Chapter 13: Quel'Danas

"It's not looking good, my king. The undead managed to get through the gate and kill everyone that crosses their way. We evacuated as many citizens as possible but we weren't able to bring everyone to Quel'Danas. More than half of the population died already. We can only hope Arthas Menethil won't find a way to cross the sea. If he does, we will all die. There is no other place where we can retreat."

High King Anasterian Sunstrider turned his head, looking at the ranger who spoke to him. Lor'themar was standing next to the bed in which the king rested since his personal doctor had told him to do that.

"We can only hope for the best. This monster has managed to get past both gates, which I have never thought would be possible. Who knows what he is capable of? Maybe he even finds a way to cross the sea."

"I doubt he will," responded Lor'themar. "He burned all of Lordaeron's ships in Northrend and our remaining ships are docking at this island. There is no way..." Lor'themar stopped speaking as someone knocked at the door. He and the king turned their heads and looked at the door. "Come in," shouted Anasterian.

The door was opened a moment later and Melisandra entered the room. She looked worried and didn't hesitate to walk over to her husband. Anasterian raised an eyebrow and gave her a look which was a mix of worry and curiosity. He expected that she had bad news for him. "What's wrong?" he asked and lifted his upper body up, leaning against the headboard of the wooden bed.

Melisandra's voice was much weaker than usual and reflected insecurity and concern. "Arthas Menethil froze the water and created a bridge of ice which allows his undead army to get over the sea. They are coming, maybe they have already arrived on this island. What should we do?"

Fear was reflected by her eyes. She was afraid of the undead army that would come for them. She was worried about her family and about her people. She didn't want to die. She didn't want anyone to die. She wished that everything was just a bad nightmare but the sad truth was that it was not. What was happening was real. Arthas Menethil would come to Quel'Danas and would kill everyone who would get in the way of his undead army.

The same fear was reflected in the eyes of Lor'themar and the king. They couldn't believe what the queen had just said but the look on her face told them that she was serious about this. Arthas Menethil was coming for the remaining survivors. He wanted to kill everyone.

Anasterian got up from his bed against his wife's protest and walked over to the display case which contained his armour. He stroked over a blue glowing rune that was engraved into the glass, murmured a few words and deactivated the spell that prevented that anyone could open the glass case.

"What are you doing, Anasterian?" his wife asked worriedly and put her hand on his shoulder.

He turned his head and looked at her over his shoulder. "What a king must do."

Melisandra shook her head in disbelief. She didn't like the idea of her husband leaving their room to fight Arthas Menethil. He was not in the condition to fight anyone. Especially not a death knight who had even defeated the famous Ranger-General. He wouldn't stand a chance against him. She couldn't allow him to start a fight that was lost from the beginning. She couldn't allow him to lose his life for nothing.

She grabbed her husband's arm and tried to pull him away but he resisted. She hadn't expected him to still be so strong after the doctor had diagnosed his disease and ordered him to take things easy. His physical strength surprised her, so she stopped pulling on his arm. She looked into her husband's eyes and recognized determination in them.

She knew that look well enough. She knew that she wouldn't manage to convince him of the opposite no matter how hard she would try. Once he put something into his head, he wouldn't stop until he got what he wanted. He was the king of the high elves so that was usually the case. He got what he wanted most of the times. His wife didn't dare to contradict him, knowing she wouldn't manage to convince him to stay in bed.

"Arthas Menethil must be stopped. It's my duty as the king to protect my people. I have failed my people so far so I can't afford to fail again. This bastard must be stopped, otherwise, he will kill the remaining survivors."

"You won't be able to stop him alone, Anasterian. That's suicide."

A sad smile appeared on his lips. "I have no other choice. I have to try it."

Sadness was clearly visible in the queen's face. She didn't want her husband to face Arthas alone. She didn't want him to go because she didn't want to lose him. But she knew he was right, even though she didn't want to admit it. It was his duty to protect their people, so he had to go. It hurt her to imagine losing him. She didn't want to lose him. He had been very powerful when he had been much younger but he had become weaker over the past centuries.

She assumed that he may have been able to defeat the death knight in his prime but he wouldn't be able to do that these days. He needed someone at his side who would help him to defeat the evil human. Someone who was powerful too. His son Kael'thas was still in Dalaran, so he wouldn't be able to help him. Melisandra had no other choice than going with her husband and support him.

"I will join you," she said and opened the display case, ignoring the surprised look on her husband's face. Anasterian was about to say something but the younger queen put her index fingers on his pale lips, silencing him. "You can't do this alone."

She removed her finger, stared into his eyes until he nodded. She helped him to put his armour on, then she turned her head and looked at Lor'themar who was still standing next to the bed. "Tell every mage you find to evacuate as many people as possible to Dalaran. We don't know how much time we can buy nor do we know if we can defeat that human traitor. That's why you have to hurry"

Lor'themar nodded and bowed to her once she had signalized him that he was dismissed. He left the royal quarters quickly and closed the door behind him. Melisandra turned back to her husband and regarded him from head to toe. He looked good in his majestic silver armour which was adorned with golden decorating elements. He had no helmet, but a blue and red coloured cape that reached down to the back of his knees.

Melisandra put her hands on his cheeks and caressed them softly while staring into his eyes. His eyes had once glowed much brighter than they were glowing nowadays. That was another sign that his time on Azeroth was limited. He had not much time left if his son wouldn't find a cure, so Melisandra saw no reason in trying to talk him out of the idea.

She knew he would rather die in battle than in bed. She hoped he wouldn't die that day. She hoped he would survive and Kael'thas would find a cure but to make that happen they had to defeat the former prince of Lordaeron. The former prince of the nation that had once been an ally of Quel'Thalas.

She pressed a soft kiss on her husband's lips before she pulled away and walked over to the shelf, pulling on a certain book that opened a hidden door next to the shelf. She looked at her husband who nodded at her and entered the room, returning a minute later. He held a special sword in his hand.

It was a curved sword, its heavily decorated handle was made out of gold. The first half of the blade was decorated in red while the other half was black. It was a runeblade which belonged to Anasterian's family for millenniums. His ancestor Dath'Remar Sunstrider was the first wielder of the legendary runeblade and the first king of Quel'Thalas. He had forged it and passed it to his successor before he died who passed it to their successor and so on until it had been Anasterian's turn to receive the runeblade and the crown.

The name of the blade was Felo'melorn and it was the most powerful sword the high elves possessed. The sword hadn't become weaker over the past thousands of years but its current owner had. Melisandra was worried that her husband wouldn't hold out long enough, so she pulled something out of the drawer of her bedside table and handed it to Anasterian. It was a large potion that contained a yellow liquid.

"What is this?" the king asked as he regarded it. He looked back at his wife, a questioning look could be seen on his creased face.

"You are not strong enough to fight Arthas. That potion restores most of the power you lost over the centuries and it alleviates the symptoms of your disease for a limited amount of time."

"Let's hope it will be enough to defeat that human and avenge the fallen. I feel sorry for Sylvanas and Lireesa. I feel sorry for everyone who fell against the undead. If only I would have been able to protect them."

Anasterian's face reflected sadness. He accused himself of letting his people down. Arthas Menethil's undead army had ravaged through Quel'Thalas while he had done nothing but lying in bed and resting. He had failed his people but he wouldn't fail them again. He was determined to end Arthas' life and his campaign.

He was brought out of his thoughts as he felt Melisandra's warm hands on his cheeks. She was staring into his eyes, giving him a small smile as she noticed that he was returning her gaze. "Everything will turn out well, my dear. We will kill Arthas and save as many people as we can. We will get through this crisis and rebuild our kingdom. It may take millenniums to reach the number of inhabitants we once had but we can do this. We just have to believe in ourselves."

She kissed him and he returned the kiss, smiling at her when he pulled away. "We should go," he said.

"Let me get my wand first and then we can go."

Anasterian nodded and watched her taking her wand out of a locked wooden chest. The wand was made out of special and enchanted wood and the tip was a large white crystal. The wand was decorated in gold and blue glowing symbols had been carved in it.

"I never thought that I have to use it again. I had hoped the peace we had during the past fifteen years would endure forever. I would have never expected us to get attacked by a former ally," Melisandra said.

"Nobody would have expected that. I can't blame Lordaeron or Terenas for it. It was all his son's fault. Arthas is attacking our kingdom and not Lordaeron. The deceased king and the population are not responsible for anything. It's all Arthas' fault and he will pay for his crimes today."

Melisandra took her husband's hand and intertwined their fingers. A determined look could be seen on her face. "Yes, he will pay."

---

"Take that you mindless wretches," Kelrian shouted as he sent a large fireball at a group of undead that were coming closer to him. The fireball's explosion killed most of them instantly, only a few didn't die immediately but they burned to ashes within a few seconds. Kelrian had taken out a group of undead but there were still too many of them out there. Too many of them were coming and trying to break through the provisional barricades.

There were not enough defenders to hold them up for long, which meant that the undead will break through the barricades sooner or later. There was no way to prevent that. Kelrian had thought that his family and the remaining survivors would be safe on Quel'Danas because he had never expected that Arthas would find a way to cross the sea. He never expected him to create a huge ice bridge which would connect Silvermoon City and Quel'Danas and allow the undead to cross the sea.

Kelrian had never expected the undead to set foot on the island where the Sunwell stood. He assumed that Arthas wanted the Sunwell but he had no idea why. He was asking himself what the death knight wanted to he wanted to destroy it but Kelrian doubted he knew how to do that. Also, it wouldn't make sense for Arthas to destroy the Sunwell because he had already killed most citizens of Quel'Thalas. The defenders had no chance against his army, even with the power the received from the Sunwell.

He had no idea what Arthas would do with the Sunwell but he assumed he would never find out. Either he would die while trying to buy as much time as possible or he would help the remaining survivors to flee. Either they will go through portals or take boats. He doubted he would be in the Sunwell's near and find out what Arthas was planning.

Kelrian created another fireball, hitting a massive abomination that was walking towards him. The ground beneath its feet was trembling while it was moving. The fireball exploded when it hit the monster but it didn't die yet. It kept walking, horrible screams escaped its ugly fat lips as the fire started to consume its body. Kelrian created a layer of thin and slippery ice beneath the abomination's feet, causing it to slip and fall.

Kelrian created another fireball, noticing that he felt much more exhausted than before as he threw it at the creature. He was aware that he had already usedmost of his mana. He had to be careful with his remaining recourses. He only had one mana potion left which he would drink when he would notice that he couldn't cast another spell. He had to choose wisely which kind of spells he would use. The best solution was to cast simple spells that didn't cost too much mana. Like smaller fire techniques and not gigantic fireballs that can extinguish dozens of undead at the same time.

He still had his bow he could use after he had spent his last amount of mana. He only had twelve arrows left but he was sure he would find more arrows. Dozens of his comrades laid dead on the ground. Mages, priests, paladins, warriors but also rangers. He was sure he would be able to pick up more arrows and use them to kill as many undead as possible. Killing the undead seemed pointless because Arthas raised the fallen high elves. and made up for his losses that way.

Nevertheless, Kelrian burnt as many as possible to make Arthas' losses larger. The question Kelrian was asking himself was: Did their resistance make a difference?

Most of those who died joined the ranks of the death knight involuntarily. The creatures whose bodies were burnt remained dead and wouldn't be raised again because it was impossible to raise anyone out of ashes. Their bodies must still exist, otherwise, they couldn't be raised. Nevertheless, too many fallen quel'dorei were raised and forced to serve Arthas.

Kelrian checked his surroundings, noticing that not many defenders were in his near. He was not far away from the Sunwell Plateau on top of a small turret. Because of his higher position he had a better overview of the situation. Tens of thousands of undead were coming closer and he knew he wouldn't be able to stop them. It was impossible to burn all of them. He wouldn't have enough mana for that.

Even if he would consume his last potion, he wouldn't be able to cast more than three or four spells. His master had told him that his mana pool was much larger than the mana pools of other mages and spellcasters. He had told him that he had more power than most spellcasters he knew but his power was still limited so was his mana pool. He couldn't fight for all eternity. He wouldn't be able to kill the undead effectively without fire spells. It was impossible to stop the tens of thousands of undead creatures that were coming closer and closer.

He remembered the conversation he had with Sylvanas before he had left her. He had promised her to bring their children to safety and make sure he would stay alive as well. He knew that the Sylvanas he had known was gone. She had been turned into a servant of the death knight. She was no longer herself but that didn't free him from the promise he made.

Usually, he always kept his promises. He will make sure that his children survive but he wasn't sure if he could keep the promise that he would survive too. He will try to stay alive but he wouldn't shrink back from sacrificing himself to save others. It was his duty as a Ranger-Lieutenant to make sure that as many people as possible would survive.

Kelrian could only hope that his children were already on the boats which would bring them away from the island. He had requested Camillia to bring her daughter and his children to the harbour, so he was hoping they were out of Arthas' reach already. He wanted nothing more than his family to be safe. He had already lost Sylvanas. And Lireesa probably too. He didn't want to lose more members of his family.

It was pointless to try to hold this pass because it was impossible. There were too many undead and far too few rangers and mages. He would only find death there and he wouldn't help anyone if he would die and be raised by a necromancer. But he could go to the harbour and buy more time so that more people could get in the boats. He closed his eyes and got concentrated, gathering the last remains of his mana for the powerful spell he wanted to cast.

He felt the last remains of his power rush through his body and gather in one place. He drew his last mana out of his body and used it to create a massive ice wall that reached from the left side of the pass to the opposite side. That way, the undead wouldn't be able to pass it as long as it stood. They had to destroy it if they wanted to pass and that would cost them time. The tall wall wouldn't break so easily.

Kelrian regarded his creation for a few seconds before he turned around and walked to the edge of the roof. He was about to climb down the ladder, that leaned against the house's wall, as he heard a loud shriek. A familiar loud shriek. He turned around, his heart stopped beating for a few moments as he recognized the flying creature that had just appeared out of nowhere.

He recognized the beautiful face that reflected nothing but anger. He recognized the red glowing eyes that had once been blue and had never reflected hatred while looking at him. He recognized the pale blonde hair, the dark blue skin and the legs which had no feet. The creature was no other than Sylvanas who was still under Arthas' control.

And that meant that Lireesa hadn't succeeded. She hadn't been able to kill Sylvanas. Lireesa was dead and that made him pretty sad. She was his mother-in-law, so he had loved her. And now she was dead. But Kelrian had no time to grieve. He had to get away before that creature that had once been Sylvanas would kill him.

He couldn't know that Sylvanas had gotten her awareness back. Unlike the first time they had met, she was aware of what was happening around her and what she was doing. What her form was doing in this case. Her form was still acting on its own and there was nothing the former Ranger-General of Silvermoon could do to stop what was happening.

She had been forced to kill her mother. She had been forced to kill the people she had sworn to protect. She had been forced to do things she didn't want to do, things she would have never done in life. She had been forced to do so many horrible things and it was far from being over. She could only assume that Arthas wanted her to kill the man she loved more than anyone else. This bastard wanted her to kill the love of her life and there was nothing she could do about that. She wished she didn't have to do this but she was powerless.

She was nothing more than a spirit that was forced to watch and witness all the horrible things the undead were doing to her people. She couldn't even turn her head or close her eyes. She was forced to watch. All she could do was hoping that Kelrian would get away and remain alive. She could also hope that he would release her so that she no longer had to witness the brutal deaths of her people. She no longer wanted to kill her people. Everything her form did was horrible to watch. It didn't even spare elders, women or children.

She didn't want to hurt anyone, especially not the love of her life. She didn't want to hurt her family or the inhabitants of Quel'Thalas. She didn't want any of this. But what she wanted didn't matter. She had no control over what she was doing, so she couldn't stop herself from getting closer and closer to the man she loved. He was still standing on the roof of the small turret, his eyes were widened in fear.

He was afraid of her because he had seen what she was capable of. She had killed her former subordinates and he was convinced that he wouldn't be an exception. He had to flee. He couldn't kill her even if he wanted to. He still had his mana potion but he didn't want to fight the creature that had once been his wife and the mother of his children.

He could fight her and try to release her but he was not sure if he would be able to finish her if he would get the chance. Whenever he looked at that creature, he recognized assumed he wouldn't be able to ram his sword through her chest or set her on fire because she looked like his deceased wife. He was not even able to pull an arrow from his quiver and fire it at her. All he was able to do was to climb down the ladder and run as fast as he could.

But Sylvanas followed him. She was able to fly over the ice wall and she was much faster than the ranger. Kelrian noticed that and pulled his last mana potion from his belt. He wanted to increase his running speed with a spell but to do that he needed more mana. He removed the lid and brought the round, small glass flask to his lips. But the banshee knocked it out of his hand at the last moment, causing that the glass shattered and the blue liquid was spread all over the ground. Sylvanas dragged him to the ground and grabbed his throat, starting to throttle him.

Kelrian grabbed her wrists and tried to remove her hands but she was too strong for him. He couldn't stop her from cutting off his air supply. His heart was hammering in his chest, cold shivers ran down his spine and his skin tingled nervously. Her touch was icy cold and her dangerous red glowing eyes bored into his. Nothing but hatred was reflected in them.

Sylvanas didn't want to hurt Kelrian. She wanted nothing more than protecting him but she was not in control. She was not responsible for her actions because an invisible might was forcing her to do what she would never do voluntarily. Seeing Kelrian suffer hurt her more than she was hurting him. Her heart was no longer beating but she still felt it aching while watching Kelrian struggling for breath. She could only hope Kelrian would manage to get free somehow. Unfortunately, she was much stronger than him, so his chance to get free was pretty low.

Sylvanas watched in horror as his skin colour turned blue and the blue glow in his eyes faded. His efforts to resist became weaker and weaker over time, signalizing her that he wouldn't hold out for too long. She prayed to the Sunwell that Kelrian would find the strength to shake her off and release her from her torment.

She no longer wanted to live if her only purpose was to hurt the ones she loved. She no longer wanted to live if there was nothing but agony and pain left for her. She didn't want to live such a life but she had no control over anything. All she could hope for was that someone would end her suffering. But it didn't seem that Kelrian would be the one who would do it. He was close to death, too weak to fight her off.

Seeing him like this made her really sad. She didn't want him to die. She didn't want to witness his death. She didn't want him to be raised and didn't want him to suffer like her. She didn't want him to serve this bastard for eternity.

She wanted him to stay alive and take care of their children but it didn't seem that he would make it out alive. She was not even allowed to cry, even though she felt as if she would break out in tears the next moment. All she could do was watching Kelrian who got weaker and weaker the longer she chocked him.

Her hands still clasped his throat tightly but her grip became looser when something pierced her back. A loud cry escaped her lips as another thing pierced her back. She let go of Kelrian's throat, her hands wandered to her back and pulled the things out. She was holding two arrows in her hands but these arrows were not normal arrows. They had been blessed by a paladin or a priest, making them much more effective against undead creatures.

Sylvanas' ears recognized Kelrian's quiet and weak breaths but the power that was controlling her didn't care about him at the moment. Her attention shifted to the woman who stood on a small hill and pulled another arrow out of her quiver, firing it at the banshee. But Sylvanas dodged it with ease, flying towards the ranger.

The woman had light-pink dyed hair that reached to her shoulders, her uniform was dirty and covered with fresh blood. But it was not her blood, it was the blood of the undead creatures she had slain recently. She saw the banshee coming closer but she remained calm, pulling another arrow out her quiver. She waited until the banshee had almost reached her, then she let the arrow loose which pierced the banshee's neck.

Sylvanas let a loud cry escape her lips as she stopped about ten feet away from the ranger. She brought her hands to her neck, intending to pull the arrow out slowly. The blessed arrow was hurting her pretty badly, so she wanted nothing more than removing it.

The ranger wasn't idle in the meantime. She pulled a dagger, that had been blessed as well, and rammed it in the banshee's back. She looked at Kelrian, noticing that the undead were coming closer. She had two options. Either she killed the banshee and let the undead reach Kelrian or she spared the banshee and saved the man she had feelings for quite some time. She chose the latter and sprinted towards Kelrian. She helped him up and regarded him for a few moments.

Kelrian's skin colour was no longer bluish but was very pale instead. He was breathing heavily, fear was reflected by his eyes. "You don't need to be afraid, Kel. I'm here."

Kelrian blinked in surprise. "Elena? Is it really you?"

Elena nodded and wrapped her arms around his hips and his shoulders, supporting him that way. "We don't have much time for talking. We need to reach the harbour as fast as possible. Can you walk?"

Kelrian hesitated for a moment. "I doubt it."

"Drink this," Elena responded and handed him a flask with a red liquid in it. It was a healing potion. Kelrian didn't hesitate to drink it, feeling a little better. His head was still hurting so was his neck but at least he felt strong enough to walk without Elena's support.

"We have to hurry," reminded Elena. "This banshee will follow us soon and she is a lot faster than us. The knife in her back won't hold her up for too long."

"This banshee..." Kelrian started but stopped speaking because he didn't know what he should say.

"This banshee was once your wife but she became a different person. Arthas turned her into a monster and forces her to kill everyone she has sworn to protect. She nearly killed you. She is not the person she once was."

Kelrian didn't respond. Elena was right. Sylvanas had tried to kill him. But he knew he wouldn't be able to kill her even if she would try to kill him again. He wouldn't be able to kill the creature that looked like his deceased wife. He believed he would never be able to do that. He was not able to think about her any further because he was brought out of his thoughts when Elena grabbed his wrist and dragged him with her.

"This is not the time to be lost in thoughts. We have to hurry," Elena shouted and signalized him to move. Kelrian obeyed her and ran as fast as he could, following the course of the pass with her. He was only hoping that Sylvanas wouldn't catch up to them.

He could hear her angry shrieks but they became quieter and quieter the more distance he left behind him. He didn't look back to see what Sylvanas was doing. He only assumed that something or someone was holding her up. He had expected that she would follow them but she didn't. She stayed behind for a reason he didn't know. He was glad she did because he didn't want to fight her.

He believed he would never be able to fight her, let alone kill her.