7 Chapter 7: Celebration - Part I

Two and a half years had passed since Sylvanas had made it possible for Kelrian to become her recruit. Two years had passed since his training had started. The training had been hard, a lot harder than he had expected. Sylvanas hadn't spared him although he was her favourite. She had treated him like the other recruits. She had been strict to him when he had lacked discipline or when he hadn't been able to do what she had expected. She had urged her recruits to go to their limits and give their best.

Almost every day, Kelrian had been completely exhausted after the training which had lasted for at least ten hours. Often, he had been forced to train for twelve hours with only little pauses. The training had been strength-sapping and had exhausted him so much that he had gone to bed after it almost every day during the first year. His body had needed time to get used to this rhythm. After a year the training became less exhausting because he had gotten used to it.

The training was not easy these days but it was not as hard as it had been two and a half year ago. He knew the procedure of their daily training and he knew how to get perfectly prepared. He could fulfil the daily tasks he had to do during his daily routine without problems.

He had grown over the past years, had gotten more muscular and stronger in general. His skills with the bow were by far better than it had been two and a half years ago. Also, he had become faster, more skilled in close combat and better in following tracks. All in all, the two years of hard training had made him better and stronger.

Additional two and a half years were awaiting him. He had to withstand them to become a ranger. He was still a recruit but his will was unshakable. He would never give up no matter how hard and exhausting the training will become. He had sworn to himself and to the Ranger-General that he wouldn't stop until he becomes a ranger of the Farstriders.

Kelrian's dream was to fight alongside Sylvanas one day. He wanted to assist her, help her fight against all evil. He couldn't wait to become a ranger so he could accompany Sylvanas on very important missions like hunting groups of trolls who dared to invade the high elven land. He would love to sneak with her and her best rangers in a troll village and kill the warriors in their sleep before anyone would notice their presence. He knew that he had to wait two and a half more years to become a ranger. But he was a patient person so he would endure the remaining years. The training will become a lot harder but he was sure that he would endure it.

Kelrian entered the room at this very moment and his first action was to check his surroundings. He had just entered the dining room of the Farstrider Enclave. The room was large enough that at least three hundred persons could fit in it. The dining room was not extraordinarily furnished or decorated. A few paintings hang here and there, the floor was covered by a soft blue carpet. At least thirty large tables with six or eight chairs stood in the room. Most of the chairs were already taken.

Kelrian noticed by the uniforms of the present persons that about fifty rangers of all ranks were in the room. The others were recruits who were either sitting on the chairs, stood somewhere or walked to the tables on the right side of the room where the buffet stood. The rangers were wearing better uniforms so that they were easy to distinguish from the recruits.

As a recruit, Kelrian was wearing a leather vest which was coated with a thin chain mail and green cloth. He was also wearing leather pants which were dyed in green and firm boots which allowed him to move trouble-free in muddy, snowy and steep areas. Climbing mountains, wandering through swamps or snowed areas were no problem for him as long as he wore these boots.

The uniforms of the rangers were also made out of leather but it had a much better quality than the leather used for the armours of the recruit. Either the leather was dyed in blue or it was coated with blue cloth. The chain mails the rangers were wearing were thicker and protected them better but they weren't much heavier than the chain mails of the recruits. Their boots were also better, held longer and were more resistant against dampness and sharp objects like stones or the tips of arrows.

It was easy for recruits to find a contact partner if they had a question or a problem. They just needed to look out for a person with a blue coloured uniform. One of the few exceptions was Alleria who was wearing a green coloured uniform even though she was a Ranger-Captain and not a recruit.

Kelrian spotted the group of persons he was looking for on a table near the entrance. Elonis, Elena, Kelia, Zetai and another member of Sylvanas' squad with the name Saith were sitting on a table on which a few plates and glasses were standing. This table had only six chairs so Kelrian had no other choice than sitting down between Elena and Elonis.

Of course, he didn't mind because he had become friends with the two beautiful and nice women. He didn't see them very often because they belonged to Regiment Two which was led by Alleria but he was able to meet them during the weekends when all of them had time off. Even Zetai joined them whenever they agreed to do something together.

Kelrian hadn't talked much with Zetai during the first year but they more time they had spent together the more information had Zetai given about himself. He hadn't become a very talkative person but at least he didn't remain silent whenever they met.

The relationship between Kelrian and Zetai had become better over the past two and a half years. Zetai had mostly ignored him during the first few months. He had barely looked at him and never spoken to him. He hadn't even answered Kelrian's questions. Kelrian had never taken it personally. Zetai was a special person and he had treated everyone equally. Every male at least.

But then his attitude had changed from one day to another. He had become more opened and had even talked about his feelings, his interests and other topics which seemed to be important to him. Kelrian had trained more often with Zetai and spoken with him about casual topics so he had gotten to know him better. He was even considering him as a friend. He was not sure how Zetai was seeing their relationship but he was pretty sure that he was considering him as a friend too.

Kelrian sat down between the two women he also considered as his friends. He loved to spend time with them and Zetai. They hunted together very often or went to the market to buy things, food most of the time. Sometimes when it was really hot, they even walked to the nearest beach and got in the water to cool off.

Kelrian saw them only during the weekends so he spent as much time as possible with them. He saw Zetai every day so it was not so tragic if he didn't come with them. Sometimes, Zetai refused to go with them without telling them why. Kelrian found it strange but he never asked him about the reasons. If that happened, he just accepted Zetai's decision and spent his free time with Elena and Elonis.

Kelrian also saw Kelia and Saith every day because, like him, they were also trained by Sylvanas. He got along with them very well but he wasn't doing something with them during his free time. They had their own circles of friends with who they spent their free time. Kelrian talked with them from time to time but other than that he didn't do anything with them.

Kelrian leaned against the back of his chair and observed his friends. He was not very hungry at the moment so he had decided to just take a seat and listen to what the others had to say. At this very moment, Elonis told the others about the intermediate examination she had passed successfully. Like everyone else, her task had been to survive alone in the wilderness for a week.

Judging by what Elonis was telling, surviving in the wilderness had been no problem for her. She had found a cave where she had slept at the end of each day. She hadn't had any problems finding animals to eat. Kelrian listened to her attentively and compared her experiences with the ones he had made during that week. All in all, he hadn't had it as easy as her but he had also been able to survive without having had huge problems.

"How was your exam, Kel?" asked Elonis after she had finished reporting about her week.

"Fine, I guess. It was easier than expected. I was always careful and stayed away from groups of wild beasts. Most of the times I hunted deers, smaller boards or lonely lynxes. Sometimes I only managed to bag a rabbit but it was still enough to satisfy my hunger. Unlike you, I didn't find a cave so I had to build a small hut out of thick branches. It was not the safest accommodation but it was better than nothing. I survived this week without any incidents. That's all that matters"

"I'm glad that you didn't get injured. Not like this one guy from Regiment Four" said Elena.

"What happened?" asked Kelrian. A frown appeared on his forehead and he raised an eyebrow as he looked at Elena curiously.

"We don't know any details. We have only heard rumours. According to these rumours, one of the recruits from Regiment Four stumbled over a large stone and fell from a steep hill. His left leg broke as he fell. He was lucky that a ranger from his regiment, who was secretly checking on him from time to time, found him before the wild beasts could" explained Elena.

Kelrian tilted his head, making a thoughtful face. "I don't want to imagine what would have happened if the beasts would have found him before the ranger"

Elena didn't say anything in return, but Elonis did after being silent for a few moments. "The life of a Farstrider is no bed of roses. We will face worse threats than lynxes or boars in the future. One day, when we won't be recruits anymore, we will fight against orcs and trolls. We can't allow ourselves to get injured by stumbling over a stone. Every mistake, even the smallest one, can cost us our lives in times of war. We need to be careful. We have to learn to be careful as fast as possible. I think this will be a lesson for the guy. I hope he won't do the same mistake twice or he could get in serious trouble"

"Elena is right" responded Zetai. "The life of a Farstrider is and will never be easier. It will become more difficult as soon as they decide that we are ready to participate in the skirmishes against the trolls and orcs"

"I share your opinions. Hopefully, the following two and a half years will be enough to prepare us against the real threats. I can't wait to kill these orcs and trolls who raid our villages and kill traders which are coming from Lordaeron or Stormwind to visit our capital city" responded Kelrian.

He was showing everyone that he was serious about this. He wasn't afraid to face a troll or an orc even though they were known to be physically stronger than elves. On the other hand, the high elves were faster than them so even the brute strength of the orcs wouldn't save them from a precise arrow right between their eyes. Kelrian wasn't afraid of having to fight them one day. On the contrary, he was already excited to help the Farstriders expel them from their home.

"Don't worry, we will show these bastards what we are capable of. Together with the others, we will avenge the numerous innocent inhabitants who die by the hands of these bastards every year. The orcs and trolls will wish that they had never gone to war against us" responded a self-confident Zetai.

"Don't forget that the humans and dwarves are also fighting against the Horde. We don't have to face these bastards alone" reminded Elonis.

"Pah, we don't need the help of humans and dwarves. We are able to handle these underdeveloped creatures alone"

"You might be right, Zetai. But more of our people will die without the help of the Alliance. I know you are proud that you don't need anyone's help but sometimes we have to give up our pride and let others help us for the greater good" said Kelrian, wondering what his friend would respond.

Zetai's response didn't surprise him at all. "If you think so". He lifted his glass, which was filled with alcohol, and brought it to his lips. He emptied the glass in one gulp, putting it back on the table.

"I think we all agree that we will make the Horde pay for what they have done to our people over the last two decades" intervened Kelia.

"The funny thing is that these trolls and orcs maintain that they are fighting with honour. But the truth is that they aren't. They hide from us and only attack us when we are not aware of them. They raid villages and kill defenceless villagers. They don't even spare women and children. They plunder, abduct, rape and murder. I can't wait to shoot an arrow through Zul'jin's eye and his underdeveloped troll brain. I will make sure that this bastard will die by my hands" Zetai's tone had been relaxed at first but it had become more and more influenced by anger and hatred the longer he had spoken. It was unmistakable that his hatred for orcs and trolls was a lot more distinctive than of the other elves.

The others were asking themselves what had happened that Zetai hated them that much. But nobody dared to ask him about this. Nobody except Kelrian who wanted to help Zetai. He put his hand on Zetai's shoulder, signalizing him that he was not alone "What did they do to deserve your hatred?"

Zetai was silent for a few moments as he stared at the empty glass he was holding. He frowned when he noticed that his hands were shaking a bit. He put the glass down, regarding his still shaking hands. He took a deep breath, put each hand on the opposite upper arm and rested his elbows on the table. The others were also silent, waiting patiently that Zetai would say something.

The current best recruit refused to say anything for a few minutes. He didn't do anything except for staring at his empty glass. But then he spoke eventually after almost ten minutes. "The trolls raided my village six years ago. I went out to hunt boars for the evening meal so I was not there to defend my village. My father was one of the only inhabitants who knew how to fight. He was a good swordsman and archer but he was not strong enough to defend the village against twenty trolls. The trolls burned down every house, defiled the corpses of the dead, raped my mother in front of my father's eyes and tortured my father slowly while my mother was forced to watch.

My sister is the only member of my family who survived this slaughter. She has hidden beneath a carriage which had fallen over. The trolls haven't found her so they couldn't kill her. But my sister had to watch everything. She managed to escape but the occurrence has marked her forever. She has not been able to speak with me for an entire month. She broke out in tears when she finally told me what exactly happened. She has nightmares every night since the troll attack. A few priests and mages have managed to help her. Since her therapy, she has far fewer nightmares and they are not as bad as the ones she had before the therapy.

She is doing better but that doesn't mean I will easily forget what these trolls did to my village and my family. Every single troll will pay for what these twenty trolls and all the other trolls did to our people"

The listeners remained silent for a few minutes after Zetai was done speaking. None of them had ever witnessed that Zetai had sounded so depressed and angry at the same time. None of them had ever seen such a sad expression on his face. None of them had believed that Zetai had negative emotions. He always had a neutral expression or an amused expression on his face. He had never shown grief, anger and loss before.

His comrades showed compassion for him. They didn't hug him, even though they wanted, because Zetai hated getting hugged. Instead, they patted his shoulders and spoke comforting words to him, managing to calm him down a little.

Kelrian exchanged Zetai's empty glass with a new one which was filled to the brim. "I understand you. You want to seek vengeance but killing Zul'jin won't bring your family back. I understand that you want to kill at least ten trolls for each inhabitant they had killed but this is no weird black magic ritual. You won't resurrect them if you kill their murderers"

"I know that. I'm not that dumb"

"I didn't say that" responded Kelrian politely.

"But you are right. Killing the murderers won't bring them back. I was hoping that when I hunted them but even killing their shaman didn't change anything. The dead stayed dead but at least these bastards died. Maybe too quickly for my liking" Zetai emptied his glass quickly as he was done speaking.

"Wait a second..." said Elonis, giving her comrade a surprised look. "You met the ones who were responsible for the destruction of your village?"

"Yes, I did. They were foolish enough to return five months later because their shaman lost some sort of an amulet which was important to him. I have found this amulet and for some reason, I have known that they would return sooner or later. I've prepared lots of traps and waited for their return. Then I killed them one by one until only their leader was left. Killing him required more arrows but in the end, he fell like the other members of his disgusting kind"

"You killed twenty trolls alone?" asked Kelrian. It was hard to miss that he was heavily surprised by this. And he was not the only one. Every other elf who sat at the table and even those who sat were in the near were having similar expressions on their faces.

"I had twenty-four arrows" told Zetai. "One arrow right between the eyes was enough to kill a troll bastard. My traps caught some of them and prevented that they could move which made it a lot easier to kill them. But even without the traps, they fell quickly. Only their leader survived three of my arrows. He was a lot larger, stronger and even faster than the rest of his group. My fourth arrow hit right in the left eye but he was still alive. I had no arrows left so I went in close combat and rammed my sword deep in his ugly widely opened jaw"

"That's impressive" whispered Elonis.

Zetai continued his report. "I could have defiled their corpses as they had done with the corpses of my neighbours but I decided against it. I wouldn't have been better than them if I would have sunken to their level. I haven't wanted that one of their crazed shamans would bring them back so I burned them"

"Killing twenty trolls is already impressive. I'm sure that only a few rangers would have managed that. The Ranger-General would have managed that and maybe her sister, otherwise I don't know anyone else who could have done that" said Kelrian but he didn't get a response. Zetai just stared at his empty glass and chose to be silent. Kelrian offered him his glass which was still full. Zetai took it without thanking him and emptied it.

Kelrian didn't know how many glasses of alcohol his friend had emptied so far. He assumed that he had drunk at least five glasses. Maybe more. But Zetai didn't seem to be drunk. Not even close. He had seen him drinking bevor. He had never gotten drunk before when he had been around, no matter how many glasses he had emptied. It seemed that he was immune to the influence of alcohol. Or maybe he just could tolerate a lot. Kelrian was not sure.

He, on the other hand, started to see things twice after only three glasses. That was the reason why he hadn't drunk anything yet. He didn't want to end up drunk in a corner an hour after the had arrived at the celebration. He wanted to enjoy more of the celebration before he would get drunk.

"Did you feel better now that all twenty trolls are dead?" Kelrian asked eventually.

Zetai hesitated with his answer for a few moments. "Not really. I was pleased for the moment but in the end, their deaths didn't make me feel better"

"I'm afraid that Zul'jin's death will not make you feel any better" announced Kelia.

"Maybe it will. Maybe not. But it is a good start at least. I won't rest as long as the trolls are still living in our lands and looking for trouble. I will only rest when every single troll is dead"

"Just be careful that your thirst for vengeance won't induce you to do something stupid which could endanger you or even cost your life" responded Kelrian, making a worried face.

Zetai chuckled, patting his friend's shoulder. "Don't worry, Kel. I can take care of myself"

"I hope so"

"Trust me. I handled these twenty trolls so I can also handle my thirst for vengeance"

"Hopefully" muttered Kelrian, not sounding very convinced. He gave him a small smile as he stared at him. Zetai emptied another glass, requesting Kelrian to finally drink something which contained alcohol. The younger male forwent but he agreed on getting a few more glasses of alcohol for the best recruit.

He stood up and walked to the table on which the alcoholic drinks were standing. He put a few glasses on a tray and was about to turn around and walk back to the table where his friends were sitting as he recognized a familiar person leaning against a column.

It was no other than Sylvanas Windrunner who was regarding the event. Her right leg was bent so her right feet could rest against the column. She was holding a half-full glass in her hand while the other toyed with a few strands of her majestic hair. Sylvanas turned her head in his direction, her lips formed a smile as she spotted him in the crowd. She stopped toying with her hair and waved at Kelrian, signalizing him to come closer. Kelrian didn't hesitate and walked over to her, returning the smile she was giving him.

Sylvanas' gaze fell on the tray he was carrying. "That's a lot of alcohol for one person. Do you want to forget everything around you or why have you taken so many glasses?" she teased.

Kelrian blushed a little for a reason he didn't know. "No, this is not for me. It is for Zetai... and our friends I guess"

She chuckled. "I would have said the same if I would have gotten caught with too many glasses of alcohol by my instructor"

"You know me very well, Ranger-General. My body doesn't tolerate much alcohol. Things wouldn't end well for me if I would empty every single glass. I've not planned to hug the toilet for the rest of the day, to be honest"

"What do you want to do instead?" Sylvanas asked curiously, raising an eyebrow.

"I've no clue. Celebrating, talking with my friends, maybe doing other things. I don't know yet"

"Would you like to follow me and talk with me a bit?" she asked, giving him a small inviting smile.

Kelrian looked around, checking if the nearest persons had heard what Sylvanas had offered him. To his relief, the closest person was over thirty feet away and didn't seem to have heard anything. Also, it was very loud which minimized the chance that someone would have heard her.

He also found out that nobody was really watching them, which really surprised him because Sylvanas' look was always a feast for everyone's eyes. He didn't mind at all because this meant that he could follow Sylvanas without getting noticed by too many people.

Not even Alleria or Verena were paying attention to what Sylvanas was doing so she took this opportunity and began to walk through the nearest corridor, signalizing Kelrian to follow her. He wanted to protest, to tell her that he had to bring the drinks to Zetai first but no sound escaped his lips. Kelrian hesitated for a few moments before followed her willingly. He carried the tray with him, hoping that he wouldn't spill a single drink.

He followed her until she stopped after a while. He looked around, noticing that they were standing on a balcony. The night was so dark that no one could see them from outside. Sylvanas closed the door behind him and locked it, making sure no one else could join them. She walked to the railing and leaned against it. She folded her arms in front of her chest, tilting her head as she regarded Kelrian curiously.

"Are you not afraid someone might find us here?"

"Don't worry, no one will spot us on this balcony and even if, I don't care"

"So, you have me where you want me. I guess you have planned to bring me to this balcony. What exactly are you up to?

Sylvanas smirked teasingly as she responded "Come closer and find it out"