Chapter 28: Exadius

They walked through the cleared streets of Dalaran, looking out for undead creatures that may come from the areas that were still not cleared. Fortunately, they didn't spot any foes on their way to the meeting point.

If Kelrian had to be honest, he would rather fight against the undead instead of meeting the person who was awaiting them. He didn't like the person they had to meet. He was a very unfriendly male human who gave no credit to Kelrian's kind for their successes in fighting the Scourge. He was always nagging about unimportant things and always found a way to embarrass or insult King Kael'thas or the sin'dorei. No sin'dorei liked him but they had no other choice than serving him because they weren't able to handle the Scourge alone.

The sin'dorei and their human companions came to the meeting point where the said man was already waiting for them. His armour and the armour of his horse was golden and silvery, he carried a big shield and a large double-bladed axe in his hand. He wore a helmet, which was decorated by golden wings that came out of the sides, but his face was still visible. He was at the age of forty, his skin was slightly creased, he had a brown, bushy walrus moustache and brown piercing eyes.

The man regarded the sin'dorei with narrowed eyes, a disapproving look could be seen on his face. He waited until the sin'dorei were in his hearing range and then scolded them. "You are late, King Kael'thas. I thought you elves prided yourselves on punctuality."

Kael'thas remained calm and looked at the human, wondering what was wrong with him this time. "It could not be helped, Lord Garithos. We ran into a group of night elves from across the sea and..."

Grand Marshal Othmar Garithos didn't intend to let the king of the blood elves justify himself. He interrupted him, his voice was unfriendly, loud and strict. "I am not interested in your fanciful excuses."

He turned his head as he heard a quiet snort, looking at the elf who had made that sound. "Is there anything you want to say, Lieutenant Sunsinger?"

"Yes, Milord. You could allow our king to explain what happened and tell you who or what held us up."

Garithos' eyes narrowed. "I think I've made myself perfectly clear. I don't want to hear your lame excuses."

"But..."

"You elves are here to serve the Alliance, do I remember that correctly? You are serving me and you will obey my commands to the letter. When I say that I don't want to hear your excuses, then I don't want to hear them. Is that clear?"

Kelrian muttered something unintelligible. "IS THAT CLEAR, ELF?" Garithos roared aggressively. His face was as red as a tomato, thick veins could be seen on his neck and his pulse was beating rapidly. He was very angry that someone was contradicting him. His narrowed eyes rested on the ranger-mage who looked at his king, receiving a small nod from him.

Kelrian looked back at the furious human. He didn't want to apologize to him but he did it nevertheless, knowing that things wouldn't end well for him if he would contradict the grand marshal any longer. He muttered an apology and lowered his head in respect.

Garithos' gaze rested on him for a few moments before it fell back on the king. "The undead have begun a new offensive to retake Dalaran. Their primary strike force marched south through Silverpine, but we managed to halt its advance at the base of the mountains," he explained.

"My men are ready to fight, milord. When shall we leave for the front?" Kael'thas asked curiously. He was convinced the Grand Marshal would take him and his men with him but it turned he was wrong about that. "We will be leaving immediately. But your people... will be staying here. Our scouts report that a second strike force may be heading this way from the east. I need you to repair the outlying observatories so that we can monitor that region."

Kael'thas raised an eyebrow, his facial expression a combination of confusion and irritation. "But milord, we are warriors, not..."

The arrogant human interrupted him once again. "You have your orders, King Kael'thas. I trust your elven ears heard them clearly enough." He looked at his men, noticing that they were ready to set off. "Move out!" he shouted and waited a few moments before he followed his men who were rushing away.

Kelrian waited until he was out of hearing range, a quiet insult escaped his lips. "Insolent son of a..." He didn't finish it even though he knew that Garithos and his men couldn't hear him.

He looked at his king who didn't seem to be happy about the way Garithos treated him and his people. He treated them as they were lesser creatures who were only useful for doing the dirty work he didn't want to do. Kelrian had the impressions that the grand marshal considered them as his personal slaves.

Kael'thas Sunstrider was a king but Garithos treated him like one of his minions. He didn't care about his title and about the family he came from. He didn't consider him as an equal person. That made Kelrian pretty angry but there was nothing he could do about it. He feared Garithos would end their alliance if they would piss him off. The sin'dorei needed allies more than ever in these dark times, so they couldn't allow themselves to make him angry. They had to deal with his intolerance and remain as friendly asthe situation allowed. They would never be able to defeat the Scourge alone, so they had to do their best to get along with that racist.

Kael'thas put his hand on Kelrian's shoulder, giving him a comforting smile. "It's okay."

"No, it's not."

The king chuckled. "You may be right about that but there is nothing we can do about him. We have to get along with him. We need his aid to deal with the undead. Many of us will die if we have to fight the undead alone. We already lost ninety percent of our people, so we can't allow more to die."

Kelrian sighed. "I wish there was another way. I wish we wouldn't have to work for that bastard."

"I wish the same thing, but we cannot win against the undead without his help. We need his men, otherwise, the undead will overrun us sooner or later. I know it's not the optimal solution but we have no other choice. We have to bite the bullet for the greater good."

Kelrian nodded and remained silent. Kael'thas took a deep breath and turned to his men. "You heard the Grand Marshal. Let's get this over with."

---

More and more undead were coming. Tyrande had no idea where she was and how the undead knew she was here. She was on a small piece of land that was surrounded by the raging river Arevass. There was no way to cross the river and even if she would manage do that, there was no way she could climb the steep and tall mountains that surrounded her. She was trapped on the piece of land and nearly a dozen undead flying beasts were coming closer and closer.

Apart from her loyal tiger, she was alone. But her tiger couldn't help her at all. All it did was to move around to prevent the gargoyles from grabbing Tyrande with their claws. The tiger lady was pretty fast and agile for her age. She was also wounded but that didn't hinder her in the slightest.

Tyrande remained careful with her arrows because she had only seven left. They wouldn't be enough to kill all undead creatures but Elune was still with her and would protect her. She was no mage, so she couldn't conjure more arrows. There were no trees or pieces of wood in her near, so she couldn't craft new arrows. She had to hope that she would be able to kill the remaining creatures with Elune's help.

Each arrow was a hit and ended the life of an undead flying creature. Tyrande tried to hit the creatures with moonfire, as soon as her quiver was empty. The creatures died and Tyrande already expected more to come but no creatures came. An hour passed in which no creatures approached her. An hour in which she could do nothing but relax and hope that her dear Malfurion would save her soon. She was even fine with Maiev or any other night elf. She just wanted to get away from the piece of land before more undead would come for her.

Another hour went by in which nothing happened. After a while, she spotted a familiar person coming closer. She noticed a tall figure on a huge turtle that was carried by the river. The closer the person got, the better she recognized them. Her eyes lightened up, her heart started to beat faster as she recognized her husband. Her dear Malfurion was coming to save her. A happy smile appeared on the lips of the priestess who was raising her arm in the air and waving at the druid.

The turtle was carried to the piece of land and managed to get on it. Malfurion had hardly gotten on the piece of land when Tyrande threw herself around his neck. She hugged him tightly and kissed his cheeks. "I feared I would never see you again, my love. I thought more undead would come to kill me. I feared the worst but I never lost hope. I knew that Elune would protect me and wouldn't let me die. I knew she would guide you to me."

Malfurion wrapped his arm around her and pulled her closer. Tyrande put her head on his chest, closed her eyes and started to relax. The druid ran his fingers through her hair and pressed a soft kiss on her forehead. Tyrande pulled away after nearly a minute and stared into her husband's eyes. Malfurion returned her gaze and caressed her cheek, smiling at her. The high priestess kissed him softly. "We should go before more of these disgusting creatures come."

Malfurion parted his lips and was about to say something as a loud voice shouted something. It was a familiar voice that shouted the priestess' name. Tyrande turned her head, spotting a huge naga brute that was swimming through the river and carrying Illidan and several over naga on its back.

A frown appeared on Tyrande's forehead, her eyes were widened in surprise. She turned her head, giving her husband a questioning look. "What is he doing here?"

"I have no idea, my love. But I doubt his intentions are good."

"Don't you dare to set a foot on the piece of land, Illidan. I'll kill you if you do so. Stay away from us."

Confusion was reflected by the demon hunter's face. He was wondering why his brother was there. He had talked to him a few days ago and convinced him to keep the undead busy while he would rescue Tyrande. There was no way how Malfurion could have arrived there earlier than him and he didn't remember having seen any turtles near the area where he had said goodbye to his brother and promised him to return Tyrande alive.

Something was wrong, Illidan was sure of that. He had a bad feeling about this but he had no idea why. His sixth sense told him to stay careful.

"I'm not here to do you any harm, Tyrande. You must believe me. I've come to save you."

Tyrande raised an eyebrow. "To save me? Well, Malfurion also came. If you wanted to save me too, why didn't you join Malfurion? I don't trust you Illidan. You're up to something. Stay away from me."

"I promise you that I don't want to hurt you. I told Malfurion that I would rescue you while he would hold up the undead. But he is here now...That's impossible. He headed to the north when I began to follow the course of the river. There's no way he was faster than me. Something is wrong, Tyrande. You have to believe me. You know me, I would never lie to you or harm you."

"I have known you once, Illidan. The Illidan I remember would have never done such horrible things as you did. You have changed. You have become a completely different person. I no longer know what I can believe and what I cannot. I can no longer trust you." She looked at her husband again, searching for his help. She was confused and overtaxed by the situation. She didn't trust Illidan but she trusted her husband. Her husband would know if Illidan was speaking the truth or if he was lying.

Malfurion's eyes were narrowed as he gave his brother a cold look. "He is lying, Tyrande. He has come to kill you. The powers of the Skull of Gul'dan and the powers he absorbed when he slew Tichondrius drove him into madness. His mind cannot bear the power he has absorbed. Don't trust him. He is still working for the Burning Legion."

Illidan tilted his head, his eyes narrowed and a frown appeared on his forehead. "How do you know about my encounter with Tichondrius? How do you know that I killed him and absorbed his power? I never told you about this."

Malfurion hesitated for a moment. "The wisps told me. They saw everything."

Illidan shook his head slowly. "The forest where I found the skull was corrupted. There were no wisps that haven't lost their sanity and weren't corrupted. There were no uncorrupted wisps around who could have witnessed the battle and told you about it. That's a lie. So tell me, brother, how do you know and why are you lying?"

Malfurion swallowed. "Well..." His gaze fell on Tyrande whose eyes reflected confusion. She was wondering what was going on. She trusted her husband, she believed he was always speaking the truth but now it seemed he wasn't. He seemed to know something. Something he didn't want to tell them.

Illidan looked at Tyrande. "I know I did horrible things in the past but I would never try to kill you Tyrande. I have always loved you and I still do. I would never kill you, not even if my new masters would demand it. I met up with Malfurion days ago and we agreed that I rescue you while he fights the undead. There is no way that your Malfurion, your husband and my brother, was faster than me. I have no idea who this is but I know he is not Malfurion. He is a deceiver. A swindler. He is not your beloved Malfurion. You have to trust me on this."

Tyrande was still overtaxed with the situation. The abundance of information confused didn't know what was right and what was wrong. Both brothers had told her their versions. Normally, she would trust Malfurion's words more than Illidan's but what Illidan had said about Tichondrius didn't sound wrong to her.

Also, Malfurion was never at a lack of words nor did he say things which weren't right. Tyrande had encountered lots of powerful demons in the past ten thousand years to know that they were masters of manipulation. It was not unlikely that a demon pretended to be her husband. But it was not unlikely either that Illidan was planning something bad and tricking them.

There was only one way for her to find out. As far as she knew, demons were only able to copy the appearances of others but not their memories. She had to ask him something only her Malfurion could know. She turned to Malfurion and looked at him, noticing the insecure look in his eyes. "If you really are the love of my life then you must know where we spent our honeymoon."

Malfurion bit his bottom lip as he stared at her in silence. It was clearly visible that he thought about it intensively. A frown appeared on Tyrande's face. She had expected him to answer that question immediately. Although they have been married for thousands of years, they still haven't forgotten where they kissed for the first time, when they had gotten married, when they had made love for the first time and where they had spent their honeymoon. Her Malfurion knew it for sure but this one didn't. She was convinced that the creature in front of her was not her Malfurion. It was a swindler.

Tyrande made a step back and pulled her sword from her belt, executing a fast swing. The tip of her blade brushed over his left hip, leaving a long cut. As expected, green blood was flowing out. The creature in front of her was a demon.

The swindler's eyes started to glow fel greenish, his facial features distorted. The voice that came out of his mouth was deep and unpleasant to hear. "Arrggh. My subjects were right, you are smarter than most mortal creatures. I made a mistake and blew my cover but that won't change anything. My plan was to kill only you, priestess, but now I have to kill this useless demon too. My mistress won't like this but I have no other choice."

The swindler's body distorted and changed quickly. The more time passed, the less he looked like Malfurion until his shape had completely changed. The demon had just revealed its true form.

It was a male demon who was almost ten feet tall and pretty muscular. Huge horns came out of his head, he had two massive wings, hooves instead of feet and huge claws with sharp and long fingernails. His skin was almost as pale as the skin of a corpse or an undead creature. He wore golden and black armour, on all his eight fingers were golden and black rings. His thick, bent and pointed horns were decorated by rings in the same colours.

The demon looked down on Tyrande and Illidan, a mischievous grin appeared on his lips. "High Priestess Tyrande Whisperwind. It's an honour to meet you. I've heard so much about you." The demon's gaze fell on Illidan. "Illidan Stormrage, the master of friendzone and betrayal. Lord Kil'jaeden is not pleased about your failure. It was your task to destroy the Lich King but you failed. You know that your failure has consequences, right?"

Illidan looked at the demon, his teeth were gritted. He could clearly see the demon due to his spectral sight. He could feel his power. He was not as strong as Kil'jaeden but much stronger than any other demon he had ever met. He was much taller and much more muscular than Tichondrius. He was not a common nathrezim, Illidan was sure of that.

"Who are you?" Tyrande asked.

"My name is Exadius," the demon replied politely.

Tyrande frowned. She was out of the demon's reach and had taken a defensive posture, holding her sword in her right hand. She eyed the nathrezim closely, wondering why he hadn't attacked her already. "I think I heard that name before."

"I assisted Lord Archimonde and Lord Kil'jaeden during the first invasion. It was me who seduced your queen and made her work for the Burning Legion. I was the one who corrupted the mighty Queen Azshara," Exadius replied, grinning widely.

Tyrande's eyes narrowed and she began to focus her power. "In that case, I will execute you myself for the crimes you committed against my people."

"Tyrande he's...," Illidan started but he was interrupted by the Nathrezim.

"You are overestimating yourself, High Priestess. Not only that, but you are also underestimating me. Your brother-in-law noticed how powerful I am. He knows I'm not as weak as the demon he fought so far. Nathrezim like Mal'Ganis or Tichondrius are nothing compared to me."

Tyrande didn't get impressed by his words and continued to channel her power and the power Elune had granted her, wondering how much longer he would speak. She had to hold him in a conversation to buy as much time as possible. The more time she would get, the stronger her spell would become. Her gaze fell on Illidan who seemed to be worried but also ready to fight. He held his twin blades in front of his body, ready to block any attack that would come. His naga were right behind him.

"I slew many demons who claimed to be the strongest I ever encountered. They had many things in common. They were arrogant and thought they were much stronger than me. I proved them wrong when I slew them. And your case won't be any different. I give you one last chance, Exadius. Surrender and I'll grant you a swift death."

Exadius chuckled amused. "Surrender? Me? That's not an option. But I give you the opportunity to surrender. I will spare you and your useless brother-in-law if you do so."

Tyrande's eyes narrowed, her lips were pressed together and she was speaking through gritted teeth. "I will become the Legion's slave if I do so, right?"

Exadius tilted his head. "'Slave' is a hard word. I prefer another word. A more fitting word. What about 'champion'? Your brother-in-law agreed to serve us but he failed us. Take his place and I will spare both of you."

Tyrande shook her head. "I will never join the Burning Legion. Not in a million years."

Exadius' yellow-golden eyes narrowed. "A fatal mistake. That was a very unwise decision you made, High Priestess."

"We will see if my decision was unwise."

"Alright then. It seems both of you will die today," Exadius responded and gave the priestess a mischievous grin.

"Elune will protect me and give me the strength to defeat you."

Soft laughter escaped the demon's lips. "Your false goddess cannot save you from me."

Tyrande was losing her temper. "False goddess?" she shouted. "How dare you insult the mighty Elune?" Her narrowed eyes reflected anger, she was gritting her teeth and an upset look could be seen on her face.

Exadius was amused and didn't seem to be worried. It seemed he didn't consider her as a threat. "Come show me what you got, priestess. Show me what your useless goddess can do."

"Tyrande, don't do it," Illidan shouted but it was already too late. Tyrande used the gathered power and created the largest moonfire he had ever seen. Illidan was able to see the bright source of energy due to his spectral vision. He knew that Tyrande had put a lot of her power and Elune's power in that spell. He knew he should get away quickly.

He made a large leap on the nearest rock. Normally, he would have jumped to Tyrande and bring her to safety first but he knew that Elune would protect her, so didn't have to be worried about her. Also, he would have never made it out of the explosion range in time. The moonfire landed near the demon and exploded, causing a massive shockwave.

Water splashed through the air, mountain pieces and pieces of soil were thrown through the air and dust was whirled up. The shockwave was so strong that even Illidan got hit and thrown away. He landed in the river, and only with great difficulty, he managed to reach the piece of land, or what was left of it. He turned his head, checking his surroundings for powerful auras. He didn't sense the auras of his naga, so he assumed they didn't survive the explosion. He sensed the aura of Tyrande, but also that of Exadius. He not only sensed their auras, but he also saw them.

They were standing not far away from each other, the mountains that had previously surrounded them had been blown up. Lots of lumps of rocks were scattered all over the uneven ground on the other side of the river. The river was much wider than before. It was still flowing but not as fast as it had been before.

Illidan jumped over the river and ran towards the woman he loved and the demon who wanted to kill her. Exadius' gaze wandered, he checked his surroundings closely before he looked at the high priestess who was out of breath and totally exhausted. Her eyes were widened and disbelief was reflected by her beautiful face. She had been convinced that the gigantic beam of energy would tear the dreadlord apart but it hadn't.

He was still alive and in one piece, his armour was slightly damaged. His right bracer was destroyed and some cracks could be seen in his left bracer, shoulder and upper arm protector. The rest of his armour was undamaged.

"As I said, Elune is a false goddess," he taunted, a triumphing grin could be seen on his lips.

"There is no way you survived my spell," the night elf hissed through gritted teeth.

Exadius chuckled. "But I did. What do you do now little night elf? Seems your goddess is not strong enough to take me down. I was able to absorb most of your spell. The energy that remained exploded and barely managed to damage my armour."

Tyrande stared at the nathrezim with gritted teeth, holding her sword in her left hand. She didn't say anything nor did Illidan who rushed towards the demon, intending to attack him from behind. But the dreadlord saw it coming and turned around, slapping the demon hunter away with the back of his hand. Illidan was flung away, collided with the nearest rock, rebounded and fell to the ground.

A loud groan escaped his lips as he got up slowly. He picked his twin blades up and ran towards the demon once again. This time, Exadius kicked him away but Illidan got up and charged at him again. Exadius executed a swift punch but the half-demon managed to avoid it at the last moment. He managed to land one hit with each of his blades. One blade hit the demon's left hip but it rebounded off the armour which remained undamaged. The other grazed his right forearm, leaving a long and medium-deep cut. Green blood flowed out of the wound but that didn't seem to bother the dreadlord.

He just tilted his head and gave the demon hunter an amused look. "Is that all you have got, Illidan? You received the master's gift, absorbed the power of the Skull of Gul'dan and stole Tichondrius' power. But you are still not able to seriously harm me? I expected more of you."

Illidan snarled and made a few steps backwards, getting out of the dreadlord's range. He didn't say anything and just watched his opponent carefully. Tyrande was too exhausted to do anything. She had spent the last remains of her mana and she had no arrows left, meaning she could only try to hurt the demon with her sword. But she was too exhausted to do that and her body was hurting.

Her gaze fell on Illidan, noticing that his distance to Exadius had become larger. He was standing there and looked as if he was concentrating his power for something. She was wondering what he was planning to do. Not much time had passed as the green colour of his tattoos became much brighter but the rest of his body got darker. His fel green tattoos contrasted with his pitch-black form.

His face reflected pure anger and hatred. Hatred for the demon who wanted to kill the woman he loved from the first day he had met her. He would do anything to protect Tyrande, he would even give his life if necessary. He would sacrifice himself to protect Tyrande. He would never forgive himself if he wouldn't manage to protect her.

He had to give everything but he was not sure if that would be enough. His opponent was much stronger than him, he was aware of that. He knew it was very unlikely that he could beat him but he had to try it nevertheless. Otherwise, Tyrande will die. He couldn't allow that. He had promised his brother to bring her back alive and he intended to keep that promise.

"If you want to kill Tyrande, you have to kill me first, demon."

Exadius turned to him, the corners of his lips formed a grin. "Very well, Illidan. There's nothing I'd rather do than killing you in front of your crush." He began to walk towards Illidan, not intending to increase his walking speed. Illidan rose in the air, regarded the nathrezim for a few moments before he pounced on him. The demon blocked his attacks with his bracer and then jabbed him hard with his elbow, causing Illidan to be thrown away.

The demon hunter managed to slow down his fall and catch himself. He attacked the nathrezim again, leaving a deep cut on his cheek. He feinted an attack from the left but then appeared from the right and left a cut in his neck. The cut was not very deep but the dreadlord seemed to be pissed nonetheless. He had not expected that the demon hunter would be able to use instant teleportation. As a former mage, instant teleportation was one of the few spells, Illidan was still able to use. Like all other mages, it had cost him a not so little portion of his power.

Nevertheless, Illidan was far away from getting exhausted. For him, the battle had just started. He rose in the air again, charging towards the red glowing shape he was seeing. Exadius dodged his attack with little effort and the next one too. Thin, fel green laser beams came out of Illidan's eyes but the dreadlord managed to avoid getting hit by them. He jumped to the side and made another jump as the beams followed him.

He made another jump, landing behind Illidan. He didn't hesitate to grab the demon hunter and throw him onto the ground with all of his strength. A loud, painful cry escaped Illidan's lips as he landed on the hard ground. Waves of pain rushed through his body, stunning him. The pain was almost unbearable. At least, the pain got weaker over time but it didn't disappear. Illidan was still unable to get up as Exadius approached him and put his foot on his upper body, pushing him deeper into the ground.

The demon's yellow-golden eyes fell on the priestess' whose face was a mask of shock. "Where is your goddess now, Whisperwind? Has your goddess forsaken you?" Evil laughter escaped his lips as he removed his foot and walked towards the priestess who sent a moonfire at him but it did no harm to the demon. Tyrande was too weak to injure him. She had spent most of her mana and was exhausted. There was no way for her to defeat the demon.

She walked backwards until her back struck a rock face. Exadius stopped in front of her and looked down at her, an amused grin appeared on his lips as he saw the defiant look on her face. She was not afraid of him. She was brave and that surprised him. He had expected her to be afraid of him but she wasn't. He had to admit he was a little impressed by her courage.

"You are brave, priestess. Too bad that I have to kill you but I have my orders. If it were up to me, I would spare you but I was ordered to either kill you or bring you to our side. You don't want to serve us so you have to die. These are the rules."

Exadius grabbed her by the throat and lifted her up. He was strangling her. Tyrande tried to resist but she was powerless. There was nothing she could do to get free. His grip was too strong. Her vision became blurry and memories came back in her mind. Old memories. Memories from her youth. Memories about a young Malfurion but also about a young Illidan. When Illidan had been a good guy. Memories about their lives before the first invasion of the Burning Legion.

A tear ran down her cheek, she was convinced she would die the next moment. She was convinced she would never see her loved ones again. Her husband, her adoptive daughter and even Illidan. She had her eyes closed, expecting that her life would end soon. The pain stopped eventually but she was still alive.

She opened her eyes, checking her surroundings. She was still on Azeroth, in Lordaeron to be exact. She was still alive. She was lying on the ground and no demon stood in front of her. She let her gaze wander, spotting Illidan and Exadius not far away from her.

Illidan was standing between Exadius and her, carrying only one of his twin blades. The other stuckin the nathrezim's right shoulder, a small amount of fel green blood was flowing down his back. The demon was not amused.

Illidan held an object in his other hand. He threw it to Tyrande who caught it. It was a hearthstone. The same hearthstone she had given him when she had freed him from his prison. She had lost her own hearthstone when she had been swept away by the river. Illidan's hearthstone was her only chance to escape the demon who wanted to kill her.

Her blue eyes were widened in surprise and shock as they fell back on the demon hunter, who gave her a small smile and nodded at her. Her gaze fell back on the demon, noticing the anger in his eyes. "You are tougher and stronger than I thought, Illidan. Seems I underestimated you. That was a mistake. I won't do that mistake again," Exadius said and pulled Illidan's blade out of his back, throwing it into the river. He didn't hesitate to run towards Illidan.

"Go now, Tyrande," Illidan shouted.

"But I don't want to leave you alone."

"You will die if you don't go now. Use it, please. I will find a way to escape, trust me. I can do this but you have to go. NOW!"

Tyrande nodded, worry was reflected by her face. She brushed her thumb over the blue glowing symbol. She didn't want to leave him but she knew she had no other choice. She will die if she wouldn't leave immediately. Her heart was heavy and ached, her voice was thin and weak. "Return to me alive and in one piece, Illidan," were her last words before she disappeared.