Chapter 60: The Sun King

The sound of splintering glass still rang in her ears as she got up and focused the remains of her strength to move to the other side of the room. She reached the huge hole in the window, stepping to the edge. The strong wind tousled her hair and blew strands into her face. She only managed to keep the hair out of her face with great effort.

She looked down, hoping to see her son and her lover. There was no one. Not even on the platforms that were floating around the fortress. She had hoped that they would have been able to get on one of these platforms but they didn't. They were not in her sight, so she had no other choice than assuming the worst. Kelrian and Raesh had fallen into the nothingness.

She could not believe it. She didn't want to believe it. She didn't want to accept the truth. Accepting the truth would mean accepting that her lover and son were dead. And she didn't want that. She didn't want to believe anything. There was still a chance that they were still alive, Sylvanas hoped that at least. Kelrian had wings so it was not impossible that he had managed to fly away with their son.

This thought was the only thing she could cling on, otherwise, she would break in tears. Hope was all that she had left. It kept her sane. She could only hope for the best but life had proved her that bad things happened oftener than good things. She had to assume the worst.

Hundreds of thoughts crossed Sylvanas' mind. She didn't have the time to think over every thought nor did she feel in the mood to do it. She didn't feel well. She was in a bad mood. A very bad mood. She felt depressed, the feeling of loss became stronger and stronger. Her head felt heavy, her skin was itching and her chest was hurting. She felt shattered. She had the feeling she would start crying the next moment. She felt so sad suddenly.

The sadness quickly turned into anger as she spotted a certain man. Her crimson red eyes fixed on him and didn't leave him. She didn't need long to realize that the surroundings had changed. She averted her gaze after a while and looked around. The room they were in had purple walls and was much larger than the previous one. The first half of the room was covered by purple carpets. No carpets laid on the slightly raised platform on which the man stood. Sylvanas was sure that the man was the one who teleported them into this room.

Her gaze fell on the four pillar-shaped purple crystals that stood at each corner of the platform. Eventually, her gaze fell back on the man in the middle of the platform. She recognized the crimson red robe, the long blond hair, the bilious green eyes and the three green spheres that were rotating around his head. He was not alone. His four advisors stood next to him. Telonicus and Thaladred stood to his left while Capernian and Lord Sanguinar stood to his right.

A small grin could be seen on Kael'thas' lips as he stared at Sylvanas and her companions and applauded loudly. "I have to admit that I'm impressed. I did not expect you to defeat my champion. Congratulations."

Sylvanas' eyes narrowed, the anger she felt threatened to overwhelm her. "How could you do this to him?" she roared. "He is your son. You made him a monster...You turned him into a demon and sold his soul to the Burning Legion. How could you?"

Kael'thas' facial expression didn't change. "What do you mean? I made him much stronger than he could ever have imagined. I tried to make him the perfect warrior. I think I succeeded. He wiped the floor with all of you but then this miserable creature threw him through the window. That's unfortunate. Good that I took precautionary measures and prepared him for this possibility. A normal creature wouldn't be able to survive in space for too long. Fortunately, Dreadfist is not a normal creature. I told Doctor Sivallah to make sure he is able to survive in space. Let's hope she succeeded in this matter. Otherwise... He would be dead already."

Sylvanas needed a few moments to think about everything the mad king had said. "Miserable creature? I hope for you that you didn't mean my son with this insult. If so..."

Kael'thas raised an eyebrow and tilted his head a little. "Then what?"

"Then I will make you suffer much longer than I originally planned. I will make you suffer for your betrayal and everything you did to Kelrian. I will make you pay in the name of my husband and my son."

The corners of Kael'thas' lips formed a barely recognizable smile. "Your husband should still be alive. Your son on the other hand... I doubt he made it. It's best if he is dead. He is a shame to my bloodline."

Sylvanas' eyes narrowed even further. She was biting her bottom lip hard, anger was reflected by her facial expression. "Say that again," she hissed furiously.

"He made a decision that may mean the end of his bloodline. How can he continue the glorious Windrunner-Sunstrider bloodline if he chooses to love men instead of women? Your son is gay, your daughter is dead and so are you. No one will continue this bloodline. What a shame."

"You know that there are other ways for him to reproduce if the kingdom needs an heir? Just because he loves men doesn't have to mean that our bloodline is endangered," responded Sylvanas.

Kael'thas didn't respond to what the Banshee Queen had said. "You noticed the potential of this combination, right? Imagine if we combine this blood with the blood of other powerful blood elf families. Imagine if we combine this blood with the blood of my felblood elves or with the blood of the agents of the Burning Legion. Do you realize how powerful their offspring can be? Do you realize how many powerful warriors we can create? The universe will belong to us. No one will be able to stop us if we have more warriors like Dreadfist or Raesh."

Sylvanas parted her lips to say something but Kael'thas interrupted her. "Why haven't I come to this idea much earlier? We could search for very powerful women among all races and make them pregnant with either mine, Dreadfist's or Raesh's children. We will create an army of powerful warriors. That way, the Sunstrider name will never be forgotten. My dynasty will never end."

Sylvanas noticed the insane look in his eyes. His voice was much higher than usual and the way he spoke was much different. He was no longer the man she had once known. She had already known that the overconsumption of fel changed him for the worse but she had not expected his condition to be that was no longer a reasonable person. He was a madman. A madman with insane ideas.

It hurt her to see her old friend like this. He had once been one of her closest friends and he was the father of her husband. He was her father-in-law, a member of her family. Nowadays, she no longer regarded him as a friend or family member. He was nothing but a traitor who wanted to commithis people to the Burning Legion. The fel had made him insane and turned him into a completely different person. He was no longer the man he had once been. He was no longer the charming ruler who had been loved by everyone. He was a crazy madman who hungered for power and allowed the chaos to control him.

Sylvanas wanted to say something to him but Liadrin was faster. "We will not allow any of your plans to succeed. You have terrorized the population of Outland for too long. We will not allow you to force the sin'dorei into slavery. It's time to put an end to your tyranny, Kael'thas Sunstrider."

Hysterical laughter escaped the mad king's lips. "Over? OVER? How can you say such things?" He seemed to be very insecure when he turned his head and looked at his advisors. His gaze fell on Capernian who gave him a nod, her expression was neutral. The insecurity vanished and replaced by self-confidence. He regained his composure, an arrogant look appeared on his face. "My reign is not over. It will never end. I will rule the sin'dorei for all eternity. I am the best thing that happened to my people, I will bring them to glory and make them more powerful than they can ever imagine."

"You have no right to force them to serve the Burning Legion," hissed Vereesa.

Kael'thas' eyes narrowed and reflected anger as they landed on the silver-haired woman. "I have every right to do that," he screamed.

"Without me, our people would be slaves to the humans. If I wouldn't have been there, Garithos would have used them as cannon fodder against the Scourge. He would have executed all of them as soon as he wouldn't have needed them anymore. Every single member of the sin'dorei owes me their lives. I have every right to make them to servants of the Burning Legion. It's not that I'm doing this for myself, I'm doing this for their own good. If I make them much stronger, our losses will be much smaller when we fight the Scourge. That's what every single one of us wants, am I right? All of us want to defeat the Scourge. Or am I wrong about this?"

"Do not use the Scourge as an excuse for your actions," shouted Aethas.

"There are other ways to defeat the Scourge. Ways that do not include our people becoming slaves to such evil creatures," hissed Rommath.

"There might be other ways but too many people will die if we follow one of these ways. My way is the one with the fewest losses," told Kael'thas.

"Even if we don't lose too many people against the Scourge, the Burning Legion will use our brethren as cannon fodder. All of our people will die in the long run. Can't you see that? How can you not realize that you will doom our people in the long run? You have no idea what you have done when you made a pact with Kil'jaeden," replied Sylvanas angrily.

Soft laughter escaped Kael'thas' lips. "You are unbelievers. You are too stupid to realize how right I am. The Burning Legion is the only way to guarantee the survival of the sin'dorei."

Vereesa spat on the floor. "Bullshit."

Kael'thas' facial features derailed. The over-confidence and arrogance were replaced by anger. "What did you say?"

"Only bullshit comes out of your mouth. Your explanations do not make sense at all. Our people don't need the Burning Legion to survive. You have no idea what our people need these days. How can you know what they need when you haven't visited Silvermoon for nearly five years? You have no idea what our people really want. They don't need corrupting power. All they need is the assistance of the Alliance. We can defeat the Scourge together. We don't need the help of these corrupted fel-sucking bastards. The sin'dorei are better without them and without you."

Kael'thas' eyes narrowed again, his face became as red as a tomato. "I AM YOUR KING! HOW DARE YOU SAY THIS! INSOLENCE! I SHOULD EXECUTE YOU FOR DARING TO MOCK ME, THE SUN KING!"

"The Sin'dorei don't need a king like you. They don't need an arrogant, over-confident and evil traitor as a king. My older sister is a way better ruler than you are," replied Vereesa. Her eyes were narrowed, a frown could be seen on her forehead and her fists were clenched. She was slightly upset.

Kael'thas was even more upset than before. He looked at his advisors as he pointed at Vereesa. "Thaladred! Telonicus! Bring me the head of this bitch. Capernian! Lord Sanguinar! Take care of the others. They are heavily exhausted from the previous fight, so you should be able to deal with them. Bring me heads of everyone who wants to stop me."

Kael'thas' advisors didn't hesitate to follow their orders. Capernian began to cast a spell and Telonicus pulled bombs from his belt. Thaladred and Lord Sanguinar moved towards the group.

Sylvanas didn't have any arrows left, so she drew her swords from her belt and took a defensive posture. She noticed out of the corner of her eyes that Vereesa and Verena did the same. Liadrin and Kaelor held their weapons tightly, thoughtful looks could be seen on their faces.

Sylvanas looked at Aethas and Rommath, noticing that their gazes rested on Capernian while they were casting spells. She assumed that the mages were either trying to counter her spell or creating a barrier that would protect them from Capernian's spells. It was also possible that one of them would attack the grand astromancer.

Sylvanas was glad that they would take care of Capernian so that she and the others could deal with the three other advisors without having to fear that the mage would throw powerful spells at them. She didn't know how powerful each individual was but she considered Telonicus as the biggest threat. He was called master engineer for a reason, so she assumed that his bombs could cause a lot of destruction. She knew it would be best to get rid of him first. She doubted he was a powerful fighter in close combat but she knew that reaching him wouldn't be easy. She was sure that Thaladred and Lord Sanguinar would do anything to keep them away from Telonicus.

Sylvanas clenched her fist and bit her bottom lip, focusing the last remains of dark magic in her body. She did not have much power left, so she had to use the remains wisely. She was hoping that she could kill Telonicus with a precise hit. Knocking him out would do it too. As long as no bombs will be thrown, she had nothing to worry about.

Sylvanas made a large leap to the side, getting out of the explosion radius at the last moment. She looked at Telonicus who had just disarmed another bomb. It landed next to Sylvanas who didn't hesitate to kick it away. The bomb exploded in flight before it could even get near an advisor. She saw Lord Sanguinar and Thaladred coming closer. They were ready to attack her but they didn't get the chance to do so. Kaelor and Liadrin rushed past Sylvanas and charged at them.

Sylvanas turned her head a little, spotting Vereesa and Verena fighting demons that had appeared out of nowhere. She assumed that Capernian had summoned them. Rommath and Aethas were exchanging spells with Capernian who managed to block most of them. She was wounded but not wounded enough for Sylvanas' liking.

Sylvanas saw another bomb flying through the air. She dodged it and the following bombs that left holes in the floor. She noticed that some of them exploded immediately when they came in contact with something while others exploded after a certain amount of time like the one she had thrown back at Telonicus earlier. She noticed that they looked different than those who exploded immediately. They were a different model.

She found out that they needed twenty seconds to explode after Telonicus disarmed them. Mostly they laid on the floor for six or seven seconds before they exploded which meant they flew around thirteen seconds. Considering that, Sylvanas realized that they would never reach the master engineer if she would throw them back. At least without a little help.

Sylvanas picked up the nearest bomb that landed next to her feet and threw it back. She had used the last remains of her power to increase the flight speed. The bomb landed next to the astonished master engineer who was not able to get out of the explosion radius in time. The shock wave caused by the explosion threw him away.

Despite the pain he felt, he managed to get up. He looked down at himself, noticing that the right half of his armour was destroyed but not only that. His skin was heavily burned, parts of his flesh were missing and he was bleeding heavily. He was badly wounded but not defeated yet.

Telonicus drew his sword from his belt, his green eyes fell on Sylvanas who sprinted towards him. He waited until she had almost reached him, and then executed a swing. Sylvanas blocked his attack with one sword while she swung the other, thrusting it through Telonicus' chest. The master engineer's eyes widened, his exposed burned face reflected shock and panic. He spat blood out as Sylvanas thrust the sword deeper into his chest. She didn't hesitate to pierce her other sword through his upper body. She regarded him for a few moments before she pulled her swords out and pushed him to the floor.

Sylvanas' face showed no emotions as she watched Telonicus die. She turned her head and looked at Kael'thas who stood behind a fel green barrier. His eyes narrowed even further but his facial expression didn't change. He was still upset. She checked her surroundings, noticing that Capernian was slowly winning the upper hand over Aethas and Rommath who looked more exhausted than before. It was obvious that they would lose in the long run if they wouldn't find a source of power.

Sylvanas kneeled down next to Telonicus' corpse and began to search it for useful items. She found a few small felstones in a brown pouch that hung on his belt. She took the pouch and shouted Aethas' name before she threw it over to him. Aethas caught the pouch and opened it, his eyes widened in excitement as he saw what was in it. He gave Sylvanas a thankful nod and handed some of these small felstones to Rommath.

Aethas fired an arcane blast at Capernian, forcing her to create a barrier around herself. Both mages took advantage of this opportunity where she was distracted and absorbed the energy stored in these stones. The effects occurred immediately. They looked much less exhausted than before, their skin colour looked natural again and their eyes glowed as bright as they used to do. When they felt the power rushing through their bodies, they knew that they could defeat the grand astromancer together.

Rommath fired arcane missiles at Capernian while Aethas cast a spell that was not meant to hurt the raven-haired women. The purpose of his spell was to help Sylvanas, Vereesa and Verena. Sylvanas gave him a thankful nod as soon as she realized that her quiver had been refilled with twenty-four arrows. She pulled her bow from her back and nocked an arrow, aiming at Thaladred whose back was turned towards her. The only thing that protected him was his armour but it was not thick enough to withstand Sylvanas' arrows. They were not as good as the ones she crafted herself but they were good enough to pierce through Thaladred's back armour.

A painful scream escaped the Darkener's lips as the first arrow bored its way into his back. He did not turn around before the third arrow had hit him but as he did, Liadrin thrust her sword through his right hip. Thaladred's screams became louder, more blood flowed. The warrior swung his massive axe at Liadrin but she blocked it with her shield. He prepared the next swing but stopped in his movement as two arrows hit him in.

This time, they hit him in the back of his knees. That way, he was not able to move from his spot. It was not easy for him to stabilize and prevent himself from falling over. It cost him a lot of strength to keep standing on both legs. Because of that, he did not have the strength left to defend himself properly. Liadrin thought about sparring Thaladred and take him captive. Unfortunately, she didn't get the chance to decide on his fate. Sylvanas had acted without hesitation. An arrow right between Thaladred's eyes had sealed his fate.

Liadrin watched Thaladred's lifeless body falling over and landing next to her feet. She regarded the dead advisor for a few moments before she looked at Sylvanas who had a murderous expression on her face. Liadrin had to admit that the face the Banshee Queen made scared her. She had no doubt that getting on Sylvanas' bad side while she was making that face would mean certain death for everyone. Never before had she seen such a frightening expression on Sylvanas' face.

Nevertheless, Liadrin dared to ask her a question. "Was this really necessary?"

"The guilty deserve to die," Sylvanas said in a low voice. "Everyone who is responsible for what happened to my son and my husband deserves to die."

Liadrin swallowed but said nothing in return. She averted her gaze from Sylvanas and looked at Kaelor who gave his best to avoid Lord Sanguinar's blows. Her subordinate's armour was heavily damaged, telling Liadrin that he had been hit a few times by Lord Sanguinar's mighty hammer. She also noticed that his movements were slower than usual. He was exhausted and wounded while Lord Sanguinar was uninjured. Liadrin didn't hesitate to sprint over to her subordinate to help him.

Sylvanas turned to the other remaining advisor, noticing that Verena and Vereesa were fighting her as well. Capernian had been hit by several arrows and spells but she was not defeated yet. The fel and the demon blood that flowed through her veins had made her much stronger and more resistant.

Capernian looked much different than before. She was much taller, her skin was crimson-red and covered by green glowing tattoos. She had transformed into a half-demon but her newly gained power was not enough to save her. She endured much longer than Sylvanas and the others had expected but she fell eventually. It had been one of Verena's arrows that had ended the grand astromancer's life.

Sylvanas averted her gaze from Lord Sanguinar's corpse and looked at Kael'thas who looked anything but amused.

"Did your arrogant tongue became silent, Kael'thas?" Sylvanas asked mockingly.

Kael'thas gave her a sinister look. "You may have defeated my advisors but you will not defeat me. I'm playing in another league. I'll give you one last chance. Surrender and I will spare your pitiful lives. I'm sure you will serve the Legion well."

"We will never serve the Burning Legion. We will do anything necessary to stop it. I rather die than serving the Burning Legion as a slave," replied Vereesa.

"Seems I have no other choice than to kill all of you. I'm sure the Burning Legion can make use of your corpses." Kael'thas lifted his hands and began to cast a spell. He was still standing behind the barrier so neither arrows nor spells could hit him and interrupt him that way.

"Liadrin, Kaelor. You need to stop the king from casting while Rommath and Aethas get rid of the barrier," said Sylvanas.

The two blood knights obeyed and ran towards the barrier. They surpassed it but were knocked away by a shock wave before they were able to reach Kael'thas. They got up quickly and ran towards him again. Sylvanas picked up Capernian's wand and drained power from it. Arcane energy as well as fel energy were stored in the wand but Sylvanas was able to drain both energies. Absorbing the fel energy felt weird but she ignored that feeling and focused on the spell she had started to cast. She created a black-green sphere which she flung at the barrier. The barrier didn't shatter but it was significantly damaged. Together with Rommath and Aethas, she managed to destroy it faster than expected.

Vereesa and Verena let their arrows loose as soon as the barrier was gone but Kael'thas wouldn't be Kael'thas if he wouldn't be able to protect himself from such ordinary arrows. The arrows ended in the floating ice shield he had created in front of him. Kael'thas made a gesture with his hand, throwing the ice shield at his opponents.

Rommath managed to dodge it at the last moment but Aethas didn't. The shield shattered as it came in contact with him. The magister fell backwards and landed on the floor, painful noises escape his lips. His robe was torn, he was bleeding from a dozen cuts in his upper body and sharp ice splinters stuck in his flesh.

Kaelor, who had been thrown away again in the meantime, rushed to Aethas and kneeled down next to him. He put his hands on the magister's torso and started to treat him. Rommath created a barrier around them before he prepared a fireball. Sylvanas shot a few arrows and then even black-green spheres. Some of them hit Kael'thas but only did little damage while others were blocked or avoided by him. He was much stronger than she had expected.

"Do you seriously think that your pathetic magic will help you against me? You haven't realized that you cannot win this battle. Or you have realized it but you don't want to accept it. You cannot win. How often do I have to demonstrate my superiority?"

Kael'thas created a fireball which would have hit Sylvanas and caused serious burning wounds to her if she wouldn't have jumped to the side at the last moment. "You are pretty fast, Sylvanas. Let us see how you fare when your world is turned upside down," Kael'thas shouted as he completed another spell.

Sylvanas was lifted in the air, high above Kael'thas and the others. She could not move or was she able to get free. She could not even use her bow to attack Kael'thas. She was paralysed but she was not the only one. Aethas and Vereesa had also been lifted in the air and were unable to do anything just like her. All they could do was to watch what was happening.

The Banshee Queen expected Kael'thas to shoot a spell at her but fortunately, Kaelor, Liadrin, Verena and Rommath kept him busy. They did not manage to seriously injure him but at least they prevented him from killing the trapped fighters. Whatever spell kept them in the air got weaker eventually. Sylvanas, her sister and Aethas sank and landed on the floor eventually. They felt dizzy at first, Vereesa almost vomited, but somehow managed to hold it back. Their heads stopped spinning eventually so that they were able to re-join the battle.

The first thing Sylvanas did was to aim at the phoenix the mad king had summoned. She shot three arrows in total, the phoenix avoided two of them but it was hit by the last one. The arrow stuck in its left side, blood flowed but it was still able to fly. It spat fire at Sylvanas but she avoided the fiery breath by ducking beneath it. She fired another arrow, hitting the creature's left wing. It hurt her to injure such a beautiful creature but she had no other choice. It would burn her alive if she wouldn't kill it first.

The phoenix crashed to the floor not far away from her but it was not dead yet. It was still alive but not for long. Sylvanas ended its suffering with a clean shot, watching it dissolve. Her gaze rested on the phoenix's ashes for a few moments before she lifted her head and looked at Kael'thas.

The mad king looked less self-confident than before. Sylvanas did not know what exactly happened because she had been busy fighting the phoenix but she assumed that her companions had shown him what they were capable of.

Kael'thas' robe was dirty and torn at some points, he was bleeding but none of his wounds were serious. He had only suffered cuts, some were longer and deeper than others. No yawning wounds or broken bones so far. Kael'thas was pretty healthy but annoyed. Annoyed and angry. He was anything but amused, the arrogant look on his face had vanished so had his over-confidence.

Sylvanas was not sure if he had realized how serious the situation was for him. She was not sure if he was aware that he was playing with his own life. He no longer had the upper hand. Both sides were equally strong and it was only a matter of time until Kael'thas would have used up most of his mana. Some of Sylvanas' companions were slightly injured but they were not exhausted.

Sylvanas fired an arrow, a ghostly smile crept on her lips as a painful scream escaped the mad king's lips. He broke the shaft of the arrow but the tip still remained in his shoulder. He did not dare to pull it out, knowing he would leave an open wound that way. He cursed loudly as he avoided an arcane missile at the last moment but he was not able to prevent getting hit by a shock wave cast by Rommath. Kael'thas was thrown away and collided with the wall behind him.

Sylvanas shot a dark-green sphere at him followed by several arrows but the mage was back on his feet before the missiles reached him. Sylvanas had no idea why he was already up again nor did she know how he had managed to create a barrier within less than a second. The barrier was still intact after it blocked Aethas' and Rommath's spells. Not even Liadrin's and Kaelor's weapons damaged it. It almost seemed as if the barrier was indestructible. Sylvanas quickly found out the reason for that. It was not indestructible. It was just refreshed constantly. It was constantly provided by energy emitted by the four pillar-shaped purple crystals.

Kael'thas hide behind the barrier and no one of Sylvanas' comrades had any idea how to destroy it. They couldn't surpass it nor could they destroy it as long as the crystals were still intact. They also stood behind the barrier, meaning that they couldn't be destroyed either. There was nothing Sylvanas and her group could do about it.

Kael'thas rose in the air until he was on the same height as the pointed ends of the crystals. A wide grin could be seen on his lips as he began to drain power from all four crystals. "I have not come this far to be stopped! The future I have planned will not be jeopardized! Now you will taste true power!" he yelled.

He drained more and more power, his aura was getting stronger and stronger and his wounds healed on their own. Whatever he was doing, Sylvanas doubted it was anything good. Kael'thas grew a little in size, the colour of his eyes became much darker and his skin grew paler. Suddenly, the glass window exploded, the glass splinters were sucked out into the nothingness. Kael'thas hovered in the air much longer but then his body was finally lowered until his feet touched the floor.

The barrier vanished the moment he stood steady. No one hesitated to shot their prepared spells and nocked arrows at the king. Kael'thas lifted his left hand, making the spells and arrows stop in flight. His lips formed a wide grin as he spotted the stunned expressions on the faces of his opponents. None of them had expected him to be able to do that.

He had not only stopped their spells in flight, but he also sent them back to their creators. Aethas was hit by his own spell, a frost bolt, Rommath managed to avoid his fireball at the last moment. Sylvanas had shot another arrow in the meantime which collided with the returning arrow. Both arrows broke in the process, the pieces landed on the floor.

Verena split her arrow into halves with her sword before it could have hit her. Only Vereesa had not been able to avoid hers. The arrow's flight path had been altered, so it had not hit her head but her right shoulder instead. Her face was distorted in pain, painful noises escaped her lips. She did not drop her bow but with the arrow in her shoulder, she was not able to use it. Kaelor and Liadrin were not in her reach, so they could not treat her. They were not far away from Kael'thas who had made his runeblade appear in the meantime. He carried Felo'melorn in his right hand and already prepared a spell with his other hand.

Liadrin and Kaelor approached him but they were thrown away the next moment. They needed much longer to get up than the last time, telling Kael'thas and everyone else that they were not as fit as they had been before. The battle had exhausted them just like everyone else. Only Kael'thas didn't seem to get was overloaded with power that seemed to be had no idea how they should defeat a maniac who had access to unlimited power. Kael'thas was right, he was playing in another league. None of them was a match for him. Even united they were not able to defeat him.

Just at the moment when Sylvanas thought that all hope was lost, when Kael'thas had thrown them onto the floor after he had lifted them into the air, familiar creatures entered the room. Dozens of soldiers of the Alliance led by Jaina, Tyrande and Malfurion didn't hesitate to attack the mad king who was as surprised as everyone else. Neither Sylvanas and her companions nor Kael'thas had expected reinforcements to arrive. Sylvanas' group had thought that they were on their own, some of them had even accepted their deaths. They were more than just relieved that reinforcements were there to save them and help them defeating Kael'thas.

Despite the reinforcements, the battle endured much longer than expected. Several warriors were wounded, many lost their lives, some of those had been thrown out of the broken window.

After a while, they finally got the proof that Kael'thas' power was not limitless. Kael'thas' aura was much weaker, the first signs of exhaustion showed up. He fought tooth and nail, killing more warriors of the Alliance. But he was not able to defeat everyone. There were too many warriors left.

Finally, Kael'thas dropped to his knees after he had spent his last reserves. He was breathing heavily, his face was covered in sweat and blood was flowing out of his mouth and out of dozens of wounds. The blood that stuck on his robe had a much darker colour than the partly torn fabric. Most of the blood was his. He was badly wounded and heavily exhausted. He had reached his limit. He had not believed that the Alliance could defeat him. He was not surprised but shocked. Shocked that his powers had not been enough to kill all of his opponents.

"This is impossible...," he muttered as he tried to stand up but his strength left him, causing him to fall to the floor. He laid in his own blood and tried to get up. He didn't have the strength to do that but at least he was able to crawl to the nearest column and lean against it.

His vision blurred, became clear again a few moments later but then blurred again. The clarity of his sight changed from moment to moment. Nevertheless, he was able to recognize the seven creatures that had approached him. They had formed a circle around him and regarded him with grim looks on their faces.

His gaze fell on his former friend who was his daughter-in-law at the same time. "All I did... was for the glory of my people...I just wanted the best for them..."

"Making them slaves is the whole opposite of the best. Your actions would have only led to the extinction of the sin'dorei. The Burning Legion would have used them as cannon fodder until no one would have been left," Sylvanas replied.

"No... that's not true... Kil'jaeden promised me..."

"Kil'jaeden is not a trustworthy creature. Anyone who trusts a demon is a fool," Liadrin hissed sharply.

Kael'thas spat blood out. He turned his head a little, his good eye fell on Liadrin. His other eye was swollen. "I always thought of the sin'dorei...whenever I made a decision...My only intention was to help our people...The Burning Legion...is the only way to guarantee the survival of the sin'dorei..."

"If you seriously believe that, you are really lost," responded Vereesa.

Soft laughter escaped Kael'thas' lips. "I never imagined that my people would be the ones to bring me down...Destiny is ironic and cruel...so is life..."

No one responded to him. They just stood there and watched the defeated king as he drew his last breaths. They witnessed the last moments of his life and heard his last words. "Kelrian...I am...so...sorry."

Kael'thas' gaze became blank, his body became limp and his head fell to the side. The six elves and the human regarded him silently for several minutes. Tyrande was the one who broke the silence by clearing her throat. "We had no other choice other than to stop him. We saved Azeroth from another tyrant."

"I wish there would have been another way to stop his tyranny," Sylvanas said quietly, her voice reflected sadness. "He was a good friend and my father-in-law...And now he is just...dead."

Vereesa walked over to her sister and put a hand on her shoulder, looking at her in a comforting way. "We did all we could. We tried everything in our power to stop him without killing him. We even offered him to surrender but he rejected our offer. His life was in his hands. There was nothing we could have done for him."

Sylvanas nodded but said nothing.

"He was my friend too," said Jaina. "His death affects me the same way as it affects you."

Sylvanas looked at Jaina but said nothing to her. There was a small amount of sadness in Jaina's eyes.

"Illidan will try to take over Outland as soon as he hears of Kael'thas' death," said Malfurion.

"Then we have to stop him too," responded Liadrin. "He is nothing but another tyrant we must stop for the sake of Azeroth."

Sylvanas noticed the sadness in Tyrande's eyes that disappeared rather quickly as she put on a brave face and nodded. "We must," the high priestess repeated quietly.

"We should bring the corpses to Dalaran and tell the draenei that they can occupy their fortress again. We should inform the other leaders of our victory," said Liadrin.

"We should keep an eye out on Illidan and his forces but we shouldn't do anything about him yet. Our soldiers are exhausted and need to rest. They need time to recover. Maybe we allow them to rest for a week or two before we send them back to Outland. Despite the circumstances, I think we should celebrate this victory. A celebration will keep our soldiers motivated and increase their morale," said Malfurion.

"I'm not really in the mood to celebrate," muttered Sylvanas.

"What did you say?" Malfurion asked.

"Nothing of importance," Sylvanas replied and turned away. Her gaze fell on Felo'melorn that laid in a puddle of blood. Kael'thas' blood. She walked over to it and picked it up, regarding it thoughtfully. She noticed the power rushing through her body as she touched it. She had automatically absorbed a small portion of the stored energy without meaning to do so. She hadn't intended to do it but it had happened nevertheless.

"I should give Felo'melorn to Lyandra in case my son didn't make it," Sylvanas said quietly. Vereesa's face reflected worry as she looked at her older sister. She got closer to Sylvanas, wanting to comfort her but Sylvanas had already started to walk towards the room's exit. Vereesa exchanged looks with Verena who was as worried as she was and then hurried after her sister.