Chapter 47: Deatholme

Kelrian and Sylvanas checked their surroundings as soon as they came out of the portal. They were in a large room which floor and walls were grey. Two dozen undead creatures were scattered over the room but they didn't intend to attack them. They looked like minions of the Scourge but in truth, they were on their side. They had been raised by the demons who had accompanied Kelrian when they had sneaked in Deatholme to kidnap Dar'Khan Drathir.

The mindless undead regarded them with empty gazes as if Sylvanas' and Kelrian's presence was the most normal thing in the world. Kelrian turned his head and looked at Zenon who was still disguised as Dar'Khan. Zenon walked to him and lowered his head in respect. "It's a pleasure to see you, Lord Sunstrider."

"Lord Sunstrider?" Sylvanas asked curiously, one of her brows was raised.

"I took my father's last name when I was in the other dimension. I couldn't know that he went crazy while I was away. Despite my father's actions, I consider myself as a Sunstrider."

"I see. You are the rightful heir of the throne and despite your father's actions, you want to continue the Sunstrider dynasty which exists for almost seven thousand years. I understand that."

Kelrian nodded.

"Alright. We have important things to do so we shouldn't waste our time talking," replied Sylvanas.

"I agree with that." Kelrian let his gaze wander, realizing that more and more Forsaken and blood elves coming through the five portals in the room. His gaze fell on Danara, Xatorious and Xertus who were still disguised as blood elves. They noticed that their master looked at them, so they gave him nods which signalized them that they knew what to do. They created another portal through which more creatures were coming. But these creatures were neither sin'dorei nor Forsaken. They were demons.

Sylvanas was surprised by their arrival but she didn't say anything. She was glad about every capable fighter who joined the battle. The more demons would arrive, the more sin'dorei and Forsaken might survive this battle. Sylvanas had already gotten used fighting by the side of demons since Varimathras pledged his loyalty to her. He had summoned demons in every fight, but not as many as Danara and the others.

There were already nearly a hundred demons in the room and even more were coming. Two hundred demons had gotten through the portal before it had been closed. There were wrathguards, imps, felhounds, eredar and other demons. There were no huge demons like infernals or doomguards but even the smaller ones were very deadly. A single imp might not be very deadly, but in larger groups imps posed a serious threat. There were at least fifty imps that were running around in circles. They were excited about the approaching battle. They wanted to kill something with fire.

Once again, Kelrian let his gaze wander after the last portal had been closed. Two hundred Forsaken, two hundred demons and three hundred blood elves had come through the portals. All seven hundred creatures fit in the huge room. It was the main hall of the main building in Deatholme. Kelrian noticed that some sin'dorei and Forsaken were concerned about the presence of the demons but they didn't say anything about it. They were concerned but also glad that they would assist them against the Scourge.

Kelrian looked at Sylvanas, noticing the determined look in her eyes. Sylvanas returned his gaze, giving him a small smile. Kelrian returned her smile and waited for a few moments before he reminded the gathered warriors to watch out for Scourge necromancers, spellcasters and flying beasts. He reminded them to kill the necromancers first and burn the corpses of fallen allies and foes. He wished them good luck and then told them to leave the building and attack every foe they would see.

The first creatures stormed out of the room, Kelrian and Sylvanas followed them quickly. Kelrian drew his sword out of its sheath. Despite its size, he had no problems to swing it with one hand. It was long and thick, golden glowing symbols were engraved in its fel green blade. It looked similar to Exadius' sword but it was not as impressive as it.

"A runeblade," Sylvanas said surprised as she saw the magnificent sword for the first time.

Kelrian nodded at her. "My partner gave it to me. He promised me that it would withstand Frostmourne's blows and wouldn't shatter after the first hit."

"I hope it does," replied Sylvanas.

"So do I."

They left the building, noticing that the first demons, sin'dorei and Forsaken were already fighting against Scourge minions. Those minions of the Scourge who were intelligent and were able to show emotions had surprised looks on their faces. None of them had expected any intruders to pour out of the main building.

Dozens of Scourge minions were rushing towards them but most of them died before they reached them. Kelrian and the four nathrezim had casts multiple spells to kill these undead creatures. Felfire was very effective against the undead. Any form of fire was very effective. Even frostfire. Freezing the undead creature's feet to the ground and burning them was a very efficient method.

Sylvanas shot arrow after arrow, using her swords or dark magic if creatures would come too close to her or Kelrian. Kelrian and other mages refilled her quiver with arrows whenever it was empty. Kelrian cast spells with his right hand while he swung his sword and killed every creature that dared to approach him. He chopped off their heads or cut them in halves, squashing their heads with his feet.

They noticed that the battle in front of the main gate had already started. As planned, Rhonin, Vereesa and Liadrin were leading the attack on the main gate while Kelrian, Sylvanas and their soldiers would fight the Scourge in the middle of the base.

The Scourge was superior in number but those who accompanied Kelrian and Sylvanas were far stronger than the average Scourge minion. The Scourge army did not only consist of these average mindless minions like skeletons and ghouls. There were lots of liches, necromancers, gargoyles and abominations which were very dangerous. Everyone was aware that the battle wouldn't be easy.

Liches and necromancers froze their foes, ignited them or tried to blow them apart with arcane techniques. They even used dark magic. The demons were very useful against the Scourge. The Scourge minions didn't need to do much to kill these small imps but the wrathguards and felhounds were more resistant.

The wrathguards were pretty tough while the felhounds drain the magic out of bodies of undead creatures that came too close to them. They were very effective against undead spellcasters, so the Scourge minions focused them first. The intelligent members of the Scourge ordered their minions to kill these red spined creatures but there were too many of them. They significantly weakened the liches, necromancers and members of the Cult of the Damned.

Kelrian's and Sylvanas' army killed many Scourge creatures but more and more were coming. There were thousands of them in Deatholme and the battle was far from over. Gargoyles came from the sky and picked up felhounds, carrying them away. Spellcasters and archers gave their best to kill these winged creatures as fast as possible. Many fell but not all of them were taken out. There were still enough flying nerubians and gargoyles who were terrorizing the invaders from above.

Sylvanas drew an arrow from her quiver, knocked it and aimed. She shot the arrow which flew through the air and hit a gargoyle right between the eyes. The beast flew for a few more seconds, then fell and crashed on the ground, killing two ghouls in the process. Sylvanas drew another arrow, killing a ghoul that had come too close to Kelrian. She turned around and beheaded another ghoul with the sharp limbs of her bow.

Her gaze fell on Kelrian who chopped off the forelegs of a nerubian with his runeblade and then cut it in half with a precise swing. His close combat skills impressed her. The Kelrian she remembered had been a talented fighter but had always remained in the background and shot arrows from afar.

This Kelrian was different. He was in the middle of the raging battle and swung his runeblade to kill lots of Scourge creatures while he cast spells at the same time. He didn't shrink back from attacking larger minions like nerubians or even abominations. From all soldiers, he had killed the most undead foes so far. There was no one who had killed more than him. At least no one she had seen.

Kelrian mainly used fel magic and fire techniques to deal with his foes. He even used shockwaves to knock their opponents away or counterspells to prevent big spells cast by liches or cultists. His runeblade cut through armour, skin and bones of any undead creature. Not even the carapaces of the crypt lords were hard enough to withstand his runeblade. He needed a few more blows to get through them but he always succeeded in the end.

He killed those who dared to approach him. Not even stronger creatures like liches could stand up to him. He avoided their spells or countered them and even when he got hit, his armour and the magical barriers he cast on himself protected him.

Not even the sharp claws of nerubians broke through his armour. They damaged it but it remained intact. His armour was made out of the firmest material Exadius had found. No ordinary weapon managed to break it. Even stronger spells only slightly damaged it. There were small cracks in the armour but it was far from breaking. It would hold out for a while, Kelrian was sure of that.

The battle went on, more Scourge minions but also allies died. Kelrian and Sylvanas fought side by side, protecting each other when necessary. They fought like in the good old times, always checking if the other was okay. Sylvanas only went in close combat when it was necessary. She preferred to stay away from the frontline and shoot arrows or cast dark magic spells from afar. She was very effective at killing Scourge minions. So was Kelrian.

They killed and burned hundreds of Scourge minions but more and more approached them. The battle was far from over. Sylvanas had more stamina than she had in life. She could hold out much longer than other creatures but even she noticed the first signs of exhaustion after hours. Nevertheless, she didn't stop fighting. She couldn't allow herself to pause. She fought fiercely and gave everything she had. Kelrian, on the other hand, didn't get exhausted at all.

His runeblade provided him with power, so did the felstones he absorbed from time to time. He didn't need to consume as many as he had consumed during the Siege of the Black Temple but he still couldn't go without them.

The runeblade was not enough to sustain him. He needed the power stored in these crystals and he had enough of them. He had consumed three crystals so far but there were more in the pouches that hung on his belt. He could fight for days and even for weeks but he doubted the battle would endure so long. He guessed it won't endure longer than three days if the Scourge wouldn't get reinforcements.

Fortunately, they didn't. The creatures in Deatholme were on their own and more and more of them were getting killed the longer the battle endured. But the battle was far from over because there were still too many Scourge minions in the base.

A lich managed to freeze Sylvanas' feet to the ground and had tried to impale her with an ice-lance but her lover shattered the ice-lance with his sword at the last moment. He beheaded the skeletal mage and destroyed its phylactery which he found due to his golden eye. The eye had looked after anything that contained the lich's essence and found the small box buried beneath the ground.

Kelrian hadn't used his right eye in the first hours but now that things had gotten more serious, he was using it. He knew it would drain portions of his power over time but he had enough crystals to sustain him, so he was not worried at all. His golden eye did not only give him a better vision, but it also realized the happening faster than his other eye. His golden eye noticed any movement of anyone much earlier than his left eye. He could see the auras of everyone, even of invisible creatures or of those creatures who were not in his sight because they were behind a wall or something that blocked his vision. His eye was multi-functional and gave him a big advantage.

Kelrian freed Sylvanas from the ice, beheading a nerubian warrior before its claws would have reached her. "Be careful, my dear," Kelrian said and stepped in front of her, warding off a blow from an undead human. The human's sword shattered as it came in contact with Kelrian's armour. He grabbed the human by the throat and flung them in the air, cutting them in half before they landed. He set the undead's remains on fire and then turned to Sylvanas who gave him a thankful nod.

She drew her bow and fired arrows at the nearest foe, killing them. She had not counted how many foes she had killed so far but she knew that many had fallen by her hand. Nevertheless, there were enough Scourge creatures around them. She killed a nerubian with a precise shot, turned around and kicked a skeleton away, shooting an explosive arrow at it. The arrow stuck in its head and exploded a second later, tearing the skeleton apart.

She turned back to Kelrian, noticing that he had rushed forward and was swinging his runeblade, beheading three ghouls at the same time. Her red eyes widened as she noticed that three abominations were running towards him. They were coming from different sides.

Sylvanas shouted his name and warned him but Kelrian remained calm. She had expected him to run away and put enough distance between him and the abominations but he didn't do that. Instead, he did something Sylvanas would have never expected.

He rammed his sword in the ground and removed his left gauntlet. Her eyes widened in surprise as she saw his hand. She had not expected his hand to look like a demon's claw. It was much thicker than his other hand. She was wondering why she had never noticed the difference.

Even though he had worn a glove, his hand must have appeared thicker to her but it hadn't. She could only assume that Kelrian had hidden it with the help of an illusion. She had no idea why he had done that. She could only assume he had not wanted anyone to find that importantly the Scourge. It was not unlikely that he had done that to have the moment of surprise on his side.

Kelrian lifted his demonic hand which fingers were stretched out. The symbols on his hand and beneath his eye were glowing much brighter than they usually did. The abominations came closer but Kelrian remained calm.

Sylvanas drew an arrow from her quiver and shot but it didn't bother the abomination even though she had hit its head. There was nothing she could do for him. She was asking herself what Kelrian was doing. It seemed that he had a plan but she had no idea how this plan looked like. She was worried about him but she trusted him at the same time. She knew he had something up his sleeve.

Kelrian's eyes rested on the abominations that weren't far away from him. His heartbeat was slow and steady, his breaths were controlled and his skin was not tingling. He was not nervous. He was confident because he was aware of his power and his limits. He was draining power from his body and from the runeblade since he had rammed it into the ground. His spell was almost done. He just needed a few more seconds.

The first abomination reached him, its cleaver came closer and closer but the barrier around his body protected him. Kelrian clenched his demonic fist, causing the barrier to explode and kill everything around him within a certain radius.

Sylvanas couldn't believe her eyes. She had seen what had just happened but she still couldn't believe it. The abominations were gone. Nothing was left of them. The barrier Kelrian had created had blown them apart. It had erased them. Nothing was left of them, not even blood, innards or body parts. They had been erased from existence.

A triumphing grin appeared on Kelrian's lips as he noticed that his spell had worked. He checked his surroundings, noticing the stunned expression on the faces of allies and foes. He looked at the intelligent Scourge minions near him which backed off and increased the distances between them and him. They were afraid of him. Afraid of his power.

Kelrian's gaze fell on his hand. He noticed that one of the golden symbols had stopped glowing. It had become black and looked like a tattoo that had been applied to his skin. Kelrian drew his runeblade out of the ground, noticing that one of the six engraved runic symbols had stopped glowing too. Kelrian turned his head, looking at Sylvanas who was more than just impressed by his power.

Nerubians, cultists and liches avoided getting too close to him, only the brainless minions did the mistake to approach him. Kelrian whirled his runeblade around, killing five of them with one strike. Seven skeletons fell with his next swing, even a crypt lord found a quick death by Kelrian's sword.

The prince of the sin'dorei hacked his way through the masses of undead creature, casting spell after spell while he swung his sword. More and more undead died by his hands and the hands of his soldiers. Sylvanas killed lots of undead but not as many as him. Kelrian had killed by far the most undead creatures. He seemed to be unstoppable.

He knew he was strong and fast. He knew his magic was very deadly but he didn't do any risky moves. He remained careful and checked his surroundings often enough. He didn't charge into the enemy and let them come instead, bombarding them with fire and arcane techniques.

Sylvanas covered his back by killing those who approached him from behind. She killed those creatures which he didn't notice. She spent more and more arrows, not running out of arrows due to the mages who refilled her quiver whenever it was almost empty. She wouldn't know what she would have done without mages. She would have switched to close combat or use more dark magic spells to kill the undead. Fortunately for her, she had unlimited arrows as long as a mage was in her near.

She fought fiercely, shooting arrows at every creature that came in her near. Liches and abominations were the only creatures which were a lot tougher to kill but with the help of dark magic, she even killed these creatures. She stayed near Kelrian during the battle, not wanting to lose sight of him. She knew he could take care of himself. She knew he was the strongest warrior who participated in the battle. Nevertheless, she looked at him from time to time to make sure he was alright. She didn't want to lose him. She had just gotten him back not so long ago.

More and more servants of the Scourge fell but many Forsaken, blood elves and demons lost their lives. Sylvanas and Kelrian were losing more and more soldiers over time and more and more Scourge minions were approaching them. They knew they would have a problem if they would lose more soldiers. Fortunately for them, the main army broke through the Scourge army at the main entrance and entered the base. The sin'dorei swarmed out, most of them joined Sylvanas' and Kelrian's army.

With the help of the reinforcements, Kelrian and Sylvanas managed to push the Scourge forces back and reach the southern area of the base. Hundreds of Scourge minions were awaiting them. The leader of the remaining Scourge forces was a death knight.

It was a male orc whose skin was white as chalk. He had ice-blue glowing eyes, wore a massive grey armour and carried a two-handed axe in his hands. He was taller than Sylvanas and most Forsaken. He was taller than most blood elves but not as tall as Kelrian who was half a head taller than him.

Kelrian stood not far away from Sylvanas and regarded the death knight curiously. He had no doubt that the orc was powerful. "You must be Deathlord Omanar," Kelrian said calmly.

A mocking grin appeared on the orc's face. "That's right. And you are the Banshee Queen's lapdog."

Kelrian didn't respond to his taunt. "Give up, Omanar. You can't win this fight. Most of your forces have been killed and burned."

The orc's expression didn't change. "This battle is not over yet. I have enough minions left to kill you and your disgusting allies."

A small grin appeared on Kelrian's lips. "It's pretty over. Your forces won't last long against us. Give up and I make sure your death will be swift."

Omanar's eyes narrowed and he gritted his teeth. "You won't win this battle. Nobody can stand against me."

Kelrian titled his head and raised a brow. "Nobody?" he asked doubtingly. "Are you sure about that?"

The orc's eyes narrowed further, anger was reflected by his face. "Are you mocking me?"

Kelrian gave him a provocative smile. "Am I? I don't know, to be honest."

"Stop making fun of me," the orc hissed and made a step forward.

"Or what?"

The orc realized that Kelrian was not taking him seriously. He was not afraid of him nor was he considering him as a real threat. That made the orc pretty angry. A loud roar escaped Omanar's lips as he sprinted towards Kelrian who remained calm and regarded the orc as he came closer. The death knight lifted his battle-axe above his head and took a swing, intending to cut the cocky blood elf in halves.

Kelrian saw the attack coming due to his golden eye. He had enough time to raise his runeblade and block the orc's attack. The weapons clashed, resulting in the shattering of the double-bladed axe. Omanar's eyes were widened in shock as he staggered backwards. His eyes rested on the handle he was still holding and then fell on the blood elf who was regarding him with a raised eyebrow. "Last chance to surrender, Omanar."

The death knight dropped the hilt and clenched his fists, charging at his opponent. Kelrian jumped forward and executed a swift swing no one had seen coming. Not even Omanar. The orc stopped as he realized that Kelrian was no longer in front of him. He was behind him and regarding him with an impassive look on his face.

The orc looked down at himself, noticing the deep cut in his chest out of which a large amount of blood flowed out. Kelrian's sword had cut through his armour and his flesh with ease. The orc turned around, a mix of shock and disbelief could be seen in his eyes as he looked at his opponent.

Kelrian's expression hadn't changed at all. He still looked at the orc indifferently. The orc made a few steps forward, starting to walk towards Kelrian but he didn't get very far. He collapsed a few moments later and landed on the ground. His eyes stopped glowing and his body became limp.

Kelrian averted his gaze as soon as he realized that the death knight was dead. He looked at Sylvanas, noticing that her eyes reflected heavy surprise. She couldn't believe that he had managed to take down a powerful death knight like Omanar with just one swing. Omanar had terrorized the sin'dorei and Forsaken for over a year. He had slain many soldiers of the Alliance in this battle, and in smaller skirmishes in the past year. No member of the Alliance had ever managed to injure him. He had been undefeated until this day. Kelrian had ended Omanar's killing spree with one swift sword strike. He had ended his life with one attack.

Kelrian looked at his brethren, at the Forsaken and demons. "We are not done yet." He shouted. "Let's kill these disgusting creatures and claim Deatholme as ours."

Loud shouts, cheers and war cries escaped the lips of the soldiers of the Alliance. The soldiers didn't hesitate to follow him into battle. More soldiers died in the following hours but the Alliance was victorious in the end. They had killed all remaining Scourge minions in Deatholme. The ground was covered with blood, armour pieces, weapons, separated body parts, mutilated corpses, burned bodies but also bodies that were not crippled and still recognizable.

Hundreds of forsaken, blood elves and demons died but their deaths were not in vain. Deatholme was theirs and thousands of Scourge minions had been killed during the battle. With Deatholme under their control, only a few villages were left which were still possessed by the Scourge. Windrunner Spire and Windrunner Village belonged to them.

Kelrian let his gaze wander, noticing that most soldiers were cheering. Lots of soldiers were mourning their deceased comrades. Their deaths had been necessary to conquer the Scourge base and significantly reduce the Scourge's influence in Quel'Thalas. He was sure that their names will not be forgotten.

Kelrian's gaze fell on Vereesa, Rhonin, Lady Liadrin and Arator who were walking over to him. He noticed that Sylvanas was doing the same and reached him before they did. Kelrian put his sword back in the sheath and closed his golden eye, covering the right half of his face with his hair. Before he could have put on his glove, Sylvanas had approached him and took the glove. She had spread the opening wide enough so that he could fit his demonic hand in without a problem.

Kelrian gave her a thankful nod and smiled at her, noticing that she was doing the same. They stared into each other's eyes until Vereesa and the others reached them and cleared their throats. Kelrian turned his head and looked at them.

"Your fighting skills really impressed me, Kelrian," said his cousin.

Kelrian smiled at her. "Thanks, Liadrin. You fought well too. You are a very strong paladin. I would have never imagined that you would be so skilled in close combat. Who trained you?"

"As you know, I have been trained in close combat when I was just a priestess. I wanted to do more than healing the wounded so I sought out a paladin of the Silverhand and asked her to train me," Liadrin explained.

"You have become an excellent fighter."

Liadrin smiled. "So did you. You killed that death knight with just one swing. I doubt anyone else would have been able to do that. At least not with a normal weapon."

"The aura radiated by your sword is stronger than the aura of any other runeblade I have ever seen. I think it's much stronger than Anduin Lothar's Great Royal Sword and Felo'melon," said Vereesa.

"It is strong indeed. But there is one runeblade which is even stronger than mine," Kelrian responded and looked at Sylvanas.

"Frostmourne," his lover said quietly.

Kelrian nodded. Sylvanas was silent for a few moments. "This runeblade is something special. It's fel green but the runes engraved in it are golden. It seems to me that fel magic and holy light are combined in this blade," she thought loudly.

"I have no idea why the runes glow golden but I doubt it has something to do with the holy light. Only fel energy is stored in the sword, I think the golden glowing is just for looks. My partner prefers gold as a colour. Many parts of his armour are coloured in gold," Kelrian responded.

"Who is your partner?" Rhonin asked.

"I wish I could tell you that now but you have to wait a bit longer. You will meet him soon. As soon as he got rid of Kil'jaeden's agents."

Rhonin sighed. "I think I can live with that. I wonder who your mysterious ally is."

"He is a demon who was once forced to serve the Burning Legion. He got free from their control just like Sylvanas who got free from Arthas' control. He wants to destroy the Scourge and the Burning Legion as badly as we do. That's all I can say for now."

Sylvanas put a hand on his right upper arm. "I trust you, Kelrian. I trust you with my life."

Kelrian put a hand on her face and brushed his thumb over her cheek. "I'm glad you do."

He stared into her eyes for nearly two minutes, then he turned his head and looked at Vereesa and her husband. Small smiles could be seen on their lips. Vereesa was happy that Kelrian and Sylvanas seemed to be pretty close again. She was Sylvanas' sister, so she wanted nothing more than her happiness. After everything her sister went through, she deserved to be happy.

Vereesa had gotten very close with Sylvanas over the past years, just like Alleria. Sylvanas didn't tell her everything as she had done in life but she told her enough. Vereesa knew that their reunion had gone well. Even though Sylvanas had never told her, she knew that she still loved Kelrian. At this very moment in which Sylvanas looked at him, Vereesa could see it in her eyes. She loved him with all her heart. Only those who knew her pretty well could see that. Others wouldn't recognize it. Vereesa was one hundred percent sure that Sylvanas still loved Kelrian but she didn't know what he felt for her. She assumed he had similar feelings for her sister. She hoped that at least.

Kelrian removed his hand from her cheek and turned back to his sister-in-law and her husband. Sylvanas didn't show that she really missed his touch. She didn't show anyone how much his presence affected her. Her expression was neutral even though she felt very happy at the moment. They had been victorious and her sister, her brother-in-law, her nephew, Liadrin and the love of her life had survived the battle unharmed. All persons who were important to her had survived.

The best was that Kelrian had touched her in a similar way he had done before the Third War. He had caressed her cheek carefully even though people around them had looked at them. It seemed that he had no problem showing others what he felt for her. She had every reason to feel happy at the moment. Sylvanas smiled at him but did nothing else. She didn't kiss or hug him. All she did was to touch his forearm but that was enough for her for the moment.

"What will we do with the base?" Arator asked eventually.

Kelrian turned his head to look at the curious half-elf. "For now, we should station our soldiers there. We could repair Deatholme and make a functioning base out of it. But we have to discuss that with your aunt. She is the one who decides what will happen to Deatholme."

"So...What will we do now?" Arator asked.

"We should return to Silvermoon," replied Sylvanas.

Vereesa gave her sister an agreeing nod. "Alleria will be delightful when we tell her the good news."

Sylvanas smiled at her baby sister. "I'm sure she will."