To Alleria's surprise, she was truly freed very quickly this time.
"I thought I'd be locked up until the day this ship crashed," Alleria quipped to the Lightforged soldier outside her cell.
However, the soldier had no intention of conversing with Alleria; he simply followed his orders and opened the cell door.
Alleria, now free, didn't dwell on such trivial matters. She knew exactly what kind of people the Lightforged soldiers were; they were merely following orders. Although most would become resistant upon learning she embraced the Void, they wouldn't take extreme actions, except for a very small number of fanatical Light worshippers.
The most extreme existence, however, was Zera. When Alleria's secret was discovered by Zera, she truly thought she was doomed at that time.
In Alleria's current view, that Naaru, Zera, who constantly spoke of destiny and the future, was nothing short of a complete fanatic. She would truly stop at nothing to achieve her goals, even if it meant going against the will of others.
This incident was what truly caused Alleria to doubt the Light. She wasn't unaware that the Void was dangerous, but Zera's very existence seemed to tell her that the Light was by no means benevolent either.
The first thing Alleria wanted to do upon leaving the prison was to leave Zenidar, but a voice made her stop.
It was Zera's voice, "Do not use the power of the Void on Zenidar."
Alleria pulled back her hand, which had been attempting to summon Void energy. "Don't you want to get rid of me?"
In her opinion, the most likely reason Zera released her was to make her leave Zenidar. The Lightforged under Zera's rule would absolutely not tolerate someone like her who had embraced the power of the Void.
But Zera's reply greatly surprised Alleria. "Not so. Come to my hall. After meeting them, you should make your own decision."
Alleria was about to ask who she was meeting when Zera unilaterally cut off the connection, leaving her quite bewildered. At the same time, Alleria also noticed something: recently, Zera's behavior was quite different from the Naaru she remembered, who concealed coldness and fanaticism beneath a gentle exterior.
Upon arriving at Zera's location, Alleria's eyes immediately fell upon the person she had longed for.
"Turalyon!"
"Alleria!"
Turalyon had been focusing on something, but upon hearing Alleria's voice, he immediately looked at her. The couple quickly moved closer, but as Turalyon opened his arms, wanting to give Alleria a hug, Alleria's hand recoiled as if she had been electrocuted.
"No, Turalyon, this might hurt you."
Alleria understood that the Void energy on her body might cause Turalyon pain, but Turalyon didn't care. He smiled and embraced Alleria, "It would hurt me more if I couldn't hold you."
The warm, familiar embrace filled Alleria with immense longing, but she quickly pushed Turalyon away. "Alright, that's enough. If we continue, I really won't be able to control myself."
Turalyon was like a human torch to the current Alleria; even a slight proximity would cause the Void energy within her to react violently, like oil meeting a raging fire.
"So Zera wanted me to meet you? I didn't know she would be so kind."
Alleria smoothed the strands of hair falling around her ear and looked at Turalyon. Facing her beloved once more, her desire to leave Zenidar had diminished considerably.
Turalyon heard Alleria's assessment of Zera and, for once, agreed with her. "That also exceeded my expectations."
To her surprise, his words made Alleria look at Turalyon in shock. She even said with a hint of doubt, "Are you really the Turalyon I know?"
"The one and only."
Turalyon patted his chest.
Alleria stared at Turalyon for a while, scrutinizing him. After confirming he hadn't been swapped, her expression instead became solemn. "Is something wrong? When I used to talk to you about Zera, you were always so evasive."
"Nothing, I just met someone who helped me understand a lot of things."
As he spoke, Turalyon's gaze shifted to Zera, who was surrounded by radiance not far away. Within that light, which seemed to dispel all darkness, a figure was faintly visible.
Alleria followed Turalyon's gaze and also spotted the figure. She squinted, trying to make her eyes penetrate the obstruction of Zera's light. "He... is a human?!"
Although she could still only see a blurred outline, Alleria was surprised to find that the person conversing with Zera seemed to be from their world.
-----------------
Zera watched Arthas before her and greeted him.
"Greetings, Eternal One."
"This isn't quite the meeting I imagined," Arthas said, raising an eyebrow in surprise, not expecting Zera to be so agreeable. She had quite decisively agreed to his request. "Also, why do you call me the Eternal One?"
"That's not a problem, is it, Arthas?"
If anyone else had heard, they would have been very surprised, because Zera had made a rare joke.
"Hmm, who knows," Arthas said noncommittally. "Or do you know why I appeared in the Twisting Nether?"
The light entwined around Zera's body flickered for a moment, and then she emitted a melodious, almost singing voice. "This is the arrangement of fate."
So, you don't know either, or you don't want to say?
Arthas had no intention of digging deeper. He was more interested in knowing if he could go home. "Then you must also know my intention in coming to see you, right?"
"You want to return to Azeroth—that's not difficult, and I'd be happy to help you with that."
"Then what are your terms?"
Arthas knew Zera was not some wish-granting machine; Naaru also had their own desires, especially Zera, a Naaru with an almost insane obsession with destroying the Legion.
"No terms."
Zera's answer was unexpected, but Arthas was not satisfied with it. Sometimes, asking for nothing in return often meant wanting more.
"Let's discuss a proper deal, otherwise, I won't feel at ease."
"Please don't misunderstand. When I said 'no terms,' I didn't mean without reciprocation. Rather, you will surely do this without me even needing to say it."
Arthas was silent for a moment. He quickly realized Zera's intention. "Alright, I understand."
Zera emitted a contented hum. She was pleased that she could reach an agreement with Arthas.
"Turalyon, stay for a moment."
Before departing, Zera suddenly called out to Turalyon. Turalyon exchanged glances with Alleria and Arthas beside him for a moment, then walked towards Zera.
Arthas knew Zera likely had something she wanted to say to Turalyon privately, and he could even guess what Zera wanted to discuss with Turalyon.
"It seems we need to give the Archibishop some time, Lady Alleria."
Alleria looked at Turalyon's retreating back and sighed, "Every time Zera talks to him alone, it's never good."
"This time, it might be different."
Arthas said casually. Alleria looked at Arthas with a hint of confusion after hearing this, "You seem to know what Zera will say?"
"More or less. That guy is actually quite easy to understand."
Zera was not a selfless saint; on the contrary, this ancient Naaru had a rather persistent desire—to eradicate all enemies of the Light.
And in the current universe, the greatest enemy of the Light was the Burning Legion, rampant across all realms.
Compared to the Void, which had secretly struggled and clashed with the Light for countless eons but could not deeply penetrate the real universe, the Burning Legion was the imminent great enemy.
Therefore, Arthas clearly understood Zera's strong demands, and naturally, he could guess some of Zera's thoughts: his appearance was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Zera, because in one aspect, they both shared a common idea.
Arthas stared at the Naaru, which radiated brilliant Light, and whispered, "The Burning Legion has been rampant across all realms for too long. It's time for them to roll back into the Twisting Nether."
Alleria sensed his potentially dangerous thoughts from Arthas's words, so she frowned and advised, "I think it's best for you to return to Azeroth. Your people need you more."
She could give everything to defeat the Legion, but she did not want to drag her homeland into this mess.
And now it seemed that the day the Lightforged defeated the Burning Legion was still far off. This epic war had lasted too long, so long that even from Alleria's elven perspective, it felt protracted.
Arthas heard the unspoken meaning in Alleria's words. He shook his head and explained, "The Lightforged alone cannot stop this Burning Crusade, and one of that Fallen Titan's ultimate goals is to destroy Azeroth. From the very beginning, we had no choice."
The cruel truth was already laid bare before all life on Azeroth. For them, the arrival of the Burning Legion was destined.
Alleria was silent. Although she didn't understand why that Fallen Titan of the Burning Legion was so obsessed with Azeroth, years of war with demons had long made her realize this: to think that the Burning Crusade could be halted by the power of the Lightforged alone was merely self-deception.
"But… Azeroth is not ready yet."
"No, we are ready."
Alleria looked in surprise at Arthas's back. Turalyon, who had spoken, was holding a golden crystal half the height of a man. His expression was solemn, as if he were holding something sacred.
"It seems Zera has made her choice."
Arthas stared at the crystal in Turalyon's hand—it was the core essence of Zera, the Mother of Light, and their hope for returning to Azeroth, and also Zera's first gift to Arthas.
After detaching her core, Zera would fall into an indefinite slumber until someone reassembled it with the rest of Zera's body.
Turalyon's expression was complex. He looked at Alleria and Arthas, seemingly finding every word exceptionally difficult to utter, "She said this is… the final sacrifice."
As the Heart of Light in Turalyon's hand emitted a faint glow, the Holy Light that had burned perpetually in the central hall of Zenidar dimmed, and Zera's final echoes gradually faded.
Everyone on Zenidar felt Zera's aura disappear, but they had no doubts or sorrow. Instead, they spontaneously put down what they were doing, knelt on one knee, and saluted in the direction where Zera had been.
A few minutes later, Zenidar's navigators and engineers arrived. They gathered around Turalyon. Without Turalyon needing to say much, they took the Heart of Light from his hand and carefully carried it to the ship's power room.
"Zera's core will protect our ship and lead us through the chaotic storms of the Twisting Nether, to the place where she senses her kin, which is where Azeroth is located."
Turalyon explained Zera's actions, "I will temporarily serve as leader, commanding Zenidar and all Lightforged members on this ship, and our next target is—Azeroth."
"She just… vanished?" Alleria's eyes widened, still unable to accept what had happened.
Although she didn't trust Zera, Zera's leadership was a crucial factor for the Lightforged's continued existence in the Twisting Nether, and even Alleria couldn't deny this.
Turalyon was about to nod in affirmation, but Arthas's words broke the somewhat somber scene.
"Of course not."
"Naaru are not as fragile as you think. As long as their core is not destroyed, they have the possibility of recovery."
Arthas looked at the fragments of Zera's body left in the distance, pointed his finger, and Light spread from his fingertip, forming countless ribbon-like light bands that intertwined and enveloped Zera's fragments.
"To describe it more accurately, Zera has indeed temporarily sacrificed her consciousness, integrating her power with the ship Zenidar, so that she can break through the Legion-controlled starfield at the fastest speed."
As he spoke, Arthas fused these Naaru fragments with his weapon, Light of Dawn, an artifact forged from the core of the Ashbringer from another world. The sacred crystal within Light of Dawn resonated strongly with the Naaru remnants. Those fragments were strongly attracted, and guided by the Light, they formed living runes, imprinted onto Light of Dawn.
Light instantly swept through the entire ship like a storm. The stable hull even trembled slightly at this moment, and a sphere of Holy Light as dazzling as the sun coalesced in Arthas's hand.
Light of Dawn deconstructed and reformed into a sphere during this fusion. The runes formed from Zera's body circled Light of Dawn like planetary rings around a planet.
Turalyon watched everything unfolding before him in disbelief. From the Light of Dawn suspended in Arthas's palm, he felt an aura extremely similar to a Naaru. If he covered his eyes and relied solely on feeling, he might even directly think he was witnessing the birth of a Naaru.
But that sacred being did not appear. The radiance on Light of Dawn gradually converged. This weapon, which had accompanied Arthas for a long time, welcomed a new promotion at this moment.
It hummed, transforming back into its Holy Tome form, and affectionately pressed against Arthas's palm.
This was Zera's second gift to Arthas, and her only request was that Arthas one day unleash the Light's wrath upon "Argus"—the Burning Legion's headquarters.
Arthas's boot landed on the head of a Demon Guard. He stomped down hard, and the Demon Guard's head collided intimately with the floor, but before it could burst, it was incinerated into ash by the rising Light.
The scorching Light spread rapidly like magma, energizing the surrounding ground, forming a holy land. The demons on the ground couldn't even let out a wail before they were burned to ashes.
Arthas scanned the fallen demons and used the power of the Light to ask Turalyon and Alleria, who were in another section of the ship, "How are things on your end?"
"Everything has been pretty much cleared out."
The abnormal energy field caused by the ship's rapid traversal of the Twisting Nether would attract a large number of demons, but because Zenidar was so fast after being energized by Zera's power, it exceeded the Burning Legion's reaction speed. Therefore, they only encountered a large number of demons attempting to seize control of the ship by boarding.
Zenidar's defenses easily repelled these demon cannon fodder, and after the ship continued for some time, the number of demons significantly decreased.
They had already left the area controlled by the Burning Legion, and their sailing speed gradually stabilized. Now, as long as Zera could pinpoint Azeroth's location, reaching Azeroth was only a matter of time.
Compared to Arthas, who hadn't been away from Azeroth for too long, it was Turalyon and Alleria who seemed more excited at this moment.
To the people on Azeroth, they had been gone for decades and their whereabouts were unknown, but in Turalyon and Alleria's own perception, they had been fighting in the Twisting Nether for over a thousand years.
A thousand-year span of time was a considerably long period even for an Elf like Alleria, not to mention a Human like Turalyon, who had later become a long-lived race, free from the limitations of lifespan.
Turalyon couldn't even imagine that after Draenor exploded and he and Alleria were lost in the Twisting Nether, they would still have a day to return to Azeroth.
"Arthas, can you tell us what happened on Azeroth after we left?"
Turalyon stammered a bit when he said this; the feeling of being close to home yet hesitant was a reflection of his current mood.
"Actually, not much happened. After all, for Azeroth, you only left for ten or twenty years. This amount of time isn't an unreachable span even for short-lived Humans like us. At least most of your old friends are still alive."
Arthas thought for a moment and briefly narrated the major events that had occurred on Azeroth over the years.
From the defeat of the orcs after the expeditionary force entered Draenor, all the way to the orcs rising up, led by an Orc raised by Humans, crossing the ocean to another continent to establish a new Horde, returning to their ancient traditions from Draenor.
Afterward, they faced the Burning Legion's long-planned second invasion. The flames of war ignited Mount Hyjal, and all the forces of Azeroth united to fight against the demons until they slew Archimonde beneath the World Tree.
After that, Arthas made the Alliance's power even stronger. He reassembled former Alliance members who had lost trust in the Alliance for various reasons and invited more civilizations dedicated to protecting Azeroth to join this collective.
The Alliance was no longer limited to the Human Kingdom's alliance but encompassed all beings on Azeroth who wished to protect the planet beneath their feet.
"You call that 'not much happened'? You are truly too modest, Your Majesty Arthas."
Turalyon sighed with a strange expression after listening, "How do I feel that in just twenty years, the events on Azeroth have been far more tumultuous than the thousand years we experienced in the Twisting Nether?"
Just hearing about the Burning Legion's second invasion made Turalyon and Alleria break into a cold sweat.
"But why is it a second invasion? Did you define the Orc invasion as the first?" Turalyon was curious about this question.
Alleria explained for Arthas, "No... I'm afraid it's because of my Elven relatives far across the sea. The High Elves still have many historical records of that epic ancient war."
After Alleria's narration, Turalyon learned that the Burning Legion had already invaded Azeroth once ten thousand years ago, and that time was when they came closest to success, with the Fallen Titan almost stepping through the portal to personally arrive on the planet.
"No wonder the Burning Legion's attacks on the Lightforged suddenly lessened considerably many years ago. It turns out a large part of their attention was drawn to Azeroth—that's terrible. The strange time flow in the Twisting Nether made us completely ignore the changes in the outside world."
Turalyon felt some regret. If they had realized the Burning Legion's changes back then, they might have been able to provide some help to their homeland in resisting the Burning Legion.
Moreover, if the Lightforged had captured this information at the time and launched an attack on the Burning Legion while Archimonde was away on Azeroth, they might have been able to inflict some irreparable losses on the Legion.
Turalyon had participated in and commanded countless battles, large and small. He knew very well that it was often such seemingly insignificant opportunities that could determine the course of a war.
The Burning Legion's strength was immeasurable; they needed to seize every precious opportunity to have a chance to destroy this brutal army that ran rampant across the realms.
"It's no use talking about these things now, but we'll be home soon."
Alleria comforted Turalyon. She held a pendant in her hand, and the brassy luster emanating from it caught Arthas's attention.
Was that... the pendant the Ranger-General gave him in another world before?
Arthas instinctively wanted to check the pendant he carried on him, but to his surprise, he searched every corner of his storage space and could not find that ordinary pendant.
And because of this unconcealed surprise, Alleria noticed Arthas's gaze, but she only thought Arthas was curious about the pendant in her hand, so she smiled and said, "This is a pendant my sister gave me, traditional Elven craftsmanship—you should know her, right? Before I left, she was the Ranger-General of Quel'Thalas."
Looking at the pendant in her hand, Alleria's eyes were full of nostalgia, "I was unfortunately captured by demons before, and many items were lost then, including this pendant... I almost thought I would lose it forever, but I didn't expect to find this thing on a demon that attacked the ship just now."
These words made Arthas fall into thought, but soon Turalyon's voice interrupted Arthas's thoughts.
"Azeroth, we're back!"
The dazzling streams of light of the Twisting Nether were replaced by the cold, dark, physical universe, and before Zenidar, a beautiful, azure planet floated quietly in space.
However, when Arthas looked at Azeroth through the ship's porthole, his expression immediately darkened, and Alleria, who was standing beside Turalyon and had been admiring the scenery of her homeland, also wore the same serious expression.
Arthas's incredibly powerful perception allowed him to detect an anomaly the moment he first laid eyes on Azeroth.
A powerful force was affecting Azeroth's elemental domains, causing abnormal reactions among the entire planet's elements, a situation that often leads to extremely violent catastrophes, even those capable of altering the planet's entire landscape.
However, Arthas was not a Shaman, and he was still in distant outer space, so he couldn't confirm which Elemental Lord's domain was affected, nor could he ascertain the exact form this catastrophe would take.
But one thing he could confirm was that this anomaly was absolutely unnatural and, in all likelihood, man-made.
The entities capable of causing such a level of impact on Azeroth were few and far between, and coupled with Alleria's subsequent remarks, Arthas immediately understood the culprit behind this anomaly.
"Such terrifying darkness is lurking beneath Azeroth's oceans?"
Alleria's pupils trembled continuously; her keen perception of the Void allowed her to see the unspeakable entity hidden beneath the waves, even from this distant location.
Her teacher, the Dual-Realm Walker, had once shown her such a scene—a nearly fully evolved parasitic god, and the planets they targeted were almost all turned into Void fodder.
Only a very few planets were able to defeat such terrifying gods, and most of those involved the entire planet perishing along with the Old Gods.
"It seems N'Zoth has been quite busy while I was away," Arthas said coldly.
He had not been entirely unprepared for this situation, but he hadn't expected it to come so quickly.
What was Azshara doing? Would she just stand by and watch N'Zoth try every means to break free?
Or did Azshara believe that doing so would not affect N'Zoth's seal, but rather weaken the Alliance's strength?
"Is 'N'Zoth' the name of that evil god?"
"God? A stinking fish in a gutter, that's all."
Arthas had no fondness for these Old Gods; in his view, the Old Gods parasitic on Azeroth, like the Burning Legion, were things that must be eradicated, because their existence constantly threatened the safety of all Azeroth.
"He is still sealed in a Titan prison beneath the sea; otherwise, what we would see upon our return would not be the blue Azeroth."
Arthas's explanation brought a sigh of relief to Alleria and Turalyon; they certainly didn't want their first sight upon returning home to be a planet completely devoured by an Ancient God.
The current situation was, at least, only a prelude to certain calamities.
"Then I will immediately have the ship find a place to land."
Just as Turalyon was about to order Zenidar to prepare for landing, Arthas stopped him, "Don't rush yet; N'Zoth doesn't know of our appearance for now."
After speaking, Arthas immediately attempted to contact members of the Scourge—as undead, they had a more special soul connection with Arthas, allowing him to pick up signals from powerful individuals within the Scourge even from outer space.
Soon, he found the person he was looking for.
"Lothar, what is the current situation?"
-----------------
Lothar, who was staring blankly at a map of Lordaeron in Naxxramas, felt the soul fire in his eye sockets flicker violently for a moment upon hearing Arthas's voice.
"Arthas?! This is great, you're finally back! The Naga, under the command of the Old Gods, have launched a siege on Lordaeron.
The Alliance fleet is unable to break through the Naga blockade, and Lordaeron is currently fighting alone."
"What about the land routes? The Naga shouldn't have the ability to control those."
"The Naga used some unknown magic to summon powerful earthquakes and tsunamis.
Southshore has been submerged by the waves, most of its buildings destroyed, and the seawater backflow allowed the Naga to quickly invade the large river flowing through Hillsbrad.
Now, Hillsbrad Foothills has been divided into two areas, making it difficult for the Alliance forces in the east to cross this turbulent river."
Arthas's expression darkened upon hearing this, but he still asked, "What about the civilians of Southshore?"
"Dathrohan led his troops to escort the residents of Southshore north to Taren Mill quite early, so although the town was submerged by seawater, there were no civilian casualties.
However, the defense of Taren Mill is also exceptionally difficult; it's too close to the river, and the Naga are trying to build a dam upstream, attempting to replicate the disaster of Southshore with floods."
Lothar's answer slightly eased Arthas's mind; thankfully, Lordaeron's commanders made the right choices at this time, otherwise Lordaeron might have suffered even more tragic losses in this man-made catastrophe.
As for Southshore being submerged, Arthas wasn't heartbroken; as long as the residents were safe, they could rebuild their homes eventually once the Naga were driven back into the sea.
However, the current situation was by no means optimistic.
The Naga had invaded inland via waterways, destroyed bridges, and cut off Alliance reinforcements.
If Arthas was not mistaken, their next step would surely be to continue north and occupy Lake Darrowmere and the Thandol Span, completely severing the connection between the eastern and western sides of Lordaeron.
And this was not even the most serious problem.
"Have you figured out how the Naga are causing the earthquakes? I can feel the entire elemental domain of Azeroth trembling right now.
N'Zoth is still trapped in his prison and cannot act personally; they must be using some powerful artifact."
Lothar sighed and replied, "We have no leads yet.
Dalaran and we have both sent out scouts, but we haven't found anything valuable.
Even when we destroyed several Naga ritual sites, they were only used to summon deep-sea Void creations."
Arthas nodded and asked again, "Where is the Alliance command center?"
"In Stromgarde."
"I understand.
You continue to search for all possible traces and destroy the Naga's lair where they are instigating the catastrophe."
With that, Arthas cut off the soul communication, and Lothar could no longer sense Arthas's presence, as if he didn't exist in this world at all.
On Zenidar's ship, Arthas said to Turalyon, "It seems the welcoming banquet we imagined is off; we might have to prepare for a tough battle."
Turalyon smiled slightly, "The Lightforged exist to eliminate all evil; we are always ready—as for the welcoming banquet, changing it to a celebration after we eliminate this evil god isn't bad either."
"So what do we do next?"
Alleria also put away her pendant and slung Thas'dorah on her back, ready for battle.
Arthas pointed to the location of Arathi Highlands on the planetary map in Zenidar's navigation room.
"Destination, Arathi Highlands, Stromgarde."
A brilliant golden stream of light streaked across the sky, like a discordant golden line drawn straight across a blue canvas, until it met the green ground.
A heavy thud shook all of Stromgarde awake, startling everyone who was fiercely debating in the command room.
"What happened?!"
Thoras slammed his hand on the table and stood up, walking to the window to look. What he saw was the torn clouds in the sky and the golden trail left by something unknown.
The old man squinted, examining it carefully for a long time, but couldn't make heads or tails of it.
"It seems like something fell from the sky?"
"At this time, could it be a Naga attack?"
"They don't have the ability to attack Stromgarde. The Arathi Highlands don't have a coastline for the Naga to land."
Everyone discussed animatedly for a moment but came to no conclusion. Varian, who was also in the meeting, couldn't stand it anymore. He waved his hand to stop the meaningless argument. "Alright, everyone, if you want to know what happened, why don't you see for yourselves?"
The others had no objection to Varian's suggestion, and soon, several gryphons took off from Stromgarde, heading straight towards the direction where the light had fallen.
The leader of this gryphon rider squad was none other than Kurdran Wildhammer. This legendary Wildhammer dwarves immediately jumped at the chance to take on this reconnaissance mission, leading his squad to depart at full speed.
He wasn't the kind of guy who could sit still in a chair. Compared to dozing off while listening to other leaders' meetings, sitting on a gryphon was much more comfortable for him.
However, after a while, as they approached their destination and he raised his binoculars to observe the scene below, Kurdran no longer felt comfortable.
"By the Sky of Aerie Peak, what am I seeing?!"
Alien mechs, and a bunch of golden-glowing Draenei?!
I must have drunk too much last night and haven't sobered up yet!
Kurdran slapped himself hard without hesitation, but besides the burning pain on his face, the scene he saw through the binoculars remained unchanged.
Just then, a specially made flare exploded in the sky. Kurdran stared intently, then shouted in alarm to the gryphon riders beside him, "Has Khadgar manifested?! That's the Lordaeron Royal Crest, Arthas's crest!"
"Find a safe place to land, it's our people!"
-----------------
Arthas discarded the spent signal flare in his hand. This special magical flare should clearly indicate his identity.
He wasn't sure who was leading that squad of gryphon riders; their flight style was too wild, and they made no attempt to conceal themselves. The Arathi Highlands today were clear and crisp, with no clouds for the gryphon riders to hide in.
Arthas had noticed their presence from a distance, but the Lightforged were busy passing through the Zenidar's thrown Transmit Beacon one by one, and also transporting supplies for setting up camp, so they had no time to deal with these friendly forces.
A moment later, a short but sturdy figure ran into the camp. He looked around for a bit, and upon spotting Arthas, he rushed over impatiently, "Arthas, it's really you!"
Kurdran's eyes were wide with disbelief at what he was seeing.
"Kurdran, it really is you! Aren't you afraid this is an enemy trap, charging in so brazenly with your gryphon riders?"
"Oh, what time is it? Stop teasing me and come back to Stromgarde with old Kurdran. Something big has happened to your kingdom."
Kurdran saw Arthas's calm demeanor and thought he didn't know what had happened, so he tried to pull Arthas's arm towards the gryphons.
"I know Lordaeron is being invaded by the Naga, and I know the Alliance is trying to deal with the Naga."
Arthas's words made Kurdran pause. He looked up at Arthas, puzzled. "Then why aren't you hurrying back? Now isn't a good time to be dealing with your new frie--"
"New friends? Kurdran, take another look?"
Kurdran instinctively wanted to refuse. He didn't have time to make friends with these Draenei that Arthas had brought back from who knows where. This was wartime...
Wait, why was that a woman's voice, and a familiar one at that?
Kurdran suddenly looked up in the direction of the voice. The next moment, this dwarf, who had experienced countless life-or-death crises, was also stunned.
"Au... Alleria?!"
The old dwarf quickly rubbed his eyes, afraid that his aging vision was playing tricks on him and he had mistaken another elf for Alleria. But after rubbing his eyes several times, Kurdran himself chuckled.
How could he be mistaken!
They had faced life and death together for so long, how could he forget the appearance of his closest comrade-in-arms?!
"I knew you wouldn't die! And what about that kid Turalyon? He must be fine too!"
"If you're not dead yet, how could I be?"
Turalyon emerged from the teleportation device with a hint of helplessness. He took a deep breath; this was the air of his homeland, which he had been separated from for a millennium. The cool, fresh wind in the Arathi Highlands brought back many memories.
"And also, you should use an honorific when addressing me now. It's best to call me Elder Turalyon. I am much older than you."
"Nonsense! My beard is older than you are!"
Kurdran clearly didn't take Turalyon's words seriously, and Turalyon also had no immediate plans to explain. Both chuckled, just as they had back on Draenor.
Old friends reunited after a long separation naturally had much to say, but the Sons of Lothar all understood that now was not the time for idle chatter. Lordaeron was facing an imminent threat. To prevent the darkness from the deep sea from expanding further, and to prevent Lordaeron from becoming like the former Stormwind Kingdom and Alterac, they had to act quickly.
"I need to quickly send the news of your return back to Stromgarde. This will surely greatly boost our morale. Then we'll let those disgusting underwater monsters know that the Alliance is not to be trifled with! Arthas, would you like to ride my gryphon back with me?"
Kurdran didn't know how Arthas had found the long-lost Turalyon and Alleria, but he knew that Arthas's and their return, along with this mysterious and incredibly imposing group of Draenei, would become a great aid in their fight against the Naga.
"I will return to Stromgarde and Lordaeron, but not now. I believe the people of Lordaeron will not bow down in such a small predicament."
Arthas declined Kurdran's invitation. He had more important things to do. Even without him in charge, Lordaeron wouldn't fall into disarray. He had left Lordaeron not only with wealth and prestige but also with a group of vibrant legendary heroes.
"I need to figure out how the Naga are shaking this continent, causing natural disasters like earthquakes and tsunamis. As long as I can solve that problem, those invading Naga are no trouble at all."
Kurdran nodded, understanding Arthas's plan. He knew Arthas always found the best solutions, but before leaving, he thought of something and said to Arthas, "Lady Proudmoore is very concerned about your whereabouts. She's been through a lot trying to find you these past few days. I think you should let her know you're safe first, unlike how we were back then."
With that, he glanced at Turalyon and Alleria, waved his hand, and turned to mount his gryphon.
"See you later, old friends."