Duke rolled his eyes at Alleria, but deep down, he was rattled. Sothing wasn't adding up. This wasn't the cool, composed, legendary Alleria Windrunner he had read about in tales and scrolls. No, this version of Alleria was... bubbly. Teasing. Alarmingly inquisitive. The type to poke at your secrets like a bored cat swatting at a dangling string.
Was this really the iron-willed big sister of the Windrunner family? The one who'd wade through a horde of trolls without smudging her eyeliner? Or had he stumbled upon the mythical 20% that always diverges from canon?
Duke, wisely choosing silence, tried to keep his face neutral.
Alleria, ever the social wildfire, mistook it for discomfort. "Don't worry! I'm just a curious high elf on vacation, marveling at the wonders of human diocrity. If I overstepped your privacy, allow to extend a heartfelt, semi-formal apology."
She gave a playful bow.
"Oh crap," Duke thought, instinctively reaching to rub his nose. His panic reflex kicked in, and his hand extended on autopilot. "Alright. Apology accepted, Alleria."
To his surprise, she reached back. And when their hands t—bam. Shockwave.
Duke had expected the coarse, hardened hand of a bow-wielding war maiden. Instead, he got silk-wrapped marshmallow. Her fingers were smoother than a noblewoman's conscience during tax season. No calluses. No roughness. Just elegant destruction wrapped in soft skin.
"High elves... you're cheating," Duke ntally scread. "How do you shoot a bow all day and still have better hands than after a bubble bath?"
Alleria cocked an eyebrow. "Hey, Duke, funny thing. I don't recall ever telling you my na."
Duke froze. Internal red alert: blaring.
"...Oops."
Alleria leaned in with a devilish grin. "And here I thought all high elves looked the sa to you humans. What do you call it? Face blindness, was it?"
Duke gulped audibly. He had dug himself a grave and then perford a triple backflip into it.
"W-Well... the Windrunner sisters are legendary! Even in the south!"
"PFFFFT!" Alleria erupted into laughter, nearly doubling over. "Hahaha! Oh Light above, you're killing . Do you know even Stormwind's Grand Librarian couldn't na our king correctly? And here you are, a commoner who knows ranger generals by na. Oh, you magnificent little liar."
There was no venom in her laughter—only genuine amusent and a trace of awe.
A magic apprentice who faked death with Mirror Image. Who slung around fire spells like confetti. Who, sohow, knew obscure elf genealogy? Alleria was now fully intrigued.
Finally catching her breath, she wiped a tear from her eye. "Whew! Just when I thought you might be so kind of sage in disguise, but you got sothing wrong."
"Wrong?"
Alleria smirked. "There aren't three Windrunner sisters. There are four. And the most famous of us isn't or Sylvanas. It's our youngest—Lirath. Two years ago she soloed 128 trolls in a single battle."
Duke felt his soul detach slightly.
He ntally chanted:
Oh my god.
Trolls weren't so punchline from a goblin codian's routine. They were brutal, regenerating monsters that could chew off their own limbs and grow new ones mid-fight. As long as you didn't stick an arrow through their brain, they'd co back like discount horror villains.
And Lirath? She nuked over a hundred of them?
She wasn't a hero—she was a biological weapon with blonde hair.
But more importantly: LIRATH?! In the ga, Lirath had been a dude. A tragic footnote. A male fourth sibling who died early in the troll wars. But here?
Not only was Lirath a girl, she was apparently a living legend. This was the butterfly effect with brass knuckles. Duke clutched his head.
"This world is broken. I'm going to die. The tiline is a lie. I can see my own undead self waving at from the future."
Alleria, oblivious to Duke's internal ltdown, patted him on the shoulder. "So yeah, having an aweso sister has its downsides. So councilors back ho think the Windrunners are monopolizing the ranger ranks. Total political drama. So I took a 'vacation' and ghosted the entire kingdom."
Duke blinked. "That... that actually works?"
Alleria grinned. "High elf privilege, sweetie."
At least Duke now understood she wasn't going to rat him out. A high elf ranger general airing Quel'Thalas political laundry in casual conversation wasn't the kind of person who tattled.
He sighed, then nodded. "Alright, you don't expose , I don't mind you secretly watching . Deal?"
"Don't make it sound so pervy!" Alleria laughed. "Besides, if you ever get bored or want to try so weird, probably-explosive magical experint, count in. As a reward for being cheeky and mildly brave, here's a little sothing."
She handed him a thin, leather-bound pamphlet.
"This is...?"
Alleria winked. "A little ranger trick manual. Don't let the cover fool you—inside are a few dirty secrets of the trade. Consider it... a gift."
Duke accepted it, stunned.
If this was a vacationing Alleria, what was she like when she was actually serious?
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