Stalemate

"Special? That's a rather vague answer."

"Think what you want." Sylvanas walked into the room without making a sound.

For two whole days, Sylvanas stayed there. She was adept at dealing with people; she gave Stephan a gold coin and told him that if he wanted to become a knight, he could buy a longsword. Nathanos persuaded his mother to let him take Stephan to Lordaeron to live with Sally, while he stayed behind to look after the farm. On the same day Daphne left, Sylvanas also received a message from Windrunner Tower. Nathanos stood at a distance watching the Female Elf talking to several Ranger. After the meeting ended, Sylvanas walked towards him.

"Are you leaving?"

"A little while later."

Nathanos nodded and handed her a package. "Some food; you'll need it on the road."

Sylvanas weighed it in her hand; it wasn't very heavy. She smiled at him and said, "Thank you. At least I won't go hungry anymore."

"Will you come again?" Nathanos asked. The Female Elf looked at him with some surprise, a wave of doubt washing over her, which was then replaced by a surge of pleasure. "Perhaps, you don't want me to leave?"

"No." Nathanos shook his head and added, "I just don't know if I'll still be here the next time you come here."

"Are you leaving?"

"I don't know either, but after what happened to my father, I have less and less control over what will happen in the future."

Sylvanas remained silent, glancing at the two Ranger in the distance and signaling them to wait a little longer.

"Just don't think about it, Nathanos," the Female Elf said coldly, as if giving a sermon.

"Thank you." Nathanos looked away from her. "If possible, you should perhaps strengthen the defenses of Eversong Forest."

"What do you mean?" Sylvanas suddenly became serious. Why was the human in front of her suddenly saying these things?

"Nothing much, just a suggestion," Nathanos replied. Ever since learning that Zul'jin was still alive and confirming that the Forest Troll had joined the Horde, he had guessed that the Horde would soon bring the war to Quel'Thalas. But the question was, would anyone believe him?

"Since you don't want to say more, I won't ask anymore. I'll consider it."

He smiled and said, "Have a safe journey, Windrunner."

On her way back and forth from Marius Farm to Windrunner Tower, Sylvanas remained lost in thought, her mind still lingering on that ordinary farm.

"I have never seen you value a person so much, General, and a human being at that."

Sylvanas snapped out of her reverie and replied, "He's different from others, Anya. I had that intuition the first time I saw him, and I trust my judgment."

"But he has refused to join us for the second time. He is, after all, human and will not set aside his prejudices to serve Quel'Thalas," Anya, the Ranger, said, and the other Ranger agreed.

"Actually, it was the third time. Alleria had invited him before as well." The Ranger-General chuckled twice.

"Then why..."

"I don't need him to serve Silvermoon City, I only need him to be loyal to me."

Alliance military camp

Turalyon sat by the campfire inside the tent, shirtless and wearing only a pair of tan linen trousers. His armor and warhammer lay to one side, and he was toasting a piece of cold, hard bread. The bread was smaller than yesterday's.

"Turalyon." Khadgar came to find him. The Archmage didn't look well and seemed somewhat tired.

"Khadgar, what happened?"

"No, not at all. I just happen to have some free time to chat with you." Khadgar smiled, and he had brought two bottles of beer, which he had gotten from the Dwarf. He sat down next to Turalyon and handed him one.

"Thank you," Turalyon said. He was exhausted from the continuous fighting over the past few days, and he cherished this short break.

"You look troubled, Turalyon," Khadgar said, looking at him with amusement. This seemingly rigid mage always possessed a vitality and wit that other mages lacked.

"Me? How could that be?"

"Let me guess, is it about that beautiful Elf lady?"

"Who said that!" Turalyon suddenly stood up, his face flushed, and stammered, "I'm just... worried... that's all."

"Don't be nervous," Khadgar him down to sit. "Alleria isn't hurt."

"No, that's not what I meant." Turalyon quickly waved his hand, explaining, "I'm worried about this war." The Paladin's expression gradually returned to normal, and Khadgar also stopped joking. "What are you worried about?"

"Worried about whether we can win, Khadgar." Turalyon took a sip of his fine wine. "Before the war began, I was very confident that we were fighting for justice against tyranny. But now, after so many battles, I'm not as confident as I used to be."

What changed your mind?

"Sacrifice," Turalyon answered crisply. "And what the Horde displayed on the battlefield—those massive catapults, their Warlock, and..."

"And those Death Knights?" Khadgar asked. Turalyon remained silent, tacitly agreeing. Both of them vividly remembered this new enemy; when the black warhorses appeared on the battlefield, the Alliance soldiers felt only fear. The dark purple aura withered the surrounding vegetation, and the dark magic they unleashed was far more destructive than that of their Warlock. If it weren't for the Order of the Silver Hand's Paladin resistance, the Alliance would likely have already fallen.

"Blood Maw!" Turalyon clenched his fist. He still remembered the Death Knight leader who had faced him head-on. The Holy Light had granted him the power to defeat Talon Blood Maw, but most of his soldiers were already dead.

"You've become stronger, Turalyon," Khadgar suddenly said, Paladin looked at him with a puzzled expression.

"A few months ago you were a novice in front of me, but now you can stand on your own," Lothar said.

"Ha! Don't praise me anymore. If I had done a little better, we wouldn't have suffered such a big loss."

"This is not your responsibility, Turalyon. War always results in death; I've already seen it once." Khadgar recalled Stormwind City, believing that the Alliance's current losses were far less than those of the already destroyed Stormwind Kingdom.

The Paladin glanced at him, then looked outside the tent; the other soldiers were also resting. "This scene looks familiar."

Khadgar didn't understand what he was talking about at first, but after following his gaze, he nodded. "Exactly the same time we were ambushed."

"I'm reminded of that young man named Nathanos, who was several years younger than me, but whose vision surpassed mine."

"I heard that King Terenas has started conscripting soldiers again?" Khadgar asked.

"Yes, all the soldiers have been deployed to the front lines, and we have no troops left to support us."

Khadgar thought for a moment, "Then perhaps it won't be long before we encounter that person who trespassed into the military camp again."

Horde

Orgrim had been staring at the strategic map for two hours, and his second-in-command Rend, had no idea what he was looking at, or what else on the battlefield he didn't know.

"We've been locked in a stalemate with humanity for two months?" Doomhammer asked.

"As you said, Great Chief. We haven't made any progress in two months."

"I understand." Orgrim stared angrily at the blue coordinates of the Alliance on the map; their paladins and mages had caused them immense trouble. The thought of the paladins immediately ignited Orgrim's fury; those warhammer-wielding figures had effectively countered his death knights.

"Go and summon Gul'dan."