Chapter 6 Chapter Six

An hour earlier, Colonel Lorena had assembled her squad in the clearing outside Northwatch.There are rocks and big trees everywhere, and sagebrush sticks out from the uneven ground.The sun was shining on the land, and all the trees were shining in the sun-everyone was warm. Most of the team members were randomly selected by Lorena from the first few names in the roster, except for two people.One is Strovo.Although he is young, he is one of Lorena's most trusted subordinates.He is dedicated to his duties, can always act according to the orders of his superiors, and can adapt to unexpected situations.He never lost track of anyone, and he never made his prey aware of his presence.

Another man was the exact opposite of Strovo: Jalloud, an elderly veteran.He had fought orcs before anyone knew what they were like.There were even rumors that he had trained Admiral Proudmoore, but Lorena was very skeptical.But Jalloud has seen it all, been through it all.He seemed to be born to tell his mysterious and bizarre experiences. Strover said, "As I said in the observation room, sir, those crew confirmed what Aveeno said. They really couldn't see clearly at the time. I doubt they were even sure they saw the Augart and those pirate." "Even if they were sure," said another soldier—also a veteran named Paolo, "they wouldn't help anybody. Those sailors were terrified talking about the experience."

Mal, who served in the Azeroth fleet many years ago, nodded: "It's not all their fault. They can't even judge the direction when encountering heavy fog. The only way is to drop anchor and wait for the fog to pass. The strange thing is that they didn't It's weird to do that." "What does it matter?" It was Jaloud who spoke.Lorena frowned, "You mean—" "The orcs destroyed Admiral Proudmoore's fleet! They killed our best leader without blinking an eye! If I were Captain Aveenor, I would help those pirates. Shame on me Yes, Queen Proudmoore sold herself—and her own father—for these wildlings. Instead of letting us kill those monsters, she sends us to do it. What a shame!"

Hearing these words, everyone moved their feet uneasily. Everyone, except Lorena.She drew out her sword and put it on Jalud's neck.The old soldier looked at her in horror, his blue eyes staring wide in his wrinkled face. Lorena said slowly with a threatening taste: "Don't speak ill of Queen Proudmoore to my face, Sergeant. I don't care who you work for, or how many trolls and demons you kill .If you dare to think such a thing about Queen Proudmoore, I will disembowel you, cut you into pieces and feed them to the dogs. Do you understand?" Strovo stepped forward and said, "I trust the sergeant meant no offense to Queen Proudmoore, sir."

"Of course not," said Jalloud tremblingly, "I have a lot of respect for her, sir, you know, I just—" "Just what?" Jaloud swallowed, his Adam's apple pressed against Lorena's blade: "I just said that orcs are not trustworthy." Jaloud didn't quite mean it, of course, but Lorena dropped her sword anyway.Jalloud's years of service in the military earned him the right not to be suspected.But it was rare for a veteran who had served Proudmoore's many years under Queen Proudmoore to have such thoughts.Does he want Alsace to come back?If it were someone else, Lorena would have slit his belly open, and it would never have occurred to her to warn him.

Lorena put the sword back into its scabbard: "Go back to the pier immediately. We still have a long way to go before we go home." Lorena led the team towards the pier, thinking to herself.She has been a soldier for decades.The youngest and only daughter of ten children, she always wanted to be a soldier like her father and older brothers.For this reason, she tried hard to believe that she was a man, until the summer when she was thirteen years old, her changed figure forced her to face the reality that she was a woman.She is very proficient in sword and shield skills.Her father finally convinced himself to hand in her application to join the Kul Tiran Guards.Over the years, her military rank has risen again and again, and finally, Queen Proudmoore personally promoted her to be a colonel in the army to fight against the Burning Legion during the war.

For so many years, she had trusted her intuition—the special intuition of a soldier born into a military family—that told her that this matter was not as simple as it seemed.From the moment she arrived at Northpost, she never stopped doubting for a moment, but Jalud's words made her unable not to face this doubt. She doesn't know what's wrong, but she will definitely find out. Strovo didn't let Jalloud out of his sight until they reached the edge of the clearing.He didn't know exactly what was going on inside the sergeant, but he knew he didn't like it, hated it a lot.

Jaloud didn't like orcs, which was understandable, and many people did, but Strovo saw orcs as mere victims of demons, like Medivh.Now that people worship him as a god, they don't remember that he ever had anything to do with demons, so why should they hate the orcs so much.Of course, he knew why so many humans hated orcs. Why didn't he like Queen Proudmoore?Only the Burning Legion and their lackeys would dislike her. He wasn't like this before.Strovo even wondered if Jalloud was insane.While he shouldn't blame Jalloud for this—good people make mistakes like this—he feels it's dangerous.When the army is trained, the commander always tells them to learn to trust their companions.But Strover felt that Jalloud was no longer trustworthy.

He stared at Jalloud so hard that he didn't even catch what he should have noticed in time.At the edge of the clearing, trees, rocks, and Northwatch's spare warehouses formed a circular boundary.They are now close to the border.Only then did Strovo see four people hiding behind trees, rocks and warehouses.Although they hid well, they were discovered by Strovo. "There is an ambush!" Hearing Strovo's yell, Lorena and her group of seven quickly drew out their swords and put them in a posture ready for battle.At the same time, the seven men on the enemy side—only four of whom Strovo saw at first—leave their disguises behind and jump out.

These people are tall and tall.The cloaks on their bodies concealed their key features, but they couldn't hide the fact that they were orcs. Busy dodging the stick that was coming towards his head, Strovo noticed that "the cloak they were wearing had a burning blade symbol on the chest. Strovo had seen the symbol, but He didn't have time to think about it for a moment, because the orc in the cloak was trying to kill him right now. The orc had attacked Strovo no less than three times with a stick, each time he dodged, but the third time he stepped forward and kicked the orc in the stomach.The orc staggered before he could react.Strovo hurriedly raised his sword and stabbed in the past.The orc blocked the sword with a stick.

This behavior undoubtedly angered Strovo.He began to constantly change directions to attack the orcs.But his enemies were clearly well-trained.He never found an opportunity, no matter how he stabbed, the enemy always responded quickly-the enemy even avoided the attack of his legs and hands.While most humans prefer to wield weapons, Strovo prefers to wield both hands and feet. Strovo stabbed down.He hoped the enemy would duck down so he could deal him a deadly blow.But the orc seemed to sense that he would.The orc held the stick with one hand and raised the other to hide his face. Strovo kicked the orc in the leg. The kick failed to break his bones, but it made him stagger.He had to swing his hands to keep his balance.This gave Strovo a good chance.He raised his sword to stab the orc in the chest. But that's just a thought.When he raised the sword and stabbed it, the sword easily passed through the cloak and almost hit the "Fire Blade", but he didn't feel the sword penetrated his body.When he had struggled to draw the sword--he had not expected so much effort--he found that there was not a drop of blood on the blade. Strovo bared his teeth, really didn't expect that he didn't win first.And the enemy standing in front of him at this moment seemed stronger than before. Strovo took a deep breath and took a step forward.He will never admit defeat.He began to attack the neck and stomach of the orc with his arms.Then there's the neck and the legs.His hand waved too fast to be seen, driving the orc back again and again.Although the orc had plenty of time to avoid Strovo's attack, he had little room to stand—and soon, he didn't even have the strength to dodge. At this time, a sword flew out from nowhere and hit the orc on the head.The hood of the cloak was brought down by the flying sword, revealing the face of a green orc.He also had that emblem etched on his tusks. There was no doubt that the sword belonged to Lorena.Strover believed that she had dealt with his enemies. Strovo's enemies shouted "Retreat" in Orcish.Then, the seven people yelled together: "Gertek Erednash!" Strovo knew many languages, including orc, troll, goblin, dwarf, and even four dialects of elves. .But he couldn't understand this sentence. The enemy fled.Strovo turned to find Ian and Mal on the ground—Ian was dead, Mal had a broken leg—but Lorena, Jarloud, Paolo, and Clay were all unharmed. hinder.There was one orc lying on the ground, the other six had fled, and two were still bleeding. "Strovo and Clay, you go after them." Lorena said and ran to Mal. Clay is the bravest fighter in the squad.Strovo noticed that his companion's sword was covered in blood. "Did you stab them?" Strovo asked while chasing Clay in the direction the enemy was fleeing. Clay nodded: "It must be stabbed in the head or neck. Their bodies seem to be made of smoke, and they cannot be stabbed at all." The enemy went through a row of wicker that looked like a wall.Strover and Clay were only a few steps away from them, and they hurried after them—— — nothing left.There was no trace of any orcs, not even the bloodstains left by the two injured orcs.There was nothing to be seen for a league in radius—these orcs couldn't have just disappeared in such a short time. Strovo stopped and took a breath: "Did you smell it?" Clay shook his head. "Sulphur. And a scent—thyme, I think." Clay was confused."So what?" he asked. "It's magic. That's why we can't stab them." Clay's eyes flashed."Is it a demon?" he asked. "I hope not." Strover shuddered.Clay was still a young man who had just joined the army and had never participated in the battle against the Burning Legion at all.He had the desire to fight demons that no one had before. Strovo turned around and ran in Lorena's direction, Clay following him closely. The colonel knelt beside Mal, and Paolo was bandaging Mal's wound beside her.Seeing Strovo and Clay, Lorena stood up: "How is it?" "They're gone, sir. Totally gone—not even a trace of blood. And I smell magic." Lorena spat. "Damn it!" she exhaled, pointing to the cloak on the ground, "this one won't get away. The evidence is solid." Strovo lowered his head and carefully looked at the cloak on the ground, then picked up the sword and stabbed it again, kicking up a large cloud of dust.Then he looked at Colonel Lorena. "Obviously magic," Lorena said, nodding. "Sir, this kind of thing has happened before—" Strovo suddenly remembered a conversation with his brother recently, "I see." "what happened?" "The last time I went home, my elder brother Manuel told me something. The last time he went to the Demon Buster Inn, he encountered an organization called the Burning Blade Clan. They were recruiting new members. It is said that as long as they are dissatisfied with the current situation Anyone can join. But that's all he said." Jalloud gasped, "Shouldn't someone be upset about the situation? Shouldn't they be holding rallies?" Strovo felt that Jaloud's reaction was very suspicious, especially considering what he said earlier, but he kept silent and continued to report to the colonel: "Sir, the orc I fought with has carved A symbol of the burning blade." "Fireblade?" Lorena shook her head. "The one I fought with—that is, the one who turned into a pile of ashes—had a Flameblade nose ring." Clay raised a hand. "Sir, can I speak?" Lorena nodded. "My enemy has one too—like Private Strovo's, sir, on the tusk, too." "Looks like we need to find a priest, but that will have to wait until we return to Theramore." She looked at the Northpost in the distance. "I don't trust any of the infirmaries here." "Okay." Lorena put the sword back into the scabbard without even wiping it—Strovo believed that she would definitely wipe the sword clean when she boarded the boat——Lorena walked towards the pier Go, "Give Mal some of my whiskey when we're aboard. It'll take the pain away." Mal resisted the pain and smiled: "The colonel is such a generous woman." Lorena handed the corporal a smiling face: "I'm not that generous—I'll just give you two finger-deep glasses of wine, and nothing more will be gone. That stuff isn't cheap." Paolo motions for Clay to help him.The two of them carried Mal, trying not to touch his injured leg, towards the pier.Strovo picked up Ian's bloody body. Lorena said to Strovo as they walked, "Private, when we get back to Theramore, I want to talk to your brother. I want to know everything about the Burning Blade." "Yes! Sir."