“It is a pleasure to have you here, Lady Windrunner,” Lothar greeted the elf in front of him with a smile and a polite handshake.

“Call me Alleria. Lady Windrunner is my mother,” the dubbed Alleria said with a smile. “Thank you for having me and those who Quel’thalas was helpful enough to let aid you.”

Lothar didn’t miss the grimace on the face of the otherwise beautiful elf and couldn’t deny feeling the same way.

It was not a secret that despite the impassioned calls of aid made by King Menethil and himself requesting that the high elves honor their ancient debt to the Arathi bloodline, that Quel’thalas was still reluctant at best to send any aid to assist the Alliance of Lordaeron against the Horde. They were so sure of their own safety that they saw no point in sending anyone to fight, and the fact that Lothar got Alleria and her followers at all was nothing short of a miracle of the Light itself… and not much of one in the end.

“Is there truly no chance that Quel’thalas will send more aid?” Turalyon, who was nearby at the command table with them, asked.

“I’ll be honest… the only reason why we are here at all is because King Sunstrider wishes to wipe away a debt to the Arathi bloodline through your Supreme Commander for as little of a cost as possible. The idea of owing a human anything is a stain on his and most elves' pride,” Alleria said with a sneer and pain in her eyes. Lothar could tell that she likely had personal reasons for feeling so strongly on the matter. “Not all of us feel the same way, however, so I volunteered myself and gathered those that agreed with me that the Horde is a threat we shouldn’t let spiral out of control. If I hadn’t, you would have received even less than what I came here with.”

Fewer than a few hundred elf rangers and a handful of destroyers? Lothar didn’t want to imagine less than that.

He could only sigh and nod. “We will make do, and thank you again for coming in our time of need.”

“I promise we will make up for what we lack in numbers through our superior skill,” Alleria promised him.

“Let us pray it is enough, for the Horde certainly has the numbers that such skill will be needed,” Lothar said before turning to Turalyon. “Go with Farstrider Alleria to help integrate her forces among the defenses.”

“Yes, Supreme Commander,” his lieutenant was quick to follow his order, guiding Alleria out from the command tent and quickly striking up a conversation.

He hoped they got along well, this conflict needed as little internal infighting as possible after all.

It was a problem that he faced every day as the Alliance was still struggling with building up defenses and gathering their combined forces here in Hillsbrad Foothills.

“How are the preparations Uther?” Lothar returned to speak with his other lieutenant at the command table after receiving several reports from a courier.

“Slow,” was Uther’s disappointed but unsurprised reply.

The man had been working ceaselessly alongside him and Turalyon to make their preparations go as swiftly as possible, but there was a limit to how quickly such matters could go.

“Damnation,” Lothar sighed as he placed both his hands on the table and glared at the map before him.

“Lordaeron’s military is moving the fastest, but much of their forces are focused on fortifying the roads to Capital City as best they are able. The other kingdoms are mostly doing the same, and are therefore slow to send most of their soldiers here to prepare for the Horde’s arrival. They believe that your prediction that the Horde will strike at Lordaeron’s capital first to be… ‘overconfident’.”

“Lordaeron is the largest and most powerful human kingdom here in the north,” Lothar repeated out loud for what felt like the hundredth time. “The orcs always seek out the largest threat and strike at it with all their might. That is why I’m sure they will come this way.”

“The Alliance is new and many parties still don’t fully trust each other, there was always going to be resistance,” Uther pointed out.

“I suppose I hoped that their sense of self-preservation would overpower their pride and paranoia,” Lothar grumbled.

“It’s also possible that they are simply that confident in Lord Proudmoore’s abilities,” Uther reminded him.

“The Horde’s fleet was last measured to be several hundred ships at least. There is no telling how many there will be once they actually set sail,” Lothar reminded him of the same intelligence report they have all read. “Even if Admiral Proudmoore sinks half the fleet that still means there will be near uncountable amounts of enemy forces reaching our shore that we must prepare for.”

“And if he does not, then we will meet them the moment they set foot on our lands, the Light is on our side,” Uther said with confidence and glowed a bit as well at the declaration.

Ever since he and the others, the newly formed Paladins of the Knights of the Silver Hand, had completed their training with the Archbishop, each one of them had been filled with a sense of certainty that made Lothar envious. To be so certain of something and work hard to make it a reality.

But Lothar had once been confident in his ability to defend Stormwind… yet his confidence had proven to be unwarranted and he had failed to protect those he was charged to defend.

Still, the last thing soldiers needed to hear was their leader feeling doubt.

“Of course, but the Light won’t do everything for us,” Lothar countered.

“Ha! That it won’t,” Uther agreed with a smile.

“Did I miss a joke?” spoke up a familiar voice as it entered the command tent.

Lothar quickly turned and smiled to see his friend, Khadgar, recently returned from his trip to Dalaran via his ability to teleport. A most convenient magical ability.

The mage looked more like Lothar’s age than the young man he truly was. His premature aging was a result of their battle with Medivh, the mage’s insane former master and the man responsible for opening the Dark Portal. Thankfully, he acted much more like his genuine age than the age he appeared. He certainly dressed no differently with his purple robes and staff, which made sense since he was a member of the Kirin Tor and the Alliance’s direct connection to Dalaran at this time.

“Yes, unless you’ve brought good news,” Lothar answered.

“In that case I suppose I must miss out on the fun,” Khadgar answered, sounding quite smug.

“Truly? What further aid could Dalaran give that they are not already providing?” Lothar asked curiously.

Dalaran, next to Lordaeron, was the most active in supporting the Alliance but had a very small standing army compared to the larger kingdom’s and could not send many bodies. The fact that most of those bodies did much to make up for it, but few were truly combat capable and their leaders had to stay behind to guard Dalaran itself.

“Apparently they completed a trade deal with Azjol-Nerub,” Khadgar began to explain. “One that will help offset our numerical disadvantage against the Horde to a certain degree.”

Lothar did not know much about the nerubians of Azjol-Nerub personally, the only thing he had to compare them with were the peaceful giant spiders of the Brightwood back home, his attention totally upon what could be done to combat the Horde alone. Like the elves, the nerubians made it clear they had no desire to take part in the conflict against the Horde.

Unlike them, Lothar could at least understand the logistic nightmare it would be to even try to transport their armies from Northrend to here even if they did.

“How so?” Uther asked curiously.

“While the nerubians as a whole are still not joining us against the Horde they have agreed to become our war suppliers,” Khadgar explained.

“We need bodies, not weapons,” Lothar explained in turn, feeling slightly disappointed. The Alliance did not lack for steel.

“Which is exactly what they are providing!” Khadgar explained. “For you see, the nerubians make use of a number of… ‘war beasts’ is the best term I suppose. They breed and make use of a number of strong and vicious creatures, all controllable via arcane means not unlike how a mage controls an elemental or a golem. However, they can make their creatures much quicker and cheaper than either of those options. I have a list of them here,” Khadgar then handed Lothar a piece of parchment that he soon lay on the table.

As he and Uther read it over they both couldn’t help but raise their eyebrows a bit. This was both impressive and… horrifying at the same time.

“Well… if nothing else we can use these beasts to help preserve the lives of our soldiers and ideally cause great damage against the Horde itself,” Uther pointed out. “These giant scorpion-like creatures of theirs alone could be of great use on the battlefield and striking from unexpected angles.”

“Indeed,” Lothar admitted.

“There is also another bit of potentially good news,” Khadgar spoke up once more. “But I will leave that to the guest that I picked up and brought along from Dalaran. You may enter.”

At those words, the command tent opened up again, and Lothar and Uther watched as one of the gigantic nerubian Spiderlords bent down and carefully walked through.

Lothar had not forgotten how tall these nerubians were, especially these Spiderlords who were utterly massive and had a terrifying appearance.

“Greetings, Supreme Commander Lothar and Sir Uther,” the nerubian spoke respectfully.

“Honored to see you again, Anub'rekhan,” Uther answered back with familiarity in his voice.

Lothar vaguely recalled Turalyon and Uther, along with the other paladins, speaking of the Spiderlord that had joined them in their training. From what he had last heard, he was still doing so in an effort to steadily increase his understanding of the Light.

“As am I, but I am here on business first and foremost. I am here on behalf of Azjol-Nerub-”

“-In partnership with Dalaran and the Kirin Tor,” Khadgar spoke up.

“-to offer the services of a small number of elite nerubian warriors to aid you against the Horde,” Anub'rekhan finished. “So long, of course, you allow them to complete their primary mission during the course of the war.”

“Primary mission?” Lothar asked with some suspicion.

“The High King is very interested and concerned about the Horde’s Death Knights, and intends to offer aid so that Azjol-Nerub and Dalaran might capture and study as many of them as possible,” Anub'rekhan explained.

Lothar nodded, understanding the reasoning of wanting to learn more about those abominations and how to counter them. His best bet so far would be to send Uther and the other paladins against them, but they were few to their still few but greater foes.

“We intend to capture and transport them to the Violet Hold in Dalaran so that we might learn more about them and their magic,” Anub’rekhan explained. “It goes without saying that the fewer the Horde have on the battlefield the fewer soldiers you will lose.”

On that, Lothar could only agree.

“If I am to allow this, it must be with the understanding that while they may carry out their mission when possible they are to follow my and mine’s orders, follow the chain of command, and not do anything that endangers the Alliance’s war effort in the process,” Lothar made clear.

“Naturally,” Anub'rekhan quickly acquiesced. “They understand that by taking part in this mission that they are going to war, that you are to be their leader until such time they are recalled, and that they are to follow you as they would follow a Spiderlord into battle. Azjol-Nerub wishes to make it clear that our objectives align and that we are able to cooperate. They will make fine strike teams against vulnerable enemy locations.”

Lothar would be the judge of that, but he could not afford to say no to more support no matter where it came from or its objectives, especially when by all accounts it truly did align with them.

“Very well,” Lothar agreed. “I will need to meet these troops before anything else.”

“As you say,” Anub'rekhan nodded. “I am also here to assist in the transfer of war beasts to your control. If there is any other business that directly requires nerubian contact, please inform me.”

“I shall. Thank you for your aid,” Lothar said sincerely.

“You are welcome, human… and let us hope that more of it is not required,” the Spiderlord said as he turned and left, leaving the three men alone to discuss among themselves.

“Can we trust them?” Lothar asked Uther and Khadgar honestly.

“They are more straightforward than the elves at least,” Uther noted. “I’ve even befriended Anub'rekhan and another warrior of theirs, and both seem to be stand-up men. Anub’rekhan alone has the drive to learn as much of the Light as possible that could challenge some bishops, and the Archbishop himself considers him a friend.”

“Dalaran trusts their capabilities, tested it even, so I have no reason to distrust them,” Khadgar shrugs. “They certainly have their own agenda, but nothing that is against the interests of the Alliance if nothing else.”

“That will have to do, then,” Lothar admitted as he turned back to the command table. “There is still much to do still after all. Are Gilneas and Alterac still dragging their feet?”

“Do you have to ask?” Uther asked with a raised brow.

Lothar just sighed. “Let us hope even after all these steps back we are still ahead by the time the Horde arrives.”

Because by then there would be no second chances.