scourge were just meters in front have where he was, flaming arrows littered the sky and then landed within the Scourge’s ranks. For a moment, the Scourge were uncertain for a moment as a couple of ghouls fell to the floor, their flesh burning and then the whole land underneath their feet caught aflame. The Farstriders had soaked the land in oil before the Scourge had arrived and now the smell of putrid burning flesh could be smelt.

“Fall back! Fall back to the lower ground!” Helios called as he sent another arrow into a ghoul for good measure. The Farstirders began to fall back and now incensed at their enemy’s attack the mindless ghouls made chase. Helios and twenty others were racing down the mountain pass, knowing it far better than their pursuers. As the Scourge came back into view, Helios turned and gave the order to fire again. Once again hidden Blood Elves popped up from the mountain and sent a volley at the incoming Scourge, killing the front line entirely. “Retreat again! Retreat!” Helios called as the next line of ghouls raced down the path.

At the back of the Scourge’s line, Wintermaul could hear the screams and grunts as the Scourge took chase. “No, you fools! It’s a trick!” Wintermaul yelled, but the mindless ghouls didn’t heed. “Get out of my way!” roared the Death Knight as he unsheathed Soulcleaver once more and galloped down the mountain pass to try and control the run-a-way ghouls but it was a lost cause.

Already the front of the Scourge line consisting of mindless skeletons and ghouls had broken away from entirely from the back line which consisted of liches and crypt lords and other more intelligent undead. “After them! We might be able to save their decaying bodies!” Wintermaul yelled, his horse flying down the path.

Already the Farstriders were onto flatland, the Scourge quick on their pursuit. Instead of the Farstirders fleeing north, they fled due east but the undead paid no attention to where their prey were fleeing only that they were gaining on it. Helios was the last man out of the mountain pass, making sure that all his men were out of there before he too fled east.

Meanwhile Carden and the others crouched hidden in the shadows of an old tree just outside of Zul’Aman. The first screams could be heard from a long way off and Carden burst into whispered speech.

“Ok, that’s them. If Helios does his jobs right then we haven’t got much time until they’re here. What we’re going to do is get control of the gate and open it, hopefully the Scourge will think we fled into Zul’Aman and the trolls and the Undead can cut each other up.” Carden whispered and the others looked pleased with the plan. “You six,” Carden said gesturing to the six rangers that he didn’t know by name, “split into two groups of three and start firing at the trolls on the gate and grab their attention. They’re too many for us to jump charge the wall straight away, just make sure all eyes are on you six.” The rangers nodded and pulled their bows from their backs.

“That leaves us four,” Carden said whispering quicker. “Arras and Tomathren will take the left ladder up the side and then down the left ramp and Amelia and me the right ramp. We should be able to kill any trolls in our way and get that gate open. Any questions?” No one said anything and Carden took it that they all knew what they had to do. “Get into position then” Carden said as he grabbed Amelia’s arm and lead her to the ladder to the right. He waited until Arras gave him the thumbs up and then he yelled “FIRE!”

Six arrows whistled in the air and all six of them landed in their targets, trolls falling from the wall. “NOW!” Carden roared as he climbed the ladder in a blur, Amelia right behind him. As Carden stepped onto the top of the wall, three trolls rushed him. Carden’s right hand flew upwards and a ball of arcane went spiraling into the left-most troll, who fell off the wall to his death. A whirl of silver went flying past his ear as Amelia’s throwing knives lodged themselves into one of the troll’s neck. Carden saw a glint of metal fly at him and he raised his staff to parried the troll’s swing. One-handed Carden parried the blow and then he was unsheathing his own sword, the troll jumped out of the way of his slice but an arrow caught him in the stomach and then a fireball in the face, the forest troll slumped to the floor unmoving. Carden then quickly caught sight of the gate lever, more trolls were rushing from within Zul’Aman and Carden knew he had to hurried, grabbing hold of Amelia’s arm once more the pair raced down the ramp to reach the lever.

Arras and Tomathren on the other hand had far more trolls on them, unfortunately for them the side they had just climbed up to had more trolls on than the right hand side. As Arras parried one swing, Tomathren stabbed the troll from behind only to have Arras throw his sword at an incoming forest troll creeping behind Tomathren. Tomathren swung around and stabbed the next troll as Arras sent the next one off the wall. “They’re too many!” Arras roared over the clinging of metal as another troll found itself on the end of his blade.

“Any suggestions?” Tomathren yelled as he dropped to the ground to miss an incoming throwing knife, the knife hitting the Troll in front of him instead. Charging at the troll before he could get another throwing knife ready, Arras beheaded him with one powerful swing of his sword.

“Just one!” Arras said as he quickly helped Tomathren to his feet. “Jump!” he yelled as he jumped into Zul’Aman. Tomathren looked like Arras had gone crazy before jumping himself as the incoming attackers neared him. The pair landed face first in a pond of mud. This time Tomathren pulled Arras to his feet and they went running to the lever, seeing Carden and Amelia heading there too.

“We haven’t got much time!” Carden roared as he began to open the gates. “Watch my back!”

[James]

The Farstriders were now flat out sprinting as Zul’Aman came into view, the Scourge still hot on their tail. “He better have that blasted gate open!” Helios shouted over the sound of stampeding feet. “Remember! If the gate is open, hide! If the gate is closed we stand and make our final fight!” Helios continued to shout, as Zul’Aman loomed larger. The gate didn’t look open and for one terrifying moment the Farstriders thought that Carden had failed and then the gate began to move, allowing the Elves to catch glimpses of the forest trolls’ capital city.

“Hide!” came Carden’s sharp voice, magically amplified in the ensuing chaos. The Farstriders scattered in every directions, melding in with the surrounding land. The Scourge arrived only minutes later, seeing an open gate and no Elves the mindless Scourge charged unknowingly into the forest trolls domain. Within seconds the sound of battle could be heard as the trolls went to face this new threat and still the Blood Elves did not move.

The reason for this was soon apparent; Wintermaul and the rest of the Scourge arrived at the gate of Zul’Aman minutes after the new battle had begun. “Fools!” the Death Knight screamed, “fools! May the Lich King torture your minds for a century!” Wintermaul continued to yell, the remainder of his army now was in a strict line. “Come! We will have to deal with these trolls soon or later, we might as well save some ghouls at the same time.” Wintermaul said as he charged into the city, the rest of the Scourge following.

The Farstriders stayed in the same hiding places for a few moments longer before making a break up north to a secluded forest in the middle of the Ghostlands. Tomathren and Amelia were leading the Sin’dorei to their new hiding place, Arras had disappeared when the gate was open and Helios was hurryingly talking to Carden as the pair picked up the rear. “Perhaps I was wrong about you?” Helios said smiling at Carden.

“No, you was right,” Carden answered as Helios turned around to face him and took a sword through his heart. Helios gave a sharp intake of breath as Carden pushed the blade deeper and then sank to the ground in a heap. Carden withdrew the sword and wiped the bloodstained blade on Helios’s cloak. The mage sheathed his sword and checked to see that nobody saw what happened.

“Why did you’ve to kill him?” came Arras’s low voice from within the shadow of a towering, dying tree.

“I had three reasons.” Carden said as he moved over to the Blood Elf.

“Good ones?” the Blood Elf replied dully.

“I don’t know I’m making them up now,” Carden replied and Arras gave a loud sigh. “One, Helios was an arrogant fool and if we had let him live then he would have caused problems and secondly Amelia or Tomathren can now be named Captain of the Farstriders while Halduron stays cozy in Silvermoon.”

“That was only two,” Arras replied, his face puzzled.

“I picked a random number, I could make up another reason if you want,” the mage said as he began to walk towards where the rest of the Farstriders would be waiting. Arras gave Helios one glance before following Carden. It wasn’t long until the pair reached the rest and the talking began. Carden moved into the center of the clearing and the talking stopped abruptly.

“I have great news and gre…bad news,” Carden said changing at top speed when he caught the look Arras gave him. “I will start with the great news. Our plan worked, the Scourge and the Amani trolls are now battling away at each other in Zul’Aman. While I do not expect the trolls to win, I do expect them to knock the numbers out of the Scourge and perhaps delay them for a while. Eventually or shortly, the Lich King’s army will be upon us once more and we will have to fight again.”

“The bad news is that while we were fleeing, Helios and myself were caught by a few stragglers of the Scourge’s army. While we managed to kill all of them, Helios was killed in the struggle; his body now rests in peace in the forest, which he grew up in. With the Scourge on our tail and the Ranger-General tucked away safely in Silvermoon, we must make a decision about who will lead us now. I nominate Amelia Dawnrunner for the post, her aim is straight and her mind is sharp. Perhaps Tomathren if he wasn’t about to embark with me back to Silvermoon.” Carden said, catching Tomathren’s eyes.

There was a general muttering of agreement and Carden smiled at the rangers. “Well then Captain,” Carden said bowing to Amelia, “Tomathren and myself must getting going to Silvermoon to report the news. My friend, Arras will be staying to help you in your new position of power.” Giving the Farstriders one final wave, Carden moved out of the clearing, Tomathren closely following him. “Got any Hawkstriders left?” Carden asked, once they were away from the others.

“A few,” Tomathren said smiling as he steered Carden in the direction of the remaining Hawkstriders.

[James]

Tay awoke to knocking at his door, the High Elf slipped from beneath his covers still fully dressed and pulled open the door. Lor’themar stood awaiting him, “I hope you had a well deserved sleep,” Lor’themar said and before Tay could answer the Regent Lord carried on. “I have spoken to the council and we have decided to meet with you in an evening session at seven o’clock. All have been told of your powers and of what you been doing in the last year. I warn you not to speak to them with the same arrogance you showed me yesterday or they will quickly dismiss you.”

“Arrogance?” Tay spluttered like the night before, “Arrogance? It was common sense with what I spoke to you with! Is it arrogance to think that your people should be killed in a needless slaughter?”

“No! It’s arrogance to think you’re better than me!” Lor’themar retorted.

“I don’t think I’m better than you! You see me, as a threat to your leadership don’t you? I don’t want to lead the Blood Elves into a promise land, I want to make sure they aren’t wiped into extinction like a common animal!” Tay replied back, angrily. “I do not wish to overthrow you” Tay said calmer, “I will be there for the council.” Tay pushed his way past Lor’themar and into the corridor behind him.

Tay couldn’t believe this, Lor’themar was afraid that he was after the leadership of Silvermoon. The High Elf marched into the street; a clock upon the government building told him it was nearly noon. Tay had to get away from Lor’themar and his craziness for a moment and find some sanity. He marched through the city, uncomfortable aware that he was gathering a lot of attention. Tay quickly walked out of the gate and into the surrounding countryside.

At least Lor’themar had done two things right, Tay thought bitterly to himself. The Regent Lord had sent word to the rest of the Horde for aid and he had at least evacuated the Blood Elves outside of Silvermoon into the city itself. The High Elf found a secluded spot in Eversong Forest and sat against a tree, thinking about what had happened in the past.

Azeroth had been attacked by the Legion in the south and the Scourge in the north; while the Legion had been defeated Tay doubted the Blood Elves could pull out a repeat performance against the Scourge. The reason for these attacks was one man, Carden Boyd. If Carden had never attacked Stormwind then the Legion would have never marched against and if the Legion never marched against Stormwind, then the Forsaken wouldn’t have been weaken and the Scourge would have still been in Northrend.

Then again if it weren’t for Carden then Tay would have never made contract with Elune and would have never been granted his unique power. If it weren’t for Carden then the Legion wouldn’t be reeling in pain from a ground shaking attack against them and if it weren’t for Carden then Azeroth would have been a very dull place. Tay chuckled at this thought and briefly wondered where Carden had disappeared to; the last the High Elf had heard was from an old dwarf in Loch Modan. The dwarf had said that there were rumours that Carden had fling himself out of Karazhan only to be caught by a dragon of some flight after coming up with a master plan to defeat the Legion.

Tay then turned his attention to what he had learnt of Quel’Thalas recently. The Blood Elves along with the Forsaken finally drove the remaining Scourge out of Ghostland and except from the small city of Zul’Aman, once more claimed the whole of Quel’Thalas their own. The Forsaken then headed back to Tristfal Glade and the Farstriders guarded the Elven borders fiercely. When news came of the Forsaken’s defeat, the Sin’dorei quickly went about defending their land and pulling civilians back to Silvermoon. However all would be in vain if Tay couldn’t convince to listen to him in some key points.

The High Elf listened to the beautiful noises of Eversong Forest before deciding that he should get back, it was weird how Stormwind felt more like home to him now than Silvermoon. The city felt so foreign to him now, the faces not familiar and warm but cold and distant. Tay headed into the government building, the clock telling him that he was five minutes early, coming up to the council door Tay knocked and was surprised to see that Lor’themar and another elf was already there.

“Hello Tay,” Lor’themar said stiffly.

“My lord,” Tay replied, far more politer. His blazing blue eyes turned to the other elf questioningly.

“Ah, of course where are my manners,” Lor’themar said following Tay’s eyes. “This is Ranger Tomathren of the Farstriders. He has come to Silvermoon along with another to report that contract has been made and that we have won the first battle.” The Regent Lord said this, a hint of gloating in his voice.

“Really?” Tay asked surprised. “I’m impressed Ranger for the Scourge are a formidable enemy. I can’t wait for your report.”

“I won’t be giving the report, my colleague will be,” Tomathren said moving towards a chair around the long golden table. Tay nodded and took a seat near to Lor’themar’s. Partly because it meant he was visible to everyone else and partly to unsettle the Regent Lord a little bit more. Within the next five minutes every chair was filled except from the chair to the right of Tomathren.

“My brethren as we know, this council is here so that two different people may speak before us. Our cousin Tay Sunspire is here to speak to us of his views and a report from the Farstriders, who have apparently won the first battle against the Scourge.” Lor’themar said and muttering were heard all across the room, Halduron looked smugger than Lor’themar did. “So I ask that we turn our full and undivided attention to Tay,” Lor’themar said and sat down in his chair at the head of the table.

Tay rose to his feet slowly and stood upright, not wanting to show any signs of weakness. “It is good to be back in Silvermoon, the Sin’dorei have done a great job to restore the nation to its former glory. However, all of this may crumble soon if we do not act accordingly. Firstly if we are to beat this threat then we cannot wait in these city walls! Outlasting a siege from the Scourge would be impossible and if we just sit here then we will all be killed!” Tay said. He knew he had to be convincing.

“I know what you will say, that the Sin’dorei army is too weak to meet the Scourge head on. I’m not saying we should meet them head on, I’m saying we should do something other than just sitting here waiting for our doom. Fight with hit and run tactics! Flee! Hide! Anything but just sit and wait here!” Tay said, most of the council shook their head in disagreement but Tomathren rose to his feet in a flash.

“He’s right! We must do something! The Farstriders are putting life and limb on the line so that when the Scourge reaches Silvermoon, their numbers will be smaller but if we are merely going to sit and wait, then what is the point? They will only regain their numbers and crush the Sin’dorei for life.” Tomathren said, smiling at the High Elf.

“Thank you, Ranger.” Tay said returning the smile. “The honorable Thrall will send men to help you. We must delay the Scourge until that help arrives. The Farstriders cannot do that alone.” Looking around at the faces of the council, Tay saw that many looked convinced and others looked unsettled, he was getting through to them. “My next topic I have come to talk to you about is the evacuating of the people of Silvermoon.” Many of the council shifted uncomfortable at this topic and Tay knew then, that even the government didn’t know if they were making the right decisions.

“Why have your people not been sailed away from this danger? You have allies in Kalimdor who would take you in. Why not get your people out of this bloodshed?” Tay asked and the Elf on the other side of Lor’themar rose to his feet.

“Tay this topic has been discussed many times before. We shall not run in fear, we shall not leave our newly rebuilt city abandoned, we shall not have ourselves cowering in exile in Kalimdor,” the Elf said, spitting the last word like it was a foul food.

“Well then you must meet the Scourge away from the city, delay them and pray that Thrall arrives in time.” Tay said he knew not to push the matter, he had learnt from his mistakes of Stormwind. He has pressured Varian, embarrassed the King in front of the council and was dismissed from his services; he wouldn’t let it happen twice. “My last topic I’m sure you will disagree with me on but I must try. Why is the Naaru, M’uru still locked away?” Tay asked. “Why not free him and ask for his aid against the Scourge. The Naaru have powers to match the Legion.” Tay finished.

“He would not help us! Help the ones who imprisoned him? Not even the Naaru are that forgiving and lest you should forget if we did let him free then our Blood Knights would be powerless,” Lor’themar said as Tay sat down.

“Perhaps you should consider talking to him” Tay said, now seated.

“No! M’uru will not be allowed to escape.” Lor’themar replied. “Now Tomathren where is” The Regent Lord begun but he was cut short as the door flew open and a figure appeared in the frame of it.

“Forgive me my lord, I was taking care of a bit of personal business in Silvermoon like I said I would and lost track of the time,” the figure said panting.

“That is quite all right, Carden.” Lor’themar said and Tay’s head turned so quickly from Lor’themar to the figure that his neck clicked. The figure came into the light and sure enough, it was Carden. While his hair was still jet black, it had far more grey in than when he was leading the Black Council. His face was far more lined than before too but other than that it was the same old Carden.

“What are you doing here, Carden?” Tay said as he quickly rose to his feet.

“Tay?” Carden replied surprised at the High Elf’s appearance. “The same reason you are here I expect, to help the Sin’dorei. I please ask you not to try and “do me in” because we are here on a common purpose and the past is behind us.” Tay mumbled something not understandable but since the rest of the council looked happy at Carden’s arrival, he would be foolish to try and convince that he was a threat to them.

“So Carden we’re now on the topic of the Farstriders first victory.” Lor’themar said gesturing to the free chair. Carden took the seat and settled down comfortable.

“Ah yes, well I guess there is no point in keeping the council waiting.” Carden said. “Last night, I arrived in the Ghostlands and headed to where the Farstriders were hiding to offer my help. By morning we had come up with a fantastic strategy and went about to setting it in motion. Captain Helios and his men went about goading the incoming Scourge into chasing them. Needless to say it worked and they fled for their lives back out of the mountain.”

“Meanwhile a few others and myself took the gate of Zul’Aman and opened it where the rest of the Farstriders pretended to flee into. The Scourge ran unknowingly into the dangers of the Amani trolls and are at this moment battling within Zul’Aman.” Carden finished. The whole council looked ecstatic at the news and even Tay was impressed with this victory over the Scourge.

“However,” Carden said and the atmosphere in the room changed within a heartbeat, “While we were running from the Scourge, Helios and myself were ambushed and while we managed to kill all the Scourge, Helios fell to the vile undead. Upon the next meeting of the Farstriders we decided that Amelia Dawnrunner should be named Captain in Helios’s absence.” Halduron nodded in approval of the decision and Carden carried on. “The Farstriders intend to keep using hit and run tactics against the Scourge until the Sin’dorei’s army can be fully mobilized.”

Lor’themar rose to his feet, “Thank you Carden, it is apparent according to our guests today we must mobilize the Sin’dorei’s army. However the main army is small, we shall have to train new people for this war and even then we shall not be ready. We shall sit and wait for the Scourge to arrive. Please send word back to the Farstriders that they must give us time to train,” the Regent Lord said.

“I’m sure Tomathren will send word back, I on the other hand will be staying in Silvermoon to help train the army,” Carden said.

“No offense Carden but you are a mage not a military man, what can you help with?” Halduron asked.

“Back in the War of the Ancients there was an Elven regiment called the Moon Guard, they were magicians and were integral in defending the Elven population against the Legion. I intend to recreate that regiment, but it shall now be known as the Sun Guard,” Carden said and many nodded in approval.

“Well then this council is decided,” Lor’themar said, “Tomathren shall return back to the Farstriders and the rest of us will begin on training the Sin’dorei’s army. Carden shall train the Sun Guard and I think Tay, you can help him. You are both powerful sorcerers. Now, everyone to your homes the hour is late.” Everyone rose to their feet and began to shuffle out of the room, while Tay was passing Carden he heard the mage whispering to Tomathren.

“She’s not here! She’s not in Silvermoon anymore!”

[James]

BANG! BANG! BANG!

A large Frost Wrym’s head upon a tree was being swung into an ancient gate; the Scourge had taken all of Zul’Aman except from the innermost part. The remaining trolls had sealed the gate and waited behind it but it wouldn’t be long until that last gate would splintered and break and the Scourge would finish this threat at last.

Wintermaul sat upon his horse watching the scene from the back line; his runeblade Soulcleaver was soaked in troll blood. The Death Knight was infuriated by the fact that the Blood Elves had so easily tricked the Scourge into attacking Zul’Aman, it made him vow to kill every last one of them. A deafening crack awoke him from his musing. The gate had fallen.

“CHARGE!” Wintermaul yelled riding towards the broken gate.

The first ghouls were cut down from the troll archers upon the temple like building behind the gate but soon the Scourge’s numbers were too much to be cut down by mere arrows. Troll Berserkers charged into the fray, massive axes swinging in the air and sending heads flying. A large crypt fiend charged into the battle and bowled over several trolls before more arrived, hacking away at the spider-like creature’s legs.
Within a flash a giant crypt lord along with more crypt fiends joined the battle, their long pincer like legs landing large cuts across the trolls. The crypt lord itself were taking down many on it own, until a large group of Shamans charged the undead beast and sent it tumbling to the ground, its limbs frozen and its head burnt.

Wintermaul dismounted and entered the fray; Soulcleaver swung in a high arc and decapitated a troll where it stood. Three Berserkers charged at the Death Knight, Wintermaul side stepped the first assault, dodge the second and parried the third. The Death Knight then swung his sword in a flourish and sliced the third troll in half. The other two attacked at the exact same time, one aiming low at Wintermaul’s waist, and the other high at his head. The Death Knight dropped to the ground and the blades flew over his body, swinging his legs around at the trolls the two fell to the floor as well. Wintermaul rose slightly quicker and sank Soulcleaver into one of the troll’s head. The final troll charged wildly at him but the Death Knight stuck out his leg and the troll fell in a heap on the floor, Soulcleaver plunged into the troll’s body and Wintermaul moved onwards.

[James]

“Is dis all of dem, mon,” said the troll standing at the very top of the temple.

“It is jus the front line Zul’jin,” replied Jin’Zakk.

Already the Scourge had reached the bottom of the temple, trolls laid littered across the floor with ghouls and other monstrosities. The troll archers had fled further up the temple but it was no use Zul’Aman was about to fall. The great Warlord Zul’jin looked down at what had become of his Amani tribe, the last remnant of the once great and powerful Amani Empire was about to come to an end.

“Bring me my armour,” Zul’jin said, his face full of valiant fury. Two trolls appeared and began to dress him into his armour. The chestpiece was tightened and the shoulders armour loose enough to move the arms. One of the trolls made to place a helmet upon Zul’jin’s head but the Warlord quickly grabbed hold of it and threw it down upon the incoming Scourge.

“I want de undead to see my face as I kill dem,” Zul’jin answered at the puzzled looks, the great troll picked a giant axe leaning against a wall and moved towards the stairs. “Jin’Zakk,” the Warlord said turning to the troll, “once this is over you know what to do.” The Hexxlord nodded and watched as Zul’jin descended down the temple stairs. The Scourge had now taken the base of the temple and barely any trolls were left alive, the undead were charging at to the top of the temple. The Amani Warlord stopped on the bottom of one flight of stairs, ready to meet the final assault.

“Bring it, mon!” Zul’jin yelled as the first ghoul reached him, the giant war axe striking the ghoul in the leg and then a powerful kick sent the undead flying off of the temple. Within seconds, the Warlord found himself completely surrounded by mindless ghouls, however mindless they were, they were also smart enough to attack at the same time. Zul’jin gave a mighty war cry and began to swing in a massive circle, cold blood sprayed the troll as he continued to swing until the Warlord was covered from head to foot in the dark, cold blood. Not one ghoul was left alive, a large circle of bodies had formed around Zul’jin feet.

Wintermaul was watching the troll in his desperate last stand against the Scourge, he was powerful perhaps even a worthy enough combatant for the Death Knight to fight himself. His black plate bone armour glinted in the starlight as he marched up the steps towards Zul’jin, Soulcleaver dripping blood as he went, Wintermaul had his eyes set on the troll.

Crypt fiends were now attacking the great Warlord, his massive axe in one smooth swing sliced a spider-like leg from its owner, more blood drenching Zul’jin. The spider creatures charged the troll as he licked the blood from his face, Zul’jin swung his axe again taking the head off of one of the fiends however the troll felt pincers slicing at his back and front and he gave a yell of pain, fury overcoming him Zul’jin went into a blood haze. Moments later many pincers were unmoving upon the ground and even more heads were rolling down the stairs, however Zul’jin was clutching his wounds in pain.

Wintermaul arrived as Zul’jin slumped to one knee, the Death Knight looked mildly disappointed as the troll seemed to suffer. “And here I was getting excited of a worthy combatant” Wintermaul said, kicking a ghoul’s head down the stair. However what happened next even shocked the Death Knight, Zul’jin rose to his feet with a smile upon his face his injuries gone.

“You must not know of de healing voodoo of the trolls, we mend our injuries in short time,” Zul’jin said as he gripped his axe tighter. “Why don’t we end dis?” the Warlord asked as he charged the Death Knight. Wintermaul barely had time to parry the blow, troll and Death Knight was just inches away from each other and then Zul’jin spat blood at Wintermaul. The Death Knight roared and forced the troll away from him, then Wintermaul charged Soulcleaver swinging in the air, Zul’jin sidestepped the attack and swung his elbow at the Death Knight making him stumble and fall down a flight of stairs.

Zul’jin rushed down the stairs to end the Death Knight, but Wintermaul was already on his feet and swung a kick at Zul’jin sending him sprawling to the floor. Soulcleaver came down in a flash and blood spurted everywhere. Soulcleaver came up again, drenched in blood and once more swung down but this down hitting concrete instead of flesh. Zul’jin was on his feet again but now his face was pale and drawn from pain, his right arm up to the elbow was missing blood flowing freely from it. On the floor next to a large war axe was a large muscular green arm and a hand. The Warlord took out his dagger and charged Wintermaul, already Zul’jin could feel the wound healing, the skin growing over the end of the stump that moments ago was his arm.

Wintermaul swung his runeblade at the incoming dagger and the clanging of metal could be heard, the Death Knight began to push back both blades towards the troll’s chest. Zul’jin used his draining strength to stop the blade coming nearer and once more the troll and Death Knight were inches away from each other, only the two weapons separating them. Zul’jin moved his face towards Soulcleaver and lick his blood off the blade before bringing away his defences and letting Wintermaul swing his blade at his head. However in the split second that Soulcleaver spent flying through the air, Zul’jin placed his dagger through Wintermaul’s armour and into his arm. Wintermaul roared in pain as Soulcleaver tore through Zul’jin’s neck and the mighty troll slumped to the floor.

The Death Knight wrenched the dagger out of his arm and threw it in fury at the lich who came to help him. “Don’t just stand here, you undead scum!” Wintermaul roared at the undead standing all around Zul’Aman. “These trolls will bolster are ranks, they will make great undead warriors!” Necromancers began to move into the battle scene to make the Amani tribe into the living dead when Jin’Zakk appeared at the top of the temple.

“You will do no such thing!” the troll roared at the Scourge. Wintermaul began to sprint towards the troll but he was too late. “Spirits of de lands! I call upon dee to give my friends a proper death, give them the honour of the afterlife.” Jin’Zakk roared and as he said it, every troll corpse in Zul’Aman began to burn and disappear into the land. Wintermaul was nearly at the top of the temple when the Hexxlord turned to him. “Bye mon!” Jin’Zakk threw himself from the top of the temple out onto the air, as he fell his body caught alight as the others had done and by the time he hit the ground all that was left was ash.

Wintermaul was fuming; the Amani trolls had dented his forces considerable and now the Sin’dorei might be able to stand against the Scourge. He began to move down the temple’s stairs when the Lich King’s voice exploded into his head.

Wintermaul! There can be no more mistakes; the Blood Elves cannot be allowed to live any longer. Forget about Stratholme, it will fall eventually. Bring the Scourge you have sent to attack it, back to you and march upon the meddlesome Elves.

A crypt lord approached the Death Knight cautiously, the last undead who had tried to help him had received a dagger in the face. “What is wrong my lord?” the undead asked.

“Nothing, nothing. Arekab’Zejoii. Take a small band of your bretehn and head back to Stratholme. The Lich King wishes that we do not separate our forces, tell them to forget about Strathholme and to return to Zul’Aman immediately.” Wintermaul said and the crypt lord nodded and headed down the temple stairs. Wintermaul was already thinking ahead, they would regain their strength in Zul’Aman, use it as a stronghold and then strike out hard and fast at the Blood Elves.

[James]

Tay awoke groggily from his bed; someone was knocking at his door. The High Elf rose to his feet and grabbed his cloak wrapping it around his body to take the edge off the cold night. Tay took hold of the handle and opened the door to reveal Carden Boyd waiting behind it. “Carden? What the” Tay started but Carden quickly silenced him.

“Look we don’t have time to argue, we both want the same thing. We don’t want Silvermoon to fall so lets just work together.” Carden said quickly and Tay grudgingly nodded. “Good, now we need to do something tonight and we need to do it in secret. We need to talk to M’uru and if Lor’themar won’t let us then we will do it on our own.” Carden finished and Tay nodded, the mage then gave a flick of his hand and Tay found the use of his voice once more.

“When? When are we going to talk to him?” Tay asked.

“Now,” Carden said smiling, “Get ready.”

Half an hour later two figures could be seen walking through the city of Silvermoon, the night was cloudless and cold. The pair walked into the Farstriders’ Square and hid within the shadows of the buildings. They had guards on all entrances except one, a small door on the edge of a building. As soon as Carden had arrived in Silvermoon he had took those guards out. “Ok Tay, you see that door to our left, down there is M’uru. He’s is surrounded by five mages that are keeping him prisoner.” Carden whispered.

“And how are we going to talk to him if they’re there?” Tay asked.

“We’re going to knock them out, not kill them because Lor’themar can’t know that we have gone against him merely knocked them out.” Carden answered, his head turning this way and that keeping a close view on all the guards. “The plan is that I’m going to sneak into the room and knock one out, I’ll then blink across to the next one to get him as well. What you have to do is cause a distraction so that they can’t see my face. Then we’ll finish off the other three while they are confused.”

“Sounds simple however what if M’uru escapes and destroys the whole of Sivermoon and how are we going to get to that door with all these guards about?” Tay asked again, noticing the flaws in Carden’s plan.

“Well I’m hoping that M’uru will co-operate and stay put and if not, he probably a lot weaker than before and we can control him and we’re going to get past the guards with ease,” Carden said smiling, “grab my arm.” Tay gave him a puzzled look at the order but Carden merely repeated himself. “Grab my arm.” Tay took hold of Carden’s arm and Carden moved to the very edge of the shadow. “Hold tight,” Carden said and Tay felt the mage suddenly wrench away from him and the High Elf doubled his grip and was pulled too. Tay found himself right in front of the door, Carden standing next to him. “Never experienced blinking have you? You can let go of my arm now,’ the mage said as he stepped into the hallway.

Already the pair could see the pinkish glow of M’uru and they stopped just short of the room. “Remember you cannot let them see my face,” Carden said turning to Tay.

“Don’t worry, they won’t,” Tay replied already bringing his staff up ready.

The mage nodded and then disappeared from sight and Tay was surprised at this, not expecting that Carden had learnt this rather new mage skill of invisibility but then again maybe he should start expecting the unexpected from Carden. Tay kept a close eye from just outside the door, waiting for Carden to strike. Then it happened, a flash of black flew through the air and Carden’s staff made contact with the back of one of the Blood Elves’ head. A whirl of cloth flashed across the room as Carden blinked and Tay came sprinting into the room his staff aimed directly at the floor. Dust erupted from the floor and swirled around the room destroying any visibility. Tay used his own magic to shield himself from the dust and only hoped that Carden had done the same.

Tay then turned his attention to one of the remaining Blood Elves, who he could just make the outline of through the dust. The High Elf ran towards the Blood Elf and swung his staff hard at the figure, the Blood Elf crumpled to the floor from Tay’s attack. Meanwhile Carden had ran down to meet the fourth Blood Elf, his staff rose in a wide arc only to be blocked by another staff, the Blood Elf had saw him and more importantly his face. Carden reacted quickly and pushed the Blood Elf with surprising force onto the floor, pulling a dagger out from his belt Carden stabbed the Elf three times as he lay upon the floor. The Blood Elf gave a grunt of pain every time the dagger entered and left his body and by the third time he had stopped breathing. The final Elf was still trying to see what was going on when Tay’s staff came down hard upon his head and he too slumped to the floor.

As the dust settled Carden rushed back out of the hallway and Tay moved all the Blood Elves into the edge of the room except from the dead one who he left. Carden came back into the room with a sigh of relief. “The guards didn’t hear us, it’s all good.” Carden said moving down to stand in front of M’uru, who had watched the battle with mildly interest.

“What happened to not killing anyone?” Tay asked gesturing to the bloody dead Elf.

“He saw my face I had no choice but to kill him,” Carden replied as he turned his attention to M’uru. “M’uru, we are here to talk to you. We have news to tell you and we wish to hear what have happened to you.

You should not have done that; it was foolish to come here. I do not need rescuing.

Tay and Carden gasped as M’uru began to speak to them inside of their head, Carden wasn’t sure he had to speak aloud but to be fair on Tay he did. “We know you don’t need rescuing however we wanted to talk to you.” Carden spoke aloud.

Well you are speaking to me right now, what is it you want to know.

“Firstly we have come to warn you of a terror that is heading this way. The Lich King Arthas is sending his army at Silvermoon and a final stand is in order.”

I know of this “Lich King”, I can sense that the Blood Elves greatly fear him and his army. Can I guess why you have come here; you are seeking my help aren’t you. The Blood Elves won’t accept it but you two, you two are open-minded, powerful and wise enough to know that this city will fall.

“We know it will and this is why I have come to you. Even a Naaru can’t save us now, however to see one die unable to defend itself is a horrid thought,” Carden said.

Yes, you are wise. You seek to save me and yet I don’t think it would surprise you to know that at the moment I am a willingly captive. I stay to try and give the Elves a chance of redemption but I don’t think they will ever have. They think they are stealing the light from me when really all they are doing is taking the light from themselves.

“I suspected that you have stayed here to give the Elves the usage of the Light but I did not know that the Naaru had the use of foresight to that extreme. That you waited in Tempest Keep to be captured just to redeem the Elves.” Carden said speaking slowly to the Naaru.

Nor do I claim we have that much foresight, human. We were not expecting the Blood Elves to attack Tempest Keep and A’dal had business to attend to in Shattrath City. I was the sole remaining defender of Tempest Keep and I was caught sleeping as you might say by the Blood Elves. See human, I am coming to the end of my life cycle I’m beginning to fall to the shadow and I was not as strong as I used to be and the Elves overpowered me. When they took me back here at first I tired to escape but I was too weak to. Finally I decided I would try to redeem them before I completely give in to the shadow.

“And the shadow is claming you soon?” Tay asked this time.

Yes soon, elf. It will happen soon, I can feel the shadow beginning to tear at me I will fade away within the coming weeks.

“And what do you plan to do? Stay here till the end or try and escape to Outland?” Carden asked.

Before the arrival of the Lich King’s army I was going to make a break for Outland one final time. See, when a Naaru is taken by the shadow he sucks the light out of everything else it would have been murder to the Elves me staying here however now that the city is about to fall I think I will stay here and let the shadow take me as the Lich King uses this city as a base.

Carden smiled at the Naaru and then the mage noticed that the Blood Elves were beginning to stir. “Good luck M’uru and we were never here.” Carden said as he and Tay backed out of the room.

Of course you weren’t human, good luck yourself.

[James]

A week had passed since Tay and Carden’s little trip to M’uru and both had now busied their selves with the training of the newly formed Sun Guard. Halduron had taken any elf that looked like he could wield a blade; Carden took any elf that could wield magic after threatening to blow the Ranger-General’s head off if he didn’t get enough Elves.

Neither had been blame with the murder of the one of the Elven mages, Lor’themar and the others decided it must have been some sort of Scourge attack to try and eliminate the Blood Knights. Carden laughed at their stupidity for not figuring out who the real culprits were. Tay noticed that this Carden was a completely different to the Carden who led the Black Council against Stormwind; this Carden was almost friendly at times. The training of the Sun Guard was going great as well, Carden had taken in the recruits who were not that experienced at magic and Tay was given the more experienced group. At this moment Tay was standing under a tree as Carden lectured the group on the important of Frost Magic.

Carden surprisingly turned out to be a good teacher, on the first day he went over the theory of magic and then the next six was dedicated to Fire Magic. Carden went onto describe that Fire Magic was the easiest branch of magic a mage has at his disposal, that children as young as six has been known to cast a fireball. Carden had worked the group of fifty Elves to the limit until he felt sure that they were ready to move onto the next branch of magic.

“Frost Magic is slightly more complicated than Fire but if you can control it and wield it then it will be a valuable skill,” Carden said as all eyes were on him. “Unlike Fire, Frost is more like a defense than a offense, a proper ice shield will keep you safe from even the most deadliest of Scourge magic, your strength dictates on how long that shield stays up. So once more I want you to split into pairs and now try Frost Magic, one person will try to drench their partner in water while the other tries to block it by making an ice shield. Remember just as Fire before, visualize and feel the Frost around your body.” Carden said before walking over to Tay as the Elves began to spread out.

“Five gold that not one single recruit will be able to make a shield their first go,” Carden said as he stared across the courtyard. “Anyway how is your group doing?”

“They’re done,” Tay said, a hint of bitterness in his voice, “Halduron and Lor’themar has taken them all into the proper army to give them a bit of variety, convenient they took them after we finished polishing them up.

“That’s it, I’m going to freeze Halduron’s internal organs,” Carden said quickly.

“That won’t help, will it? It will only get you chased out of Silvermoon,” Tay said as he watched twenty-five Elves get drenched in water as they failed to shield their selves.

“It will make me feel better,” Carden retorted, as the other twenty-five were drenched as they too failed to make an ice shield. “Come on, let’s go and show them how it’s done.” Carden marched back onto the courtyard and everyone stopped moving. “Well you guys all suck!” Carden said, shaking his head. “Luckily I seem to remember saying the exact same thing about you guys when I was teaching you about fireballs and I also seem to remember that if I was a bit slower when I was dueling one of you lot I would have gotten third degrees burns, so maybe there’s still hope.”

“Anyway I’m going to show you what a proper ice shield looks like so that you can visualize it better, Tay hit me with your best combinations of spells,” Carden said steadying himself as Tay turned to the face the mage. The High Elf swung his staff in front of him and a volley of arcane bolts flew from the end of it, Carden brought one hand up and a block of ice exploded out of him. The arcane bolts hit the shield hard but merely evaporated after impact, suddenly roots sprung up from the floor and coiled itself around the shield and tried to smash it but it was too no avail, the shield wouldn’t break.

Tay let his assault stop and Carden brought down the block of ice and turned to talk to the group. “As you can see even against Tay’s weak nature magic my shield stayed strong. You must be confident that it is going to work or the magic will never come, now back into your pairs! You’re not leaving this courtyard till I see you create an ice shield!” Carden yelled as Tay and himself slumped against a tree and watched the Elves in work. By noon, many Elves had managed to make a shield and even more were complaining of hunger.

“One final trick before you can disappear off home for lunch,” Carden called out and an air of excitement settled over the group, Carden’s last little tricked involved using a fireball as a means to slow yourself if you were falling and it amazed the crowd. “Once your strength is depleted, it still means that the enemy are going to be waiting so my advice is to break the shield early and attack your opponent. Shatter the shields and send the shards at the enemy, be careful though because you don’t want to hit your comrades. Now watch carefully!”

Carden moved to the middle of the courtyard and turned to face a burned target dummy on the other side. The mage raised both his hands and the ice shield rose up once more, Carden gave a smile as he closed his eyes and the ice exploded everywhere. The shards then flew like darts at the target dummy tearing it to shreds. “See how easy that was?” Carden said as he faced the awestruck group. “Who wants to have a try before tomorrow?”

One Blood Elf rose to his feet, he was the most confident and arrogant of the group, he was an Elven version of Carden. “I’ll have a go at this trick Boyd,” he said and Carden nodded and gestured to the nearly destroyed dummy on the other side. The Blood Elf raised his hands and an ice shield erupted around him. The shield erupted as Carden’s did however the shards unlike Carden’s went everywhere. Tay brought up his staff quickly and a wall of roots emerged between the shards and the crowd of Elves. Carden meanwhile had sent a wall of flame flying at the shards to melt them away.

Once the chaos had settled down, Tay let the roots disappear again and the High Elf along with Carden surveyed the damage the shards had caused. A couple of broken windows, Tay thought nothing to bad however the High Elf’s eyes soon followed Carden’s and the Elf sighed at what he saw. Carden’s cloak, which was hanging from a tree since it was too hot to wear, was now just mere shreds of cloth. “Not good,” Tay muttered.

Carden meanwhile was just staring at his cloak, he had the cloak and his robe since before the Black Council and now it was ruined. The mage was beginning to think of what would be the best and most painful way to kill the Blood Elf who had destroyed his cloak. Tay sensed what Carden was thinking and decided to step in. “Ok that’s enough for everyone today! Head off home and practice and be here same time as today for tomorrow’s lessons.”

The Blood Elves of the Sun Guard made their way out of the courtyard and back to their homes, meanwhile Tay made his way over to Carden who was still just staring at the cloak. “It’s only a cloak Carden, we can get you a new one,” Tay said a hint of mockery in his voice.

“I had that cloak since I was studying in Dalaran, Tay. It was given to me by my mentor Fredrick Bo… Fredrick Rael when I was learning magic. Used it for decades and now a stupid idiotic Elf had destroyed it.” Carden said still not taking his eyes off the cloak.

“Well sometimes we have to let go of the things we like,” Tay said, surprised at how much the cloak meant to the mage. “I’ll go to an old friend of mine, a great tailor and get you a new one.” Carden merely nodded before walking out of the courtyard himself leaving Tay alone smiling slightly at this new Carden.

[James]

“Tay! This cloak will be a bit small on you!” called a Blood Elf from a different room. Tay was sitting in the front room of Seaab’s Finest Robes.

“It’s not for me Seaab, for a friend of mine,” Tay replied. The High Elf was lounging in a comfy armchair in a well-decorated room, his eyes closed thinking about the news Seaab had told him before going off to make the cloak. Seaab had told him about all his old friends and how Silvermoon was doing, Tay was pleased to hear that most of his friends were prospering in the new city. He briefly thought of what they would think of him now, a High Elf, an outsider to everyone.

Before the invasion of the Scourge Tay was a bit on the wild side, in his eyes magic was for weaklings but swords were for real Elves. He trained for days on end with his blade and occasionally with his bow as well. There was a group of them; a group who thought that they were too good for magic but also didn’t like the idea was being in a stiff organization such as the Farstriders. Tay was the ringleader of this little group and between them they went exploring into human lands.

The group had explored right up to Lordaeron and Dalaran by the time the Scourge arrived on the mainland. They didn’t know of the Undead until they were nearly all killed by them in one sweeping attack on their camp. Only Tay and two others survived and they fled back to Silvermoon to warn of this new threat but sadly the Death Knight Arthas was already in front of them and bearing down on the shining city.

Tay arrived as battle waged on in the city, the High Elf unsheathed his slim long sword that day and slewed many undead. He met up with the Deputy Ranger-General Lor’themar Theron and fought with the remaining Farstriders for hours. Finally the Scourge broke through and the Elves began to make their break to hide and stay safe. As the Farstriders and Tay fled, Tay took an arrow in his shoulder and a claw in his leg and was left bleeding on the floor. Lor’themar gave him one grave look before running into the wood and leaving Tay to die.

Tay was sure he was meant to die that day but a young Elven priestess found him and nursed him to health as they fled south towards the human lands. The priestess was young, Tay himself was young but she was nearly twenty years younger and yet the pair felt drawn to each other. By the time they reached the southern mountains of Quel’Thalas the pair were in love and Tay felt remade again, Lor’themar’s betrayal a distance memory, a nightmare long ago.

It was as the pair made their way through the renamed Plaguelands heading towards Dalaran to warn Kael’thas of what happened, that disaster struck. As they set up their small camp a small pack of ghouls found them and attacked them. Tay was sent flying off of the hill their camp was perched on and by the time he made it back to the top, the priestess was killed. Tay went into a bloodlust worthy of the Orcs and killed every creature upon the hill in his intense anger. He buried the young Elf and then left for Dalaran in a storm of despair, although the High Elf never knew it, the priestess before her death was carrying his child.

Tay was losing his mind to despair, he mission to reach Dalaran was no longer in his mind and the High Elf wondered aimlessly past Dalaran and into the dangerous and freezing land of Alertac Mountain. He was kidnapped by ogres and attacked by yetis but eventually Tay was granted a little bit of luck. The mage Carden Boyd found the High Elf buried in the snow and took him back to his camp overlooking the ruin city of Dalaran.

The mage managed to return Tay to health and even made him forget about the young maiden who was now buried upon a hill in the Plaguelands. Carden spoke non-stop about how the humans of Dalaran were to blame for the Scourge, in his eyes if they accepted and embraced Fel Magic then they would have been strong enough to defeat the Scourge instead of the world being utterly destroyed. Tay, although feeling better, needed a way to vent out his grief and agreed with Carden and the pair headed south to Stormwind, the largest kingdom of humans left, to make them pay for the grief everyone had to pay because they were all too afraid to try something new.

The rest was history as the saying went, The Black Council’s attack failed and Tay found his sister and the power of Elune. Tay’s biggest fear now was that Silvermoon would come to the same fate as it did those years ago, the ultimate destruction of it and the killing of loved ones.

“Tay! Tay!” came a sharp voice.

“Huh?” Tay opened his eyes quickly, the High Elf had fallen asleep in the comfortable armchair.

“They’re working you too hard if you’re falling asleep in my shop,” Seaab said handing him a black cloak.

“Sometimes I think it’s not enough, the Scourge will be here soon and I doubt we can hold them off,” Tay replied throwing the cloak over his shoulder.

“There will be no depression in my shop, Tay!” Seaab said with a smile. “We are far better prepared than we were last time, I’m sure we can survive. Now off you go and the cloak is on the house, not a word from you or I’ll cut your fingers off! Don’t worry Tay, I’m sure we’ll do fine after all we have luck on our side after all I think we are the only two left from our little explorer group.”

“Yes I think we are,” Tay said sadly as he left the room, “Goodbye old friend.” The High Elf stepped out onto the street and began to walk to the government house when he realized he was walking right behind Carden Boyd and another elf.

“Yeah she left ages ago in fact, took what’s her name again? Lauren?” the Elf asked as they walked.

“Yeah, Lauren,” Carden said with a smile.

“Yep Lauren and her left to live in the forest, she said she didn’t like what we were doing, you know with the magic and all. I think Lauren was the reason she left, firstly to try and shelter her from the fel energies and secondly and I don’t mean to sound arrogant but old prejudices stick deep and well you know full well what Lauren was and how many dislike them, no offense,” the Elf said.

“None taken,” Carden said chuckling, “Anyway I better be off, there’s loads to do these days Goodbye.” And the pair went their separate way, Tay caught a sight of Carden’s face as he turned the corner, he looked half scared and half livid.

[James]

The rain splattered harshly against the windows of Tay’s room and the wind was a relentless machine pounding away at the walls, it was no surprise that the High Elf found himself waking up in the early hours of the morning. Tay rose from bed and decided to get dress and head out to watch the rainfall; it would be more peaceful than anything else. As the Elf stepped out of his room and down the hallway he noticed Carden leaving his room as well.

“Carden! Where are you going?” Tay asked, catching up with the mage.

“Out,” Carden answered, “The Farstriders haven’t sent any runners in the last few days and I’m beginning to worry.”

“That is worrying, perhaps I should come with you,” Tay said slightly suspicious at the mage.

“No! Remember you are needed to teach the Sun Guard is powers of Arcane magic; after all you are a master at it. You’ll go and train them and I’ll check up on the Farstriders,” Carden said quickly.

“Alright then,” Tay replied as he began to walk away from the mage but something caught his eye. “Why aren’t you wearing your new cloak?”

“It itches!” Carden whined.

“Carden, it is raining non-stop and the wind is strongest it been in years, you are not going out there without that cloak,” Tay retorted.

“But mum!” Carden said before heading back to his room and grabbing his cloak, the mage threw it around himself and then left the house without another word, leaving Tay standing alone in the dimly lit hallway.

Within just an hour Carden Boyd was outside the city gate and was riding in the downpour of rain. The mage had no intention of going south to the Ghostlands and to the Farstriders; no Carden Boyd was searching Eversong Forest. The mage only had a small bit of information to go on by but it was enough to spend a day getting soaked. As the water relentlessly struck the mage, Carden thoughts turned to his blood soak past.

Carden was born not in the city of Dalaran as many believe but rather in a run-down house in Stratholme. Carden never knew his father but his mother was a homeless drunk and it was only out of kindness that a poor old couple took her in when she was pregnant. However his mother decided to steal off the couple to try and make a quick gold for more alcohol and was caught, the couple kicked her out of the house but offered to take care of the just born Carden but his mother refused their kind offer.

His mother and himself lived in the back streets of Stratholme for five years living off scraps of food and it wasn’t until the faithful day when his mother died that he saw a glimmer of hope. They were taking shelter in an old abandoned house when she died, his mother often hit him when she was in one of her drunken rages and that day was no different. His mother came at him after disappearing for the night, with the intent of smacking the young boy across the face when it happened, Carden with no idea how he did it sent a wave of frost at his mother and it threw her across the room and onto the stairs’ banister. The banister collapsed from the force and his mother fell off of the landing and down the stairs.

By the time Carden reached his mother, she was laying in a pool of her own blood however before she died she left Carden a parting gift, a large scratch down the left hand side of his back. The young boy ran to the only people he knew, the elderly couple, who took him in and disposed of his mother’s body. Carden did jobs around the house and never complained about the meager dinners they had and during the six years that he lived with the elderly couple he continued to hone his magical skills.

Once again the Light had mercy on Carden for when the old couple passed away the boy had already gained the friendship of a mage of Dalaran, Fredrick Boyd. Fredrick decided to take the boy away from the city of Stratholme and take him to Dalaran to study magic. Carden destroying the last remnant of his hatred past and took the mage’s surname Boyd as his own. Carden was a quick learner and by the age of eighteen he had already excelled past all of his goals and had settled down to become a well liked magician.

After being given the title of Mage, Carden headed north to Quel’thalas along with a High Elven friend of his to experience the different culture. The mage lived in the Elven lands for six long years before news spread to him of a new race’s invasion of the world. Carden returned to Dalaran, promising that he’ll return to Quel’thalas, and along with a now much older Fredrick Boyd began to plan with the others mages of Dalaran of a way to combat this new threat, the Orcs.

After a long war campaign and the death of many, the Orcs were defeated but the war forever left a scar on Carden. He saw the powers of fel magic and he wondered to himself why they didn’t used that magic, the powerful force could help them achieve so much. Carden along with others; out rightly spoke in favour of using Fel Magic and learning the ways behind it however they were denied and forced to let their curiosity die.

Carden returned to Quel’thalas to loud applauds, tales of his bravery in what was being named “The Second War” had spread quickly to the Elven lands many now looked up to Carden as much as they did to their King however Carden played it all down and began to live a quiet life. In secret though, the mage began to practice using the powers of a warlock and by the time he was summoned back to Dalaran, the mage had already began to become the mage and warlock combination that he is today.

News had reached Dalaran that an unseen threat only known as the Scourge was becoming dangerous up in the frozen continent of Northrend. Carden once told the mages’ that their only chance was to embrace the arts of the Warlock but they once again did not listen to him. It was as Carden stayed in Dalaran and the Scourge began to take over Lordaeron that his old mentor Fredrick Boyd named him out as insane and power-hungry, the two mages fought in a battle that shook the city of Dalaran to the core. Carden ended up the victor, killing his old mentor with a well placed shadowbolt in the chest but the mage was forced to flee for his life as the Archmages sentenced him to death for murder.

It was as he fled through the sewers of Dalaran that an old friend of his, Edan cornered him and told Carden to turn himself over. Carden refused and Edan foolishly sought to stop the mage from escaping, Carden killed him with great remorse before fleeing into the countryside and back towards Quel’thalas. However the Death Knight Arthas was already ravaging the countryside of Quel’thalas and Carden arrived at Silvermoon just before the Death Knight did.

Knowing full well that the Elven city would not survive, Carden along with a group of Elves fought their way out of the city and went into hiding in the surrounding forest. Amelia and Tomathren were both part of that group and when Carden had to return to Dalaran to warn them of what was happening, they took over leadership of the small group. Carden however on foot and dodging the Scourge-filled Plaguelands was far slower than the Scourge at reaching Dalaran and Carden arrived just in time to see it collapse to the floor.

The mage went blind in anger at that moment; in his eyes it was the mages of Dalaran’s fault that Lordaeron and Quel’thalas fell. In his angered mind Carden saw that if Stormwind was to topple then he could remake the human nation as he saw fit so Carden disappeared from the world to create his ultimate nation. However his plans didn’t work, he was defeated at Stormwind and then forced to do the Guardians’ bidding for a year. It wasn’t until Shirl Rey and her friends finished his plan for him that he was free to return to the one place that felt like home to him, Quel’thalas.

Carden snapped back to the present, he had spent hours looking through the forests of Eversong and found nothing. The mage’s foul mood was returning to him and he began to turn back to the Hawkstrider to mount up again when he felt the sharp end of a dagger come up against his back.

“What are you doing here human? And answer me quickly!” came a familiar Elven voice. Carden swung around at top pace and wrestled the blade from the blonde-haired Elf’s grip. As the dagger fell to the floor the female elf caught the sight of Carden’s face and took only a moment to break into tears. She threw her arms around Carden as the mage said:

“I’m here to see my wife and daughter.”

[James]

“They’re coming now, I say we got ten perhaps fifteen minutes till they get to us,” Amelia said whispering in Arras’s ear as she returned from their scouting trip.

“Plenty of time then,” Arras replied smiling as he stood from their hiding place as the pair began to jog back to the Farstriders’ camp. When they arrived at the camp, the Farstriders were all ready to put their plan to operation although most were chatting about whether they’ll see their friends and family again. “Silence,” came Arras’s deep voice booming across the conversations.

“Thank you Arras,” Amelia said as she strode into the middle of the camp, “The Scourge are upon us, another army from the Plaguelands marched through the mountainside last night and met up with the rest of the Scourge in Zul’Aman. They are now marching directly towards us and Silvermoon.”

“And that means,” Arras said taking over from the female elf, “That we must prepare ourselves for a battle which could kill us all.”

“Thank you for that optimistic thought Arras,” Amelia said smiling. “The plan is simple, while the Scourge march their way through the forest we will surprise them with a series of trap and strike out and do as much damage as possible before fleeing north.”

Within just ten minutes the Scourge were marching through the dense forest, which for the last week was the Farstriders’ camp. Ghouls and skeleton once again comprised the front rank and Amelia and Arras was considering the possibility that the Scourge’s General didn’t learn from his mistake. Dotted all around the forest were Farstriders, waiting for the signal to begin their assault.

The Scourge made it about half way through the clearing before the Farstriders’ cleverly conceal traps were triggered. The whole front line of ghouls passed over a slightly discoloured patch of ground and it collapsed beneath the undead’s weight, the ghouls fell into a deep hole in the ground. Amelia shouted a command and fire flew into the air and landed on the ground, setting it alight.

However Baron Wintermaul was expecting this trick again and Liches emerged from the line and began to freeze the fire in place. Loud crunching could be heard as the Liches controlled the fire and trees began to fall on the undead causing them to scream in pain, Wintermaul was roaring something in the mayhem but the Sin’dorei couldn’t hear what the Death Knight was yelling.

“Bash'a no falor talah!” Arras yelled as he unsheathed his sword and charged into the undead, Amelia and the Farstriders following him. The Blood Elf sliced the first ghoul in half when he reached them and began to carve into the Scourge’s rank, Farstriders everywhere doing the same thing.

“Get them! Don’t let them escape!” Wintermaul roared bringing Soulcleaver down upon the nearest Blood Elf and killing it in a single blow. Two arrows whistled in the air as they flew at the Death Knight who merely roared and drop to one knee, hearing the arrows land in the ghoul behind him. Wintermaul rose back to full height and charged the two Elves, throwing his shoulder into one of them and swinging a leg at the other one both of the Elves went tumbling to the floor. “Good night!” Wintermaul said with a strained grin as two bolts of shadow hit the two Elves.

Amelia meanwhile was in a spot of bother, she was separated from her group and was now being encircled by a pack of hungry ghouls. One charged to test the waters and found its head being swiftly departed with its body. The ghouls all then decided to charge in a rush and Amelia ran into meet them as they charged. The Blood Elf brought her sword down once before jumping to her right and dodging out of the battle. The ghouls never saw her leave the fray and kept on clawing at whoever was in reach, killing their comrades until every single ghoul was dead. Amelia smiling at her success turned around just in time to see an Abomination swinging its meat cleaver down at her.

The Captain of the Farstriders thought she was dead but for one crazy second, she thought that time seemed to slow down and then Arras was there, flying through the air his bronze cloak flying behind him. His sword was sheathed but a large spear, very likely from one of the larger Scourge, was in his hands. The spear caught the Abomination right in the neck and it fell to the floor before the meat cleaver could hit Amelia and then time was back at its normal pace.

“You know you can help if you want!” Arras yelled as he unsheathed his sword again and charged a ghoul who was running at Amelia, she smiled and went back into battle beside Arras. The Scourge’s number were lessening considerable and Amelia thought that for a moment they could completely halt the Scourge’s attack but her musing was broken short as she saw Arras’s sword fly past her. Arras himself stood in front of a ghoul, both unarmed and in the middle of a fist fight.

The ghoul flung its clawed hand as Arras who caught the punch in his left hand, the Blood Elf then sent his own fist colliding with the ghouls face, and a sickening crunch was heard as the already decaying bones began to break. Another ghoul came flying at the Elf but Arras was already turning to face this new threat, sending a kick at the ghouls mid-drift the ghoul flew backwards away from Arras. One more ghoul flew at Arras while his back was turned but a glint of silver flew towards it and caught it in the throat, Arras’s sword imbedded into the ghoul’s flesh, Amelia meanwhile was in a throwing stance facing the just dead ghoul.

“I guess we’re even!” Arras yelled as he retrieved his sword and ran back to Amelia, she merely nodded glad to see Arras still alive. “They’re something wrong and I can’t figure out what,” Arras said as more Scourge came at them and the pair cut them down.

“You would’ve thought they would have sent the Liches and Crypt Fiends in by now.” Amelia said, sinking her blade into a ghoul’s chest.

“Yeah,” Arras replied and then it hit him with dawning dread. “Damn it! We have to retreat now!” Arras yelled but it was too late. From behind the Farstriders marched an army full of Crypt Fiends led by Arekab’Zejoii and they began to tear into the Sin’dorei with glee. Arras grabbed Amelia by the hand and began to sprint out of the trap they fell into. The large group of Crypt Fiends had gone around the long way and outflanked the Elves.

“Enjoy the taste of death, Elves!” Wintermaul roared, cutting down the few remaining Farstriders. However Arras, with the aid of Amelia, had quickly craved away out of the battle and the pair was fleeing north towards Silvermoon, even though they were safely away from the battle, Arras wouldn’t let go of Amelia.

“Come on Amelia! Quickly we have to get back to Silvermoon first and warn them!” Arras yelled.

[James]

“I’m here to see my wife and daughter.”

Carden’s own arms began to circle around his wife’s body and he was hugging her back. The mage could hear her sobbing into his shoulder as she cried tears of joy at seeing her husband again after eight years of thinking him dead. “Lyrila, I’m so glad you’re still here,” Carden said as she held her in his arms.

Lyrila was small but still intimidating, she had long blonde hair and light tortoise colour eyes. She wore dark blue robes and at her waist were two leather holders for twin daggers. She pushed herself out of his hug and began to slap Carden in any place she could reach. “You… you… I thought you were dead! And then you just show up out of nowhere, and start hugging me! I’m going to kill you!”

“Calm down!” Carden said grabbing her hands, “Calm down! I’m sorry I been away for so long but to tell you the whole story would take far more time than we have.”

“Try me,” Lyrila said fiercely as she allowed Carden to hold her hands to stop her from slapping him again.

Carden chuckled at Lyrila’s stubbornness, she hadn’t changed in the slightest. “Fair enough then, if you insists on hearing the story then you will. After I left you and Lauren in the forest with Amelia and Tomathren I raced along to Dalaran to warn them but Arthas beat me to them. I don’t know what took me that day, if I had half a brain I would have went back north to you guys but I think my mind just froze and I wanted revenge.”

“You’re so right you don’t have half a brain!” Lyrila said struggling against Carden’s grip.

“I went south to Stormwind, I saw the humans as the reason Quel’thalas fell. It was their Prince who destroyed our city; it was their weakness to not allow Fel Magic that meant we were not strong enough to protect ourselves. I tried to take Stormwind myself,” Carden said with a dry chuckle.

“You did what?” Lyrila said, all resistance stopping.

“I tried to take Stormwind so that we could have our own city, love. Needless to say I failed but I very nearly succeeded in fact and before I fled I took the Staff of Scavell to increase my power. After I fled, I intended to return to you but another problem arose.”

“You decided it was the Dwarves fault instead?” Lyrila said coldly.

“No,” Carden said laughing. “No I found out that the Guardians of Tristfal lingered in the Staff of Scavell. They tortured my mind until I carried out their will, they made me watch you die over and over again until I did what I was told to do.”

“What did they want?” Lyrila said softly now looking into Carden’s sad eyes. Hearing the fact that seeing her die was enough for him to carry out someone else’s will was enough to calm her.

“To destroy the Burning Legion,” Carden said and quickly carried on in fear of being interrupted again. “In the tower of Karazhan, I found that I could channel a portal to Argus, the Legion’s base. Next I went to work on making a weapon, which would leave the Legion reeling in pain and I managed to make one. Finally I made a group head into Argus with the weapon while I kept the portal open for them. They succeeded and the Guardians lost their grip on me.”

“And then what,” Lyrila said, not noticing that Carden had released her hands.

“Then I came here to find you,” Carden replied with a smile before leaning in to kiss Lyrila. For a moment she thought to recoil, to make him pay for leaving her for eight years but then she looked into his face and all her anger disappeared and she was kissing him back. “I knew you couldn’t stay mad at me,” Carden said as he broke the kiss. “Wait a second, where’s Lauren?” the mage asked sounding worried.

“Just pass the trees,” Lyrila replied leading Carden through the trees and into a small clearing. In the middle of the clearing was a small cottage; although it looked old it also looked well cared for. “It used to belong to a friend of mine,” Lyrila said answering Carden’s puzzled looks. The pair stepped through the front door and into the small house; it had just one room, which was everything from a kitchen to a bedroom to a bathroom.

In the corner on a small bed slept nine years old Lauren Boyd, Carden’s daughter. She had inherited looks from both her parents. She had fair Elven skin like her mother and also pointy Elven ears as well as her mother’s long straight hair. Meanwhile she had the same jet black coloured hair of Carden and the same colour of eyes as her father, she was undoubtedly a Half-Elf.

“She’s beautiful,” Carden said sitting down at a small table away from his daughter.

“She is,” Lyrila agreed as she sat down next to him. “And she thinks the world of you as well.”

“She does?” Carden asked surprised.

“Yes, I told her all about you. About how you saved us when the Scourge came and about how you fought against the Orcs in the Second War, she even has a picture of you next to her bed.” Lyrila said with a smile and sure enough Carden saw a picture of a much younger version of himself sitting on a small bedside cabinet.

“Thank you,” Carden said smiling. “So what happened since I left here, with you and Lauren I mean not about the rest of the stupid Sin’dorei?”

“We hid in the forest with Tomathren and Amelia for a couple of months and then we returned to Silvermoon when we heard that the Scourge had abandoned it.” Lyrila said answering Carden. “It was about then that most of us were becoming ill, myself included, because we were cut off from the Sunwell’s magic. Lauren however due to the fact that she was half-human and was only a year old didn’t become ill luckily. Anyway, it was horrible Carden all our old friends were dying and it wasn’t even a war, it was just because we lost the magic that fueled us.”

“However I managed to survive it, I managed to learn to live without the Sunwell and I felt, I felt free honey. It was around that time that word came from Prince Kael’thas that he had found a way to quench our addiction, he taught us to feed off magic but I knew what we were really feeding off of, Fel Energy. I was indecisive, I knew, like you do, that Fel Energy is a necessary evil but I realized that I made it through the trauma of losing the Sunwell without it. It wasn’t necessary but no one listened to me, much like you and Dalaran again.” Lyrila said with a small smile.

“I wasn’t about to judge the Sin’dorei though, both my husband and myself had practice the arts of a Warlock, it would be hypocritical. However it was only a few months later that I realized that my eyes were turning green even without feeding off the Fel energy. I decided it was time to leave for both Lauren and my sakes. We started living off the forest and then I remembered this cottage and we have lived here ever since.” Lyrila finished.

“I’m sorry,” Carden said slowly, watching Lauren sleep.

“What for? It’s not your fault,” Lyrila said quickly.

“No, for not coming back for so long,” Carden answered.

“Ah, yes you should be sorry for that but I forgive you and I’m sure Lauren will too,” Lyrila said smiling. Carden nodded before rising to his feet and leaving the cottage, Lyrila close behind him. “Where are you going?”

“I just needed some air to think,” Carden said grasping her hand. “I don’t understand this road I been given, it feels like my head…”

“Speaks language you don’t understand,” Lyrila finished for him. Carden turned to face her and once more their lips met but this time for more passionately than last. In the middle of this clearing, away from the world Carden’s past and future was forgotten, the mage only saw Lyrila.