The Voyage Begins

Without the protection of the city walls, and caught off guard by Rend's surprise attack before they could form battle lines, the Alliance defenders quickly ceased resistance under the assault of the Warsong and Blackrock Clans.

Menethil Harbor had only fifty thousand defenders and seventy thousand sailors who were weak in land combat. They simply could not withstand the charge of hundreds of thousands of orc warriors. Moreover, no powerful fighters were available to stop Grommash and Rend from smashing through the lines. The two of them were like spearheads piercing the Alliance formation.

Nearly thirty thousand Alliance soldiers were killed or wounded. At Thrall's request and Rend's insistence, nearly one hundred thousand Alliance troops were taken prisoner. Otherwise, given the hatred between the two sides, there would have been no way to keep so many captives alive.

By dawn, Menethil Harbor had completely fallen into Horde hands. Horde warriors had replaced the Alliance in controlling the military port. The residents and merchants within the city did not even dare leave their homes; in their minds, orc armies were murderous demons.

The Dragonmaw Clan had joined the Horde. To avoid suspicion and show his stance, Rend allowed Thrall to formally accept the Dragonmaw Clan's return, while he himself came to seize the harbor. Thrall arrived with the main force, bringing Zaela, who had already been appointed the Dragonmaw Clan's warlord. Since the Dragonmaw Clan's chieftain was Zuluhed, Zaela had been made warlord and placed in charge of the clan's members.

After suffering the dragons' retaliation, fewer than eighty thousand Dragonmaw Clan members had returned with Zaela. Nearly twenty thousand more Dragonmaw Clan members had been too scattered to be found in time. Including the Dragonmaw Clan members in Outland who had become fel orcs, a clan that had once ranked only below the Seven Clans was left with so few people. Before Rend had defected to Nefarian and broken with the Dragonmaw Clan, he knew they had possessed at least one hundred and fifty thousand clansmen. It was clear just how terrifying the dragons' vengeance had been.

Rend, who had failed the Dragonmaw Clan, did not know how to face them. The great clan that had once been so loyal to him now consisted only of clansmen who had suffered the dragons' vengeance and lost all hope.

When Rend arrived at the Dragonmaw Clan's encampment, he saw despair in the eyes of nearly every Dragonmaw orc. Their despondent attitude made them seem like orcs who had just lost demon blood and become weakened.

Yet, to his surprise, the Dragonmaw Clan members who recognized him became excited when they saw him. They pointed at him and told the other clansmen that Chieftain Rend had arrived.

The deathly Dragonmaw Clan regained its vigor. Rend could not understand why they still valued him so highly after he had failed them.

He apologized to them, but they would not accept it. Instead, they declared their willingness to continue following Chieftain Rend. They had heard that Chieftain Rend had severely wounded Nefarian, the black dragon prince who had always opposed them, and believed that Rend had endured humiliation to avenge them. They thought the Dragonmaw Clan had misunderstood him, and even expressed their willingness to use the dragon eggs Rend had gathered to reestablish the Dragonmaw dragon riders for him.

Rend did not know whether to laugh or cry at this misunderstanding, but he chose not to explain. He needed the Dragonmaw Clan's loyalty. Though he felt deeply guilty, he could only make up for it in the future by never again betraying their trust.

The enormous Horde, numbering several million, divided into several groups and sailed for Kalimdor. Grommash and his Warsong Clan departed first as pioneers. Thrall and the other clans followed close behind, while Rend's Blackrock Clan and the Dragonmaw Clan remained last to handle the rearguard duties.

The orcs took nearly all the ships, along with vast quantities of food and fresh water, but did not harm a single resident living there. The one hundred thousand Alliance soldiers were merely disarmed and imprisoned. Once the orcs left, the residents would naturally rescue them and restore order to the place.

The Alliance in Menethil Harbor had not expected the Horde to let them go so easily. The Horde had merely taken all the ships, but the several million orcs seemed to have all departed. It was unclear whether this was good news for the Alliance.

To ensure the safety of the inexperienced orc sailors and avoid the casualties caused by countless ships being destroyed in the original history, Rend proposed the method of chaining the ships together to Thrall. This would make the vessels much more stable and reduce casualties. As for their Warchief, he was unquestionably the greatest shaman. Through his communication with the elements, storms and towering waves avoided the Horde fleet. Crossing the Great Sea was extremely dangerous; nearly every powerful naval nation possessed its own secret arts—the high elves had magic, Kul Tiras had the Tidesages, goblins had technology, and Zandalar had its gods. Now they had discovered that powerful shamans could also safely help ships cross the Great Sea.

The voyage at sea was dull and tedious, but Rend was enjoying this rare moment of relaxation. Having finally joined the Horde, they would still face a series of dangers after making landfall. This was the time to properly unwind.

On his ship, Rend lay on a deck chair every day, enjoying the sun. His current skin was not afraid of tanning anyway. Wearing sunglasses and shorts, he held elven fruit wine looted from Menethil Harbor in his hand. Rend did not like drinking and hated the smell of alcohol, but elven fruit wine was more like a beverage, sweet and with very little alcohol. It had become his favorite.

Besides the Blackrock Clan, Zaela and other Dragonmaw Clan members were aboard Rend's ship.

And the mighty Dragonmaw Clan warlord who had conquered dragons was currently sprawled over the side of the ship, vomiting.

"Zaela, I always thought you were a fearless orc warrior, someone nothing could knock down. Who would have thought you'd get seasick? You can conquer the skies, yet you can't conquer the sea." Bored, Rend teased Zaela. There were not many people who could be his friends due to his status. Malkorok and Ariok were loyal brothers, but they would never talk back to him, which was far too boring. Eitrigg was his adviser and like an elder to him, so he could not reveal his true nature in front of them either.

Only Zaela, the fiery Dragonmaw woman, did not care about anyone's status. She even dared snap at Thrall, and her temper was explosive. Only she could chat with Rend without holding back.

"Blergh..." Zaela had already grown accustomed to this Blackrock chieftain's true behavior, to the nasty personality he kept hidden. He had looked so proper before, and he had seemed to possess great leadership talent. Why was his mouth so foul now? Zaela had no desire to pay him any attention.

"You'd better get used to being tossed around at sea, or my Skybreakers carrier force plan will be troublesome." Rend muttered to himself about his future plans.

"What Skybreakers? Is that the designation you're preparing for our Dragonmaw Clan riders? It sounds pretty good. Very imposing." Zaela keenly caught the words Skybreakers and realized it was likely the name of an air force unit.

"Yes, Zaela. This is what I plan to propose to the Warchief: establishing a Horde air force with the Dragonmaw Clan as its backbone. Its designation will be the Skybreakers." Without hesitation, he plagiarized that mighty designation.