Chapter 25 Chapter 25

Valdin looked at Archmage Mordant impatiently.Now they were walking towards a wood where the final answer to them about the terrible crimes committed against the Highborne would be given.Mordant walked confidently, as if he had made the right decision.But the younger and more ambitious mage didn't agree with his decision at all. "So what if we get the murderer's head? You know it well: the authorities of Darnassus are in league with them! They've wasted too much time and made too many excuses! The Archdruid is a—" "The one who gave us a way to live," Modant replied calmly as he walked.

"Bah! We can live without him! The Highborne—" The elder mage turned sharply, causing Valdin and the rest of the party to stagger to a halt. Modant looked at the other mages—all of them younger than him—and finally settled on Valdin again. "Azeroth has changed...it hasn't been like this since the fall of Zin-Azsari. Everything is different. Everything we have done to sustain our existence over the millennia No matter how effective! How many more do we have here? How are our members replenished? How many descendants do we have in the next generation?" No one answered—not even Valding—but not because they didn't know the answer.Quite the opposite actually: they are all too aware of this fact.

"When we had eternal life," continued the elder archmage, "these things did not matter. Death is usually a rare event of carelessness. But now we have lost immortality as much as the brethren of Darnassus But unlike them, if we ceased to exist, no one would mourn for the Highborne unless we could make a difference. We must abide by the rules laid down by the High Priestess and the Archdruids until we are accepted again into night elf society." "We fought alongside them—" Valdin began. "We had to do it back then, with no regrets. And at the first chance, we went back to magic - and did nothing else! We learned nothing from the fall of Zin-Ezsari!"

"Those murderers are unforgivable!" Mordant slammed his staff to the ground.Sparks flew in all directions, and the dust and blades of grass on the ground were scorched black. "No one will forgive them! If the killer is caught and brought to justice, they will be handed over to us! The laws of Darnassus also support our demands! Does this satisfy you for the time being?" Valdin nodded sullenly. "I will not betray the Archdruid and his consort, Valdin. They do what they say, and so do I. Our future is at stake. We respect each other." Archmage Mordant turned and walked on.The other high elves followed behind, but Valdin took a step back.However, no one disputed that he was quickly back on the heels of the leader.Valdin's strength and skill were sufficient to keep his position, unless Mordant claimed otherwise.But despite their current differences, the young spellcaster remains the Archmage's favorite.

A figure suddenly appeared on the road ahead.They recognized this as one of Maiev Shadowsong's minions. "I'm here to show you the way." She glanced at the line. "On the road ahead, you'd better follow closely." Valdin snorted mockingly, but Mordant replied politely. "Lead the way, please. We are anxious to get this matter over with." "So have we. This has dragged on long enough." Some of the Highborne nodded in satisfaction at the words.After all, Darnassus understood that these vile crimes must be punished. They followed the slender woman down the winding path, and soon even Mordant and Valdin could not remember the original direction.What really matters, however, is that they arrive at their destination quickly.

"Where is Maiev?" Mordant asked. "Is she ready to turn the prisoners over to us?" "Justice will be served when you arrive. That is her promise." Hearing this, even Valdin showed some satisfaction.The Highborne are increasingly eager to reach their destination, and their guides promise that they are close at hand. They walked into an open field.And the caretaker strode on. "Isn't it this?" Valdin asked impatiently. Their guide walked on, not bothering to look back at him. "Irreverent brat." Valdin held up a hand to her. Before he could cast the spell, Mordant pressed down on his arm with his staff. "Wait. Something's wrong..."

A crimson zigzag energy line suddenly rose from the ground.Before any of the Highborne had time to cast their spells, they were all trapped in it.Next, each mage was struck by the energy, bending over in agony. "Still so arrogant," someone commented dismissively. "More than ten thousand years have passed, do you still think that the whole world revolves around you..." Mordant, Valdin, and the other Highborne struggled to look up at their captor.Maiev Shadowsong walked in front of the prisoners with a sneer. "Even adding all of you together is easier to deal with than the Archdruid!"

"What does this mean?" Archmage Mordant squeezed through clenched teeth. "Let us go!" She chuckled softly. "You're such an idiot. I just put an end to what I did, and it's time to end this game once and for all." "You!" Valdin roared. "You are the killer! I was right! Darnassus betrayed us!" "It should be said that Darnassus betrayed me." Maiev glared at him. "I have done my duty for thousands of years! I have defended our holy life! The next thing the 'great' Archdruid returned to the High Priestess, married her, and declared He wants to rule the world with her! He said we don't deserve to regain eternal life, and what's worse, he brought you villains back among us!"

"Where is the archdruid?" Modant asked. "What the hell did you do—" "Leave him alone!" interrupted Valdin. "The murderer is standing in front of us!" He smiled sullenly, his body began to glow with energy. "You have a choice of two ways to die," said their captor calmly. "One is to accept punishment for your crimes. In this case, your death will be relatively less painful." "A little pain is nothing to a Highborne," said Valdin sarcastically, the light growing on him. "Let's see how much pain you can bear..."

Despite the shackles of magic surrounding them, Valdin clenched his fists and began to cast.After gathering so much energy, his body glowed brightly. He screamed -- or rather, tried to scream.He opened his mouth, but no sound came out. Valdin's spell vanished.Instead, a dark halo shrouded him.The nearby Highborne stayed as far away from him as possible, for fear of being drawn into what was about to happen. Valding continued to yell silently.His skin was scorched, blackened flakes peeling off.His eyes turned black, and his whole body shriveled.The Highborne was on fire. He struggled desperately, but was locked in place by the shackles of energy, and was still slowly swallowed by the magic of the dark halo.

His elegant attire crumbles to scum.His skin crumbled to flakes, followed by the muscles and tendons beneath.It wasn't until it was all burnt out that his life was finally over.Moments later, even his bones were wiped away. The black halo faded. "This is the second way of death you chose." Maiev commented lightly. The imprisoned spellcasters were dumbfounded.After waking up, Modante said, "You don't need to do this. Presumably we can reach a consensus—" She turned to leave, but not before giving Mordant a mocking evil smile. "Oh, yes. We have agreed on the death of your choice. Next, we must agree on the capital crime you committed." Mordant stared at her tongue-tied, knowing he was talking to someone completely insane...and someone who held the power of their life and death. When the sound of war sounded, Hadrisa had already woken up.She's used to sleeping in armor—a sensible way to survive for any Sentinel—and all the Commander needs is the helmet.She grabbed the moonblade and charged at her nightsaber, riding it around in search of her army. It was too late when she saw them.Dany had led them across the river with the rest of the army. Seeing her warriors go into battle, Hadrissa, who was not there, felt a void in her heart. But then she witnessed the mammoth charge. Like most, the battle-hardened commander watched with dumbfounded horror befall his comrades.She watched helplessly as a troll grabbed a broken tree trunk and used it to knock away the fleeing Sentinels.The other monster grabbed the soldiers one by one with sadistic pleasure and threw them at the defenders who were still on the other side of the river. In the midst of the mammoth carnage, Hadrissa saw a more insidious threat.The Horde army moved again behind the troll, and a group of archers appeared at the forefront.While the sentries were in a mess, the archers quickly waded across the open river bed to the opposite bank.The defenders of that place were temporarily driven elsewhere by a boulder thrown by the Mammoth. Those archers didn't go into battle, no matter what the purpose was, they should have been deployed on the other side.The enemy must have some other evil purpose, though she could not say what it would be. Then some of the mammoths started throwing boulders again, this time deliberately aiming at the center of the Alliance position.Hadrisa had to keep her mount away from the area to avoid being hurt by the sharp flying stones.Just as Nightsaber turned around, the figure of the High Priestess flashed in her eyes—at the same time, she noticed that the trajectory of those boulders was flying towards Tyrande Whisperwind. Hadrissa realized that the High Priestess was the Horde's target, but there was nothing she could do about it.Seeing Tyrande dodging those deadly falling rocks, Hadrisa couldn't help but thank Elune for her protection.The next thing she realized was why the enemy archers had ventured across the river, but it was too late. Just then, the ruler of the night elves fell to two arrows. Priestesses and sentries rushed towards the motionless figure.In Hadrissa's mind, their efforts were wasted.She was angry at herself for not being able to stop what was happening, even though there was nothing she could do. Her world fell apart, leaving the Horde as the sole focus.They destroyed Silverwing Outpost, slaughtered dozens of brave night elves, and now assassinated the High Priestess.Hadrissa felt that Azeroth was indeed beginning to die, but she immediately vowed to make the Horde pay a heavy price. The commander turned his mount and charged into the chaotic battlefield.She looked around, hoping to somehow avenge her people against the orcs. And there he was. Hadrissa recognized Garrosh first from his posture.He is the supreme master of the battlefield.He swung the vile weapon above his head, and Hadrissa thought she could hear the howling of the battle-axe, even from the distance.Beside him were several orcs who looked like guards, one of whom carried a curved horn. The commander's heart was full of hatred, and she had driven her mount towards the river before she realized what she was going to do.Reflexively, she reached for the Moonblade.An orc stood in front of him, bloodlust in his eyes.In return Hadrisa hurled the Moonblade at him, and the three-bladed weapon flew forward like an arrow, slicing a gash in the orc's broad chest.Before the orc's body fell face-down into the river, Hadrisa grabbed the blood-soaked Moonblade and rushed past him. Someone yelled her name on the other side.The commander was slightly distracted from his obsession, and saw Dai Ni staring at her with wide eyes.Also, two horsemen from Hadrisa's post stopped to look at her. Hadrissa paid little attention to them.All she could think about was Garrosh Hellscream.Although a mammoth noticed her, the seasoned warrior pushed her nightsaber forward. A giant hand clawed at the commander, but Hadrissa dodged the greedy fingers.She sprinted under the huge beast while dodging its stampede.An orc riding a giant wolf saw her galloping ahead, so he rushed over to intercept Hadrisa. She can't throw a moonblade here, but Hadrisa is adept at grappling with it.She braced the battle ax that was coming at her chest, and then slashed with one of the curved blades of the Moonblade.The Moonblade slit the orc's throat, nearly decapitating him.He fell backward and died. But now the other orcs had seen her, and seemed to realize that there was only one reason for her rushing so close.They closed in, the night elf vaguely aware that she was about to die here, within yards of her target. However, as soon as the first orc who came to reinforce arrived, he was attacked by another sentinel knight.Hadrissa saw that it was Dani who was coming.The young officer fought with fervor, showing that she understood what the commander hoped to do with such recklessness. Dai Ni is not alone in the fight.Suddenly several survivors under Hadrisa's command approached the orcs, and beside them were some soldiers from the Silver Wing Outpost, including Sura and the thief.For a while, the enemy was outnumbered.The two orcs fell quickly.Hadrissa led the makeshift commando to press on.Eventually she saw Garrosh himself.His guards came to meet them.Beside Hadrissa, Dani and the other soldiers fought valiantly to break a gap. But Hadrissa knew the clock was ticking.The longer it dragged on, the more likely it was that she would never reach the Warchief of the Horde. A night elf fell dead, with a battle ax stuck in his chest.Another was lost in the melee, and the mount, without its rider, was fighting an orc warg.More and more orcs and even tauren flocked from everywhere, and Hadrisa's comrades were forced to get together. Garrosh seemed oblivious to the battle close at hand as he continued walking toward the river.Hadrissa swore.There are too many enemies between her and the warchief.She's lost her chance...and will die soon. Death in vain. The trumpeter blew the order to continue the attack.The Horde army began to cross the river again, and the mammoths made a way for them, littered with the broken remains of their victims. Hadrissa looked at the trumpeter, and then the leopard stepped forward.The orc was too preoccupied with the Horde's impending victory to notice her approach. The Commander throws the Moonblade. The orc turned around suddenly, and the whirling moonblade was right next to him.This action caused Hadrissa to miss his head slightly, and although the blade nearly slashed his neck in two - leaving Trumpeter's death in doubt - the Moonblade landed on the ground a few paces away instead of flying back. . "Damn it!" The commander jumped off his mount, ignoring the fallen weapon and rushed towards the corpse.She found the horn still clutched in the orc's hand.The grip was too tight, in fact: it took all her strength to separate her fingers and pull the horn out. No one saw this scene.The veteran warrior thanked Elune for this last chance, then put the horn to her lips and blew it hard. Through past experience, she knew the sound signals commonly used by some tribes.Advance and retreat are the most obvious.At this moment, Hadrisa blew out the next order as best she could from memory, and prayed that most of the enemies who obeyed the order in such a fierce battle would not notice any mistakes. At first it seemed like nothing happened.So Hadrissa blew again.When it was done, she watched the enemy troops in the forefront, who had almost crossed the river, slow down.Even the Mammoth hesitated. The night elf blew his horn for the third time with all his might. The ranks of the Horde began to fall back.The bewilderment on their faces was in stark contrast to the confident look they charged forward.The confusion intensified, and the retreating enemies quickened their pace. Hadrisa took a deep breath and gave the order again. Even the mammoths began to turn and retreat.A tauren tried to wave their leader back to the front, but was trampled underfoot.The beast, ignoring its victim, thundered back into the forest where it and the other mammoths had appeared. "Give it to me!" roared an orc voice. She turned and charged at her moonblade, holding the horn tightly all the while.Hadrissa heard the call to retreat repeated in the distance by the other trumpeters.They regarded her as the chief trumpeter around Garrosh, and they followed orders.Should her opponent manage to recapture the horn and sound the order to attack again, all her efforts will be in vain. As she reached for the moonblade, a tomahawk tried to chop off her arm.The ax blade left a long bloody gash on the back of her hand and wrist, making Hadrissa bite her lip.But she still picked up the Moonblade regardless of the pain, and turned around in time to block the next attack. He has only one eye, just like me, Hadrissa thought when she saw her opponent for the first time.The orc was an elder of his kind, just like her.But the orc never got immortality, so he was like a baby to her in terms of time.Even so, they were similar in what they had suffered. "Give me the horn, night elf...I will not let you steal my last glory! I brought them all the way from Northrend for this!" Without hesitation, the commander slammed the horn to the ground.But it was not damaged by it, so she quickly chopped down with her moon blade. There was a sharp pain in her heart.The orc moved almost as quickly, trying to stop her from destroying the horn.He managed to kill Hadrissa—she knew the wound would be fatal—but from the loathing on his face, the orc knew full well that she was better off dead. Someone in the distance called Hadrissa's name.She was vaguely aware that Dayne and the others - far fewer than had followed their elderly commander - were being forced back.The Commander's own steed fell dead, and the brave animal suffered several severe wounds, inflicted by her opponent or some other unseen foe. Her vision blurred.A cloudy figure walked up to her.Hadrisa wanted to lift the Moonblade, but the pain in her chest was too strong.Hadrissa no longer cared about the war, she tried to grab the pain and put it aside, but only scratched at her open wound in vain. "You are valiant in battle," she heard the old orc mutter. "You were quick and wise in battle. You did not deserve a slow and painful death like this, night elf." For some reason she nodded.What he said made sense.She has fought so long for her people, and now it is time to rest.As long as the pain is gone, she can sleep peacefully. With the ax deep in her throat, Hadrissa's courage was peacefully rewarded.