"Sylvanas! Sylvanas! The orcs are here!"
Alaric looked up as Vereesa stormed into the lord's hall. He rose to his feet unhurriedly.
"So, they've finally come?"
He completely ignored the startled cries of the Barov family's servants and gestured for Vereesa to step forward.
"Those orcs? Now?"
"Yes, Your Grace," the ranger replied.
Having once followed Alaric and joined the high elven mounted archers in wreaking havoc behind Horde lines in the Arathi Highlands, Vereesa was a seasoned veteran in battles against orcs.
Her cheeks were flushed, her expression excited, clearly, she was eager for a fight with the Horde.
"Your prediction was right. They must've abandoned Broken Ridge and headed straight for Dalaran County, right this moment, they've probably already reached the lakeside!"
Vereesa spoke in an admiring tone.
Alaric swiftly brushed past her and strode out of the lord's hall.
He walked along a corridor, ascended a short flight of stairs, and entered the nearest balcony, stepping into Janice's study.
At the moment, Janice was there with her daughter, Ilucia, helping her review magical knowledge. Marishia was also present.
She looked up in surprise as Alaric burst in, with Vereesa and Garona following close behind.
Pushing open the distant window, Alaric walked out onto the balcony and then stood still, unmoving.
Normally, the view from here showcased the beautiful mountains stretching across the lake, this was exactly why Janice had chosen this room as her study.
That remained the case even now, but the greenery between the mountains and waters had turned black, as if the land had been overturned. The Horde had indeed arrived.
"How could this happen?" Janice asked Alaric in shock as she spotted the distant Horde forces. "What is the rest of the Alliance doing? Why haven't they stopped them?"
As the current ruler of Dalaran County, she understood all too well, even the royal capital of Alterac had fallen beneath the iron hooves of the orcs.
With just the current forces of Dalaran County, there was no way to stop them.
"You can't blame them for this," Alaric explained. "The orcs must have abandoned Broken Ridge without hesitation, intending to escape Alterac through our territory.
Don't underestimate them just because they're savage, their Warchief has his own strategies."
Janice frowned and shook her head.
She thought the same as Alaric, even though Dalaran had already been conquered once by the Horde, she had never taken the orcs seriously, treating them as mere savages with brute strength.
But reality proved that the Horde's Warchief was not only a competent commander and fierce warrior, but also a cunning military strategist.
"You were right, after all," Janice sighed. She had seen Alaric's recent defensive arrangements for Dalaran County with her own eyes, and now those preparations were proving completely effective.
"Then, the rest is up to you."
She entrusted the fate of Dalaran County and the Barov family to the man before her, the very same man she had chosen to entrust her life to.
"Send word to all the guards," Alaric nodded, having made up his mind.
"The Horde won't have naval power ready in time to launch a water assault on the castle. All forces except a small defensive garrison are to assemble and board ships to support the town."
Vereesa immediately accepted the order and left to carry it out.
After joining Alaric, since he had no surplus manpower in Alterac, Vereesa, Garona, and Onyxia had become his close aides, entrusted with ever more responsibilities.
"Also, send messages to the other Alliance forces. Let them know the situation we're in. We'll see what happens next," Alaric added. Someone was already making arrangements to dispatch the carrier pigeons.
Finally, he looked around at everyone present. "The castle in the lake is not ideal for battlefield command.
What we need to do now is return to the town immediately to take over the defense.
Hold Dalaran County until reinforcements arrive. Onyxia must already be organizing the defenses by now."
He looked once more across the lake. That black tide of an army was swiftly moving along the shoreline, time was running out.
The carrier pigeons brought the message north of Broken Ridge to Mograine, and also to Lothar, who had just arrived at Sophia Highlands but had not yet entered Alterac.
"What?!"
Lothar was in the middle of dealing with the day's military affairs. After the long trek to Sophia Highlands, the Alliance was finally enjoying a rare rest. The path into Alterac from here was not an easy one.
But the new message shocked him to the core, he even knocked over all the parchments on his desk.
Lothar stood up and began pacing in circles, still clutching the note tightly in his hand without realizing it.
He wanted to help Alaric, his friend and most trusted ally, but he didn't know how.
Alaric was an outstanding strategist and a powerful mage. Even though Alterac now only had a handful of troops left, with solid walls, Lothar firmly believed Alaric could withstand the Horde's first wave.
The problem was, Orgrim and his orcs, though not vast in number, were still a formidable force.
If they used their overwhelming individual strength to mount a direct assault, it would be dangerous.
After all, Dalaran County had already been breached once before, and Lothar held no high opinion of Alterac's soldiers.
With second-rate troops and low walls, no matter how brilliant Alaric was, it was impossible to win against the powerful Horde with such a poor hand.
In truth, the failure to track the Horde's movements, allowing them to strike at the weakest point in the encirclement before his own forces were in place, the main responsibility lay with him.
Though Lothar had repeatedly overestimated the orcs in his mind, he still underestimated Orgrim as an opponent.
"Damn it! These cunning orcs."
Furious, Lothar grabbed the royal greatsword hanging beside his chair and brought it down on the table before him, splitting it in half with one blow.
"I'll kill him!" he roared.
The warriors and guards around him were startled by the sudden outburst, tensing up immediately. That made Lothar suddenly aware, he was not alone here.
At last, he calmed down and issued orders at once.
"Assemble the army," he told his shocked adjutant. "I'm heading to Alterac immediately."
"But Anduin," his adjutant, Turalyon, replied, "we've just arrived at Sophia Highlands after a long march. The troops are exhausted!"
Lothar frowned.
"In that case, we'll ride with the cavalry only. Gather every mounted unit you can find. We will not abandon our friends!"
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