Chapter 20: The Dead Scar

The evening dawned, the air was cold and it was drizzling. No animals could be heard. No birds were twittering, no squirrels were rushing over the branches or jumping from tree to tree. There were no signs of animals in the dead forest in front of the camp that had been erected an hour ago. Guards were positioned around the camp and looked out for undead creatures. Every ten feet a large torch was placed in the ground to illuminate the surroundings. That way, the camp was well enough lit so that everyone saw where they were going.

In the middle of the camp was a bonfire that wouldn't extinguish if the rain would become stronger because it had been created by magic. Several high elves and even a few humans, who had volunteered to aid them in this crisis, were sitting around it. Kelrian sat on one of the chairs, he and the other mages had conjured, and held his hands in front of the bonfire, warming them that way.

His gaze rested on the flames at first but then he averted it and let it wander around. He took a quick look at the others around the campfire. He spotted three quel'dorei women who were sitting together. Two of them were Farstriders like him while the other was a warrior who wore thick plate armour. Not far away from them sat a male quel'dorei and a female human. The elf had dark brown skin while the human had light skin. Kelrian regarded them for a few minutes, assuming that they were a couple. They were holding hands and pressing their bodies together to keep themselves warm.

Kelrian was happy for them. After everything they went through, they had each other at least. They could give each other hope and enough strength to live on. He assumed that they were helping each other to come to terms with everything that had happened. He assumed it was much easier to get through every single day with a beloved person by their side. Love was the strongest bond that existed. Their love for each other would help them to persevere their sanity. Their strong bond would make sure they wouldn't fall into a depression in these dark times.

Although Kelrian was happy to see them being there for each other, it pained him to watch them at the same time. They reminded him of the relationship he had had with Sylvanas. Seeing them behaving like a normal couple reminded him of the good times he had spent with Sylvanas.

He couldn't help but think of her every time he saw a happy couple. He missed her. He knew she wasn't really dead but she was not herself anymore He would never get the woman he had once loved back. The creature who had tried to kill him was nothing more than a mere shadow of Sylvanas' former self. The Sylvanas he had loved was gone and there was no way to get her back.

Kelrian had promised her to move on but that was easier said than done. He couldn't stop thinking of her. He couldn't banish her out of his head. He thought of her often. Too often for his liking. He had to move on and accept that she would never return. But he couldn't. No matter how hard he tried to forget her, she always reappeared in his thoughts. He even saw her in his dreams. And in his nightmares.

He had seen visions of her death. He had seen her killing quel'dorei who had been running from her. He had witnessed nightmares where she had killed him. Sometimes quickly. Sometimes slowly and painfully. Such dreams and nightmares didn't occur often but still too often for his liking. They didn't haunt him every single night like the nightmares he had after witnessing his friends and comrades getting burned by dragon fire. His current nightmares weren't as bad as the nightmares he had fifteen years ago.

He still wanted to have them gone but he had no idea how. He didn't want to take the mixture the troll shaman Sen'za had recommended him fifteen years ago because he knew that it would make him addicted. He didn't want to get addicted again. He knew he wouldn't be able to stop taking it regularly when he would take the first potion. He had decided to not take it as long as he would still be able to bear the nightmares and the visions he saw.

The horrible visions of the past. He hadn't spoken about them to anyone. He had no proof that these were visions and not just nightmares. Nevertheless, he was convinced that it was possible that he saw visions because he had seen Sylvanas fighting Arthas before the death knight had arrived in Quel'Thalas.

He knew he would have to talk to someone about it. Maybe to his master. Kael'thas was a very wise man, so Kelrian hoped he could help him somehow. But he did not want to bother the prince with his problems as long as Silvermoon City was still occupied by the undead. Once they got the capital city back under their control, he would consider seeking Kael'thas' advice. Until then, he had to bear the nightmares.

Kelrian took the bottle from the ground, removed the lit and brought the opening to his lips. He took a large sip, closed it again and put it back on the ground. The liquid was so delicious that he wanted to drink more but he managed to resist the urge to empty the whole bottle at once. It was the only bottle he had, so he didn't empty it in one go because he knew he wouldn't get another. It was all he had for this day, so he had to be careful with it.

He couldn't go without alcohol but he had managed to get control over his cravings and learned how to be careful with his supplies. That wouldn't have been possible without the help of a certain person who had been there for him over the past weeks and had become more and more important to him.

She had been there for him and helped him to deal with the past and his problems. She had tried her best and succeeded at some points. He was still not over Sylvanas' death but he was making progress. It wouldn't be easy for him but he had to accept it one day. He had promised Sylvanas to move on and live his life. He hadn't been able to keep his promise to bring Sylvera and Lyndia to safety, so he wanted to keep this promise at least.

It pained him to think about his daughter who was still missing. Lots of people assumed her to be dead but Kelrian didn't. He was still hoping that she was still alive and somewhere safe. But his hope became weaker and weaker with each day that passed without him hearing from her. Hope was all he had left and he wouldn't stop hoping for the best outcome, no matter how low the chances were.

He was still an optimist. At least he tried to be one most of the time. Sometimes, it was pretty hard to stay optimistic and not become pessimistic. At least Elena was there for him and reminded him to stay positive. As positive as the situation allowed.

The aforesaid woman came to him at this very moment and sat down on the chair next to him. She carried two bowls of soup and handed one to Kelrian who gave her a thankful nod. He noticed the small smile on her lips as he averted his gaze and looked at the content of the was just a normal potato soup, nothing extraordinary. "Is that everything we get today?" he asked and looked back at the pink-haired woman.

Elena gave him a small nod. "Ranger-Captain Alleria told the cooks to use the leftovers from yesterday to make something decent to eat. She wanted the mages to save their mana for tomorrow."

"What will we do tomorrow?" he asked interested.

"We will enter Silvermoon City and free it from the undead."

"Alleria is right. We will need every portion of our mana for the next few days. Retaking the capital city won't be easy," said Kelrian and put a spoon full of soup in his mouth. The potato soup tasted not as good as the soups Lireesa used to make but it was good enough. All that mattered was that Kelrian could eat something and wouldn't have to starve. He still preferred the food mages like him could conjure but he knew that Alleria was right. The mages would need all of their mana for the following days. Conjuring enough food for nearly two hundred men would cost too much mana. Using the leftovers to make soup was the best solution.

"I lost count on how many undead we killed over the past weeks. We killed so many but there are still too many in Quel'Thalas. It wouldn't surprise me if more than a thousand undead creatures would be scattered all over Silvermoon," said Elena and ate a few spoons of soup.

"As long as they are not a united army, we should be fine. I'm sure we will kill them all without losing too many comrades if they are scattered all over Silvermoon."

"It won't be easy. Since the destruction of the Sunwell, we quel'dorei feel much weaker than before. We will need all of our reserves to free Silvermoon City from the Scourge."

Kelrian nodded. "I'm no longer able to cast as many spells as I usually could. Without the Sunwell that provides us with power, all of my spells drain much more mana. Spellcasters like me are suffering the most. At least I have my bow in case I run out of mana."

"Since the destruction, I feel much weaker and I get exhausted much faster. I can't fight as long as I used to without pauses. The loss of the Sunwell makes fighting the Scourge much harder than I thought. Before the Sunwell's destruction, we never realized how dependant we are on arcane energies." replied Elena.

"I fear what the absence of the Sunwell's power will do to us. We have always lived with the power of the Sunwell running through our veins. Some of us had lived for thousands of years thanks to the Sunwell. Our bodies are dependent on the Sunwell. I'm worried about what will happen to us and if we will change without the Sunwell's power. The future worries me. We have so many problems, there are so many things we have to do. We have to free Quel'Thalas, fight the Scourge and find Arthas to make him pay for what he did to our kingdom and our loved ones. But most importantly, we have to survive."

"Surviving is our most important goal," said Elena quietly. She put her hand on his shoulder and gave him a small smile. "Everything's going to be fine. We just have to believe in ourselves, we must stand together and be there for each other. We can only survive if we work together. Arthas will pay for his crimes one day but first, we have to retake what is ours and rebuilt our once beautiful kingdom."

"I wonder where the path we follow will lead us. I'm curious what will await us at the end."

"So am I," replied Elena and took his hand. "But we will walk this path together. I won't leave your side. I will help you as best as I can and we will find a solution to your problems. You can always count on me."

Kelrian smiled. "Thank you, Elena. That means a lot to me. It's always good to have a friend like you."

"Friend...," repeated Elena quietly. Sadness and disappointment were reflected in her eyes but she looked at her feet. That way, Kelrian was not able to look into her eyes and find out that Elena was not happy that he had just called her a friend.

"Is something wrong?" Kelrian asked. An eyebrow was raised and a frown was visible on his forehead as he regarded her curiously. Elena looked up and gave him a slightly overdone smile. "No, I'm good."

The ranger-mage tilted his head a little but said nothing at first. He regarded her for a few moments and then looked back at his bowl which was almost empty. "If you say so."

They were silent in the following minutes. The silence was unpleasant so Kelrian decided to break it eventually. He had no idea what he should say so he decided to start with small talk. "How are you doing?"

Elena looked up at him again. "I'm good. And you?"

"To be honest, it could be better but I'm feeling much better than before I joined you and the others. Thanks to you, I'm feeling better. I'm not sure if I already said it but I'm glad to have you by my side." Kelrian squeezed her hand and smiled at her, noticing that she blushed a little. She bit her bottom lip softly and ran her thumb over the back of his hand.

Kelrian wanted to remove his hand but Elena didn't let it go and he allowed her to hold it even though he knew that she was still feeling something for him. He didn't want to hurt her, so he didn't say anything and allowed her to hold his hand as long as she wanted. They sat on their chairs for a while and talked about lots of things. Mostly about the past and the future.

They got up when the first signs of tiredness occurred. They walked over to their tents, staring at each other for a few moments. "I wish you a good night, Elena," said Kelrian and suppressed a yawn.

"I hope you won't have any nightmares that night. I will enter your tent and try to calm you down if I notice anything."

Kelrian gave her a small smile. "Thanks for taking care of me."

Elena returned his smile "No problem." She stepped on her tiptoes and kissed his left cheek softly, her lips almost met the corner of his mouth. "Sleep tight, Kel," were her last words before she walked to her tent, which was right next to his, and entered it.

---

Silvermoon City, the once glorious capital of Quel'Thalas was nothing more than a mere shadow of its former self. Tall walls made out of white concrete had once surrounded the huge city and protected them from any threats. Turrets and other tall buildings had towered over the walls and pierced the sky. Green grassland and lots of trees and smaller forests had surrounded the gorgeous city. The roads that led to the city had always been overcrowded just like the streets in the city. Silvermoon City had always been visited by lots of citizens of Quel'Thalas but also by many traders, businessmen and other people. It had been by far the most popular place of Quel'Thalas. The heart of Quel'Thalas.

The royal family had lived there in Sunstrider Spire and ruled over the kingdom together with the Council of Silvermoon. They had always made sure that their people were lacking nothing and were protected from any threats. The safety and well-being of the quel'dorei had always been the main goal of the rulers. They had always tried to protect their people by every means. It had worked for nearly seven thousand years but then they had facedan enemy they had not been able to stop.

The Scourge had left this once glorious city in ruins. The gate was totally destroyed, so were most parts of the walls. The vegetation around the city had died and no animal could be found near the city because they had fled out of the area before the Scourge had reached it. No living creatures were walking through the streets of Silvermoon. The only creatures that were there were the undead who were wandering around senselessly and attacked anyone who crossed them.

The remains of burned bodies and lots of dried blood were scattered all over the ground. There were lots of knocked out teeth, separated limbs, heads and other body parts. Rotten flesh, broken and undamaged bones, weapons, armour pieces and many other items and objects were scattered all over the ground.

The streets were devasted and so were the houses and other buildings. The entire city was devastated. It was clearly visible that a massacre had taken place there. Those whose bodies hadn't been burned were still wandering around and didn't even care that parts of their bodies were missing. The fallen citizens of Quel'Thalas had been raised and turned into mindless undead creatures whose only desire was to cause pain to the living and feast on their flesh. The insatiable hunger was the fuel that drove them. Their only purpose was to kill the living.

Kelrian had known some of the fallen personally. It was hard to recognize them from afar but the closer he got to the undead the easier it was for him to recognize some of them. They had changed significantly. Their skin had become as white as chalk, their hair had either lost colour or turned white. Their eyes were ice blue, parts of their skin were missing, so their bones could be seen. Some bones were sticking out of their flesh but the creatures didn't care. Most of them were still able to walk and attack anyone who would come too close to them. Some were still pretty fast while others were very slow.

Kelrian and the other members of his group killed the fast ones first before they took out the slow ones. It pained him to kill the former high elves but he knew he was doing them a favour by ending their suffering and releasing them from Arthas' service.

They were not the only creatures that occupied Silvermoon. There were ghouls, skeletons, nerubians, abominations, liches and lots of other wicked creatures that served the Scourge. Kelrian knew it wouldn't be easy to retake the city but it must be done. He could only hope their losses wouldn't be too high.

Kelrian looked at the leader of the group who was checking the surroundings. The nearly two hundred men, Kael'thas had gathered, had been split into six groups that were invading Silvermoon City from different positions. Alleria was the leader of the group Kelrian was part of. Magister Rommath, Ranger-Captain Lor'themar, Ranger-Captain Halduron, High Priestess Liadrin and Prince Kael'thas were leading the other groups.

Alleria's group had been ordered to kill all undead in front of the gate before they would walk through it and kill every creature that was wandering around on the part of the Dead Scar that started at the fallen gates of Silvermoon and ended at the north coast.

The Dead Scar was the blighted path Arthas and his undead had left behind when they had marched through Quel'Thalas. The survivors had chosen this name because it was like a scar that would never disappear and always remind the inhabitants of Quel'Thalas of the past. They doubted that the Dead Scar could ever be cleansed, so they were sure that no plant or any other form of vegetation will ever grow on the black, dead soil.

Kelrian's gaze fell on Elena who had a tense expression on her face. Her body was tense too but she relaxed a little as she noticed that Kelrian looked at her. She didn't need to force herself to smile because Kelrian's presence always comforted her and gave her strength. The longer she stared into his eyes, the less she wanted to avert her gaze.

She would stare into his eyes until the end of time if she could. For her, Kelrian's eyes belonged to the most beautiful parts of his body. She wished she could stare into his eyes much longer but she knew that this was not the right moment to do that. They were on a mission. A very important mission. She had to remain focused and couldn't allow getting distracted even for a brief moment could mean her death or the death of her comrades. She pulled herself together, averted her gaze and looked at the group leader.

Alleria cleared her throat, catching the attention of her men that way. Kelrian, Elena and the others were looking at her, curiosity and expectation were reflected by their faces.

"We have waited long enough," shouted Alleria loud enough so that everyone could hear her. "It's our task to clear this part of the Dead Scar so I suggest that we split up in groups of eight and take care of the scattered undead. Kill any necromancers first and burn the bodies of every single creature, if you can. Lure away the weaker creatures from the stronger ones and kill them first. Then you attack the stronger ones. Be careful and don't get yourselves killed."

The groups were created quickly. Kelrian found himself in Alleria's group to which also Elena, the dark-skinned male elf with the name Fanomar and his human lover Valerie, a human paladin whose name was Marcus, a high elf who had introduced himself as Vandiril and was one of the few Silvermoon Guards who had survived the invasion, and a dwarf with a long grey beard belonged. He carried a rifle with a wide muzzle and wore leather clothes. He always had his wolf by his side. The dwarf was a hunter and his name was Dolfron.

Kelrian waited for Alleria's signal, following her with the others. They marched towards the main gate, which double doors were shattered and had been thrown out of their hinges, killing the creatures on their way with ease. They came to the gate, noticing that numerous creatures were gathered there. There were only skeletons or ghouls. No abominations, no necromancers and no liches. Only lesser creatures.

These undead creatures may be superior in numbers but they were not pretty smart. They didn't walk to Alleria's unit as a united group, instead, they came closer one after one. That way, Alleria's unit had no problems dealing with them.

Fiery arrows flew through the air, fireballs and ice blasts were cast, weapons were swung, the holy light was used to burn the undead, bullets pierced through flesh and bones and sharp fangs and claws tore apart the limbs of the undead made unrecognizable sounds, lots of blood was sprayed, bodies were set on fire and turned to ashes. The group was very effective, so was every other group, and took out lots of undead creatures in a short amount of time.

Each group member let their anger out on these ugly, mindless creatures. None of them felt uncomfortable killing creatures that still looked humanoid. The elves and humans didn't shrink back from killing creatures that had once been their brothers and sisters. They knew they were doing them a favour by releasing them from the service of the death knight.

There was nothing worse than being forced to serve that butcher for all eternity. A quick death was a gift to any of these mindless creatures that wandered around all day and all night and did nothing but searching for creatures they could feed on. The groups knew they had to kill every single undead creature in Silvermoon if they wanted to reclaim it, so they kept fighting and fighting and only made small pauses every few hours.

The groups were advancing slowly, too slowly for Alleria's liking, but they managed to take out every creature that approached them without losing anyone. All members of Alleria's entire unit were still alive at the end of the second day. Some were injured but these injuries weren't fatal. The priests and paladins were doing their best to heal the wounded. The light was reliable and gave its wielders the power to even heal bad looking flesh wounds. They were able to treat ghoul bites and prevented that the wounds would inflame or fester.

Kelrian noticed that fighting the undead was much more difficult and much more exhausting than it had been before the destruction of the Sunwell. He was no longer able to kill more than a dozen creatures at the same time. He had only been able to kill six creatures at maximum with a fireball that was much smaller than the ones he used to create. He had to use more of his mana to cast the same spells and their effectiveness was much lower than before.

The groups needed more time dealing with medium-sized groups of undead. Nevertheless, Alleria's unit was making progress. More and more undead were killed and burned and the groups came closer to the centre of the city. Or what was left of it. Alleria's unit had fought for another day before they reached the area where the huge market square of Silvermoon had once stood.

No stalls, shops or building could be found there. The pieces of rubble that were scattered over the barren ground were the only remains of the marketplace that had always been overcrowded in the past. The only creatures that were walking around there were members of the Scourge. Lots of them were there and all of them will fall at the end of the day. Alleria hoped that at least. Her men had taken a rest and their blood was boiling. They were looking forward to extinguishing the undead and release their enslaved brethren from their suffering that way.

Alleria hadn't lost a single member of her unit yet. But when she took a closer look at the gathered undead she realized that it was likely that not everyone would get out alive. She didn't want to jinx it but her gut feeling told her that some will die. She could only hope for the best outcome. She trusted her men. She trusted herself. She was certain they would be victorious and kill every single undead creature in this part of the Dead Scar.

The groups had come together again so that they would fight as one unit. Alleria nocked an arrow, signalizing the other rangers to do the same. The archers aimed at the undead, the spellcasters prepared spells and those warriors, paladins and other melee fighters who had shields held them in front of their bodies. Those who had no shields and just one or two weapons raised them and made themselves ready for combat.

The undead weren't moving yet nor did they look in their direction. Alleria put two fingers in her mouth, whistling loudly. Some undead turned around and were greeted by a hail of arrows and lots of spells. Lots of undead were set on fire. The corners of Alleria's lips formed a small smile as the flames spread quickly and consumed more and more creatures.

The creatures started running towards their attackers but the mages slowed them down and even froze their feet to the ground. There was a lich that tried to counter the spells of the living and free the creatures that were obeying its commands. Alleria knew that they had to kill the lich as fast as possible, so she ordered half of the mages to take care of it.

Kelrian obeyed her and drained power from his spellblade, creating a fireball which he threw at the lich without hesitation. The lich managed to protect itself by wrapping an ice block around its skeletal body. An arcane blast hit the ice block, causing the ice to crack. Another spell hit it, making the cracks larger and deeper. Alleria knew that the ice block wouldn't hold out for too long.

She looked at Kelrian, receiving a nod from him. Her brother-in-law spent a large portion of his mana to create an arcane blast. He threw it at the ice block once Alleria nodded. The ice block shattered, revealing the defenceless lich. The skeletal mage had no chance to cast a spell because Alleria's perfectly timed arrow hit its head. The arrow shot by Alleria was not a normal arrow. It was blessed by the light. Golden glowing symbols were carved in the arrow's tip that stuck in the lich's skull.

The holy light that was stored in the arrow poured out and hurt the lich pretty badly. It was unable to focus on casting a spell, so it tried to disappear in the crowd of undead but it was hit by another arrow before it was able to do that. Elena had shot the arrow which was also custom-made like Alleria's arrow.

The lich was blown to pieces when the high explosive tip pierced one of its ribs. The explosion had killed lots of undead that had been standing around the lich but there were still too many out there.

The loss of their leader didn't stop the undead from rushing towards Alleria's unit. Kelrian and the other mages gave their best but they weren't able to hold back every creature. The first creatures reached the unit and were taken out quickly but more arrived a few moments later. Dozens of undead fought the warriors, paladins and other melee fighters. The undead fell quickly but they managed to injure Alleria's men in the first line.

The first member fell after five minutes. It was a quel'dorei warrior who had carried a massive battle axe. One of the undead humans picked up the axe and attacked Vandiril but the skilled Silvermoon Guard blocked the creature's attacks with his shield and cut off its arms with two precise swings with his long and curved sword. A ghoul jumped on him the next moment but he bashed it away with his shield. Another ghoul tried the same but it was cut in halves by Fanomar's double-handed battle axe. Valerie joined her mate and assisted Vandiril at the front.

The frontline was doing a great job at keeping the undead away from the backline which shot lots of arrows and spells at the undead. The battle endured six hours in which Alleria lost eight men but they killed more than three hundred creatures in return.

They burned the bodies of the undead that hadn't been burned already. Then they made a short pause in which the men were able to burn the fallen, satisfy their hunger with conjured food and restored their mana by drinking mana potions or eating mana food. The mages conjured arrows for the archers and ammunition for those who used guns or pistols.

They rested for nearly an hour before they continued to move northwards. They arrived at the northern wall after a while. Only the walls that were bordering the blighted path were partly intact. There were no remains on the Dead Scar. Arthas' siege engines had destroyed this section and had allowed the undead army to leave Silvermoon City.

Alleria had expected more creatures in this area but there were not more than fifty isolated undead that were walking around unit splitup and began to eliminate the undead. Alleria killed a ghoul with a precise headshot, then she drew another arrow from her quiver and aimed at an undead female high elf that was walking towards her.

Her hair was pale blonde and brittle, her high cheekbones could be seen through the holes in her pale skin. There were also other bones that were partially visible. The woman's lips were burst and dried black blood stuck on her chin. There was a deep hole in her chest. She was wearing a torn uniform, but Alleria could still recognize it. It had been blue once. A Ranger-General uniform. The uniform and the familiar facial features of the woman told Alleria who she was.

Her worst nightmares had come true. This undead woman was no other than her mother whose form had been twisted when she had been brought back. Alleria's breathing had stopped, she was still aiming at the woman but she didn't release the arrow. She refused to shoot her mother and involuntarily allowed her to come closer.

She had expected her mother to be dead. She had somehow known that Arthas had ordered his servants to raise her. Maybe he had raised her himself. Somehow she had known that. She had known it but she was still shocked to see her mother like that.

Lireesa was staggering forwards, her left arm was stretched out and the other was missing. Her ice-blue glowing eyes rested on her daughter, only growls, groans and hisses escaped her opened mouth. Her gaze was empty and seeing Alleria didn't change anything to her. She didn't react to her daughter in a different way nor did she stop walking. She just came closer and closer but Alleria didn't move an inch. She still aimed at her but didn't shoot. She didn't have the heart to shoot her mother, even though she knew that creature was no longer her mother. She was a mindless servant of the Scourge who just wanted to feast.

Alleria had seen undead who were still able to think and speak clearly. These creatures wouldn't have to follow their lower desires. They were intelligent but Lireesa was not. She was behaving like a ghoul and not like a creature who had a functioning brain. She had no personality like Xenarion or Dar'Khan Drathir. She was not able to think and speak and she wanted nothing more than to feed on the living.

A single tear ran down the blonde's cheek as she realized that her mother was gone. She died defending her home and her people like a true heroine. She will not be forgotten, Alleria will make sure of that. It pained her to see her beloved mother like hadn't deserved such a fate.

Lireesa had been one of the smartest persons Alleria had known. And now she was nothing more than one of Arthas' mindless servants, who roamed around the Dead Scar and attacked every creature that came near them.

Alleria was able to keep a cool head even though she was grieving at this very moment. She felt shattered, had the impression thata part of her had just died. Her shattered heart was bleeding, her hands were shaking and she knew it was not unlikely that she would break out in tears the next moment. She had loved her mother. Her mother had always been there for her and had supported her whenever she could. Her mother belonged to the most important persons of her life but now she was gone.

Alleria didn't allow her emotions to control her. She reminded herself that she was the one in control and not her feelings. She managed to pull herself together and remain calm. Her voice was barely louder than a whisper. "Don't worry, mother. I will end your suffering. You don't have to serve that son of a whore any longer." She took a deep breath, kept her eyes open and waited a short moment before she released the arrow.

It was a direct hit. Right between the eyes.

Lireesa stopped moving suddenly, stood still for a few moments and then collapsed. A quiet sob escaped Alleria's lips. She turned her head as she noticed a hand on her shoulder. Kelrian stood next to her and gave her a comforting smile, telling her that he was sorry for her loss. He offered her a tight hug and Alleria accepted, knowing that he had just lost her too. She put her head on his shoulder and relaxed. Kelrian pulled her hood down and ran his fingers through her hair, caressing her back to comfort her.

No sounds were hearable from the Ranger-Captain. No sobs, no cries, no screams and no words. She was silent while she tried to assimilate everything. She pulled away after a few minutes and let her gaze wander, noticing that all the other undead creatures had been eliminated in the meantime. Her gaze fell on her mother. "Bring her to Dalaran but don't tell Vereesa yet. I want to be the one to tell her. I have to break it gently to her..." Sadness was still reflected in her voice and in her eyes.

Kelrian was worried. "I'm not sure if Vereesa will handle it well. Sylvanas' death has devastated her. Maybe we should wait..."

Alleria shook her head. "She has every right to know the truth. I have to break it gently to her. You can join me if you want but first, we will travel north and kill every undead we find until we reach the sea."

Kelrian didn't say anything in return. He just nodded and put a hand on Alleria's shoulder. His presence comforted her a little. She didn't want to admit it but she needed him more than ever at this moment. She was glad that he was here. He was one of the few members of her family that weren't dead or undead.

Lireesa had also meant a lot to Kelrian. Her death also filled him with dismay. She was his mother-in-law, the mother of the love of his life. He had loved her, so her death made him really sad.

At least Lireesa had found peace. She was no longer forced to serve the Lich King. She was free from Arthas' control and would no longer have to hurt her people and those she had loved. Her soul could finally find peace.

"We will open a portal after we killed the remaining undead creatures. Those who can still be identified should also be brought to Dalaran. Their families have every right to get their bodies. They deserve a proper funeral," said Alleria.

"That's a great idea," responded Kelrian. He waited for a few moments, then he turned away from Alleria and drew his spellblade from his belt. "Let's take care of the remaining undead."

"I'm in," said Elena and came to him, giving him a small smile.

Alleria stepped next to them. "We have to release every former citizen of Quel'Thalas we find. We owe that to my mother and Sylvanas."