Agreed

"Humans!" The Orcs gasped, collapsing to his knees before Orgrim, utterly exhausted. "To our east!"

Doomhammer stared at him. "East! See it clearly?" But he didn't need the scout's weary nod to know the Orcs wasn't lying. How could the humans they'd been chasing have gotten to his east? Wasn't Lordaeron to the northwest?

Then it dawned on him. It was the Hinterlands! He had spun off a portion of his forces, leaving a clan there to mislead the humans, while the rest continued their advance to attack Quel'Thalas. The plan had worked; half the human forces remained, with only the other half pursuing the Orcs out of the forest. Clearly, these Warrior hadn't made the long march to the capital of Lordaeron, and now they were advancing on the Orcs from the east. This meant that if he wasn't careful, the Alliance forces on both sides would encircle his Orcs and easily crush Horde Horde's last hope; the chances of victory would be extremely slim.

"How many people?" he asked the scout, who was gulping down water from a leather bag.

"Thousands, maybe more." The Orcs frowned and thought for a moment. The number of humans seemed endless, so he finally answered. "And some of them are wearing heavy armor."

Doomhammer scoffed and turned away. So many Alliance coming to pursue him was a very troublesome matter. Orgrim was perfectly capable of wiping them out, but that would take a lot of time, and he didn't know if other Alliance forces were on their way. Kaz'Modan was still several days' journey away, and Orgrim didn't want to waste any more time.

There was no other choice. Doomhammer raised his head and shouted to the army that was hesitating to retreat, "Speed forward, run at full speed, no rest. We must reach Kaz'Modan as soon as possible."

Salbeck nodded and quickly ran off to shout the order to the other Orcs. Doomhammer felt like he had suffered a defeat, a thought that frustrated him greatly. But he couldn't risk a battle with the Alliance now. He had to reach the Blood Ring Clan's territory first.

Lordaeron

"Why are you here?" Nathanos led Alleria to a secluded place. As soon as he entered the tower, he saw not his parents, but the Female Elf in front of him, who was chatting and laughing with her parents.

"I'm inviting you to join me in the pursuit of the Orcs. Lothar has already explained everything to King Terenas, and he will lead us in the chase of the retreating Orcs. This is an opportunity." Alleria didn't beat around the bush and stated her purpose directly. This surprised Nathanos, though.

"Me?" He pointed to himself, then laughed. "Why are you looking for me? This is completely out of place."

Alleria shook her head. "In any case, this war has shown me your abilities. Of course, the most important thing is that the Alliance needs more warriors to stop the Horde."

"That reason doesn't convince me, Alleria. You should know..." Nathanos began, but Alleria interrupted him, looking at him apologetically.

"I know you have some misunderstandings about the Alliance, but it's not what you think. I've been in the Alliance for almost a year now. Lothar, Turalyon, and Uther are all exceptional individuals, and I've learned a great deal from them. At first, I also had some doubts about this human covenant, but misunderstandings can always be cleared up." Alleria said, looking at him hopefully, awaiting Nathanos's reply. In truth, even she herself didn't know why she had invited Nathanos, but deep down she wanted him to do so, even though she didn't want to admit it, and she was terrified that Nathanos would reject her.

"I... I never intended to join the Alliance." Nathanos looked away, but Alleria didn't think he was refusing; she sensed that Nathanos hadn't finished speaking.

"But I will go with you, so that my father and my family will no longer suffer the hardships of war. I promise you, if you would be willing to let me be your temporary advisor, I would be happy to do so."

Alleria smiled wryly. "It sounds like you're begging me."

Nathanos frowned, looking at her with some displeasure; he didn't like that joke. The Female Elf got back to the point and nodded.

"Then I invite you to serve as a temporary advisor to the Farstrider. You are the first human to join the Farstrider."

Nathanos shook his head helplessly. "I wouldn't be proud of that, Alleria." He said, in fact, he wouldn't consider anything an honor, even an audience with the King; he merely considered it a hassle. The Female Elf nodded, then asked with some concern, "Will your parents approve?"

"I don't need their approval," Nathanos replied. He had considered the question, but what he needed to do was not to gain their approval, but to prevent them from worrying. Some things are better left unsaid; he only needed to know that what he was doing was right, even if no one understood.

Alleria, however, held the opposite view. Raised with aristocratic education, she was taught by her mother that she should never hide anything from her family, as this would create rifts within them. "You should make it clear to them that you're going to the battlefield. Even I can't guarantee your safety. If you..."

"I won't die," he answered decisively, but who could say for sure? Not only Alleria, but even he himself found his words somewhat ridiculous. "I will come back alive. Nothing can stop me from returning to my family."

His confidence impressed Alleria and rekindled the Female Elf's hope. She knew the danger of pursuing the Horde, and Alleria had a premonition that the final battle was coming and anyone could be sacrificed. So she sent Sylvanas back to Quel'Thalas, so that if she died, someone else could take on the responsibility of protecting their homeland.

"Me too, I will come back to reunite with my family."

Nathanos nodded, and they chatted for a while longer. Alleria predicted that Lothar would launch his attack in three days, and the Alliance would need to prepare for a counterattack and handle many other matters. Nathanos still had a few days to spend with his family. Although the time was short, it was precious.

"So, I'd like to hear your opinion on why the Horde suddenly withdrew from Lordaeron?" Alleria ended the small talk and began to inquire about the important matter. "You told me last time in Quel'Thalas that sacrificing immediate gains was for the sake of pursuing greater ones, and you were clearly right then. The Horde abandoned their attack on Quel'Thalas and instead attacked Lordaeron, almost causing the city to suffer the same fate as Stormwind City. But why did they suddenly retreat? Is there something more important than conquering Lordaeron?"

Nathanos smiled, surprised that Alleria remembered what he had said. He replied, "The two situations are different. Last time, the Horde's actions could be weighed against interests, but this time it's probably not that simple. I went to the Hillsbrad Coast, and the Horde's fleet had already left. At first, I was also puzzled, but then I realized that I had overlooked an important detail, which was that the order in Horde the various Horde forces withdrew was wrong."

"What do you mean by the order of the evacuation?" Alleria asked.

Nathanos stroked his chin and explained, "Generally speaking, if a retreat is decided upon, the front-line troops should be the first to retreat, while the troops waiting in the rear will not receive the retreat order immediately. However, it is strange that the Orcs who stayed on the coast to guard the fleet left Lordaeron first. Later, when Orgrim led the front-line troops to retreat, he even separated a portion of the army to travel by water, which is even stranger. Normally, after the reserve troops retreat, the Horde's army would be short-handed, so why choose to divide the troops at this time? Isn't the Great Chief afraid of the Alliance's pursuit? I thought about it for a long time until a possibility came to mind, which I think best explains everything—that is, there was a rebellion within the Horde."

Betrayal! Alleria's eyes widened, somewhat surprised by Nathanos's assessment. "Is that even possible?"

"Hmph!" Nathanos sneered. "Nothing is impossible. The Alliance looks united, but it is..." He didn't finish his sentence, but Alleria understood what he meant.

"I am also looking forward to seeing how King Terenas will choose to deal with the Alterac problem."

Kaz'Modan

"Over there!" Salbeck pointed in that direction, and Doomhammer nodded; he had already spotted the Orcs crouching on the cliff.

"It is an honor to meet you, Doomhammer!" the scout shouted, rising to his feet and raising his battle axe in salute. "The Blood Ring Clan welcomes you back to Kaz'Modan!"

"Thank you very much," Doomhammer replied, nodding. "Where are Kilrogg and the others?"

"We've set up camp in a suitable valley in the mountains," the scout replied, leaping down to a lower spot to make the conversation easier. "I'll go back and report your arrival." He glanced up, Doomhammer knew he was observing the number of Warrior behind him. "Where are the rest of the Horde?"

"Dead, most of them are dead." Doomhammer stated bluntly, and the scout's eyes widened in surprise. "And the Alliance army is rapidly pursuing us. Tell Kilrogg to prepare his Warrior for battle."