A Realization

Hass slowly clenched his fist and looked at Perenolde for a moment. "As you said, sir," he finally stated. "I will follow your instructions." The other generals nodded in agreement.

Perenolde smiled. "Very well. As for the Alliance, I will personally take full responsibility for all consequences." He turned to the map. "Then, the Horde will pass through here, here, and here," he said, pointing to the road to the south. He was surprised to find his hands trembling. "We simply need to leave these roads unguarded to ensure the Orcs can pass through safely."

Hass surveyed the terrain. The Horde was clearly preparing to attack Lordaeron from the north. He pondered for a moment; their chosen route was incredibly daring, the paths were not concealed and easily discovered. If it were him, he certainly wouldn't have chosen this route. But a sudden unease gripped him. As he suspected, perhaps the Great Chief Horde didn't care, their numbers instilling arrogance. He turned to Perenolde, a hint of doubt in his eyes. "Our soldiers might refuse, sir," he said coldly. "They might consider it a shameful betrayal or worse." His accent suggested he agreed. "If they rebel, we cannot stop them."

Perenolde considered for a moment. "Then so be it..." he replied with a cold laugh. "Tell the soldiers that the Horde is preparing to cross the mountains via the three northernmost mountain paths. If anyone asks you about the source of this information, say that it was obtained by our scouts at the cost of their lives."

He nodded, quite pleased with his own cleverness. "This will keep every soldier busy with their work, so they won't end up on the Horde's marching route."

Hass nodded stiffly. "I will deploy our soldiers there immediately, sir," he promised.

"That's good." Perenolde gave the general the warmest smile he could muster, to show that he had forgiven his earlier displeasure. "Now you should get them moving."

The generals saluted and left the Map Room, except for Hass.

"Is there anything else, General?" Perenolde asked, making no attempt to hide the annoyance in his voice.

"A messenger from the Alliance has arrived, my lord," Hass replied. "He arrived while you were resting." He said, his gaze falling on a cloak stained with dirt on a chair in the corner, indicating that Perenolde had contacted the Horde a few days earlier. "He is waiting outside, my lord."

"What does he want?" Perenolde replied, striding to a chair and picking up his cloak.

"He brought with him instructions from Lord Anduin Lothar, the Alliance Commander," Hass replied. "Marshal Lothar needs you to lead your army to Lordaeron, where the Horde is likely to attack. Your troops must go to support the defenders there." As he said this, a travel-worn young messenger was waiting outside the door.

Perenolde nodded, donned his cloak, crossed the hall, and walked to Hass's side. "Tell him I'm not feeling well and can't take him. As for what he said, have him go back and tell Lothar that Alterac will do its best to resist the Horde." Hass followed his instructions and left the room, closing the door behind him. Perenolde breathed a sigh of relief.

"Excellent." Perenolde nodded, stroking his chin with one hand. He stretched out his other hand and placed it on the map of Alterac, carefully examining his fiefdom.

A moment later, the messenger departed. Of course, the message he carried was clearly that Alterac would resolutely resist the Horde. Perenolde smiled again. He was almost certain that no Orcs would be able to breach Alterac's defenses. As for the other undefended mountain paths? That was another matter.

Alliance

The Ranger were searching the forest for any survivors. Nathanos stood at the entrance of a tent in the camp. ChristaSA lay on the floor inside, her right arm and left leg bandaged. While tending to her blood, Nathanos had had to remove her robes and undergarments to treat and bandage her wounds. This had taken considerable time, as he had kept his eyes closed the entire time, only able to deduce the location of her injuries through the ChristaSA in her clothing. Her mortal form was stunning, but the crimson blood covering her body chilled Nathanos. Eventually, he had to open his eyes to see the naked Red Dragon, to prevent any untreated wounds. She was a dragon; she wouldn't care. Nathanos thought to himself as he looked at her, but he found his own thoughts ridiculous. 'Hopefully she won't suddenly revert to her original form,' the human prayed. At this point, there were only two attitudes towards dragons in the Alliance camp: fear and hatred, neither of which was good.

"You're here, human." Alleria suddenly appeared before him, smiling at him while glancing at the Female Elf inside the tent. "How is she?"

"Not good, to be precise, very bad." Nathanos was resting, and the bloodstains on his hands hadn't been cleaned. Alleria took his hand and held it to herself, frowning as she looked at it.

"This is her blood. I'm not injured."

Alleria turned to him, hesitated for a moment, and then continued, "That's good." The Female Elf smiled, but the smile was somewhat stiff, and then her expression changed. Nathanos noticed this and wondered what was wrong with her.

"Thank you for coming here." She suddenly changed the subject, her gaze drifting again to the unconscious Female Elf inside the tent. "You seemed to have said you wouldn't help the Alliance, so..."

"I never said I was helping the Alliance; perhaps I was helping myself. My father was also involved in the war, and if I could end it sooner, he could come home sooner." Nathanos realized his words were inappropriate; he shouldn't have brought up family in front of Alleria. Until now, there was no news of any of Alleria's family members other than Sylvanas.

"I'm sorry," Nathanos said, bowing his head. "I'm really bad at small talk."

Alleria shook her head. "It's alright, I... I believe they'll be fine." Her tone revealed her inner worry.

"Me too." They glanced at each other, then simultaneously looked away.

"Sylvanas, she..."

"It seems you're quite interested in my sister." Alleria looked at him with interest, but a sense of disappointment lingered in her heart.

"Never mind!" Nathanos gave up on the answer to the question, even though he knew Alleria would tell him.

Alleria tidied her hair, which was blowing in her face, and asked, "My scouts told me that the main force of the Horde has retreated. Where do you think they'll go next?"

"With the help of the Red Dragon and Troll, plus an endless army, taking Quel'Thalas is only a matter of time." Nathanos picked up a stone and threw it on the ground, but this time the stone was facing Quel'Thalas. "There's only one possibility for suddenly abandoning a territory we're determined to take and choosing to retreat—there are greater benefits waiting for the Horde."

"Greater benefits? What benefits could possibly outweigh the Horde taking Quel'Thalas?"

"Indeed, there is one, and that is Lordaeron!"

On the other side

"I need to lead our people away from here," Turalyon said to the others after a while. "We will return to liberate Quel'Thalas from the Horde, but now we need to regroup and rest. I have a feeling the Horde won't stay here long; they have other goals." Turalyon said this, but he himself wasn't sure. They had been taken to the forest by the Horde, and the Elf, fighting to protect their homeland, had been drawn into the conflict. What were they going to do? Where would their next target be?

He tried to think about the problem from the Orcs' perspective: if he were commanding them in battle, where would he choose to go? What is the greatest threat remaining for the Orcs?

"The capital!" Alleria pushed open Turalyon's tent, drawing everyone's attention to her melodious voice. But those two words jolted Turalyon back to reality. The Alliance's central hub, the starting point that determined the entire war. The human commander glanced at Khadgar, Archmage nodded, clearly thinking the same thing.

This assessment is reasonable. From Silvermoon City to the northern edge of Quel'Thalas, the Orcs forces could cross the mountains and directly invade Lordaeron, gathering not far from Lordamere Lake and the Capital City. King Terenas has already dispatched most of his troops to the Alliance, leaving only a small number of soldiers to garrison the city. Fortunately, if the Horde were to actually cross the mountains, they would first have to pass through Alterac. Although Lord Perenolde's stance within the Alliance is not entirely firm, he would certainly lead his forces to resist the Horde when Horde invade his territory. However, the Horde would overwhelmingly outnumber them and cross the mountains to attack Lordaeron.

"They can rapidly expand to other parts of the continent from Lordaeron," Alleria pointed out. "Furthermore, if the Horde leaves an army here, they will have two strategic control points, and the Troll and Orcs will conquer the entire continent within weeks." Alleria stated the deduction that Nathanos had just told her, but the Female Elf hoped he was wrong, because the consequences of the Horde marching according to such a strategy would be unimaginable.

Turalyon nodded. "Now we must figure out their plans," he said, convinced Alleria's assessment was correct. "This means we need to find another way to stop the Horde." He glanced at the raging fire still burning in the forest, "But not here." He looked at Alleria, the Female Elf, who seemed calm, as if she had recovered from her grief.

Khadgar stared at the map and said anxiously, "I'm afraid we don't have time, Turalyon. The troops cannot stay here any longer; we must get the soldiers back to Lordaeron exhausted."

"You don't trust Alterac?"

Khadgar did not answer, but finally he nodded firmly.