Fierce Battle

"Hmm?" Anasterian Sunstrider was engaged in a serious discussion with members of the Silvermoon Council. But Alleria and Sylvanas barged in uninvited, interrupting their conversation. Several High Elf nobles rose from their chairs, surprised by their rudeness, but Alleria ignored them; her attention was solely focused on Anasterian.

The High Elf King was old, old even for an Elf; his long hair had turned white, and his skin had lost its luster like parchment. He appeared very weak, yet his voice still carried an air of authority. Alleria would not back down in the face of his wrath; she knew why she had come here.

"I am Alleria Windrunner," she announced loudly, though most of the council members recognized her. "I bring serious news, not just about the Alliance, but about us." She frowned as she surveyed the Elf before her. "I have seen the Horde, as the humans call them, and the Orcs; they are real and powerful. And our mortal enemies— the Forest Troll —have joined the Horde." The last sentence caused a stir, a mixture of gasps and anger. None of the other Elf knew what Orcs were, but they all knew about Troll. Some of them, including Anasterian herself, had participated in the Troll Wars that had taken place long ago after the founding of Quel'Thalas.

"You said that Troll joined the Horde?" an Elf nobleman repeated loudly. "Why should we care about such things? Let those Troll follow this strange thing, and hopefully they'll get far away from here. Perhaps the humans will help us wipe them out." Many Elf laughed and nodded in agreement.

"You have no idea what's going on," Alleria retorted angrily. "The Horde is not something we can ignore or laugh at! They're planning to completely conquer all of Lordaeron! That includes us here in Quel'Thalas!"

"Then let them come!" another councilor, an Elf mage she remembered being named Dath'Remar Drahir, scoffed. "Our territory is well-defended; no one can get past those Rune Stones."

"No?" Alleria exclaimed. "Are you sure? The Troll have already entered our forests. They've set foot on our land and killed our people. And the Orcs are following behind them. They're not as powerful as the Troll, but they have a swarm of them, enough to flatten this land. And they've already arrived here."

"Here?" Anasterian scoffed. "Impossible!"

Alleria knew he didn't believe her, so she immediately threw out a package she was carrying. Inside was the head of a Troll, its short black hair fluttering, which landed right at Anasterian's feet.

"This guy attacked me and Vareesa," Alleria explained. "Less than an hour from here." Now none of the Elf mocked her anymore. "They're right here," she emphasized again. "These Troll have entered our forests! They've killed our people! Many Ranger have disappeared and will never return. And..." Alleria bit her lip, "And the Orcs are burning Eversong Forest!"

"Utterly despicable!" This time, Anasterian erupted. The Elf King kicked the Troll's head hard, sending it crashing to the feet of another Elf. His eyes sharpened. Alleria felt as if she were seeing that great King again. All his frail appearance vanished, his entire being focused on the crisis at hand. "They dare invade our homeland? They dare do this?" He raised his head, his expression like thunder. "They must know the enormity of their sins! Gather our Warrior," he commanded. "Assemble our Ranger; we will attack the Horde and drive them out of our forests."

Alleria was pleased to see her King's resolve and approved of the arrangement. However, she shook her head. "The Troll are only part of this threat," she reminded Anasterian and the others. "The Horde's numbers far exceed your imagination, and the Orcs are strong and a very formidable opponent." She laughed. "Fortunately, I didn't return alone."

Quel'Thalas border

Turalyon was leading his army in battle against the Orcs. He swung his warhammer, knocking one Orcs to the ground, and used his shield to block a heavy blow from Orcs. After dealing with these two Orcs, he glanced at Khadgar, who stood beside him, staff in hand and longsword in hand. The mage was casting a spell to summon a massive storm to extinguish the surrounding flames. The spell would take a long time to complete, but fortunately, many soldiers were protecting him. Turalyon knew he didn't need to waste time worrying about his friends; he needed to concentrate on dealing with the enemies before him.

Turalyon was preparing to face the Orcs appeared to his left when suddenly the Orcs's body stiffened, twitched a few times, and collapsed to the ground. He looked over and saw Uther's apprentice running out of the forest.

"You've come at just the right time." Turalyon raised his warhammer to him. He was curious as to why Nathanos was here, and had many questions, but he would ask them after the battle was over.

Nathanos came to his side and immediately shot an arrow into the forest. Turalyon was puzzled and did not know what he was shooting.

"Don't thank me yet, Paladin." He fired two more arrows in the same direction. "I've brought many more with me, but they're enemies."

Upon hearing this, Turalyon immediately looked towards the jungle and threw an axe, which nearly hit him.

Troll! A huge number of Troll have arrived on the battlefield.

What did you do?

"Shoot their leader," Nathanos explained, taking three arrows from his quiver and firing them simultaneously, felling the three Troll at the front.

"You're something else." Turalyon was speechless. Nathanos had caused him a lot of trouble, but it wouldn't be bad to take care of the Troll here as well.

Standing atop the hill, Orgrim observed the situation below. He did not join the battle, even though he could easily deal with the humans, it would be a waste of his time.

"Have the troops all left?" Doomhammer asked. Rend stepped forward and replied, "As you instructed, we are leaving here quickly."

The Great Chief nodded. "The Warrior who remain need to hold off these humans with the Troll, and if possible, eliminate them."

"But we don't have enough manpower left," Rend pointed out.

"Yes." Orgrim turned to look at the sky. "This will reduce the chances of friendly fire." He turned and left; the Horde's true trump card was about to be revealed.

"We must hold on!" Turalyon shouted, trying to make sure as many people as possible heard him.

"Nonsense," Nathanos replied beside him, then helped the other Alliance soldiers take down the Orcs in front of them. They all knew that defeat meant retreat. The only way out was the forest, but retreating into the forest would scatter them, and the Troll would hunt them down.

Turalyon blocked an axe swing with the handle of his warhammer, then lowered his grip and used the momentum to smash the hammer head down on the detestable Orcs.

Khadgar finally finished his incantation, the sky turned a greyish gray, and then a torrential downpour began, shrouding the entire battlefield in shadow. So when Turalyon noticed a dark figure approaching from the side, he initially mistook it for a tall Orcs Warrior. But as the shadow grew larger and clearer, Turalyon froze, nearly getting impaled by an Orcs.

"Focus!" Khadgar warned, using his last remaining magic to knock the Orcs away. "What are you daydreaming about?"

"Look there!" Turalyon replied. Now it was Khadgar's turn to be astonished. The young old mage cursed as he saw the enormous figure emerging from the forest. The creature was twice the size of Orcs, its skin the color of old leather, and it wielded a massive warhammer—it appeared to be an Orcs's two-handed hammer, yet this behemoth held it with only one hand. It wore a strange suit of armor.

"What! It's being used on the battlefield so soon?" Nathanos also noticed the thing.

Turalyon heard this and it seemed Nathanos knew something. When he examined the monster more closely, he saw that its breastplate and greaves were bound together with heavy iron chains, covering most of its body.

His two heads were exposed, scrutinizing the humans and Orcs before him. Then he swung his hammer downwards, knocking down two humans with one blow, before swinging it in another direction, smashing down on four more soldiers.

"What the hell is this thing?" Turalyon shouted, delivering a heavy blow to the Orcs charging in front of him, sending him crashing into another Orcs beside him, who staggered from the impact.

"An Ogre," Nathanos replied. "But it has two heads, and..."

"And?" Turalyon was surprised after witnessing the Ogre's power, but Nathanos seemed to have something else to say.

"And they can use magic!" Nathanos dodged an Orcs's attack, forcefully plunging the arrow from his right hand into the Orcs's right arm, forcing the man to drop his weapon in pain. He then delivered a swift punch to the Orcs's face—not a powerful blow, but the Orcs instinctively closed his eyes. Seizing this brief moment, Nathanos drew his short sword from his waist, slicing it across the Orcs's neck in an arc.

Turalyon was amazed by Nathanos's fluid and skillful fighting abilities; it was hard to believe he was only seventeen.

"Magic?! Are you kidding me?" Khadgar, oblivious to everything, stared at the Ogre sweeping across the battlefield. He'd seen Ogre before; when this Ogre raised its empty hand to a group of the Alliance soldiers, Khadgar noticed Ogre indeed had two heads, then blinked, doubting his eyes. He'd just seen the Ogre ignite its hand and hurl it at his own soldiers. He looked again—it was true, flames were engulfing his soldiers. They dropped their weapons, desperately beating at the flames dancing on their clothes and armor, and the rain couldn't extinguish them. How did this strange, new Ogre manage to do that?

"I wasn't wrong, was I?"

"Great! Now please tell us how to solve it?"

"Like this!" Nathanos pulled the arrow from the Orcs's body, nocked it on his bow, and fired, Ogre one of the ogre's heads squarely. Blood flowed, the head spun once, then closed its eyes and drooped down beside the other head. But the Ogre was still alive.

"It didn't work," Nathanos continued, picking up where he left off.

"That's no joke," Turalyon yelled at him. Enraged, the Ogre charged forward, raised his warhammer, and smashed it between Turalyon and Nathanos, sending them flying several meters.

As Nathanos scrambled to his feet, he discovered his wooden bow was broken. The Ogre behind him, its eyes fixed on him, charged again. Just as it was about to reach the human, Nathanos suddenly turned, and as if from nowhere, a spear appeared in his hand. He hurled it at the Ogre's other head, splattering brains everywhere. The Ogre Mage staggered, finally collapsing at Nathanos's feet.

"The Holy Light above!" Turalyon shouted, and the surrounding soldiers were greatly encouraged after seeing the Ogre fall.

At the same time, rows of Elf rushed out of the forest.

Reinforcements have arrived.

The leading Female Elf easily bypassed three Orcs who tried to intercept her, and simultaneously turned and finished them off with her bow. She came to Nathanos's side, the two back to back, and even on the battlefield, Nathanos could recognize that familiar aura.

Turalyon wanted to call out to her Alleria, but he stopped himself in his tracks. The Female Elf he knew; she only looked very similar, and she didn't even glance at him.

"You're still alive?" the Female Elf asked.

Nathanos knew she was laughing, but he preferred the Female Elf expression. So he said, "I believe you know how to repay kindness." He paused, a smile playing on his lips, "Alleria."

The Female Elf's smiling face froze instantly, then her eyes filled with rage. Nathanos mistook her for Alleria. Sylvanas angrily left his side to hunt down the Troll on the battlefield, but she had a nagging feeling that the human was laughing behind her.