The First Meeting

"Azshara! What are you doing here?" Maiev roared at the Highborne queen before her.

"What business is it of yours where I am?" Azshara shot back, refusing to be outdone.

Only in front of Snyder did Azshara reveal her softer side. Before anyone else, she was the queen of the Highborne, and her queenly presence made other elves feel compelled to submit.

"You're not welcome here! You should be in the depths of the sea!" Maiev pulled a short blade from her clothes and pointed it at her, as though the sharp edge might leave a wound on Azshara's beautiful face at any moment.

"What's this, little girl? You want to spar with me?" Azshara refused to back down and walked toward the blade. At the same time, a powerful aura of energy appeared around her.

"Enough! Both of you, stop." A wall of water formed from water elementals appeared before Maiev and Azshara, separating them.

"This is a victory banquet I prepared for the returning warriors, not a dueling ground for you two!"

"Now both of you go back and cool off."

Snyder's sudden outburst stunned Maiev and Azshara. As they remembered him, Snyder always behaved like a gentleman, graceful in both his daily conduct and his fighting on the battlefield. Watching him fight was like enjoying an unusual performance.

As Maiev recalled, the last time Snyder had acted like this was when the old noble had held the magic eye and tried to take them down with him. Snyder had suppressed him with direct, brute force.

Other than that, he had never been anything but graceful. For Azshara, Snyder's graceful behavior had become deeply ingrained in her mind, but his behavior today gave her a better understanding of him and showed her that he could get angry too.

Seeing Snyder angry, Maiev and Azshara did not want to provoke him further. They glared at each other, then headed back to their respective rooms.

Snyder watched the two women leave. The anger vanished from his face in an instant, replaced by a headache. He had only pretended to be angry. The persona of a gentleman had become part of his very being, and unless everything he cherished was harmed, he would not get angry.

How to handle the relationship between the two women had become a problem for Snyder.

While Snyder was nursing a headache, Jarod was beaming.

Jarod and Naisha rode together on the same Moonblade Panther.

Moonblade Panther: In the end, I'm the one carrying everything. These two elves are real jerks. Riding together is one thing, but they keep making me run faster.

After a while, Jarod, Naisha, and the utterly exhausted Moonblade Panther rested together beneath a large tree.

"Why didn't you rest for a few days before coming?" Naisha asked. She could sense how tired Jarod was; he was holding on through sheer willpower.

"Because I wanted to see you," Jarod answered.

Naisha blushed at his words. She had not expected him to be so direct.

Naisha also began to recall the first time she had met Jarod.

It had been during a small battle in that war.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!" A rain of Fel summoned by demon mages bombarded the Resistance army. This rain was no ordinary attack: Fel mixed with demonic rocks fell among the troops, dealing the Resistance its first round of damage. Then the rocks reassembled into enormous rock giants.

Fel fire burned on the rock giants, and the heat kept the Resistance soldiers from getting close. The Resistance mages had also exhausted their mana and could no longer cast ice spells.

A furious Infernal charged at the Resistance warriors nearby, swinging a fist wreathed in Fel fire and smashing it down at an opponent.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!" The enormous Fel fist struck a Resistance soldier, sending him flying with its tremendous force. When the nearby mages saw him thrown into the air, they hurriedly squeezed out the last of their mana to cast a slow-fall spell, allowing him to land safely.

The surrounding soldiers rushed over to check on the wounded man. The enormous Fel fist had caved in his breastplate, leaving him badly injured and coughing up blood. The soldiers beside him hurriedly removed his armor. His chest had caved in.

"Don't worry about me. Hurry and find a way to kill the Infernal, cough, cough, cough." The warrior spoke as he coughed up blood. As soon as he finished, the soldier breathed his last.

Grief welled up in the surrounding soldiers as they looked at their fallen comrade. A brother they had lived alongside in the past had died on the battlefield. Meanwhile, the nearby Infernal was slaughtering their ranks.

Jarod raised his weapon and charged at the Infernal rampaging across the battlefield.

Jarod first cast Frost Armor on himself to shield himself from the Infernal's heat, then swung his weapon viciously at its head.

The Infernal was not about to surrender without a fight. It swung its enormous fist at Jarod.

Jarod shifted his position in midair and brought his weapon up to meet the enormous Fel fist. Boom! Fist and weapon met with a tremendous crash.

In the end, the Infernal was stronger. Its immense power knocked Jarod back, and he landed on the ground, using his weapon to steady himself.

This monster really is strong! Looks like I'll have to outsmart it, Jarod thought.

Jarod coated his weapon in freezing magic and charged at the Infernal again. This time, rather than confronting it head-on, he used his speed to close in quickly and attack its lower body.

The enormous Infernal was slow, and for the moment it could do nothing against the now faster Jarod.

Jarod seized the chance and slashed at one of the Infernal's legs. A weapon enhanced with frost magic was just the thing to counter the flame-wreathed Infernal.

One strike severed its leg, and the Infernal's massive body toppled over.

"Quick! Take this chance to finish it off!" Jarod told the nearby soldiers.

The soldiers around him swarmed forward and finished off the troublesome demon. The other Infernals were also dealt with by other soldiers in various ways.

But before they could relax, demonic reinforcements arrived. Hundreds of Felguards led the way, followed by Eredar warlocks and Fel Reavers.

"Everyone, get up! More demons are coming! Where's the messenger? Messenger, go tell all the units to join forces against the enemy!" Jarod roared.

Upon receiving Jarod's order, the messenger hurried off to contact the other units.

But the demons gave them no time. Seeing the Resistance troops in disarray, they swarmed forward.

Facing the oncoming demons, Jarod could only rely on himself and the soldiers beside him to hold them off for the moment and buy time for the other units.

Just as Jarod prepared to fight to the death, a rain of arrows flew toward the attacking demon force.

Jarod looked back and saw a figure-an elf who would hold an important place in his life thereafter.