The Goldmist Town patrol immediately noticed the distant commotion. The town went on high alert, and the gems atop the mage towers began to glow with an intense blue arcane light.
The fleeing rangers, pursued relentlessly, reached a point five hundred meters from Goldmist Town.
Suddenly, the foremost mage tower unleashed a blue arcane projectile, impacting the ground in front of the wolf riders and sending up a large cloud of dirt.
Undaunted, the wolf riders scattered to avoid the arcane barrage, feigning an imminent slaughter of the rangers.
As they approached Goldmist Town, a barrage of arcane fire erupted from the mage towers, combined with ranged attacks from the town's garrison. The wolf riders began to take casualties. Unable to withstand the area-of-effect attacks, the wolf riders halted their charge, casting out snare nets to drag their wounded and fallen back with them as they retreated.
With their pursuers repelled, the exhausted rangers collapsed less than a hundred meters from Goldmist Town.
"Stay vigilant!"
The Goldmist Town patrol captain, a cautious man, hesitated, unsure of the rangers' authenticity.
He waited for a high-level mage to arrive before seeking guidance.
"Sir, they appear to be a Farstrider ranger squad!"
"Bring them in. We cannot leave our kin to die! Ready our warriors for any eventuality. I will use magic to verify their identities. If they are genuine, begin treatment!"
The high-level mage, a minor member of the Silvermoon Council and head of a small family, was confident in his magical abilities.
The patrol captain followed the instructions, sending a small team to retrieve the rangers.
The high-level mage inspected each ranger, casting detection spells to ensure they were not magically disguised. He concluded that the rescued rangers were indeed genuine high elves.
He wanted to question them, but they were all unconscious, and their blood-soaked, tattered equipment spoke of fierce combat.
"I recognize this ranger. He is a captain from the Brightwing family!"
Seeing the Farstrider insignia, the high-level mage decided to aid Ranger-General Sylvanas and ordered the patrol team to take the Farstriders to the patrol barracks for treatment.
"Notify me as soon as they regain consciousness!"
The mage, eager to return to his tower, left in haste.
The patrol captain, concerned about further attacks and assured of the rangers' identities by the mage's inspection, left a small guard and returned to the town entrance to bolster the defenses.
At midnight, Garona, disguised as Halduron, opened her eyes. Soon, the other "rangers" – trolls and Root members in disguise – also awoke.
The garrison in the barracks was quickly and quietly subdued, and Garona began the next phase of the plan.
Thanks to Medivh's potent Polymorph spell, even Kael'thas would struggle to penetrate Garona's disguise quickly.
Coupled with the genuine Farstrider gear stripped from captured prisoners, the team had infiltrated Goldmist Town with ease.
Galen watched Goldmist Town from the banks of the Elrendar River, awaiting Garona's signal. Once the town was captured, they would make their escape.
This escape had to be carefully orchestrated. The operation had to have a climax, but his limited forces could only manage so much. Their successful crossing of South Eversong Woods was due to luck and the high elves' complacency.
Against fortified towns, his three thousand troops could only launch surprise attacks. A direct assault would require his personal intervention, which carried a high risk of exposure.
Their departure had to leave a lasting impression on the Silvermoon Council, without pointing directly to the attackers. Trolls and orcs lacked the ability to teleport, so they had to leave a clear trail.
Frame them, frame them! We need conclusive evidence to blame the forest trolls and orcs!
Before long, Galen saw a faint smoke rising over Goldmist Town. The high elves who inhaled it quickly fell unconscious. The smoke thickened, spreading from the town center to the outskirts, even infiltrating the towering mage towers.
Garona and her team, wearing special gas masks, scouted the area. Once all the high elves were affected, she signaled Galen.
Galen led the main force into the town. He directed the trolls to round up the townspeople, while the wolf riders focused on plundering the mage towers and wealthy estates in the southeast.
Galen ignored the commoners' homes. The minor nobles possessed considerable wealth, and a dozen of them provided enough riches to offset the cost of the operation's many teleportation scrolls.
By dawn, Galen had teleported over five thousand high elves to a secret location. He had also amassed a large amount of Quel'Thalas gold and magical materials.
Before leaving, there was one final step: detonating the "fireworks" prepared for release at Sunsail Anchorage in Goldmist Town!
In the noble district, at the center of the five mage towers, Galen placed the rune stones they had removed earlier.
The rune stones pulsed with raw magic, making the air crackle with energy. Their light illuminated the night, and substantial magical power raged, stirring up dust and forming small tornadoes.
The border rune stones had been left unguarded for a reason. Anyone attempting to tamper with them would face the immense magical forces they contained, which could at best incapacitate, and at worst, completely obliterate them.
Buzz!
A dispel spell washed over the rune stone, extinguishing its magic.
Little thing, what are you showing off? You're not the only one with power!
Before departing, Galen set fire to the noble district. The rune stone, located at the heart of the inferno, would react violently with the arcane energy of the mage towers. If the towers exploded under the intense heat, they could detonate the rune stone!
And Sylvanas was already reorganizing her forces, leading five full-strength Farstrider regiments back to Goldmist Town!
Southeast of Goldmist Village, on the road across the Erandar River, Sylvanas was leading a large force on a rapid march!
The Ranger-General led the way, followed by five hundred high elf knights, with the Farstriders close behind.
These five hundred knights were a squadron from the only heavy cavalry regiment in the high elf kingdom. Silvermoon City, after receiving news of the invasion, dispatched one of the few remaining teams from the knightly order.
The high elves' knightly guard was not large in scale, which was related to their race's innate qualities. The high elves lacked front-line professions to stand at the forefront. Their thousands of years of war with the forest trolls sufficiently proved this point. Due to the lack of warrior professions to directly resist the forest trolls, countless fragile mages and rangers fell under the trolls' axes.
Among the high elves' professionals, over sixty percent were mages, thirty percent were rangers, and the remaining ten percent were warriors and priests. It was evident how scarce warriors were.
Therefore, the Sunstrider royal family gathered the nation's strength to form the Knights, a guard regiment directly under the command of the Sun King. They were also the predecessors of the future Blood Knights. Currently, most of the members had been sent by Kael'thas to Sanctum City to receive paladin training.
"Lady Windrunner! Please slow down. Marching at this pace, if we encounter a troll ambush, we will be facing the enemy while exhausted, which is detrimental to our situation!"
The leader of this knight squadron suggested to Sylvanas. He spoke very tactfully, after all, the Windrunners were a prominent family in the high elf kingdom, and Sylvanas was also a legendary-tier powerhouse, worthy of his respect!
"Captain Alex, I understand what you're saying, but the situation in Goldmist Village is critical. Although the team led by that green-skinned monster isn't strong, the leader's own strength shouldn't be underestimated!"
Sylvanas recalled her brief confrontation with Galen. Although she was confident in defeating this green-skin, she would have to pay a certain price. His defense was too strong, and his attack moves were wide open and extremely powerful, very suitable for battlefield confrontation!
Sylvanas was anxious. The mages bore a large part of the responsibility for the trolls' invasion into the heart of the forest. They were overly confident in the magical barriers built by the kingdom. However, the Farstriders were also partly to blame, blaming herself for just taking over the Ranger-General's duties and not having time to rectify the negligence caused by the Farstriders' millennia of complacency!
But Alex Swiftwind's suggestion was correct. Her previous hasty ambush had already been a lesson, and she couldn't make the same mistake again.
For a time, the pursuit force slowed down!
Boom!
A huge explosion came from the direction of Goldmist Village. The night was illuminated by a sudden, twisting light. Substantial magic raged wildly in the air, violently ravaging the surrounding land. Slender trees were directly broken, while those thick trees instantly lost all their leaves.
The original water of the Erandar River was swept into the sky, exposing the riverbed. River water, fish, shrimp, and gravel poured down, the Farstriders were in a disarray, and their formations were blown apart. Even the trained striders were frightened and buried their heads, shivering.
"What's going on?"
"It's from the direction of Goldmist Village!"
"Something happened! A big explosion!"
"Quick! Go and support!"
Goldmist Village was now a mess. Half of the town was destroyed by the explosion of runestones, leaving a huge pit. The noble district in the southeast corner was completely gone, and only the foundations of a few mage towers with magical shields remained!
"Search the entire town and look for survivors!"
"Notify the Moon Shrine! Request support and have them come and put out the fire!"
Sylvanas looked at the devastated Goldmist Village, her heart filled with uncontrollable anger, and the killing intent around her permeated. She tightly gripped the war bow in her hand.
The commander of the cavalry squadron, Alex, was much more experienced. Seeing Sylvanas let the Farstriders search for their people, he led the knights to set up defenses around the perimeter to prevent the enemy from returning for a sneak attack!
The Farstriders' figures moved busily through the ruins of Goldmist Village, and then Halduron came running.
"General, there are no clansmen in the village, it's already a ghost town!"
"A comatose mage was found at the west entrance of the village. Judging from the emblem on his mage robe, he should be from the Dath'Remar family!"
"Bring him here! No! I'll go myself, lead the way!" Sylvanas flung her cloak behind her and strode towards the west with Halduron, with Alex following closely behind.
The high elf wearing a purple mage robe had been placed in a residence near the village entrance, sleeping soundly, it seemed that the effect of the potion was very good.
You must believe that the products from Galen's alchemy workshop are guaranteed to be excellent products, essential medicines for home travel, killing people and destroying families!
"Go and invite Lady Liadrin from the priest squad!"
Sylvanas recognized this as Dath'Remar, a newly appointed member of the Silvermoon Council, with some status in the kingdom, while Alex looked at the unconscious high-level mage and directly asked the priest to come over for an examination.
High Priestess Liadrin quickly arrived. For the only remaining clansman in Goldmist Village, she was eager to know what happened here from his mouth!
"Not a curse, there is a slight toxicity, it should be a coma caused by alchemical potions!"
After speaking, Liadrin took out bottles and cans from the package she carried with her and began to prepare the antidote.
As the detoxification potion entered his mouth, Dath'Remar frowned in his sleep, and then opened his eyes: "Which idiot is making noise? Disturbing my rest?"
"Heh!"
Sylvanas's anger seemed to have found an outlet: "Councilman! Goldmist Village has been destroyed, haven't you had enough sleep yet!"
Sylvanas's words were like a bolt from the blue, shocking Dath'Remar's still unconscious mind, and then he recognized the people in front of him!
The kingdom's Ranger-General and the commander of the Royal Knight Corps, Dath'Remar's body felt a chill. Most of their family's industries were in Goldmist Village, with only a small portion in the Morning Star Tower. If Goldmist Village was really destroyed as the two said, then their Dath'Remar family would return to the pre-liberation overnight!
Dath'Remar struggled to get up and came to the door of the residence. He saw the fire soaring into the sky and the empty sky in the southeast!
The once towering mage tower was gone!
"No! No! No!"
Dath'Remar let out a shrill cry!
"Councilman Dath'Remar, can you tell us the process of Goldmist Village being destroyed? How many enemies are there? Where were the clansmen taken?"
Alex asked eagerly.
"I don't know, I don't know anything!"
Dath'Remar looked dazed. I just tested a small team of Farstriders, and then returned to the family's mage tower to wait for news. Later, when I woke up, Goldmist Village was gone, the mage tower was gone, who do I go to reason with!
"Useless!"
Sylvanas couldn't bear it anymore. A town of thousands of people, with not weak defensive forces, and a large number of mage towers, was gone when it was said to be gone, and with such a big explosion, the forest was still burning. This matter could not be covered up, and it was estimated that before long, the entire kingdom's people would know that the trolls had invaded, and Goldmist Village in the hinterland was gone!
When had the high elves been bullied so much by the trolls?
This matter was no longer something that Sylvanas could control!
The pride of the high elves was taken and rubbed in the mud!
"Traitor! Yes, there's a traitor!"
Dath'Remar immediately suspected the Farstrider squad he had checked before falling unconscious. Their story was too convenient: being chased by orcs and trolls for so long, only to be rescued and then conveniently collapsing from exhaustion.
Dath'Remar looked up and saw Halduron's familiar face behind Sylvanas!
"It's him! From the Brightwing family. He's the traitor! Last night, he brought a squad of Farstriders to Goldmist Village, and then I fell unconscious!"
Darkan seized on this, desperate to find someone to blame. The losses were too great; someone had to be held accountable to salvage his family's interests!
"You're mistaken. Captain Halduron was with us on a forced march all night! He couldn't have been in Goldmist Village," Sylvanas countered.
Dath'Remar refused to believe it, but when Alex confirmed Sylvanas's statement, he was crushed.
He had lost not only his family's wealth in Goldmist Village but also his pride as a high elf mage. His magical prowess had failed him, and he had unwittingly led the enemy into the heart of Goldmist Village!
As one of the highest-ranking individuals in Goldmist Village, he bore significant responsibility. The only small comfort was that the villagers' whereabouts were unknown. He hoped they were all dead, so he could control the narrative in Silvermoon City!
"You continue the rescue efforts. I'll return to Silvermoon City to report this to the council!" Dath'Remar decided. He needed to find a scapegoat, but everyone present was either a Farstrider or a knight loyal to the royal family. He had to return to Silvermoon City and use his family's influence to assemble a new team, one that would obey his commands!
Sylvanas and Alex did not object. The Ranger-General was determined to personally hunt down the orc leader, and Alex, having just arrived from Silvermoon City, could not abandon his mission.
The explosion in Goldmist Village had been immense. Even Silvermoon City had heard the pre-dawn roar. The noble estates, which occupied a large portion of the town, had been obliterated, leaving only the surrounding commoner residences.
The debris from the destroyed estates had been ignited by the explosion and scattered by the shockwave, setting fire to the nearby forest!
Fortunately, Goldmist Village was bordered by the sea to the east and tributaries of the Erandar River to the north and south, providing ample water for firefighting.
Despite this, the forest fire raged for two days, turning the northwestern corner of the Ghostlands to ash.
The incident shocked the entire high elf kingdom. Their territory had been invaded, their forests burned, and over ten thousand of their people captured or worse!
It was said that when the news reached Silvermoon City, the Sun King was so enraged that he nearly launched an attack on Zul'Aman. The Silvermoon Council, however, persuaded him to focus on disaster relief and rescue operations.
Meanwhile, Galen had fled with his team. His actions in Goldmist Village had been far more destructive than a simple firecracker prank.
The high elf kingdom was under martial law, making escape difficult. Galen was hiding on Shalandis Isle, north of the Windrunner family's territory.
The island, located at the mouth of the Erandar River, bore the Windrunner family's emblem, but it was deserted.
Galen was appalled by the Windrunners' lack of ambition. The island's strategic location made it ideal for a trading hub, capable of generating immense wealth. Yet, they had abandoned it!
As a construction enthusiast, Galen was frustrated. Such a valuable piece of land, left undeveloped!
While Galen was mentally designing a commercial wharf for the Windrunner family, his communicator rang!
Recognizing the caller, Galen teleported back to Minas Tirith and dispelled his Durotan disguise.
"Galen, were you responsible for what happened in Goldmist Village?" Kael'thas's angry figure appeared on the screen.
"Goldmist Village? What's wrong? What happened?" Galen feigned ignorance.
Kael'thas studied Galen's expression, trying to detect any deception.
"Tell me honestly, what was the plan you mentioned earlier?" Kael'thas asked. Galen's confused expression made him doubt his suspicions, but the timing was too coincidental.
"You met Garona, the half-orc assassin from Karazhan. She's working for me now. I was planning to lend her to you for a few days to eliminate your opponents. Everyone would be happy!"
"Galen!" Kael'thas was speechless. Is that what you meant? Assassination? Those councilors merely have differing opinions from the royal family. The council system was established by the late King to prevent a return to the absolute power of a single family, like Queen Azshara's, which led to disaster!
Kael'thas said, "Galen, political matters should be resolved politically! They are not enemies and should not be killed!"
"Yes, yes, you're right," Galen replied dismissively. The assassination idea was just a fabrication. Rogues were vulnerable against mages with powerful defenses.
And what if Garona encountered a mage like Khadgar, who could quickly activate Ice Barrier? The assassin would be easily defeated.
He only had one Garona and couldn't afford to lose her.
"You still haven't told me what happened in your country," Galen prompted.
"A powerful brown orc, leading troops and trolls, invaded Quel'Thalas, burned our forests, and captured thousands of our people!" Kael'thas's voice trailed off. He knew Galen could control trolls, but orcs, especially those who had drunk demon blood and were somewhat insane, were another matter. And leading them was someone who could challenge Sylvanas. Kael'thas doubted he could handle such a situation, let alone Galen!
Kael'thas realized he had been too quick to judge Galen.
After their conversation, Kael'thas rejected Galen's assassination plan. He believed the council still served a purpose. Galen, however, saw Kael'thas as somewhat idealistic and believed his methods were too passive. Yet, it was this very righteousness that made Galen willing to help him.
Galen was no politician, but he had the power to bend the rules. He often did as he pleased, disregarding existing norms. The nobles of Stromgarde were grateful that their old king was still in charge and cherished the days when Galen was merely a prince.