Druids

The army returning from Outland arrived at the defensive lines of the New Alliance under the operation of Tempest Keep. The addition of these powerful reinforcements immediately pushed back the frenzied attack of the Old God's legion and rescued people from darkness and despair.

Aiden knew very little about the Nightmare invasion, only having a simple understanding of its cause, process, and outcome. Therefore, after waking Anna, he wanted to hear if she could offer any good suggestions.

"I remember that the Nightmare Lord's soul is in the Emerald Dream, and its main body is on a cliff somewhere in Azshara, as a strange tree," Anna recalled the memories of the past two or three years. "We must destroy its soul and its main body at the same time to completely kill it."

She described the general appearance of the strange oak tree that was the Nightmare Lord's main body.

Aiden immediately said to Swain: "Send our scouts to find this tree!"

"I seem to have some impression of this description," Captain Plank, after listening to Anna's description, remembered something. Everyone looked at him. "What was it..." He tried hard to recall, then slapped his forehead and shouted: "I remember! The murlocs seem to have seen such a tree! It's in Azshara!"

He finally remembered that they had encouraged Fizz to track those naga, and Fizz scouted a strange tree entwining ordinary naga, turning them into mutated naga.

Plank especially remembered clearly that the mutated naga in the battle of Azshara had given him a lot of trouble. After being rescued by Miss Fortune, he was beaten hard by her. Thinking of this, he gritted his teeth.

Soon Fizz arrived here. Hearing Aiden's question, he described to everyone the approximate appearance of the strange tree he had seen, and mentioned the words he had heard the naga repeatedly mention: "Vashj, Haavis, Queen."

"It should be Kaldorei," Prince Kael'thas said, "It mentions three names, Haavis, Queen, and Vashj."

"Then it can be confirmed," Aiden nodded. He understood the meaning represented by these three names.

"Time is tight, let's act quickly!"

"Commander," Swain said at this time, "Theramore has sent a request for help, should we send troops to support?"

Aiden replied without hesitation: "Of course."

"Yes, I understand," Swain nodded.

Aiden had previously learned that Malfurion and Cenarius were trapped in the dream. The main task of going to Mount Hyjal this time was to awaken Malfurion. This Archdruid was the protagonist in solving the Nightmare. Aiden defined himself in a supporting position, only hoping to quickly resolve this crisis.

Before leaving, Aiden found Illidan. In the battle of the Shattered Spire, affected by the explosion of Archimonde's essence power, this night elf had become demonized. He had a pair of curved demon horns on his head, a pair of bat-like wings on his back, the color of his skin became darker, and the tattoos on his bare upper body that gave him magical power now flowed with demonic energy, and the whole person exuded a dark and evil aura.

"We are going to Mount Hyjal," Aiden said his destination, and then asked, "Do you want to go back?"

"In this form?" Illidan's tone was sarcastic, "I was already not accepted, now they will treat me as a demon even more!"

"Power has no justice or evil, what matters is the user himself," Aiden could only comfort him with such words.

"But not everyone will agree with such a principle," Illidan slowly shook his head, "Aiden, you don't need to persuade me. When I woke up, I said goodbye to the past. The former 'Demon Hunter' Illidan is dead!"

Aiden said: "But I hope you will still walk on the right path, I hope you will wear the glory of killing the 'Defiler' and become a hero in people's hearts."

Illidan fell into silence.

—

After persuading Illidan, Aiden embarked on the journey to Mount Hyjal. He believed that at least the current Illidan was only physically corrupted, and his heart had not truly fallen. If people recognized his achievements and accepted his identity, then he should not go down the path of true darkness.

"The night elves should accept him," Aiden thought in his heart.

While resolving the Nightmare crisis, he would tell Malfurion about Illidan's glory and changes, and try his best to get him to accept his brother, so that the entire night elf race would accept this hero.

"At least the Valoran Federation will accept him," he thought of another possibility.

The ethereal's small spaceship was very fast. It would take two days for a hippogryph to go from Los Angeles to Mount Hyjal, while the ethereal spaceship only took three hours. The speed was not inferior to that of an airliner.

However, when Aiden saw the situation of Mount Hyjal through the window, he was shocked.

Even without a large-scale attack by the sea monsters, the crisis faced by the night elves was more serious than that in the coastal areas.

When Tyrande fled Moonglade and returned to Mount Hyjal, it was already in complete chaos here.

First, the Nightmare Claws and the crazed treants began to attack the night elves. Maiev Shadowsong was the first to react, and she immediately led her troops to counterattack. The druids discovered that the wardens were attacking the treants, and immediately wanted to stop them, but then the druids were also attacked by the treants and Nightmare Claws.

The sentinels left by Tyrande tried to stop the opposition between the druids and the wardens, but Maiev Shadowsong discovered the abnormality of the World Tree and immediately accused the druids of poisoning Nordrassil with spells during the day. Fandral Staghelm, who was hit on the sore spot, immediately retorted fiercely.

In the end, the three parties whose new and old grudges broke out began to fight internally.

The wardens had long been dissatisfied with the status of the sentinel troops, not to mention that Tyrande had privately killed the guards of the prison and released Illidan? Moreover, Staghelm, who had received secret orders, couldn't wait for the water to be muddier, and he prevented anyone who did not listen to him from approaching Nordrassil under the guise of protecting the World Tree. Coupled with the siege of treants and Nightmare Claws, overnight, the peaceful and peaceful Mount Hyjal turned into a hell of blood and fire.

Tyrande's sentinel troops had the largest number and should have had the advantage, but these sentinels were leaderless, most of their troops were dragged down by the Nightmare Claws, and they were frantically attacked by Maiev Shadowsong and the warden troops, and they were also occasionally plotted against by the druids. As a result, they were completely at a disadvantage.

When Tyrande came back, the sentinel troops had suffered heavy losses. If it weren't for the healing of the priests of Elune from the Sisterhood of Elune, most of the warriors would have returned to Elune's embrace.

"Stop, everyone stop!" Tyrande's urgent voice was full of anger.

The sentinel troops saw their master return and immediately stopped and gathered around her after hearing the order.

However, the warden troops did not receive the order from their mistress and had no intention of stopping at all.

"I said, stop!" Tyrande shouted angrily, and the behavior of the warden troops immediately provoked her revenge!

Just as her voice sounded, a large area of starlight suddenly shone in the cloudy sky. In a blink of an eye, these starlights condensed into energy entities and fell from the sky, slamming into the warden troops.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!"

One by one, meteors fell with beautiful starlight, but hidden beneath the beautiful appearance was a fatal power. When these meteors landed, violent explosions occurred near the landing point, and the energy of the moonlight dissipated, blasting the nearby enemies away. In the area shrouded in starlight, the wardens were either dead or injured.

At this moment, a figure that seemed real and illusory suddenly passed through the layers of starlight and rushed towards Tyrande.

The huge dark green cloak fluttered behind her, and the strangely shaped weapon bent into a circle in her hand was emitting a cold, dark green light.

It was Maiev Shadowsong, the mistress of the wardens. Only she dared to challenge the Priestess of the Moon at this time.

Seeing the other party rushing over, Tyrande's eyes contained immortal anger. She drew her bow and nocked an arrow that shone brightly on the bowstring.

"Do you have to fight to the death at this time, Maiev!" Tyrande glared at the other party.

"Do you think your soft and fluttering arrows can hit me?" Maiev snorted coldly, already passing through the starlight curtain and arriving not far from Tyrande. "You killed my warden sisters, you owe me an explanation."

Tyrande was about to answer when a familiar voice suddenly came from her side:

"It's not just that." It was Fandral Staghelm, the Arch-Druid next to Nordrassil. He walked to the middle of the confronting two, then looked at Tyrande, "Tyrande, you owe all of our people an explanation."

"What do you mean?" Tyrande looked at Fandral. How could she not hear the hostility in the Arch-Druid's tone?

Could it be that Maiev and he have joined forces to overthrow her?

But why at this time? Don't they see the current situation of the night elves!

"Now that things have come to this, I have to say a painful truth." Fandral said loudly, "Tyrande, do you know why Malfurion has not woken up?"

Tyrande narrowed her eyes. She knew that if she answered, the other party would definitely say what she least wanted to hear.

But she still asked: "Why?"

"Because," Fandral took a deep breath, and then said loudly, "He betrayed us in the Emerald Dream! He has defected to the Nightmare Lord and attacked the great Cenarius! The rest of us escaped the dream with the help of the Green Dragon Queen Ysera! The slumber of the people, the withering of the World Tree, and the madness of the treants… All of this is because of him, because he has defected to the Nightmare Lord!"

"Malfurion Stormrage, he has been corrupted!"

When Fandral roared these words, everyone present was stunned.

Tyrande expected the other party to say what she least wanted to hear, but the result was worse than she could have imagined.

"You are lying! Fandral Staghelm, do you know what you are saying?" Tyrande angrily questioned the Arch-Druid, "I will not allow you to slander the leader of all druids, the hero of the night elves, and my husband without evidence!"

"I can testify that what Arch-Druid Fandral Staghelm said is true!" Standing up was Ysso Windsong, a famous female raptor druid.

"I can also testify." This was Ryan Wingfeather, another elite druid.

"Me too.", "I can too.", "Me too."

The named druids behind Fandral spoke up one after another.

Tyrande couldn't believe this scene. What was even more terrifying was that Malfurion's disciple, Broll Bearmantle, also stood up: "I can also testify."

Tyrande stood there frozen, as if struck by lightning.

Her heart told her that all the druids in front of her were slandering Malfurion. He was such a noble, steadfast, and selfless person that no one present could compare to him. If he could be corrupted and betrayed, then who could resist the Nightmare?

However, hundreds of questions made everyone except Tyrande believe that Malfurion had really betrayed them.

"We believe that you are no longer suitable to be High Priestess, Tyrande Whisperwind." Fandral Staghelm's words were like a bayonet, piercing Tyrande's heart.

Maiev Shadowsong mocked: "Ten thousand years ago, the previous High Priestess made a wrong decision when she chose you to be the High Priestess before her death."

Seeing the ridicule and accusations of the others around her, and seeing even her sentinels beginning to waver, Tyrande felt that she had lost all her strength. At this time, she could only place her hope on faith:

"Moon Goddess Elune, please guide me, what should I do? Please guide me…"

Just then, the sound of air whistling came from a distance, and a strange but structurally reasonable and smooth aircraft approached from far away.

Tyrande opened her eyes wide, and a premonition arose in her heart: Could this be Elune's guidance?

"Intruders?"

All the night elves turned their attention to the suddenly intruding aircraft.

However, it was humans and tauren who appeared from the aircraft.

Aiden noticed the tense situation under Mount Hyjal before he landed. For a moment, he didn't understand why the night elves were fighting among themselves, and it was still under the circumstances of Nightmare minions and mad treants attacking.

The night elf warriors on the periphery were fighting against the Nightmare minions, while the three leaders inside were confronting each other.

"State your identities, intruders!" Maiev was the closest to those who appeared from the aircraft, so she was the first to ask coldly.

"Warlords of Valoran Federation, Aiden"

"Thunder Bluff, Hamuul Runetotem."

Not long ago, the night elves contacted them, and the envoy was Broll Bearmantle. Except for him, everyone present had only heard of humans and tauren.

Broll Bearmantle had only met Hamuul, and Aiden was still in the Eastern Continent when he visited. However, he did not deny it, but nodded to the people.

"You were not invited, who allowed you to enter Mount Hyjal?" Even after confirming their identities, Fandral Staghelm still showed considerable dissatisfaction. The atmosphere he had painstakingly created was destroyed by the arrival of these people!

Hamuul whispered to Aiden: "This is Arch-Druid Fandral Staghelm."

However, it was quite difficult for a tauren to speak softly, and everyone around him heard what he said.

"I know." Aiden looked at Fandral, the night elf with dark green hair and a thick beard of the same color, and answered, looking directly at the other party: "I think I came at the right time."

Two cold snorts responded to him.

Obviously, Maiev Shadowsong and Fandral Staghelm did not welcome his arrival.

"Don't you see the situation in front of you?" Aiden pointed to the warriors fighting against the Nightmare minions in the distance, "They are bleeding, and you are still… fighting for power and profit?"

"You have no right to interfere in the politics of the night elves, mortal!" Maiev Shadowsong heavily emphasized the last two words, "We don't welcome you!"

"More importantly, we can only solve other threats with peace of mind after resolving internal conflicts." Fandral looked in Tyrande's direction while speaking, obviously implying something.

A thought suddenly arose in Aiden's mind: "Settle internal affairs before resisting foreign aggression"?

He shook his head and laughed, then said: "I very much agree with your words, Fandral Staghelm."

Fandral was a little disgusted that Aiden called him by his name. He said coldly: "Then step aside. If you have anything, we will talk about it after we have resolved Tyrande's matter!"

He tried to restore the situation to what it was before Aiden arrived.

At this time, Tyrande's heart sank again. She thought silently, how could she be so foolish as to place her hope on this human? She could already foresee her outcome. Facing Fandral's accusations and Maiev's siege, she had no way to clear herself or Malfurion of suspicion.

But at this moment, Aiden put on an expression of incomparable surprise: "Arch-Druid Staghelm, shouldn't the problem of you be solved right now?"

"What do you mean!" Fandral Staghelm immediately glared at Aiden.

Anyone who wasn't a fool could hear the meaning in Aiden's words. Everyone looked at him in surprise, and guessed why he would say such a thing.

You must know that all the accusations were against Tyrande, and this human was obviously trying to clear Tyrande and turn the finger at Fandral!

Aiden looked back at the other party and said: "What I mean is, Fandral Staghelm, you have defected to the Nightmare Lord Xavius, helped him steal the power of the World Tree, and cooperated with his attempt to subvert the world."

The audience was in an uproar.

"That's what I mean." Aiden said slowly.

Fandral trembled all over, as if he was angry because of the slander, but in fact, there was also the fear and embarrassment of being exposed. But he immediately thought of the Nightmare Lord's powerful power. Xavius's plan had reached most of the way now, and no power could stop him now. He will be completely successful!

"State your reasons and evidence. Otherwise…" Fandral tried to make his voice sound calm, but it still contained uncontrollable anger, "Otherwise you will never get out of Mount Hyjal!"

The druids behind him angrily accused and scolded Aiden, because he insulted their current only trustworthy spiritual leader, a noble Arch-Druid!

"These people are really crazy." Hamuul Runetotem shook his head, "This shouldn't be the performance of a qualified druid."