Arrival in Kalimdor

It was a rather long sea voyage. With the elements' help, Thrall safely commanded the fleet around the four islands near The Maelstrom, especially the Kul Tiras fleet. At this time, half of Kul Tiras's fleet should have been taken by Jaina toward Kalimdor, while the other half was under Daelin's command, helping fight the Scourge.

Although Rend dearly wanted to complete a huge order with their lovable goblin friends, the goblins would not dare receive such an enormous fleet. They might even sell the information to the Alliance. Safety was the most important thing on this journey.

Rend suppressed his urge to explore several islands near The Maelstrom that he knew well and obediently followed Thrall's command toward Kalimdor. There were a few minor incidents along the way. When passing The Maelstrom, some ships ventured too close and were nearly swept in. Fortunately, the vessels had been secured together with iron chains, preventing them from being sucked in directly. With the other large ships pulling and their savior shaman, Warchief Thrall, calling upon water elementals to drag the ships away and wind elementals to blast them with powerful gusts, they were swiftly blown back.

It was a close call without any real danger. Rend had to admit that seeing The Maelstrom for the first time, he had been captivated by its magnificent beauty. The Maelstrom was beautiful—so magnificent that words could not describe it—but the fleet's narrow escape also demonstrated its danger. Coming to his senses, Rend hurriedly ordered the fleet to avoid The Maelstrom, allowing them only a few distant glances.

Even Rend gradually grew bored. He did not have the life of a young master. After enjoying leisure for a time, Rend became restless and wanted to regain the feeling of solid ground beneath his feet. He had been at sea too long, so afterward, he sparred with Malkorok and the others. To better master this body, he also accepted guidance from the old warrior Eitrigg. Eitrigg was not to be underestimated. Though he was not famous, he had become acquainted with old Tirion Fordring through combat. In the future, he would be evenly matched with Turalyon in Arathi and would become the true wielder of a warrior artifact. Rend benefited enormously from the old orc's selfless teachings. Knowing the dangers that lay ahead, he was exceptionally diligent in training to preserve his life, which greatly pleased Eitrigg.

That day, Zaela was once again riding Rend's mount, Gyth, on an aerial scouting mission. Rend had already grown used to this person who claimed to be scouting but was actually addicted to riding dragons. Rend regarded Zaela as a friend—of the male variety, of course—because he truly found it difficult to see a female orc as a woman. Yet in Zaela's eyes, this was Rend's respect for women... The Horde's history had once been deeply biased against women, and it was not until the Second War that women began to be treated properly.

"Chieftain Rend, I have good news!" Zaela landed before Rend atop Gyth and eagerly told him that she had made another great discovery.

"Oh, another little island? Or some rare species?" Rend had long grown accustomed to Zaela reporting every small island and strange creature she saw as good news. Still, through Zaela's efforts, part of the Horde's sea charts had been completed, which would be very useful in the future. Drawing on the cartography skills he had developed as a hobby in his previous world, Rend had mapped their entire route.

"No, Chieftain Rend. This is the good news you most want to hear." Zaela understood that Rend thought she had merely discovered another island like before and was brushing her off.

"Oh? You found land? Have we finally reached Kalimdor?" Realizing what she meant, Rend guessed that she must have spotted the continent. Otherwise, Zaela would not have said that.

"Probably, but I don't know where we've arrived. I wonder how Warchief Thrall and the others are doing." Kalimdor was unknown to the orcs. Since they had traveled in separate groups of ships, Thrall could still aid vessels in danger at The Maelstrom, but afterward they began to disperse. The Warsong Clan was the fastest, followed closely by Thrall. Rend's Blackrock Clan was the last, and they were likely several days behind Grommash and the others.

As the outline of the continent grew ever clearer, the Blackrock Clan erupted in cheers. They could no longer endure the long voyage either. Orc warriors were the most impatient of all.

They found a suitable place to dock. Judging by the terrain, this should be the future Durotar, though Rend did not know which coast they had landed on. Nor could he see the other groups of orc ships that had already come ashore.

After disembarking, Rend directed the orcs to have the peons build a simple dock to moor the ships. These vessels would all be useful in the future. The Horde led by Thrall lacked timber at the time. Although the Warsong Clan logged wood in Ashenvale, the shortage was too great, so they dismantled the massive fleet they had brought and used it to build cities. Rend thought that was simply too wasteful. Perhaps Thrall did it to show that they would no longer return to the Eastern Kingdoms in force, but this was still a fleet that had taken great effort to build.

Even though Rend had known Durotar as well as his own backyard in his previous life, the real world was different. It was far too large. As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but red wasteland, making it impossible to tell one place from another.

No matter what, Durotar would be Horde territory in the future. They began building a port on the spot, then Rend led an army of fifty thousand composed of the Blackrock Clan, Dragonmaw Clan, and forest trolls to begin exploring. He knew there were large numbers of centaurs here. To ensure his people's safety, he left tens of thousands of troops behind, along with Eitrigg and his son, to defend the area. Rend believed that with Eitrigg's experience, he could hold out until Rend returned even against hundreds of thousands of centaurs.

The red wasteland stretched as far as the eye could see. As he walked, Rend began mapping the region. Using contour lines made it easier to understand the terrain.

After walking for an unknown length of time, Rend finally encountered a centaur patrol numbering several hundred. Speaking in a language he could not understand, the centaurs charged straight at Rend's troops. Rend was dumbfounded. Shouldn't they be running? A few hundred against fifty thousand? That took real courage.

Having been stifled for far too long, Rend took the lead and launched a countercharge against the centaurs. Before long, they were like drops of water falling into a lake, unable to raise much of a ripple.

Of course, to achieve greater results, Rend deliberately let four centaurs escape. With their simple minds, the centaurs assumed the orc warriors could not catch up as they galloped away on all four hooves.

"Warlord Zaela, follow them. Find their lair and report back to me." At present, only Rend and a small number of others in the Horde possessed flying mounts, so he entrusted the task to Zaela, whose flying skills were superior. Meanwhile, he led Malkorok and Vaur, the two subordinates he was most accustomed to using, following the centaurs' hoofprints from behind.

Durotar would be orc territory in the future. No centaurs would be allowed to exist here. Rend swore to wipe out every centaur he saw. Unless I can't find you, I'll destroy you.