Chapter 355 |
“It’s a minor matter. The brainwashing of those Night Elves has been completed. With their help, it should be easy to find those hidden Satyrs. Also, Talonicus has gone to Suramar…When the time comes, hehe~” Beneath Shadow Weaver red robe came a hoarse female voice.
What she spoke of was precisely the scheduled second-step strategy:
To unleash the Satyrs imprisoned by the Druids and have the Night Elves of Suramar strike against the Night Elves.
Satyrs were elves corrupted and fallen under demonic influence during the ancient wars.
And Xavius, an elf once second only to Azshara in status, was the very first Satyr and also the god of all later Satyrs!
Although at the end of the ancient wars, Xavius was sealed by Malfurion with an arrow shot by Tyrande Whisperwind into a great tree and sunk to the seabed, this Satyr King did not die.
Instead, after being imprisoned for thousands of years, with the help of N’Zoth, the most deeply hidden Old God, he became the Nightmare King and successfully invaded the Emerald Dream, creating the Emerald Nightmare and continuously corrupting the Emerald Dream.
However, contacting this Nightmare King was not easy, especially while the Burning Legion had not launched a second invasion and the Satyrs remained in hiding.
Even Josh, knowing of the Satyrs’ existence, found it difficult to provide Abbendis with much information.
These Satyrs were Xavius’ trusted subordinates from the ancient wars, now prisoners of the Druids.
Under normal circumstances, these creatures deserved execution.
Malfurion and some Druids also thought so.
But this proposal was opposed by many Druids in the Cenarion Circle at the time—because these fallen Satyrs were once close friends of the Night Elves. Though hated, they could not bear to see them executed.
Thus, these Satyrs were placed to sleep beneath the roots of the first World Tree in Val’sharah, Shaladrassil...
One must admit, from Josh and Abbendis’ perspective, this Druid approach was quite puzzling...
But for Abbendis now, it was fortunate.
As long as these Satyrs were released and contacted the Nightmare King, all the Night Elves in Val’sharah would be doomed.
As for whether Abbendis would be harmed in retaliation by the Nightmare King, there was no need to worry.
The Old God C’thun had already been subdued by the Ancient One; would he fear Xavius, just a mere servant of N’Zoth?
Though N’Zoth was the last Old God to appear in Azeroth, he was actually the weakest among all the Old Gods of Azeroth...
So when Xavius drove the Night Elves into desperation, it would basically mean the Ancient One was about to strike at this Nightmare King and N’Zoth behind him.
In contrast, Suramar was truly the toughest nut to crack!
“In that case, I entrust this matter to you, Your Excellency!” Abbendis nodded at Shadow Weaver.
Shadow Weaver slightly bowed in return, then led the brainwashed Night Elves who had landed with her to depart.
However, among those departing Night Elves, Maiev’s figure was missing. The reason was simple: shortly after being captured, she was traded by Abbendis to Josh.
Accompanying them was also a delegation composed of humans under Abbendis’ command, including the Four Divine Power warrior Bursta.
Additionally, there was a Tauren delegation led by Baine Bloodhoof.
Though Abbendis had his own schemes, helping the Tauren find their kin and winning over the Highmountain Tauren was not a lie.
After half a day of marching, this mixed force quickly reached the area around the Moon Temple.
The brainwashed Night Elves in the group sent signals according to their memories.
Soon, Night Elf scouts appeared from the nearby jungle.
“Who are you?” The leader of the Night Elf scouts eyed the mixed group warily and questioned.
“I am Nasha. We were sent by Lady Tyrande and Commander Maiev to assist these Tauren in reaching Highmountain. I believe the High Priestess inside the temple has already received the message!” A female Night Elf from Shadow Weaver’s team stepped forward and showed a token.
Nasha was Maiev’s deputy (the Huntress from Warcraft III campaign) and also one of her most trusted subordinates.
Among the Night Elves following Abbendis’ fleet, she was second only to Maiev in rank.
“I know of you, but as far as I know, your landing spot should be in the northern border region, not the south. Also, your leader should be Shadow Weaversong!” The scout leader expressed surprise upon hearing Nasha but quickly raised doubts.
“We were attacked by the Naga during the voyage. This human fleet suffered heavy losses, so we had to change course and landed on the southern Twilight Reef. Lady Maiev also went to Watcher’s Isle to dispatch reinforcements, so she handed me the token to lead these humans and Tauren to Highmountain. For safety, Lady Maiev ordered that a scouting party ‘escort’ them!” Nasha whispered the explanation to the scout leader.
Although the current Night Elf capital was Mount Hyjal, the true bases of the Night Elves’ three main forces—the Sentinel troops (Sisterhood of Elune), Druids, and Watchers—were not actually in Kalimdor but in the Broken Isles.
Namely, the original Moon Temple where they now stood, the World Tree Shaladrassil, and the Watcher’s Hold in southern Azsuna.
After all, before Azeroth’s continent shattered, the Broken Isles were the central stronghold of the entire elven race.
So Nasha’s reasoning was quite reasonable.
This was also one of the reasons Maiev left some of her duties to follow Abbendis’ fleet to the Broken Isles—because this was their main base.
Moreover, Nasha was not worried her lie would be exposed.
Compared to the other two factions, the Watcher troops were more independent. Apart from Maiev, Nasha was the one who communicated the most with the other two factions.
Thus, most of the main priests at the Val’sharah Moon Temple knew her and basically would not suspect her in Maiev’s absence.
“I understand, but I have to report the situation here to the priest first!” Facing Nasha’s explanation, the scout captain hesitated slightly before replying.
“Of course!” Nasha nodded.
Then the scout captain instructed her subordinates to watch over Shadow Weaver and her group, while she herself went back to report the situation.
However, she returned quickly as well.
She came back in only about half an hour, bringing orders from the priests of the Val’sharah Moon Temple, permitting Shadow Weaver and her group to pass, allowing them to travel through the Moon Temple and the Night Elf town of Andu’talah, under the supervision of the Night Elf scouts, to reach Highmountain.
Under the supervision of the Night Elf scouts, Shadow Weaver’s group, aside from some distant looks toward the World Tree Shaladrassil with a few sighs while passing Andu’talah, seemed to have crossed the Night Elf territory “safely.”
But the Night Elves led by Nasha did not follow to Highmountain. Instead, after escorting Shadow Weaver group to the Val’sharah border, they returned to Andu’talah together with the local Night Elves.
According to Nasha’s explanation to the Night Elves here, their task was only to escort these humans and tauren to the Highmountain border, and then escort them back the same way after their return.
The Night Elf guards here had no suspicion at all toward Nasha and her kin.
At this time, although the Night Elves were very wary and hostile toward outsiders, their vigilance toward their own kind was extremely low.
Especially since Nasha was Maiev’s trusted deputy; many of the high-ranking Night Elves stationed long-term in Val’sharah were very familiar with her.
Therefore, under Nasha’s leadership, these Night Elves, who had actually been brainwashed by Shadow Weaver, were able to move freely in Val’sharah and effortlessly enter the town of Shala’nir beneath the Shaladrassil tree.
“This is Shaladrassil. Those satyrs are buried in the Shala’nir caves behind the town. It’s easy to approach the cave’s outskirts, but without the High Druid’s orders, one cannot enter the cave!” Under the tree, Nasha pretended to be praying to Shaladrassil but was actually speaking to her own shadow—or more precisely, Shadow Weaver, who was hidden within her shadow.
“This is nothing. Just take me nearby and explain to the druid guards there! As long as there’s a shadow, there’s no place I can’t enter!” From within Nasha’s shadow came Shadow Weaver’s hoarse voice.
Shadow Weaver’s name was largely because she was extremely skilled at manipulating shadows.
And although her strength did not match the Ancient One’s, compared to Malfurion, that was uncertain.
“I understand!” Nasha whispered back.
Then she got up and headed toward the Shala’nir cave.
“This is forbidden ground, my sister. Without the High Druid’s orders, I must ask you to leave!” As expected, just as Nasha approached the cave’s perimeter, a giant bear stepped out from the jungle, politely warning her.
“Sorry, I just wanted to stroll around and admire the great mother tree, but I seem to have gotten lost. Could you please take me back to the town, Druid Lord?” Nasha feigned panic and replied.
“Oh, of course, young lady, follow me!” Hearing Nasha’s words, the druid nodded.
He did not recognize Nasha. Due to the Night Elves’ immortality, it was difficult to judge their age, so this druid thought she was a local young girl unfamiliar with the area—in the past years, this druid had encountered many situations similar to Nasha’s, so he paid no attention and kindly led her—although he was a guardian of the Shala’nir caves, he was assigned to the outskirts, so leaving briefly wouldn’t affect the overall situation.
It could be said that nearly ten thousand years of peace around Shaladrassil had reduced the guards’ vigilance to a very low level.
However, soon the druid returned along the original path, and on the surface, nothing seemed unusual.
But in reality, Shadow Weaver had already hidden within the druid’s shadow without his awareness.
Thus, by using the same method, Shadow Weaver easily infiltrated deeper into the Shala’nir caves through the shadows of these druids.
Yet, upon reaching the depths of the cave, Shadow Weaver realized she had been somewhat naïve, because the place where the satyrs were imprisoned was also protected by a very powerful natural barrier.
Even with her strength, it was impossible to silently break this barrier but since she had already arrived here, she certainly couldn’t return empty-handed.
She once again slipped into the shadow of a patrolling druid.
At the moment she entered the druid’s shadow, a trace of terror appeared on his face.
Because he suddenly found he had lost control of his body—Shadow Weaver’s shadow manipulation was not merely for hiding but could control the host through the shadow. However, this method was easily detected by anyone who paid attention, so she had not used it before.
But now, at the final moment, she no longer cared. Even if she failed, she could just run away.
So she rudely took control of the druid, directly burning his primal life force to attack the barrier.
The sudden attack on the barrier immediately alerted the druids guarding the cave but it must be said that the druids here had truly lost their vigilance.
When the innermost barrier was attacked, they did not immediately awaken the few sleeping High Druids inside but only dispatched a dozen or so ordinary druids to inspect various parts of the barrier.
When they found the druid attacking the barrier, the barrier had already been breached.
These druids tried to stop their comrade, but he seemed to have lost his mind and launched a desperate charge against the druids who came to assist.
The assisting druids mostly knew this comrade and found it hard to bring themselves to kill him. Instead, they tried to subdue him, which allowed him to suppress them for a time, wasting much time.
Taking advantage of the time the druids wasted, Shadow Weaver quietly passed through the breached barrier and reached the place where the satyrs lay asleep.
Looking at the cave full of satyrs in deep slumber, Shadow Weaver showed no hesitation and unleashed the dark energy within her.
Under the stimulation of this dark energy, the satyrs quickly began to awaken.
“Go, release the fury you accumulated after being imprisoned for ten thousand years!” Accompanied by Shadow Weaver’s shout, a massive number of satyrs roared and charged out of the barrier, beginning a massacre against the druid guards inside the cave.