Chapter 15 Chapter Fourteen

"In the name of Silver Moon, where are they?" Alleria ran in the forest with a sword in her hand, and the flapping of leaves and branches made her figure a bit blurred.The other rangers had fanned out to investigate more places. Alleria hoped that they would not break into any orc or troll troops. She wanted to find these hateful green-skinned invaders first. It's not the first time she's wished she'd never left her home after seeing the blaze.Why did she make the decision that the league needed her help?Anasterian Sunstrider and those members of the council are obviously more mature and wise than her, so they can naturally make better arrangements to help these young races.But then again, Anasterian believed that the Horde would never be a threat to them in this Quel'Thalas.That's why he doesn't think the league is worth paying attention to. No matter what happens outside, it's safe here.

Clearly he was wrong. However, if Alleria had listened and followed his arrangements, she would not have crossed the mountain but stayed here.She would stay here when the orcs and trolls arrived, with her family and her people when the Horde invaded the frontier. Does it make a difference?She doesn't know.Maybe not.How much can an extra ranger who didn't realize there was an invasion do to stop the enemy?But, at least, she doesn't have to feel like she does now that she abandoned her family when they needed her most. The thought quickened her pace, and she hopped over a low bush to a tiny clearing between two trees—

—and then she found herself being aimed at the throat with a hunting arrow. The person holding the bow is about the same height as her, and although there are many traces of travel missing, she has a similar dress.The long hair was exposed from under the hood of the cloak, shining like ivory in the sun. It was an ivory white that Alleria was very familiar with and would never mistake. "Vereesa?" The other lowered the bow in her hand, and her wide blue eyes were full of surprise and relief. "Aurelia?" The bow was thrown aside, and Alleria's young sister threw herself into her arms. "You went home!"

"Of course." Alleria patted her head naturally. "Are you okay?" she asked after a pause. "Where is Sylvanas? Are the parents safe?" "They're all fine," Vereesa replied, bending down to retrieve her weapon. "Sylvanas is near the river bank with a hunting party. Parents are also safe, they should be in Silvermoon City now. They are going to seek advice from the elders." She paused, and retracted the arrow. "Aurelia, where have you been? And what happened? Fire is everywhere! The whole of Quel'Thalas is on fire! And some rangers, none of them came back to report the situation."

Hearing this news, Alleria had a sick feeling. If rangers started disappearing, it meant that the Horde had infiltrated the forest. "We've been invaded, little sister," she answered bluntly, raising her sword and leaning against her sister.Her ears twitched. "Now, be quiet." "Quiet? But why—" Vereesa's words were interrupted by a tall man who jumped from a tree.It sprang forward, a hatchet in hand, but because Alleria had noticed him before it struck, she was ready to meet it now.She raised her sword to parry the blow, then quickly stepped aside to avoid the second blow it delivered with a curved dagger.She swung the sword in her hand and beheaded the thing.Its body fell forward, the weapon slipped from its lifeless fingers.

"Quick!" Alleria warned, quickly bending over and standing up again. "We need to move! Now!" Vereesa was surprised by the sudden bloodshed, she could only nod, then turned around and ran at high speed following her sister's order.She was young, the youngest of three sisters, and had never been in a real battle.Alleria had hoped that such a thing would happen later, but now there is no need to worry about it. They hurried through the trees, and Alleria was sure she heard laughter above her.troll!These guys are keeping pace with them on the branches.There was no doubt that they wanted to kill them before they could find help.The trolls were not very familiar with the woods, though.And Aurelia is familiar with it.

She ran, leading Vereesa and the unseen pursuers behind them, leaping and rolling, across streams and clearings, dashing through groves, ducking to dodge branches and vines.Vereesa followed closely, still holding her own bow in her hand.And the laughter still followed. The next thing Alleria saw was a silver ribbon.It's a river!She sped up and sprinted, and Vereesa also sped up to catch up. They rushed out of the woods and came to the open area by the river.She felt the impact behind, the first and then the other trolls leaping from the tree, apparently trying to catch them before they dived or swam to the other side.Trolls don't like water.

"Fun game of chase, Pale Man," growled a guy behind her. "Now, go to hell!" The hand was already out, long claws brushing her body, trying to grab the hair on the back of her head, and Alleria dodged to avoid the grip.She turned around, raised her sword, and was ready to fight to the death—— —the troll suddenly went stiff before her eyes and fell backwards.A sharp arrow appeared on its neck. The same sharp arrow struck the other trolls, killing them before they tried to escape back into the woods.Alleria turned to face the river, glanced slightly and found a group of rangers on the opposite bank, their bowstrings were still trembling slightly from the shooting just now.One of them wore a green cloak, and a more ornate tunic than the others.Compared with Alleria, she had long blonde hair that was slightly duller, and her eyes, which were neither blue nor green but somewhat gray, had the same shape as her and Vereesa.The other rangers were still standing beside this person, she smiled and raised the bow in her hand to greet her.

"Welcome home, Alleria!" Sylvanas shouted. "So, what trouble have you caused us?" Even on the other side of the river, the power of her voice could be felt, as if the answer would surface automatically with this command. Alleria smiled at his sister—Sylvanas, the ranger-general of Quel'Thalas, still looking radiant—and shook her head. "I didn't bring it, Sylvanas." She answered honestly. "I hope to drive them out. But I brought a possible rescue method." She looked back at the dead troll behind her, and then at Vereesa, who was standing there with a pale face, looking sideways Face tried to distract himself from the bodies. "I have to speak to parliament."

"I'm not sure they'll listen to you," Sylvanas warned. "They're focusing on this fire right now, just like us. They're everywhere in the forest, seemingly aimless." She glanced at the troll on the ground. "Look, now I need to care about these things." Alleria lowered her head in pain. "They'll listen," she promised. "I'll leave them no choice." "What does this say?" asked Anastarian Sunstrider.He and the members of the Silvermoon Council were having a serious discussion when the uninvited Alleria walked in.Several high elf rulers rose from their chairs, surprised at her presence, but Alleria ignored them, the only one she paid attention to was Anasterion.

The high elf king was old, old even for an elf, and his long hair was white, and his skin was parchment, like an old log.He looked frail already, but his blue eyes still had a hint of authority, and his voice was equally authoritative.Alleria instinctively wanted to shrink back under his anger, and then remembered why she came here.She stood up straight. "I am Alleria Windrunner," she announced aloud, though she knew most of the council recognized her. "I crossed our borders and fought alongside the humans in their battles. Then I came back here with serious news, not just for them, but for us as well." She frowned and looked In front of these men and women. "The tribe that the humans warned about is real and powerful. Most of their troops are orcs, but there are still some other creatures, such as forest trolls." This caused some reactions, a mixture of gasps and anger.None of the other elves knew what an orc was—nor had she before Hillsbrad's battle—but they all knew trolls.Some of them, including Anasterian himself, fought in the troll wars that took place long ago, some four thousand years after the founding of Quel'Thalas. "You say that tribe includes trolls?" a lord repeated aloud. "Why should we care about those things? Let those trolls follow this strange thing you mentioned, and hope they leave here far away. Maybe humans will help us kill them all." Many elves laughed and nodded Agree. "You don't understand what happened at all." Alleria responded angrily. "The Horde is not a distant issue that we can ignore and laugh at! They are planning to conquer all of Lordaeron! And that includes us here in Quel'Thalas!" "Then let them come!" Another lord, whom she recalled as an elf mage named Dakhan, sneered. "Our territory is well defended - no one survives walking through those runestones." "Oh? No?" Venrelia yelled. "Are you sure? Because the trolls have now entered our forest. They have stepped into our land and killed our people. And the orcs are right behind them. They are not as powerful as the trolls, but they have The number of locusts is enough to flatten this land. Moreover, they are already here." "Here?" Anasterian sneered. "impossible!" In reply, Alleria threw out the thing she had been carrying since she and Vereesa fled.The troll's head flew in the air, its short black hair fluttering, and the sun shone on its teeth, landing right at Anasterian's feet. "This guy attacked me and Vereesa." Alleria explained. "It's less than an hour's journey from the river. More guys followed there, they are still lying on the river bank, maybe Sylvanas and her team have disposed of those bodies." She noticed that no lord now laughed at her. "They're here," she said again. "These trolls have entered our woods! Killed our people! The orcs are the ones who burned the edge of Eversong Forest!" Although she admitted that she didn't know what Vereesa and Sylvanas mentioned all over the place. How did the fire in Quel'Thalas do it? "Hateful!" This time, Anasterian's outburst was not because of her.The elf king kicked the troll's head so hard that it was thrown next to another lord's chair.He frowned, his eyes became sharper.When he turned to Alleria, she felt she saw again the energy and focus of a great king who had been through the years.All appearance of weakness disappeared, and the whole person was concentrated in the immediate crisis. "How dare they invade our homeland?" Anasterian was enraged. "How dare they do this?" He raised his head with a thunderous expression. "We will make them aware of their crimes! Summon our warriors," he ordered the other lords. "Assembling our rangers, we will attack the trolls, drive them from our forests, and let them know never to venture here again!" Alleria was very happy to see her king's resoluteness, and also agreed with such an arrangement.Still, she shook her head. "Trolls are only part of the threat," she reminded Anasterian and the others. "The number of tribes is far beyond your imagination. The orcs are very strong and they are very difficult opponents." She laughed. "Fortunately, I didn't come alone." Turalyon was fighting a group of orcs. He swung his warhammer and knocked one of the orcs to the ground. He blocked another orc's blow with his shield.A third orc charged up and nearly knocked him off his horse. The orc was too close for Turalyon to swing his weapon back. Knocked it out on the bridge of his nose.Turalyon pushed the unconscious orc onto another enemy, then used the opportunity to deliver the coup de grace to both orcs, preventing them from getting up again He wiped off the rain that had slid off his helmet, and looked up at the thick cloud covering the sky above.The rain showed no signs of stopping, and of course it was a good thing for him.At least the fire has been extinguished, and it doesn't look like it's going to reignite.He figured he could still fight in this awful weather, as long as he could keep this elf homeland from burning to the ground.He glanced at Khadgar standing beside him with staff and sword.The mage is casting a spell to summon a great storm.The storm stretched and covered the entire frontier of Quel'Thalas, and he showed his strength with ordinary weapons.Turalyon knew he didn't need to waste time worrying about his friends; he needed to focus on dealing with the enemies in front of him. Turalyon was about to turn around to deal with the two orcs on his left, when suddenly, one of the orcs became stiff, twitched a few times and fell to the ground.A sharp arrow pierced his throat.Turalyon recognized the arrow, and he smiled.As expected, a lithe young woman soon appeared in front of him.The hood of her traveling cloak was still thrown back in the storm, and her long pointed ears stood out from the long blond hair that framed her beautiful face.The heavy rain didn't fall on her as if ignoring him.Turalyon did not know whether this was due to elven magic or her natural beauty. "Looks like I came at the right time." Alleria casually shot through the throat of another orc, and came to Turalyon's side. "What would you have done if I hadn't come to save you?" "I can handle the situation." Turalyon replied, Alleria's arrival made him a little flustered during the battle.He parried one blow, then knocked the hesitant orc to the ground, and moved on to find another foe. "Have you found them yet?" "Found it," she replied. "They have also agreed. The fighters and rangers are ready. If you need them to be here, they can be there in ten minutes." Turalyon nodded, blocking the blow of an ax with the long handle of his warhammer, and then lowered the handle to smash the head of the hammer at the loathsome orc. "It's fine here," he replied. "As long as we're here to haunt the Horde, they're not going anywhere." Alleria nodded. "I'll go back and inform them that you must hold fast until they come." Her voice sounded a bit strange, and Turalyon glanced at him hastily.By the light!Is she crying?She looked very sad.The attack on her home undoubtedly put a heavy psychological strain on her. "We will hold on." Turalyon replied calmly. "We must hold on too." Alleria left again.Turalyon only hoped that she and her people could get here before the rest of the Horde broke through their weak defenses. There was already a wave of orcs pouring in from the flanks, and Turalyon knew that his troops would not be able to hold off the entire orcs. Army, especially in such an open area where orcs could easily surround them.They need support, and the sooner the better.He only hoped that those elves would be as ready and capable as Alleria said. Triggi, one of Zukin's men, was grinning grimly.He and his team detected some unpleasant smell nearby, and following it they caught a wonderful sound, a ding-dong sound coming from the forest below.Is a lone spirit.Trij was sent to guard the road to the elf city, preventing any elves from passing through.Well, this elf can't go far. Crouching down, Triggi slipped quietly through the leaves, and soon he saw his victim.The elf moved as fast as his kind, and was as quiet as other creatures would think, but for Terry Ji, his noise was as loud as the thunder that was coming from the edge of the forest, and the speed was easy. Just catch up.The elf wears a long brown cloak, hood, and carries a long walking stick.An elder, or, better yet. Excitedly licking his lips, Triggi motioned for his team to come down with him.Then he jumped from the tree with a machete in his hand.He looked at his prey with a sneer, but what happened next was beyond his expectation. The elf threw away his cloak, stood up straight with a smile, and the crutch was turned around, revealing another A long knife at one end, and even in the shadows of the trees his armor gleamed. "You think we won't be able to hear your noises over our heads?" sneered the elf, and then his face grew fierce. "You think we won't feel that you're dirtying our forest? You're not welcome here, monsters! You don't even want to get out." Triggi pulled back the shock, then laughed. "Clever, little pale man," he admired. "You played a nice trick on me Terry Ji, but with you and that little stick in your hand? We've got a lot of people here." The other trolls jumped out of the tree and stood behind him, Ready to surround this arrogant elf. But the elf laughed even more. "You really think so? Stupid!" he sneered. "You think you know the forest like the back of your hand, but compared to us, you are deaf and blind." Suddenly, a second elf appeared in a nearby tree, then a third, then a fourth.Terry frowned.There were more and more elves until he and his men were completely surrounded and completely suppressed in number.All of them carried the same spear and long shield of oval shape.This is somewhat unexpected. Still, as a seasoned hunter and fighter, Trij would not be easily intimidated. "It's better this way!" he finally yelled, jumping up with all his might. "A real bout, not killing an unarmed elf! I like that!" He leapt towards the lead elf, weapon held high in his hands— —and died in mid-air, the elven commander's spear slid across Terry Ji's chest, piercing his heart before the troll leaped behind him.The elf jumped to the other side, letting Triggi's body slide down from his weapon. He strode up, swung his spear in a deadly arc, and easily chopped off a giant that was rushing towards him. Devil's arm. The battle was quickly over.The elf leader kicked a troll corpse next to him, but there was no movement, he nodded.He has fought forest trolls before, but this is the first time in Quel'Thalas.Compared with other races, they are natural forest hunters, but they are still very clumsy compared with elves.He was one of many patrols sent by Sylvanas to find and kill as many trolls as possible.This was the second team of trolls he had come across, and he wondered how many more trolls were roaming their forests. He opened his mouth and was about to summon his subordinates, when a slender figure suddenly barged in, with blond hair hanging behind him.He noticed the movement a few seconds before she appeared, and it was obvious that she didn't control her speed and sneaked over as usual. "Halduron!" she called as she approached, slowing to a stop a few paces away. "Very good! I've already contacted the Alliance Commander and Sylvanas. She needs all our troops to advance along the southwestern edge of the forest. The Horde is concentrated there, and the Alliance cannot hold them off for long. " Halduron Brightwing nodded. "I will inform Lor'themar that his forces are nearby," he assured her. "We will rush over to help your friends. This already belongs to our common war, and we will not allow them to be defeated by these dirty guys." He paused and looked at Alleria carefully. "Are you all right, Alleria? You look flushed." Alleria shook her head, although a trace of worry quickly crossed her face. "I'm fine," she replied. "Go now! Bring our warriors! I'll get to my sister and the Alliance army and tell them reinforcements are on the way." She left again, turning and striding into the woods. Halduron watched her go and shook his head.He had known Alleria Windrunner for a long time, and he could see that something was troubling her now, making her uneasy.But, though not for long, they were all a little disturbed at the presence of these strange creatures in their sacred grove.With a gesture to his rangers, Halduron drew his spear from the troll, wiped it clean, and turned away.Now, it's time to make this forest beautiful again, and the first step is to deal with the enemies who are still alive When Alleria reappeared, Turalyon felt that it had only been a few minutes since she left, and she crossed the battlefield to stand beside him.Alleria put the longbow behind her back, and instead held a long sword in her hand, she chopped down an orc who was trying to stab Turalyon's warhorse from behind. "They'll be here soon," Alleria assured him, her eyes bright, and Turalyon nodded.He felt a surge of relief in his chest, and he wasn't sure if it was because of the intelligence of the reinforcements or because he saw that Alleria was safe.He frowned, he was not good at thinking about these things, and now he was going to throw these thoughts aside.What he needs to consider is how to ensure the survival of his troops. The rain finally stopped, though dark clouds still hung in the sky, casting shadows over the battlefield.So, when Turalyon noticed a dark figure approaching from the side, at first he thought it was just the shadow of some distorted orc warriors.But Turalyon froze as the shadow grew larger and clearer, nearly getting him impaled by an orc. "Concentrate!" Khadgar warned, riding up to Turalyon's side and kicking him away before the orcs charged again. "What are you in a daze for?" "The thing," Turalyon replied, pointing in that direction with his warhammer before turning his attention back to the fighting around him. Now it was Khadgar's turn to be surprised, the young old mage cursing as he saw the huge figure emerging from the forest to join the fray from the edge of the battle.This thing was twice the size of an orc, its skin the color of old leather, and held a huge warhammer in its hand, which looked like an orc's two-handed hammer, but was held in one hand by this behemoth He was wearing a strange armor.Turalyon's jaw tightened even more. When he observed the monster carefully again, he realized that the strange armor was a human!The breastplate and the greaves were bound together by heavy iron chains, covering most of the body. His two heads were exposed, looking at the humans and orcs in front of him.Then the sledgehammer swung down, knocking down two humans with one blow, and then swung in the other direction, hitting four other soldiers in their legs and knocking them a few steps away "What the hell are those things?" Turalyon yelled, hitting the orc who was rushing in front of him so hard that he slammed into another orc next to him, who was reeling from the impact. "An ogre," Khadgar replied. "It's still double-headed." Turalyon replied "yes" to his friend. He had seen an ogre before. When the ogre raised his empty hand to a group of Alliance soldiers, he found that the ogre did have two head.Turalyon blinked, suspecting his eyes were playing tricks on him.Did he just see the flame in the ogre's hand and throw it towards his soldiers?He looked again, and there was no mistake, the flames were devouring his soldiers, and they dropped their weapons, slapping the dancing flames on their clothes and armor hard.Some tore off their flaming cloaks, others rolled in the grass, trying to escape the pain of being consumed by the flames.How the hell did this strange new ogre do it? "Damn it!" Khadgar also saw all this clearly, and his curse told the reason. "He's an ogre mage!" "A what?" "A mage," Khadgar yelled. "A murderous ogre mage!" "That's right." Turalyon drove off another enemy, and then looked at the huge ogre again, trying to make sense of it all.This was the biggest, strongest creature he had ever seen, and he could cast spells?Awesome, what is the way to kill such a monster?He was about to ask Khadgar, and the words were stuck in his throat, when he saw the ogre mage suddenly sway, and then fell forward, with a few hairs standing like nails on the back of his head.At first Turalyon thought it buried its body to deal with something in front of it, and even used those two big mouths to devour the soldiers in front of it, but this guy didn't stand up again.Only then did he feel that those hairs seemed too strong.That's not an arrow, the arrow is not that big.It's a spear! "Great!" Alleria exclaimed, raising her longbow in greeting. "My people have arrived!" She was right, and Turalyon had seen it too.Rows of elves appeared in the forest.Compared with Alleria and her rangers, these elves are equipped with more heavy equipment, with spears and shields.Apparently they were the ones who knocked out the ogre mage.Turalyon felt that he had never felt so relieved by the presence of others. "They came just in time!" he said to Alleria, and because of the chaos on the battlefield, he could only shout so that others could hear. "Can you send them a message?" She nodded. "We all signal when we're hunting, and there's no problem at this distance." "Very well." Turalyon nodded, knocking down another orc as he cleared his mind. "We need to crush the Horde that's between us. Tell them to push on us, but also sweep across the edge. So do we. I don't want the Horde breaking out sideways, or they can turn around and surround us." Alleria nodded and began gesturing toward the forest, and Turalyon saw one of the elves in the front row nod to him, then turned to his men.Khadgar, who was close enough to hear the plan, turned and shouted the order to a nearby captain to pass on. Both armies began to fan out, with the Union armies pulling back a little to allow room to move.The Horde clearly took this as a harbinger of defeat, and cheers erupted from their ranks.Most orcs are unaware of the elves hiding in the woods.That was good, Turalyon wanted to surprise them as much as possible to reduce the possibility of their escape.He withdrew his men and ordered some of his men to hold back the Horde's advance until the main force moved away, and then sent a third of his men to flank the flanks, while the rest followed him.Turalyon could see the confusion on the faces of the Horde soldiers as he turned and led the charge against the Horde. On the other side, the elves lined up in the same formation.While the Horde focused on Turalyon's attack, the elves charged.Their spears impaled the orcs standing in the last row.Most of the orcs fell down without making any noise, making other orcs completely oblivious to the attack from the rear. It was not until a tragic wail sounded that the orcs realized that they were surrounded. When many orcs found themselves surrounded by two armies, they began to try to escape.But the armies of humans and elves surrounded him, and no orc could escape from the encirclement.The orcs had to rejoin the fight, most of them looking very excited, their sanity consumed by rage and bloodlust.However, under the attack of elves' bows, arrows and spears and human swords, axes and hammers in all directions, the casualties of the orcs began to become more and more serious. Turalyon felt a glimmer of hope.They are about to win!Although the tribe still outnumbered his men and elves by a lot, they were already surrounded and in chaos.The orcs fought on their own, or continued to fight with some people from the same clan, which made them vulnerable to the tactics of humans and elves, and also made the offensive of humans and elves more smooth.Elven archers fired continuously at a group of orcs to reduce their numbers, human soldiers rushed in, and elf spearmen swung their spears from behind to prevent the orcs from gathering to fight back.Turalyon could see more and more gaps in the Horde's formation, and the Alliance and Elven armies seized the opportunity to move there and slowly widen the gaps, leaving the Horde helpless. The next thing he heard was a loud shout, and Turalyon looked east of the sound, and saw his own stomach constricting.Another huge two-headed ogre joined the fray, brandishing a huge club that Turalyon quickly recognized as a tree with its trunk removed.The second beast was right behind the first, holding the same weapon in its huge hand, then a third, a fourth... where the hell did these guys come from. The two-headed ogres crashed into the Alliance formation and swept across the surrounding forces. Turalyon immediately ordered his men to fall back and let the elves deal with the emerging threat.But the first ogre made a startling move, and they were better prepared.They waved the giant sticks in their hands, knocked out the flying arrows and the spears that pierced together, and then rushed into the elf formation. These thin warriors were knocked away by the impact.The tribe's soldiers also began to rearrange their positions around these behemoths, quickly filling the vacancies in their respective teams, allowing them to regain their advantage in the battle situation. "We must do something now!" Turalyon shouted to Khadgar, who was standing beside him again. "Otherwise they will drive us back to the mountains, or to the west coast, and we will be surrounded by them!" Khadgar was about to answer, but was interrupted by Alleria. "Listen," she screamed.Her ears quivered. Turalyon shook his head. "I can't hear anything except the fighting in here," he said. "what's the situation?" She smiled at Turalyon. "Reinforcements," she replied. "Reinforcements from the sky." "There! I see them!." "Ah, yes, I saw them too, lad," Kurdran Wildhammer yelled, a little annoyed at being spotted first by the young gryphon rider beside him. "Spread out in circles, lads, and aim for the big monsters in the center. Don't get swept up by those sticks!" He kicked Scarleigh with his heels, and the Wildhammer leader steered her into a shriek around her. screamed, and then swooped down to the battlefield.其中一个奇怪的双头怪物抬起头发现了他们，咆哮着作出回应，但是库德兰的速度太快了，它根本没有机会躲避，更何况那些遍布在他周围的兽人也阻碍了食人魔的行动。在俯冲的过程中，库德兰全神贯注的举起了风暴战锤，这个野兽再一次的咆哮起来，用手中巨大的棍棒朝库德兰挥击过去，不过斯卡雷躲过了这次攻击，并且飞近了食人魔，她的翼尖甚至擦过了这个生物的其中一张脸。接下来，库德兰用尽全力扔出了手中的武器，与此同时，天空中响起一阵雷鸣，一个光球狠狠的砸中了这个怪物。这个家伙踉跄的后退了几步，它的一个脑袋已经塌了下去，另外一个则变得漆黑，它的身体也随之倒下，压倒了三个兽人，它的棍棒更是击倒了更多的兽人。 “很好！”库德兰大喊着，伸手抓住了飞回来的战锤，轻触了一下斯卡雷，让她飞上天空准备第二次攻击。“这会让他们知道，我的美人儿！无论它们有多大的个儿，蛮锤矮人都可以把他们都揍趴下！”他一边高举着自己的战锤一边呐喊得向上空飞去，他的狮鹫很轻易的躲过了另一个怪物笨拙的挥击。 “你们都在这里等什么。”他朝着自己的战士们发出命令，这些人都骑在自己的狮鹫上大笑着。“我已经告诉了你们如何搞定这些东西！现在，全都给我往下冲，把剩下的那些巨人全都给我击倒在地！”矮人们都故作正经的向库德兰行礼致意，他们都清楚库德兰的嘲弄是出自善意，他们也随即驾驶着自己的坐骑各自发起了攻击。 库德兰大笑着。他向下望去，看到了曾经在鹰巢山有过一面之缘的法师，精灵和那个指挥官。“去那儿！”他大喊着，举起自己的战锤在头上旋转着。那个精灵也举起自己的弓作出回应，那个指挥官和法师也向他点头表示问候。“你们的首领洛萨派我们来的！”库德兰喊着，不确定在这个高度他们是不是能听得清。“看上去我们来的正是时候。”他将战锤放了下来，又重新用双手将它高高举起，他驾驶着斯卡雷再一次冲向了那巨大的双头生物。已经有不少食人魔被击倒了，那些围在食人魔周围的部落士兵终于意识到，这些强有力的保护者现在对他们来说变成了一个威胁。而人类和精灵正利用这个混乱，左右包围，屠杀着这些恐慌的兽人。 接下来，有什么东西出现在天空中。库德兰抬起头来，他在南方的上空发现了一个黑影从天而降。起先还以为这或许是一个向他报讯的战士，但随后意识到这并不像是狮鹫的飞行动作。看上去有更多的家伙从东方赶了过来，他们穿过了辛特兰，也许在他们之后还有。但这到底是什么鬼东西？ 停住了手上的攻击，库德兰带着斯卡雷飞出了食人魔的攻击范围然后放慢速度盘旋着，观察着这个接近的黑影。是一只鸟？如果是的话，那他可飞的比大多数鸟类高多了，它的轮廓看上去也很陌生。一种新的攻击方式？他大笑着。这东西可没有老鹰的个头大！如果这是部落现在派来的老鹰，也许还有些侏儒（gnomes，原文如此……）趴在后背上？没有任何猛禽可以和他的美人儿相比，他想着。一边亲热的拍着斯卡雷的后颈。后者发出悦耳的叫声作为回应。 不过这些黑影越来越近，现在变得越来越大，越来越大。还在继续变大。 “以鹰巢山的名义！”库德兰自言自语，被这东西巨大的体型震慑了。What the hell is this?能够以如此庞大的体型飞翔在这样的高度？他已经和斯卡雷差不多大了，他甚至怀疑这些东西能够飞得比自己还高。现在他能更清晰的辩认出它的样貌了——瘦长的个头，有着长长的尾巴和脖子，巨大的翅膀向高处伸出，偶尔扇动一下。这东西是在ＳＢ病毒连接！用这种方式就能飞行在如此的高度，当库德兰再次估计了一下来者的体积之后，他知道自己在发抖。他只知道一种飞行生物如此巨大，他无法想象这些生物来到这场冲突中是想做什么。 随着最后一片乌云从空中消失，阳光照耀在这些东西身上。这个生物闪烁着红色的光芒，使它成为了一道深红色的条纹。库德兰明白了，他想的没错。 这是一条龙 “龙！”他大喊着，他大多数的战士还在和双手野兽战斗，不过年轻的默克汉德抬起头来，朝库德兰指的方向看了过去。这个傻瓜用脚踢了踢自己的狮鹫，后者奋力的舞动着翅膀以便迅速的提升高度。 “你这个傻瓜在做什么？”库德兰大叫道，但默克汉德并没有做出任何回应。这个年轻的蛮锤矮人将自己的狮鹫朝向了正在俯冲的巨龙的方向，他高举起自己的风暴之锤，伴随着一阵怒吼，默克汉德驾驶者狮鹫冲了过去——巨龙张开了嘴巴了，露出了有一个矮人一般大小的三角形牙齿和长长的血红色分叉的舌头，一口便将这个不幸的矮人和他的狮鹫吞了下去，没有发出一点声音。 默克汉德永远也无法看到，从红龙金色的巨眼里所流露出的那丝悲伤，以及那个手里握着长长的皮质缰绳，骑在红龙背上的魁梧的绿皮生物。 “感谢圣光！”图拉扬和其他人一样，在看到蛮锤矮人们赶到这里并由库德兰率先击倒一个双头食人魔之时欢呼着。但这一次，他却因为听到了蛮锤首领发出的惊叫再一次抬起头来，他很及时的看到了暴怒的红龙冲向一名狮鹫骑士，把他像一根肉肠一样吞了下去。 现在红龙正向他们飞来，更多的龙跟在后面，这些深红色的身影从天空降落了下来。 这些红龙并非只有皮肤的颜色如同火焰一般，随着它们的呼吸，烟雾和火焰从它们的鼻孔以及嘴里冒了出来，甚至比闪烁在他们的爪子，他们的翅膀上的阳光还要耀眼。图拉扬凝视着，烟雾和火花越来越浓。 他马上意识到了接下来会发生什么。 “全部撤退！” 他大喊着，用盾牌拍打着卡德加以引起这个法师的注意。“让所有人都撤退！”他在头顶舞动着战锤，希望能够引起自己的士兵以及精灵们的注意。“全部撤退！都退出森林！现在！” “离开森林？”奥蕾莉亚抬头望着他，急促的问道。他猛地一震，完全没有注意到她正站在他身旁。“为什么要撤退？我们已经胜券在握了！” 图拉扬试图对她解释，然后意识到这也许不是时候。“照我的命令去做！”他大喊着，看到奥蕾莉亚的脸上露出惊讶的表情。“告诉你的族人，全部撤上那座小山，要快！” 也许是奥蕾莉亚从他的声音或是表情里读出了什么，她点点头，举起自己的长弓，试图对其他的精灵战士发出信号。图拉扬把这事交给了她然后转过身子，抓住了他遇上的第一个联盟军官并再次传达了他的命令。这个军官点点头，他开始大喊，推着站在周围的人，他回到了自己的队伍中，呼喊着向其他的军官下达着同样的命令。 图拉扬只能做到这些了。他调转马头，猛踢了下战马使它狂奔起来跑向小山。接下来，他听到了一些奇怪的声音，就像一阵突然爆发的飓风或者是一个巨人发出的响亮的呼气声一般压上了他的肩膀。 第一只巨龙张大了嘴巴，展开双翼俯冲了下来。烈焰从它的嘴里喷吐了出来，巨浪一般的火焰迅速席卷了整个森林前沿地带。酷热在瞬间蒸干了哪怕一丝的湿气，森林如同海市蜃楼一般在太阳底下晃动着。虽然刚刚才被雨水淋湿，树木却在一瞬间被烧的漆黑，然后化为灰烬。浓浓的黑烟冒了出来，再一次遮住了太阳的光芒。火焰没有停下，相反，在一些地方甚至席卷到了更远的树木上，虽不能完全的摧毁那些树木，不过也足够让他们燃起来。这些火焰开始向四面扩散，从一颗树上跳到另一颗树上，如同被咒语催眠了一般。图拉扬不得不随时停下来看着四周寻找着出路。不过他还是很快跑到了山脚，他调转马头，望着这场可怕的灾难。 “做些什么！”正当图拉扬因为亮光和热度在马上眯着眼睛张望的时候，奥蕾莉亚再次出现在他的身旁，并用拳头敲打着图拉扬的腿。“快点去做些什么！” “我无能为力。”图拉扬说道。听到她充满了悲痛的声音，他的心都碎了。“我也希望我有办法能做些什么！” “那你去想办法做些什么！”精灵游侠在卡德加骑马来到身边时转了过去，她请求道。“用你的魔法！熄灭这些火焰！” 不过这个看上去很老的法师悲哀的摇摇头。“对我来说，这些火焰实在太多了。”他缓缓的解释道。“我已经用尽了自己全身的法力来召唤之前的那场风暴。”他的声音越到后面显得越发的悲伤，图拉扬很理解自己的朋友。这不是卡德加的错，如果他没有熄灭第一波的火焰，现在的情况只会更加的麻烦。 “我必须赶去银月城。”奥蕾莉亚说道。她已经忽视了另外的人，一门心思考虑着自己的问题。“我们的父母还在那里，还有我们的长老，我必须去帮助他们！” “你又能做些什么？”图拉扬问道，他的语气比他所想表达的态度显得更加的严厉，不过至少，这让她从长时间的悲伤中清醒了过来并抬头望向了他。“你有办法来应付这场大火了吗？”他向森林那里看了一眼，红龙正在低空盘旋着，就像正在玩乐的蝙蝠一般，所经之处都蔓延着火焰。从这里看过去，奎尔萨拉斯正在燃烧。烟雾像结实的灰色城墙一般笼罩着精灵的家园，它的阴影甚至来到了他们所处的山脚，并在他们身后投下了黑暗，跨过了整座山峰。图拉扬可以确定他们看到了都城里燃起的大火。 奥蕾莉亚摇了摇头，他能看到眼泪正滑过她的脸庞。“但是我必须做些什么。”她痛苦着说道，她那平日里动听的声音因为愤怒和痛苦变得嘶哑。“我的家快完了！” “我明白，我能理解。”图拉扬埋下身子，把一只手放在她的肩膀上轻轻得捏了一下。“但是现在赶过去只能让你白白丧命。就算你能赶到河那里，也只会看到因为高温而沸腾的河水。如果你死了，将不能帮助任何人。” 她抬起了头。“我的家人，我们的领主——他们能安然无恙吗？”他能从她的声音里听出绝望。她想，也许是她需要相信他们能活下来。 “他们都是强大的法师。”卡德加提出。 “虽然我并未亲见，但我知道太阳井是一个拥有无上力量的源泉，他们能够保护这座城市不受伤害。我想即使是巨龙也无法破坏他们。”听上去他有完全的把握，不过图拉扬看到他的朋友对自己使了一个眼色，就好象是在说。 "At least I hope so." 奥蕾莉亚点点头，虽然看得出她依然在发颤。“谢谢你。”她小声说道。“你说的对，我现在死了，会毫无价值。”图拉扬怀疑她正在努力说服自己。她抬头望着天空中飞舞的巨龙。“但是他们会死！整个部落也会！特别是那些兽人！”她绿色的眼睛收缩着，图拉扬能从她的眼中看到从未见过的东西。仇恨。“他们将灾难降临到了我们身上。”她啐了一口。“我会看到他们为此付出代价。” “我们都会看到的。”图拉扬抬起头，另一个精灵大步走了过来。他穿着一套覆盖全身的战甲，他的战甲优美并且华丽，上面很显眼的覆盖着一些血污表明他刚刚经历了战斗。他身子的一侧挂着一把长剑，深绿色的斗篷在身后飘动着。他取下了自己有着叶纹的头盔，深褐色的眼睛在玉米颜色一般的长发下面闪烁着。 “洛瑟玛·塞隆。”奥蕾莉亚介绍着说。“我们最好的游侠之一。”随后她转过身，对着第二个到达的精灵仓促的笑了笑。这是一个高个的女子，穿着和奥蕾莉亚类似的斗篷，除了发色稍深之外，几乎和奥蕾莉亚一个模子刻出来的。“这是我的妹妹，希尔瓦纳斯·风行者，游侠将军，也是我们的指挥官。希尔瓦纳斯，塞隆大人，这是白银之手的图拉扬先生，联盟军队的二把手。这位是来自达拉然的法师，卡德加。”图拉扬点点头，塞隆也给了回礼，以示尊重。 “我们的战士几乎都从这场火海里逃了出来。”塞隆唐突得说道。“我们无法阻止这场大火。虽然我们都逃了出来，不过我们的家人却还留在里面。现在我们都明白了这火能够这么迅速，能够朝着这么多方向蔓延。”他的手紧紧的握着自己的剑柄。“可是，我们没时间想太多。”他说道。他的话是说给奥蕾莉亚听的，也许对他自己也是一样。“我们现在在这里，必须竭尽所能的去帮助我们的族人，越快越好。而这，意味着我们必须去解决那些正威胁着他们的存在。” “你们的指挥官，安度因·洛萨，曾经向我们传达了信息，希望我们能够加入到联盟中来。”希尔瓦纳斯说着，她抬头看着图拉扬。“我们的国王却只决定给你们一些象征性的回复。”她的视线盯着奥蕾莉亚，一缕好似微笑的神情浮现在她的脸上。“我们的一些游侠也自愿的前往支援你们。”她的脸色又再次变得严肃。“但是我们的长老在这些巨魔和兽人入侵到我们的家园之后意识到了自己的错误。如果奎尔萨拉斯在这场入侵里都不再安全，哪里还能安全？他们命令我集合我们的战士来与你们会合，给予我们力所能及的援助。”她鞠了一躬。“我们很荣幸能够加入你们的联盟，图拉扬先生，希望我们能以今后的实际行动来弥补我们迟到的加入。” 图拉扬点了点头，再一次希望洛萨能够在这个地方。将军一定知道如何应付这种情况。而他却不知道，图拉扬希望尽力的蒙混过去。”感谢你，以及你的族人。“他最终对希尔瓦纳斯说道。”我们非常欢迎你和你的族人加入联盟，我们将合力把部落赶出这块大陆，赶出你们和我们的领地，在那之后，希望我们能够和平共处，并在需要的时候再次合作。“ 正当他想着还该说些什么的时候，头上传来一阵尖利的叫声打断了他，一对翅膀急速拍打着，图拉扬和卡德加低头闪避，塞隆则正准备去拔剑，不过这个正在降落的生物与龙相比小上不少，周身覆盖着羽毛，有着毛皮而不是鳞片。 “抱歉，小伙子们。”库德兰·蛮锤从落地的斯卡雷身上跳到了他们面前，马儿们因此受到了惊吓，正不安的跺着马蹄。“我们尝试过了，不过对我们这一小群人来说，那些龙实在太过巨大太过强悍了。给我们一些时间，我们会找到在空中对付他们的方法，不过现在，是他们处于上风。” Turalyon nodded. “感谢你们的努力。”他对矮人首领说。 “也感谢你们的及时赶到，这挽救了很多人的命。”他看了一眼自己周围，卡德加，奥蕾莉亚，希尔瓦纳斯，洛瑟玛·塞隆还有库德兰·蛮锤。他们都是很好的人，也是优秀的副官。他突然觉得自己不再孤单，有他们在自己身旁，或许他也能成为一个合格的指挥，至少在洛萨回来之前会是这样。 “我们需要带着我们的人离开这里。”等了一会儿，他开口对其他人说道。“我们会回到这里并且从部落手里解救奎尔萨拉斯，不过现在我们需要重新集结以及休整。我认为部落不会在这里待太久，他们心里有别的目标。” 但那会是什么呢，他思考着。他们夺取了森林，将精灵对家园里赶了出来。他们也攻击了鹰巢山，重创了卡兹莫丹。下一个目标会是哪里呢？ 他试图从部落的角度来考虑这个问题。如果换成自己处在他们一边，指挥他们的将军，自己会去哪里呢？就目前而言，哪里才是剩下的地区里最大的威胁所在呢？ 这提醒了他。最大的威胁自然便是联盟的核心之所在。这是一切的开始之处。他瞄了一眼卡德加，后者点点头，显然他想的也是同样的问题。 “王城！”这讲的通，从处于奎尔萨拉斯北端的银月城，兽人可以穿越群山直接进入洛丹伦，在洛丹米尔湖和王城不远处集结。这座城市里只剩下少数的守卫，泰瑞纳斯国王派出了大部分的兵力加入了联盟。幸运的是，穿过群山代表着会首先穿过奥特兰克，虽然佩瑞诺德并不是联盟坚定的支持者，不过他也一定会派出军队去抵挡那些入侵他领地的部落。但是部落在数量上有着绝对的优势来击溃他们，然后跨过群山对王城发起攻击。 “从洛丹伦，他们可以向这片大陆的其他区域迅速扩张。”奥蕾莉亚补充道。“如果部落在这里留下了一支部队，他们就会拥有两个据点。这样他们便可以在数周之内席卷整个大陆。” Turalyon nodded. “现在我们已经理清了他们的计划。”他确信他们想得没错。 “这意味着我们需要想一个办法来阻止他们。”他看了一眼远处的熊熊大火。 “不过不是在这里。带着所有人到山上去，我们去那里会合再继续讨论这个问题。”随后他调转马头慢跑着离开了森林，他相信自己的副官会很好的执行他的命令。而他，却不愿再回头多看一眼那正在他身后燃烧着的雄伟森林。