Warcraft:Rise of the Lich Queen

Rise of the Lich Queen

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Quel'thalas. The end of the second war between the Horde and Alliance marked the beginning of a return to peace for the elves who made their homes in this region. Even the Trolls had suffered such heavy losses that skirmishes with them over territory had become more rare an occurrence. The general populace retired to their lives of normalcy, even most of the military had disbanded and returned to their regular everyday lives.

All but a few. Sylvanas Windrunner was the youngest ever to be appointed as General of the Rangers, the elite defense unit of Quel'thalas. Although it had been some time since any attack was made on her people, she refused to rest from her training, always seeking to better herself. Some of the elves saw this as a fierce dedication to her duty and applauded her, amazed by her ascent through the ranks despite her young age.

Others, however, whispered some doubts. There were some who had either heard rumor or figured out that the only reason Sylvanas was promoted to the position vacated by her mother was because her older sister Alleria had turned it down, opting instead to join the Farstriders and adventure away from Quel'thalas. It was these whispers more than anything that drove Sylvanas to sharpen her skills, day in and day out, in order to prove herself worthy of her status. She harbored no ill  will towards Alleria of course, but she was driven to surpass her nonetheless.

On a day in the middle of summer, Sylvanas was preparing to go out on a patrol of the forest perimeter, like she always did close to sundown. As she walked outside of the barracks, a shrouded figure appeared before her. Try as she might, even in daylight her elven eyes could not discern any facial features or details about the mysterious stranger. He was certainly no guest in Quel'thalas so she drew an arrow and aimed at the hooded figure.

"I am Sylvanas Windrunner, Ranger General of Quel'thalas, state your business in these woods and identify yourself!"

The obscured figure let out what she assumed was a small laugh and said "I already know who you are, and that arrow won't be necessary."

Sylvanas allowed her arm to rest, but kept the arrow notched just in case.

"When the time comes... Aim left. That's all."

The figure was gone again just as quickly as he had arrived. Sylvanas couldn't see or sense his presence anymore, and his words were just as puzzling as his method of transportation. She began to wonder if it was all a hallucination after all.

As she was lost in thought, a scout from the south came sprinting up to her, trying to deliver a report before even catching his breath.

"Ge...General! I-i-i can't explain exactly what's happening, it....an army of undead abominations marches for Quel'thalas! They have already overwhelmed our defenses at the first two gates!"

"Evacuate the citizens to the inner city, seal the main gate and rouse the rest of the Rangers, tell them to meet me there at once!" Sylvanas ordered as she hastily thew on her full battle raiment and sprinted to the overlook to the southwest. She wanted to see this" undead" menace with her own eyes. There had been reports of a plague in the human cities that caused the dead to rise, but these were largely dismissed as ghost stories in Quel'thalas.

When she arrived the situation looked more dire than she originally thought. Losing the first two gates wasn't ideal, but in this time of peace there were barely any actual forces defending them. The army she was seeing now would have swept away those defenses even if they were held by her best. She quietly racked her brain and decided the best strategy for her troops.

"General!" Her captains shouted collectively as they too arrived atop the overlook. "What are your orders?"

Sylvanas wasted no time. "Take your men and hide in the woods along their path. We must strike at them and fade away, thinning their ranks and slowing their progress. We have no hope taking a force this size head-on. Shatter the keystone for the gate and separate the pieces. I'll take care of the western bridge. That should be enough to draw out whoever is leading this army so we can try to end this invasion."