Thelmai walked along the halls of the Sanctum of Light. She was deep in thought about the gateway she and some other fellow faction leaders were going to create. She knew the motive behind the creation of the gateway was to save corrupted worlds, but she couldn't help but wonder if there was another motive that the Archmage had hidden from her and the Archdruid. Perhaps the light had the answers she sought. She had to consult the altar.
She continued walking along the halls until she reached the altar. She kneeled down and entered a state of deep contemplation. It would increase her connection to the light and hopefully it could provide some answers.
“Highlord, the Archmage and Acrhdruid are here to see you.” A voice broke Thelmai out of her contemplative trance. It was one of her Templar's. How had they not tipped off her highly increased awareness? and furthermore, The Archmage and Archdruid were there already? It had felt like only 5 minutes since she had entered a state of contemplation.
Thelmai stood up and sighed. “Alright, inform them that I’ll be out front shortly. I need to gather my things."
“As you wish, Highlord.”
Truth be told, Thelmai had been dreading this day for weeks. She knew it had to be done, but the idea of using her magic to help other worlds, only to be sitting on the bench for most of it irritated her. With most of her mana reserves gone after the use of the Archmage's spell, she would be delegated to the back lines of the fight, and she hated it. She wanted to be up front, helping her revived Order of the Silver hand fight against demons. She may have felled a Titan, but there was always fun in battle for her, no matter the strength or power of the enemy.
She walked through the halls, eventually finding her 'office.' Thelmai walked in, grabbed the Ashbringer, Truthguard, and The Silver Hand and then walked back through the Sanctum of Light to meet with the Archmage and Archdruid out front. As she walked up the steps out of the hidden Sanctum of Light, Thelmai had a sinking feeling that something was going to happen, but she couldn't put her finger on it.
The hidden slab covering the stairwell opened and Thelmai greeted the Archmage and Archdruid, two people that she knew very well. "Caylsee, Theryne! How are you two doing?! It's been way too long." She pulled them both into what would have been a bone-crunching hug. Thankfully, the two were wearing their battle gear in case something went wrong with the gateway later.
"I am doing very well Highlord, and so is the Cenarion Circle. Healing the land on the Broken Isles has not been easy, but we manage." Caylsse spent much of her time healing the land after the invasion of the Burning Legion had corrupted so much of the land.
" I am doing good as well, and I would like to catch up as well, however, it would be better if we get this gateway done now. The sooner we get it done, the sooner our magic returns to us." Theryne was having no nonsense whatsoever. She wanted to get this gateway finished as much as Thelmai and Caylsse. The longer they waited, the longer Theryne would have to sit out the battle on the other side.
Thelmai sighed. "Yes, I know. We need to get this done now or else more worlds may fall, even with Sargeras imprisoned. Also, Theryne, I hate sitting out just as much as you do. I'd rather be out front leading the charge instead of sitting in my temple like a sick puppy."
"Alright, let's get this started." With that, Theryne teleported everyone to their predetermined gateway location, on the floating Island of Dalaran. "Follow me, if you would." Dalaran had always been a beautiful city, but walking through its streets didn't do it justice. The way the city was organized on the island was perfect for fledgling mages of all walks of life. After a short period of admiring the architecture, Thelmai and Caylsse noticed Theryne had started walking along without them. They quickly caught up with her and walked in silence for the remainder of the trip, just looking at everything around them, even though it had only been a short time since their last visit.
After a short walk to an open area on the edge of the island, the three of them got to work on setting up the magical anchor of the gateway. Permanent portals and gateways needed these, otherwise they would require a mage to channel arcane energies into it at all times.
The anchor was set up in quick fashion, and they began channeling their respective magics, Holy, Nature, and Arcane. It was at this time that Theryne spoke up. "Just to ensure I've covered all loose ends, you are both aware that after this we will be unconscious for a short period to regenerate mana for basic functions?"
"Yes, I'm aware Theryne."
"As am I."
"Very good, then let us continue." The anchor slowly absorbed the magical energies need to maintain the gateway over long periods, and in doing so, began creation of said gateway. It did not take long for it be seen by the three faction leaders. "It is almost complete, keep it up Caylsse, you too Themali! Only a little bit mo-." With that, they had exhausted their magic, and fell unconscious.
They all woke up simultaneously nearly 5 minutes later. Thelmai instantly noticed that something was off about the gateway. it looked much different from all the others she had seen over the course of her time fighting against the Burning Legion.
"Theryne, is the Gateway supposed to look all red and angry like that? I might not know much about your arcane magic, but what I DO know, is that portals and gateways do NOT normally look like that." Most portals and gateways had a calm blue shimmer to them, but this one looked almost as if it was going to explode. Little did the three know, that is exactly what was going to happen.
"No, it is not. It should be a calm blue like always." As she said that, she felt the energies in the air and knew something was off. There were large amounts of arcane, holy, and nature magic in the air, almost as if the portal was acting as a generator for the energies. "Oh dear. Thelmai, Caylsse, you may want to step back."
"Why Theryne? What's happening with this gateway? We should already be sending troops through to help worlds still under the legions grasp. What exactly did you do?" Caylsse knew Theryne well enough that she had calculated the exact amount of magic needed to activate the gateway, however, Theryne seemed unusually tense.
"There was a 'slight' miscalculation. I had forgotten exactly how powerful we were. We put too much power into our magics and may have overloaded the gateway. If we do not run now, we could very well lose our lives."
"WHAT?!?!?"
"We could lose our lives, permanantly, AND YOU DIDN'T BOTHER TO SAY ANYTHING UNTIL NOW!?!?" Thelmai was absolutely pissed beyond belief. She knew that the whole idea behind the gateway was a bad one, but she had no idea it could have been this bad. "Why couldn't have you mentioned this earlier?!?!"
"Thelmai, Caylsse, we need to leave, NOW! If you value your life in any way, because this magical explosion could hit us with enough force to actually destroy our souls." The stern look on Theryne's face told the Highlord and Archdruid all they needed to know.
"Ok, um, Theryne, do you have enough mana to conjure a portal out of here by chance?" Caylsse asked sheepishly.
"Unfortunately, no, I do not." What happened next, made all their faces turn white in fear. The gateway started humming with power, and now, not only could Theryne feel the power emanating from the gateway, but so could Thelmai and Caylsse. Nature, Holy, and Arcane magic started to leak out into the air around them. They all visibly gulped in fear.
"HURRY WE NEED TO GO N--" It was too late.
BOOOOOOM!!!