Harry Potter: Journey to Godhood

"There, Lord Sandor! Look,those are the ones I mentioned in my report!"

Alaric turned his gryphon toward the direction pointed out by the Wildhammer dwarf, Falander, and peered down sharply.

There he saw them. His keen eyes locked onto the figures below.

With a nudge of his heel, he spurred his gryphon into a dive. The beast responded with a cry, wings tucking inward as it swooped lower.

Now, through the forest canopy, he could just make out the movement. Their skin was the same green hue as forest trolls, but more vivid, more unnatural.

They were the Horde forces entering the Hinterlands.

Alaric tugged back on the reins.

The gryphon swung its tail and spread its wings again, rising back into the sky.

Nearby, Kurdran, Falstad, Falander, and others were waiting in a loose circle.

In the distance stood a massive eagle-shaped stone statue, its proud gaze cast down upon the land, Aerie Peak, the home of the Wildhammer dwarves.

But today, that sight didn't inspire the usual pride. The Horde was too close for comfort.

"You see them, my lord?" Falander asked Falstad. "Told you,those freaks crossed the pass and entered our woods! They're orcs, right?"

Falander had been left in charge of Aerie Peak when Kurdran joined the Alliance forces. He had never seen orcs in person before.

"Yes, that's our enemy," Falstad replied. "They're barging into our world. There's a lot of them, and it'll be tough to strike while they're hiding in the woods."

"So we just let them stroll through our land?" a sentry asked.

"Of course not!" Kurdran laughed. 

"Sure, they've got the numbers, but this is our home turf. We'll drive them into the open, and we've got reliable allies too.

Humans and high elves. Let's head home, boys. It's time these green monsters learned they're not welcome in the Hinterlands."

Even the headstrong Wildhammer dwarves had learned from fighting alongside Alaric. Kurdran, for example, had come to appreciate that good intel and proper planning made battles far less costly.

Despite knowing the orcs posed little immediate threat to Aerie Peak, both Falstad and Kurdran were deeply concerned for their homeland.

And since it was unclear whether the Horde's main force was in the Highlands or here in the Hinterlands, Lothar split the troops, he himself would hold the vital Highland front, while Alaric took part of the Alliance army to reinforce the Hinterlands.

Thanks to the mountainous terrain, neither the Horde nor Alliance reinforcements from Hillsbrad could reach the Hinterlands quickly.

So Alaric left the bulk of the army to follow later and flew ahead on gryphon-back with the Wildhammer dwarves.

He'd wanted to leave Jaina behind in Hillsbrad, but his young apprentice refused to be sidelined. She clung to Alaric with tearful determination, demanding to go with him to the Hinterlands.

In the end, he gave in, barely, on the condition that she obeyed every word.

This was his second time at Aerie Peak. The last had been to convince the Wildhammer dwarves to join the Alliance in fighting trolls. That drunken night, and what followed with Alleria, remained a vivid memory.

Alleria had come with him again. After all, it wasn't only the dwarves who feared for their homeland.

But this time, there was no feasting or drinking, war was imminent.

After days of surveillance, intel reached Alaric's hands.

"These past days, the green-skins have been moving through the forest constantly," reported Falander.

"Especially where the forest trolls used to live. It's like they're looking for something. They've split into small squads, each accompanied by forest trolls,but I've never seen those totems before."

"As expected," Alleria said, casting Alaric a look of admiration. "They're searching for trolls, trying to form an alliance. Those unfamiliar trolls must've come from across the sea."

"In all of Lordaeron, what other allies could help the Horde shift the balance of power besides the trolls?" Alaric asked, seated at the head of the war room, Jaina on his lap.

"Good thing we wiped out the local trolls already," said Kurdran, still a bit shaken. "I can't imagine the damage they could do with forest trolls backing them… Liver, you really are something else."

At that moment, Jaina's eyes were sparkling as she looked at Alaric.

This little genius had always admired people who achieved greatness through intellect. Maybe it was something all high-IQ types had in common.

Back home in Kul Tiras, she'd mostly been surrounded by bold, boisterous sailors. That's why she longed for Dalaran.

Now, here was Alaric, a young man not much older than herself, yet already a legend by his own merits.

The more she learned about him from those around her, the deeper her admiration grew. In her heart, he had already replaced Daelin as the hero she revered most.

Alaric, of course, was unaware of the thoughts running through the little girl on his lap. He was already plotting how to turn the Horde's current actions to his advantage.

After a moment's thought, a plan took shape.

"Falstad, Kurdran," he addressed the two Wildhammer leaders, "after we wiped out the trolls in the Hinterlands and Zul'Aman, we took plenty of their totems and banners as war trophies. Do you still have them?"

"Of course! They're proof of our great deeds,I was planning to use them to impress my future kids!" Kurdran said, thumping his chest. "Why, you need them?"

"Yes." Alaric nodded, a confident smile spreading across his face. "If the Horde's goal is to ally with the trolls, then we can use that.

With those trophies,and a bit of my magic,we can lure them to a place of our choosing. And then…"

He smiled coldly.

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