Night, a quiet, peaceful, and restful night.
The burned forest was so quiet that it seemed like a grave that could bury everything.
As the last spark in the forest went out, the heat between heaven and earth finally came to an end.
On the bluestone road between two huge forests, a team of human sentinels was stationed at the intersection. They had a very standard warning system, enough fires to expand their vision, and sentries that were either bright or dark.
However, outside the shadow of the campfire, some huge but completely silent black shadows quietly sneaked into their vigilance range.
They slowed down, taking each step carefully on the ground covered with charred and carbonized bark, their hands tightly grasping various weapons to avoid making any collision sounds when moving.
Obviously, their worries were unnecessary.
Humans are far less perceptive than their long-eared allies, the elves.
The earth was pitch black, with only an occasional beam of cold moonlight casting a shadow through the gaps in the thick clouds.
The light fell on the ground, creating a strange scene.
Darkness is a very deadly thing for humans, but it is nothing to trolls. After years of walking in the forest, trolls have the gift of dark vision.
No, it should be said that the night elves, who were a mutant branch of the dark trolls fourteen thousand years ago, inherited their talents from the trolls.
At this moment, the troll's pupils dilated, sweeping away the darkness - every detail of the burned forest was vividly captured.
The trolls are extremely angry at these humans who are destroying the forest.
So, when they attacked, they threw spears filled with fury.
Almost in an instant, a scout team of twelve people completely disappeared from this world.
In three days, relying on the time when the fire blocked the Horde's way forward, the rescue team led by Duke shortened the distance between them and the tribal army to 120 kilometers.
This is already a very sensitive distance. If we march quickly without regard for our lives, we can reach them in half a day.
At this time, Duke lost track of the tribal army.
It wasn't that Orgrim's army had disappeared, but that all the scouts sent by Duke to Stratholme were killed. Not only the scouts, but also the five FFF flamethrower teams that Duke had Makaro send were killed.
Duke's face turned pale.
What will shake Duke and Alleria is yet to come.
Knowing that his army's whereabouts had been exposed, Orgrim simply played a brilliant intelligence suppression trick. Not only did he send Zul'jin's troll troops to hunt down human and elf scouts, he also ordered Zuluhed's dragon cavalry troops to attack all human settlements in the area.
You know, this area is far from the Eastern Plaguelands that was completely destroyed in later generations, not only with no grass growing, but also full of plague and death. As the rear base of the Kingdom of Lordaeron, this is still an important grain producing area in Lordaeron.
With most of the fighting force being withdrawn to defend the border of Silverpine Forest, the Stratholme area, which was originally the rear area, was extremely empty. Many towns could not even gather a squadron of archers, let alone deal with the red dragons flying around in the sky and breathing fire.
For a time, every city was in danger.
Nobles from Marris Farm, Darrowshire, Stratholme and other places all asked for help from Lordaeron. King Terenas, who was under great pressure, immediately threw a stack of letters of request for help that were full of orders to Duke.
Duke almost wanted to die when he saw the magic message.
"Orgrim is going to attack Stratholme?" asked Windsor.
"No, this is just a trick." Duke was very sure: "If Orgrim dares to attack any human city before attacking Quel'Thalas, I bet that the troll leader Zul'jin will take his people away."
"The problem is that no king of the Alliance knows the trolls as well as you do. They even know who the leader of the trolls is. Or, they know that you are right, but they have to put pressure on you because of the pressure from below."
Duke couldn't help but smile bitterly: "Reggie, now you know that the position of deputy commander of the alliance is not easy to sit on, right?"
"I must admit that Orgrim played this trick brilliantly. Now the arrogant people in the Silvermoon Council firmly believe that the Horde is going to take over Lordaeron's cities. And Lordaeron is eager for the Horde to get out of here as soon as possible. It doesn't matter if they fight the elves or jump into the sea, as long as they don't hang around on their land."
"So, we can only count on the two ladies of Windrunner?"
"Yes, let's set up camp."
Duke didn't dare to advance rashly when his own troops were smaller than the Horde's. With so few men, he could just play a few tricks with the elves and attack the Horde from both sides. If they were ambushed and fell into chaos, they would be destroyed in a matter of minutes.
He can't afford the gamble.
"In the name of Silvermoon, where are they?" Alleria ran in the forest with a long rapier in her hand. The slapping of leaves and branches made her figure a little blurry.
The few rangers have dispersed in a fan shape in all directions to expand the scope of reconnaissance.
However, when Alleria realized that there were trolls among their enemies, she hoped very much that they would not break into any troll encirclement. She hoped that she or Sylvanas would find these hateful greenskins first.
Alleria was confused again.
Her reason and feelings told her that Duke's inference was correct. In fact, it was because Alleria listened to and followed his arrangements that she crossed mountains and rivers to search for the Horde.
On the other hand, she couldn't help but think that if she hadn't run for help, then when the orcs and trolls arrived in Eversong Woods, she would have been able to fight against the evil together with her family and compatriots when facing the invaders.
This is a very contradictory feeling.
She knew very well that Duke wanted her to break away from Quel'Thalas for some special reason, but she could not give up her country and compatriots.
After all, this was the land she had lived on and fought for for thousands of years.
Alleria was extremely conflicted.
At this moment, she suddenly heard a whistle in the wind. It was her sister calling her.
Alleria hurried over.
It was a three-way intersection in the forest.
This is not a traditional path made by people, but more like a trail for animals. However, this trail has a special meaning for trolls. Trolls like to use this kind of fork in the road to declare important things.
For example, this one is a dried-up troll corpse hanging at the fork in the road.
The hair on the corpse was still shiny and all the feathers and ivory ornaments on the body were new, but this troll looked as if all the blood and flesh had been drained out of its body.
"This is the former leader of a certain troll clan. He failed in some kind of election ceremony and was directly sacrificed to the evil god. Then, I found that the entire clan migrated, heading north..."