Chapter 25: The Caravan

The air was cool, the sky was covered by dark clouds. It looked like it would start raining soon, the wind was howling quietly and the stench of the undead stung in the noses of the living. The stench was strong and disgusting, some of the living couldn't help but vomit in one of the nearest bushes.

Kelrian was one of them who couldn't bear the horrible stench. He hadn't eaten much since they had left Pyrewood Village a few days ago. His stomach no longer contained the little amount of food he had eaten for breakfast.

He was kneeling in front of a bush, breathing heavily. He waited and waited until he was sure that his stomach had stopped rebelling. He turned his head as he felt a hand on his shoulder. Elena stood behind him and regarded him worriedly. "Are you okay, Kel?"

"Not really."

"What's wrong?"

Kelrian hesitated for a moment. "Everything. I feel so weak, my body is hurting and my hunger for arcane energy gets worse with each passing day. It becomes more difficult from day to day to keep myself under control. It's a real challenge sometimes to not drain every bit of power from every source of power I get in my hands. The temptation to absorb the arcane energy of the objects in the carriages becomes stronger and stronger. I have no idea how long I will be able to control myself. Mages like the king and I have been hit much harder by the Sunwell's destruction. Rangers like you don't require as much power as we do. Mages are nothing without a source of power. You, on the other hand, are still able to fight properly."

Elena frowned. "You are also a ranger, Kel."

"I know but my magic is much deadlier than my arrows. I can kill many undead creatures at once with my spells. Fire is our strongest weapon, but this weapon is getting weaker every day. Our hunger for more power grows with each spell we use."

Elena squatted down next to him, put her hands on his face and stared into his eyes. "I wish I could help you somehow but I have no idea how. All I can do is cheer you up and tell you to stay strong. I feel bad for not being able to help you. If there is anything I can do for you, just tell me."

Kelrian nodded and gave her a slight smile. Elena regarded him worriedly. He looked a bit thinner, his skin was paler and dark circles were under his eyes that glowed weaker than usual. The destruction of the Sunwell had affected him negatively. But not only him. Elena and all the other blood elves were affected too. Elena's condition was not as worse as Kelrian's but she was not feeling well either. She was pale too and she had headaches from time to time.

Most of the time they were only minor but sometimes they were quite intense. She was lucky she hadn't had any bad headaches in a battle yet. But even slight headaches were already annoying enough when she was fighting the undead. She had to be focused and that was not easy with a hurting head.

"Your condition is worse than mine. By far worse," she paused. "There might be something I could do for you."

Kelrian raised an eyebrow, giving her a curious look. "And what would that be?"

Elena took something out of her backpack. It was a potion and it was half empty. "I already consumed half of my daily ration and I feel good for now. You need it more than me, so I suggest that you take it."

Kelrian's eyes reflected doubt. "Don't you need all of it?"

"Well...I think so...But I'm not as dependant on it as you are. I'm not a mage like you."

"But your body still needs it. Your condition will not get better if you only consume half of your ration."

Elena gave him a weak smile. "But yours won't get better either even if you consume your entire ration. You need more and our people need mages against the Scourge more than ever. My body can function with only half of the ration but yours cannot. You need more energy and I will volunteer to give you half of each of my daily rations. We won't manage to defeat the undead without mages. Our people need talented mages like you in these dark times."

"You might be right about that but... I don't want to imagine what happens to you if you don't get enough arcane energy. I don't want your condition to get worse."

The corners of Elena's mouth formed a small smile. She caressed his left cheek softly. "I'm glad that you worry about me, that means you feel something for me. But I'm sure I can handle it. Our daily ration is not enough to satisfy us. My condition will get worse anyway but yours will get much worse than mine if you don't consume more arcane energy. I don't know if you noticed that lots of people are looking up to you, Magister Rommath and the king. You belong to the strongest remaining mages. They need you and so do I."

Kelrian shook his head slightly. "Only because the strongest mages died during the invasion."

A serious look appeared on Elena's face. "I'm not joking. It's known for a while that the king considers you as one of the best apprentices he ever had. Magister Rommath once told me that you have great potential and that you will belong to our best mages one day. Seems he was not wrong about that. You killed hundreds of undead with your flames and saved lots of lives that way. You shouldn't underestimate yourself. You are pretty powerful."

"Was."

Elena raised an eyebrow and frowned. "Was?"

"I was a powerful mage. Since the Sunwell's destruction, I'm no longer powerful. Without a constant supply of this necessary energy, I'm nothing."

"I don't buy that. You are still strong, Kel. You just have to believe in yourself. If you don't want to do it for yourself then do it for me. Would you? I want you to stay positive and fight as if it would be your last day. Our days might be numbered. I don't want you to die and I don't want to die either. Don't forget about your family. Your son needs you. I need you."

Kelrian nodded. "You are right," he said quietly. "I will accept your offer but only as long as your condition doesn't get worse."

"Sounds fine to me," responded the pink-haired woman.

"Do you want anything in return?"

"Just your appreciation."

"You already have it. You have helped me get through a very difficult time. You have helped me to come to terms with the past and motivated me to keep going and fight for the freedom and safety of our people. I don't know what I would have done without you."

Elena just smiled and said nothing in return, caressing Kelrian's left cheek softly. He returned the smile and was silent as well. The silence lasted for a few minutes until Kelrian decided to break it. "I still owe you something for everything you did for me."

"I will keep that in mind, Kel," responded Elena and handed him the potion. Kelrian took it, removed the lid and took a sip. It didn't taste very good but that was not the purpose of the potion. Its purpose was to provide him with arcane energy and make him feel better.

Kelrian didn't like the bitter taste but he drank it nevertheless. He immediately felt a little better and some colour came back into his face within a short time. His limbs stopped hurting and his skin stopped tingling nervously. He felt fresher and not as weak as before.

"Thanks, Elena. I'm feeling much better." He patted her shoulder softly and gave her a smile. He stared into her eyes and found out that she was doing the same. They held gazes for nearly two minutes and only pulled away when they heard footsteps.

Tyrande stood in front of them and regarded them with a serious expression on her face. "The undead will arrive soon. Prepare to fight."

"How many are coming?" Elena asked.

"A few hundreds at least."

"They outnumber us," concluded Kelrian.

"They do," said Tyrande. "We need to keep the caravan moving while we try to hold them off. The river Arevass is near. If we manage to cross the river and destroy the bridge, we should be safe."

"The undead will do anything to prevent us from reaching the bridge," responded Kelrian. Worry was reflected by his face.

"Not everyone will survive. Let's hope their sacrifices will not be in vain," replied Tyrande.

Elena's gaze fell on the high priestess. "Our people need these supplies. The carriages not only contain artefacts and crystals which store arcane energy. They also contain food and valuable resources like gold, ores and materials we need to rebuild Quel'Thalas. Our people need these resources, especially food. Our supplies will be used up soon and our people will starve if we don't bring the caravan to Silvermoon City. Not to mention what the lack of arcane energy will do to our people. We need to succeed by any means."

The high priestess gave her an understanding nod. "I will do everything in my power to protect the caravan. May Elune protect us."

Maiev came to them. "The caravan just started moving, so we should move too."

"You have heard her," responded Tyrande. "Let's go."

Kelrian and Elena followed the night elves to the caravan which consisted of four large wooden carriages that were filled with chests in which the collected supplies were stored. Lots of men were walking next to these carriages and would protect them in case the undead would try to destroy them.

These men and women were rangers, mages, priests and paladins but there were also night elf archers, druids and even warden. One mountain giant was walking ahead of the caravan while the other walked behind the last carriage. They would be very important for the defence of the caravan because they could kill dozens of undead at once. They were thirty feet tall and could squash many undead creatures with their huge feet and fists.

Kelrian, Elena, Maiev and Tyrande walked behind the last carriage, expecting the undead to attack it first. Indeed, the undead came for the last used his bow at first, knowing he would only be able to cast a limited number of spells, even though he had consumed half of Elena's ration. He fired fiery arrows at the undead just like Elena, Tyrande and every other archer. Druids and mages cast spells, the mountain giants tore trees and rocks out and threw them at the undead. Several dozen undead were burned or squashed but there were still too many that were coming closer and closer.

Their front line consisted of ghouls, skeletons and raised humanoid creatures. Behind their frontline were nerubians and abominations, gargoyles and raised dragonhawks flew through the air. Kelrian could even see several necromancers behind the abominations.

He informed the surrounding men about the necromancers and Tyrande ordered every person who had a ranged weapon or was able to use magic to kill the necromancers first. Even the mountain giants threw lumps of rocks at them but they weren't able to kill all of them. Half a dozen necromancers were still alive as the first group of ghouls and skeletons reached the frontline of the living.

The undead jumped on the soldiers and dragged them to the ground. Most of them were bitten to death or torn apart, only some of them could be saved by others who also helped them back to their feet. The necromancers raised those whose bodies hadn't been burned and commanded them to fight the living.

Arrows and spells flew throw the air, the ground was consecrated, hurting all undead that were standing in the zone. Fire spread out quickly and consumed the bodies of dozens of undead within a short amount of time. Undead were thrown away by shock waves, frozen or rooted to the ground by mages and druids. The mountain giants kicked abominations and other undead away and even squashed lots of them with their feet. But there will still too many out there.

"KEEP MOVING," shouted Kael'thas as he shot a large pyroblast at the nearest abomination, killing it and several undead creatures around it. He focused the remains of his power and summoned his loyal companion Al'ar. The phoenix rose in the air and spat fire at the nearest gargoyles and undead dragonhawks. It killed several of them and lured the remaining away from the carriages.

Kelrian noticed that the king looked pretty exhausted. The creation of the pyroblast and the summoning of the phoenix had cost him most of his mana. Like all the other blood elves, he was also affected by the Sunwell's destruction. He was no longer able to cast as many spells as he used to. The number of spells he was able to cast was limited. Fortunately, he had mana potions, the amulets and other artefacts from which he could draw power.

Kelrian had two mana potions and one amulet full of arcane power left. He knew his amount of mana was limited, so he used it wisely. He had summoned a water elemental and only cast fire spells which hit more than one creature. On average his spells hit six to eight undead. He set many on fire and even slew some creatures with his sword.

The living fought hard, dozens died but hundreds of undead were killed in return. The last necromancer was not fast enough to raise most of the fallen before they were burned. He managed to raise a few but most fallen undead and living creatures turned to ashes before his spell was completed.

Gargoyles were attacking the mountain giants but Al'ar and some archers took care of them. They were brought down one by one until no undead flying creature flew through the air. There were several liches who shot arcane and frost spells at the mountain giants, some of them even attacked the phoenix but it was too fast and dodged all of their spells. Al'ar spat out fire, burning numerous undead creatures on the ground.

The caravan was coming closer and closer to the river but more living and undead fell in the meantime. The night elves, blood elves and humans fought fiercely but they were still too many undead out there. All they had to do was to hold out until the caravan would cross the river.

Kelrian consumed his last mana potion and drew power from the artefact around his neck, shooting a large fireball at the nearest foes. The fireball exploded, killing more than a dozen undead at the same time. Even an abomination and a lich had been torn apart by the explosion. The fire spread out quickly and ignited more creatures. Some of them managed to reach the living and set them on fire as well, others died too fast. Kelrian watched in horror as the body of a male night elf was set on fire. He tried to extinguish the flames but an ice lance pierced through the night elf's chest, killing him immediately.

Kelrian's gaze fell on the lich who had killed the night elf. The skeletal mage was looking at him, his hands were forming a blue sphere of energy. It was casting a spell but Kelrian managed to counter it at the last moment. One of Elena's explosive arrows hit the lich in the head and blew it apart.

The last necromancer didn't live for too long. A precise arrow from Tyrande was enough to kill the cultist. Now that he was gone no undead creature could be raised. All liches and all necromancers had been killed.

Kelrian used the last remains of his mana to spread more fire. Unrecognizable sounds escaped the lips of the undead as the fire turned their bodies to ashes. The undead army became smaller and smaller the closer the caravan got to the river. The mountain giants threw themselves on the ground, squashing dozens of undead that way. Volleys of arrows rained down on the undead, spheres of energy exploded and tore several of them apart. Flames consumed the undead, ice froze their feet to the ground and prevented them from coming closer.

Kelrian had used the last remains of his mana, he had even drained his artefact empty, so he had no other choice than to use his bow and later go in melee combat after he would have spent his last arrow. He cut through the undead, avoiding and blocking most of their attacks. He got hit from time to time but these wounds were not mortal nor did they stop him from fighting.

Four undead approached him. Two skeletons and two ghouls. He beheaded the first skeleton, pierced his sword through the chest of the first ghoul and cut off the limbs of the second skeleton. An arrow finished off the last ghoul, fire consumed its body.

Kelrian checked his surroundings, noticing the dozens of corpses around him. Corpses of humans, elves and undead were scattered all over the ground which was covered by the blood of the fallen. The battle had turned into a massacre pretty quickly and this massacre was far from over.

There were still dozens of undead creatures left which gave the living a hard time. Kelrian slew a nerubian with the help of Vissia and Valerie and walked towards the nearest undead creatures as he heard a loud familiar cry. He turned around immediately, his eyes widened in shock as he saw Elena fall to the ground. A raised male human stood next to her, his sword stuck between her ribs. Kelrian didn't hesitate to rush over to her, a loud and angry scream escaped his lips as he beheaded the undead before it was able to do something.

Kelrian kneeled down next to Elena and lifted her upper body up, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. He pulled the sword out and removed her upper body armour to take a closer look at her wound. The fresh wound was not the only wound she had received. There was a long and deep cut which started beneath her right breast and ended beneath her navel. It was evident that she was losing a lot of blood quickly.

Kelrian tore a large strip of cloth from his uniform and pressed it on the wound. He took Elena's hand and put it on the fresh wound between her ribs. "You have to press your hand on the wound to stop the bleeding," Kelrian said. His face and his voice reflected worry.

He was afraid of losing her. She meant something to him. She had been there for him over the past months and helped him to hold out in these dark times. He didn't want to lose her. She was one of the few people who meant a lot to him and had survived the Scourge invasion so far.

He had never considered her as one of his best friends before the fall of Quel'Thalas but since that and the death of his best friend, Elena was one of the few friends he had left. Nathanos and Zetai were dead so was Elonis. Apart from his sisters-in-law and Vara, Elena was the only friend he had left. He didn't want to lose her.

"How are you feeling?"

"Not so good," Elena pressed through gritted teeth.

Kelrian regarded her while pressing the piece of cloth on her wound. Her skin was very pale, her eyes were widened in shock. Her wounds were deep and she had already lost much blood. It was not looking good for her. Kelrian looked around, noticing that the remaining undead had been dispatched in the meantime. The battle was over.

"I need a healer," he shouted. Melysa ran over to him and kneeled down next to Elena. She took a quick look at her. "This is not looking good. She already lost too much blood. I need to treat her immediately."

"We won't have time for this," said Maiev and pointed south. "More undead are coming. We've defeated the first wave but the second wave is advancing."

"I'm not leaving her. I'm not going to let her die," shouted Kelrian. A mix of anger and sadness was reflected by his eyes.

"It's okay, Kel. If you don't go, the undead will approach us and kill us." Elena's voice was weak and the look on her face told him that she had already accepted her fate.

"She fought well," responded Maiev and came closer. "But we can't save everyone. We need to leave her behind."

"I'm not going to leave her behind. I will take her with me and we will treat her on the other side of the river."

"She may not make it past the river," said Melysa.

Kelrian looked around, his gaze fell on the last carriage. "We can put her on top of the carriage and you could heal her there. I won't let her die."

"The last carriage may not survive another assault. We've run out of time, the undead are approaching," said Kael'thas worriedly.

Kelrian regarded the king for a few moments, then his gaze fell back on the pink-haired woman. She was getting weaker with each passing minute. Melysa was already healing her but Elena's condition didn't seem to get better. She wouldn't hold out long if Melysa would stop healing her. The undead will catch up to her and do unspeakable things to her if she would be left behind. Kelrian couldn't allow that. She was way too important to him. He didn't want to lose her. He had already lost his wife, his mother-in-law, his niece-in-law and other members of his family.

He had lost too many friends and comrades. He couldn't allow that Elena would die too. Not after everything they went through together. Their captivation by the Amani trolls, the battle at the First Elfgate, the fall of Silvermoon City and the escape from Quel'Danas. They went through a lot in the past. He couldn't let the undead kill her. He had to save her.

"I refuse to leave her behind."

Kael'thas put a hand on his shoulder but he shook it off. The king frowned but didn't say anything, he just stood there and regarded his secret son who was struggling with his emotions.

"We might be able to save her," said Tyrande. All eyes rested on her, so she didn't hesitate to speak further. "Put her on the top of the carriage and treat her. Move the caravan across the river. My best archers and I will stay behind and hold the bridge."

"That's very noble of you, Tyrande," replied Maiev. Worry appeared in her eyes. "But you're no match for a force that vast. The undead will kill you and your rangers."

"She is right. You will only find death if you try to hold the bridge," said Kael'thas.

A smirk appeared on Tyrande's purple lips. "I'm stronger than I look like. The goddess is my shield. Elune will grant me the strength to deal with these foul creatures. Put your faith in me and Elune."

Neither Kael'thas nor Maiev were convinced of her plan but they agreed with her because they knew they had no other choice. If they wouldn't manage to bring the caravan to Silvermoon, everything would have been for nothing. Dozens of night elves, blood elves and humans would have died in vain if they wouldn't succeed and complete their mission. They had no other choice than to agree to Tyrande's plan.

"Let's go then," ordered Tyrande and made her tiger move towards the bridge. She stopped in front of the bridge and waited until the caravan had passed it, then she took position in the middle of the bridge. Six archers stood in front of her, their bows were drawn and their arrows were knocked. Tyrande looked back for the last time, noticing that Kael'thas and Maiev were watching her while following the caravan. She received a nod from the warden, then she turned around and stared at the horde of undead that was coming closer.

"Fear not, sisters. We will defeat them. Elune will give us the necessary strength to deal with the undead. Shoot as soon as the undead come in range." Tyrande received nods from the archers. She closed her eyes and focused her power, asking for Elune's aid. She felt a tremendous amount of power flowing through her body. Elune had heard her call. Tyrande knew she could do this. She knew she could defeat the second wave.

She opened her eyes again, recognizing that the undead were not far away from the bridge. The archers had already started shooting fiery arrows at their enemies. Tyrande noticed the bluish aura around her body. It was Elune's blessing. Elune would protect her and provide her with enough power to take down the second wave.

She didn't hesitate to use the temporary power to kill the undead. Moonfire rained down on the undead, killing any creature that was hit by these beams of lunar light. Even larger creatures like nerubians and abominations didn't survive the contact with the moonfire. More and more undead died the longer the barrage of moonfire rained down on them. The beams landed randomly. Most of them hit the undead and killed them but there were even some beams which didn't hit any undead creatures. Tyrande couldn't control where these beams landed.

Tyrande knew that these destructive beams didn't distinguish between enemy and ally. They killed any creature they hit. She could have used this power in the battle against the first wave but she would have hit her allies too. The risk of accidentally destroying the carriages or killing her own allies would have been too high, so she hadn't used that technique. But now that no allies, except for the six archers, and no carriages were in her near, Tyrande could fully unleash the power Elune had given her and extinguish the undead.

Half of the undead were gone already as the first ghoul reached the bridge. Her archers fought fiercely but they were killed one after one. It hurt Tyrande to hear their painful screams and to see the undead tearing their bodies apart. It pained her to witness their deaths but at least she knew they hadn't died in vain.

They had bought Tyrande enough time to kill more undead creatures with her moonfire. She knew that her power was not endless. She noticed that she had already used most of Elune's granted power. She knew she would only be able to hold out for a few more minutes but she was sure these few minutes would be enough to kill the remaining undead.

Barely more than three dozen undead were left. They stepped on the bridge and ran towards Tyrande but the beams killed them. Tyrande noticed that the aura around her body had gotten weaker. The time was limited but she was not done yet. She had to stop the undead by any means. She focused the last remains of her power and created the biggest moonfire she had ever seen so far. It was five times the size of a normal moonfire and it flew a lot faster.

The beam of lunar light hit the remaining undead, killing most of them. Only five creatures were left but the deaths of their comrades didn't bother them. They still moved, coming closer and closer to the high priestess. Tyrande drew her sword from her belt, signalizing her tiger to pounce on the undead. The tiger obeyed and jumped, landing on a ghoul and squashing it with its weight.

A loud crack was hearable when the majestic beast landed. Tyrande had been so focused on killing the undead that she hadn't noticed that the bridge had been damaged by her moonfire. The bridge was unstable and would collapse if anyone would do a wrong step. The night elf knew she had to order her tiger to jump to the other side of the bridge to prevent the bridge from collapsing under its weight. But the majestic beast had already acted on its own before the night elf could give the order.

The tiger landed on the next undead, squashing it too. Unfortunately, it had landed on an insecure spot. The wood beneath the tiger's feet gave away and the beast and its rider landed in the river.

Kael'thas watched in shock as the bridge collapsed and the tiger and the priestess were pulled under the water's surface. He expected them to come up quickly but they didn't.

"We must hurry to save her. If she won't drown, the current will take her straight into the heart of the undead lands," shouted Kael'thas and intended to run towards the river but Maiev stepped in front of him. She was taller and physically stronger than him, so she managed to hold him back with ease.

Maiev shook her head. "No, Kael. We are too far away from the river. We won't reach her in time. Tyrande is a soldier. She knew the risks she took. I feel sorry for her loss but we have a greater mission to accomplish now and our time grows short. Your people are safe now. You will uphold your end of the bargain and help me hunt the demon I seek."

Kael'thas gaze fell on the river. Since the destruction of the Sunwell, his eyes were not as good as they had been before. He couldn't see as far as he used to but he was sure he saw the head of a tiger and a head with long ears sticking out of the water. Tyrande and her tiger were caught by the current and swept downriver. He couldn't do anything to save them. He could just hope they would survive and make it out the river somehow.

He turned his head as Maiev cleared her throat. He looked at her, noticing the impatience that was reflected by her eyes. "We must bring your caravan to your nearest base and then we will search for Illidan."

Kael'thas nodded. "As you wish, Lady Shadowsong."