Chapter 12: The Fall Of Silvermoon – Part Two

Sylvanas flew towards the group and tried to grab her mother but Lireesa rolled away at the last moment and avoided her attack. The Farstrider behind her was not fast enough, so Sylvanas grabbed him instead and lifted him up in the air. The male ranger fought like a maniac, trying to get free but Sylvanas' grip was strong. She lifted him high in the air and dropped him. She felt satisfied when her former subordinate hit the ground.

The breaking of bones couldn't be overheard, a puddle of blood appeared beneath the broken body. Lireesa drew a sharp breath, her widened eyes rested on the ranger for a few moments before she looked back at her daughter, or what was left of her. She could recognize her facial features but other than that the creature didn't look like her daughter. She recognized Sylvanas' high cheekbones, her full lips which colour had changed to dark blue and her perfect nose.

She knew that this creature had once been Sylvanas. She was hoping that this was only an illusion, a trick the death knight used to try to break her. She was hoping that this was not real but the longer she stared at the banshee, the more Lireesa got convinced that this flying creature was not her daughter. Her daughter would never harm anyone who was important to her. A few tears ran down her cheeks as she realized that her daughter was gone. She had already feared that Sylvanas had fallen in battle and would never return but seeing her like that was much worse than losing her.

She became a servant of the man she had tried to stop. Arthas Menethil had killed her beloved daughter and turned her into this creature. The woman in front of her was no longer Sylvanas. It was just another mindless creature who served the death knight and executed his orders without hesitation. She was nothing more than another servant who had to be taken down. Lireesa wanted nothing more than releasing her daughter from the service of that bastard. She didn't want her daughter, or what was left of her, to serve the former human for all eternity.

Lireesa's narrowed blue eyes stared into the red eyes of the banshee who was floating above the ground not far away from her and regarded her curiously. Lireesa didn't avert her gaze as she gave her group new orders. "I will stay here and keep that creature busy. You have to find a way to get into the building and make sure that as many citizens as possible step through the portal. Bring yourselves to safety if you can."

Kelrian's gaze fell on her. "You want to handle her alone? You can't do that. She will kill you."

Lireesa turned her head, regarding Kelrian out of the corner of her eyes. He looked scared, doubt and disbelieve were reflected by his face. Like her, he couldn't believe that Arthas had turned Sylvanas into one of his servants.

He didn't want to accept that Sylvanas was gone and had become a member of the army she had once tried to stop by any means. He didn't want to believe that Sylvanas was on the other side and fought against the living she had sworn to protect. He didn't want to fight her. He would have never believed that he would have to fight Sylvanas one day. He didn't want to fight her but there was nothing he could do. Nothing except for accepting the painful truth.

It pained him to see Sylvanas like that. He didn't want to imagine how she must feel at the moment. He guessed she didn't want to do any of the things Arthas forced her to do, but there was nothing she could do. He believed that she was forced to act as Arthas wanted. The Sylvanas he had known would never hurt anyone. The Sylvanas he had known didn't let her emotions control her and never showed when something or someone was frustrating her or making her angry.

But that creature was the entire opposite of the brave, controlled woman he had known. There was nothing but anger and hatred reflected by her face. She was gritting her teeth, her crimson eyes were narrowed and reflected nothing but pure hatred.

The loveable woman he had once known that been turned into this creature that seemed to hate everything and everyone that existed. He could no longer recognize the love of his life. He only recognized her beautiful facial features but they were distorted with anger, an emotion he had rarely seen in her face since he had gotten known to her.

He had never seen her so angry before. It scared him to see her like that. He wished that Sylvanas would have stayed dead instead of being raised and forced to serve the man who had murdered her. He wished she would have stayed dead instead of being turned into this monstrosity.

"I have to make sure that as many of my subordinates as possible survive and I don't want her to serve that bastard any longer. I have to release her and you have to survive. I don't know if Alleria is still alive but Sylvanas isn't. Sylvera, Raesh and Arator need their fathers. I order you to save as many civilians as you can before you go to Quel'Danas," Lireesa responded eventually and looked back at what was left of her daughter.

She didn't cry or showed that she was grieving for her beloved daughter. Instead, a determined look could be seen on her face. She had set herself the goal to release Sylvanas so that she wouldn't have to serve the death knight any longer.

She didn't want anyone to remember Sylvanas as the creature she had become. She wanted Sylvanas to always be remembered as the brave, strong and determined woman she had been before the butcher had murdered her. Sylvanas had sacrificed herself to buy as much time as possible for the evacuation of her people and now Lireesa would do the same to prevent Arthas from forcing her to do more things she would have never wanted to do.

Kelrian wanted to protest because he didn't want to leave her alone but Turalyon pulled him away and forced him to look at him. "Our mother-in-law is right. We have to go."

"But we can't leave her to die. Even if she manages to defeat and release Sylvanas, the undead will pounce on her and kill her," Kelrian said, sadness was reflected by his eyes. He had already lost his beloved wife, so he didn't want to lose another member of his family.

Liadrin said his name, making him look at her. Worry and shock were reflected by her eyes. "Lireesa is right. Think about your children. They will become orphans if you decide to stay. I appreciate that you don't want to leave Lireesa and help her to release Sylvanas but you have to think about your children too. They already lost their mother. They can't lose their father too. They would be shattered if they lose you too. You have to be there for them and comfort them as best as you can. They need you."

"Lireesa will give her life to safe us, so don't make her sacrifice meaningless," added the paladin.

Kelrian looked at his mother-in-law who gave him a nod. Sylvanas hadn't moved in the meantime nor had Arthas done anything. He was listening to the conversation, a wicked smile could be seen on his pale lips. Kelrian was surprised that no undead creature had attacked them in the meantime. Arthas could have ordered his creatures to attack them but he didn't. Kelrian assumed he was toying with them because he didn't expect that they would manage to escape. He also assumed that Arthas wanted Sylvanas to kill him and his family to make her suffer even more and make their death even more tragic

Kelrian didn't know if Sylvanas would care about killing them. There seemed to be nothing left of the good Sylvanas. He could only recognize the angry creature that wanted to kill and make others suffer. He didn't recognize his wife in her. The Sylvanas he had known was gone. He had to accept that one day and he was sure it wouldn't be easy. But he had no time to think about everything that had happened. Lireesa was right, they had to get into Sunstrider Spire, save as many civilians as possible and then try to escape to Quel'Danas.

Kelrian swallowed hard as he regarded Sylvanas for the last time before he turned around and ran away with Liadrin and Turalyon. Arthas' eyes rested on them until they were out of his sight. His gaze shifted to the mother of the creature he loved to make suffer.

Forcing Sylvanas to kill her mother was only the beginning. He had planned more for her and her friends, her family members and her loved wanted to make them suffer too. He had allowed them to leave because he knew they wouldn't be able to stop the inevitable. He would get them one day, he was sure about that. He toyed with them because he knew that they were no threat to him and his army. Nobody was. Nobody could stop him and his army.

His gaze wandered to Sylvanas. Her crimson eyes rested on her mother, her lips were pressed together. He knew she would kill her mother. There was no way the new Ranger-General would be able to defeat his newest creation. He had given Sylvanas much more power than he had given his other servants. Not even Dar'Khan Drathir, who had betrayed his people voluntarily, had received as much power as Sylvanas. She was his strongest servant at the moment and she would make him proud by killing as many persons she had sworn to protect in life as possible.

"I expect to see a good fight. Don't finish her too soon. Toy with her a little."

The banshee looked at the death knight. "As you wish, master."

Sylvanas began to move but only slowly, giving Lireesa enough time to take a potion, which contained a blue liquid, from her belt. It was the last one she had. The last potion which allowed her to be as strong as she had been in her prime but only for a limited amount of time. The effect would hold out for a few hours but Lireesa was sure the fight would be over sooner.

She peeked over her shoulder, counting five arrows in her quiver. She let her eyes wander around, spotting several arrows that stuck in undead creatures that hadn't been burned. Lireesa would need these arrows if she wanted to release Sylvanas so that she didn't have to obey her murderer anymore.

"Let's get this over with," said Lireesa and drew the first arrow from her quiver. She nocked the arrow, aimed and fired. Sylvanas dodged the arrow while Lireesa sprinted to the nearest corpses of undead creatures and pulled three arrows out of the decaying bodies in the meantime.

Sylvanas didn't say anything as she flew over to her mother and tried to grab her but the Ranger-General made a large leap to the left side, firing an arrow at the banshee. A loud shriek escaped Sylvanas' undead lips as the arrow hit her in the back. Her body was spectral but it was not invulnerable. Lireesa could hurt her and that meant she could also kill her. Kill her and release her from her suffering that way. That was all Lireesa could do for the precious daughter that had been taken away from her and turned into a monster that wanted to kill her own relatives.

The high elf pulled another arrow from her quiver, hitting Sylvanas in the side. The following shriek was much louder, forcing her mother to cover her ears. Lireesa had dropped her bow, her head was hurting and her ears were bleeding. She was stunned for a few moments, so Sylvanas flew over to her and knocked her away with a forceful punch.

The Ranger-General landed hard on the ground, painful noises escaped her lips as she got up. Sylvanas didn't hesitate to attack her again, punched her again and broke her nose. Blood flowed out but Lireesa didn't care. She drew her swords from her belt and attacked Sylvanas but the banshee was faster and avoided her attacks.

Lireesa tried it again and again but Sylvanas dodged her attempts until she got bored. She opened her mouth and let another scream escape her lips, forcing Lireesa to drop her swords as she covered her ears again. Sylvanas lifted the swords without touching them and threw them far away. A wide grin could be seen on her lips as she regarded her suffering mother. She didn't know why but for some reason she enjoyed to see others suffer. She had never enjoyed that before Arthas had killed and raised her but now she enjoyed witnessing the suffering of others.

She enjoyed seeing her mother's facial features distort in pain. She enjoyed inflicting pain to her. She leaned forwards, ran her hand over her mother's head, smirking as she saw her ears twitching. Sylvanas' touch was cold and felt weird. It was strange for the Ranger-General to be touched by this spectral creature. For a moment she had the impression that Sylvanas, her Sylvanas, was caressing her head but a few moments later she found out the hard way that it was not her Sylvanas.

The banshee had grabbed her head and pulled on it, making the woman shriek out in pain. She pulled harder and harder, her smile became wider the more pain she caused. She stopped eventually and threw her mother away, regarding the ripped-out strands of blonde hair in her hands.

"Is that all you got, mother? I expected more from you." Sylvanas approached her mother, regarding her with a provocative smile on her lips. Lireesa was lying on her back, her eyes rested on her daughter and her heart was hammering in her chest. She wondered what this creature, that had once been her daughter, would do to her. She was expecting the worst. The banshee would do everything her master would demand from her.

It was not looking good for Lireesa. She had hoped she could end her daughter's suffering but Sylvanas was much stronger than her. Even with the potions, she was not strong enough to beat her. Arthas had made Sylvanas too powerful. She had no chance of releasing her daughter from eternal servitude. She couldn't defeat her without aid but fortunately, she still had an ace up in her sleeve.

Her hands wandered slowly to her belt. She opened one of the many pouches that hung on it and pulled a spherical object out of it. It had a light-grey colour and yellow glowing symbols were engraved in it. It was a weapon that had been developed by the gnomes. Prototypes of this weapon had been used in the Second War against the death knights that had been created by orcish warlocks. The prototypes had been pretty effective, so the gnomes had further developed this weapon for the case that the Alliance would have to fight against death knights again one day.

This object was Lireesa's last hope. She knew she was going to die and she had already accepted that but she was hoping she could take Sylvanas with her and end her suffering. She didn't want that this butcher would use her to kill more people Sylvanas had sworn to protect. It was Lireesa's duty to take care of what was left of her daughter. Sylvanas didn't deserve to be remembered as a spectral creature that enjoyed killing her former people. She deserved to rest and always be remembered as the brave Ranger-General who gave her life to save her people.

Lireesa knew that the banshee was toying with her, so she assumed she would allow her to get up and increase the distance between them. Indeed, Sylvanas was acting as expected. She regarded her mother while she walked away from her, the weapon in her hand didn't concern her. She felt no fear, Arthas had made sure of that.

Her head was tilted as she stared at her mother who had built up enough distance to her. "What are you trying to do, mommy? Will you throw that thing at me and hope I just disappear or how does your plan look like?"

Lireesa didn't respond to her. She looked at the object in her hand and then at her daughter. She regarded her for a few moments before she pressed the small red buttonand threw the object at Sylvanas. Sylvanas didn't move and watched the object coming closer. It landed in front of her on the ground.

Sylvanas regarded it for a few moments, finding out that nothing happened. Echoing laughter escaped her lips but her laughter died away quickly as the object exploded a few seconds later and holy light was set free. The light came in contact with Sylvanas' spectral form and hurt her.

The pain she was feeling was immense, much worse than any pain she had felt before. The only exception was the pain she had felt when Arthas had brought her back from the dead. Her skin was burning, her head was hurting very badly and she felt powerless. She tried to move away but she couldn't.

She was not able to prevent that Lireesa pounced on her and dragged her to the ground. The Ranger-General pulled a dagger from her belt but it was not a normal dagger. The dagger was enchanted by mages and blessed by priests and its purpose was to kill undead creatures.

Lireesa stared into the red orbs of the creature that had once been her dear daughter as she brought the dagger closer to her heart. Her intention was to thrust it in Sylvanas' heart and end her poor existence that way. She was doing that for her daughter. Her daughter deserved to rest. Lireesa didn't want Sylvanas to be forced to serve her murderer any longer.

Sylvanas was trying to prevent that. She had grabbed her wrists and tried hard to push her mother's arms away. Sylvanas was still weakened by the grenade, so she had not enough strength to stop the dagger's sharp tip from coming closer and closer. Sylvanas' eyes reflected nothing but anger and hatred.

But these emotions vanished and were replaced by fear quickly. The banshee was afraid of dying and Lireesa had the impression that a small part of her Sylvanas was still left in this creature. She had thought that her daughter was gone. She had thought her daughter had been erased by the death knight but the longer she stared into her eyes the more she got convinced that her daughter was not fully gone.

She assumed that Arthas had not fully mind-controlled her. Sylvanas had not been herself the entire time but now it seemed that the monster was vanishing and the good Sylvanas was breaking through and taking her place. Lireesa could interpret that as a good sign but she still doubted that Sylvanas wanted to be an undead creature. Nevertheless, she was unsure of what she should do. Should she release her daughter and allow her to have her deserved peace in the afterlife or should she spare her and fight with her against the death knight?

Lireesa was unsure of what to do. She would have had no problems killing that creature while knowing that it was no longer her daughter. But now that she was sure that Sylvanas still existed, it seemed impossible for her to kill her. She just couldn't kill her daughter. She couldn't kill her sweet little Sylvanas. Her successor. The daughter that had been loved by everyone and had always tried to save her people by any means.

She loved all of her children equally, she had no favourite child but Sylvanas had always been more determined than her sisters. Unlike Alleria, she hadn't refused to become Ranger-General even though she had known what that would mean for her. She had succeeded her, knowing that she would have more responsibilities, more stress and less free time.

A minute ago, Lireesa had been determined to end the creature's life but now she was no longer able to do it. She couldn't kill the banshee. Tears formed in the corners of her eyes and she stopped trying to ram the dagger in her daughter's heart. She kept staring into the eyes of her daughter who returned her gaze. The fear vanished but the anger and the hatred didn't reappear.

It seemed that Sylvanas was herself at the moment. Lireesa was only asking herself how long she will remain herself. She had the premonition that the death knight would bring her back under his control sooner or later.

She knew she should release Sylvanas before he would do that but seeing her like that made it impossible. She just couldn't bring herself to stab her daughter in the heart. She was her mother, she had given birth to her, breastfed her and raised her. She would never do anything that would hurt her sweet little girl. She couldn't, even though she didn't want that her daughter would have to serve that bastard forever.

"I cannot..." she whispered and dropped the dagger. Tears ran down her cheeks.

She turned her head as she heard someone clapping. Arthas was the one who was clapping while regarding mother and daughter. "That is so sweet, I have to admit that," he said, a scornful tone could be clearly heard in his voice.

"I cannot kill her. Unlike you, I can't kill my relatives. I'm not a monster like you."

Arthas' facial features didn't change. "You cannot kill her, I see. But she can."

Lireesa looked at Sylvanas, noticing the panic in her eyes. Her Sylvanas would never harm her, Lireesa was sure of that. She looked back at the death knight, raising an eyebrow. "My daughter would never do that."

The death knight laughed. "Your daughter is gone."

"I doubt that."

Arthas smirked. He lifted Frostmourne and pointed its tip at Sylvanas. The banshee started to scream suddenly, pressing her hands on her head as if she was hoping that it would ease the massive amount of pain she was feeling. It felt as if her head was about to explode. She wanted nothing more than to stop the pain. She would do anything to make it stop. Lireesa watched in horror as the panic in Sylvanas' eyes was replaced by anger and hatred. Arthas had regained control over her.

Lireesa tried to pick up the dagger but Sylvanas was faster and threw it out of her reach. She grabbed her mother by the throat and started to throttle her. The corners of Arthas' lips formed a wide grin as he regarded the happening in front of his eyes. "Keep going Sylvanas. Now stare in your mother's eyes and tell her that everything will be fine."

Sylvanas obeyed him. "Everything will be fine, mommy. It will be over soon. You won't have to see me like this much longer. Greet Lirath from me when you meet him in the Bastion."

Lireesa's lips moved but no sound escaped her lips. Nevertheless, Sylvanas knew what she tried to say because she could lip-read. Greet Lirath yourself. Lireesa pulled another enchanted dagger from her belt and rammed it in Sylvanas' chest.

Sylvanas was able to throw her mother onto the ground before she felt a massive amount of pain that was making her cry out loudly. She tried to remove the dagger but it was too painful to touch. She only made the pain worse when touching it but she knew she had to remove it. She grabbed the dagger's handle and started to pull it out slowly, feeling that the pain got worse with each passing second.

But Lireesa was not idle in the meantime. She picked up the first dagger Sylvanas had thrown away and ran towards her but she was not able to reach her. Someone froze her feet to the ground and prevented that she could stab the banshee again.

She turned her head, noticing that Frostmourne's tip was pointed at her. Arthas was responsible that she couldn't move andrelease her daughter. Arthas' grin became wider as Sylvanas recovered after she had pulled the dagger out of her chest.

The banshee got up and flew to her mother, wrapping her fingers around her throat again but she didn't throttle her yet. Instead, she looked at her master who was coming closer and closer. Arthas looked at Lireesa, a satisfied expression could be seen on his face. "I assume it must really break your heart to see your daughter like that. I turned her into a killing machine. Many will die by her hands. She will serve the Scourge well. She will serve for all eternity."

Arthas' smile became much wider as he spotted the tears that ran down the Ranger-General's cheeks. Sylvanas was staring at her, nothing but anger could be seen in her eyes. She didn't care that her existence broke her mother's heart. She didn't care that her mother was crying because Arthas had turned her into a slave. She was under Arthas' control and felt what he wanted her to feel and did what he wanted her to do.

Arthas handed Sylvanas one of her mother's swords. "Show her what it truly means to break a heart. Sylvanas nodded, took the sword and thrust it in her mother's chest.

Lireesa's eyes widened, a loud painful cry escaped her lips and blood flowed out of her mouth. The ice around her feet vanished and Sylvanas let her go, causing that Lireesa fell onto the ground. Arthas snapped his fingers, watching amusedly as the anger vanished from Sylvanas' eyes.

The mind control stopped and Sylvanas regained control over her form. Her eyes widened, a loud scream escaped her lips as she realized what she had done. She had just stabbed her mother right through the chest.

She got on her knees and wrapped her arms around her mother's torso, lifting it up. She removed the sword, watching in horror as a large amount of blood flowed out of the deep wound. She stared into her mother's face, noticing that she became very pale quickly. Her blue eyes were widened and stared into hers.

Lireesa was shocked but unable to say anything. Sylvanas was more shocked than her, guilt started to overwhelm her. She couldn't believe that she had just stabbed her mother. She had just stabbed the woman she had always loved and always looked up to. She had pierced her heart with her own sword. Her mother was dying and it was her fault. She had stabbed her. Killed her. Murdered her. She was responsible for the demise of the person who had given birth to her.

Sylvanas pressed her hand on the hole in her mother's chest, knowing that it was pointless to try to stop the bleeding. "Mother... I'm so sorry," she whispered but Lireesa couldn't hear it because the last signs of life had already left her. Lireesa's body became limp, her eyes stopped glowing and her pulse stopped beating. She was dead. Sylvanas had killed her.

The banshee put her head on her mother's chest, loud cries escaped her lips. She felt nothing but desperation, grief and guilt at the moment. She hated herself. She hated herself for killing her mother. But she also hated Arthas Menethil for forcing her to kill her. She also hated him for killing and raising her. She hated him for everything he had done to her and her people.

Hatred started to overwhelm her. She was really angry. She was so angry that she wanted to make someone suffer. But this time it was not a random inhabitant of Quel'Thalas she wanted to make suffer. This time it was the death knight himself who she wanted to kill more than anyone else.

She rose in the air, stretched her arms out and flew towards Arthas, intending to dig her sharp fingers into his pale flesh but the death knight lifted his sword, causing unbearable pain to the banshee. He didn't need to touch her to make her suffer.

She wanted to kill him so badly, wanted to make him pay for his crimes. He killed Verena, her friends and then her. He forced her to kill her mother. He caused so much death and destruction. He had to pay for everything but Sylvanas was unable to hurt him. That made her much angrier than she already was but she was unable to take out her anger on the person that deserved it the most.

Arthas looked at her amused. He enjoyed to torture her and make her suffer. His mischievous grin became wider as an idea came in his evil mind. Another way to make Sylvanas suffer had just come in his mind. She would have to witness everything that would happen around her but she wouldn't be able to do anything. She wouldn't be able to influence her actions. That way she wouldn't be able to stop herself from killing more high elves and more people who were important to her. She would have to witness the demise of the people she loved.

Arthas made his horse move towards Sunstrider Spire which entrance had been forced open by his abominations. Sylvanas didn't want to follow him but her form was acting on its own. She tried to resist but all her efforts were pointless. She was powerless. All she could do was watch as her spectral form followed the death knight to the building. She knew she wouldn't be able to stop herself from killing more innocents. She could only hope that Kelrian, her family or her friends wouldn't cross her path. She could only hope that everyone who was important to her would reach Quel'Danas as soon as possible.