The Wager

Alliance Camp

There were no proper cells here. To meet wartime needs, many small cages had been erected throughout the camp. Yet no one had expected that the first prisoner would not be an Orc, but a human.

People nearby pointed at him, mocking, questioning, and laughing, but Nathanos did not care. His thoughts had long since drifted to the Sea of Mists. Any sailor knew that foggy weather was unsuitable for setting sail, yet they had overlooked one fact—the sea was very calm in foggy weather. The Horde only needed to follow their compasses to reach the southern coast of Lordaeron. Unease rose within Nathanos. He was not worried about being imprisoned for long; this cage and the guards outside could not hold him. What he feared was that his deduction had been off—that the Horde might act ahead of schedule. If they set out late the previous night, the sound of waves crashing against the reefs could perfectly conceal the noise of their oars, and by morning, they would be deep within the fog. If the Horde moved quickly enough. Nathanos's eyes snapped open at the thought. He understood. He tried to rise, but seeing himself trapped in the cage, he could only shake his head helplessly. He looked again at the soldiers resting nearby. They had just finished training and were exceptionally lax. It seemed that the mistaken conclusion that the Horde would not attack anytime soon had already spread among them.

The Alliance will suffer a crushing defeat. Nathanos's expression was grave. Who could he still rely on now?

"Who's there?" Nathanos asked warily in a low voice. There was no one around, but he could sense something approaching.

"Nathanos!"

"Larein?" Nathanos looked toward the source of the voice in surprise. There was nothing there, yet the voice had come from that direction. "What's going on?"

"I found this in your clothes. Lord Uther gave me your belongings to keep. Good thing you're an Alchemist and knew how to make this kind of invisibility potion. I don't know how long it will last, but it lets me meet you right under Gray's nose. I heard from the others that you were locked up for trespassing into the military camp. Is that true?" Larein spoke softly, then surveyed the surroundings once more.

"There's no time to explain. The potion I made only lasts thirty minutes." Nathanos shook his head and asked, "Larein, do you trust me?"

"Of course. You always have your reasons for whatever you do. I'm sure they misunderstood you."

"Good." Hope flared again in Nathanos's heart. He said to Larein, "I'm giving you a task, but it goes beyond your duties. It may very well ruin both our reputations, but it can save the lives of the soldiers before us."

"That sounds unbelievable. What do you want me to do?"

"Go back to Lordaeron immediately. Pretend to be Lothar's messenger and have King Terenas send as many reinforcements here as possible."

Nathanos's words shocked the invisible Larein. His voice trembled as he replied, "This... this is treason, Nathanos. I..."

"Please!" Nathanos said through gritted teeth. He had never begged anyone before, but his friend was already wavering. It was the first time Larein had heard Nathanos say those words, and he knew Nathanos needed someone to believe in him now. The two fell into a brief silence. Nathanos knew Larein had not left; he could still hear him breathing.

"Please." He said it a second time, more gently than before, with even greater hope.

"Alright!" Larein agreed, and Nathanos let out a breath. "Thank you. I'll bear all the consequences."

"Is there anything else you need to tell me besides what you asked me to do?"

"No, but you must bring the reinforcements here by the morning after tomorrow." Nathanos spoke one last time, then heard light footsteps. "Go. Someone's coming."

Silence fell around the cage. Only after Larein left did Nathanos focus his gaze on the visitor. The tall figure looked down at him, a teasing smile curling at the corner of her lips.

"How does it feel?" Alleria's voice was still as pleasant as it had been when she arrived. Without her cloak, she revealed even more charm, but Nathanos had no time to admire her. He closed his eyes again, his mind filled with whether Larein could succeed.

Seeing that Nathanos did not answer, the female elf continued, "Marshal Lothar has already forgiven your mistake, boy. So have I. But questioning the Rangers of Quel'Thalas must be punished. Do you know your mistake now? If you apologize to me, I'll immediately ask Marshal Lothar to let you out."

Nathanos remained silent. His attitude angered Alleria somewhat, but the female elf did not lose her composure because of it. She crouched down until she was eye level with him.

"Stubborn fool. Then let me ask you another question." As Alleria spoke, she took something out and waved it before Nathanos. "Where did you get arrows like these?"

A familiar scent. Nathanos opened his eyes. What Alleria held was precisely one of the arrows from his quiver.

Didn't Larein say my belongings had been entrusted to him? What's going on? He merely looked at it without saying a word.

"Only Quel'Thalas has arrows like these—or rather, only my younger sister does. These are arrows blessed by the Windrunner family's rites. I know them well."

Her younger sister? Nathanos recalled the masked female elf, her lithe, graceful body hidden beneath a pale blue cloak.

"You've met my sister? Sylvanas?" Alleria asked tentatively.

Sylvanas Windrunner. The female elf was no longer mysterious to Nathanos. Yet it seemed she had not followed Alleria's forces here. He had seen Sylvanas face a Troll squad with his own eyes. If that was the case, Alleria should have been just as formidable. Yet the growing impatience in the female elf before him made Nathanos doubt whether that was true. Still, one thing was certain: Alleria's inner fury pleased him immensely, and a faint smile even tugged at his lips. Naturally, it did not escape Alleria's eyes. With a sharp squeeze, she snapped the arrow in her hand.

"Stubborn, self-righteous brat." The female elf cursed, "The facts will prove just how foolish you are."

She left.

Facts? The truth was that this place would soon be consumed by war, but no one besides Nathanos realized it.

"You have to hurry, Larein."

On the Sea of Mists

Tonight, no other sounds could be heard upon the sea, but immense danger lurked within the shadows. More than a hundred small transport ships sped across the water, carrying Orcs and Trolls. They had not yet reached the northern waters.

"I can't believe you're marching this way." Rend stood behind the Great Chief and spoke in a low voice. Orgrim had ordered that every soldier in this operation remain silent. Only the sound of the tide could be heard over the sea, which meant even the sound of their rowing had to be concealed.

"Are you questioning your leader, General Rend?" Orgrim watched the sea and asked leisurely.

"I have no right to question you, Great Chief. But I do have doubts about your decision. Why aren't we taking the land route? We could use the resources spent on shipbuilding to make more siege engines."

"Zul'jin told me that beyond the Burning Steppes lie wetlands and rugged highlands. That would make it difficult to bring our siege engines north. Besides, the humans will surely think we'll travel by land. They'll be prepared for it."

Rend thought for a moment and nodded, then asked, "Then why don't we take Ironforge first and secure our rear?"

"That city is tougher than I imagined. Once we take Lordaeron, we'll come back and chew through that hard bone."

Rend frowned. He reluctantly accepted the explanation, but there was still one matter that worried and puzzled him most. He stepped forward and asked Orgrim, "Great Chief, why didn't we wait until our steel warships were completed before launching this expedition? You know our warships can carry thousands of warriors and possess powerful firepower. If we encounter Kul Tiras's navy, we can certainly defeat them. But now, we only have transport ships. There are only a few thousand soldiers in this entire operation, and once we are discovered, we'll have no means of fighting back at sea."

Orgrim gave a cold laugh and answered, "You're right, Rend. This operation sounds like suicide. But think about it—if we suddenly reach Lordaeron now, the Alliance surely won't have completed its defenses. With these few thousand soldiers, we can not only strike them a heavy blow, but also establish a foothold for our follow-up forces. Tomorrow's heavy fog will give us ample cover and keep us from being discovered."

"You planned this operation long ago?"

Doomhammer nodded. "I thought of it the moment Zul'jin told me fog would rise over the sea. I deliberately let those Alliance fools admire the engineering of the Horde fleet, making them mistakenly believe we would not attack anytime soon. But they never imagined we would trade with the Goblins and use gold to obtain these transport ships from those little fellows." Orgrim smiled, as though he could already see victory.

"Is Grommash ready?"

"He's been unable to wait any longer, Doomhammer," Rend replied. "His Warsong Clan brought only a little over a hundred warriors, but transporting their dire wolves alone took ten ships."

"He promised me that sea travel would not weaken those beasts. The Warsong Clan will serve as the vanguard."

"This is a huge gamble, Great Chief."

"But we must try!"