Tiffany's Story

Tiffany felt that today had been absolutely awful; what was worse, she didn't know whether she would even have a tomorrow.

Born into a noble family, Tiffany had lived a carefree life ever since she was little, thanks to her father holding a seat on Stormwind's council.

That changed when news of the Orc invasion reached Stormwind. Although her father came home looking troubled every time during that period, Tiffany didn't think any of it had anything to do with her.

The sheltered girl still thought it was just an ordinary war, and that the so-called "Orcs" were merely uncivilized savages from some remote region.

The war would start suddenly and end just as suddenly, like the battles against the Southsea pirates. When the navy returned victorious, Tiffany might go out into the streets to place a garland woven by the household maids around the neck of some army hero, then go right back to her carefree life.

One day after the war began, Tiffany set out from Stormwind with a few friends she was close to, heading to a villa owned by one of their families in the foothills of the Redridge Mountains for an outing.

Her mother had objected to the trip beforehand, but Tiffany still didn't think it was a big deal.

Tiffany wasn't the only one. Many noble boys and girls in Stormwind carried on with their lives as usual after the war began. They went on outings in the countryside, then returned home after they'd had their fill of fun. No war could threaten Stormwind. It was an impregnable fortress.

But this time, things seemed to have changed. Tiffany had been having a wonderful time in Redridge when she received some explosive news.

Stormwind had fallen. The Orcs had invaded the capital of the Kingdom of Azeroth and killed nearly everyone in the city.

Poor Tiffany hadn't even had time to absorb the earth-shattering news. She hadn't even had the chance to ask the messenger whether her father and mother had survived the disaster before he hurriedly fled.

When the news reached Redridge, the entire villa was gripped by panic. Many servants and a few guards fled in every direction, and before long, only a handful of young nobles remained, huddled together and trembling.

"We have to leave," Richard said. He had organized the outing and was the young master of the villa.

"Where?" Tiffany remembered asking, her teeth chattering so loudly that it terrified her.

"North. The Orcs will probably stay in Stormwind for a while. We should be able to reach Dun Modr Fortress before they do. The dwarves there will let us through." Richard spoke as he consulted a map. His grandfather was a veteran of the army, so even in this remote villa, they had a map of the continent.

"Can't we stay here?" someone asked.

"Idiot!" Tiffany remembered Richard saying. "Stormwind has fallen. The whole south is lost. If we stay here, we're as good as dead. North—we have to go north if we want to survive!"

Tiffany didn't know whether they should stay or head north. But most of the young nobles' guards had run off—including Tiffany's own. All she had left was Vivian, the maid who had grown up with her.

Richard, however, still had a few guards loyal to him. Everyone knew that without soldiers to protect them, they had no chance of surviving on their own, whether they stayed there or headed north.

In the end, more people supported Richard's plan. Soon, the young nobles formed a small party: a dozen or so horses and a carriage, heading north.

Tiffany, Vivian, and another noble girl named Mary rode in the carriage while the others rode on horseback. According to Richard's plan, they would cross the Redridge Mountains and continue north, taking about a month to reach Dun Modr Fortress. From there, they would cross Thandol Span into the Arathi Highlands, which belonged to the Kingdom of Stromgarde. Though it had little contact with the Kingdom of Azeroth, it was at least another human kingdom.

Richard had clearly overestimated the young nobles' ability to survive in the wilderness. Before long, they ran out of the food they'd brought and had to stop not far beyond the Redridge Mountains.

Tiffany hadn't seen any other refugees along the way. She'd found that strange the whole time, because she desperately wanted to ask someone who had escaped Stormwind whether her parents were all right.

Despair and conflict soon spread through the party. Even the few guards who had initially been loyal to Richard began to see the young nobles as a burden. They abandoned the boys and girls and went off on their own, taking the only food and water the nobles had.

The pampered young masters and ladies had to rely on their own strength to survive in the wilderness. Sadly, they were no better at it than an ant or a stray dog.

As everyone agonized over whether to return to Redridge or keep heading north—even Richard no longer believed they could reach Dun Modr Fortress—

Tiffany and the others encountered an Orc patrol. The nearly unarmed noble boys and girls had no way to fight back against the savage Orcs. The outcome was all but inevitable.

But only by experiencing it firsthand could Tiffany understand how terrifying it was.

The Orcs charged at Tiffany's group, howling. Even Richard, the strongest of them all, was split in two by an Orc's overhead axe blow.

When the slaughter began, Tiffany and Mary were beneath the carriage, while Vivian was inside it.

As the Orcs rushed over and hacked Richard in half, the other men scattered and fled. Tiffany was so terrified she froze in place, completely helpless.

Vivian shouted Tiffany's name from the carriage, but Tiffany couldn't move a muscle.

Mary heard Vivian calling and tried to run to the carriage, but an Orc slapped her to the ground.

Perhaps the Orcs' roars had spooked the horses; perhaps even the animals were frightened by the savages' fearsome appearance. The horses bolted south, pulling the carriage with them.

Tiffany still remembered Vivian calling her name from the carriage door. But by then, the Orcs had surrounded Tiffany. These brutal invaders gripped weapons larger than Tiffany herself, with bloody scraps of flesh still clinging to them.

Tiffany fainted from fright—but before she did, she called out to Vivian, who seemed to be about to jump down from the carriage.

"Go, Vivian! Don't worry about me! Go!" Tiffany and Vivian had grown up together. Though they were of different status, Tiffany had always thought of Vivian as a sister. She knew Vivian felt the same way, which was why she had tried to jump from the carriage.