Alive

The blonde Female Elf groggily opened her eyes, her breathing startling Vareesa —her sister.

"You're awake, Alleria?" Vareesa's tired face finally broke into a joyful smile. She took out a water pouch and handed it to her sister.

Alleria quickly grabbed the water pouch and gulped down several mouthfuls. Vareesa seemed to guess that she was thirsty and needed water, and she certainly did. The springs of Quel'Thalas were refreshingly cool.

"And there's lynx meat, I've grilled it for you."

"Thank you." Alleria tossed aside her deflated water pouch, took the roasted meat, and began to wolf it down. She was hungry and thirsty. She had felt it when she woke up; her protesting stomach made her momentarily forget to think about what had made her so miserable.

The Ranger-General bit into the soft flesh, the oil squeezed out by her white teeth sliding onto her fingers. Alleria's eyes were fixed on the flowing liquid. It was the only moving object in her sight.

The oil was golden, though it appeared somewhat dull in the dim light. And what lay beneath the oil? Alleria suddenly stopped. She saw something else clinging to her fingers. It looked like some kind of black, congealed substance, and there was some between her fingertips as well.

"Blood?"

Vareesa was about to get her more food when she heard this word and froze.

"This is blood, yes! How did I get here? What happened?"

"Alleria, are you alright?"

Vareesa reached out to help Alleria up, but Aurelia grabbed her hand. The sister in front of her asked, almost accusingly, "Vareesa, where is this? What happened?"

"You need to calm down and rest, Alleria."

Calm down? Calm down! Vareesa's words of comfort helped Alleria relax, but the blonde Female Elf, once her mind cleared, immediately recalled what she had forgotten.

"I remember!" Alleria almost shouted. "Silvermoon City is under attack. This land is being defiled. I must stop the invaders." She paused, blinking incredulously. She was indeed trying to stop Arthas, but there were too many enemies; she was surrounded. Soldiers around her fell one after another, and one person stood beside her...

"Where is Nathanos?"

This was an unavoidable question, Vareesa knew Alleria would ask it.

"He's not here." Vareesa forced a smile, inwardly cursing herself. How could such an explanation satisfy Alleria? It would only invite more questions.

"Where is he?" Alleria roared, her emotions running high. She was furious at Vareesa's evasive answers and realized that her sister was hiding something.

"I should be holding off Arthas, Nathanos is beside me, both of our quivers are empty, we are surrounded, it's a fight to the death." She recalled things one by one, and immediately remembered what happened next, "He tried to take me away, he grabbed my hand and was using Hearthstone to teleport, how could he do that? I am Ranger-General, I cannot abandon my soldiers and retreat on my own."

Alleria paced back and forth, continuing to recall, condensing her memories into words and speaking them to herself. Her condition greatly worried Vareesa.

"I tried desperately to stop her, but he wouldn't let go, and then... then it was Lady Daphne, Nathanos' mother had been captured, he was furious, and I wanted to help him rescue his mother, and then..."

An ominous premonition arose within Alleria; she knew it was a memory she feared, yet it was that memory that compelled her to continue.

"Alleria..."

The Female Elf opened her eyes wide and whispered her name.

"Goodbye."

Her memory ended with just that one sentence, and a tear rolled down her cheek. Vareesa had never seen her sister cry before; she was shocked but understood, and no further explanation was needed. Alleria already knew everything.

"He saved me, and then... he stayed behind." Alleria stated the cruel truth, hoping that Vareesa would stand up and tell her that things weren't like that, but she remained silent, silently bringing despair to Alleria.

"He knew all along that this war was doomed to failure."

Alleria interrupted her, "Then why didn't you tell me?"

"Because you know that too!" Vareesa pointed out Alleria's thoughts mercilessly, leaving the latter speechless. "You are just like Nathanos, except you chose Quel'Thalas, while he chose you."

"This is completely different; this is not his war."

"How can your presence here not be part of his war?" Vareesa bit her lip. "You were willing to sacrifice yourself for Quel'Thalas. What about us? I don't have such lofty ideals; I just want you to live. Nathanos is the same; he loves you, which is why he saved you at the crucial moment."

So that explains everything. Vareesa disappeared before the final battle even began, and Nathanos had anticipated all of this.

"He didn't tell me because he knew I would object. And I did..."

Vareesa nodded as she wiped away her tears. "He had it all planned out. He couldn't take care of everyone on the battlefield, so he sent Sylvanas away to find me, and had me hold off my second sister so he could keep his attention on you. Then, in a moment of crisis, he'd use Hearthstone to bring you back, but... but something went wrong, and only you came back. I thought there was something wrong with Hearthstone, but I checked it many times..."

She took out Hearthstone from her waistband. It was something she had made, and now that it had lost its magical energy, it was no different from an ordinary stone.

Alleria snatched the stone, staring at it blankly, examining it, kneading it. This wasn't the Hearthstone's fault, and she couldn't blame Vareesa. Nathanos hadn't stayed because of the Hearthstone, but because of Arthas, that Death Knight who deserved to be torn to pieces. He had threatened her lover with Nathanos's closest relatives, forcing him to stay, where only death awaited.

"He...he shouldn't have done that!" Alleria cried helplessly, kneeling on the ground. Vareesa stepped forward and embraced her sister. The sister held her tightly, as if she were about to die.

There were many things Vareesa hadn't told Alleria; her sister had no idea she'd been unconscious for five days! In those five days, all sorts of terrible news had struck— Silvermoon City had fallen, the Elf had died in battle, the Sunwell had been corrupted, and of course, Sylvanas. Vareesa's face was close to Alleria's hair, her gaze drifting to the other side of the cave where they were. There was a makeshift bed there, a place to rest. Sylvanas should have been lying there, but...

The silver-haired Female Elf pulled herself out of her reverie. The process was too complicated for her to recall. Now, all she wanted was to stay by Alleria's side and help her sister release her grief.

Fortunately, amidst the misfortune, Vareesa thought to herself that her family was all safe and sound, still alive.