Quel'Thalas, a powerful magical kingdom founded by the high elves, is located in the Eversong Forest in the north of the Eastern Kingdom.
Just like its name, Yonge Forest is always bathed in singing and laughter.
The high elves who are good at arcane magic sit on the Sunwell with unlimited energy and build a powerful barrier for their homeland, named Bandi Noril.
The Ward of Bandinoriel provides a safe and comfortable living environment for the high elves.
Since the end of the Troll War more than two thousand years ago, the forest trolls that once dominated the eastern continent have never recovered.
Although the Amani trolls in the southern part of Eversong Forest occasionally launch harassing attacks on the elves, the weakened trolls are no longer able to cause substantial damage to Quel'Thalas.
The long period of peace has made many high elves forget the cruelty of war.
"All enemies will be blocked from the Bandi Noril Barrier, and Eversong Forest will never fall!"
This was a bold statement that the current Sun King confidently made in front of the alliance's envoy when he rejected the alliance's alliance request a few years ago.
And now, these words were like a big rough hand, slapping back and forth on the old face of Sun King Anasteria Sunstrider.
In the southern part of Yongge Forest, the beautiful forest that was once filled with golden and red hues like the sun has now been replaced by charred blackness caused by the flames.
A group of strong green-skinned creatures are pouring into the forest, destroying everything they can see.
The barrier that the high elves were proud of failed to play its original role. The greenskins shouted loud war cries and marched toward the northern part of the forest with great momentum under the orders of their respective warlords.
These powerful green-skinned creatures are called orcs, an invading race from outside Azeroth.
Since the Dark Portal opened and the orcs entered Azeroth six years ago, they have caused great harm to the world.
One of the human kingdoms located in the southern part of the continent, the Kingdom of Stormwind has fallen to the madness of the orcs.
The orcs were not satisfied with the territory of Stormwind Kingdom and continued to move north after taking a short rest.
Anyone with knowledge in Azeroth can see that their goal is to conquer the entire Eastern Kingdom and defeat all resistance.
The orc warlocks used fel spells to corrode the rune stones that built the Bandinoril barrier, and the outer ring of the barrier in the southern part of the forest, which was based on the Temple of the Moon, the Temple of the Sun, and the Tower of the Morning Star, completely collapsed.
The orcs who drove straight in did not slow down to consolidate the rear, but raced towards the center of Quel'Thalas, Silvermoon City, as if they were seizing time.
In the southern part of the Yongsong Forest, which has been basically occupied, there are still many scattered small groups of elves fighting back against the orc invasion. Among them, the Farstrider camp located on the shores of Lake Arendal is resisting the most fiercely.
The Farstrider camp is not on the main axis of the orcs' continued march, but is located in the eastern corner of the forest. It has long monitored Zul'Aman, the capital of the forest trolls.
The Farstriders are an ancient civil society in Quel'Thalas, founded by Taranas Windrunner, the ancestor of the Windrunner family.
As their name suggests, the Farstriders are not limited to guarding the territory of Quel'Thalas, but focus on the entire world, aiming to safeguard the interests of all high elves in Azeroth.
The orcs had their own agenda behind the attack on Quel'Thalas.
They wanted to use decapitation tactics to end this battle far away from the main battlefield as soon as possible, so as to win the full support of the forest trolls and bring new allies to defeat the final line of human defense-Lordaeron.
After the Bandinoril barrier was corroded, Orgrim, the orc warchief, personally led the main army into Silvermoon City, trying to conquer Quel'Thalas in the shortest possible time.
The forest troll chief Zuljin, who agreed to form an alliance with the orcs, had different opinions at this time.
He hoped that the orc army could advance slowly and use the powerful military strength of the tribe to encroach on Quel'Thalas step by step.
However, Zuljin's proposal was rejected by Orgrim. The tribe could not afford to wait. They must seize the time to move the battlefield and completely defeat the alliance established by the human kingdoms.
The orc army continued to advance northward at full speed, while the enemies that remained in the southern part of the forest and advanced slowly were mostly Amani trolls that swarmed out of Zul'Aman.
"Cang! Cang!"
In front of the Farstrider camp, dull metal collisions sounded one after another.
The sparse but elite Farstriders are resisting an attack by Amani trolls that is several times their own.
Using the fortifications built in advance, the arrows fired by the elf rangers plunged hard into the trolls' ranks. Several rounds of powerful and heavy volleys caused heavy losses to the trolls who were busy demolishing the fortifications.
But in the face of the mighty troll army, it was only a matter of time before the fortifications were destroyed.
High elves are not good at head-on combat. Years of traveling in the forest have allowed them to develop a set of tactics that are most suitable for the forest environment.
It is for this reason that the Ranger, a special and highly mobile profession, has flourished.
In the past, the Farstrider rangers were always able to guerrilla in the forest with ease, hunting down the invading trolls with ease.
But now the Far Traveler camp shelters a large number of refugees whose homes have been destroyed. Once the camp is breached, these refugees will inevitably not survive.
As a last resort, the Elf Rangers had no choice but to give up their advantage in mobility and set up fortifications to confront the Amani Trolls head-on.
"Hold the front! Behind us are the people, there is no way to retreat!"
"The mage casts a spell and prepares... to attack!"
Under the command of a ranger commander with fluttering blond hair, a small number of Farstrider mages began to join forces to cast spells.
An extremely cold ice storm formed in the military formation of the Amani trolls. The cold and sharp ice edges spread quickly, causing considerable damage to the surrounding trolls.
The blond commander's frown did not relax because of this. Since he had been fighting trolls for many years, he knew that this creature had a strong vitality and any injuries would heal automatically soon.
"Salayan, it's your turn to attack. Take care to protect yourselves. I don't want to be beaten up by Alleria next time we meet."
"Hmph~"
A bearded elf with silver hair and ears slightly shorter than other compatriots snorted, put a heavy two-handed sword on his right shoulder, and said something unruly.
"Take care of yourself first, Halduron...I'm leaving!"
The blond ranger commander is the acting commander of the Farstriders, Halduron Brightwing.
Since a large number of elites were taken away by Alleria Windrunner to support the Alliance, the number of Farstriders left in Quel'Thalas was severely insufficient. They could only barely hold on to this refuge camp and were unable to launch a counterattack against the trolls and orcs.
Halduron did not take the silver-haired elf's unruly attitude to heart. After all, this was not the first time he was contradicted by the other party.
Seeing the silver-haired elf holding a big sword and a few high elf warriors riding chocobos and rushing into the enemy formation from the side, Halduron murmured: "Half-elf, let the trolls see the elegance of the elf warriors." Bar."
Many people believe that high elves cannot produce qualified warriors due to their weak physical fitness.
Actually this is a misunderstanding.
The big bow used by the elf rangers requires a lot of strength to draw. Every ranger holding a long bow is a strong man. From this, it can be seen that the physical fitness of the elves is not bad.
It's not that the high elves don't have warriors. To be precise, they don't have a large-scale warrior army.
As for the reason...
First, because in a forest with complex terrain, warriors wearing heavy armor have difficulty moving and can easily become targets for the Amani trolls who are also good at forest warfare.
Secondly... the big guys in Silvermoon City believe that warriors who are always fighting hand-to-hand with the enemy are not elegant enough and cannot embody the noble qualities of high elves.
In conclusion, high elves can cultivate powerful warriors, but the upper echelons, including the Sun King and the Silver Moon Council, believe that this is not necessary.
The ranger force is sufficient to protect the borders of Quel'Thalas.
"call!"
Sarlayan's face was full of excitement as he rushed into the enemy's position at high speed. He swung his heavy sword horizontally and split an unprepared troll headhunter in half from his left shoulder.
Scarlet blood sprayed onto Sarlayan's body, but he didn't care. He licked the remaining blood at the corner of his mouth and immediately changed his target to aim at the next enemy.
Trolls, like high elves, are native species to Azeroth and are the earliest intelligent races bred in Azeroth.
They are naturally tall and have long legs. Although they are not as muscular and powerful as the orcs, the trolls' physical conditions are very balanced, and they may not lose to the orcs one on one.
Although Sarlayan studied under a famous teacher, received strict training from an early age, and has a strong will to fight and no stage fright, he is still a new soldier after all.
After unexpectedly killing a troll, he truly realized the difficulty of this ancient race that had been entangled with the high elves for thousands of years.
Relying on its innate and powerful self-healing ability, the troll is not afraid of injury, and would rather risk being injured himself to leave some mark on the enemy.
The warrior team of only a dozen people used the added impact of the chocobo to tear a large hole in the flank of the Amani troll formation, punching through the otherwise neat troll army.
However, this assault team was also targeted by the Amani Troll generals.
Sarlayan, who was enjoying the passion of the battle, suddenly felt a chill all over his body. He subconsciously turned to the left and took back the blood-stained sword that had just killed a troll.
"Dang, Dang!!"
Two collisions occurred at the same time, and Sarlayan's face turned pale as he hurriedly put on a defensive posture.
The chocobo under him also howled and was almost overturned by the force.
Under the huge force without preparation, Sarlayan's energy and blood boiled a little. He gritted his teeth and managed to maintain his posture without being broken by the enemy's defense.
"Pooh!"
Slightly rudely spitting out the blood that seeped out from his gums due to excessive clenching, Sarlayan regained his unruly posture, straightened the chocobo and looked solemnly at his attacker.
That was a strong troll with a slightly rickety back. The two fangs protruding from the corners of his mouth were curved upward, with a sinister expression on his face.
The battlefield was changing rapidly, and Sarlayan had no time to ask about the other party's origins. He still remembered Halduron's explanation.
"Punch through the enemy formation and return immediately. The rangers and mages will cover you."
"Don't be tempted to fight. Your numbers are too small. Once you lose your impact and fall into the enemy's formation, you will surely die."
After taking a deep look at the strong troll, Sarlayan suppressed the fighting spirit in his heart.
'Sooner or later I will ask you for this debt. '
"Swish swish!"
The cover attack promised by Halduron arrived at the right time, and the troll with a ferocious smile on his face had to prioritize dealing with the rain of arrows falling from the sky.
Sarlayan took the opportunity to evacuate with the experienced veterans, preparing to make a detour back to the camp.
The mages standing on the high platform on the second floor of the Farstrider camp began to show off their power.
Because Sarlayan's team temporarily cut off the connection between the front and rear troll formations, the separated trolls had some disagreements about the next advance and retreat strategies.
Halduron seized this opportunity and ordered all Farstriders to launch a saturation-type coverage attack to cause maximum damage to the trolls' active forces.
The sudden rise in temperature on the battlefield changed the expression of the Troll Warlord who was commanding from the rear. He suddenly remembered a nightmare legend that had been circulating among the Amani tribe for many years.
"Let the front troops retreat! The high elves' great magic is coming!"
"Yes, Warlord Dakara!"
Almost at the same time as Dakara gave the order, a storm composed of flames spewed out from under the ground.
"boom!"
Trolls can endure physical trauma such as swords, but fire, which can cause lasting burns, is their greatest weakness.
During the Troll War 2,800 years ago, the coalition of forest trolls and Zandalari trolls was engulfed by a super-sized fire storm. Both sides of the war always kept this in mind.
After all, Yongsong Forest is the home of the high elves. Unless it is absolutely necessary, Halduron does not want to set fire to the forest.
But there is no other way to think of it now. If the troll attack cannot be repelled, the refugees in the camp will definitely not be spared, and the defense in the southern part of the forest will completely collapse.
"tumultuous!"
The flames soaring into the sky ignited the surrounding dense woods, causing secondary damage to the Amani trolls inside.
"Damn it!"
Warlord Dakara punched the tree trunk next to him in anger.
Before Chief Zuljin followed the orcs northward, he gave him the responsibility of commanding the army, hoping that he could lead the Amani elites to push northward.
But Dakara didn't expect that the Farstrider camp with only about a hundred people would force him to stop his progress.
"Retreat temporarily and let the injured soldiers on the front line retreat to rest."
The troll's self-healing ability is very strong. As long as it is not a severed limb injury or fatal injury that causes the body to lack parts, it can recover as before after a short period of rest.
"By the way, call the witch doctor over. The burned soldiers need him to treat their burns."
"yes!"
Watching the herald leave, Dakara bared his fangs and looked angrily at the elf commando who was about to join the large army.
"Kuta!"
After attracting the attention of the two-axe troll, Dakara pointed his finger at Sarlayan, the leader of the assault team.
"Get rid of that brat! That guy is going to be a lot of trouble when he grows up."
"Hehe~ No problem."
Taking a deep breath, the elite troll known as Kuta leaned back to gather strength and raised his hands back above his head.
"drink!"
Violent Headhunters are a very rare special profession among trolls. They can actively activate their violent blood and greatly improve their physical fitness in a short period of time by consuming their vitality.
"Hoo! Hoo!"
Two broken axes were thrown one after another by the violent headhunter Kuta, aiming directly at Sarlayan who had just emerged from the forest.
Halduron, who was watching all directions, noticed Kuta's attack first, his eyes suddenly widened, and he warned Sarlayan in a loud voice.
"Be careful of sneak attacks!"
With an absolute numerical disadvantage, it is definitely a hard job to penetrate the enemy formation, and the enemy is a powerful enemy like troll, which is not afraid of pain and has amazing self-healing ability. At this time, Sarlayan is obviously not in the best condition, with a look on his face. The look of exhaustion.
With the camp in front of him, Sarlayan couldn't help but relax a little, and his reaction to the sudden attack was half a beat too slow.
This was due to lack of actual combat experience, and Sarlayan paid the price for it.
At the critical moment, Sarlayan, whose hair stood on end, only had time to raise the sword horizontally.
"clang!"
The first shot of the flying ax swung away the hurriedly positioned sword, and the second shot that followed was aimed at Sarlayan's head, and it was about to hit.
Between life and death, Sarlayan relied on the reaction force from the sword to lean back.
"Crack!"
The sharp flying ax flew past the mail on Sarlayan's shoulder, picking up some lock pieces and avoiding Te's tragic fate of being shot in the head with an axe.
But the heavy flying ax still caused a lot of damage to him, and there was a sharp pain in the collarbone, which must have been broken due to the impact.
After being knocked away from the chocobo, Sarlayan flew upside down and hit a tree before stopping.
"Well!"
The physical pain did not dampen Sarlayan's fighting spirit. Instead, he was aroused by his stubborn nature and refused to admit defeat. He glared fiercely at the furious headhunter Kuta who looked regretful.
"Whoosh!"
Halduron barely aimed, raised his bow and fired an arcane shot at Kuta.
Halduron Brightwing is the second-in-command of the Farstriders, and is quite famous throughout Quel'Thalas.
His attack made Kuta, who was a little exhausted after the rage, completely unable to react. If the troll warlord Dakara had not reached out in time to help, Kuta would definitely have a hole in his forehead.
Looking at each other, Halduron and Dakara did not let their personal feelings sway them, and they tacitly agreed to stop fighting.
Sarlayan covered his shoulders with an annoyed look on his face: "Damn it! I was careless at the last moment."
Halduron handed over the command to his adjutant and strode up to Sarlayan to check on his injuries.
"Fortunately, it's just a broken bone. Let the priest treat it and you'll be able to be alive and kicking in a few days."
"Tsk~"
Sarlayan's face was a little confused: "I've made you laugh... I promise, there will never be a next time."
Halduron smiled and patted Sarlayan's head: "Come on, I didn't have such a brilliant first appearance as you when I was an adult."
"If there wasn't really no one available, I wouldn't risk being scolded by Alleria and let you, a newly-grown adult, also participate in the battle."
"Go and have a good rest for a few days. This battle... still needs to be fought."
Sarlayan Deep Shadow is a half-elf of mixed blood. His father's family is a branch of the wealthy Deep Shadow family in Silvermoon City.
When Sarlayan was a child, he lived with his father in Silvermoon City. However, due to a series of problems caused by his half-elf ancestry, the atmosphere in Silvermoon City made Thalayan's father Julian increasingly unhappy.
When Sharlayan was 8 years old, Julian moved him with him to Deep Shadow Manor in the southern part of Eversong Forest.
High elves have always been proud and exclusive, and one can imagine their attitude towards half-elves with impure blood.
Sarlayan has been looked down upon a lot since he was a child, and has had fights with many people because of this.
In the eyes of others, he is a wild and rude half-elf, like a hedgehog that pricks its thorns at any time. Anyone who dares to provoke will inevitably receive a tough response.
The folk customs in the southern part of Yongge Forest are relatively simple, and the rejection of outsiders is far less than that of Silver Moon City.
After moving to the manor to settle down, Sarlayan still maintained his original style, offended many people, and made some friends who didn't care about his half-elf status.
"Hiss~"
When using the Holy Light spell to treat and bandage Sarlayan, Miss Priest's deliberate heavy hand made Sarlayan tear up his lips.
The beautiful priest lady with long flaxen hair scolded angrily: "It's okay if you know it hurts. I'll see if you dare to be so careless next time."
Sarlayan moved his left arm indifferently. After the priest's emergency treatment, the pain had been relieved a lot.
"It was indeed my negligence this time. I will not give the enemy any chance next time."
"Thanks, Liadrin."
Liadrin sighed: "Today is a good day for you to come of age, so I won't go into details."
"You happen to be injured and unable to go to the battlefield. Would you like to invite Lilas to have a drink with you?"
Sarlayan looked embarrassed: "Lyras... I'm afraid his sisters will blame me for teaching him bad habits."
Lylas Windrunner, one of Sarlayan's few friends, is the youngest child of the Windrunner family, with three sisters with different characteristics.
The eldest sister Alleria, the commander of the Farstriders, and a colleague and friend of Sallayan's father Julian.
Alleria has always taken care of Sarlayan since he was a child. Sarlayan has a very good relationship with this unrelated sister.
The second sister Sylvanas, the future ranger general, will lead the high elf ranger troops with her mother Liresa.
Sharlayan didn't have much contact with her. Instead, he got to know Sylvanas' human apprentice Nathanos Marris quite well because of their mutual sympathy.
The third sister, Vereesa, is the most doting member of the Windrunner family and Lyras is also his ranger mentor.
Under normal circumstances, Vereesa is mature and steady, and is very strict when supervising training.
But once Lylas is in danger, she will immediately turn into a tigress protecting her calf, showing her sharp claws and claws against anyone who dares to bully her little brother.
Lylas was only a few years old and had not yet completed his training as a ranger. The head of the family, Leleza, forbade him from joining the ranger force.
This time the orc invasion came too suddenly, and many elves were penetrated through the defense line before they could react and follow, and the north and south of Yonge Forest were completely cut off.
Lylas originally lived with his sister Vereesa in Windwalk Village in the southwest of the forest. After learning that the Farstrider camp sheltered a large number of refugees, the two siblings came to seek refuge with some of the rangers who stayed in Windwalk Village.
Urgent times do extraordinary things. Although in Vereesa's view, Lyras has not completed his training yet, he can't care much about this situation at the moment. Survival is the most important thing.
Just as Sarlayan was hesitating whether to invite Lylas to his coming-of-age ceremony, Halduron's helpless voice came from outside the door.
"Chaplain Liadrin, we are at war."
"Although the Far Travelers are not a regular army, they have their own rules. Let's save the wine until after the war. I owe it to Sarlayan."
From Halduron's point of view, this priestess who was unfortunately trapped in the southern part of the forest while on a pilgrimage was good at everything, but he couldn't stand the hedonism that was in line with the nobility of Silvermoon City.
Liadrin shrugged nonchalantly: "You are the leader here, you have the final say."
Many people were injured in this battle. Liadrin wasted no time, said hello to Halduron, turned around and devoted herself to treating others.
Halduron's face was full of exhaustion, and all the affairs of the entire camp were pressing on his head. Halduron, who was used to being lazy, was still a little uncomfortable with it.
Seeing concern in Halduron's eyes, Sarlayan straightened his face and asked, "Is the situation very bad?"
Raising his hand to rub his cheek, Halduron's smile returned to his face.
"It's really serious, but it's not the end of the road yet."
"You should have a good rest first. Recuperate your health before you can continue to fight on the battlefield. I'm going to get busy."
"correct."
Before leaving, Halduron turned around, and the smile on his face became much more sincere.
"Happy birthday, Sarlayan."
…
Lying in the simple temporary lounge in the Farstrider camp, Sarlayan could still hear the painful groans of the wounded soldiers, which kept him unable to sleep for a long time.
Due to the different growth environment of ordinary high elves, Sharlayan does not have a strong sense of belonging to Quel'Thalas. Even if this arrogant country is destroyed, it has nothing to do with him.
The reason why he stood up to participate in the war was, on the one hand, because he was naturally warlike and refused to admit defeat, and on the other hand, it was to protect his friends in this disaster, nothing more.
"Dad, when will you come back?"
Sharlayan's father, Julian, left Quel'Thalas with Alleria, the leader of the Farstriders, and went south on an expedition to support the Alliance. He has not returned yet.
Because the orcs arrived very suddenly, most of the alliance's generals did not expect that they would bypass the heavy defense lines in front and enter Quel'Thalas, and also achieved many results in the battle with the high elves.
"Hmph~ Arrogance is poison. If we continue to be so self-righteous and seclusive, Quel'Thalas will die of poison sooner or later."
Just when Sarlayan was about to fall asleep, an unidentified voice suddenly sounded in his mind.
"The host is over 18 years old, the anti-addiction is lifted, and the system is officially activated."
Before Sarlayan could react, a large number of inexplicable horizontal subtitles suddenly floated before his eyes.
Although they were words he had never seen before, Sarlayan could understand the meaning of these words.
"First!"
“It’s a squeeze up front.”
"Come on, come on, this is a live-action Warcraft movie? The ears are quite realistic."
"Grass (a kind of plant), why is the protagonist an elf uncle? Where is the handsome boy from the high elf?"
"Sisters in the fan circle in front of you, please rest a while, I just like this kind of rugged and handsome uncle, Xi Liu~"
Sarlayan: "?"
"What is this?"
