Blade Dance

Joanna had just arranged the tables and chairs when the thick door of the hotel was knocked open with a bang.The dense night rushed in at once.Heavy panting wafted at the door, gently stirring the silence in the dark.

She turned her head to look at the uninvited guest, half of her face was illuminated by the burning oil lamp on the table.The light and shadow draw the hazy outline of the facial features, and the green eyes shimmer in the translucent shadow.

"Since you're here, come in and sit down," she said, "close the door."

The light of the stars and the moon spilled into the room from the window, dyeing the deep darkness with a layer of cold silvery white. Dawn is coming, but I don't know how long it will be.Orson stood at the door for another moment.It wasn't until Joanna sat down at the innermost table with the flagon and glass that he turned and closed the door and walked towards her.He sat down opposite her without saying a word, his breathing had already stabilized, his eyes drooped downwards, as if his thoughts had fallen into the gaps in the wooden tabletop.The light and shadow of the flames complicated the lines of his face, making the expression on his face clearly visible, but Joanna realized that she couldn't find the right words to describe that expression.

She recalled a few months ago, on a stormy afternoon, she sat across from Meghan Hilde and drank with her.Even though she can't remember the content of the conversation at that time, she still remembers the sense of horror that made her tremble all over at that time.She couldn't be sure of the ins and outs of all this. Are these things really intertwined as she speculated?After all, fate always likes to play tricks on people.Speaking of which, Harlan must have been taken aback.The unexpected way of unfolding and unexpected people, even though he always showed a look of wisdom in his hands, it was far beyond expectations.After all, it was partly his fault.Not all the time, simply escaping and secluded from the world will make the problem less serious.Contradictions that cannot be eliminated from the root may only grow like weeds, because they grow more wantonly because they are left unattended, and finally ignite with a little spark, and the whole field will be annihilated.

But the matter is over, and it is meaningless to pursue whose fault it is.

Joanna's gaze fell aimlessly on the oil lamp.The faint candlelight illuminated a small area around it, lingering to block the darkness.She stared at the only light in the darkness, and suddenly felt a trance.The light was a bit dazzling after looking at it for a long time, making her want to look away, but it kept pulling her gaze and attracting her attention, until she realized that she could no longer look away.

Silence is the best weapon.If both sides use silence as a weapon, then the amount of confession accumulated in the heart determines the strength and weakness.Joanna could feel Orson being overwhelmed.

"I……"

His voice was rough and stiff, and it seemed that he had to take a lot of effort to speak.

"I don't know."

He finally looked up at Joanna.The firelight illuminated black eyes, but gave them no brilliance.There was no resentment, anger, or sadness on his face, just plain incomprehension.

Joanna looked him in the eyes and sighed.

"I'm afraid I can't explain it either, because everyone understands something or someone differently."

Orson showed a sad expression.

"He may be a friend to you, not the only one, but the one who has known you the longest and has the deepest friendship. But it is very important that your friendship does not start with like-minded people. If you find out after a long time If anything is missing, which is an integral quality of friendship as you understand it, you are bound to be disappointed, frustrated, even miserable.

"He is a child to me. There is no blood relationship, but we depend on each other and give each other companionship and warmth."

She paused.

"But it's frustrating that none of us have been able to complete him."

Orson frowned.His gaze seemed overwhelmed, and fell to the table again.In the dim light, Joanna saw that his face seemed to tense up.

"You didn't take part in the battle for Hellfire Citadel. You didn't see... I can't bear Harlan with them." His voice was tired and harsh. "I can't forgive the Illidari. They—"

"I can't do it either."

Orson raised his head, his eyes full of bewilderment.

Joanna looked at him straightly: "I can't agree with their ideas - to make cruel changes to my body to obtain the power of evil energy. People accuse them of acting extreme and at any cost. There is nothing wrong with it. There is nothing wrong with having and Indulging in enviable power also makes it very easy for them to forget their original intention," she held out her hand, palm up, and then turned it over, "because it only takes a slight change of direction to be able to go to the opposite of justice, and be on that side. China also has an absolute advantage, enough to crush justice in turn. So for the Alliance and the Horde, they are a very dangerous group of people."

She clasped her hands together.

"However, this is the path they chose, the path they insisted on against the Legion. As long as they don't change direction, we have no right to judge.

"Besides," Joanna curled her lips and said word by word, "Harlan is not 'with them', he is with Roy."

Orson looked at her in dismay.

"Is his name Roy?"

He laughed, then looked down.

Joanna took a sip from her glass.The night dissipated, and the darkness became somewhat transparent.

"Do you hate me?" Orson asked abruptly.

Joanna froze for a moment, then laughed.

"What do I hate you for?"

"Because I made him fall from the highest place."

Joanna fell silent for a while, as if she was witnessing a person tear open a wound on her body at close range.

"I might blame you because it's you, and blame you for not being more tolerant and patient." She was startled suddenly.

This will also be the saddest part for Harlan.

"...but also because of 'it's you', the whole thing is easy to understand. I don't hate anyone, and neither does Harlan. We both know it's inevitable. We just don't get it."

"not understand?"

"Yes, I don't understand why we can't be more understanding and forgiving. But we don't know the difficulties because we have not experienced the pain of being separated from our relatives, so we can't say anything."

Orson stared at her for a long time, then hugged his head and said nothing.

A white light glowed in the distant sky, turning a small piece of the sky into light blue.In the sky above the head, the gray clouds have winding outlines, floating on the sky screen intermittently and continuously.The clouds gradually parted, revealing the deep navy blue night sky above it, with stars shining in it, far away and untouchable.

Joanna looked at the beauty of dawn in the sky, and suddenly felt sorry for Harlan.He might not see the sunrise for a while—Zangarmarsh is night.For people who have experienced countless mornings and evenings, places like swamps seem to stay in a certain night forever.Everything is alive, but time stands still.In the eternal night, the vigorous new life is fixed in the most brilliant moment.

"By the way," she said suddenly, watching Orson raise his head in response, "Meganhild..."

The oil lamp on the table went out.Pure skylight diffused in through the windows, dyeing everything a light gray-blue.

Orson looked at her blankly.Joanna hesitated for a moment, and finally said:

"She was terrified, too."

"She knows everything." Orson showed a painful look. He lowered his head and his voice was trembling. "She knows what I did."

He stood up suddenly with an anxious expression on his face.

"I'm going first. Sorry, I—"

Joanna waved her hand and interrupted him, signaling that she understood what he was trying to say.At this moment, there was a sudden knock on the door.She frowned. "I'll go," Orson said, and trotted toward the door.

The moment he opened the door, he froze in place.It's Megan Heard.

Joanna tilted her head and looked over Orson's back, only to see Megan Hilde with a dusty face and gasping for breath, as if she had just run all over the city.She probably did, Joanna thought, because the anxious expression on her face disappeared the moment she saw Orson.

Orson glanced back.The distance was too far, and Joanna couldn't see his eyes clearly.She just waved him goodbye one more time and watched him walk out with Meghan Hield.

----------

"My army is ready. The High Mages will open the portal to Shattrath City in a week. It will be a while before we send the entire army. Are all your men here?"

Herman □□ was dressed in a military uniform, and he had long since lost the sloppy look of a prisoner a few months ago.He placed the stack of parchments on the marble table in front of Warden Maiev Shadowsong, and sat down across from her.

As Shadowsong promised, the First Admiral agreed to release Herman, allowing him to lead an expedition to Outland with the night elves, and to send the Silver Hand and the Brotherhood of the Iron Horse with him.He himself led the remaining troops of the Seventh Legion and the Stormwind City defense forces to stay in Azeroth.Herman was given full command of the three armies, and was ordered to hunt down Illidan Stormrage and his Illidari together with Maiev Shadowsong, and then stay in Outland to meet the legion and drive out the demons.

"The watchers are all here, and I have borrowed some people from Tyrande. They will arrive within ten days. Time is not the primary issue at the moment. What we need is to ensure the stability of the portal." Maiev looked at the table A pile of documents on the website, "The Legion has not made trouble in the past few months, and the Illidari are still preparing to go to Mardum, the Shattered Abyss."

"Marton?" Herman raised his jaw slightly and frowned slightly.

Maiev looked away from the file, shot him a quick glance, and grimaced where Herman couldn't see it.His tone of voice, eyes, facial expressions and movements are as arrogant as ever.Originally, the pain of prison did not dampen his arrogance, but now that he has regained command, humility has no chance for him.Maiev only thought of the way he had anxiously asked to see her and asked for her, and now it seemed like a once-in-a-lifetime event.

Seeing her silence, Herman said again: "I know that is the place where Sargeras once imprisoned the demons. But what did the Illidari go there? Repeat the mistakes of the demon king?"

Maiev looked up, green eyes peering at him through chinks in his armor.

"There's what they're looking for."

"What is it?"

"It has nothing to do with us."

Herman narrowed his eyes.There was no emotion in Maiev's tone, and it was difficult for him to judge whether she was perfunctory or covering up her ignorance.And Maiev didn't pay attention to his eyes at all, and put an emerald crystal on the round table by herself.The crystal has an irregular shape and emits a dull luster. It is not as moist as jade, nor as transparent as a gemstone. It is better to say that it is an ordinary stone.But the moment he saw the stone clearly, Herman felt that he was firmly attracted by it, as if it contained part of his soul.

"What is this? Is it used against the Legion?"

"No, you can deal with the Legion in the usual way - just kill them all." Maiev glanced at him, "They haven't invaded Azeroth on a large scale so far, partly because they haven't taken Outland yet, On the other hand, it is also because they cannot do it at all. Once freed from the influence of the Twisting Nether, the power of the demons will be greatly weakened. With our current combined strength, it is a breeze to kill them in Azeroth."

She took the crystal and held it up to Herman.For some reason, Herman only felt a thorn in his back when he saw the crystal approaching him, and involuntarily leaned back following her movements.

"To deal with Illidan Stormrage and his Illidari." Maiev raised his jaw, motioning him to take the crystal.

Herman gave her a cautious look, and took the crystal from her hand.The turquoise material is far colder and harder than imagined, and there are almost no impurities when you look closely.He held it against the window, letting the bright sunlight shine through.It's not completely opaque, he thought, but if it's thicker, you really can't see anything.

"Making weapons? To deal with bodies infused with evil energy?" He repeatedly observed the crystal in his hand, but asked casually.If it is specially used to deal with creatures touched by evil energy, such as legion demons and demon hunters whose bodies are filled with the blood of evil energy, then a sword made of this special material...

"No, I will not kill them," Maiev said. "It is their forgiveness to let them die happily."

Hermann looked up at her.He heard his own breathing.

"I will imprison them and put them in an eternal prison."