Chapter 8 Chapter 7 Auberdine

Blore flew to where he had just seen Auberdine and landed.He was already impatient.Although it is the official territory of the night elves, his kind almost avoid it, the strange fog shrouded in a place called Darkshore.They once tried to settle here but failed.There are dotted ruins in the fields, and many ruins have become a safety hazard for travelers who come here voluntarily or under compulsion. Auberdine is a stronghold, if it can be called that.It is a gloomy place not only for night elves, but also for men and gnomes.There once seemed to be a storm cloud shrouded here, and the wind was piercing.It made sense that Auberdine remained, because Darnassus needed a place to deal with what was happening outside.

The people who live here are generally looked down upon by those who live in the capital, and sometimes it suffers this discrimination itself.Auberdine sheltered the scoundrels and the incompetent.There is also a battalion of Sentinels and some druids, but they don't live with the townspeople. Blore returned to human form, chanting incantations on trembling feet.When he became Stormcrow, his hands became wings and his legs became claws.Unfortunately, some of the buds sprayed onto his paws just now, and now he has scars on his feet. Blore poured some herbs from his waist pouch and sprinkled the juice.Like snow melting and disappearing in the sun, the sap slowly softens and then melts.The statue of Remulos fell to the ground.

Blore looked forward as he lifted the idol.The path was dark, but it didn't disturb the night elf.Besides the fog, he wondered why there was no light on the horizon.It stands to reason that from where he is now, Auberdine should be brightly lit, because other clansmen will come to this territory from time to time. After muttering for a while, the druid continued on the road.He could have flown closer to town, but he didn't want to draw unnecessary attention. Hiding the idol, he quickened his pace.He hoped that Fandral would not find out that the idol had been stolen for the time being.There was no reason why the elder druid would suddenly need to go back and get the juggernaut right—yet Blore still couldn't believe his luck.

Ascending to the top of the mountain, the druid became more cautious.But still can't see the lights in the direction of Auberdine.Even if it's foggy, you should be able to see it so close. A wave of fear welled up in my heart.Blore regretted not flying straight to town.He took out the idol and put it at his feet. When he got up, he found someone around him.The sound of flapping wings made him wonder if Fandral sent someone to chase him, the betrayed druid.But Blore saw not the image of a storm-crow in the sky, but the form of a hippogryph. Someone is riding on it.Though he couldn't tell who it was, he figured it was Shandris Feathermoon.

The man flew low, skimming the treetops.In fact, she had disappeared before he could make any sign of it.Blore wondered if she had flown directly to Auberdine.Like him, she'll find a spot around town to drop off.They were all extremely cautious, and this caution had benefited Blore a lot, and it was the same for the general-this time the weird mission without lights required such caution. Blore quickly completed the transformation, grabbed the idol and flew into the air.Like the rider just now, he kept flying at a low altitude.He followed that human trail as best he could, but still couldn't see Shandris.That most likely means she has landed.

Auberdine was not far away.Low wooden buildings look like hidden graves.At least there should be a bridge or road with lights, right?But Blore could only vaguely make out the arched outlines of a pair of buildings. What happened to Auberdine?The druids at the meeting didn't mention anything unusual happened, at least some druids passed by here?Well, if anything happened, it must have been within a day or two. After the druid landed, he changed back into a human form, put away the idol, and came to the outskirts of the city.Deathly silence greeted him.Not even living things among the bushes, not even insects.

Blore reached out to touch an oak tree, and was surprised to find that he couldn't wake it from sleep.He went to another tree, this time an ash tree, and it was the same. Blore became more and more uneasy, and finally he decided to walk into the foggy town.Strangely, as he walked in, the fog became heavier and heavier.Even the sharp eyes of a druid can only see a few feet away. He sniffed the air to make sure it didn't smell of rotting corpses.He's always worried that it's a plague or something like an attack that wipes people out.But that doesn't seem to be the case now.Due to Auberdine's proximity to the sea, the humidity is enough to decompose any corpse.And hundreds of corpses should have stink to the heavens long ago.

Auberdine's architectural style is typical of the night elves, which should have given Blore some comfort.But in the heavy fog, these arched buildings showed a terrible structural form, as if they were not made of wood, but made of bones.Blore stepped closer and felt it, confirming that the terrible change hadn't happened.Wood is still wood— Something moves closer.Blore heard it, though only briefly.Years of combat training had the quick-witted night elf hiding behind a building.He thought that the other party didn't notice him, which made him in the dark while the other party was in the light, and he had an advantage.

A grunt came through the fog.The sound was not made by night elves or similar races.Rather, it has the characteristics of a beast.Something very large is stalking the stone and dirt trails of Auberdine. Blore reached into his bag and took out some powder, which he held in his hand.Regardless of the irritation of the powder, he leaned against the corner. A huge figure broke into his hiding place.Whatever the beast it was, it finally smelled him. Blore raised his hand and threw the powder straight at it. The beast uttered an angry and rough cry and jumped up.Blore ducked, praying silently that the beast wouldn't jump on him.Strangely, not only did the beast not land on the night elf, but it also did not land on the road behind him.

In fact, the beast kept flying towards the sky, eventually landing on a nearby building.After landing, it took a short breath and then began to sneeze and growl. At this moment, a silver light drove away the fog around Blore.He turned sharply to the right. Light poured down from above, bathing it clearly in the presence of a priest of Elune, the moon god.Blore asked her to dim the light so he could see who she was. "My lady - Tyrande! What are you doing here?" "Joining you, even though it wasn't part of my original plan." Her eyes moved from corner to corner, as if expecting to be joined by other unsuspected companions.

The druid said, "You told me Shandris was joining me. I've been waiting for her to come—" "So did she. It was my request, though—the more I look at the place, the more I feel that my decision was the right one. If I had told you that it was I who would meet you, you might have refused, and this It wouldn't have happened. I apologize to you for that." "Honorable High Priest, you shouldn't be here! Everything is wrong here in Auberdine—" She nodded gravely. "Come with me, and you'll see how wrong it is." Above them, the beast—her hippogryph (which he had suspected before confronting it) let out a low, angry growl. Tyrande whispered something to her mount.The hippogryph flew down with great reluctance and settled beside its master.It stared at the druid with malicious eyes. "What did you do to Jaylette?" she asked, running her hand over the hippogryph's cheek. "It's some pungent herbs—" The High Priest smiled. "You're lucky. I bet if you hadn't thrown this, the Jaylight would have gone right through you instead of flying away. Though he knows I'd need a prisoner if possible. One or prisoner." As Tyrande continued stroking the hippogryph's cheek, Blore said, "After a while, the medicinal properties of the herbs will wear off." "We don't have time to wait." A faint light flickered in the hippogryph's eyes.Geite shook its head, looking pleased.The high priest nodded in satisfaction, and she looked at the druid again.He still hadn't understood what she meant. "Come with me. I'll show you something." The hippogryph dragged Tyrande, and she led him to the nearest dwelling.To Druid's surprise, she walked in without hesitation, which meant that the situation was much more serious than he thought.He was horrified at the thought of what they would find inside. The decoration inside shows that this is a night elf home, but the plants planted are dying.The same fog that enveloped Auberdine also permeated the interior of the dwelling, heightening the feeling that disaster was approaching. Jailette, too big to pass through the gate, could only look in uneasily.Blore noticed Tyrande looking around the corner, and she signaled that he should, too. The druid followed orders carefully.Seeing the scene inside, his eyes widened. Two night elves—a man and a woman—lay flat on the woven cushions.The female elf's arm rests on the male elf's chest.Their immobility made Blore think of the worst. "This is the case in every other house I have inspected," said the priestess gravely. The druid tried to get closer to the two elves, but drew back out of respect. "Do you know how they died?" "They're not dead." He turned to look at her.Tyrande said nothing more, and the druid dropped to his knees.He opened his eyes wide. Both held their breath. "Are they—asleep?" "Yes—I couldn't wake up the one I found earlier." Despite what she said, he couldn't help poking the male elf's shoulder.The elf didn't wake up.Then he poked the elf again.In one last effort, he took each of their arms and shook them.Finally giving up, the druid muttered, "We must find the source of the spell! There must be some crazy shaman at work here!" "To make this place like this, he must be an unusual shaman priest." The high priest said.She pointed to the door and said, "Come with me. I have one more thing to show you." They left the house, dragged by Jaylight.Tyrande led Blore across a bridge to the business district of Auberdine.Fog obscured every detail of the village, but Blore spotted a sign written in Darnassian and Common: Last Refuge Tavern. Blore knew that the tavern was supposed to be the brightest and most animated place of all.Like the local inn, the tavern is one of the little meeting places in town. Jaylight strikes a pose outside the entrance, the hippogryph peering into the mist for any potential enemies.The High Priestess strode inside without saying a word, her silence reminding Blore once again of what was to come. The situation in the tavern is different from that in the residence. Except for some strange scenes, everything in the residence is neat and orderly.In the tavern, however, chairs were scattered on the wooden floor and some tables had been overturned.The bar at the far end was not only stained by years of drunken patrons, it was also scratched from some wine bottles and barrels. The tavern is full of night elves, a handful of dwarves (2) and humans, and a gnome. "I landed not far from here, but I was terrified when I saw that there was no life and light here." The high priest explained: "This is the nearest public place, so I walked in." "Are they also—asleep?" Tyrande bent over a human.He was lying under the table, as if he had slipped there from extreme fatigue.His hair was uncut, his beard was unshaven, and although there was some dust on his coat, it could be seen that he was originally a very clean person.Next to him was a night elf and a local.Even though the night elf lay beside her, his hand was still stretched out towards the human.Like the human, the night elf was oddly shaggy.They were the scruffiest looking of them all, although everyone in the tavern looked like they were struggling. "There was a fight here," Blore thought. Tyrande stood there: "A very civilized fight, and maybe that's where it's weird. The only scars I can find are from when they fell. I think these two fell." She Point to the gnome and the other taverns. "See what other people are doing?" After a while of inspection, Blore frowned and said, "They look like they're resting. All of them!" "They're all asleep now, including the original bunch. Look around. This tavern looks like it's being used for defense." "I should have seen it." Indeed, now the druid saw that the table and chairs formed a sort of wall, facing the entrance and the windows. "But what are they defending against?" Tyrande didn't answer. Blore narrowed his eyes.In fact, he'd been forced to squint a few minutes ago, even though his eyes should have been sharper as the sun went down and he guessed right. "The fog is getting thicker—and darker." Outside, Jielette let out a low cry. Tyrande and Blore retreated quickly to the entrance.Outside, the hippogryph wandered restlessly.However, there was no other sign, except that the fog was getting thicker and the visible distance was getting shorter and shorter. There was a groan from inside.Blore turned and ran past the High Priest, the groan coming from the sleeping crowd at the back of the tavern.At this time, another groan came from a different direction.Blore decided it was the night elf next to the human.He bent over beside him. Tyrande also came over: "What's wrong? He's awake?" "No—" Blore turned the sleeper's head gently: "I think he's dreaming—" Another groan came.For a moment, the lamentation of the sleeping people sounded all around.Blore's hairs stood on end as he detected one thing in all the voices: fear.He stood up and looked at the exit, correcting himself: "This is no ordinary dream. They are having a collective nightmare. None of them are exempt." Jaylight sounded the alarm again.They went out to look, and this time they still saw nothing—but they heard the same sound. The whole of Auberdine groaned. "It has something to do with Malfurion," Tyrande said without doubt. "why?" Jaylight stepped forward, raised her head and listened closely to the side. A gray figure flashed quickly and disappeared.That figure was shorter than the night elves, almost human.Hippogryph tried to follow it, but Tyrande stopped him. The High Priestess led the way again, Blore at her side, ready to assist her with his powers, and Jailette at their heels. Pointing to the left, she said softly, "There!" As soon as Blore saw it, the figure disappeared into the mist again. "It looked like it was panicking, maybe it was a survivor." "The fog seems to be particularly thick around it." Tyrande clasped his hands together: "I hope Elune, the moon god, can help us." After finishing speaking, a silver light was cast from the cloudy sky directly above the priest, heading in the direction where the mysterious figure disappeared.The moonlight clears the fog and reveals everything on the road.Blore raised his eyebrows, the moonlight extended like a living thing to find the disappearing figure. Suddenly, Blore stopped: a man.His clothes show that he was once rich but then poor.He stared back at the people in front of him with his sleepy eyes.This man was more emaciated than anyone they had seen in the tavern.But somehow, he kept going. "In the name of Nordrassil!" Blore blurted out. Not only did that person not stop, but he disappeared from the eyes of the two night elves again. "That's a shaman," Tyrande said loudly. "Then he's the perpetrator of everything, not the victim—" "I don't know, my lady." Blore couldn't explain further.But the way the man disappeared feels kind of—familiar. The Druid concentrated on recalling what he had just seen.The man glanced at them, then stepped— "What did he pass through—and then walk into," said Blore to himself.That's when the druid felt—what? "Disappearing, going in or out of what door—what does that mean?" Tyrande asked, growing grim.She trotted back to the hippogryph and grabbed the reins. "He might be the clue to Malfurion—" Before Blore could stop him, the Hippogryph was already running towards where the man was standing.Blore couldn't deny that, as Tyrande said, that man might be the culprit.If that person is indeed the caster, they must continue to follow. Reaching the spot where the man had last disappeared, Tyrande began to pray.Luna's light lingered around her, and then spread to all directions. However, that person disappeared without a trace. Blore joined her: "Glory Goddess, I—" She looked at him gravely. "I'm not Queen Azshara. Please don't call me 'Supreme Honor' or something—" More groans came from around them—their fear was laid bare—through the layers of fog like luna light. "We've got to find a way to wake them up!" growled Blore. "There must be a way—" Jaylight sounded the siren.Doubting whether that person would appear again, the two night elves turned to the direction of the sound—— There, with the groans from the dense fog, several figures staggered towards them. Druid's heart beat faster and he was extremely nervous.He suddenly felt that he should run or retreat.How much he wanted to roll into a ball so that the shadows wouldn't hurt him.Druid broke out in a cold sweat. what will happen to mehe asked himself.Blore wasn't overwhelmed by fear, but an urge to surrender was strong.He watched Tyrande, noticing that her weapon's hand was trembling, but it was evident that it was not the weight of the weapon.The high priest's lips were tightly shut.Even the hippogryph could smell the strange peak of tension, and its breathing became more and more rapid. Tyrande looked to the left: "There are also over there!" "On the right too!" Blore added. "If we look back, I bet there must be!" "I will never cry like a frightened child!" Tyrande shouted suddenly to the looming figures.Despite what she said, her hands shook more than ever, adding to Blore's own fear. A silver light above the high priest's head enveloped the two night elves and hippogryph.At the same time, it expanded towards the direction of the shadow, shining on the front human figure. In the moonlight, they saw something rotting.It stared blankly, its whole face contorted—a face Blore suddenly remembered seeing on the tavern floor. But even if the face is indeed that of the sleeper, the body must not be.Its silhouette was one Blore never wanted to see again.That night elf's body was that of a Burning Legion demon. These human figures kept approaching, and another image appeared. He had a human face, but he also had a demon body. "They've—have come back—" Blore murmured. "No—impossible to do them!" said Tyrande. "Not them—not them—" The two night elves remained motionless.They want to defend themselves, but those ultimately evil figures make them feel paralyzed. At this moment, a figure jumped out from the druid's right side and stood in front of them - the person they had followed earlier.He stumbled towards them. Blore blinked to see him, but the fog was getting heavier—or had his eyes gone?Those sinister bodies and the faces of Auberdine's unfortunate inhabitants were once again blurred figures.Suddenly, the druid found that he was sinking to the ground - he was kneeling on the ground.He realized that he had only been dreaming: the demons he had seen existed only in his subconscious mind. "In the name of Elune!" he heard Tyrande shout.But only a faint echo: "What—?" The human with the empty eyes finally spoke, and the voice came out of the darkness: "Don't sleep—don't sleep—" he whispered.Blore felt an arm grab his shoulders, kneeling next to him and Tyrande, held weakly by the emaciated figure behind them. The world fades, but it doesn't disappear.It fades away, not like an objective existence, but more like a memory. Also, it takes on a dark green hue. Auberdine disappeared.Only the surrounding scene is vaguely visible.Blore struggled to gather his thoughts to discern where they were now.But the scene flashed by, as if they were flying past at a speed beyond normal objects. Suddenly, the surroundings lose their original dark tones.Something distinct was thumping around them.It was night again, and fog was coming, but not as much as in Auberdine. Blore found him moving.He tried to control his body but found it powerless.Druid fell forward. The ground is hard but thankfully covered with vegetation.Blore got down on one knee and got up.Next to him was Tyrande, who was luckier, and only staggered a few steps before standing still. The high priest spoke first.After trying to stand still, she looked around: "Where is this—where are we? This is not Auberdine!" This wasn't Auberdine, and it didn't look like any place the druid was familiar with.He shook his head, concentrating on thinking for a while.What happened just now seemed to give some clues to the matter. "Not Auberdine—" There was some confusion.The figure stood still beside Blore.He looked at the druid, then at the high priest, with a beseeching look. "You made me sober enough—I can walk now—" Blore stood up and grabbed the man by the arm.Though the stranger's actions didn't make him think of Varian Wrynn, his pain reminded him of his friend.No matter what happened to this person, at least it wasn't as bad as Wrynn's memory loss. "What did you do?" Blore asked him. "You literally got us out of there—" The stranger leaned on Blore, who looked at him. "I'm so tired! I'm going to fall asleep! Please don't let me fall asleep—" He made a final sound before losing consciousness. Surprised, Blore put him lightly on the ground. "We must wake him up!" said Tyrande. "Did you hear what she just said! You saw what happened to Auberdine!" He looked at their new partner carefully: "We couldn't wake him up with both of you and me. He was sleeping too deeply." "He is the only clue to find Malfurion!" The high priest knelt down to shake the man, but hesitated again.She suddenly became calm: "Please forgive me—" "There's nothing to forgive." Blore examined the man's body: "I can't see anything else except the clothes he's wearing." "He doesn't look like a shaman at all to me." The druid nodded. "I agree—no shaman would be like her." "No one or a gnome or a night elf would—unless I'm wrong about what happened to us." She frowned. "What else could it be but magic? Strange magic, it must be like that! He told us—" Tyrande paused: "Jialette—" Blore had noticed the hippogryph long ago: "It's asleep, my lady. Gialette is part of Auberdine now." The high-ranking priest showed a sad expression: "Poor Jealette—so many poor creatures—" she calmed herself down, and then asked, "What is going on? If it wasn't a spell, how could he put We brought out Auberdine and dumped us here?" "There is only one possibility." Blore himself said with some doubts: "I think—I think there might be a moment—that he took us into the Emerald Dream and out again." Remark: (1) The original book is "Jie Jie", which was changed to the more accurate "Jie Ai Laite" after comparing with other translations. All "Jie Ai Lai Te" that appear after this article are the changed translations. (2) In the original book, it was "Earth Spirit", which was changed to the more accurate "Dwarf" after comparing other translations.