Shadow Trails in Azeroth

Not much is known about what happened in the Alterac Valley these past few days.

But after the news spread that His Excellency Auriden Perenold, who was basically the future king of Alterac, was assassinated by a brutal orc, the entire alliance army became even more excited.

This incident was subtly intertwined with Marshal Lothar's incident, triggering endless anger among the human soldiers. Lower-level commanders asked for battle every day, but were always suppressed by Oriden.

The young future ruler showed an outstanding "general style". He did not rush to send troops to wipe out those damn Frostwolf orcs just because he almost died in the hands of the orcs.

On the contrary, he patiently waited until five days later, when the forward army commanded by General Turalyon had rested, and then led the army to set off.

Such waiting is very necessary.

Locals all know that the most dangerous time in the valley is when the snowstorm that covered most of the mountain range has just subsided.

Not only is it extremely cold, but the beasts and mysterious and terrifying snow monsters in the valley, as well as the Ice Ax Trolls who also live in the Alterac Mountains, will be very violent.

At this time, the march is vulnerable to external interference.

General Turalyon was not a person who could not listen to opinions. After a deep discussion with Auriden, he agreed to this mature and prudent march plan.

But after the three parties, a total of more than 10,000 people, entered the Alterac Mountains in a mighty manner, the rangers and military spies in the vanguard sent back embarrassing and shocking news.

"What? The orcs ran away?"

General Turalyon looked at the military report that had just been sent in his hand. The paladin commander, who was wearing heavy armor and wearing a holy book on his waist, turned back with a stunned expression to look at Auriden Perenolde who also looked "shocked".

As a native of the area, the latter hesitated for a few seconds and whispered to Turalyon:

"The cunning orcs must have had a plan in advance!

The damn blizzard a week ago had obscured their movements, and we marched five days late just to be on the safe side, which gave them enough time to escape.

Oh, this is all my fault! "

Auriden took off his helmet, covered his eyes with regret and said:

"I shouldn't have hesitated. If we had taken the risk and marched, maybe we could have killed them before they fled."

"It's not your fault, Lord Auriden."

Turalyon shook his head. He carefully looked at the details of the military report and said softly:

"If we had set out five days ago, the march would never have been as smooth as today. I care more about the safety of our soldiers and people than the life and death of the orcs.

It would actually be a good thing if they just ran away.

At least the Kingdom of Alterac no longer has to worry about the direct threat from the orcs.

What I'm more worried about now is, where have these orcs gone?

There are four to five thousand people in the Frostwolf clan!

It was impossible for them to disappear without a trace overnight. There were so many orcs gathered together, and they were also a group of extremely mobile wolf cavalry.

Should they choose guerrilla warfare, people and towns throughout the East Weald and Downs would be threatened. "

"No, they won't do that, General Turalyon."

Auriden sighed, and took out a map of Alterac from his horse pocket, unfolding it in front of Turalyon's eyes. With a gesture of "make a decision and then act", he slid his fingers on the map and pointed at the Paladin. Speaking of:

“The terrain of the Alterac Mountains is long and narrow, with impassable mountains on both sides. No matter how powerful the Frostwolf orcs are, they cannot cross it in thin air.

There are only three paths they can take, either going north through the mountain pass where Steinblade City is located, or going south through the hilly pass where Alterac King City is located.

Either take the path of Icewind Hills and enter the Eagle's Nest Mountains bordering the Alterac Mountains, and go to the Hinterlands where the Wildhammer dwarves and trolls rule! "

"Well, your analysis is very correct."

Turalyon looked at the map. Under Auriden's explanation, his thoughts suddenly became clear. He tapped the ground a few times with his gauntleted fingers and said:

"We have left defense lines on both the north and south sides. If there is no news of the orc attack there, then their only route is to go to the Hinterlands.

But I can't understand why they went to the Hinterlands?

There are the brave Sky Knights of the Wildhammer dwarves, and there are also the brutal cannibal trolls. Although there are mountains and forests there for them to hide, if they want to survive for a long time, they will inevitably anger both the dwarves and the trolls.

This is not a nice place to be. "

Turalyon said with a nostalgic tone:

"During the war, Ms. Alleria and I were stationed there for a period of time. I know that place very well. There is no way to escape there unless...

Unless they take the sea route under the sea cliff, the orcs have no boats at all. "

"What if someone answers?"

Auriden feels that the "heat" is almost there.

He rubbed his chin and used his poor acting skills to pretend to have a sudden whim, and whispered to Turalyon:

“What if other orcs prepared a fleet in advance to pick them up?

I learned from previous battle reports that in the far north of Stormwind City, on the Burning Plains where the Alliance and the Horde battled, in the Blackstone Tower, there was a group of orcs gathered together, claiming that they had seen ghosts.' Orthodox tribe'?

I also think this is unlikely.

But if they really did such a move, they would find ships from nowhere, such as renting ships from mercenary goblins. "

Seeing the hesitation on Turalyon's face, Auriden said with anger:

"The goblins have a history in this area, General. Don't forget that two years ago, they obtained a large fleet for the tribe in the wetlands.

Those little green men have no shame, and they are absolutely willing to do anything that can make money. "

"What you said makes sense!"

Turalyon took a deep breath. The cold air in the Alterac Valley made his mind race rapidly. He looked at the endless snow-capped mountains and plains in front of him. He turned to the messenger behind him and said:

"Soldier, go and ask Archmage Ansrem to come. Lord Auriden and I have important matters to discuss with him."

The messenger accepted the order, turned his horse and galloped towards the rear of the army.

"If, as you guessed, the orcs plan to escape the northern border by sea and land, then we can only rely on the communication between the mages and ask the Wildhammer dwarves to help intercept them."

Turalyon tightened his grip on the horse's reins and said with regret:

"It has been five days, and they must have entered the jungle of the Hinterlands, which is not suitable for cavalry charges, and it is too late for us to pursue them.

It was an embarrassing failure. "

"Failure? No, no, no, Lord Knight, this is not a failure!"

Auriden laughed and whispered to the great knight:

“Wherever the Alliance army went, the frightened green-skinned orcs fled. They did not dare to confront the powerful Alliance warriors and could only choose to escape like wild dogs.

Believe me, our people will prefer this story of victory without a fight to a tragic victory with damage after a battle.

We only need to go to the orc stronghold and bring back those things that the orcs cannot take away as evidence, so that we can promote this magnificent victory to the entire northern Xinjiang and even the human world.

This is the victory granted by the Light.

Ah, praise the Light. "

He said this, making Turalyon slightly uncomfortable.

He is a sincere paladin. Although he comes from a noble family and is involved in political affairs, he does not like the current method of playing with public opinion.

However, if you don't like it, you don't like it. Strictly speaking, there is nothing wrong with Oridon's statement.

The orcs did escape.

They were so afraid that they needed to summon a big storm to hinder the attack of the alliance warriors and buy time for their escape. They would indeed win without a fight.

But now the situation seems more embarrassing.

Their army has already entered the Alterac Mountains. They can't just withdraw without a fight, right?

It's too bad that this wastes people and money, and it's not good news for ambitious soldiers who want to be promoted based on their military exploits.

Regarding the Lord Knight's worries, Auriden seemed even more confident.

He randomly marked a few red dots on his map of Alterac, handed it to General Turalyon, and said:

"The enemies of us Alterac people in the valley are not just the Frostwolf Orcs, General. Long before the orcs arrived, our people had been harassed by the Ice Ax Trolls entrenched in the valley.

These savage trolls are scattered in three strongholds. There are more than 4,000 of them in total, and they are the dominant force in the Alterac Valley.

Although we can't fight the orcs in this war, we are all here, right?

It's better to wipe out these ice ax trolls.

Believe me, General, when we return with the savage troll's head as a reward for our battle, the people of Alterac will praise your bravery and kindness.

We locals have been tortured by these trolls for many years.

If the trolls weren't enough to satisfy the warriors' pursuit of glory and victory, I also know that there are locations for wendigos and ogre bandits, all of whom are hated. "

Auriden snapped his fingers and said to the great knight with strange eyes:

"There are plenty of battles to fight here and plenty of military exploits to be gained."

"Why do I feel like this is all arranged?"

Turalyon looked at the map in his hand and joked to Auriden in a low voice:

"I feel that your original purpose was to lead us to destroy the trolls and snow monsters, not to fight the orcs? Did you already know that the orcs would run away? Mr. Oriden.

You see, there are only two of us here. I am a paladin. I have a creed of keeping my promise. You don’t have to worry about me revealing secrets.

Tell me, how did you learn about it? "

"Please be sure not to make such a joke! Lord Knight."

O'riden turned serious at this moment and said:

"How could I collude with the orcs? I swear this is all an accident, or luck. Well, maybe the goddesses of luck are blessing us.

Let's go, great knight. There is a group of ogre bandits occupying the valley not far ahead. We can use their heads to boost morale.

Ah, our alliance warriors are indeed invincible, the brutal orcs have been scared away by us. "

——

It was getting late, deep in the jungle of the Hinterlands, on the shores of the largest Lake Varowen in the region, the Frostwolf orcs who were camping here were already preparing to rest.

They had been racing almost non-stop for the past five days, with little rest.

The shamans of the tribe stirred up the wind to accelerate them, and used the power of running water to soothe the fatigue of the wargs and warriors, allowing them to complete an almost impossible "thousand-mile turn."

But not everyone is thankful that war has been avoided.

"I guess those humans must be celebrating their victory now. Hey, this kind of running away without a fight is really unpleasant no matter what time it is!"

By the lakeside, a pot was set up on a bonfire, cooking plump fish that had just been fished out of the lake. The aroma made the Frostwolf warriors sitting around swallow their saliva.

Captain Galvan, who was shirtless and carrying a battle ax on his back, was roasting the meat of a deer that the wargs had killed just now, while complaining to the soldiers around him:

"In fact, if we really fight, those humans will not be our opponents. Our shaman summoned the powerful Frost King, and we have enough supplies to fight a protracted war."

"But what's the point of such a war? Captain."

Next to Captain Galvan, the young orc Thrall sitting there sprinkled seasonings into the fish soup and said softly:

"This is not a fight to the death, and the Frostwolf clan has nowhere to go. If we fight to the death with the Alliance there, we will get no benefits except for the sacrifice of our clansmen in vain.

There is the hinterland of the Alliance, surrounded by four kingdoms and a magic city-state. We have no support at all. No matter how hard we fight, we will only be eaten alive by the Alliance soldiers.

Leaving that place of death is the right choice.

As for the pursuit of warriors, I once read a sentence in a human history book. They said that the will of the greatest warrior is not to win every victory, but to use his own power to end wars and maintain peace. "

"Hey, we orcs wouldn't say that."

Captain Galvan curled his lips in disdain, and the other orcs also laughed.

But a few seconds later, the captain whispered again:

"However, this sentence does have some truth. Since the orcs drank the blood of demons, we first destroyed our own world, and then came to Azeroth to fight for six years.

How many soldiers died in these bad wars?

They didn't deserve to die in the first place, and there was no honor for warriors in such a war. Our honor had already been thrown away by our own hands as Draenor was dying.

But without those lunatics eager to conquer, we should still be living our lives peacefully in our own world.

I don't know if you've played enough.

But I really don’t want to fight anymore. Decades of non-stop war have made me deeply tired. If possible, I would rather go back to Frostfire Ridge and become a swineherd.

Thrall, have you heard of the scenery in Frostfire Ridge? "

"No, but Lord Ner'zhul and Elder Drek'Thar told me."

A glimmer of light flashed in Sal's eyes. He stirred the fish soup and said to Captain Galfan beside him:

"Captain, were you born there too?"

"Well, I was born in a small village next to the Dota Fortress."

The orc captain smiled, touched the rough stone pendant around his neck, and said in a nostalgic tone:

"Our village has been harassed by ogres all year round. When I was a child, I followed the soldiers in the village to steal the ogres' supplies.

Every time a storm blows through Frostfire Ridge and everyone's life is difficult, they will steal things from the ogres.

Those idiots can't even detect our actions.

But although they stored a lot of dried meat, it was very unpalatable. Probably only ogres and hungry orcs could eat it. I hated the taste when I was a child.

That smell represents the days of barrenness and starvation. Every time you taste them, it means that the village has entered a situation where it may run out of food at any time, and no one likes them.

But I don’t know why, but now I am beginning to miss those dried meats that can grind people’s teeth. "

The brave captain looked at the sparkling lake in front of him. He and the circle of orcs around him fell silent. After a few seconds, the captain sighed and said softly:

"Alas, Alterac Valley is good, but it is not the Frostfire Ridge in my memory. Unfortunately, we have all been changed, and we can no longer go back."