Chapter 14 Chapter Thirteen

Anduin clung to the goat as he galloped down the slippery and icy trail from Ironforge to the small village in the shadow of the mountain.He could only trust the ram's steady hooves now, and he realized with some surprise that he had lived up to his trust and hadn't slipped a single slip along the way.He found the big ram more comfortable to ride than a horse, but he still didn't like the ride that nearly broke his neck. As they approached Kharanos, several mountain rangers stationed there greeted them. "Quick! Someone's buried in town!" shouted one of them. "Give me your sheep, lady! I'll ride to Ironforge to find someone for help!"

Irene immediately jumped off the sheep's back and handed over the reins to the mountaineer.He immediately turned on his saddle and walked away.Irene quickly climbed behind Anduin without saying a word, and the two rode on the same sheep, galloping forward with serious expressions. The injuries here are much more serious.Anduin saw nearly a dozen people receiving treatment in the open, and almost all buildings in the town were damaged to varying degrees.He looked left and right to find Rohan, and found him kneeling beside a dwarf aunt.Anduin slid off the sheep's back and ran towards the high priest just in time to see him pull a sheet over the stiff corpse.

After Rohan raised his eyes, there was an age Anduin had never seen in his eyes. "Prince Anduin," he said, "I knew you might come. Do you have some first aid training?" Anduin nodded, "Even though I'm not a dwarf, I still have a good body." He said, "I heard that someone was buried in it." "Yes," he said, "but what we need now is healers, not bodies. Irene, miss, go and help the others; lad, save this to help me." "Yes," Eileen said, "let's get those people out of danger." For the next few hours, Anduin kept working.As more and more earthquake victims were pulled from under the rubble, Rohan treated the most seriously injured first, leaving Anduin to deal with minor injuries.He washed and bandaged their wounds and comforted them with a smile.Once he looked up and saw Rohan looking at him appreciatively.

When he was busy, he thought of his father.Varian was a fighter, and Anduin knew he wasn't.Neither sword training nor the thought of hurting others could make the human prince feel what he was feeling at this moment.He is now healing pain instead of causing pain, helping people instead of hurting them.Alas, sometimes the darkness and horror of war is indispensable, as in the Battle of Northrend.But Anduin knew deep down that what he had longed for and pursued was peace.The casualties of these inevitable natural disasters are bad enough, if it is war instead of accidental falling rubble, and Anduin

I just don't want to think about how he would feel. Someone set up a cauldron and filled it with ice and snow.The boiled water is warm and clean.Anduin poured some healing potion into a cup of hot water, soaked some tranquilizing leaves in it, and handed the cup to a dwarf mother.She has two children, one a baby and the other a toddler.She let the children take a few sips before she began to drink herself. "You are very kind, sir," she said, "thank you." "You're welcome." Anduin said while patting the baby's little head, and then walked towards a grumpy middle-aged uncle dwarf.The dwarf has a bloody gash on his forehead, and the dwarf argues with a visiting night elf priestess who is dressing his wound.

"I'm fine now, damn it, take care of those who are really hurt, or I'll break your nose with a punch!" "Please don't, sir, if you stay still—" "Don't waste your precious healing power on such a small opening!" shouted the dwarf. "Why don't you—" The ground began to rumble again.This time Anduin didn't feel like he was stepping on the back of a grunting monster, but trying to balance on the back of a galloping horse.He couldn't stand upright, and fell heavily on the frozen ground.The earth roared below him, angry and defiant this time, and he covered his head and held his breath, waiting for the disaster to end.All around him were panicked screams and low crackling sounds.Anduin closed his eyes and prayed to the Holy Light, trying to fight against the instinctive fear in his heart.He hadn't expected this to be the case.He coped well with the first earthquake, but now he seems to have lost his mind.He realized that he was part of the screaming around him.

There was a calming warmth, and he felt the familiar light of the Holy Light.His chest suddenly loosened, and his breathing became free again.The ground under his feet was still fluctuating, but he was now able to think and control his emotions to survive the disaster instead of being controlled by the disaster.The others seemed to have calmed down, too, and the terrible cries were no longer accompanied by the loud noise of the earth trembling. The seemingly never-ending aftershocks are finally over.Anduin looked up cautiously, his breath frosting the icy air.The midget woman and her children—they're all right.The eccentric old dwarf and the night elf woman were also fine, though both were equally pale.Where is Rohan--over there.He must have used the Light to appease them, to protect them from fear.Anduin stood up with his hands on the ground, his hands felt wet.At first he thought with horror that it might be blood, but it was brown and cold to the touch.What... Anduin stood up slowly, staring at the liquid in his hand.He sniffed carefully.

That's... beer. At first, he didn't understand why, and then he understood.He turned around and looked back. There was originally a building, but now there were only a few overturned broken wooden barrels and a vast expanse of whiteness. The Thunder Wine Distillery had collapsed, completely buried by snow and mud falling from the hills behind. "Oh, holy light." Anduin said softly.Frightened and praying, he dashed to the lovely little tavern buried in snowdrifts.Others followed, shouting loudly while grabbing a shovel and digging hard.A dwarf mage rushed forward, her robes fluttering restlessly. "Don't worry! I can melt snow!" she cried, ready to put words into action.

"No!" Anduin yelled, "It will flood the bottom!" The dwarf with his bright red hair tied into two shofers glared at him, but nodded, understanding what was being said. "How about using the wind," a gentle voice sounded.A draenei lady with slender legs and elegant demeanor stepped forward to look at Anduin.He didn't know how he suddenly changed from a thirteen-year-old boy to the role of commander, but he was still thinking desperately.Yes—with proper guidance and control, the wind can blow snow off the surface without harming those trapped below.Then they could see how much dirt was piled on top of the ruins.

"Er—okay," he said awkwardly, "but be careful!" She closed her eyes, quickly waving her slender blue fingers, and her long blue-black hair fluttered in the wind.Despite the dire circumstances, Anduin just stared at her for a moment, fascinated by her beauty and grace.Then he blushed and focused on the magic she had summoned. He heard a slight pop, and a small pot-shaped thing appeared out of nowhere, emitting light from the inside out.Anduin knew it was a totem—the shaman's way of connecting, summoning, and controlling the elements.The shining gems on it seemed to be spinning, and a circle of runes that Anduin didn't know was slowly turning.

After a while, a small swirling light blue dust demon began to take shape.It grew bigger and bigger as the shaman chanted, and finally she ended the spell with a flick of her wrist.Yet it didn't move.The draenei opened his eyes in bewilderment, and said something in a language Anduin couldn't understand.But the small elemental creature she summoned still didn't obey. The expression on her face was mixed with horror, and she repeated it in a pleading tone.The wind element finally spun and moved forward, and the rolled up snowflakes made the onlookers take a few steps back.It gets the job done quickly.The gray slates of the distillery roof were exposed from the blown snow.The wind element was spinning in place, getting faster and faster, and suddenly disappeared.Out of the corner of his eye, Anduin noticed that the young draenei shaman wiped his face with a trembling hand. The crowd rushed forward again, eager to start helping those trapped below.Anduin also followed. "Wait! Wait!" Rohan said, "Quiet!" Everyone was obediently watching the high priest, while he closed his eyes and listened intently.After a moment's effort, Anduin heard it too - a faint metal knocking.There were other indistinct voices, too faint to make out what was being said. "Don't waste your energy calling for help!" Rohan yelled loudly, "We can hear you and come to rescue you right away." Everyone began to dig with bare hands again, and some people found some tools to help digging.Anduin wasn't surprised to see Irene at the forefront of the search and rescue team, her mental determination outweighing her physical exhaustion even though her arms were trembling slightly from exhaustion.Bit by bit the rock was moved away, revealing the dust-covered wounded below.Rohan stepped forward as needed, doing his best to observe and heal those who could not be reached directly.His eyes are sharp and his hands are moving so quickly that he doesn't match his age.As one earthquake victim after another was rescued alive and healthy, Anduin felt his eyes fill with tears of joy and gratitude for the dwarf and the Blessing of the Light. "How many layers?" Anduin asked as he stopped to wipe his forehead.The weather was cold, but the high-intensity labor made him sweat profusely. "Three floors," someone said. "No, fourth...fourth floor," someone corrected again.He is the innkeeper Belm, who is sitting beside him wrapped in a blanket, holding a cup of hot tea tightly in his hand, and said while trembling. "Down...there's a room for overnighters down there. We don't have any guests today, so I don't think there's...no one in there." "Thanks to the Holy Light," Rohan whispered, "then only need to consider the third floor." "Oh, it's not too much work," Eileen laughed, though her tense face gave it away. "The day we rebuild the distillery, the sooner we can fill our glasses with delicious thunder!" The crowd erupted in laughter, the first time Anduin had seen smiles on people's faces since the disaster.This did not reduce the urgency of treating the wounded, but it effectively relieved the tension, so everyone worked faster. Now the first layer of rubble, wounded and mournful bodies have been cleared away.Someone tapped rhythmically again, and there was a reassuring response from below, which made people breathe a sigh of relief.Several gnome volunteers with ropes around their waists climbed from a small cleared area to the next level.The rope was tugged several times, telling people the number of survivors below: three.People cheered and began to widen the hole, and Erin and another dwarf climbed in. People's hopes are high.The search and rescue went smoothly.More and more people came to aid, distributing food, hot drinks and blankets to the victims.For a moment Anduin glanced up at Rohan, who caught his eye and nodded. "Don't worry, boy, we'll rebuild this time. We dwarves are tough, and so are our gnome friends. Believe me, the brewery will be the first thing we rebuild!" Anduin laughed with the others and resumed his work.It started snowing again, which did not help the rescue.He was wet and cold, but the work kept him warm.His finger was bleeding, and Rohan could have given a quick prayer, but he knew that there were others who needed healing more urgently than he.His fingers will heal naturally, but other people's wounds will be difficult-- Here it comes again, another aftershock.Anduin barely had time to duck when the floor gave way under his feet.He fell heavily to the ground, the wind whipping him so hard that he gulped air like a fish out of water.The fine gravel hit him, making Anduin's face twitch.The ground finally stopped shaking with fury for what felt like a thousand times.Anduin stood up, wiped a trace of blood from the corner of his eye and looked towards the brewery.He blinked hard, momentarily unable to believe what he saw. The brewery is gone.Never seen again.All that remained was a horrific hole in the ground, covered in fragments of collapsed walls, ceilings, tables and chairs.The dust was still flying, which seemed particularly abrupt in the quiet falling snow. Erin... Rohan struggled to climb up and knocked on the stone, pricking up his ears to listen carefully.He tapped again a few seconds later, then sighed heavily.He stepped back, shaking his head slowly. Anduin's heart tightened suddenly. "No!" he yelled, rushing forward.Fear gave him the strength to force his cold fingers to pick up a large rock and throw it aside, before reaching for another. "Irene!" he shouted hoarsely, "Irene, hold on, we will rescue you!" "Child," said a gentle voice. There was something in the voice that Anduin refused to acknowledge.He ignored Rohan's words and continued digging, crying while panting. "Irene, hold on a little longer, okay? We'll be right here... here we are!" "Child," Rohan's voice sounded again, this time more firmly.Anduin felt a hand on his shoulder, and he shook it angrily, glaring at the priest with blurred eyes, completely oblivious to the sympathy and sorrow on the old face.He looked around at those who should have helped him.They stood motionless.Some people are already in tears.Their expressions were full of shock. "There is no reply from below." Rohan insisted ruthlessly, "It's... over. No one can survive. Come on, child. You have done your best, do something else." "No!" screamed Anduin, pulling his arm back. "You don't know! We can't give up! They didn't hear back because they were hurt, or unconscious. We gotta hurry—must get them out—must get her out..." Rohan stood aside silently, making no further attempt to stop the young human prince.Anduin had tears streaming down his face, he didn't know how long he continued digging.He moved one stone after another until his thin shoulders ached unbearably, until his hands were bleeding profusely and curled up without feeling, until he finally threw himself on the snow-covered stones and cried bitterly.He stretched out his palm, as if to reach out to the friend who was crushed under countless boulders by the raging earth. "Eileen," he called softly.No matter where she is, these words are only for her. "Irene... I'm sorry... I'm sorry..." When those gentle big hands embraced his exhausted body and hugged him, Anduin didn't resist any more.He has no power to resist but to accept.His heart ached and his body was exhausted.Before he lost consciousness, he only remembered a pair of big rough hands gently caressing his forehead and heart, and Rohan's gentle voice telling him it was time to rest, rest and heal. And the last scene that came to his mind was the happy smiling face of a brown-haired dwarf girl.Sri Lankan people are like this, and they will never change.