Chapter 145: Afterward

Upon returning to the City of Daylight, Patrick felt a great deal more at ease. The recent battle had taken a heavy toll on him, leaving his face somewhat pale. "How is the situation regarding the trolls' offensive?" he asked.

Alleria looked at Patrick and replied, "The Ranger Command dispatched a reinforcement force led by Ranger Lord Halduron Brightwing to garrison Crown Guard Village and the primary passes. As for the front lines, Sylvanas and her second-in-command, Lor'themar Theron, have led separate troops to deploy heavily near An'owyn. While the trolls might attempt to breach the heartlands of the Ghostlands via the Sun-Scar Spire, doing so with a floating city above and pursuing forces below would be tantamount to suicide."

Finally, Alleria added a supplementary thought: "Rather than worrying that the Ghostlands might fall, we should turn our gaze toward Farstrider Retreat. It sits closest to the troll stronghold of Zul'Aman. If the trolls and the Horde coordinate their assault—with the Horde pinning down the kingdom's main forces while the trolls simultaneously mobilize a massive army against Farstrider Retreat—the consequences would be unimaginable."

"Summon Edonus to me."

Alleria did not send a servant to summon him immediately. Instead, she said quietly, "Would you not like to go and rest? You can leave the matters of the floating city to your subordinates."

"No," Patrick said with absolute finality. "That will not do. There are dragons among the enemy's forces, and the floating city is situated at the vanguard of the Ghostlands. We are likely to bear the brunt of the Horde's initial pressure, so I must press on."

Softening his tone slightly, Patrick added, "Go call Edonus. I can still endure."

With a helpless sigh, Alleria conceded to her husband's decision and sent a servant to contact Edonus.

Before long, Edonus returned to the Spire of Daylight. "Lord Patrick, what are your orders?"

Edonus knew that during such a critical period, a sudden summons from the Lord Paramount meant there were absolute matters requiring his attention.

Anxiety was written all over Patrick's face. "Have our battle reports been dispatched to Silvermoon City?"

"They have already been sent. We also received a reply from Steward Quien'sas. Both the battle report and a portion of the arcane projections have been transmitted back to Silvermoon."

Having received a definitive answer, Patrick's expression relaxed slightly. "And the Horde forces outside? Are they still beneath the floating city?"

"They are not. They have marched off in a southwestern direction. Once we sealed the teleportation chamber, those Horde orcs could only watch helplessly from the ground. Only a few red dragons, unable to conceal themselves, unleashed a few breaths of dragonfire at the floating city, but all of it was intercepted by the city's defensive barrier. After attacking to no avail, the Horde army departed to the northwest alongside the red dragons. For now, the City of Daylight is basically safe."

To be honest, Edonus had been terrified upon seeing the red dragons, especially when they beat their wings and unleashed torrents of flame directly at the floating city. A brief panic had rippled through the elves inside, but when the dragonbreath was entirely repelled by the shields, the elven troops within the city broke into cheers.

Dragons could be considered the apex creatures of Azeroth; if even such beings were powerless against the floating city, the elves living within its walls would at least not need to worry about the safety of war.

When the red dragons ultimately abandoned their assault on the City of Daylight, the garrison forces inside felt considerably more at ease. Following the fierce initial clash with the Horde, the wounded were bandaged one after another, while the uninjured soldiers who remained entirely intact seized the time to rest and prepare for whatever combat lay ahead.

In this campaign, the core Farstrider forces led by Alleria and the mage troops recruited by Patrick had fully utilized their home-field advantage. Casualties were within acceptable limits, with well over eighty percent of their forces remaining completely intact. At the critical juncture when the red dragons appeared, Patrick had ordered the troops to retreat, meaning the corpses left on the battlefield belonged almost exclusively to the orcs.

Assured that Silvermoon City had received the news, Patrick felt a greater sense of relief. He turned back to Alleria and said, "Although the Horde army has departed, judging by the direction of their march, they are advancing into Eversong Forest. Windrunner Village and Golden Mist Village might be in danger."

Alleria remained rather nonchalant. "Due to our wedding, all members of the Windrunner family have come to the floating city. While it is possible some might return after the ceremony concludes, they would constitute a tiny fraction of the elves. Besides, we currently lack the capability to halt the Horde's advance."

"North of the Ghostlands, the southern region of Eversong Forest consists primarily of woodlands. Even if our ranger forces are familiar with the terrain and can utilize the cover of trees to strike from all directions, driving the orcs to distraction, how are we to deal with the dragons in the sky? A single breath of dragonfire would ignite the forests, leaving the rangers with nowhere to hide. Our forces rely on mobility; in terms of sheer power, we are simply no match for the orcs."

"..." Patrick had nothing to say; Alleria spoke the truth.

A trace of helplessness tinged Alleria's tone. "Among our forces, professional warriors are in the minority; the majority of the soldiers are mages and rangers. Those orc soldiers simply shrugged off our attacks to charge straight into our formations and troops, and we were powerless to stop them."

This was the very first large-scale campaign Patrick had participated in, and merely on this first outing, it had exposed so many flaws within Quel'Thalas's military forces. Had the Highborne Council never noticed this before? That seemed impossible, or perhaps their focus simply lay entirely outside of military affairs.

"The composition of our forces is far too singular. That is indeed a shortcoming that must be remedied. Then there are the civilians, long accustomed to leisure, who do nothing but panic and flee when danger strikes, while blaming others for failing to safeguard their safety."

...

Problems of this nature were ubiquitous, and resolving them would take time.

"No matter, let us see how the council arranges things next," Patrick thought to himself. Now, they could only wait to see how His Majesty the King and the Highborne Council chose to orchestrate matters; he had already done his utmost. After a day of fierce combat and managing the affairs of the floating city, Patrick felt a creeping wave of exhaustion.

"It truly is time to rest." Patrick teleported directly back to his chambers on the apex level. Between all the frantic rushing about, day had turned to night. From the Horde's sneak attack to the frontal clash and the subsequent general retreat, the newborn City of Daylight had weathered a legion-scale battle. The spoils reaped from the battlefield were considerable, but digesting the experience gained required time.

...

At that moment, Patrick saw Alleria sitting at the edge of the bed.

Her eyes flicked uncertainly toward him, wearing a somewhat abashed expression as she spoke in a low voice, "Are you preparing to rest now?"

Seeing Alleria like this, Patrick dispensed with superfluous gestures and pulled her into a passionate embrace, their lips meeting in a deep kiss. After a day of intense warfare, with the external enemies newly repulsed, the two of them needed yet another fierce battle to vent the very last reserves of energy from their bodies.

At last, when all their energy had dissipated, Patrick gently embraced Alleria from behind, pressing her back against his chest.