Chapter 21 Chapter 20 Prison

Hamuul Runetotem was not alone.Naralex, whom Shandris was familiar with, stood with the tauren. His presence is enough to justify the general's suspicions as they hold her.She broke free from Hamuul, and drew a dagger. But Hamuul moved nimbly, dodging her blows and meeting them.He swung a hand, and the dagger missed, but the end was still stabbed by the dagger. The tauren ignored the spilled blood and bound Shandris instead.As he tied, he said under his breath, "You must stop these actions, or they will surely notice us, Shandris Feathermoon." "Who?" she whispered.

"A traitor among us! A traitor who threatens all Darnassus and others!" He stopped.Hamuul and Naralex stared darkly at each other. "He knows..." the night elf murmured. "Come on! Stand among us!" Hamuul called to Shandris.With some subconscious order for her to obey, the two druids became two birds. Long vines erupted from the ground trying to bind the three people.Shandris chopped off two with the dagger, then fended off more vines. Hamuul waited for an opportunity to fly upwards, but the tauren was bound by two newborn vines.When they bound his wings, a flower bud grew at the top of the vine.

The buds opened... and wicked toothlike spines emerged. The tauren nearly got bitten, but luckily Naralex slid through the vines with his bird's beak.The flowers at the top fell off, but it was only a pause, for new vines had sprouted from the two stumps Shandris saw with his dagger. Hamuul yelled something at Naralex.The disfigured night elf grabbed Shandris by the shoulders and held her aloft. But as they rose, something fell from the trunk above.They are shadow-shaped things that seem to grow from leaves.Naralex flew right to between them for safety. A shadow stalked Shandris.With a shudder her soul was touched and she screamed.The dagger flung out.Her body swayed a bit.

However, whatever it suffered above, Naralex had become more distant.Shadows devoured him, tearing at the stormcrow. Naralex staggered and flew.He tried to shake off the attackers, but, when he failed, the druid turned to the ground closest to the besieged area. As he lowered Shandris from his claws, he tried to keep the Highmaster as low as he could, lest she be hurt if she fell.Still suffering from the chills just now, Shandris sat down on her knees. A scream echoed in her ears.Hamuul, back to his original form, grabbed several vines with great force and tore them loose.But instead of throwing them aside, he threw them into the sky.

Emerald light surrounds them.Every vine disappeared quickly. After a while, some vine-turned seeds scattered unharmed around the tauren. Unfortunately, while all this was happening, the shadows were still gathering around Hamuul.The tauren put his hands in a pouch and scattered the contents to the nearest place. Although his attackers appeared to be invisible, the archdruid sprinkled them with the brown powder as if the attackers had a body.The powder has a devastating effect.The shadows twisted.They start to fade and deform.Their deaths were accompanied by a chorus of devilish whimpers.

Hamuul's eyes widened.These shadows become leaves.But that's not what his talisman was intended to achieve.The tauren could only assume that the leaves were the true face of the attacker. "No..." he shouted. "Can't let it succeed like this..." However, there was another distraction for the tauren.Others of these shadows stretched from behind him.Another shadow pierced his chest as a horrific chill gripped his soul. The tauren knelt down.His eyes twinkled. Shandris watched him fall, but could do nothing.She threw her broadsword— The branches reached out and grabbed her.Some branches snatched her weapon.Others surrounded her tightly.

Another heavy branch struck the sentry hard on the back of the head, knocking her unconscious. When Naralex hit the ground, it let out a mournful and rough cry.At first glance, it looks like it has been torn apart.But every piece of wreckage that Shadow had torn off gradually disappeared as they tugged. The night elf returned to his normal form, and panting, he collapsed and lay still. Another druid quietly stepped out from behind the tree. He glanced at the immobile tauren, then turned to Shandris. "I'm sorry," Fandral said to them, even though they had unconsciously heard him say something. "You have to trust me."

The archdruid walks in the shadows, humbly walking his way.Fandral walked to Naralex, where he lay motionless. Fandral leaned down and touched the necks of the other night elves. "Alive..." Fandral stood up, looking at the legion, disappointed. "Something has to be done to you," he thought, with a smile on his face. "Varastan will know! My son will have the answer..." He turned back to his holy place to take one more look at Shandris, the tauren, or Naralex.The shadow branches surrounded the three, but did not touch them at all.Instead, the branches supported the priestess, lifting her into the dark, leafy canopy.The other branches also took Hamuul and Naralex, and carried them after them.

When this was done, the shadow straightened.They dispersed, their bodies rising among the trees, and just as they became still... the leaves of Teldrassil. The fog even extends to the ocean.Malfurion couldn't believe how thick they were, and wondered.As the wind blew past, he flapped his wings more vigorously.A gust of wind begins to blow.A gust of wind picked up, and the archdruid was sure it must be caused by his presence. Malfurion didn't know his plans—not quite—but something sent him flying toward the land his brethren were choosing to make their new home.There should be clues to solve the crisis there.

A powerful hurricane swept over. Even though he could feel the hurricane blowing, Malfurion was shocked by its intensity!He was blown back lightly.Lightning was furious, and some lightning just brushed past him.The archdruid found himself blown far from the besieged land. More lightning nearly hit him.It wasn't by chance that they missed him.However furious the force was assailing Malfurion, the night elf's instincts could stop it. His anxiety swelled like never before, and every second sent Azeroth and all other lovers, especially Tyrande, towards the end of the world.But, trying as hard as he could, Malfurion couldn't even free himself.

Also, the archdruid thought of Ysera's seemingly foolish sacrifice.For the two territories, she thought of him more than herself—— Although Malfurion could not believe what Ysera had done, at that moment he realized one thing.He fell into the palm of the nightmare again.The violent storm he felt was just part of the nightmare. Not that the storm was unreal—now that the master of the nightmare was powerful and terrifying—but his intensity was magnified by the thoughts of the night elves. The storm abated.Upon discovering this fact, Malfurion flew straight to his destination.He flapped his wings, faster and faster. The storm didn't stop, it just stopped briefly.Malfurion sped through the mist, realizing he had won a small victory.But he knows that overconfidence is as dangerous as fear. Something loomed ahead, so huge that Malfurion still couldn't see the top of it as he flew so high.He knew what it was, though he was a captive before it was created.Fandral often spoke of how much it was necessary to create it, to use it to create immortality and magnificence for their race. The second World Tree cast a wary look at him.It's impressive.It's unforgettable. As he looked at it further, Malfurion learned something, that it too had been infected with the filth of nightmares, like everything else in Azeroth. The archdruid paused, his eyes flicking over the massive tree.Outwardly, he found everything to be normal.However, his senses told him that evil forces extending from other realms had grown in it. How did they not discover this?Malfurion thought about the other druids.What do they think?How could Fandral let this thing pollute the World Tree? As he came closer to the island, he checked out some of the activities below.Lots of druids down there and doing related spells.His hopes rose: Others had realized that the World Tree was polluted and were fighting it. Oh no... just a moment later, Malfurion realized that the opposite was the case.The mantras are powerful, but instead of cleaning the tree, the mantras are feeding the unclean.He could feel this unclean thing, but surprisingly, no one else could. Without hesitation, Malfurion bent down and flew down.In the meantime, he wanted to contact the other druids and warn them of the horrible things they were doing. However, something prevented him from contacting the casters.Malfurion wasn't surprised at all, but it meant that he had to reach them as soon as possible.The Unholy Things of the World Tree, and Ysera's captivity, testify to the success of the Nightmare. An idea suddenly flashed through his mind.At first she thought it came from below, but now he was sure it came from above.More importantly, his thoughts are so direct that even without communication, he knows who he really is. Hamuir?Then a slight voice answered his question.Sounds like the tauren isn't fully conscious.However, Malfurion immediately sensed that the tauren had encountered a situation that was urgent and warning. This was a very warning message from above, so that the archdruid flew upward again and finally saw the canopy. It looked like the canopy was the same as usual, but Malfurion could feel the filth creeping up the trunk.The archdruid approached the first branch, trembling but flexible. He flew past the first main branch, seeing no threat.In fact, deeper down, he could see signs of flocks of birds and squirrels.Is not the unclean thing here? The Stormcrow flew higher and higher.On the one hand, Malfurion knew what he had discovered.Just before he disappeared, discussions were going on about the construction of this new capital.Its location had not been determined at the time.But Malfurion had no doubts that Darnassus was staying on the World Tree. That means tens of millions of lives are unaware that their families are at risk. Malfurion had no choice but to fly into the canopy and enter Darnassus from the ground.This was the most direct passage, and here he could feel that he could find the Tauren... and possibly the hidden secrets of the World Tree. Despite the size of the Stormcrow, Malfurion flopped onto the huge canopy with ease.He looked at the World Tree sadly, not just for the unclean thing, but for his memories of Nordrassil and what it had been like.As long as they wait patiently, Nordrassil can recover...with time... The leaves became thicker and thicker, and finally Malfurion began to fly slowly.He could feel that he had almost reached his destination— His path was suddenly thick with branches and leaves.Malfurion ducked. They spun, then got in his way. The archdruid tried to avoid them, but it was too late.He bumps. The leaves wrapped around him.It curled his wings, bound his back, and twisted his body so that his bones were about to snap. Malfurion felt the familiar and terrifying presence of the nightmare.It's not very direct, but it does have some of it. Crackling laughter filled Malfurion's head.These leaves seemed to present many faces, many shadowy faces, almost but not all condensed into a single terrible figure. Malfurion snapped back to his original form, knocking off the smooth leaves that were attached to him.The leaves began to transform, becoming more and more swelling shadows that wanted to devour the night elves. After regaining his breath, Malfurion concentrated.A gust of wind destroyed things around him.The changing shadows of the branches are blown away like floating leaves. The night elf crawls upwards, then transforms back again.As the storm blew, he flew with all his might.More leaves followed him, trying to catch him, but they were too slow. Malfurion entered Darnassus. Suddenly he realized two things.One is the city itself.It stretches out on huge branches.His compatriots, and others who could help create the new capital, have created masterpieces. But the second thing Malfurion noticed was that the city seemed completely clueless about how to affect Teldrassil, or the rest of Azeroth.He saw moving figures among the buildings, and the sound of music coming from certain directions. How could they not know?How could they not notice it? This question is so simple that someone wants to make them unaware. The Sentinels knew nothing about it.Malfurion knew Shandris Feathermoon well.From ancient times, he was like her second father, she couldn't just leave the city without doubt. But he didn't have time to find out whether Shandris knew or didn't: Hamuul's desperate signal was coming from the other direction. Malfurion also went in that direction, avoiding contact with other night elves, not even druids.For their own safety, he didn't want anyone to know of his presence, and for whatever reason, the Nightmare Lord didn't want to attack Darnassus just yet.But that doesn't bode well.And Malfurion didn't like his choice, but he had to. Malfurion fell, his shape changing.The area is quiet, far too quiet for a place where birds and other fauna live day and night. There is no better choice but to avoid the trees in the encircled territory.The archdruid knew they had the same effect as the sticks he had fought against before. A doubt was swirling in his mind.These attacks are very targeted.Although Malfurion wanted to deny this possibility— This thought was interrupted by the arrival of Hamuul.Malfurion tried to reach the other archdruids, but it was in vain. However, he knew from which direction Hamuul had contacted him.Malfurion walked towards the center of the besieged territories. It was a new holy place, and Malfurion approached the buildings—a little frightened, but only for a moment. There are three people inside the vines that surround this holy place.Their wings are tightly wound.One is Hamuir.The second is Naralex.That one looks like Shandris Feathermoon.They appear to be unconscious... and what's worse- This means Malfurion has been tricked into coming here. "So this legendary archdruid has returned to us, with the glory he shouldn't have." Fandral's voice resounded around Malfurion. "There is only one person who can save the world, because he is destined to be the only one. I had the feeling you were coming a long time ago, so I prepared a suitable welcome ceremony..." Malfurion didn't look back for Fandral, he knew that was what Fandral wanted him to do.Instead, he said to which building. "What's going on here, Fandral? Why are you doing this?" "Isn't that obvious?" replied the voice. "These three are dangerous to our people! Dangerous to all of Azeroth!" "These three people?" Malfurion wanted to determine Fandral's true location.In his eyes, the Nightmare King is playing tricks on which archdruid's mind.If Malfurion can find Fandral, then he will be able to free his brother from the curse. "Santis is a loyal defender of our homeland. Hamuul is honest and respectable, and Naralex is not to mention—" "Lie, lie, lie!" The words kept turning in Malfurion's head. "They're trying to tear everything apart! They're trying to tear us apart! That's what he told me!" "Who, Fandral? Who is it?" Some vines began to shake at this moment.They became a thick wall, as tall as Malfurion. The vines suddenly walked away. Fandral looked at the archdruid in front of him. "You want to know everything, don't you? It's all clear to me, you too are a traitor!" His expression conveyed an almost genuine sadness - with madness. "But you are too dangerous! This woman, Naralex, and this tauren(1) - they were misguided. But they are asleep and dreaming now. They will wake up in a new form . like everyone else!" Malfurion walked towards Fandral. "No one will wake up! The nightmare has expanded beyond the Emerald Dream at this moment! Except here, everything around is also surrounded, surrounded by the evil of the nightmare, and the evil is all over the world tree!" "You don't need Teldrassil anymore!" growled the other archdruid, already possessed by sudden ferocity. "But I gave so much for it! It helped reshape not only our race, but all of Azeroth!" "Teldrassil has been tainted, Fandral! Nightmare has tainted it! Don't you feel it? Look at yourself and touch Teldrassil's heart!" Fandral stared at him, "I know Teldrassil's heart is healthier than yours or anyone else's! I gave him my heart too, and sacrificed everything, hoping to give him back to me..." Only then did Malfurion notice a shadow hovering over the night elf's left shoulder.This evil thing had attacked him when he came. Still, Fandral looked at the shadow, seemingly untroubled by the apparent evil presence.Instead, Fandral smiled at him with a familiar loving expression. "Give me back the son Teldrassil held, Malfurion, my son! Isn't Valastan as proud and handsome as before?" He was corrupted by his madness, Malfurion realized sadly.he's gone... This meant Malfurion had only one choice.He concentrates on— Fandral frowned, his expression as sad as Malfurion's when he faced him. "I have other plans. This is your last choice, my teacher..." The shadow pretending to be Valastan laughed lowly, though only Malfurion could hear it. A terrifying boom sounded.Malfurion was thrown to the ground, only where Fandral stood upright was safe. The ground split open and the trees bent down as if to uproot them.A shadow of fear filled Malfurion's heart, and he felt the shadow swell within Teldrassil. "I think we should wait!" cried Fandral, "but Valastan has told the truth! You, Darnassus... all... must be pure! Teldrassil will be The new and best sojourn in great Azeroth!" He continued to babble, unaware that a terrible truth was surrounding him.Malfurion was struggling to regain some balance, but the ground was burning like fire.In front of his eyes, it was pitch black.Fandral left behind a darkness like night and horrible thorns all over the ground. The trees shook more violently, and they were covered with rot like never before, and thousands of leaves with small thorns dropped from their swaying tops. Fallen leaves start to turn into shadow branches. At first, Malfurion could also hear shouts and screams from the unencircled lands.Darnassus eventually joined the side of corrupted Azeroth.Horrific nightmares have happened, in a different, more terrifying way. The home of the night elves - Azeroth - has become their enemy. Remark: (1) The original book is "Orc", and the object pointed to is the Tauren Archdruid Hamuul Runetotem, so it is determined to be a translation error and changed to "Tauren".