Chapter 73: Warden's Cage

"Lady Shadowsong's description of this place was not an exaggeration. This place is as miserable as she described."

Kelrian averted his gaze and looked at the woman who had just spoken. Disgust was clearly reflected by Whitemane's face. Instead of the revealing outfit she had worn as the high inquisitor of the Scarlet Crusade, an outfit which had exposed her thick thighs and accentuated her well-formed ass, she wore a yellow robe that reached to her feet and didn't reveal skin or accentuated her curves.

"This place is not the greatest but we won't stay here for too long. The Sentinel-General's group will get inside the prison and free the prisoners. As soon as we freed everyone, we leave this place again," he said to her.

"Getting in there won't be easy. There are plenty of guards in front of the gate. I have no doubt that lots of them are inside the building," said Danara.

"Remember, it's not our task to get inside. That will be the problem of the Sentinel-General. All we have to do is distract the guards. We have to draw their attention, so the other group can get inside and free the prisoners."

"How long do we have to distract them?" Kaelor asked.

"As long as possible," replied Kelrian. "General Feathermoon will let us know when they freed everyone."

"I thought the Sentinel-General doesn't want to attack the prison because she fears that the jailers kill the prisoners."

"That's right. We just wanted to sneak inside without attacking the prison but we came to the conclusion that it's nearly impossible to get inside without getting noticed. There are too many guards and the chances are pretty high that they have felhounds, observers or inquisitors. Felhounds sense magic while observers and the floating eyes of the inquisitors can see invisible creatures. We have no other choice than attacking the prison to draw the forces out so that the other group can free the prisoners," Kelrian explained.

"Seems we have no other choice than taking a risk," said Whitemane.

Kelrian nodded and turned his head to look back at the building. It was not the largest prison he had ever seen but it was not the smallest either. It was large enough to house dozens of prisoners and it was well guarded. There were at least thirty demons in front of the entrance and two dozen demons scattered over the area in front of the prison. His gaze fell on the stable walls that appeared to be pretty thick. "At least they don't have cannons or catapults. Things would be much harder in that case."

"When will we attack?" asked Danara.

"As soon as the Sentinel-General gives the order."

"It's hard to believe that you are following anyone's orders. You are the Chosen One after all."

"I'm still a mortal and still a member of the Alliance. Alleria Windrunner is my superior just as she is the superior of every blood elf. Every sin'dorei obey her and so do I. All of you know how much I hate being treated like a special person. I'm neither a god nor an ancient being. I'm just a man."

"A very reasonable man who is down to earth and neither arrogant nor cocky. I wish everyone who has great power would be like you. I met lots of creatures whose power went to their heads. These creatures became real asses and often followed the wrong path. I'm glad you didn't become like them," said Marcus.

Kelrian looked at his friend, wanting to say something but he didn't get the chance because Shandris approached him at the same moment. The expression on her face told him that she didn't come to do small-talk and tell jokes. She was serious.

"What can I do for you, Shandris?"

"My group is ready for the assault. Is yours too?"

Kelrian looked at his friends and then let his gaze wander to the forty men that were not far away from him. His gaze fell back on the night elf a few seconds later. "We are."

"Attack the prison and buy us as much time as possible. Remember that we don't have to take it. You just have to buy us as much time as possible."

Kelrian nodded. "I will buy you the necessary time, Shandris."

The general gave him a small smile. "Wonderful."

Kelrian stepped away from her and approached his men. There were fifteen servants of the light, eight archers, six mages, three druids and two shamans in the little army he gathered. The rest were soldiers who didn't possess any magical abilities. The majority of his army were of human or elven origin but there were also dwarves, gnomes and even worgen.

"You have heard her. Let's show these demons what the Alliance is capable of. We will not tolerate the imprisonment of our brothers and sisters. No longer will we allow Illidan to abduct and torture those we care about. His terrible reign will end soon. The key to defeat Illidan is in this prison and we have to free him by any means. Due to his knowledge, we will defeat Illidan and imprison him forever this time."

Half of the people were already cheering but their cheering became even louder when Kelrian shouted. "FOR THE ALLIANCE! FOR AZEROTH!" His little army was ready for battle. They were ready to kill as many demons as possible and make them pay for everything Illidan and the Burning Legion had done to their homeworld. They weren't bloodthirsty but determined. They just wanted to protect their home and those they loved.

Kelrian guided his group towards the building, the archers, mages and other ranged fighters began to shoot spells, fire arrows or bullets at the demons as soon as they came in range. Some focused the demons on the ground while others focused those on top of the walls.

The demons reacted without hesitation. Those who wielded magic or had a ranged weapon aimed for Kelrian and his group while the melees ran towards them. Wrathguards, eredar and even corrupted elves and humans formed the front line. Inquisitors, observers, spellcasters and other ranged fighters stayed behind and kept firing, reloading when necessary.

Mages and priests created shields to protect themselves and their fellow men from these missiles but some still managed to get through. Four of Kelrian's men were hit, two of them fell but only one of them stood up again. The other one was clearly dead. A huge spear stuck in the chest of the male night elf whose gaze was empty, blood flowed out of his chest and spread all over the ground. There was no time to mourn for the lost man. The battle had just begun and was far from will be a bloodbath, Kelrian was sure of that.

Two of Kelrian's men were wounded shortly before they finally reached the demon front line. A wrathguard approached Kelrian. Its skin was ashen grey, the armour it wore was crimson-red. Its bilious green eyes rested on him and watched his every move. Anger was written all over the creature's face as it took a swing with its mighty crimson-red axe. Kelrian parried the swing with his sword as if it was nothing and pushed against it with so much force that he managed to send the demon reeling backwards.

Kelrian took advantage of the defencelessness of his opponent and executed a quick slash, leaving a huge and deep cut in the taller creature's chest. The demon shrieked in agony, its cries became much louder when Kelrian thrust his sword through its belly. He pulled out the sword forcefully, giving the creature a strong push so that it fell backwards and landed on the ground.

If the creature had survived his attack didn't matter anymore because another demon accidentally stepped on the wrathguard's head and squashed it when it took its place. Green blood shoot in all directions, pieces of the demon's brain landed on the ground. The demon who had sealed the fate of its comrade was an overfiend that had been summoned by one of the warlocks on top of the walls.

The body of the winged creature was glowing greenish, its head, the upper half of his torso, forearms and lower legs were covered by armour but the rest was bare and unprotected. Its skin turned out to be firmer than expected. Casual arrows bounced off it but enchanted managed to cut through the flesh. Kelrian's sword cut through it too, the blessed blade caused the demon a lot of pain. Its cries were not as loud as the wrathguard's but still deafening and unpleasant.

But the wound Kelrian had inflicted didn't hinder the overfiend from striking back. Kelrian attempted to dodge and managed to avoid the huge mace but the back of the demon's hand hit him. He was flung backwards and landed several feet behind his original position. He hit his head on the ground, his vision blurred and the sounds of battle died away but only temporarily. He quickly got his hearing and his sight back, pulling himself up. The back of his head hurt but the pain was still bearable. He assumed that he was bleeding but he didn't have the time to check on it because the overfiend didn't give him a pause.

It charged at him again, swinging its mace for the second time. Kelrian jumped to the left side at the last moment, cutting the outside of the demon's forearm. Blood was spilt, cries roared through the air but the demon didn't stop. The overfiend lashed out wildly, hitting a dwarf who had just approached it. The unfortunate bearded man was squashed by the massive mace made of fel iron. The sound of crushing bones confirmed Kelrian's worst suspicion. The dwarf was dead for sure. Nothing but a bloody mess was left of the brave man when the demon raised its mace that was covered with the man's blood.

Kelrian felt sorry for the man but there was only determination in his eyes. Not sadness. He wanted to avenge the man and to achieve that he had to slay the demon. The overfiend was much stronger than all the other demons but Kelrian was the Chosen for a reason, not to mention that he was not alone either. He was surrounded by his men who also wanted the overfiend dead.

He sprinted towards the powerful demon as it began to lift its weapon, approaching it before it had lifted it over its head. Kelrian rammed his sword in the demon's belly, right through the small unprotected spot beneath its upper body armour and above its hip armour. He thrust the blade as deep as possible into the demon's belly, his eyes caught sight of the expression on the demon's monstrous face.

The demon's widened eyes rested on him, its jaw was wide open but no sound escaped its lungs. It still held the mace above its head but its arms didn't move. It didn't lower the mace to crush Kelrian. It was stunned because of the large amount of pain thatflooded its body. It was not dead yet, so it was still a threat to his group.

Kelrian cried out an order as he pulled his sword out and stepped away from the demon. He watched with satisfaction as arrows and magical missiles rained down on the overfiend. The demon endured longer than expected but died nevertheless. Its body eventually fell backwards and landed on the dry ground, squashing a few smaller demons in the process. The strongest demon was dead but the battle was far from over.

Enemy warlocks summoned more and more demons while they hid behind barriers eredar mages had erected. Kelrian ordered his fellow mages to destroy the barriers, the archers were ordered to kill the warlocks as soon as the barriers would vanish.

He was approached by a male eredar accompanied by a satyr and a felhound. The four-legged beast and the hooved demon, whose lower legs were covered by red fur, were no problem for the Chosen. Only the red-skinned eredar turned out to be a challenge. He was stronger than all the other eredar Kelrian and his army had killed so far but he was not invincible. Together with Marcus and Whitemane, Kelrian managed to kill him by decapitating him with a clean sword strike. The holy light was still their most effective weapon against the demons. Fighting these demons would be a lot harder without it.

The battle went on for a while but eventually came to an end. Kelrian had not expected them to actually kill all demons that had been guarding the gate. He had expected them to buy Shandris' group enough time and then flee as soon as they had freed the prisoners. Things had turned out differently. Unfortunately, he had lost more warriors than expected. Out of fifty warriors, he had lost seven. Too many for his liking.

He will make sure that they will not be forgotten and that their sacrifice will not be in vain. A lot of lives can be saved if Shandris would manage to free Akama who would show them a secret entrance to the Black Temple. That way, the Alliance wouldn't have to siege the temple and prevent the loss of a lot of lives. Those seven warriors gave their lives for the greater good and Kelrian will make sure that their names will be remembered.

"Shall we enter the building?" Kaelor asked as he stepped to Kelrian.

Kelrian shook his head. "No. There might be traps behind these doors. I don't want to lose more warriors than we already have. I'm sure that there are more demons inside. We will let them come."

"What if they don't come?" Whitemane asked.

"They will come for sure. Once we are in, we can split up and they want to prevent that. They will believe that we will wait outside until we found a way to avoid their traps. They don't want to give our mages the time to neutralise them," explained Danara.

"How do you know?"

Danara smirked. "I fought demons for numerous years and I experienced a lot in these years."

"You sure they will come outside?"

"Yep."

They did indeed. Dozens of demons came out but they were not as tough and powerful as the previous ones. They fell pretty quickly and Kelrian didn't even lose a single warrior this time. Just as they had killed the last demon, he saw a glowing arrow flowing through the air. It flew from the left side of the building to the right, hitting the roof of the rightmost tower.

"That's the signal we are waiting for," announced Kelrian. "Shandris got the prisoners which means we will retreat back to our camp. We have no reason to conquer this place and risk more lives. This place is strategically worthless for us. The only reason to attack it was to free the prisoners. Take the dead and bring the wounded to the military hospital once we reach the base."

His men obeyed, picked up the dead and supported the wounded. Kelrian guided them back to the base and instructed the healers to take care of the worst wounded first. He remained near the entrance, waiting for the other group to return. It took them five minutes to reach the base.

Kelrian took a closer look at those who had just returned and noticed that, contrary to him, Shandris had not lost any of her followers. Some were wounded but none of their wounds was grievous. Things were different for the prisoners. Akama seemed alright, three of the seven Warden were slightly wounded while the conditions of the others were much worse.

One Warden had obviously been beaten and tortured, another was lacking an ear and her left eye was blind. There were bandages, which were drenched in blood, around the belly of the third and the fourth was missing two fingers at each hand. They had been crippled but they were alive at least. Kelrian had no idea about their sanity and the consequences of what they had endured. He could only hope for the best.

He watched Shandris' followers bringing the former prisoners to the military hospital and then turned Shandris. "I'm glad you didn't lose anyone and the prisoners are still alive. Their conditions are not the best but they will get better with time."

"I don't want to imagine what these foul creatures did to them. Some of the Warden will probably have traumas."

"Then we have to help them to cope with what they had witnessed."

"No matter if we can help them or not, Illidan will pay for this. Killing creatures during a merciless war is one thing but torturing and crippling prisoners is another story. He will answer for that once we captured him. For this and all of his other crimes," Shandris expressed determinately. The look in her eyes let Kelrian assume she wouldn't change her point of view no matter what he would say to her. He didn't even try to convince her of anything. All he did was to give her a small nod.

"The Warden and Akama are still alive and that's all that matters at the moment. Did you find any other prisoners in the building?"

"Besides imprisoned demons, I didn't see any prisoner of value," she explained.

"Why didn't you free those demons? Maybe we could have gotten some information out of them."

"We can't trust any demon. Lying is in their nature, so I don't see a point in freeing them. Besides, there were lots of guards in the corridor where these demons were held and I didn't want to risk the lives of my sentinels and the prisoners. They aren't worth the risk."

"I just want to point out that Illidan imprisoned them for a reason..." He stopped speaking as the night elf raised her left hand.

"We don't work with these creatures," she said harshly.

Kelrian caressed his forehead. "Very well, Shandris. You are in charge of this mission, so you are the one who decides what to do. Just keep in mind that not all demons are bad."

Shandris chose to ignore that comment and turned away from him, taking a few steps. "I will talk to Akama now. Will you come with me or not?"

He nodded. "I will."

Kelrian followed Shandris to the military hospital where the doctors were looking after the freed prisoners. A male draenei priest checked Akama for injuries but besides a few bruises and cuts, he found none. It seemed that Akama had been treated relatively humanely.

The Broken's blue eyes fell on Kelrian, he tilted his head as he regarded him from head to toe. "You look familiar," he said eventually.

Kelrian nodded. "We met a long time ago. Over seven years ago to be exact."

"Hmm. Still doesn't ring a bell. Your face is familiar to me but I have no idea who you are."

"I'm known as the Chosen One these days but my friends call me Kelrian."

Akama's eyes widened a little as he realized who his interlocutor was. "You are the son of Kael'thas Sunstrider, the mad king."

"That's right. Kelrian Sunstrider at your service."

"You saved my village and many of my brethren."

Kelrian nodded. "I did indeed."

"You have changed a lot," Akama responded after he had taken a closer look at him again.

"You, on the other hand, didn't change at all. But that doesn't have to be bad. Sometimes, it's better not to change."

"I wish Illidan wouldn't have changed. He was not a bad person before we went to Northrend. He was a great leader with a lot of followers. His loss to Arthas turned him by one-hundred eighty degrees. He became a completely different person. He changed for the worse."

"I think there is still hope for him," Kelrian said determinedly.

Akama raised a brow doubtfully "You think so?"

A nod. "I do so."

The Broken turned his head and looked at the night elf general. "What do you think? Can Illidan change?"

Shandris shrugged. "I don't know, to be honest. I hope he can but I cannot be sure. Nevertheless, Illidan should stay alive no matter if he can change or not."

"Why?" Akama asked.

It was Kelrian's turn to speak. "The naaru want him to stay alive."

Akama looked back at him. "They do?" he asked surprised.

Kelrian nodded. "They told me that Illidan's knowledge will be required in the future, so we have to let him live."

"I may no longer serve the naaru but I still know that they are wise creatures who know much more than we do. They can see visions of the future, the present and the past. Many of my former people follow them just like I followed them once," the former draenei explained.

"You can still serve them," Kelrian mentioned.

"I could but I have no reason to. I no longer need their guidance, I know what must be done. I don't need anyone to tell me what to do."

"Your choice."

"If the naaru want Illidan alive then I will respect that and give my best to make sure that he will not die. Nevertheless, he must be stopped. His tyranny must end and the Black Temple must be freed. Illidan promised the temple to my people but he didn't keep his promise. He drove us out and made it to his main base. It is time that we free the Black Temple and give it back to my people."

"Maiev told us you know a secret entrance," Shandris said to Akama.

He nodded. "That's right. There is a secret entrance in the eastern part of the temple but it's not very huge. It will take some time to smuggle an army into the temple. There are plenty of demons inside the temple and its corridors, meaning it's only a matter of time until Illidan's servants notice us."

"How many creatures still serve Illidan?"

"I wish I could answer you that question but I have no idea. I was locked in this prison for quite some time, so I didn't have the opportunity to find out how strong Illidan's forces are. All I can say is that we shouldn't underestimate him and his forces. Even a small army can pose a big threat to us."

"You are right, Akama," Kelrian said. "The upcoming battle will cost many lives. I wish we could avoid it somehow but there is no way we can take the temple without fighting.

"We need more than just a large group of warriors to get through the masses of demons," the Broken responded. "We need to attack the main entrance with an army so huge that most of Illidan's soldiers are busy defending it. We must draw most of his demons out so that our best men can deal with him and his best warriors.

"We had hoped to avoid a large battle where hundreds of creatures die," Shandris said in a calm voice.

Akama shook his head slowly. "I don't think that will be possible. There are too many creatures inside the temple, too many that can see us or feel our presence. We won't be able to reach Illidan as long as not most of his forces left the temple."

The night elf exhaled. "Seems we have no other choice than fighting."

"Seems so," Kelrian repeated quietly. "I suppose that a huge army attacks the main entrance while a group of our best warriors sneaks into the temple and confronts Illidan."

"I think that's the best plan we will have but we need to discuss it with my mother first. She's the one in charge of the Alliance forces on Outland," told Shandris.

"You are right. I suppose we will set off once the healers took care of the wounded prisoners," Kelrian said to Shandris.

"We will set off tomorrow, so Akama and the Warden can rest for half a day at least."

Kelrian and Akama nodded. "Very well."