Shadow Trails in Azeroth

In the underground prison of Durnholde Castle.

Little Taresha and little Sal hugged each other, and the pirate assassin crouched in front of them, the blade fist in his hand shining coldly in the darkness.

At the entrance to the secret door above, there was a group of veterans bragging. As long as little Taresha shouted at the top of her lungs, they would rush down to help.

But as the orc killer in front of him said, he can do a lot of things in the moment the veterans rush down.

Blade fist can easily take away the life of an adult orc.

It would be even easier to take Thrall's life.

But Blake wouldn't do that.

He knew very well that as soon as his sharp blade came into contact with the little orc in front of him, a large group of bronze dragons would immediately rush out of the time stream and tear him to pieces including his soul.

It will even directly lead to the arrival of the terrifying Lord of Time.

But luckily, the two little guys in front of them didn't know this, so they were frightened by Blake's bluff.

In the face of the threat to his life, the four-year-old orc Thrall acted more calmly than Taresha, who was six years older than him. He stood up and protected the trembling Taresha behind him.

It was obvious that he was also scared.

The body is shaking.

But he was trying hard to suppress his fear, staring at the dangerous assassin hiding in the darkness with his blue eyes, and said:

Me, I was picked up by the major. Four years ago, the major told me that he saved me. I was just a baby at the time, and I was Taresha's mother. My adoptive mother raised me with milk.

The Major was very kind to me.

I know that my evil compatriots are attacking humanity, and I don’t know why the war broke out, but I am not one of them, and I have not done anything to harm humanity.

I thank humans for saving me.

But I have also read in books that warriors among humans will be furious because of the death of their compatriots, turning their anger into a sword of vengeance and piercing the heart of their enemies.

I, perhaps, can understand your pain, as Sergeant Drake often provokes me, tempting me to attack him so he can beat me up.

But I don't hate him.

Because I know that Sergeant Drake's brother and parents died at the hands of my compatriots. It was an act of kindness for him not to kill me because of this.

So, if you too want revenge, kill me and let Taressa go.

She is innocent.

The logic is clear, the organization is clear, and you can say something like this at a young age. Major Blackmore's education is very successful. He can be called the number one parenting expert in Azeroth.

After hearing Sal's words, Blake suddenly had such an idea in his mind.

But he appeared noncommittal.

Just wiping the blade of his sword fist, he looked past Sal and fell on Taresha, and he said:

I just want to hear your story. I am an orc killer, but I am not a baby killer. Since you are not contaminated by demon blood, you are not my enemy.

Taresha, do you know more?

As long as my curiosity was satisfied, I would leave without revealing all this to the Major.

Everything Sal said is true.

Little Taresha with a fearful face poked her head out from behind Sal. She looked at Blake and said:

The year Sal was picked up, I was only six years old. I was supposed to have a younger brother, but unfortunately he got sick and died. Our family was very sad.

My mother happened to still have milk, so the major summoned her and asked her to feed Sal.

Later, the major invited scholars to teach me how to read and write, and asked me to teach Sal what I learned at night, but he learned much faster than me.

He can now read those boring history books by himself and read them with gusto.

Sir, you have also seen that Sal is a child. He has lived in this basement since he was a child. The major does not allow him to go out. He has not seen the outside world.

He doesn't even know why his kindred people outside are attacking us. I have taken care of him since he was a child, and he is even friendlier to me than other children in the village.

He is very kind.

Sir, he is innocent.

You can't just think of Thrall as one of the other orcs just because they're bad.

The ten-year-old girl tried hard to use her simple words to plead for mercy for the young orc she regarded as her brother, trying to dispel the murderous intention in the orc killer's heart.

But Black was equally noncommittal.

He did not answer Taresha's prayer, but just like a ghost, under Taresha's fearful gaze, he stretched out his hand and gently touched Sal's skin.

That's green.

The skin is no different from that of other orcs, but it is smoother and does not have tough scales, herpes, bone spurs or other damn things due to the surge of evil blood.

Didn't the Major reveal his intention to train Thrall?

The pirate looked into the eyes of the young orc in front of him and asked in a faint tone.

Taresha shook her head and whispered:

“I just heard my mother say again that the major once got drunk and said that he would train Thrall to be the trump card for us humans to end the war.

He said that he would prove to those stupid and short-sighted higher-ups that there is another possibility of coexistence between humans and orcs.

The Major is a hero.

He was very kind to us. He did not allow the soldiers to bully us civilians, and he also took in many refugees from Nanhai Town in Durnholde Castle.

Everyone respected the Major as a truly benevolent lord.

He must have secretly trained Thrall in order to do good things.

Hearing this, Black curled his lips in the darkness. He would not explain Blackmore's true ambition to the two innocent children in front of him.

In the darkness, he retracted his blade fist, as if to persuade himself, shook his head, stood up, and took a few steps back.

The acting is superb.

His tone was cold, and he said to Taresha who was hugging Sal next to him:

Indeed, as you said, I have confirmed that this young orc did not drink the blood of demons. He is 'pure'. He is different from other orcs who fell into destruction.

very good.

In this way, I have a reason to let him go.

Thank you for your kindness, Mr. Black.

Taresha was relieved when she heard this.

She hugged Thrall tightly. She and the orc child did have a close relationship. As she said, the arrival of little Thrall four years ago relieved her of the sadness of losing her brother.

Perhaps at first, she simply regarded little Sal as a substitute for her younger brother.

But four years later, she already regarded Sal as a real relative.

But Sal, a smart guy, thinks more.

He didn't feel any killing intent from the human in front of him.

He was just a child, but he felt it keenly. The blade fist that was pressed against his neck just now looked fierce, but it actually didn't mean to strike hard.

gentlemen!

Seeing Blake retreating into the shadows, Sal quickly whispered:

You just said that I am different from other orcs? Do you know the origin of us orcs?

I know.

I know pureblood orcs are brown, not green.

The reason for your skin mutation is that your parents drank the blood of demons. While that evil thing brought strength, it also turned you into this.

But fortunately, the corruption of the mind by evil energy will not be transmitted through blood.

It cost you your life, Thrall.

Blake said softly:

“Not only do I know where you come from, I also know why you fell, I know why your world is destroyed, and I also know the source of all the disasters you have experienced.

As the saying goes, the person who knows you best is your enemy.

And I am an orc killer. In this world, you probably can't find another person who understands your past as well as I do, and your past!

Sal!

Guir.

The last word was spoken by Blake in the orc language.

Thrall opened his eyes wide. This four-year-old orc, who had been baptized in human culture since childhood, could not understand the orc language, but he could feel the language hitting his heart like a heavy hammer.

He struggled to get up, eager to know more.

But Blake had disappeared into the darkness, draped over him like a smoky cloak of shadows, wrapping him in the shadows as if the darkness had stretched out its tentacles and swallowed him up.

This contact is enough here.

He couldn't say more. The world line that Thrall shouldered was too important. Any talk would cause unnecessary trouble, especially when there was a bronze dragon chasing him.

But the lead to contact has been laid.

Like a seed, Blake just had to wait patiently until the day it took root and sprouted.

The whole basement was quiet.

It wasn't until a minute later that little Sal came back to his senses from this adventure. He turned to look at Taresha. He gently patted his sister on the back to comfort her frightened girl.

He asked:

Taresha, who was that just now?

That's the 'Orc Killer'!

The little blond girl lowered her voice and said with fear on her face:

He was a terrible man. He killed many orcs in the hills. Ah, I'm talking about the bad orcs who invaded our homeland, not you, Thrall.

You are different from them.

You are a good orc, you are my friend and family. He said he smelled the scent of an orc from me and wanted to kill you. It was me who convinced him that you were a good person.

Speaking of this, little Taresha felt a little proud again.

She stood up, put her hands on her hips, and said to Sal like a sister:

I saved you, Sal, you have to be grateful to me, okay, now let's continue studying.

The major asked me to finish teaching you The General History of the Seven Kingdoms of Humanity before the end of this month, so today we are going to study, um, let me see, this chapter!

That's right.

Regarding the war between Kul Tiran and Drust, and the history of the development of the ocean kingdom, the origin of that kingdom was a hero named Arom Waycrest.

——

the other side.

Blake quietly returned to his room, reached out and pushed open the window of the castle. He looked out the window at the calm night, and picked up a glass of wine from the side.

He recalled in his mind the unfortunate relationship between Thrall and Major Blackmoore.

Four years ago, Edras Blackmore, who was just a captain at the time, encountered an orc civil war during a routine patrol.

This is not uncommon now, but it was still rare to see four years ago. At that time, the orcs had not captured the Kingdom of Stormwind and were still raging in the southern border.

At that time, the nobles and people of Northern Xinjiang had only heard that a group of greenskins had appeared in the southern part of the continent. They did not know what the news meant.

That war was just a story told by people.

In short, the major at that time did not take the initiative to intervene in the crazy fighting of the orcs. It was not until they decided the winner and one party was slaughtered by the other that he ran over and picked up the head.

As a result, in the river outside a pile of corpses, the captain picked up an infant green-skinned orc.

He should have killed him.

but no.

But it was not because of kindness, but because the ambitious captain planned to use this little orc to study the orc's weaknesses and let him live.

In four years, many things have changed.

It was just a whim at first, but after seeing the little orc he picked up grow up and show extremely intelligent traits, the major changed his mind.

He named the little orc Thal and began to train him more carefully.

At this point in time, the major's so-called system of coexistence of humans and orcs is just an attempt to use Thrall to break into the orcs to end the war.

But soon, with the inevitable defeat of the orcs, the major's ambition will further ferment.

He will be eager to train Thrall to be the king of the orcs who is only loyal to one person, and use Thrall to command the orc army, conquer cities and territories for him, and build a big empire for him.

But, that's for the future.

People must learn to focus on the present.

In the warm fire of the fireplace, Blake moistened his throat and squinted his eyes.

I've already been in contact with Thrall, and that's enough to lure you here, right? You nosy bronze dragon! Come on, let's 'get to know each other'.