Westspring Fortress

The cold wind howled, and the forest lay silent. Now and then, a squirrel flashed past the branches. There had long been no travelers on the desolate path. At the crossroads of the forest trails stood a small town, several houses huddled close together, their blue roofs reflecting one another with the little lake beside them. The forge at the edge of town had long gone cold, without even a spark remaining, and the rhythmic clang of hammer on iron was nowhere to be heard. A traveler in a black cloak led a massive black horse with white hooves, its back piled high with luggage. It was called massive because it was truly enormous, large enough to rival a draenei colossus. Yet strangely, though the horse carried everything else, it lacked one thing—weaponry. There was not even a dagger. "Blackie, is this Goldshire? Why is it so different from what I imagined? It's so deserted. It doesn't even seem as lively as the outskirts of our city." The only response was the great horse's snort. Eventually, they arrived at the center of town, where a house of neither imposing nor humble size stood beneath another blue roof and white brick walls. The only difference was the light shining through its windows. The sign above the door identified it as an inn—Lion's Pride Inn.

He pushed open the door glowing with warm yellow light, and a wave of heat washed over him along with the rich scents of liquor and roasted meat. The traveler stared in surprise at the scene before him—brawny men stripped to the waist competed in drinking, while young, beautiful waitresses weaved through the crowd with trays in hand, occasionally drawing a whistle or two.

"So this is what it's supposed to look like. Looks like I came to the right place." Smiling, the traveler made his way through the crowd to the bar. "What would you like?" the owner asked warmly. "We have fine malt beer, delicious fire-roasted boar meat, and fresh bread straight from the oven." "Uh, give me one of everything." The traveler answered casually, found a seat, and sat down. Pulling back his hood, he revealed a young, fair face. His short gray hair made him look especially spirited, while his light blue eyes remained as deep as ever.

Alpha breathed into his hands and rubbed them together, complaining, "This weather is getting colder and colder." Just then, the owner brought over his food and drink. "Indeed. Winter is almost here. The cold winds have blown all the chill from Dun Morogh this way. You look like an adventurer. Where are you headed?" "I heard there's a wilderness to the west. I'm going there. Boss, do you know how much farther it is?" Alpha asked as he ate. "The wilderness to the west? Ah, Westfall. What are you going there for? I heard that place is haunted. More than a dozen people have died, and nearly all the locals have fled. It was already barren, but now it's even more desolate. Adventurers don't want to go there." The owner looked shocked. "Haunted? Interesting. Thanks, boss. I understand. Oh, how much do I owe you?" Alpha asked casually. "Seventy copper. Young man, take my advice and don't go there. It's not as simple as you think. Adventurers like you have gone there before, but none of them were ever heard from again," the owner warned. "Don't worry. Oh, boss, your roast meat is pretty good. When I come back, I'll eat here again." With that, he rose and left.

"Boss, why are you being so kind today? These little brats just lack experience. They ought to suffer a little," a burly man said drunkenly, holding a mug of ale. The owner glanced at him and continued clearing the dishes. "Shut your mouth, Hans. Can't you see that young man is different? Have you ever seen someone traveling without even a single weapon? And did you not see the marks on his leather armor? Those weren't made by ordinary beasts." Hans said dismissively, "You're overthinking it, boss. Just wait and see. That brat might come crawling back in a few days with his tail between his legs. Hahaha! Another drink for me. This ale is really good."

Naturally, the subject of their conversation had already mounted the great horse and continued westward. "Blackie, why do I always get these missions that look simple but turn out to be so complicated and troublesome? No, I need to protest to the king. He has to give me a raise. How else am I supposed to live? Still, that bread and roast meat were pretty good. The ale, though, wasn't much. Hundred Fruit Wine tastes better. Give me some kind of response." "Snort."

Two days later, before a fortress, Alpha led Blackie as he looked around. "Westspring Fortress. What a desolate place. Huh, there's a wanted poster here—gnoll Hogger. Bounty: ten gold. That's quite a lot. Too bad I don't have the time right now."

"The fortress road is closed. No entry for the time being," a guard shouted. Alpha frowned when he heard that. "Closed? That's going to be troublesome." He approached the guard and asked, "Sir, may I ask what happened? Could you tell me?" As he spoke, he secretly slipped the man a silver coin. The soldier accepted it without changing expression and said, "What else could it be? It's because of that wanted poster. That gnoll gathered a bunch of lackeys up ahead. We don't have enough troops to wipe them out, so we can only wait for the army to send reinforcements. We're doing all right here, but those poor people coming from Westfall... sigh, they can't even escape with their lives." After saying that, he went back to guarding the road.

Looks like I have to deal with the problem here before I can continue onward. Alpha sighed inwardly. Who told me to be so kind? Hogger, you can only blame your bad luck. With that, Alpha tied Blackie to a nearby tree and quietly left.

Looking at the distant campfires, tents, and gnolls pacing back and forth, Alpha could not help but feel a headache coming on. "So many of them. Hogger's really afraid of dying. Too bad he ran into me." Alpha grinned. "Great wilderness god Aman'Sha, I am your faithful believer. Once again, I borrow your power. Grant me the swiftness of a cheetah. Shapeshift—Cheetah."

As soon as he spoke, green light flashed, and Alpha vanished from where he stood. In his place was a gray-white cheetah. Unlike the cheetahs assumed by ordinary druids, Alpha's form was larger, with a mane around its neck that made it resemble a lion. Alpha turned his head to inspect himself. Not bad. It seemed he still needed more practice; otherwise, he could transform even faster. Unfortunately, he had spent too little time studying in Moonglade, but this was enough for now. That was right—Alpha was a druid. More precisely, he was an apprentice druid. Because of the worgen curse, worgen possessed unmatched talent when it came to learning druidic magic.

The cheetah's body slowly became transparent—Stealth, a basic cheetah skill. Alpha carefully threaded his way through the cluster of gnolls. Just as he was about to leave them behind, there came a crack. Alpha froze instantly, one paw having landed squarely on a dry branch. All the gnolls turned to look in his direction. For an instant, heaven and earth fell silent. Sweat beaded across Alpha's brow. Just as he prepared to reveal himself and fight, the gnolls resumed their patrols as though nothing had happened. Alpha let out a long breath. That scared me to death. Good thing these gnolls are pretty careless, or I would've been mobbed. He moved forward even more cautiously and finally found his target atop a small hill—Hogger.

Hogger was enormous, holding a musket in his hand. Sharp fangs filled his mouth, and his scarlet tongue occasionally flicked out. He paced around the campfire, howling from time to time. "Idiot. He's exposing his position so easily." Though he said that, Alpha still approached Hogger with two hundred percent focus. When Hogger turned his back to him, Alpha did not hesitate. One claw lashed directly at Hogger's neck—Rake. Hogger was instantly stunned, blood spraying out. Alpha immediately followed up with bites, and more and more wounds appeared across Hogger's body.

"Awooo!" Hogger woke up and fired a shot backhandedly, striking Alpha's left foreleg squarely. Blood spurted out, but Alpha did not retreat in the slightest. Seizing the moment when Hogger reloaded, he pounced fiercely, both claws raking from top to bottom so fast they left afterimages—Ferocious Bite. It was a finishing move, Alpha's only finishing move at present. Blood splattered across Hogger's body. With a thud, Hogger collapsed. Alpha fell as well, kicking up a cloud of dust. When the dust settled, man and beast lay on the ground, unmoving for a long while...