Sylvanas led a unit of elite Farstrider rangers from Silvermoon City to the Ghostlands to carry out the king's orders.
"Danath," she said, looking at the adjutant of the Silver Covenant volunteers, "His Majesty seems to have completely lost interest in any involvement with humans. He has ordered me to expel the people of the Alliance and forbid them from ever setting foot in Quel'Thalas again. Although he didn't directly issue the order, I believe you volunteers should follow his will, leave the Alliance, and return to Quel'Thalas. This is your home."
Sylvanas had never seen the king scold the people of the former Alliance so furiously. She felt that if Vereesa and those volunteers stayed in the Alliance, it might affect the king's opinion of them.
Danath said firmly, "I will return to Stratholme to convey your words to them and let those who are willing to return, return. But I will not return. I have personally witnessed the devastation caused by the Scourge in that city, and I will not choose to be a deserter."
Sylvanas was stunned. She didn't expect this ranger to answer like this. She also didn't know why the king was so furious, but now she thought that perhaps the humans were really facing a major crisis, which was why they asked the elves for help, but His Majesty the King was unwilling to make sacrifices for the Alliance due to various concerns. Could this be the reason for Anasterian's fury?
But—was that really Alright?
She recalled what her sister Vereesa had said to her a month ago when she was about to form a volunteer army to support the Alliance: If we don't lend a helping hand when our allies are in distress, we will lose outside assistance when we ourselves are in crisis.
"But who could put Quel'Thalas in danger?" That was what she thought at the time. Now Sylvanas still held on to this belief, but she was not so sure anymore. Because it was this arrogance that led to heavy losses during the orc invasion more than ten years ago. She lost more than twenty relatives because of it, including her brother Lirath Windrunner. This was an eternal pain in her heart.
Originally, there was another pain, which was that more than ten years ago, when the Alliance heroes ventured to Draenor, the world of the orcs, their eldest sister, Alleria Windrunner, also participated in the expedition and had been missing ever since. They all assumed that she had heroically sacrificed herself, but a few days ago, when she met Prince Kael'thas, he told her that Alleria had not died and had added a new member named "Arator" to their Windrunner family in Outland.
This good news excited her for days.
When the Farstrider unit arrived at the Alliance camp, Uther and Aiden were already waiting.
"That is General Sylvanas, the Ranger-General of Silvermoon City, Vereesa's sister," Uther said, spotting the extraordinary high elf from afar.
"It's her," Aiden nodded. His eyesight was good, and he could clearly see the appearance of this famous "Queen": She was wearing a red cloak, with two pointed ears exposed from the hood. Still alive, her skin was as white as milk, and seemed to glow slightly. Under the cloak, she wore very simple and light leather armor, revealing her slender waist and long legs. Even though most of her face was covered by the cloak, she still looked stunningly beautiful.
Uther smiled and went up to greet her, but what awaited him was not good news.
"His Majesty the King does not wish to see you. Please return!" Sylvanas's voice was stiff and cold. Rejecting such a paladin hero who had once helped Quel'Thalas resist the orc invasion made her feel very embarrassed and guilty, but she had no choice but to carry out the king's orders.
Uther was stunned. He frowned and asked, "Why?"
"This is an order," Sylvanas replied. She also didn't know why the king would refuse.
Jaina stepped forward and said, "Even if the elves withdraw from the Alliance, His Majesty Anasterian wouldn't send us back without even seeing the Alliance's envoy, would he?"
She was very resentful. Why were the high elves so unfeeling? They had clearly caused a big trouble themselves, yet they still rejected the Alliance's goodwill so barbarically.
Sylvanas didn't know how to answer. Even enemy countries rarely refused to see the other party's envoys, and even maliciously expelled them. But she was just a person carrying out orders and had no right to question the king's decisions. Moreover, the other party's questioning made her a little unhappy: "His Majesty the King's original words were to have me lead people to expel you from the country and forbid contact with humans. I am already being very restrained. Please don't make things difficult for me!"
The meanings expressed by the two phrases "expel from the country" and "forbid contact" plunged them into complete shock.
"What is His Majesty Anasterian thinking?"
"It's simply absurd!"
Uther couldn't believe what he was hearing and had a terrible guess: "Could he also be confused by the Dreadlord?" This guess made him feel cold all over. Uther looked at Aiden, wanting to know his opinion.
Aiden also felt it was very absurd. There must have been some huge misunderstanding that made Anasterian suddenly hate humans so much. And this misunderstanding should not have existed before, which meant it was the butterfly effect caused by his actions.
"Let's retreat to the border, and then I'll think of a way!" he suggested.
"It seems that is the only way." Uther wasn't sure what methods he would employ, but the Paladin had already learned a portion of Aiden's mysterious nature. He didn't need to understand everything perfectly; he only needed to know that Aiden might be able to accomplish it.
Thus, Danath returned to the Alliance's guard force. After breaking camp, they returned along the same route, stopping outside Tranquillien in the Ghostlands.
Before entering his tent, Aiden said to Kayle, "Kayle, I'm going to use Spirit Walk to meet with the elven king."
"Understood." Kayle acknowledged, then stood guard outside his tent.
Aiden meditated once again, entering a state of spiritual projection. This was practically an advanced form of Spirit Walk, capable of casting spells and creating solid mirror images, allowing him to freely enter and exit Quel'Thalas.
Aiden felt that if his actions had caused Anasterian to misunderstand, then it was necessary for him to clarify this misunderstanding. Otherwise, he would certainly feel guilty if the Scourge invasion of Silvermoon City truly occurred.
Entering his spiritual form, his will broke free from the earth's restraints, rushing towards Silvermoon City like lightning. What would take an ordinary person a day's ride on horseback, he accomplished in just one hour. Then, he spent half an hour finding the Sunstrider Spire and identifying his target.
After reprimanding Kael'thas, Anasterian was still somewhat angry. A day had passed, and according to the timeline, Sylvanas should have already driven away those people from the Alliance, which made him feel more at peace.
But at that moment, a ball of light suddenly pierced through the gate of his palace and arrived before him. Then, the ball of light twisted and changed, forming a human image.
"Magic." He immediately recognized it as a magical mirror image, someone was using this method to communicate with him.
"Who are you?" Anasterian frowned deeply as he saw the illusion transform into a dark-haired human. The last thing he wanted to see right now was a human.
"Greetings, Your Majesty Anasterian. I am Aiden."
"It's you!" Anasterian glared at him instantly. "You dare to intrude here, who gave you such audacity!"
Aiden was somewhat baffled. He didn't know when he had offended this high elf king whom he had never met before. Judging by this attitude, could it be that Anasterian's unwillingness to meet the Alliance envoy was because of him?
But they clearly hadn't had any contact.
"Your Majesty, have you misunderstood something?" Aiden asked patiently, with the attitude of resolving the problem.
"Misunderstood? Ridiculous!" Anasterian was furious. "Aren't you the human who bewitched my son, making him doubt Dar'Khan, the most respected mage of our high elves? I don't know what your intentions are, trying to harm such a beloved elder!"
"Respected? Beloved?" Aiden retorted with a sneer, unwilling to be outdone. "This elder you speak of nearly killed me and my most trusted heroes in the recent battle of the Broken Ridge, and even rescued a death knight carrying a large amount of plague. Do you still think he's innocent?"
Anasterian rebuked, "Enough! I don't want to hear such absurd words again. Leave before I draw my sword, or don't blame me for being impolite!"
Aiden took a deep breath, although his soul mirror image didn't need such an action, the king's unreasonable behavior made him feel truly angry.
"Don't you even bother to understand your council member? The mage who ruined the results of our bloody sacrifices, you trust him so much?"
Anasterian drew his sword, red light flowing on the blade, as if it were red-hot. This wasn't an ordinary enchanted weapon, but the high elves' ancient artifact, "Felo'melorn", a legendary weapon only the Sunstrider King was qualified to wield.
"It seems you turned a deaf ear to my warning." He pointed the sword at Aiden, listing his crimes: "Because of your instigation, Kael'thas wanted to confront Dar'Khan, and our hero stabbed himself in the heart to prove his innocence. To conceal the truth, I had to lie to my people."
"I've been wanting to settle accounts with you, but I didn't expect you to come to my door."
"You said Dar'Khan rescued some death knight? But he died before my eyes! Since that mage didn't kill you, let me eliminate you!"
"Don't you suspect that Dar'Khan faked his death to escape?" Only after hearing Anasterian's words did Aiden finally understand the great changes that had occurred in Quel'Thalas during this period.
He guessed correctly, it was because he had warned Kael'thas that the elven prince was eager to eliminate Dar'Khan, this internal threat, after returning to the country. But he didn't expect Dar'Khan to be one step ahead, successfully deceiving Anasterian by faking his death, escaping and becoming a necromancer, directly serving the Scourge in a new identity.
Anasterian roared, "Do you think I'm blind! Prepare to die!"