Arthas observed Sylvanas on her white strider, a curious thought crossing his mind—he wondered why the High Elves chose such creatures as mounts.
"Prince Arthas, don't underestimate the speed of striders in the forest; they are more suited as mounts here than warhorses," Sylvanas keenly noticed Arthas's unusual gaze, explaining as she checked the two daggers strapped to her thigh. Arthas thought, 'Of course, I know that; I just find it awkward to see you riding on a soft, cute creature, even though striders are actually carnivorous raptors and not soft or cute at all.'
Behind Sylvanas followed a squad of elite Farstriders, and Arthas likewise brought his own royal knights. The curious rangers scrutinized their temporary comrades; they were veterans, but they had never seen such a knight order in Lordaeron.
"Prince Arthas, let's depart." Sylvanas slung her longbow over her back. Although the weakness from the curse made her uncomfortable, after the initial suppression by Priestess Lilian, she could still exert five or six-tenths of her full strength. The two teams immediately set off from the outpost, heading towards a Farstriders' fortress located within the Banthinoreil Barrier.
As they passed over a hill about ten kilometers from the outpost, Troll scouts watched Arthas and Sylvanas's teams, then followed closely behind them, beginning their movements. Sylvanas rode her strider, maintaining extreme vigilance of her surroundings, her pointed ears finely discerning various messages carried by the wind.
"Arthas, something's not right." This time, Sylvanas no longer used a formal address but called him by his name directly.
"What is it, Lady Sylvanas? What did you hear?" Arthas had no doubt about Sylvanas's abilities. Although she was cursed and her strength greatly reduced, her perception of the environment had not diminished.
"This path is too quiet. Normally, I can hear animal sounds from very far away, but now they are all gone."
"Then it seems we were right. Have everyone be on guard; we might be ambushed at any moment. Lady Sylvanas, please continue to monitor the surroundings."
"No problem, leave it to me," Sylvanas crouched on her strider, her longbow already in hand. In Sylvanas's perception, the normally animal-rich forest was excessively quiet; even the predatory lynxes were silent. If it were just Trolls, there would be no reason for them to have retreated so far away. Even when the Elves were marching to the outpost, there were still low growls of lynxes in the forest. These creatures, strengthened by the magical energy emanating from Quel'Thalas, were not as easily intimidated as ordinary animals.
After a few minutes, Sylvanas signaled to Arthas, "Movement. Judging by the weight of their footsteps, they are Troll scouts, and quite a few of them."
"Very good, they've taken the bait," Arthas replied simply. "Their following us indicates they're confident they can take us out. It's very likely there's a strong Troll among these scouts."
"The terrain ahead will become open soon! They should make their move nearby!" Sylvanas immediately made a judgment. What the Trolls wanted most was to engage them in close combat within the dense forest, and they certainly couldn't let them have their way.
"I understand. Then let's pick up the pace and rush to the open area!" Arthas flicked his reins, and the warhorse beneath him understood, quickening its pace by another third.
The Trolls in the woods conversed in their obscure Troll language.
"The pointy-ears found us! They're speeding up to escape!"
"Catch them, get the nets ready!"
"For Zul'jin!"
As Arthas saw the trees thinning, a dull thud suddenly came from behind him. He turned his head and saw a ranger, who was further back, knocked down by a large net thrown by a Troll headhunter, both man and mount entangled. Seeing him about to be dragged back into the dense forest, Sylvanas turned her strider, drew her bow, and blindly shot three arrows. The sound of arrows piercing flesh came from that part of the forest, and the dragged ranger immediately stopped.
This capture seemed to be a signal; over a dozen more snare nets flew out from the trees on both sides, catching several knights and rangers who couldn't dodge in time.
"Prepare for battle!" Arthas sharply turned his warhorse, his warhammer blazing with scorching Holy Light. With a sweep across a net that had trapped a knight, he burned a large hole through it. The other trapped individuals were not idle either. The royal knights were all warriors with immense strength, and with the sharp outer edges of their armguards, they simply twisted their bodies to break free from their restraints. The freed knights quickly drew their longswords and large shields, protecting the rangers—as warriors, protecting their comrades was their specialty.
The moment Arthas and his group formed their defensive formation, countless throwing axes and spears flew out of the forest, raining down on the knights' shields. Arthas snorted, swinging his warhammer, blocking all the incoming projectiles.
A Troll, holding two battle axes, leaped down from a high treetop, swinging at Sylvanas. Sylvanas was helping a ranger break free. The moment she sensed danger, she raised her longbow. The sturdy bowstring deflected the Troll's powerful cleave, and she pressed the longbow against the Troll's neck and gave a sharp tug. The Troll, much larger than her, was brutally thrown to the ground. Before the Troll warrior could recover, the freed ranger decapitated him with a single blow.
More Trolls charged out of the forest, clashing with the royal knights and Elven rangers. They were the elite of the elite. Although the previous attack had caused them to lose some initiative, now, these Troll scouts could hardly pose a substantial threat to them. They were merely relying on their troublesome self-healing abilities and numbers to tie them down. A knight raised his shield to block a Troll's spear, then flicked it away. Sylvanas emerged from behind the knight, casually taking the Troll's life with an arrow.
"Damn it! Why isn't their Ranger-General as weak as the witch doctors said?!" The Troll scout captain looked at the vibrant Sylvanas, completely bewildered as to why this was the case. But the assembled Troll scouts were no match for these people. He quickly shouted, "Mighty Harraz! We need your help!"
A gloomy roar came from the dark jungle. Sylvanas's expression froze. "What kind of beast is that? A lynx's roar isn't that terrifying!" This sudden roar seemed to carry a soul-shaking effect. Many knights and rangers became sluggish after hearing it, while the Trolls, conversely, became even more energetic. This erased much of their previous advantage.
"That's no beast…" Arthas swung his hammer, striking down the enemy in front of him. "It seems the Trolls truly want your life!"
"Heh, I'll take that as a compliment."
Arthas glanced at the surrounding terrain and made a quick decision, "We can't drag this out here. Once the owner of that voice arrives, our situation will be very dangerous—!"
Before Prince Arthas finished speaking, a swift dark shadow darted from the treetops. The blurry figure passed through the group of people and quickly disappeared back into the dense forest. Sylvanas's pupils constricted. What had she just seen? A High Elf ranger's throat was gurgling blood, and she fell to the ground with an incredulous expression, not even knowing what had killed her.
"Watch your back!" Sylvanas sharply turned at Arthas's shout. At that moment, two eyes glowing with a green, eerie light were staring at her, directly in front of her. She instinctively reached for her bow to retaliate, but in her current physical state, her speed was much slower than usual. Her hand had barely touched the bowstring when a cold, gleaming claw was already about to reach her throat.
"Clang!"
After a crisp collision sound, the dark shadow quickly retreated, vanishing into the darkness once more. Sylvanas, holding her longbow, watched the dark forest vigilantly, protected by a barrier of Holy Light surrounding her.
"Lady Sylvanas, you lead the troops and go first. I'll hold that fellow off!"
"What? But!"
"Your strength hasn't recovered yet, and that guy is too fast! In this kind of forest, once he gets close, I can't guarantee I'll be able to save you next time!"
The Troll scouts were few and no longer a threat, but that one dark shadow alone could easily slaughter Arthas and Sylvanas's troops in this forest, so they couldn't stay here! If Sylvanas's strength were intact and she wasn't burdened by the curse, with her help, Arthas could easily seize the opportunity to counterattack. But the Windrunner now was not much stronger than the other rangers here; staying here would only add to Arthas's burden with no other use.
Sylvanas also realized this. She no longer wasted words, merely glanced at Arthas, and whispered in Thalassian, "May the Sunwell be with you!"
"Warriors, let's go!" Sylvanas mounted her strider, leading the Ranger Corps and the knights in a swift retreat from the forest. The dark shadow did not reappear during this process. He was like a lynx; he wouldn't strike without complete certainty.
Arthas's warhammer smashed the last Troll attempting to escape to the ground, splattering foul-smelling blood everywhere. The Prince Arthas lifted his warhammer, watched the retreating team, and prepared to focus on dealing with the dangerous individual in the forest.
"It seems the mastermind behind this invasion is Zul'jin… Has he returned to Zul'Aman already?" When the dark shadow attacked Sylvanas just now, he had already clearly seen what the creature looked like—it was generally Troll-like, but it had a lynx head, its limbs were covered in fur, and its two hands had transformed into claws, giving it a bizarre sense of disharmony, like an artificially created monster.