Dun Modr is adjacent to the Arathi Highlands, separated only by the Wall of Thoradin. This wall, which separates the Hillsbrad Foothills from the Arathi Highlands, stretches for tens of kilometers, protecting the birthplace of the human Arathi Empire two thousand years ago. With the expansion of humanity, this wall lost its original function and was gradually abandoned. Today, it looks dilapidated, with severe damage in many places.
In recent years, the Kingdom of Stromgarde on this side of the wall and the Kingdom of Alterac on the other side have had many territorial disputes. Thoras Trollbane originally wanted to repair this magnificent Great Wall, but abandoned the idea due to economic constraints. With the destruction of the Kingdom of Alterac, this became even less necessary.
When Aiden led a small number of people to cross the Wall of Thoradin with Fordring's team, the veteran paladin was popularizing its history to Aiden. Among the listeners, however, was someone very different—a green-skinned orc.
"I heard that you pleaded for me in court, young lord," the old orc's skin was slightly gray, a clear difference from the younger orcs. Perhaps it was because he was less affected by the blood of the demon? "Why is that? I don't quite understand."
"Don't understand what?" Aiden looked at Eitrigg.
Eitrigg stated bluntly: "You don't seem to have dealt with orcs before, nor have any orcs spared your life."
"Then just assume that I want to have an orc as a liaison, to persuade other orcs to participate in the fight against the Lich King."
"But why would my people fight the Lich King? We don't even know what it is."
"No, no, you are very familiar with the Lich King," Aiden shook his head, a mocking smile on his face. "His name is Ner'zhul, that's right, the old shaman whom the orcs of Draenor once revered."
Eitrigg widened his blood-red eyes: "That's impossible!"
"Nothing is impossible. This is fate."
Aiden ignored the old orc and took out the notebook he carried with him to look through it. This was the notebook Medivh had given him when he left. Aiden had been studying it ever since he got it. The knowledge recorded inside was too profound, and he could only understand a very small part of it. He understood that there was too much difference between his current realm and Medivh, who was at the peak of his power at the time. On the contrary, Kel'Thuzad, the Death Singer, benefited greatly after borrowing it to read.
Aiden learned a very cool skill from it, called "Spirit Walker." This spell allows him to leave his body and travel as a spirit when he is in deep meditation. The spirit can directly communicate with people's consciousness and can also enter other people's dreams.
He carefully examined the function of "Spirit Walker," and it seemed that its purpose was—to play ghost and scare people?
Jaina had also read this notebook, but the genius mage said that she hardly understood its meaning at all, let alone learn any spells from it. Aiden was a little strange, could it be that his magical talent was higher than Jaina's? He thought it shouldn't be possible.
Perhaps it was because he had spent more than a year in the Emerald Dream. In that strange world, his spirit was tempered every moment. And the meditation of mages is to enter that state between dream and awakening, between reality and illusion, and between spirit and flesh. Most mages find it difficult to enter meditation quickly, but Aiden finds it easy because his body has already remembered the feeling of meditation. Jaina also praised his talent, especially after learning that he had never been exposed to magic before.
This genius mage from Dalaran was also in the accompanying team. She had previously sneaked into the orc internment camps with Arthas. At that time, the orcs inside were listless, like livestock in captivity, numb like walking corpses. Now that she knew that a chieftain had liberated them, Jaina really wanted to see this leader who could re-inspire the orc's fighting spirit. To see what was so special about this chieftain who was said to have been raised by humans.
After crossing the Wall of Thoradin, a group of Stromgarde soldiers asked about their intentions. Upon learning that they were envoys of the Alliance, Prince Galen Trollbane of Stromgarde, who had been informed, arrived with a team of cavalry.
Galen saw the old orc Eitrigg in the crowd at first glance. He questioned Fordring in surprise: "Sir, why is there an orc without shackles in your team?"
Fordring said: "Because we will send him back to his people, in exchange for the sincerity of peace."
"Is this the way your envoys are going to 'eliminate Stromgarde's worries'?" A haze and dissatisfaction piled up on Galen's thin face.
"Yes, Prince Galen."
"But this is not the way we want!" Galen glared. "What we want is to drive the orcs entrenched on our land to extinction, not any negotiations!"
Aiden said: "But now the human world is facing a threat many times more serious than the orcs, which is a common threat to the world of the living."
"Who are you?" Galen glared over.
Kayle rode out from behind Aiden, "You are being rude."
Galen looked at this golden-armored angel with two wings on her back in surprise, rubbed his eyes, and said incredulously: "Angel?"
"Judicator," Kayle emphasized the first two words.
Galen noticed the uniquely shaped sword of conviction in her hand, and the coldness in her eyes. He took a step back slightly: "Stromgarde needs to reconsider the possibility of joining the Alliance. I hope you can come back intact from the barbaric orcs. Goodbye!"
The words of the Stromgarde prince reeked of undisguised malice, and then he turned his horse and galloped away with his knights.
"Looks like I've slowed you down," Eitrigg chuckled, carefree.
Fordring said, "If we really lose the addition of the Stromgarde kingdom because of this, that would be bad news. The soldiers here are all very brave and good at fighting. I witnessed the power of this mountain people in the last war."
"Perhaps we'll gain orc allies?" Aiden smiled, turning to Eitrigg, "Do you think it's possible, Eitrigg?"
Eitrigg grinned, "That depends on seeing the new Horde. But I hope my people have indeed been freed from the influence of demon blood, then what you said might be possible."
Kayle said, "Commander, it seems we need to show off Valoran's reputation."
"Uh, how so?"
"Who are you again?" she mimicked Prince Galen's tone, and Aiden immediately understood her meaning.
However…
"You can joke too, Kayle."
Around four o'clock in the afternoon, the team had reached the eastern part of the Arathi Highlands. This area was already beyond the protection zone of the Stromgarde army, and orcs could be encountered at any time from now on. So everyone began to be vigilant. Although they didn't come for combat, the negotiation team couldn't be beaten up by the orcs as enemies and then taken as prisoners.
Kayle suddenly said, "There's the sound of fighting ahead."
Aiden immediately said, "You take to the air and scout the situation first, we'll be right there!"
The angel spread her wings and flew into the sky, heading towards the front.
"Could it be a battle between orcs and humans?" Fordring was a little worried. If that were the case, they would be in a very awkward situation.
"Let's take a look first!"
The team was all on horseback, so after accelerating, they quickly arrived at the battle location. Kayle had already joined the battle, and what Fordring was worried about didn't happen, because the two sides fighting were humans and ogres!
In front of them, more than a dozen ogres were chasing some refugees. Soldiers with the Stromgarde emblem were evacuating while intercepting the ogres' attacks. However, in front of these giant monsters twice the height of humans, even cavalry would be knocked away by the ogres' spiked clubs, not to mention there were two two-headed ogres among them—they could cast spells!
So before Kayle joined the battle, the human side suffered heavy casualties. It was less like intercepting and more like collapsing. They only stabilized the situation after the angel joined. Because Kayle alone restrained nearly half of the ogres, and one of the two-headed ogre mages had already become a corpse.
"Brothers, attack! Kill the ogres!" Fordring took down his warhammer and charged towards the battlefield.
The followers were all knights of the Silver Hand, and Aiden also brought cavalry from the Demacian Vanguard. Under Fordring's leadership, they gathered and charged towards the ogres.
Aiden took out the Staff of Time from his space, and with a wave of his hand, he hung a Time Bomb over the head of an ogre warrior who was chasing Stromgarde soldiers, and then hung a Time Warp slow on another one charging towards the refugees, making it completely unable to run.
Jaina was not willing to be outdone. After chanting the spell, an ice arrow roared towards the nearest ogre, hitting a strong ogre who was fighting with a group of cavalry.
In the blink of an eye, only Eitrigg in the team was empty-handed. The old warrior picked up a one-handed axe from a fallen soldier, weighed it, and seemed to think the weight was not enough, so he found a sword near another corpse. Then he let out a war cry and charged towards the largest group of ogres.
The addition of this reinforcement suddenly reversed the Stromgarde soldiers' collapsing situation.
The commander of the Stromgarde soldiers rode on his warhorse and shouted when he saw the opportunity, "Gather, Stromgarde soldiers! Gather and counterattack the ogres!"
Then he charged towards the place with the most ogres. Unexpectedly, an ogre suddenly reached out and grabbed a soldier's thigh, throwing him at the commander like a weapon, and charging at him when he couldn't dodge.
The commander hurriedly caught the flying soldier, only to find that his neck had been twisted into a strange shape. When he looked up, he saw the ogre grinning and raising the stone hammer, which was two or three times larger than a normal person's head, to smash down on him.
"Holy Light be with me…" he muttered, unable to dodge, and could only raise the shield in his hand in vain. According to the ogre's strength, this blow would smash him and the mount under him into minced meat.
"Thump," he felt the shield block something, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw a huge ogre head fall beside the horse's hooves, rolling to the side. Fresh blood was still spurting from the severed neck.
He blankly put down the shield, and found that the ogre who was about to smash him to death no longer had a head on his neck, and was teetering.
Someone had saved him from the brink of death.