Chapter 77: Parting From An Old Friend

Light blinded Kelrian. It was brighter than any other source of light he had ever witnessed. Even brighter than the sun. He held his hands in front of his eyes and closed them but he could still recognize the light behind his closed eyelids. It didn't stop shining.

He heard noises. A voice whispering but he couldn't understand what it was telling him. It was too quiet to recognize the words it was producing. Kelrian opened his mouth, wanting to say something but no words escaped his lips. No sounds were produced by his throat. He couldn't see nor could he speak.

There was a warm feeling inside his chest. A feeling that was spreading out quickly. It reached every part of his body. His toes started to tingle and later his entire skin. But it was not an unpleasant tingle. On the contrary, it was pleasant and endurable.

Kelrian noticed that the more time passed the louder and better recognizable the voice became. After some time, it was no longer as quiet as a whisper but a loud clearly recognisable voice instead. A voice that was speaking to him.

"Kelrian," it said.

"Who are you?" Kelrian asked. He was not in a panic, he was calm and relaxed. He knew nothing bad was going to happen wherever he was.

"I'm the voice of the Sunwell. You have once known me as the naaru M'uru. I'm no longer bound to my destructible form, I'm one with the Sunwell but you know that already."

"I've heard your voice in my head before but it has sounded different to your current voice. Why did it change?"

"You are inside the Sunwell, we are speaking directly to each other and not telepathically. I assume that's the reason why you perceive my voice differently."

"I'm inside the Sunwell? How comes?" Kelrian asked surprised. He tried to remember anything before getting there but the only memory he could retrieve was reaching the top of the Black Temple. He didn't remember anything that had happened after that.

"You have been mortally wounded by Illidan Stormrage. You have been brought here by your son, your cousin and your student."

A thoughtful look appeared on Kelrian's face. "I'm inside the Sunwell... Does that mean I'm dead?"

"No," M'uru responded. "You are not. You are recovering from your mortal wound but you are not dead."

Kelrian opened his eyes when he realised that the blinding light had become a lot weaker and was no longer blinding him even though he had his eyes closed. He couldn't recognize his surroundings. Everything was golden around him but it didn't seem he was in a room or an enclosed place. It almost appeared as if he was in the nothingness.

"How long do my wounds need to heal?" Kelrian asked.

"Now that you ask, your wounds have already healed indeed."

"Does that mean I can go now? I bet my son, Liadrin and Whitemane are worried sick. Not to mention that the chances are high that Sylvanas already knows about my condition."

"You can but be more careful next time. We can heal your wounds but we cannot bring you back from the dead. Not so easily at least. It must not happen again that someone fatally injures you."

Kelrian nodded. "I agree with you on this point. I'll be more careful from now on, promised."

"Good," M'uru's voice sounded pleased. "You are ready to go then."

Suddenly the light became brighter again. So bright that it blinded Kelrian and forced him to close his eyes. But the blinding didn't retain so long this time. The blinding faded and eventually stopped after several minutes. Kelrian opened his eyes again, finding out that he stood in the middle of the Sunwell. Guards and civilians stood around the Sunwell and regarded him. The situation he found himself in was the same as on the day of his rebirth. The sin'dorei were very surprised to see him. Surprised but also pleased.

He spotted Raesh and Liadrin not far away from the Sunwell. They walked towards the fount but they didn't dare to set a foot in. They waited for him at the edge of the Sunwell. Kelrian didn't hesitate to make his way over to the edge, leaving the Sunwell as soon as possible.

Before he could do anything, Raesh threw his arms around him and hugged him. "I was afraid of losing you," he whispered.

A small smile appeared on Kelrian's lips as he put his hand on Raesh's head and ran his fingers through his hair. "I don't die so easily."

He hugged his son for a few more moments before he pulled away and turned to his cousin, hugging her as well.

"Your wound looked pretty bad. We didn't know if you would make it. I'm glad the Sunwell took care of your wounds. No matter what our healers tried, they weren't able to treat the wound. It was the Sunwell that saved you once again," Liadrin spoke.

"I wouldn't know what to do without it. I'm glad it chose me, otherwise..." Kelrian didn't finish the sentence, knowing that his family knew what would have happened if the Sunwell wouldn't have chosen him as its avatar.

"All that matters is that you are alive," responded Liadrin. "Sylvanas will be very happy to hear that."

"Did you tell her about my wound?"

Raesh nodded. "We did. We didn't want to at first because we didn't want her to freak out, but we had no idea how long you will be in the Sunwell, so we told her everything. She would have found out sooner or later, so we saw no point in hiding the truth from her."

"How did she react? How many days have I been in there?"

"Five days. Mother was very worried at first but we managed to calm her down and prevent her from freaking out and letting out her frustration on someone."

Kelrian chuckled. "Your mother can be very... emotional when it comes to me. When it comes to our family in general. Keeping her emotions in check is not always easy for her."

"You should see her as soon as possible," Raesh suggested.

"You are right. Where is she?"

"Where she usually is most of the time."

"Undercity."

Raesh nodded. "Exactly."

"Doesn't surprise me at all. Is there anything I need to know?"

The corners of Raesh's mouth turned down, sadness appeared in his eyes. "Well...Yes, there is something you need to know..."

Kelrian raised a brow, worry appeared on his face. "What is it?"

"It's about Marcus...He didn't make it...I'm so sorry."

Kelrian was silent, his eyes were widened in shock. He didn't want to believe what he had just heard. He knew Marcus since the fall of Quel'Thals, they had gone together through thick and thin, had fought together against many enemies and survived battles that had been thought lost from the start.

After Zetai and Nathanos had distanced themselves from Kelrian, Marcus had become his closest friend over the years. His best friend. And now he was dead. Gone forever. Kelrian will never be able to spend time with him again.

He didn't want to believe the sad truth but he had to. He knew that ignoring the truth will lead to nowhere. He had to accept it and find a way to move on.

"Did he fight well?" Kelrian asked after having been silent for five minutes.

It was Liadrin who answered his question. "He did. He fought honourably and gave his best. He killed many demons."

"How did he die?"

"Tyrande told me that Maiev tried to kill Illidan by throwing her warglaive after him. Velestra reflected the weapon and saved Illidan that way. Unfortunately, the weapon was not stopped, only its flight path was altered... It hit Marcus..."

A sad sigh escaped Kelrian's lips. "I see."

Liadrin stepped closer to him and put a hand on his cheek. "I'm so sorry, Kel. I knew you two were pretty close."

Kelrian looked at her, noticing the apologizing look on her face. "It's not your fault, neither is it Dan...Velestra's vault. Maiev was the one who threw the warglaive that killed Marcus."

"You could see it that way," Raesh responded.

"It was an accident. An unfortunate accident," Liadrin added.

"What happened to Maiev? I bet Tyrande was pretty mad at her."

"She was taken to Darnassus to be punished for her actions. That's all we know."

Kelrian nodded. "I see."

Silence lasted for several minutes. Uncomfortable silence. No one dared to say anything because they didn't know what to say. They stood there awkwardly, staring at anything and anyone except for each other.

It was Raesh who finally ended the awkward silence between them. "What are you going to do now?"

"I don't know, to be honest. I would love to go to your mother because she must be pretty worried but... I don't know... I want to say goodbye to Marcus first. I don't want to go to your mother while I cannot stop thinking about him."

"That makes sense, I think," Raesh replied.

"Was he buried or burned already?"

Liadrin responded to him. "His corpse was burned yesterday. Originally, we wanted to wait for you but we didn't know when you would return. We didn't even know if you would make it. His family didn't want to wait any longer, so his funeral took place yesterday. They burned him and buried his ashes."

"Burning him was the right choice. That way, no necromancer can raise him from the dead. He will not be forced to serve the Scourge, the Legion or any necromancer."

"If you want to say goodbye to him, you can visit his grave."

"Where is it?" Kelrian asked.

"His family lives in Stormwind since the Fall of Lordaeron but they still decided to erect his grave on a graveyard in the lands that had once belonged to Lordaeron. A graveyard near their former home."

"Near Brill," Kelrian concluded.

Raesh nodded. "Exactly."

"I'll go there then."

"I'll join you."

Kelrian's gaze fell on his son. "You don't have to."

"I know but I want to keep you company."

Kelrian put a hand on his son's shoulder and patted it. "I appreciate that." His gaze fell on Liadrin. "What about you?"

"I wish I could join, but I have other tasks to do. Illidan might be defeated but the Scourge is not. Your sister-in-law wants me to join her at the next meeting. We'll discuss how to better protect Quel'Thalas from any future attacks by the Scourge or other foes," declared Liadrin.

"I understand. Tell Alleria that I'm alright."

Liadrin nodded. "I will. She'll be delighted to hear that."

Kelrian pulled Liadrin in a quick hug, putting a kiss on her forehead. "Anyway, I forgot to thank you for saving my life."

Liadrin shook her head. "No need to thanks us. Everyone would have done the same."

"Not everyone would have come to the idea to bring me back to the Sunwell. I am in your debts."

Liadrin made a gesture with her hand, telling Kelrian to drop it. "You saved numerous lives in the past. You do everything in your power to stop all evil and protect the Alliance. You owe us nothing. On the contrary, many owe their lives to you. Without you, we would have lost a lot more soldiers. They are in your debts. You are important to me and I would never forgive myself if something happens to you while I have been around and could have saved you."

Kelrian gave her a warm smile. "I still want to thank you."

"I appreciate that. I must go now. See you soon."

"See you soon."

Kelrian watched Liadrin leave and then looked at Raesh who had already started focusing his power to create a portal. Kelrian didn't need to ask to which destination Raesh was creating the portal. He just knew that Raesh was making the portal to Brill.

It turned out he was right. They came out in the middle of Brill, right next to the statue that had been built to honour Sylvanas. "It still amazes me how accurately the statue is in every detail," Raesh expressed.

"It is not as accurate as you might think," Kelrian commentated with a small smile on his lips.

Raesh raised an eyebrow and tilted his head a little. "What do you mean?"

"They screwed up the proportions of her breasts. Your mother's breasts are bigger than what the statue shows."

"You must know it better than anyone else."

Kelrian grinned. "Of course, I do."

Raesh rolled his eyes but said nothing in return, averting his gaze from the statue. He checked their surroundings, noticing that lots of Forsaken stared at them in surprise. They had not expected them. A familiar Forsaken made their way to the sin'dorei, greeting them properly. "We have not expected your sudden appearance, Lord Sunstrider. We believed you were still inside the Sunwell."

"I was until an hour ago. The Sunwell healed my wounds and restored my power."

"We are glad to have you back. I don't want to imagine what would happen if you wouldn't have made it. Lady Sylvanas would go wild and every Forsaken would have to fear for their lives. Thanks to the gods that you made it."

"I made it, so you don't have to be afraid of losing your head, Executor."

Relief could be seen in Executor Zygand's eyes. Curiosity appeared a few seconds later. "I'm wondering why you travelled to Brill and not to Undercity directly if you want to see Lady Sylvanas."

"We want to visit the local graveyard first before we go to her. I need to say goodbye to an old friend who died in the battle against Illidan."

"You are speaking of Marcus, aren't you?" a nearby Forsaken asked. It was a female with short dark hair who had an artificial lower jaw made of iron. Judging by her outfit, she was an apothecary. She wore long black robes with a hood that was pulled up.

"I am. He was my best friend. You knew him, don't you?"

Sadness appeared in her eyes. "I did. We were a couple in life until the Fall of Lordaeron. We met again two years later but...I've changed and he has changed too... Unlike you, he didn't like the fact of loving an undead..." She stopped speaking, pain was clearly visible in her crimson eyes.

"I'm sorry to hear that... Marcus never spoke of you and he didn't spend much time with the Forsaken either. He usually kept his distance to the Forsaken."

"Not every living creature is as accepting as you are," commented Zygand. "Many mortals are still afraid of us and even hate us."

Kelrian frowned. "And I thought my relationship with Sylvanas makes people understand that the Forsaken are not evil. That they are like every other creature."

The female Forsaken shook her head. "Your relationship made things better but it didn't solve all problems."

"I doubt there is much you can do, father," Raesh said. "There will always be people who do not accept the truth, no matter what you do."

Kelrian sighed. "You are right about that."

The female Forsaken spoke again. "As I've said, your relationship really helped. It makes us stand in a better light. The fact that the Chosen of the Light is together with our leader makes out a lot. More and more servants of the light stopped regarding us as abominations or freaks. There is still a large portion that does this but it has become much smaller over the past years."

"Unfortunately, there is still a lack of tolerance and acceptance when we look at societies as a whole. Hopefully, it will get better with time."

She nodded. "I hope so too."

"I didn't ask for your name yet, did I? I'm sorry if I didn't."

She shook her head. "No, you didn't but that's okay. "I'm Elis. Elis Blightheart."

"It was a pleasure to meet you, Elis."

Elis smiled. "Same counts for me, Chosen."

"Please call me, Kelrian. I hate being called by my titles."

"So be it, Kelrian."

Kelrian returned her smile. "I better go now. I want to visit Sylvanas afterwards and I don't want to let her wait for too long. Do me a favour and do not tell her that I was here. I want to surprise her."

"As you wish," Zygand responded.

"I won't need long anyway. I do not plan to stare at his grave for days."

"Make sense."

"I'll go then if you don't mind."

"Why should I mind?" Zygand asked. "Even if I would, I am not in the position that my opinion matters to you. I'm beneath you when it comes to rank and so on."

"That doesn't mean that your opinion doesn't matter. For me at least. I'm not sure what others think about it but I always listen to the opinion of others no matter what rank they have."

Kelrian noticed that Zygand wanted to say something but he held back in the end and chose to say nothing. "You can speak freely to me, Zygand. I won't judge you."

"I know you won't but the Dark Lady is different in that aspect. She doesn't like to get..."

"Criticised?"

Zygand nodded his head with hesitation. "Yes. The last Forsaken who publicly criticised her was executed."

Kelrian's lips formed a thin line, a thoughtful look appeared on his face. "I need to talk to her about this matter."

"Try your luck, Kelrian. I bet you have more luck than her sisters. The Dark Lady can be really...," Zygand's voice became quieter until it was barely louder than a whisper. He checked his surroundings, making sure no other Forsaken but Elis was near them. "Stubborn. She hates being criticized."

"I assume the critic is justifiable, otherwise, people wouldn't dare to tell her what bothers them about her style of leadership."

Zygand nodded hesitantly.

"As I said, I will talk to her. She listens to me, sometimes at least."

"Good luck, you will need it."

Kelrian gave him a small smile. "I wish you a good day, Zygand. To you too, Elise"

"We wish the same for you," both Forsaken said.

Kelrian and Raesh didn't hesitate to leave Brill as quick as possible. They got surprised and curious looks from almost every Forsaken in Brill. Kelrian could even feel the gazes of the guards on him after they had left the town. Only when Brill vanished out of his sight, he no longer felt them.

They followed the main road and eventually came to the local graveyard. It was not guarded as expected. The dead had been raised when Arthas and the Scourge had marched through these lands and no one had ever been buried in Tirisfal Glades ever since, meaning that there were no corpses beneath the ground that could be raised. That was the reason why no guards were needed.

The graveyard looked much neater than expected. Every grave that had been opened by the Scourge had been filled again. Most gravestones had been repaired or replaced, there were even flowers on some graves.

Kelrian and Raesh didn't need long to find the grave they were looking for. It was the freshest of all, even the flowers looked fresh, telling Kelrian that someone had visited it recently.

"A spell hangs on the flowers. Someone wanted to make sure that they don't wilt so fast," Raesh said.

"He has many mages as friends, I assume that one of them did that."

"I can conjure a bunch of flowers if you want," Raesh offered.

Kelrian glanced at his son and gave him a small smile. "That would be great."

Raesh muttered a few words, making gestures with his hands. A few moments later a bouquet of flowers appeared. He muttered more sentences to put a spell on them. A spell that keeps them fresh much longer.

"Thank you," Kelrian said as he took the flowers and bent down to put them on the grave. He stood up again, looking down on the tombstone. He was silent at first but then he started to speak. "I'm sorry things ended like this, Marcus. I wish I would have been there to save you but I wasn't. I failed you, Marcus. You didn't deserve to die, you were a good person. I'm so sorry." Kelrian took a deep breath, collecting his thoughts. "I just hope you are in a better place now. Hopefully better than this cruel world."

Kelrian regarded the grave much longer but he turned away eventually, looking at his son.

"Are you alright, father?" Raesh asked.

Kelrian nodded. "I am."

"I didn't spend much time with Marcus but I knew he was a good guy and he was important to you. I'm sorry for your loss."

Kelrian put a hand on Raesh's shoulder. "Thank you. I have lost him but at least I didn't lose you."

Raesh smiled. "You saved my life. Without you, I would have fallen from the top of the Black Temple."

"You are my son, my everything. Of course, I would save you. Even if I would have to give my life to save you, I wouldn't hesitate."

"I would do the same for you."

Kelrian pulled his son in a hug, patting his back a few times. They stayed like this for a few minutes, saying nothing at all and enjoying the comfortable silence. They pulled away eventually, smiling at each other.

"We should go now. I don't want your mother to worry any longer. Are you coming with me?"

The apologizing look that appeared on Raesh's face gave Kelrian the impression that he wouldn't go with him. "I wish I could but I promised Kaelor to join dinner with his parents. I'm meeting them for the first time."

Kelrian put a hand on his son's shoulder, patting it a few times. The smile on his lips was unmistakable. "I understand that this meeting is very important for you. I wish you good luck, Raesh. I have no doubt they will like you."

The mage nodded. "I hope so."

"You got this."

Raesh nodded again but said nothing in return.

"I'll see you another time then. Good luck and have fun."

Raesh smiled. "Thanks." He looked at his father for a few more moments before he said goodbye to him.

Kelrian watched his son creating a portal. Raesh looked at him one last time before he stepped through the portal that was closed a few moments later.

He didn't hesitate to leave the graveyard and make his way to Undercity.