Chapter 13 Chapter Twelve

Drek'Thar tossed and turned in his sleep.Visions in the dream pushed him, pinched him, mocked him, tortured him.At the same time, various half-covered and half-covered blurred scenes were churning in his mind, including peace and development, but also disaster and destruction. In this dream, he could see himself standing in the middle of nothingness, surrounded by a dark night sky full of stars.Earth, water, fire, wind, the images of the spirits of the four elements were beside him, all annoyed and full of anger.They begged him, and when he opened his heart to answer, they refused with a brutality that shocked him with fury.If they were children, they would have all cried a long time ago.

The floods washed him, and the wind whipped him.The strong storm rolled up the ships at sea and beat them like children's toys.Cairne and Grom's sons were on that ship... no, no, that's Thrall... but it didn't matter who was on it, because the ship soon crumbled to a swollen, soaked log . Then the flames rose, and the sparks rushed towards him like birds guarding their nests.He screamed helpless at the onslaught, his clothes ablaze, he flapped wildly, but the flames refused to die. Just as Drek'Thar was about to perish in the flames, everything came to a sudden halt.He was all right again.Drek'Thar panted and trembled.Time passed by, nothing happened, but the dream continued.

He felt a loud rumble beneath his feet.He knew the air spirits, water spirits, and fire spirits had all expressed their pain, and they might come again, but Drek'Thar knew that the weeping and trembling of the ground beneath his feet had only just begun.Images flashed past his eyes—suddenly ice and snow, suddenly dense forest— He screamed and jumped to his feet. Fortunately, there was nothing but darkness again.He held out his arm and touched Palka's hand as usual. "What's the matter, Grandfather?" asked the young orc.His voice was clear and powerful, unaffected by the very things that tormented Drek'Thar.

Drek'Thar opened his mouth to answer, but suddenly his mind was as dark as his eyes.He dreamed—something.something important.Some must be notified immediately— "I... I don't know," he murmured, "something terrible is going to happen, Palka. But... I don't know what. I don't know!" He shook his head sadly and sobbed in terror. Tears streamed down his cheeks. As the days passed, Anduin began to form a habit.Wake up early in the morning and train with Erin, who always looks energetic, happy and optimistic.After the sword fight, they went to the countryside to ride sheep together.Although rams were not his favorite mounts, Anduin liked to go for a walk; the fresh air made him almost dizzy, and the ice and snow land was very different from the temperate weather of Stormwind.He liked Eileen very much now, believed that she would not hold back, in fists and words, and it lifted his spirits.Once, he asked about Moira.

"Oh, that's complicated," she said. "I thought it was easy. She was kidnapped, charmed, and broke Magni's heart." "Of course he must have missed her," Erin said, "but he wasn't a good father to her either." Anduin was a little surprised.He had always thought the straightforward dwarf was the perfect father.He must know how to respect the choices of others, instead of forcing them to be what he likes. "Not that he was cruel, or anything. But—well, Her Majesty just cast herself for a daughter by mistake. Magni always wanted a son to succeed him. He didn't think a girl was fit to rule."

"Jina Proudmoore has been a great leader to her people," Anduin said. "Yes, not long after Moira disappeared, His Majesty transferred me and a few others to the Elite Guard." Irene said, "I think he finally realized that he was treating people a little bit unfairly. I hope that one day, their father and daughter To be able to make peace again." Anduin hoped so too.It appears that parent-child conflict is not unique to humans. When they rode out of town together, he got to know the folks at nearby Kalaros and the Steel Frame Depot.Once they even traveled far to Thelsamar in Loch Modan. After having lunch there, the exhausted Anduin slept by the lake for two hours, and when he woke up, his body felt like needles in the sun. pain.

"Oh, don't you humans know how to hide from the sun?" Irene said jokingly. "Why didn't you get sunburned?" Anduin asked unhappily.Whenever he saw Irene, she was in full body armor ninety percent of the time, and underground the rest of the time.And the skin she's showing now is even whiter than Anduin's. "I took a nap in the shade under that big jutting rock," she said. He stared at her dumbfounded, "Why didn't you tell me?" "I thought you'd know it yourself. You'll understand next time, won't you?" She smiled at him softly.Despite the pain in his body and his skin red as a boiled crab, Anduin found himself unable to get mad at her.He couldn't help taking a breath as he put his shirt on; the feathery fibers of the runecloth could inflict great pain even now.Eileen was right, there was no way he'd leave himself in the sun without finding some goddamn shade.

When he returned to his residence, he found that someone had left a letter.It was written in Magni? Bronzebeard's thick handwriting. Anduin— Come to the Throne Hall as soon as you get back.Take Erin with you. He had intended to see the high priest of Rohan for his sunburn, but Magni's call clearly could not be delayed.He showed the letter to Irene, who nodded with wide-eyed eyes, and together they turned and walked briskly toward the Throne Hall.Although the sunburn on his body was still painful, Anduin trotted all the way, feeling a wave of worry in his heart.Did something happen to his father?Or is war finally breaking out between the Horde and the Alliance?

Magni leaned over a table.To the left and right of him stood a dwarf, their clothes looked dusty.A third dwarf was looking eagerly at the three stone tablets on the table.Anduin recognized him as the leader of the Explorers' Guild, senior explorer Munning McGrath.A spirited dwarf with red hair and a big beard who always likes to wear a pair of sports goggles. Anduin stopped in his tracks and exchanged a quick puzzled look with Irene, who shrugged, obviously as puzzled as he was. "Ah, Anduin, boy, come on, come here! You're going to want to see this!" Magni waved at him, his eyes sparkling with excitement.Anduin breathed a sigh of relief, suddenly felt exhausted, and felt a little unhappy for a while/

"Your message sounds urgent, Majesty—Uncle Magny," he said, walking forward, feeling the pain of the sunburn again. "Oh, no rush, but very interesting! Come see for yourself!" A dwarf nodded and moved a few steps aside so that Anduin could stand beside Magni and McGrath.He looked at the table and found that it was not three pieces, but a stone slab, but it was broken into several pieces.Each fragment is engraved with words.Anduin knew several languages, but was very unfamiliar with this one. "It was sent to me by my brother Brian," Magney said.He took off one glove and ran his strong fingers over the words with surprising delicacy. "He was curious about it, and thought I would be too." He glanced at Anduin. "I called someone to come to you as soon as I saw these things. I don't think you know what it is yet."

Anduin smiled and shook his head, "I've never seen anything like this." "I believe that no one has seen it, at least for a long, long time. This kind of writing...is left by the earth spirit." Anduin had goosebumps all over his body, and he looked at the pieces with admiration.The earth spirits were created by the ancient Titans, and the modern dwarves evolved from the earth spirits.The slate in front of him has an indescribably long history, perhaps ten thousand years—or even longer.Like Magni, he reached out a trembling hand with deep respect and stroked it gently. "Do you know what it says?" "No, I didn't learn that stuff. Even Brian couldn't figure it out. That's why he sent this thing over here, to the experts in the Hall of Explorers. He wrote something... I see Look..." Magni picked up a piece of paper from the table, "about... becoming one with the earth." "Hmph," as Anduin knew, Irene was a completely pragmatic person with little interest in imagination, so she was already tired of Anduin's repeated visits to the Hall of Explorers.So Anduin officially relieved her of the drudgery, leaving Irene alone while he was killing time there. "One with the earth? Sounds like being buried in the earth." Anduin glared at her harmlessly, then turned his attention back to the slate. "What do you think it means? It's a little vague." "Indeed, and we have to find out." Magni nodded, looking at Anduin thoughtfully. "You're a pretty perceptive kid, Anduin. Have you noticed what's been going on in the world lately?" Anduin was puzzled. "I know there's a lot of friction between the Alliance and the Horde," he said, wondering if that was what Magni was referring to. "The Horde started trouble because their supplies were depleted in the war." "Yes, yes." Magni nodded approvingly. "But it's not just because of the war. Go ahead with your thoughts, kid." Anduin frowned, "Uh... because Durotar is a barren land," he said, "the resources are not abundant." "And now it's even more lacking because..." "Because of the war and..." Anduin's eyes widened suddenly. "Because of the unusual drought." "Completely correct." "Now we're getting to the point... Auntie Gianna said that just before I went to see her there had been a severe storm, perhaps the worst she had ever seen. There were also reports of a strange hurricane that damaged Lots of ships returning from Northrend." "Yes!" Magni almost cheered excitedly. "Violent storms, floods in some places, droughts in others... Something is not right, boy. I'm no shaman, but the elementals are clearly unhappy these days. There may be a key to the truth buried in these tablets." "You—really? Do you really think that something that ancient can solve our problems today?" "There's nothing impossible, kid. At least..." Magni whispered in a deliberately exaggerated, conspiratorial tone, "These are all things that haven't seen the light of day for a long time, huh?" He patted Anduin's back, which happened to be where the sunburn was. The translation process was slow and painful, with occasional errors.Anduin found that these translators were all arrogant and unwilling to admit that they might be wrong-and each of them interpreted differently. Veteran explorer McGrath insists that this is a metaphysical rhetoric. "'To be one with the earth,'" he read, "is to connect with it, to feel its pain." Advisor Belgram scoffed.He was a thin old man with trembling hands and a voice that could be heard throughout Ironforge. "Bah," he said, "Miao Ning, you have been fooling around with chicks too much. Everything is a 'fit' in your eyes." McGrath, who had been peeking at the beautiful Irene, laughed. "That's because you haven't touched a girl in decades. Belgram, have you already—" "Hey, hey, don't whisper such dirty jokes in the little prince's ear!" Irene scolded calmly. Anduin blushed slightly, "It's okay," he said, "I mean... I understand." Erin blinked at him irresistibly, "Really?" Anduin turned quickly to Belgram. "What do you think that means?" he asked, hoping to successfully change the subject. "Well, I don't think it's possible to really figure it out until it's all translated. The interpretation of a sentence often depends on its context. For example, take... 'hunger and thirst'. If you put it in a passage like this , 'My wife is cooking next door. I can smell the kiss of pork chops braised in beer. I'm hungry and thirsty.' Well, that's literally hungry, right?" "Belgram, don't tease me. It's past lunchtime," Irene said. "But if the passage says, 'I've been imprisoned for four years with nothing but gray walls. I dream of open spaces and the sun. I'm hungry for freedom.' That's another meaning. gone." "My God, you're such a poet," Irene said in amazement, and Anduin felt the same way. "I see what you mean," he said, "I haven't thought about it that way. What—" A low rumble cut him off.Anduin gasped, feeling the floor vibrate slightly under his feet, as if stepping on the back of a gigantic grunting beast, but this foreshadowed much worse consequences.Another voice came from above - Anduin looked up and saw hundreds of books swaying and slowly sliding out of the bookshelves. Three thoughts came to his mind at the same time.First, these books that record valuable knowledge are priceless treasures, falling from such a high place, even if they are not destroyed, they will cause damage.Second, the books were about to fall from such a height onto their heads.Third, the slab fragments might shatter if they slipped off the wobbly table.He rushed forward and grabbed the slate, pressing these irreplaceable fragments of knowledge tightly to his chest. "Be careful!" Irene screamed, grabbed Anduin and Belgram's arms, and dragged them to the vaulted doorway between the library and the exhibition hall.Anduin misunderstood what she meant, thinking they were telling them to get out of the hall altogether.So he continued to run outside until Irene groaned and threw herself on top of him.He turned sharply and fell hard on his hips, Erin lying on his back, the slate still intact. "No, Anduin! Don't go out! Stay in the porch!" This warning came a little late.He fell right under the pterodactyl skeleton.The thing made a violent clicking sound, and the iron chain that hung it swayed, making the pair of giant wings with only skeletons flap, as if it had suddenly come to life.The cable holding it in this position was only designed to withstand gravity, and as Anduin looked at it, the cable snapped and the huge skeletal pterodactyl fell.For one long, slow, terrible moment he saw nothing but death rushing toward him. Then a pair of strong arms wrapped around his shoulders, and the cold armor pressed against his cheek, and Irene threw herself on him to protect him.A fossilized bone smashed against her armor, causing her to whimper in pain. In the blink of an eye it was all over.Eileen pulled herself up, her face pained but she seemed to be all right.Anduin sat up and looked around cautiously.As he expected, most of the books and items on the table fell to the floor. "Slate!" cried Belgram, jumping to his feet. "I'm here." Anduin said. "Good boy!" McGrath exclaimed. Erin frowned slightly and stood up.Anduin also stood up, his legs were still trembling, and he still pressed the fragment of the stone slab tightly to his chest.He watched her. "You saved my life," he said softly. "Oh," she waved her hand nonchalantly, "you'd do the same thing. Besides, I wouldn't be a good bodyguard if I wasn't always ready to save your life, would I?" He nodded gratefully and smiled at her.She blinked happily. "Is everyone okay?" Anduin asked, handing the slate to Belgram. "Looks like... oh, poor book," McGrath said, real pain in his voice.Anduin nodded heavily. "I'm going to see if anyone else needs help," Erin said. "Good idea. Let's go." "I can't put you at risk," Erin said. "Well, you have to be with me, so you can't just run away by yourself, can you?" He was hard on her, and Eileen gave him a hard look. "Let's go to the Hall of the Arcane," Anduin continued. "If anyone is hurt, they need a healer." He left the explorer's hall and quickly ran towards the arcane hall.Erin looked fully recovered and trotted beside him.As they approached, they slowed down. Already dozens of people had gathered near the hall.Some were able to walk on their own, while others were supported or carried on the backs of goats.Others were lying on the cold stone floor, their loved ones were crying and calling for the pastor.However, the priests who were rapidly muttering prayers of healing seemed to be understaffed. "My God," Erin said, "it seems we are really lucky." Anduin nodded, "Rohan is not here," he said, "it means something is more serious somewhere." He grabbed a female priest who hurried past him, "Sorry, the high priest Where is Rohan?" "He was called away," she said. "Where did you go?" "Khalanos. The disaster is worse over there. Now, please let me take care of these wounded!" "Come on." Anduin said to Irene. "what?" "We're going to Kharanos. I'm trained for emergencies," Anduin said. "I'll treat wounds, splice broken bones, apply bandages—help until the real healer arrives." "How many bones did you really take?" "Er...not one. But I know how to do it!" Irene stared at him suspiciously, and Anduin grabbed her arm and shook it vigorously. "Eileen, listen! I can help! I can't just stand by!" "Then help these people," Erin said matter-of-factly. Anduin looked around.He looked at the wounded and realized that it was the blood left by the wound that had been healed, not the blood that flowed from the wound.People did get hurt, but most were able to walk, stand and talk.There was no urgency here, although the priests were still busy and obviously had to be busy for a while. "They don't need it," he said softly. "I want to help those who really need it. Please—let's go to Kharanos." Her eyes searched him, then she sighed. "Okay, but I won't put you in danger, understand?" He laughed. "Okay, but we have to hurry, okay?"