//------------------------------//
// 1 The Void Stares Back 
// Story: Finding The Magic (Discontinued) 
// by Astral_Spectrum 
//------------------------------//

	“Karazhan, the legendary home of The Last Guardian of Tirisfal. Now home to a history and legacy both dark and mysterious.” Astral recited like a narrator of an ancient text. “And after tonight, those secrets will be mine!”
The foreboding keep of Karazhan towers out of the broken and forgotten valley of Deadwind Pass. Its massive spires reach high toward the night sky. In isolation it sat, ruined and gratefully forgotten by Azeroth's inhabitants after the fall of its last tenant. Its halls had been empty since the city of Dalaran's top mages had purged the keep of its owner many years ago. One apprentice, however, had returned to this harrowed place following tales she found deep in Dalaran's libraries of the legendary Last Guardian. She is a young girl and now stands before this ancient place. Her navy blue hair flitted about in the light wind. An adventurous glint shown in her ocean blue eyes. Her leather jacket and beige skirt, which cover her fair skin, transition abruptly into high riding boots which are adorned with a fiery decal that completes an outfit resembling a red-hot spirit. Her name was Astral Spectrum, an ambitious mage looking to prove herself to the world. Following tales and stories of the secrets and treasures lost to time within this ancient keep, she sought to find and use these secrets to learn magicks to surpass even her best teachers.
Astral pushes open the large door at the base of the keep. Its ancient hinges creaking as it slid across the stone floor. Stepping inside, the door slid shut behind her, eager to return to its unopened state. “Wow. Its a lot bigger on the inside than it looks from outside.” Astral said amazed. The keep from the outside had appeared rather small by comparison now. The ceilings rose to towering heights. This keep was a spiraling expanse that seemed to go on forever. “I just need to find my way to the library.” Astral muttered, stepping over rubble and debris that littered the once grand entryway.
The heels of her boots clicked on the tiles as she made her way up the stairs, entering a grand ballroom complete with an entire stage fit for plays or orchestras. A massive grand piano sat in front of stage left. Astral looked around the halls, “This must have been beyond amazing in its day.” Climbing the steps, Astral made her way to the top floor, finding an entrance to the servants quarters. “Alright... finally, almost there.” Astral panted. She was doing this all from memory. She had to leave the journals back in Dalaran so they wouldn't be missed, but she reread every account that was put to text of trips into the keep until it was burned into her memory. “Ballroom. Servants Quarters. Menagerie.” Astral rounded one last corner, reciting each room she had to pass to get to her destination. “... and then its the,” Her mouth fell open in disbelief. “... Library.”
“This is insane. How am I going to find it in all of this?!” Astral was astonished. She shuffled through the bottom shelves of the massive bookcases. They were the size of buildings and filled to the brim with books. “How am I going to find this journal?” She was looking for the prize of all prizes. The journal of the Last Guardian himself. The secrets it must hold would be beyond anything she could learn in Dalaran, but how would she find it in all these books?
“Up.” A distant voice whispered.
Astral stopped where she was along the shelves. She looked around toward the spiraling staircases on the far side of the room. “What was that?”.
“Up...” The voice whispered again. “Find... your... destiny...” The strange voice echoed through the Library's halls.
Astral climbed the staircases and hallways higher and higher. She passed by countless bookshelves and nearly endless rooms following the echo of the voice. Eventually she had to create a small flame using her magic to illuminate the darkening halls. The flame lit up the room around her, revealing a bed and dressers. “This must be the living quarters...” Astral said in amazement. Only a handful of people had ever set foot in this room. This was where the dark legacy of the tower ended. The Last Guardian was said to be slain by his own apprentice in this very room. Astral could feel the magical energy still stirring in the air. It was as if all the latent energy of the tower was being directed straight up from the deepest depths of the complex to this very spot.
“Closer...” the voice called. 
Astral looked around for where it was coming from. A purple haze drifted from around a corner. She peeked around to see an opening in the wall that led out into a large open space. “Impossible. How can this even be here?” Rocky spires floated around in nether space. It extended far past how far she could see. It was as if the wall opened up into a separate realm all of its own. Astral stepped out onto the platform and extinguished her fire spell. There were no lights or windows, but this place was illuminated as if it were outside. In the center of the platform she stood on, a single book lies lifelessly.
“Your... destiny... awaits...” The voice coerced. “Find... The... Magic... You... Seek...”
Astral's eyes lit up. This had to be it. The journal of the Last Guardian, and within it, all the secrets of magic that would grant her power and abilities beyond her wildest dreams! She rushed over to grab the book, but before she could reach it, it spun into the air and ripped apart into a swirling blue portal! Wind and power rushed around her, almost knocking her off balance and to the ground. The portal gave off a blinding flash of light and Astral threw her arms up to cover her eyes.
The voice called out, “Finally! My imprisonment is over! You shall take my place, and my work can continue!”
Astral gazed at the portal, trying not to lose her balance. “Who are you? Why are you doing this?!” She called out. The portal held a light blue hue, and continued to swirl endlessly. Only the empty blue void of the portal stared back.
The only response she got was laughter from the portal. A pair of æthereal tendrils shot from the portal and grabbed her legs, knocking her to the ground. Panicking, Astral began throwing fire spells at the portal as the tendrils dragged her closer to the portal. “Let me go!” Astral screamed in terror. Struggling against the tendrils wrapped around her ankles, she found a handhold in the stone.
“Your fate is sealed. I will be released!” The voice shouted. More tendrils emerged from the portal, wrapping around Astral's torso and arms, breaking her grip on the handholds. “No!!”, She screamed in fear as she was dragged into the portal. 

Astral felt a light breeze brush through her hair. She knew she was on the ground, feeling the cold of the stone at her back. Her eyes inched open to a bright blue sky above her. Her entire body hurt like nothing she had ever felt before. From head to toe her body tingled as the magical energies of her body twisted and settled themselves. “What happened? Where am I?” Astral whispered to herself. Her mind was dizzy and she was finding it hard to focus. She tried to think back to before she blacked out. “That portal must have flung me somewhere.” She struggled to sit up despite her body fighting her.
Looking around, Astral found she was sitting in what looked like a decrepit castle long past its day. The stone walls were crumbled to ruin with ancient tapestries barely still hanging or intact. The sky could clearly be seen through much of the nearly nonexistent ceiling. “This place must be ancient.” Astral said, still groggy from the pain.
The sun bore down through the open ceiling. It was warm on Astral's face as she looked up, “Its so warm. The sun is really bright today.” Astral could feel herself falling backwards toward the stony floor of the ruined castle. The pain she had been feeling had taken its toll on her. She fell unconscious as her body dropped back down onto the stone floor. Unconscious and alone, she was now stranded in a strange land.