//------------------------------//
// Level 11 - Hell is Empty 
// Story: Twilight Goes to Dalaran 
// by Leila Drake 
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Priest tilted his head. "You know, you could just do your research about the portal here and try to open it somewhere else."

Twilight turned to him, her face wet with tears. "That's not the point!" she said. "I am pretty sure a portal like this would not stay a secret for very long. I might get you into trouble for this!"

Tak nodded. "I guess you are right. It comes down to three options, doesn't it: One," he counted with his fingers, "get permission by the High Council for a portal, maybe even their help to stabilize it. That's extremely unlikely. Two, secretly open a portal. Anyone who gets left behind is screwed. And three, no portal. Twilight, if Lady Eventide doesn't return, would you consider..." The tauren hesitated.

Priest shook his head. "Tak, you dumb cow. Shut up, and give the alicorn a hug. Look at her."

Twilight sniffed and tried to wipe away her tears with a hoof. "I'm sorry", she said. "I can't just ignore it when the most powerful mages say it's too dangerous. It just feels wrong. All the time... before I came to Azeroth... I've been relying on the judgement of my mentor and now... I have no idea what to do. I would never want to risk a war or rifts in the space-time-continuum or other scary catastrophies like that..."

Tak hugged Twilight carefully.

And suddenly the alicorn felt safe. The warmth of his tall body and the detemination in his eyes to make her feel better made something click in her. She hugged him back, then she stepped back and raised her head.

"I think we should talk to Lady Eventide. Maybe she will help us after all. If she won't, I will" – she swallowed – "stay on Azeroth."

Tak nodded.

A flash of light made them look at the door.

Lady Eventide stood there, a red orb like Twilight's in her hand. The three guests could see a distorted image of themselves in it and realized that the elf had heard everything they had talked about.

"Let us open this portal", she said.

- - -

It took them some more weeks to figure out a way to determine the destination of the portal and to practice setting it up. Lady Eventide had requested to keep the library safe so the group had decided to camp in the Crystalsong Forest below the floating city.

"The glow of the crystal trees and their magical interference will hopefully leave us undisturbed", explained Lady Eventide.

She had bought amethyst powders which they used to draw a summoning circle on the violet grass. It was hardly visible but the faint glimmer of the gems was enough to set up a proper magic circle.

Twilight went through the books from the library to find some basic teleportation spells. She modified them for long-range travel and added reverse summoning charms to define where she wanted to go.

Once the spell was finished, she turned to her friends.

"I think this is it. I can't thank you enough for your help."

Tak frowned. "Thank you, Twilight. This is the first time I was truly helpful to a friend - and it feels great. The biggest reward for me would be if you got home safely. I will ask the Spirits to guide you."

Twilight nodded and they hugged. The little pony cleared her throat, then faced Priest.

"Goodbye", she said. "I wish you all the best. By the way, the spell is permanent. Maybe you will find some more friends here. You would deserve it."

Priest straightened up and folded his arms. "I already have one. It's a furry cow who never shuts up. Annoys the crap outta me but what can you do."

Tak grinned and nudged him with his elbow.

Lady Eventide said nothing. She smiled at Twilight and beckoned her to begin the spell.

So the alicorn stood in the center of the circle and concentrated. Her horn started to glow as she started the spell. Violet sparks shot from her horn and ignited the magic circle. It burst into blue flames that shot high into the air.

As the fire burned brighter, everything inside the circle started to fade and distort.

"Lady Eventide!" shouted Twilight, sweating and panting with effort. "Please help! I need to adjust the destination!"

The elf smirked and stepped forward.

"Very well."

As she raised her hands and started an incantation, the flames burned more wildly than ever. A strange, screeching howl filled their ears and drowned the words she sang.

Then the flames turned from blue to a sickly green and dark purple.

"She's tainting the portal!" shouted Priest over the noise. "Tak, she's not a mage but a warlock!"

The tauren gasped and understood. The elf was not helping Twilight.

She was using her. Now that he thought about it, it made sense. Lady Eventide had never been more than courteous to Twilight but still so eager to help her get home. Tak had always thought that the elf just was not the extraverted type but this...

What if she just waited for a random powerful mage to show up who was naive enough not to get suspicious when trying to open a portal? Tak was certain that Eventide had not exactly expected to meet someone like Twilight but she probably preferred some anonymous strange creature. If a young yet powerful magic student from the Citadel went missing there would be investigations after all.

I have to take her down, thought Tak desperately.

If Tak did not stop her, they might summon a demon or worse. The void between the dimensions was filled with evil spirits. Beyond it there were other worlds, worlds of fire and brimstone where nothing sane could survive.

Tak remembered his journey to the Blasted Lands. A Dark Portal had been opened there. The demonic magic that filled the lands beyond had started to taint the ground surrounding the portal, leaving only red charred rocks behind. Nothing was able to grow there anymore. No bird would be heard and demons haunted the area, giant monsters and vile beasts. The air was filthy and made you choke and dread was a constant companion for every living creature that dared to stay near the portal for longer than a few hours.

That had happened years ago and the Blasted Lands still looked like this. Tak had hated it there and as soon as he had gathered the last remaining roots he had gladly returned to the healthy grasslands of Mulgore, his home. He had tried to never think of the Blasted Lands again.

But if Eventide succeeded, Northrend would be turned into the new Blasted Lands.

Tak raised his hammer and attacked the elf.

She hesitated as the giant tauren charged her with a hammer in his hand and a furious glow in his eyes. Then Eventide swirled around elegantly and dodged his first blow.

"So you get it now", she laughed. "You Horde are so slow."

She spoke a word and green flames erupted around Tak, trapping him. He screamed with pain and shook, then he raised his own hand again and called the Spirit of Fire to aid him.

Lightning struck the elf and the flames of her curse died.

Eventide snarled, her pretty face distorted so much that it looked like a mask. "You cannot stop me!" she screamed. "Your petty nature tricks are nothing!"

The warlock stretched her arms out as far as she could and recited another spell.

This time there were no flames.

Instead, the world ended.

As everything went dark, Tak felt a rush of despair. The falling sensation in his stomach made him trip and stumble, then fall down.

There was no physical pain, neither sound nor light, just emptyness.

A black hole absorbed him, took his core away. It did not end; it dragged on and on and eventually Tak wondered what it had been that had made him live in the first place.

The Nothing was everything.

He did not belong here. He did not deserve to exist at all.

As he started to cry, he could hear the calling of a distant voice.

The Nothing started to tear apart, letting Tak peek through the shreds. Beyond he saw a familiar scene: Twilight struggling inside a magic circle that burned with flames of solid green and purple, trying to keep it stable... and next to it the one who had made the Nothingness, Eventide.

As sound and light fully returned to him, Tak realized he had been here the entire time.

He prayed to the spirits once again and thanked them for letting Priest's voice through the void. Now he could even understand the words.

"...won't obey you anymore! I brought them here from Orgrimmar, all right - but not for this! Never for this!"

As the last bits of shadow dissolved, Lady Eventide snapped at Priest, "You did it for the money, remember? And you got it. I owe you nothing, Baker. So assist me or leave this instant!"