Chapter 17: Patrol

"Don't dawdle, little moon" said Sylvanas. She stopped in the middle of the path and turned around to regard her sister who was about thirty feet behind her. The younger Windrunner was walking as fast as she could but she couldn't keep up with Sylvanas who was rushing through the streets as if she was attending a race.

"I'm not dawdling, you are just too fast" complained Vereesa. She reached Sylvanas eventually, stopping next to her to take a long breath. She needed a few moments until she was able to able to continue moving. Sylvanas' head was tilted, an eyebrow was raised as she regarded her little sister. "How can you be out of breath when you have only walked for half an hour?"

"Walk? We didn't walk. We ran very fast. The last time I have run so fast was when a group of lynxes have chased me. I don't know why you want to arrive at the patrol's starting point so early. We have to reach it in half an hour which we will manage easily. But you ran so fast that we have almost reached it within half of the predetermined time. We have no reason to be in such a hurry"

Sylvanas remained silent as she scrutinized her sister from head to toe. Her sister was right about everything she had said. They will arrive at their destination a lot earlier than they had planned. They didn't need to be there that early because the others wouldn't be there earlier either. Nevertheless, Sylvanas wanted to be there earlier than the others for a reason she couldn't explain to herself. Maybe she was hoping that Kelrian would arrive earlier as well so she could talk to him. Maybe she was hoping she could touch him and kiss him if they would go deep in the forest or in a small cavern where nobody could see them. Maybe she just wanted to have him near, so she could look at him from time to time.

Sylvanas knew that Kelrian was a very punctual person, often he was ten minutes or fifteen minutes earlier than expected. Sometimes he was even half an hour earlier. Sylvanas was hoping that he was also over-punctual this time.

Indeed, he was. He arrived ten minutes earlier at the meeting point, which was a bridge. The bridge allowed people to walk over the river which flew in the near of Windrunner Village.

The river was wide and very deep, meaning people should be careful and always use the bridge to cross it. It was unwise to not use the bridge and swim through the river, especially because the current was stronger than it looked like. The inhabitants of the nearest villages told stories about children who had gotten caught by the current and had been taken away by it. According to these stories, they had never been seen again. Sylvanas didn't believe such stories but she didn't put it on the test. If she wanted to swim, she would go to the nearest beach or lake and not in this mysterious river.

Sylvanas looked at Kelrian, waving at him. Kelrian mimicked her actions, ignoring his companion who was rolling his eyes. Zetai knew Kelrian for five years so he had noticed that he was behaving differently whenever Sylvanas was around. He may have noticed that but he wasn't able to interpret something out of it. He had no clue what was going on between his best friend and the Ranger-General. Kelrian had never told him anything about his relationship with Sylvanas. The only persons who knew about the relationship were Verena and Liadrin. No one else knew a single thing about them.

Sylvanas' smile became wider as the two males came closer to them, stopping in front of them eventually. She didn't hesitate to stretch her arm out, offering them her left hand. Kelrian didn't hesitate to shake her hand, nor did Zetai. They stared at their general for a few moments before their gazes shifted to the smaller woman with the silver-coloured hair. They scrutinized her for a few moments before they looked back at their superior.

"It's nice to meet you, Ranger-General. Would you give us the honour to introduce us to this young woman?"

Sylvanas smiled. "Of course I would. This is my sister Vereesa. Vereesa, these are Kelrian and Zetai, the best rangers of the current generation"

"It's an honour for us to meet you, Lady Vereesa" Kelrian and Zetai said at the same time.

Sylvanas chuckled. "She is not a lady, nor am I. We belong to a famous family but that doesn't mean we have royal blood in our veins. You two have are rangers now so you are allowed to call my sister by her first name, same counts for every other ranger who has the same rank as you. Just ask the lieutenants and captains first if you are allowed to call them by their first names. Some of them may allow you to use their first names"

"As you wish, Ranger-General" spoke Kelrian.

Sylvanas had a small smile on her lips as she regarded him. She noticed out of the corner of her eye that her sister had turned to her and regarded her with a curious look on her face. Sylvanas looked at her sister, raising an eyebrow. "What?"

"Nothing" muttered Vereesa as she turned back to the male rangers who were giving her curious looks. Vereesa hesitated for a few moments but then she extended her arm and shook hands with the other rangers. She was curious to meet the two rangers Sylvanas had rhapsodised about whenever she had been home. Sylvanas had told her a lot about these two, especially how good they were at fighting, shooting and following traces. According to her, they were good at basically everything. Sylvanas was not the person who was exaggerating when talking about something, nevertheless, Vereesa wanted to find out if what she had said was true.

"It's nice to meet you" she said eventually, smiling when they said the same in return. She scrutinized them for a few moments before she turned back to her sister who was looking in the opposite direction. Vereesa turned around, wondering at what Sylvanas was looking. The corners of her lips formed a smile when she recognized a familiar person on the other side of the bridge. The person passed the bridge quickly, shaking Sylvanas' hand.

"I'm glad you made it in time, Velon" said Sylvanas, giving him a small smile.

"I have promised you that I will never be late, Ranger-General" he responded, staring into her eyes longer than necessary. Then he turned to Vereesa, pulling his close friend in a quick but tight hug. "It has been a long time since we have seen each other" replied Vereesa after he had let her go.

"Indeed, it has. Sorry about that" he responded, rubbing the back of his head. He ran his fingers through his bluish dyed hair, putting a strand of it behind his left ear. He regarded Vereesa for a few moments before he turned to Kelrian and Zetai. Both rangers regarded him closely, noticing the insignias which were attached to the chest area of his uniform. He was a Ranger-Captain.

Kelrian remembered that he had seen him on the day of his first entrance examination. Velon had had blond hair back then and had been a lieutenant and not a captain. This could only mean that Velon had proved himself worthy. Kelrian had heard that getting promoted was not easy. Sylvanas only chose the best of the best to become lieutenants or captains. This meant that Velon belonged to the best of the best. He had the same rank as Sylvanas' older sister while Kelrian and Zetai had the same rank as her younger sister.

"Congratulations to your promotion" said Zetai.

"Thank you" responded Velon, smiling at him. "Then I have to congratulate you to make it in the Ranger-General's elite team. I have never heard of a recruit who made it in the Ranger-General's group directly after passing the final exam. Also, it had never happened before that two joined her team at the same time. I have heard a lot about you, only positives things of course. I'm curious if you are as good as our Ranger-General praises"

"I'm only praising those who deserve it and these two deserve it more than everyone else" told Sylvanas.

Velon looked at her for a few moments, then he looked back at Kelrian and Zetai. "I believe you"

Sylvanas gave him a small smile "Good"

"Are there any other rangers joining us today?"

"Keith is the only ranger who is missing, I guess he will arrive a few minutes too late" answered Sylvanas.

Velon rubbed his forehead, shaking his head slightly. "He always comes too late. I have to talk to him one day about the importance of punctuality"

"You better do that as soon as possible"

He smirked. "I will. Don't worry about that"

"Good" she said, nodding towards Zetai and Kelrian. "Would you tell them everything they need to know?"

Velon nodded to her, then he turned his head and looked at the two male rangers. "The most important thing, you have to do while being on a patrol, is to keep your eyes open"

Soft laughter escaped Zetai's lips.

Velon tilted his head, a frown appeared on his forehead. "I'm not joking about this. Many rangers often forget the simplest and most important thing. You only have to keep your eyes open and watch over your surroundings carefully. It might be boring to walk for hours and do nothing except for checking the surroundingsbut it's necessary for the safety of our people.

We have to make sure that no enemy is sneaking around in our lands. We have to detect all enemies before they manage to get close to our civilians. We can't allow that innocents get harmed because we weren't paying enough attention. We must always remain focused, no matter how boring our tasks are. Otherwise, the lives of the innocents will be endangered. Do you understand that?" His voice had been much louder and sounded much stricter at the end of the speech.

Zetai's smile had vanished from his face, instead, a neutral expression was visible on his just looked at Captain Velon, giving him a nod. Velon's gaze shifted to Kelrian. "Yes, sir" he responded.

"Good" Velon muttered as he turned around to look at Sylvanas and Vereesa. Sylvanas gave him an appreciating nod before she looked at Kelrian, giving him a small smile. The smile was barely recognizable but Kelrian still noticed it. He didn't smile back, he just nodded to her and stared into her gorgeous eyes for a few moments. Sylvanas returned his staring, then she averted her gaze and turned so she could see the bridge right in front of her. On the other side stood a ranger, who was waving at them.

A quiet sigh escaped Sylvanas' lips as she recognized who it was. She pulled her pocket watch out of her belt pocket, checking the time. The ranger was five minutes late. She signalized him to come to them, she even greeted him with a handshake but she didn't comment his unpunctuality. The look she was giving him told everyone that she was disappointed in him. A bit at most unimportant. The ranger looked at Captain Velon who shook his head slightly.

The ranger didn't manage to hide his embarrassment nor did he manage to hide that he was ashamed of himself. A quiet sigh escaped Sylvanas' lips. "Now we only have to wait until our healer arrives, then we can start"

"Why do we need a healer? I thought we are just patrolling" asked Kelrian.

"We are but it is always good to have a healer with you. Remember the incident two and a half years ago. Since that day I have decided that every group needs a healer, even if they are just patrolling. It's never bad to have a healer at your side, especially during patrols. It's not impossible that orcs, trolls or bandit could invade our lands and attack us. People might get badly wounded and require a healer immediately. Without healers we will lose too many good rangers" explained Sylvanas.

"Make sense" responded Kelrian.

Zetai sighed. "So, we wait until the healer arrives?"

Sylvanas nodded at him.

"Fine"

The healer arrived five minutes later. It turned out that it was no other than Kelrian's cousin. Liadrin lowered her head in respect, greeting Sylvanas first then she greeted the rest.

"You are a bit earlier than expected" said Vereesa.

"Yeah, I thought the earlier I arrive, the earlier we can start and get home. Also, I have expected that you wouldn't need that long to explain to them everything they need to know. It seems that I was right, wasn't I?"

"Yes, you were. We have already explained everything to them"

"Good" responded Liadrin, looking at the younger Windrunner for a few moments before she looked at her cousin, giving him a small smile. Kelrian returned her smile, nodding to her. Then Liadrin looked at Sylvanas. "I'm ready"

"We can start with our patrol then. Ranger-Captain Velon, Ranger Keith and I will go ahead while Liadrin, Zetai and Kelrian will follow us with a distance of thirty feet" Sylvanas turned her head, looking at Kelrian and Zetai. "My sister will walk with you and make sure you won't talk too much and focus on the surroundings instead. Do you have any questions?"

Kelrian raised his hand.

"Yeah?"

"How long will we walk?"

"An average patrol lasts for six to eight hours. The longest patrols last about ten hours but we won't do such a long patrol today. Our patrol should be over after about eight hours which means you have no other tasks today" explained Sylvanas. Kelrian nodded to her, signalizing that he had no more questions. She looked at Zetai, finding out that he had no more questions either.

She smiled. "Let's go then" she announced as she stepped on the bridge and began to walk over it. The others didn't hesitate to follow her. Velon, Vereesa, Liadrin and even Keith already knew this route so they knew where Sylvanas was leading them. Zetai and Kelrian, on the other hand, had no clue to which position they were walking first. They could only try to find out by scrutinizing their surroundings closely. They did that while following, also they concentrated on the sounds they were hearing. They heard the footsteps of their companions but they also heard the footsteps of smaller creatures. Sometimes they even spotted a rabbit or a deer in the far. Sometimes, they met travellers which footsteps they had heard before they had seen them.

They didn't notice anything remarkable during the first three hours. The main road, they had followed, was safe. They walked to the next crossroad, taking one of the side paths which led away from the main road. The side path wasn't plastered with cobblestones, it was more like a larger version of a desire path. The ground was muddy, causing that the group needed longer to travel the distance. Their shoes got dirty and they left footprints in the ground, which meant that someone could follow them if that person would know how to follow traces.

She was pretty sure that they would able to handle intruders as long as they weren't too many. Of course, Sylvanas knew better than anyone that she shouldn't underestimate their enemies no matter who they would be. It could be possible that intruders could hide somewhere and plan a surprise attack. Everything could be possible but Sylvanas and her group were well prepared. They were prepared for everything and their reactions were good enough so they could even deal with a surprise attack. They only needed to notice what was coming for them to react quickly, that was the reason why every single member of this group checked the surroundings over and over again with each step they made. They wanted to be prepared for everything.

They were prepared for everything but nothing happened in the next hour. They had followed this desire path, spotted a few animals but other than that they hadn't seen anything. They had seen nothing remarkable, which was a good sign. Being only able to check the surroundings during patrols might be boring but it was better than getting into unnecessary trouble. Sylvanas was an untainted fighter, one of the bests of her race, so she had no problem handling any opponent. Nevertheless, she preferred a quiet shift where nothing unusual happened over an unnecessary skirmish with trolls, orcs or bandits. She didn't want to endanger the lives of her subordinates, as long as it wasn't necessary. So, she was glad that nothing had happened within the first four hours.

The group came to a small village after another half an hour where nothing had happened. They were greeted by the villagers and greeted them in return as they followed the village's only road which led them to the small market square on which only a few trading stalls were standing. It was already six o'clock in the evening so it was understandable that not many villagers were outside.

The group didn't waste much time on the market on which various products were offered. They walked to the inn which was on the opposite side of the market. They entered the inn, noticing that not many guests were inside. The guests lowered their heads in respect as they greeted Sylvanas and her followers. They greeted them in return, walking to a large table in the inn's left corner.

"We have an hour before we will set off. You can do whatever you want within that hour but have to be here on time" told Sylvanas as she sat down on a chair. Kelrian sat down to her left while Vereesa took a seat to her sister's right. Zetai and Liadrin sat down opposite to them, only Velon and Keith didn't take a seat at the table. They told them that they weren't hungry at all so they wanted to use the time to regard the village and the offerings on the market. Sylvanas nodded to them, then she signalized the only waitress to get over to them.

The woman in the green dress came over to them. She was pretty cute and had naturally brown hair which reached to half of her back. It was unmistakable that she had a thin layer of make-up on her face even though she didn't need it because she was a natural beauty, like all high elves. Her lips were covered by dark-red lipstick, her jaw moved frequently as if she was chewing on something. Maybe a bubble gum or something else.

She had a bored look on her face even though one of her guests was the Ranger-General herself. It didn't seem that Sylvanas' presence interested the waitress at all. Maybe she didn't recognize her or she didn't care at all, for whatever reason. Her behaviour made her a bit suspicious but Sylvanas didn't approach the waitress about her slightly disrespectful behaviour.

"Yeah?" asked the waitress, her voice reflected her boredom even better than the look on her face.

"We want to order something" said Sylvanas, hoping to lighten up the waitress' mood by smiling at her. It didn't work at all. Sylvanas' frowned, wondering why it didn't work. Normally, she could brighten up everyone's mood with only a simple smile. But not in this case. The waitress remained unimpressed and bored.

She didn't respond at first, rudely staring at Sylvanas. Her gaze wandered from her face to her breasts, resting there longer than necessary before it wandered back to her face.

Sylvanas saw out of the corner of her eyes that Vereesa wanted to jump up and tell the waitress to give Sylvanas the necessary respect she deserved. She put her hand on Vereesa's left upper thigh, signalizing her that she should do nothing. The fury vanished out of Vereesa's eyes as she saw Sylvanas' barely recognizable smile. A quiet sigh escaped Vereesa's lips as she leaned back, shaking her head in disbelief. She couldn't believe that her sister was tolerating this. She would have already reprimanded the woman if she were Sylvanas.

Sylvanas was the Ranger-General after all. She gave her best to make sure that every citizen of Quel'Thalas could live in peace without needing to be fear that trolls, orcs or bandits would attack them. It was only natural that the people would show Sylvanas the necessary loved Sylvanas and everyone cheered whenever they saw her. Everyone but this woman who didn't care that the second most popular woman in Quel'Thalas was her costumer.

The waitress, who was still standing in front of Sylvanas, hadn't said anything so far. She was blowing a chewing gum bubble while she continued to stare at the Ranger-General. Even if Sylvanas wouldn't be the Ranger-General, the waitress' behaviour was still unacceptable. It was very rude to not to respond to the Ranger-General, also was it rude to behave like that. Everyone wanted to remind the waitress who she was and who Sylvanas was but nobody dared because Sylvanas had signalized them to stay calm.

Sylvanas tilted her head, regarding the waitress from head to toe once again. She repeated her question, this time the waitress showed a reaction. "What'cha want?" she said, not caring that she had just responded in slang. She had used slang to respond to a famous person like Sylvanas and she didn't care about that. She didn't seem to care what others were thinking about her.

"Do you know who I am?" Sylvanas asked eventually. Everyone was surprised that she was still polite even though the waitress had insulted her with her misbehaviour and her disrespectfulness.

"You are the Ranger-General, right?"

Sylvanas nodded. "Yes, I am"

"So?"

Sylvanas didn't stop giving the woman a barely recognizable smile. "Don't you think that you have to behave differently in my presence? Not because I'm the Ranger-General but because I am a customer in the inn where you it normal that costumers are treated like this in this inn?" she asked, letting her gaze wander through the room. She noticed that the other costumers were having shocked expressions on their faces. Just like the owner of the inn, who had entered the room a moment ago.

The owner was a man with short black hair who was wearing brown trousers and a green tunic. His eyes were widened in shock and his mouth was widely opened. He rushed over to the waitress in no time, grabbing her by the arm. He whispered something to her. His voice was so low that only Sylvanas could understand some words, which she interpreted as insults.

Sylvanas tilted her head, frowning at him. He whispered another insult to the waitress, pushing her away so she nearly fell onto the floor. Kelrian stood up and caught her, preventing that she would land on the floor. He did that even though she had insulted his lover. He was a good guy, so he didn't want anyone to get hurt. She might have deserved to fall and get hurt but he was not an asshole who would only watch and doing nothing instead of helping her. Not like her.

"I'm so sorry, Ranger-General. I don't know what is going on in my waitress' mind. Normally, she doesn't behave like this. I swear" the owner said, lowering his hands to signalize that he was really sorry.

"I believe you" responded Sylvanas, giving him a soothing smile.

"Can I do anything to apologize for her behaviour?" he asked, regarding her with pleading eyes.

"I think there is something you can do"

"Tell me and I will do everything in my power"

"My companions and I are really hungry, so we would appreciate if you could serve us something which could satisfy our hunger"

"Of course, Ranger-General. Whatever you eat or drink today is on the house"

Sylvanas smiled. "That's good to hear"

"So, what do you want to eat and drink?" he asked.

Sylvanas let her companions tell him what they wanted, then she told him what she wanted. The owner nodded to her, telling her that she will get everything as soon as possible. He lowered his head in respect, turned around and grabbed the waitress forcefully by the arm. Sylvanas noticed that he didn't seem to care that he was inflicting pain to her as he dragged her away. He dragged her through the door behind the bar which led to the kitchen. Sylvanas regarded the door for a few moments before she turned around to look at her companions.

All of them were silent because they didn't know what to say.

"Am I the only one who thinks that something is wrong about this entire situation?" she asked after she had scrutinized her companions' faces closely.

"Everything is suspicious to me" spoke Liadrin

Sylvanas turned her head, looking at her. "What you mean?"

"I have visited this village very often in the past. I know this woman. She is a good friend of mine. Normally, she is a very polite and quiet person. She has never caused trouble before nor has she behaved like this in front of a stranger or a popular person. Something is not quite right but I have no idea what is going on"

" This is very suspicious indeed" said Sylvanas, caressing her chin with her left hand.

Kelrian also told what he was thinking. "I understand that the owner is angry at her but this doesn't justify that he has pushed her away and caused pain to her. No matter what she has done, he is allowed to be so violent with her. He didn't care if she would have fallen to the floor as he has pushed her. She could have gotten seriously hurt if her head would have hit the floor. Something must be going on between them but I'm not sure if we should interfere"

Sylvanas made a thoughtful face. She remained silent for a few minutes, so did the others. Sylvanas turned to her sister eventually, giving her a curious look. "What do you think, little moon?"

"Hmm... I'm not sure. Something tells me to stop thinking about them but, on the other hand, I don't want to imagine what the man would do to her in his anger. The chances are pretty high that he might hit her"

"We cannot allow that" muttered Sylvanas. She looked at Kelrian and Zetai, receiving agreeing nods from her. She looked at Liadrin who nodded at her as well.

She pointed at everyone except Kelrian "You will keep sitting here. Kelrian and I will investigate this"

Vereesa frowned. "What are you going to do?"

Sylvanas stood up, not answering her question. "Trust me, I will find out what is going on here. Come, Kelrian"

"As you wish, Ranger-General" he said as he got up and followed her to the bar. Sylvanas turned her head, checking if someone was watching them. She noticed that the other guests were busy with eating or talking, meaning nobody paid attention to them. She looked at Kelrian, receiving a small nod from him. Sylvanas jumped over the bar, landing behind it without making a sound. Kelrian didn't need long to get in there as well.

Sylvanas checked her surroundings again, finding out that nobody was minding that they were standing behind the bar, where only staff members were allowed to be. She didn't hesitate to walk over to the door through which the owner had dragged the waitress. She pressed her left ear against the door, hoping she could hear something. Kelrian did the same, smiling at her as their gazes met. Sylvanas was also smiling but her smile faded when they heard a loud scream coming from the other side of the door.