Relics of the High Elves

Andy stayed in the camp for a few days. After Tyrande explained the situation to the old general Andona, she reclaimed command of the Sentinel Unit from him.

Tyrande first dispatched a force to various outposts in Ashenvale to secure the border between Ashenvale and the Barrens to the south.

There was an elven outpost at a crossroads in the Barrens, but she had no way to station more troops there.

The Barrens were barren indeed, lacking even drought-resistant plants, consisting only of endless yellow earth. When the warm winds from the south blew across the Barrens, they turned into scorching sandstorms.

Dark Elves did not like staying in places devoid of vegetation, and supplying that location was also a problem, which gave Tyrande a massive headache. In the end, she sent a small squad. Their mission was to provide early warning; if they spotted the enemy, they were not to resist but to retreat quickly to the Ashenvale outpost to report.

After securing her land defenses, Tyrande took two of the remaining four battalions and set off for Azshara.

Andy sat on a Sabers mount, shifting uneasily. The Sabers would turn its head from time to time, baring its teeth at him.

Tyrande's owl continued to scout the path ahead, returning periodically to report.

Overall, the Sentinel Unit had managed this area well. The forests on both sides of the road were free of magical beasts, leaving only common wild animals.

The dim forest environment was advantageous for the Dark Elves. This large force moved quite quickly. Half a day later, Andy walked out of the dark forests of Ashenvale and stepped onto the land of Azshara.

Azshara was once not only the center of the elves but also the center of the entire continent. This region was named after the Elf Race's Queen Azshara.

Andy looked at the distant ruins of temples and abandoned palaces; every stone brick here told of its glorious history.

It was once the Elf Race that discovered the continent's magical spring, the Well of Eternity. They built palaces here, making the whole world look upon this place with reverence.

It was the High Elves' stubbornness and their excessive extraction from the Well of Eternity that gave the demons their chance.

Tyrande looked at the palaces in the distance and sighed.

"How prosperous this place once was, and now it has become like this!" Tyrande lamented.

This reminded Andy of the ancient history of Azeroth. Although they had successfully stopped the demons' actions, they could not stop the surging magic of the Well of Eternity. The final explosion destroyed the temples of Azshara, collapsed the palaces, and turned all of Azshara into a jagged, coastal reef. Queen Azshara and most of her High Elves sank to the bottom of the sea, turning into those disgusting monsters.

The time that followed was spent setting up defenses in this abandoned area. The ruined temples and palaces became their natural bunkers; they only needed to clear out the broken stone slabs and rotten roof beams.

The beach near Azshara was filled with jagged rocks, and some sharp stones submerged under the seawater became coastal defenses. Tyrande still felt it wasn't reliable enough, so she sent men to plant tree stumps in the ground dozens of meters from the shore.

In the temporarily constructed camp in the rear, Tyrande released her owl every day to scout for movement on the sea. Strangely, within the area the owl could cover, not a single trace of Orcs was found, which almost made Tyrande think the Orcs had all perished in the Maelstrom.

Andy and Hilar had nothing to do and could only wander around the area all day.

Outside a seemingly magnificent building, Andy and Hilar sat on broken stone slabs, watching other soldiers clear the interior of the abandoned structure.

"Ah!" A loud shout startled those around them, and Andy and Hilar stood up and walked toward the inside of the building.

"Saria, what on earth are you doing?" The squad leader, Tade, scolded angrily, "Why are you screaming for no reason?"

"It's not that, Captain." The young soldier named Saria said aggrievedly, "A shadow just zipped past."

Andy knew this young warrior; he had a burly physique and was the squad's great-shield warrior. It was easy to tell from the shield on his back that he was an elf of immense strength.

"You've grown such a big frame for nothing, how can you be as timid as a mouse!" Tade said, "In fact, you're not even as brave as a mouse!"

Andy smiled, patted Tade on the shoulder, and said to Saria, "Brother, where did the shadow you saw disappear?"

Saria climbed up from the ground, patted the dirt off his backside, and said, "Right over there!"

Andy looked in the direction Saria pointed, which was a dense forest. The trees at the edge of the woods had been cut down and planted by the sea, leaving a field of short stumps.

Andy nodded, gestured to Hilar, and walked toward the dense forest.

Entering the forest, Andy finally understood what a "dense forest" meant! The trees here were almost pressed against one another, the ground was covered in thick leaves, and the leaves were covered in various bird droppings.

Andy walked with heavy, uneven steps. The tree crowns were pressed together, allowing no light to filter through, making the forest appear even darker.

As Andy walked, he kept an eye out for the shadow Saria had mentioned. Suddenly, a low chant reached his ears, seemingly from not far ahead.

Swish. A shadow drifted past the back of Andy's head.

Hilar, walking behind Andy, shouted, "Andy, behind you!"

Andy spun around violently, but there was nothing there; he had only felt a chill just a moment ago.

Andy unslung the bow from his back, nocked an arrow, hooked his finger, nodded to Hilar, and turned to continue walking toward the source of the chanting.

After walking for a few minutes, Andy seemed to see the other edge of the forest, and light was filtering through the gaps in the trees.

"Hilar, hurry!" Andy called out and quickly ran toward it.

"Ah!" Hilar saw Andy had already run out and followed closely behind him out of the woods. However, the scene before her made her scream uncontrollably.

This was not the end of the forest, but just a large clearing within it. In the middle of the clearing stood a huge, altar-like building. Above this building floated a group of white shadows, looking just like ghosts.

Hilar's scream did not agitate these shadows, which meant they were not ghosts. The shadows were arranged in a special formation above the building, and low chants continued to emanate from them.

Andy lowered his bow and arrow, shook his head, and said, "These seem to be undead, but they have no thoughts and are not physical entities."

As Andy spoke, he walked around the altar and found nothing of value, but the Monster Spirit began shouting in his head: "There is something good on that altar!"

Andy hesitated for a moment but decided to go up and take a look. The altar was nearly three meters high, with a ten-step staircase on each of the four sides.

Andy slowly climbed the altar and found a primitive pendant resting in a stone circular tray in the center.

Andy walked over and picked up the pendant; it felt icy cold to the touch. The pendant was dark green with a golden chain. It wasn't large, only about the length of an adult's thumb, but it was somewhat heavy, and Andy couldn't tell what material it was made of.

"High Elf Relic discovered: Agility +10, Intelligence +10." The Monster Spirit's voice entered Andy's mind.

"High Elf Relic?" Andy muttered, "What is this thing?"

Andy looked at the attribute panel flashing before his eyes, with Agility and Intelligence glowing brightly. Andy tucked the pendant away, and for a moment, the shadows above flickered as if their energy were running out.

Andy glanced at the shadows and thought to himself that these shadows must be related to the pendant; without it, they had no source of energy.

"Let's go!" Andy jumped off the altar, pulled the still-stunned Hilar, and said.