Chapter Summaries

The Alliance captured Boulder'gor after Lothar’s forces broke through the gate, though the victory came at a heavy cost. While visiting the wounded, Allen discovered that Ailand’s inherited dagger was a powerful magical weapon, leaving its origins and Ailand’s family history unexplained.

• Turalyon led the human charge through the breached gate, while Kurle rallied the Orcs to fight to the death; after an hour, the humans won and occupied Boulder'gor.
• Lothar told Khadgar that the Orcs’ refusal to surrender had earned his respect, then organized the occupation, aid for the wounded, and repairs to the fortress.
• Three days later, Allen visited Ailand in the wounded soldiers’ camp and met Rogier, who credited Ailand with saving his life during the battle.
• Ailand told Allen that his father had been a soldier and showed him a dagger his father had kept close before his death.
• Allen recognized the dagger’s sheath as silence stone and discovered that the concealed weapon was made from a Deep Sea Giant’s rib and could hide its magical fluctuations.

Allen learned that Ailand’s dagger was powerful Rogue equipment and warned him to keep it hidden while he investigated his father’s past. After joking with Khadgar and the boys, Allen heard that the Alliance would soon reward him for the victory, as the Orcs prepared to attack Boulder'gor.

• Allen questioned Ailand about the magical dagger and his father, learning that his father had served in the army and that Ailand’s mother had died soon after his birth.
• Allen returned the dagger, warned Ailand not to reveal it or discuss his father, and promised to investigate if he learned more.
• Allen found George and Baze talking with Khadgar outside the barracks and learned they had visited the Grand Marshal and received training advice.
• Khadgar told Allen that Marshal Lothar and Uther approved of his rescue of the youngsters, and that news of Alliance rewards should arrive within days.
• Khadgar said the Orcs had fortified Tal Heights after their defeat and were expected to attack Boulder'gor soon.

Allen considered the risks of becoming Lothar’s adjutant and investigated the mysterious increase in his Mental Power. At a ceremony honoring the Alliance’s victory, he received the rank of captain and a third-class merit award.

• Khadgar told Allen that Lothar was seeking an adjutant and urged him to pursue the position, but Allen doubted the army would accept a mage in the role.
• Allen studied his research manuscript and theorized that he had absorbed power from Gul'dan’s soul or an enchanted item, while worrying about the dangers of experimenting with souls.
• Khadgar summoned Allen to the military camp, where Alliance envoys prepared to commend the soldiers and officers for their victory.
• Lothar praised the troops at the parade ground, then the Alliance envoy announced Turalyon’s promotion to lieutenant colonel and his second-class merit award.
• The envoy awarded Allen the rank of captain and a third-class merit award for proposing the battle plan, then announced Jerris’s promotion to lieutenant colonel.

After receiving a captaincy, Allen encouraged Varian to accept his succession and become king of Stormwind. Lothar then revealed that Allen and Turalyon would compete for the position of his adjutant through missions assigned at the next military council.

• Allen celebrated his promotion with Khadgar, then welcomed Little George and Baze and learned that Ailand had taught them the Knight Cultivation Method.
• Lothar told Varian, Turalyon, and Allen that he intended to send Varian to the rear to ascend the throne and give Stormwind's people hope.
• Varian objected, but Allen, Turalyon, and Lothar reassured him until he accepted his responsibility and left with renewed resolve.
• Lothar explained that Allen and Turalyon were his preferred adjutant candidates, and said their performance on missions at the next military council would decide who earned the post.

Allen realized that Lothar’s choice of adjutant was tied to Terenas’s political support for the young prince’s accession, then joined the Alliance council as it planned an advance against the orcs. The council assigned Allen and Jerris to attack Northfold alongside Turalyon and Buck, while the orcs remained divided and Kilrogg demanded an assault on Boulder'gor.

• Allen concluded that Terenas was likely maneuvering to place one of his own men in Lothar’s adjutant position as part of a political deal supporting the young prince’s accession.
• Allen tested the life-magic spell Wind's Touch, found that nature’s power resisted him, and stopped experimenting before training with the Soul Book.
• Lothar announced that Daelin’s fleet would destroy the Thandol Span and that Alterac and Gilneas would send reinforcements, prompting the Alliance council to prepare a counterattack.
• Uther recommended Turalyon, Khadgar recommended Allen, and Stromgarde representatives recommended Buck and Jerris for the Northfold operation.
• Lothar ordered Turalyon and Buck to attack with five hundred soldiers each while Allen and Jerris coordinated from another position.
• Lothar planned a cautious advance against the orcs, while Kilrogg loudly urged the orcs to storm Boulder'gor and kill Lothar.

Orgrim approved an attack on the humans after Kilrogg demanded action, while learning that Nekros had used the Dragon Soul to enslave a red dragon for the Dragonmaw. Allen took command of an inexperienced regiment, stirred the recruits’ desire for revenge, and began organizing them under his followers.

• Kilrogg broke the war council table and urged Orgrim to order an attack; Orgrim agreed once the Horde’s defensive network was complete.
• Orgrim learned Nekros had used the Dragon Soul to enslave a powerful red dragon and renamed the clan the Dragonmaw, so he sent an intelligence officer to warn Zuluhed.
• Allen reported to military headquarters, where Jerris warned him that the world was unfair, then found his assigned regiment made up of poorly trained recruits.
• Allen rejected Ailand’s suggestion to complain and questioned the recruits about their homes and families, rousing their anger toward the Orcs.
• The recruits agreed to accept Allen’s training and follow his commands, and he assigned his followers as junior officers with a chance for recruits to take their places by defeating them.
• Only the tall recruit at the front defeated one of Allen’s followers during the morning’s challenges.

Allen organized his five hundred inexperienced recruits and set out from Boulder'gor, planning to avoid large Orc forces and train them on the march. Jerris offered him the Firestone Family crest in exchange for cooperation, but Allen refused it while agreeing to support the campaign against the Orcs.

• Allen let recruits challenge his followers for their positions, and Edis won a place among them but was denied a vanguard assignment.
• Allen organized the recruits into five companies and told Ailand to train them during a cautious march.
• Allen explained to Ailand and the three youngsters that love and hate could drive people forward, then warned that the recruits could not face large Orc forces.
• Allen's troops left Boulder'gor alongside Jerris's thousand elite soldiers.
• Jerris offered Allen the Firestone Family crest to secure his cooperation, but Allen returned it and promised only military support against the Orcs.
• Jerris accepted Allen's refusal with concealed anger and said Allen would soon learn why the Firestone Family had endured for thousands of years.

Allen explained to his young officers how the noble system arose and chose guerrilla warfare as the safest way to fight the orcs. Near Northfold, his troops found a wounded band of fleeing orcs, and he sent Edis ahead to locate their shelter.

• As the forces marched, Allen explained to Rivis, Ailand, and the others how Thoradin’s system had empowered nobles and eventually fragmented humanity’s kingdom.
• Ailand assessed that the troops could only safely attack small, scattered groups, so Allen chose guerrilla warfare and assigned Ailand to find local guides and prepare the soldiers.
• Allen told Jerris that his force would clear nearby enemies, then led his troops onto woodland paths and trained them for fast movement and survival.
• Five days later, Edis reported finding no enemies ahead, and Allen ordered him to check all directions and summon Ailand.
• Near Northfold, Allen and Ailand discussed the lack of enemy activity before the troops found tracks and bloodstains from a fleeing band of orcs.
• Edis reported that the wounded band numbered no more than fifty, and Allen sent him with the scouts to locate the orcs while the main force followed covertly.

Allen led his soldiers in an ambush against a wounded Orc band near Northfold, but the Orc leader died before Allen could capture him or learn what had happened. After nearly a week of finding fewer Orcs and no sign of their main army, Allen suspected something unusual was happening.

• Edis returned with an incomplete report, so Allen went with him to scout the Orc camp and discovered the wounded Orcs were alert veterans led by a powerful warrior.
• Allen ordered Ailand to surround the Orcs and use the Paladins' slogan to confuse them before the soldiers attacked.
• Allen used Frost Cyclone to slow the Orcs and fought their leader, who used Intimidation and Enrage before dying when his Enrage ended.
• The soldiers defeated the remaining Orcs, but Allen could not question the sole prisoner because neither of them understood the other's language.
• Allen and his soldiers searched near Northfold for almost a week, finding fewer scattered Orcs and no sign of the main Orc army, which left him wondering where it had gone.

Rexxar consolidated his command over the Orcs hiding near Northfold and prepared to retake Boulder'gor, while a human commander suspected the Orcs were gathering to attack the fortress. The chapter ended with Rexxar learning that an elite human force was approaching from the east and considering how to destroy it without being discovered.

• A human commander warned Ailand that the missing Orcs might be massing to attack Boulder'gor, then ordered Edis to alert Turalyon and led his men back to warn the garrison.
• Rexxar, a half-breed Orc who had gathered fleeing soldiers, learned that Warlord Morlade was stirring up rebellion against his leadership.
• Rexxar challenged Morlade to a Champion's Duel, defeated him, and killed him when he refused to yield.
• The Orcs accepted Rexxar as their leader, and he ordered them to gather and prepare for battle.
• A Half-Orc told Rexxar that Wolf Riders had spotted roughly a thousand elite human troops to the east, and Rexxar planned to wipe them out without exposing his force.

Rexxar and Wenkos planned to lure human troops into a valley, while Allen’s squad joined Jerris’s camp in eastern Northfold. Allen grew suspicious of Nethes’s account of Jerris’s easy victory and the Orcs’ supposed retreat.

• Rexxar explained how gryphons lured prey and proposed using the same tactic against the humans, while Wenkos agreed to pose as the Chieftain.
• Allen’s squad found signs of a large force, and Allen sent George, Rivis, and another soldier to scout under strict orders.
• Wenkos donned the Chieftain’s clothes and armor as he prepared to lead Rexxar’s plan.
• Allen learned that Lieutenant Colonel Jerris’s troops had camped nearby and went to meet them, where Nethes said Jerris had pursued a small Orc group.
• Allen noticed Nethes’s soldiers wore Stromgarde-style chainmail and questioned his claims about the Orcs, becoming suspicious when Nethes described an easy victory over three hundred unarmed Orcs.

Allen suspected the Orcs were setting a trap for the troops near Boulder'gor, so he refused Nethes's demand to rescue Jerris and returned to the fortress. After General Ireland ordered defensive preparations, Turalyon arrived with battered troops and Orc heads, while Jerris glared coldly at Allen.

• Allen noticed that only three hundred Orcs had appeared and warned Nethes that the enemy might be setting a trap.
• Nethes learned that Jerris and nearly a thousand men were surrounded, but Allen concluded that the prolonged battle was bait and refused to send his troops to rescue them.
• Allen argued that he would not sacrifice his men for Jerris, then marched back to Boulder'gor; Nethes took his own men to the rescue.
• Allen warned General Ireland that the Orcs might attack, and General Ireland ordered the fortress to prepare its defenses despite the lack of evidence.
• Five days later, Turalyon arrived at Boulder'gor with wounded, exhausted troops carrying Orc heads, and Allen saw Jerris glaring at him coldly.

Turalyon described destroying an Orc lair and ambushing its forces, then Allen defended his decision not to rescue Jerris by blaming Jerris’s reckless command and inadequate leadership. After rumors branded Allen a coward, Nethes apologized for his earlier accusations but admitted he still did not regret trying to save Jerris, leaving Allen convinced that no one could change Jerris unless he acknowledged his faults.

• Turalyon told General Ireland that he and Captain Buck had captured an Orc Warlock, destroyed the Orcs’ lair, and ambushed their returning troops, though the enemy leader escaped.
• Turalyon reported rescuing Lieutenant Colonel Jerris and Nethes, and Ireland questioned Jerris about the defeat that had led to their capture.
• Jerris accused Allen of abandoning them, and Allen retorted that Jerris’s superior numbers and equipment had not stopped him from losing over a thousand soldiers.
• Jerris drew his sword against Allen, but Ireland intervened and ended the confrontation before the meeting broke up.
• Allen ignored the rumors calling him a coward while Little George told him that Jerris and Zelan had been mocking him.
• Nethes apologized to Allen for demanding help but said he did not regret trying to save Jerris, and Allen concluded that Jerris would not change until he admitted his mistakes.

Allen learned that Nethes planned to take the blame for Jerris’s defeat, and Nethes was punished after Jerris gave Marshal Lothar his account. As the Alliance prepared to retake Orc-held territory, Orgrim revealed that the Orcs’ withdrawal was part of a larger plan and had Gul'dan show an image from a cave.

• Nethes told Allen he would claim sole responsibility for the failed pursuit so Jerris could avoid blame, and explained that he owed Jerris his life.
• Three days later, Jerris apologized to Marshal Lothar and blamed the defeat on Nethes, who received a hundred strokes, lost his rank and posts, and forfeited his position in the army.
• Marshal Lothar learned that Admiral Daelin had defeated the Orcish ships and ordered preparations to retake the occupied areas.
• Orgrim rebuked Dakan'er and the other Orc commanders for questioning his withdrawal, then ordered Gul'dan to begin his plan.
• Gul'dan conjured an image of a dim cave where a strong Orc and a Warlock appeared and addressed Orgrim.

Orgrim pressured Zuluhed to support the Horde’s planned assault on Hillsbrad, while Allen and Lothar discussed the politics surrounding Jerris. A week later, Admiral Daelin pursued fleeing orc ships despite Prince Derek’s warnings, leaving the fleet at risk of an ambush.

• Zuluhed urged Orgrim to involve the Blackrock Clan in the war, and Orgrim promised an all-out attack on the humans beginning at Hillsbrad.
• Allen refused to explain what happened with Jerris, and Lothar apologized for involving him in political maneuvering.
• Lothar praised Allen’s maturity, then told him about the admiral’s previous naval victory over the orcs.
• A week later, Prince Derek warned Admiral Daelin that the navy’s discipline had slipped, but Daelin dismissed his concerns.
• After cruisers spotted orc ships, Daelin ordered the fleet to pursue without scouting, ignoring Derek’s warnings that the enemy might be leading them into a trap.

Derek and Daelin’s fleet sailed into a Horde trap, where Red Dragons destroyed the ships. Derek stayed behind to lead a desperate attack that bought Daelin time to escape, but Derek was killed, and the Horde moved on toward Hillsbrad as Allen’s Alliance remained unaware of the defeat.

• Daelin dismissed Derek’s warning about an ambush and ordered the fleet to bombard the wooded islands, while the Horde prepared its Red Dragons to attack.
• The Warchief revealed that he had set the trap to capture the human commander, whom he believed was a king, and ordered Zuluhed not to let him die.
• Derek spotted the Red Dragons and urged Daelin to retreat, but Daelin told him to escape aboard a fast cruiser while he stayed to command the fleet.
• Derek sent the guards to take Daelin away, then rallied the soldiers and led a charge toward the islands, delaying the Horde for over an hour.
• The Horde annihilated Derek’s fleet, and the Warchief angrily blamed Zuluhed for Derek’s death before learning that Derek had been a prince rather than a king.
• The Warchief ordered Derek buried and the Horde to occupy Hillsbrad, while Allen’s Alliance continued planning an attack without knowing what had happened.

Khadgar told Allen that Red Dragons had destroyed Admiral Daelin’s fleet and that the Orcs might attack Southshore, prompting Allen to prepare his troops for reinforcements. Allen received General Vannes’s order to assemble and march, then assigned Ailand to organize literacy lessons for the soldiers before heading to Vannes’s camp.

• Khadgar delivered the Grand Marshal’s orders to General Ireland, who ended the meeting and kept General Vannes behind.
• Khadgar told Allen that Red Dragons had wiped out Admiral Daelin’s fleet and that Daelin’s son had died in the defeat.
• Khadgar revealed that Lothar expected an Orc attack near Southshore and had established a defensive line at Tarren Mill.
• Allen received General Vannes’s order to ready his troops, and Ailand reported that they had recruited 234 men and compiled rosters.
• Allen agreed to let Little George remain in the army if he taught soldiers to read, and told Ailand to arrange lessons through the unit leaders.
• Allen ordered his troops to assemble and then hurried to General Vannes’s camp.

Allen joined General Vannes’s force for a rapid march and prepared his poorly equipped unit for the journey. After Vannes increased the pace and reduced rest, Allen’s soldiers kept up better than the others, drawing the general’s attention.

• General Vannes welcomed Allen, reviewed his unit’s weaknesses alongside Captain Kelrui’s, and ordered both units to follow his staged marching plan.
• Allen brewed fatigue-relieving nutritional potions and had Ailand prepare his unit, assigning 150 new recruits as auxiliary troops to carry supplies.
• Allen’s unit assembled with the other troops, and the army began its march before dawn under Vannes’s command.
• After several days, Vannes accelerated the march and reduced the soldiers’ rest, but Allen’s men remained energetic and did not fall behind.
• Vannes noticed Allen’s soldiers keeping pace and saw that their lighter armor and equipment helped them endure the march.

Allen attended General Vannes's meeting, where scouts reported wolf riders attacking refugees ahead of the army. Vannes ordered the troops to march at full speed to Tarren Mill, detained Kelrui for objecting, and assigned Allen to take temporary command of Kelrui's unit.

• Kartu reported that a band of wolf riders was attacking refugees three li ahead of the army.
• Kelrui condemned Vannes for treating the refugees' plight as good news, and Allen urged him to calm down.
• Vannes ordered the army to march without resting and rejected Kelrui's demand to rescue the refugees.
• Vannes accused Kelrui of disloyalty, ordered guards to detain him, and declared that loyalty to the king came before kindness or justice.
• Vannes appointed Allen to temporarily command Kelrui's troops and bring them to Tarren Mill.
• Allen considered how to explain Kelrui's detention to the veteran soldiers without provoking resistance.

Allen took command of Kelrui’s troops, rallied them with potions, and led them to Tarren Mill, where they joined the main force before the Orcs arrived. General Vannes appointed Allen to hold Kelrui’s post as well, and sent him to ask Kelrui whether he accepted the arrangement.

• Allen confronted Kelrui’s soldiers, blamed their delays for the captain’s dismissal, and persuaded them to follow him and prove themselves on the march.
• Allen distributed potions, reorganized the troops, and led them until they caught up with the main force without anyone falling behind.
• Allen and the main force reached Tarren Mill, where General Vannes ordered Second Lieutenant Kadela to open the gates and let the Alliance troops enter.
• After settling both groups of soldiers, Allen reported to Vannes, who praised his leadership and appointed him to hold Kelrui’s post concurrently.
• Allen objected that Kelrui had only been temporarily removed, so Vannes sent him to ask Kelrui whether he would accept the appointment.