Living for You Alone

(Thanks to Empire's Endless Melancholy for the 400 Qidian coin tip!)

(Thanks to book friend 090720181729384 for the 100 Qidian coin tip!!)

Tiny droplets of water dripped from the grass by the roadside.

When the sun rose in the east again, its warmth fell upon every elf who had stayed awake all night.

'Anar'AlahAnar'AlahBelore'

Beneath a great golden tree beside the wide road, several young women greeted the morning with ethereal song. The elegant Thalassian sounded deeply sorrowful in the melody, and their white gowns billowed in the wind. As they sang, Liadrin and the Priests of the team looked like angels.

"What song is this...?"

His right hand gripping the crimson sword hilt tightly, Kael'thas asked the question. He had never heard the sorrowful song before, yet it gave him a strong sense of familiarity.

"Lament of the Highborne... Your Highness..."

An elderly mage lowered his head, his feelings complicated, and answered him:

"In ancient times, the elves sang this song in remembrance of those who sacrificed themselves fighting powerful monsters."

A song to mourn the dead, then? Kael'thas's fifteen years of memories began to stir. He had heard this song before, but that had been a more mournful rendition, sung by Sylvanas, queen of the Forsaken, and her Banshees. The High Elves in the lyrics had also become Blood Elves.

Now, sung by Liadrin and the other Priests, it was still a song mourning the High Elves, and he could feel a hopeful vitality in their voices.

"Then, Your Highness, we'll be leaving..."

A guard in golden armor came over and knelt before Kael'thas, speaking softly. Behind him stood two rows of guards dressed in the same manner, along with a red coffin in which a Warrior rested.

They were responsible for burying their fallen compatriots. Whenever circumstances permitted, they brought every elf who died at the front back to their homeland and laid them to rest together.

"Where is his home?"

His eyes bloodshot from staying up all night, Kael'thas asked softly. He did not want to be left not knowing where this loyal Warrior's remains had been laid to rest.

"Fairbreeze Village."

The guard looked up at Kael'thas and sighed inwardly as he answered.

How fortunate this Warrior was... Your Highness... do you know that so many more elves...

Their bodies cannot even be found... much less earn your recognition...

Amid the singing and birdsong, the procession slowly departed and went into the distance...

"So, what will you do now?"

Watching the procession gradually disappear in the distance, Kael'thas turned and asked his teammates.

His sculpted face shone in the sunlight, and his steady gaze looked straight at the group. In the space of a single night, the boy seemed to have become a different person, as mature as a grown elf.

And in fact, he had also reached level 25.

"The team has already been disbanded, and we'll be returning to our own teams."

The male mage took the lead and knelt before Kael'thas:

"We didn't accomplish anything this time. We failed in our duties..."

"I'm sorry, Your Highness!"

The remaining elves immediately knelt as well. Liadrin wanted to follow suit, but Solarian stopped her.

"Please give us some time. Once we're strong enough, let us return to your service!"

As the mage spoke, the rangers and Priests all lowered their heads and pleaded:

"Your Highness, please allow us to come back!!"

There was a hint of sobbing in their voices, and only then did Kael'thas realize that they were still a group of young children...

They had only just entered the battlefield, yet they already had to grieve over a companion's death.

Thinking of the dead Warrior, Kael'thas felt his own heart tremble. His teammates felt this way, but what had he done at the time?

"I will."

He forced a smile, trying to make it as bright as the sun, but his reddened eyes only made him look more and more like a child putting on a brave face. His air of maturity vanished in an instant.

"I'll wait for you. You have my permission to return!"

A new force?

The elderly mage's eyes widened in surprise, and he smiled. He could see that, after this incident, the time was ripe to begin building a force for Kael'thas.

"Your Highness, I have a suggestion..."

"Hm?... What is it?"

"Why not establish a new force and name it Firewing?"

Ordinary forces generally had no names, and those that did usually bore names with a special meaning. The old mage clearly wanted to establish a force of Kael'thas's own.

"This force will belong to you. Naming it after the Warrior who sacrificed himself for you will signify absolute loyalty and glory!"

"Firewing..."

The old mage's words struck Kael'thas like a thunderous wave. He had always thought the Firewing Force had existed for a long time, but now it seemed it had yet to be born?

Was it... born because of this incident?

Am I still following the course of history as it was meant to be?

What he had not considered was that, in this world, the Firewing surname had long been associated with exceptional loyalty. There had simply never been an opportunity to make it the name of a force.

The old mage was merely going along with the opportunity, and surely His Majesty the king, far away as he was, would never refuse the proposal either.

"I agree!"

"So do I!!"

The kneeling team members raised their heads and looked at Kael'thas with firm, eager gazes.

"All right."

Solemnly, Kael'thas slowly nodded his agreement.

Establishing a force was not something that could be done in a moment. It would take at least several years of preparation before this force could come into being.

So, half an hour later, his teammates still left one after another.

Kael'thas's team had been disbanded, reportedly at his elder brother's insistence. Apart from the guards, only two people remained by his side now.

Liadrin and Solarian.

The former stood with reddened eyes and a fragile expression, still saddened by Audilon's death. The latter's eyes were somewhat dim, but her expression remained cool and composed.

"You knew all along, didn't you, Solarian...?"

Finally having the time, Kael'thas narrowed his eyes and slowly asked:

"You knew everything."

He recalled how, from their very first meeting, Solarian had yielded to Audilon, and how, in the end, she had readily proposed that they split up and flee, then gone alone to bring reinforcements.

Everything seemed to have unfolded just as the astromancer had arranged it...

"I'm sorry. I didn't know what would happen..."

Solarian lowered her brows and, still in the same manner, explained softly, "But I saw the aura of that Warrior's future... there was only death..."

"I just didn't expect it to happen so soon."

Her right hand lightly pinched the hem of her garment. Then she drew a breath and said:

"I know what you're wondering, Your Highness..."

"But! If we hadn't split up last night, everyone's future would have been death. They would even have dragged you down with them..."

Everyone dying-that would have been the saddest outcome.

"So I made that judgment."

"And Your Highness..."

"That one slim chance of survival was your phoenix..."

She was Solarian, an astromancer, and so she could only do her utmost to grasp that slim chance of survival for her sovereign.

No matter what the future holds, no matter how many people are sacrificed...

As long as I can protect this person, that's enough.

Isn't that right... Audilon Firewing...

She raised her head and looked at Kael'thas, shining in the sunlight.

His eyes held flames of anger, and his youthful face offered a faint glimpse of the handsome man he would become.

Even if you resent me...

I live for you alone...