Dalaran Anomaly

Three months later, on the outskirts of Dalaran.

"I heard that this city was destroyed by Archimonde."

"You are quite right, Lord Nathanos."

Nathanos glimpsed a Death Knight groveling before him. He himself stood in an Undead camp. Besides this fellow, Nathanos recognized other, far more repulsive monsters: Ghoul carrying supplies, stitched-together monsters on guard, gargoyles poised for action, and Frost Wyrm circling overhead. It was a formidable force; there was no doubt that Nathanos was engaged in a war of considerable scale.

But he didn't want to stay here. He had been assigned to investigate the anomalies in Dalaran, and the person who gave him the orders was none other than Kel'Thuzad. The Lich had only told him to find out what was happening, but he had put a lot of Undead creatures under his command. It was obvious that he was to find out the problem, and then, incidentally... solve it.

Nathanos didn't understand. What was so noteworthy about a city long since erased from the map? But when he arrived, the situation was different from what he expected—he had more than one enemy!

"Have you investigated thoroughly, little shadow?" Nathanos asked a dark figure that had appeared out of nowhere.

"Yes, Master. As you suspected, that unusually powerful magical fluctuation came from the ruins of Dalaran. A group of serpentine creatures seemed to be performing a powerful ritual. And more importantly, besides us, a group of High Elf and a group of Night Elf were also interested in it."

"Night Elf? Night Elf?" Nathanos frowned. "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure, Master. They possess towering ancient trees and moving Mountain Giant. The High Elf are also numerous, and their leader seems to be their Prince Kael'thas."

"Kael'thas?" He sneered. "I heard he renamed his people Sin'dorei, the Blood Elf. And he even had the audacity to get the Elf of Quel'Thalas to rejoin the Alliance. It seems he truly hates the Scourge."

"The bad news is that they have discovered us, but the good news is that they don't seem to be planning to attack us. The Blood Elf you mentioned have built enough obstacles and even designed magical barriers."

"So, their target is those snake-man monsters? Excellent, let's see if the High Elf's power grows as strong as their resolve."

Nathanos drew his bow from his back. "Everyone, attack!"

"They've arrived, Prince Highness!"

"Don't panic, soldier." The Blood Elf Prince Kael'thas Sunstrider wasn't blind; he had actually seen a horde of corpses surging towards them long ago.

"Anar'alah belore, destroy these scum!" Kael'thas roared furiously.

A dense rain of arrows and various spells pelted Nathanos's army. The Ghoul and mindless zombies at the forefront fell one after another. A leader should know how to care for his soldiers. But Nathanos felt no pity. These servants had no words, no thoughts; only slaughter.

The vanguard soldiers fell, Nathanos stood where he could see the Blood Elf camp, occasionally wiping the Quel'delar with a white handkerchief, knowing that the sword would soon be stained red.

"They've all collapsed?"

"Yes, sir. Shall we launch a second attack?"

"Well, we need to change our attack strategy." He said, turning to look at the army that was about to launch its attack. For some reason, Nathanos suddenly felt like giving an inspiring speech before the battle, but he knew it would be useless; the Undead didn't need words to motivate them. So, he simply adjusted the deployment, sending the massive, more defensively robust Stitches to the front lines, using their bodies to withstand the Blood Elf's ranged fire. The other soldiers followed behind, advancing in this way to break through Kael'thas's defenses.

"Damn it!" The Sunstrider Prince glared furiously at the Undead's hasty attack. He felt a surge of pleasure as he watched the filthy monsters fall, but he quickly realized he'd been tricked. This was clearly not the enemy's main force, but a vanguard sent to their deaths. Their sole purpose was to expose their firepower.

The effect was quite good; Kael'thas jumped into the trap as soon as he saw the Undead attacking.

'The enemy commander is cunning. Who is he?' Kael'thas thought of Arthas, then quickly dismissed the idea. That butcher had savagely carved a path of death through Quel'Thalas; such tactics were out of character for him.

As expected, when the Scourge launched another attack, he was shocked and even more certain of his suspicions. Swarms of gargoyles and Frost Wyrm swooped down, facing off against the Dragonhawk Rider, the pride of the Elven Kingdom. The other soldiers were primarily responsible for holding off the Undead on the ground. Kael'thas, however, had no interest in killing these creatures; his aim was to eliminate the Scourge's commander.

"Let your master fight me to the death, damn it!"

Nathanos didn't go on a killing spree among the crowd. He simply stood there, watching to see if any Elf would attack him. If so, that Elf would be saved. He would knock them unconscious to prevent them from dying on the battlefield. But a sudden voice caught his attention, and without thinking, he knew whose voice, filled with hatred, it belonged to.

The Elf Prince stood a few yards away, his golden-red attire resembling the blood of a battlefield. He spotted and stared at Nathanos, a staff planted in the snow before him, magical energy crackling around him.

"You... were looking for me?"

Kael'thas's face twitched. He gave a soft snort and sneered at Nathanos. This Undead was so calm in front of him, seemingly indifferent, or even confident of victory.

But the Prince of the Elf race is no small fry.

"I have to admit, you're very brave. Before I kill you, I need to ask you, what's your name, and where did you get the sword in your hand?"

He doesn't recognize me?

Nathanos felt like he'd heard a joke, but then he realized that Kael'thas didn't seem to know him at all. After all, they were meeting for the first time, though they had both heard of each other. One was Elf Prince, the other was Alleria's lover.

"Who I am is unimportant. This sword... was taken from an Elf." Nathanos thought of Salorian, the one who had offered Quel'delar to him.

"Salorian Dawnseeker is a hero of Quel'Thalas, and to have his relics in my hands is to defile them!" Kael'thas roared, trembling with rage. "The stench of you Undead has stolen everything I cherished, and I will avenge my fallen brethren!"

Nathanos narrowed his eyes. Kael'thas's words had successfully changed his mind. He hadn't originally planned to kill anyone today, but now...

"I've heard the word 'revenge' a lot, but the key question is, do you have the ability to take revenge?"