Chapter 15 The Last Guardian Chapter Fourteen Escape

They flew for miles on the back of the griffin, and then something went wrong.Well, let's start from the beginning.Khadgar had only summoned one griffin at the time, and it was clearly resistant to Garona's strange appearance.As a result Khadgar had to force it to accept.When they flew far away from the crater, they could still hear Medivh's loud strange screams and curses.They drove the griffin to the direction of Stormwind, and Khadgar clamped the griffin's waist firmly with his heels. For the first part of the journey, their flying speed was quite ideal, but now the griffin suddenly became a little restless, and the mood seemed to become very agitated.Khadgar tried his best to correct the deviation, but the griffin became more and more agitated.

"What's the matter?" Garona asked behind him, putting her head over his shoulder. "Medivh is pulling it back," Khadgar said. "It wants to go back to Karazhan." Khadgar twisted the reins desperately, and even tried the whistle, but finally had to throw in the towel.He managed to land the griffin on a low ledge of rock.Let Garona climb down first, and then slide down by herself.As soon as he touched the ground, the griffin couldn't wait to take off again, flapping the night sky with its pair of huge wings, and climbed up to answer the call of its master.

"Think he'll follow?" Garona asked. "I don't know," Khadgar said, "but in case, I don't want to stay here and die. We have to find a way to Stormwind." After trekking for most of the night, they found a muddy rut, which they determined as the approximate route to Stormwind City, and continued along it.There was no sign of being pursued on the road, and there was no strange light in the sky. At dawn, the two huddled together under a big cedar tree to rest for a while. They did not meet half a living being the next day.There are only houses that have been burned to the ground and countless new mass graves.Overturned tracks and smashed wagons can be seen everywhere.There is also a super-giant incineration site, and everything in it has been burned to ashes.After careful identification, Khadgar realized that this was the way the orcs treated the corpses, after looting their belongings.

All the animals you see along the way are also dead—a smashed-up farm is littered with the corpses of gutted domestic pigs; skeleton.In a solemn atmosphere, the two walked through one farm after another that had been looted. "You guys have done it right," Khadgar said finally. "They take it as an honor," Garona said coldly. "Glory?" Khadgar looked around. "Glory to destruction? Glory to looting? No human army, no human nation would burn everything on their journey to the ground, nor People will slaughter living creatures without purpose!" Garona nodded: "This is the way of the orcs - not to leave anything for the enemy that may be used against us in the future. Once you encounter resources that you can't use for a while - whether it is feed, shelter or spoils of war, all They will all be thrown into the fire and burned completely, and the territorial boundaries between the orc clans are almost in ruins, because both sides are trying their best to destroy each other's resources."

Khadgar shook his head. "But they are not resources!" he said excitedly. "They are life! This land was green and full of vitality, full of forests and fields. But now? It's a wasteland. Look at this! Humans How can there be peace with the orcs?" Garona was silent.They had nothing to say for the rest of the day, and finally rested in the ruins of a tavern.They slept in separate rooms, he in what could barely be called a bedroom, and she went around to the kitchen.Neither he nor she offered to live together. Khadgar wanted to sleep in, but his growling stomach forced him out of bed.They had taken almost nothing with them when they fled Karazhan except a few packets of berries and nuts, and they hadn't eaten in a day.

The young mage struggled to free himself from his bed of damp hay, his limbs feeling weak.He hadn't camped in the wild since going to Karazhan to study.He felt that he had become very unseemly.The fear that had been with him for the past few days was almost gone, but he still didn't know what to do next. Obviously, Stormwind was going to be there, but would anyone let someone like Garona into the city?Maybe let him dress up a bit.But, having said that, it is still a question of whether she herself really wants to go in.Now that she's out of that tower, maybe it would be better for her to go back to the Ravager clan, back to Gul'dan?

There was a little noise on the side of the collapsed tavern.Maybe Garona.She must be as hungry as Khadgar.Though she never said it, Khadgar on the other side of the tavern felt that the orcs must need a lot of food to keep themselves in top fighting shape. Khadgar stood up, shook the cobwebs off his head, and poked his head through the hole in the broken wall.I wanted to ask her if there was anything left in the kitchen. —and saw a great double-bladed ax resting on his neck. At the other end of the ax was a green orcish face.Really orcs.Only now did Khadgar realize how accustomed he was to Garona's face.The exaggerated chin and slanted eyebrows in front of him really startled him.

The orc roared, "Haren?" Khadgar raised his hands slowly, concentrating on gathering his mana.Any spell can knock the opponent down, then go to Garona and leave with her. Unless they were exactly what Garona brought, he realized suddenly. He hesitated for a while, which gave the other party an opportunity to take advantage of.He heard the wind behind his head, but before he could turn his head, a huge weight was pressed against the back of his neck. He now regretted not leaving here sooner, half a dozen orcs pouring into the house and clearing the gravel barrier with their axes.They wear green armbands.The Blood Hollow Clan, so his memory said.He struggled, and the first orc, the one with the double-bladed axe, began to question him again.

"Ni Dixing is in Nali?" The orc said, "Ni Ba is hiding in Nali?" "What did you say?" Khadgar asked, wondering whether it was the beast's teeth or his ears. "Your luggage," said the Orc, "your good things. You have nothing in your hands. Where did you hide it?" Khadgar blurted out without thinking: "No luggage. Lost. No luggage." The orc sniffed. "Then die!" he growled, turning his axe. "No!" Garona appeared at the only half of the door left.She didn't seem to have slept well last night, but there was a circle of hares hanging from the belt around her waist.It turned out that she just went out to look for food.Thinking of the malicious speculation about her just now, Khadgar felt a little ashamed.

"Roll around, bastard," said the orc with a fierce look on his face, "go and cool off." "You want to destroy my property, how can I stand idly by?" Garona said. property?Khadgar was puzzled, but held his tongue. "Demolition...demolition?" The orc seemed to be unable to distinguish between the tongue and the flat tongue, "What do you think you are, and you deserve to have de-construction?" "I am Garona the half-orc," growled the lady, feigning rage, "I serve Gul'dan. Gul'dan knows? Let him explain." The orc sniffed again: "Violent looting? Damn! I heard that the clan is so weak that it depends on their warlocks to back it up, otherwise it would have been wiped out long ago!"

Garona stared at him fiercely: "Oh? But what I heard is that the blood cave, which claims to be very strong, recently joined forces with the Twilight's Hammer clan to attack Stormwind City, and the result was a big defeat. Both clans were driven back .I heard that humans beat you to death under the premise of a fair fight. Isn't that right?" "It doesn't count," said the blood cave orc, "they have seven horses." "May I..." Khadgar was about to stand up. "Sit there and don't move, slave!" Garona yelled, pushing him back heavily. "You can only speak when you are told to speak, and shut up at all other times!" The leading orc took the opportunity to take a step forward, but Garona turned around just after finishing her lecture, and pressed a long-bladed dagger on the orc's upper abdomen.Seeing this, the other orcs dispersed. "Are you questioning my ownership?" Garona growled, her eyes almost bursting with anger, half of the dagger had already been inserted into the orc's leather armor. Then there was a silence.The Blood Cave orc looked back and forth between Khadgar, who was on all fours, and the aggressive Garona, and finally sniffed and said, "Is this kind of waste worth protecting? A bastard is a bastard!" Then he came out of the ruins.His subordinates also dispersed. One of his subordinates asked him as he walked, "But why did she ask human beings to be her slaves?" Khadgar didn't catch the lead orc's answer.But the subordinate jumped up in shock outside: "Damn, pervert!" Khadgar wanted to stand up, but Garona shook his hand at him, and Khadgar flinched when he saw that, why did he think so. Garona walked to the window and looked out carefully for a while.Khadgar, with weak legs, stood up with difficulty, using the wall for support. "I think they really left," she said, turning around at last. "I'm afraid they'll come back halfway and expose our lies. I'm afraid the boss will be challenged by his men tonight." Khadgar touched the bruise on his face: "I'm fine, thank you for taking care of me." Garona shook her head: "You idiot! If I didn't knock you down, the orc leader would have a reasonable excuse to kill you, saying that I can't control you." Khadgar sighed deeply. "Sorry. You were right." "Yes, of course I'm right," Garona said, "They can keep you alive until I come back, just because they thought you hid something in the tavern. Wandering in the heart of a war zone." "But is it necessary to strike so hard?" Khadgar asked. "If you want to ask if I'm doing this for credibility, then the answer is Yes. And if you mean if I'm sadistic, then the answer is No." She tossed the string of hares to him, "Here, peel and boil water. There are some bottles and some potatoes in the kitchen." "Hey, whatever you say about those orcs," Khadgar said, "I'm not your slave." Garona chuckled: "Just kidding. But I grabbed the ingredients. It's your turn to cook." Breakfast was a hearty meal - potato stew - cooked by the experienced Khadgar.The ingredients are a few herbs that Khadgar dug up in the kitchen garden and mushrooms that Garona picked in the wild.Khadgar worriedly checked the poison of these mushrooms with magic, and it turned out that they were all edible. "The orc method is to use children to test the poison," Garona said. "If it doesn't kill you, it proves that everyone can eat it." They set off again, aiming for Stormwind City.The forest ahead was still eerily silent, and all I could see along the way were the scars of war. At noon, they bumped into the old friends from the blood cave in the morning.They were scattered outside the ruins of a watchtower in the wilderness, all lying face down in the sun.There are wounds caused by some kind of heavy sharp weapon on the armor, and the heads of some guys are also mysteriously missing. Garona began to search the corpses quickly, collecting the first aid kits from them.But saw Khadgar staring at the horizon in a daze. Garona yelled at him, "Aren't you going to help me?" "Wait a minute," Khadgar said, "I want to make sure that the man who killed our old friends is still around." Garona scanned the wilderness, and then the sky.I saw nothing but scattered clouds. "You really think so?" she said, "but I haven't heard anything." "The same goes for these orcs. By the time they heard it, it was too late." He walked to the corpse of the orc leader. "The fatal wound was on the back. They were hit when they were escaping. The attackers were taller than them." He pointed out Some vague hoofprints on the ground, those hoofprints were left by heavy horses with iron hooves, "Cavalry. Human cavalry." Garona nodded: "That means we're close to our destination. Let's get as much as possible from them and go. We can use their supplies—it looks a bit disgusting, but it's very nutritious. Bring a weapon, at least Take a dagger." Khadgar looked at Garona: "I was thinking..." Garona laughed at him: "Don't worry, I won't kill you." "We're already within the alert range of Stormwind," Khadgar said. "As things stand, I suspect Medivh isn't following us, at least not directly. So maybe we should split up." "I've thought about it," Garona said as she rummaged through an orc's knapsack. She dug out a cloak and a small cloth bag.She opened the bag and found a piece of flint iron inside, and a bottle of kerosene. "A fire starter," she explained. "The orcs love fire, and this is a simple fire starter." "You also think we should split up," Khadgar said. "No," Garona said, "I said I've thought about it. The problem is that this area is not under the control of either the orcs or the humans. If you walk fifty yards from here, you may run into another Blood Hollow patrol team. I might be raided by your cavalry friends. So we stand a better chance of survival if we act together. One is the other's slave." "Captives," Khadgar corrected, "humans don't keep slaves." "It's just called differently," Garona said, "In short, we should go together." "Is that so?" Khadgar asked. "This is mostly the reason," Garona said. "The other part is that I haven't been in touch with Gul'dan for a while. If we have to go to him one day, I will lie to him that I have been detained in Karazhan Here, complain to him a few more words that he shouldn't have thrown his men into such an obvious trap." "You think he'll believe it?" Khadgar asked. "I'm not sure," Garona said, "so that's another reason why I'm staying with you." "You have been changed by what you have learned," Khadgar said. "You have accepted it." Garona nodded in agreement, "Yes. But if an ax cuts off my head, I might still tell those secrets. It's better not to, so for now I'm still betting on your idiot's side. Now, I still There's one thing to do." "what?" "We have to put the bodies together and sprinkle some flammables on them. It's good to hide what they don't want on them, but we have to cremate them. That's the least we can do." Khadgar frowned. "If heavy cavalry are around, the smoke column will attract them immediately." "I know," Garona said, looking at the orc patrol, "but it's necessary. And if you saw human soldiers being ambushed to death by orcs, wouldn't you cremate them?" Khadgar pursed his lips, but said nothing.He walked to the furthest dead orc and dragged the body to the sentry tower.An hour later, they were ready to stop and set all the corpses on fire. "We must go now," Khadgar said to Garona, who stared blankly at the column of smoke. "Will this bring in cavalry?" Garona asked. "Yes," Khadgar said, "it will also send a message—there are orcs here. And those orcs feel that this place is very safe, and they can cremate their companions without any scruples. I would rather introduce myself with people, I also don't want to face a cavalry team charging, let's go, thank you." Garona nodded, and they put on their upturned cloaks and left the smoke-filled sentry tower. What Garona said was true, the orcish version of field rations was just a disgusting concoction of hardened jam, nuts, and something else (Khadgar swears it was boiled rats).But it was enough to keep them alive and move on, and the two got along pretty well. As the days passed, the ruins gradually turned into endless fields and unripe, undulating wheat waves.However, the degree of abandonment has not changed.The animal pens are empty, and the houses have collapsed.They found more orc-made funeral pyres, growing mounds marking the passing of a human farm and patrol. Although they still insist on taking the covert route.The more open terrain makes it easier for them to spot other people, but it also makes them more exposed.One day an army of orcs drove across the ridge, and the two hid in what seemed to be the most complete farmhouse. Khadgar surveyed the menacing force.There are orc infantry, cavalry riding giant wolves, and catapults decorated with human bones and carved dragons.But Garona beside him said, "A bunch of idiots." Khadgar gave her a questioning look. "They shouldn't be marching so blatantly," she explained. "We can see them, and so can white-skinned humans. This motley army is simply wandering around the countryside aimlessly, just wanting to be with people." Fight. Want to die with honor in battle." She shook her head. "You don't seem to care much about your people," Khadgar said. "I don't think I care about anyone right now," Garona said. "Orcs don't agree with me, and humans will undoubtedly kill me. And the only person in this world I really trust is a demon." "Don't think so, at least there is me." Khadgar's tone was a little sour. Garona was a little sluggish: "Yes, and you, you are human, and I trust you. But I always thought. I really always thought that Medivh must be different. He has supreme power and status, but still willing to talk to others without prejudice. But I was only lying to myself. He is just another madman. Maybe this is my destiny-to work for the madman forever. Maybe I am just a player in this game A pawn. How would Medivh describe it? A ruthless cog of fate in the universe?" "The role you play," Khadgar said, "is your choice. Medivh has always wished he could." "You think he was sane when he said that?" asked the Orc. Khadgar shrugged. "At least he's as 'normal' as he usually is. I believe that. And you seem to think so too." "Hey," Garona said weakly, "everything is still the same, ever since I worked for Gul'dan. Being his eyes and ears. I can't tell who is right and who is wrong. Which side is me compatriots? Maybe not? At least you don't have this trouble." Khadgar looked at the dust on the ground without saying a word.On the other side of the horizon, the orc army just started charging.The twilight of battle flickered across the sky, creating a false dawn, illuminating the ever-changing clouds, and the drums and death echoed like distant thunderclaps. Day after day passed.They walked among abandoned watchtowers and bazaars.The buildings here are more intact.There are signs that there are still people living there recently, some of them are humans and some of them are beastmen. I am afraid that those residents have all turned into ghosts now. Khadgar broke into what might have been a store.The shelves inside had been emptied, a few bundles of wood were still stuffed in the fireplace, and a few potatoes and onions remained in a small box in the basement.Anyway, better than Orc rations that are harder than iron. Khadgar lit the fire while Garona carried a cauldron outside to a well for washing.Khadgar began to think about his next move.Medivh was a threat, possibly a bigger threat than the orcs.Is he still rational now?Is it possible to be persuaded?Convince him to close that portal?Maybe it's too late? The only good news is that I know the source of the orcs is the portal.If humans could find it, or even shut it down, it would cut off Draenor's reinforcements and isolate the orcs of this world. The commotion outside brought Khadgar back from his thoughts.There was the clatter of metal, and the roar of humans. "Garona," Khadgar muttered, walking out the door. He found them by the well.An infantry patrol of about ten men, all armed with swords in the blue uniforms of the kingdom of Azeroth.One of them protected his bleeding arm, and the other two grabbed Garona from left to right.Her long-bladed dagger lay on the ground.Khadgar hesitated at the corner, and the officer in the line slapped her, he was wearing mail gloves. "What about the others?" he growled.Purple-black blood oozed from the corner of the orc's mouth. "Let her go!" Khadgar yelled without thinking, and he subconsciously quickly gathered energy and released a spell. The arcane light exploded above Garona's head, flashing the unprepared human soldiers.The two infantrymen who were holding Garona let go, causing her to slip and fall to the ground.The officer shielded his eyes with his arm.The rest of the patrol froze for a moment, allowing Khadgar to run easily into their circle. "It's scary," Garona said softly, her lips parted, "Now let's see how I teach them." "Sit still," Khadgar said gently.He turned to the temporarily blinded officer and shouted loudly: "Are you the leader of this gang of mobs?" Now that most of the infantry had regained their sight, they drew their swords and turned on Khadgar.The two who had dragged Garona back a few steps, but they were still staring at her, not even looking at Khadgar. The officer quarreled with Khadgar: "Who are you and why are you interfering with the military? Guys, get him out of here!" "Don't move!" Khadgar said. The soldiers had seen the power of his spells, and they only took a few steps forward. It is important to have an audience with His Majesty the King. Take us to Stormwind immediately." The officer sneered and said: "You are insulting my IQ! If you are the apprentice of the astral mage, then I am Lord Lothar. Even I know that Medivh never accepts apprentices. Well, then you little lover who is it?" "She is..." Khadgar hesitated. "She is my prisoner. I am going to take her to Stormwind for questioning." "Oh," said the officer, "well, boy, we found your prisoner in the square, she was armed, and you were out of sight. All I can say is that your prisoner has escaped. It's a pity that The orcs would rather die than surrender." "Don't touch her!" Khadgar held up his right hand.Flame danced in his palm. "You're looking for your own death," growled the officer, and Khadgar heard the heavy clatter of horses' hooves in the distance.It's reinforcements.Would they be more willing to listen to an orc and a mage than the group in front of them? "You've made a grave mistake, gentlemen," Khadja said, pretending to be calm. "You'd better leave it alone, child," ordered the officer, "and grab that orc. Kill her if she resists!" The infantry obeyed the order and approached the two of them, and several of them held Garona down again.She tried to struggle, but someone kicked her hard. Holding back his tears, Khadgar hurled the spell at the officer.The fireball hit his knee.The officer howled and fell to the ground. "Stop them," Khadgar said. "Kill them!" shouted the officer, his eyes wide with pain. "Even him!" "Stop!" came another voice, muffled and deep, from a large helmet.The knights came to the town square.There were about twenty of them, and Khadgar's heart sank.The opponent's number is completely beyond Garona's ability to handle.Their commanders were heavily armed, with a helmet covering their faces. The young apprentice hurried forward. "Sir," he said, "please tell them to stop. I am the apprentice of the astral mage Medivh." "I know you," said the commander. "Get off!" he ordered. "Let her go! But watch out for her." Khadgar swallowed: "This orc is my prisoner. I have important news to report to King Lane. I have to go to see Lord Lothar immediately!" The commander lifts the visor on his helmet. "Fulfill your wish, child," Lothar said, "Fulfill your wish."