The newcomer stood well over six feet tall and wore a brilliant red robe, its lavish gold trim clearly the work of the finest artisans. His tall, straight figure and pointed ears were unmistakable signs of a high elf. Elves were uncommon, but hardly a rare sight. What really drew the eye was the phoenix floating beside him—a phoenix no bigger than a rooster.
Anyone with even a little knowledge would recognize him at a glance from the phoenix at his side: Kael'thas Sunstrider, prince of the Quel'dorei Kingdom of Quel'Thalas and a member of Dalaran's Council of Six.
The phoenix beside him was Al'ar, Kael'thas's close companion. At its level of strength, size was no longer a measure of power, especially for an elemental being.
"Powerful flames, with chaotic fire elements mixed in. Looks like an unusual spellcaster. Judging by the damage, its body is strong too. Could it be a dragon?"
Kael'thas sounded as if he were talking to himself, though he might have been speaking to Al'ar. He examined the damage to the castle, traced several runes in the air with one hand, and sensed the magical elements still lingering near the portal.
"Someone sealed my portal. They must be no ordinary opponent. I came as soon as I received the signal, yet they still managed to get away. The two who fought here must both have sharp senses..."
The Alterac Kingdom lay very close to Dalaran, with only a mountain ridge between them. The magical fluctuations here were still within Dalaran's range of detection. It would have been strange if a clash between a hero and someone on the verge of becoming one hadn't alerted the mages. Besides, they had been keeping a careful eye on this temporary "no-man's land." So when they heard of powerful fire-magic fluctuations, Kael'thas, the Council of Six's foremost expert in fire magic, had set aside his experiments and hurried over at once.
"Al'ar, I sensed the magical aura of another phoenix too. Is it one of your kind?"
Kael'thas glanced at the miniature phoenix beside him. Al'ar shook its head to show that it didn't recognize the other phoenix.
Great strength didn't mean a creature excelled at everything. Phoenixes, for instance, were nowhere near as talented at language as parrots. Coral's silly bird might be noisy, but it was still much better than the speechless Al'ar. At least Liam didn't have to guess what Coral meant when he spoke to it.
Still, after spending hundreds of years together, Kael'thas could easily read his phoenix's meaning from a few gestures. He smiled and said:
"Not one of your kind? That's rare. Could someone else have summoned a phoenix from the Elemental Plane? I'd like to meet them. Maybe I could find you a mate."
Hearing Kael'thas tease him, Al'ar flapped his wings in displeasure. Sparks showered over Kael'thas's face, making its feelings clear.
"Haha, all right, all right. Who knows what customs you phoenixes have?"
Kael'thas laughed, then added a few more words. When he saw his phoenix about to act again, he hurriedly looked toward the ruins outside and changed the subject.
"This royal city is completely destroyed now. The only way to repair it would be to tear it all down and rebuild. Those annoying flies probably won't fight so fiercely over this land anymore."
After surveying the state of Alterac's royal city, Kael'thas turned back to Al'ar.
"Since they've already left, we'd better head back. That little girl is going home to visit her family tomorrow, and Master Antonidas certainly won't be free. There'll be a lot to do tomorrow, so we should prepare some gifts in advance."
With that, Kael'thas turned and stepped through the portal he'd opened earlier, vanishing in an instant. His phoenix followed close behind, returning through the portal to the mages' hall in Dalaran.
As they departed, the portal, which had been glowing pale purple, vanished from the spot. After the chaos, the Alterac Ruins fell quiet again. Its owner, Aiden, still lay unconscious in the middle of the roofless castle, sprawled there like a dead dog.
They'd spent the whole night fighting, then left one after another without a second thought, abandoning the "culprit" and leaving him utterly miserable.
The dragons' stomping, the spreading fires, the accidental injuries to allies, and the wanton destruction caused by all kinds of creatures had nearly turned the Alterac Kingdom into a dead zone that night. Of the nearly one thousand old and new members of the Syndicate, some died and others fled. Fewer than a hundred remained.
The destruction that night had reduced the old city of the Alterac Kingdom to ruins. The Syndicate had also lost most of its members in the chaos Liam had caused. Its leader, Aiden Perenolde, was left "gravely injured" and unconscious. Several loyal guards rescued him from the ruins, and after that, he disappeared without a trace.
The Syndicate, which had terrorized the region for a time, vanished from the land of the Hillsbrad Foothills overnight and never appeared again. The people there finally enjoyed a long-missed period of peace—brief, but precious.
Of course, that was all in the future. Liam had no idea how badly the Alterac Ruins had been damaged. He was still wondering whether he should turn back and kill Aiden.
He'd been forced to focus on dealing with Onyxia, so he'd completely forgotten about his target lying in the corner. Now he'd run all the way to the area near Aerie Peak, where he was safe. Once he'd calmed down, Liam suddenly remembered something: he still hadn't completed that damned quest!
"Does it count as done? I didn't get anything, so probably not. But the quest said to strike at the Syndicate's power, and I definitely dealt them a serious blow. Damn, I forgot to leave behind some evidence. I doubt anyone will believe me if I just tell them..."
Liam was frustrated, but there was no way he was going back there now. Coral had used up a lot of energy the night before and had turned back into a parrot to sleep. If Onyxia suddenly changed her mind and sneaked back, he might not be lucky enough to escape the furious dragon a second time.
Torn over what to do, Liam could only head back to Ravenholdt Manor and speak with the old man. If he said the quest wasn't complete, Liam would have no choice but to hunt Aiden to the ends of the earth.
Poor Liam had lost his mount, so he had to make his way back to the manor on foot, taking a detour around Aerie Peak.
While he spent the day traveling, reports about the disaster at the Alterac Ruins were delivered to Duke Jorach's desk.
Reading the letter, Jorach realized he'd still underestimated Liam's potential—or, perhaps, his capacity for destruction.
"We'd better send those two youngsters away soon. My little valley can't take this kind of beating."
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