Sanctuary at Any Cost

by Ravenmane

Fifteen Months of Crazy

Week One:

A dreary day on the zeppelin didn’t relinquish the determination from a pair of green eyes; like glowing emeralds. A hood shrouded his face but the bulky grunts that patrolled the zeppelin didn’t know why they heard nothing but vicious stories about the silent figure.

The rumors among the zeppelin’s other passengers were common to his ears. Standing before his traitorous prince, fighting alongside anyone willing to stand for the right cause, doing whatever it took to bring about victory, it was all the same slew of gossip. The reason he was heading north was anyone’s guess. There was no foe rising up in the bone-chilling tundra of Northrend, as far as anyone knew at least. The figure just stood by the railing all the time, staring at the horizon at all times, always to the north.

“Is he cold,” asked one dockworker to another.

“He’s got the flames of demons in his veins,” replied a nearby passenger. Her voice unsettling, and her eyes were dead.

“Beg pardon ma’am, but do you know him?”

She stared at the passenger. “A long time ago I knew who that was. He was so gentile then. Now however, I swear he’d take Deathwing on all by himself if he was a fatalist. I can’t imagine what he’s like after all this time. Weeks in the trenches against the forces of the Firelord seem to have taken its toll though.”

The man in question brought his arm up delicately; a hastily wrapped bandage coated most of his arm. It was a field dressing, applied in haste, to his arm after facing the creatures of the molten Firelands. Not all of it was burns or the claws of monsters; some wounds were self-inflicted as if to tap into all his life for just an instant power, enough to save his comrades.

“Beg pardon ma’am, but why do you think he’s going north then?”

“Solace,” she turned around and went back below the deck. Even her lifeless body could feel the cold rushing through her soul.

Week Two:

The sight of the frozen tundra of Northrend came into view and the silent figure who kept vigil for the land was gone. He left in the night upon the wings of a young dragon that owed him a favor, meeting her halfway. With land in sight, he could make better time away from the zeppelin.

In no time, he would be back in Dalaran, back where his old study was. There were reference books that only Dalaran would have, and the journals he had written about magic wherever he travelled.

*****

Some would call this a turning point, when a warrior hung up their sword and decided to stop fighting cold turkey. I wasn’t that cut and dry. I wanted to be a scholar, but when the traitor Arthas was breathing down our necks in Dalaran many students tried to leave the college. I tried to return home, seeing it coated in decay and unlife was more than I could handle at the time. I went away from everything I knew, I walked a dark path without guidance. The demon arts were easy, I knew how to focus on specific incantations enough to cast without word or gesture. In a few weeks, I was summoning my first demon, the first of many.

I won’t be the first, nor last, warlock to tell you that demons were tools to be discarded when they outlived their use. That first demon however, it was trying to make itself useful even to its dying breath. For it, I have the greatest respect. Respect none have ever been able to garner.

In time, the war caught up with me. It was when our sisters interrupted my studies. I refuse to call them anything else. The elves of the western continent mistrusted me at first glance and I gave them nothing more to see than my cloak when I fled, my retreat drove deep into my tainted homelands. Soon enough I had gathered enough nerve to travel into what remained of Silvermoon. Arthas had indeed showed no mercy to my kind, and they remained suspicious of me as my demonic steed trotted along the streets of my ruined birthplace. I visited my family’s old house, a burnt out ruin of its former self, and wound up being accused of being a spy.

That was when I learned of Kael’s betrayal, when our prince surrendered us to demonic energies. Calling upon the powers that I had, power gained not through enslavement but through mastery, proved myself no spy in my people’s eyes, and I was conscripted into the fight against the traitors. That wasn’t all there was to it, this was more than a new traitor in our midst. That betrayal was personal.

Now I decided it was time to leave it all behind. I could finally see how far I’d fallen, just to survive and be thrown to the wolves all over again. Calling on the souls of the restless dead to renew my life, rending the souls of my foes to conjure powerful magic, and even unleashing the flames of hell from my own hands, yes it was time to cast it all aside. It was time for a new life. Perhaps some place sunny.

*****

After my flight to Dalaran, I bade my ‘friend’ farewell. I don’t think she’d live well without squaring things away. I received a salute from one of the guards as I marched past wizards of every sort. When Dalaran was restored and moved to this frozen wasteland, it was the major hub of activity when there was the war against to undead legions of the Lich King. Now, it was a wizard’s city again and I couldn’t be happier for that. It meant the war was not a topic of great discussion.

I made my way into the academy before lowering my hood. Magic or not, it was still very cold outside. I wasn’t looking my best anymore. I had burns over my cuts and bruises, the toll the Firelands had taken on my body was staggering. I’d be scrubbing soot and ash off for weeks, if not months.

“Master Val,” came the voice of a young woman. Based on her grey robes she had to still be an apprentice. “What brings you back to the academy?”

I looked to her with skepticism. “What business is it of a student?”

“A guard had sent word. How goes the war?”

“Badly, we’re losing soldiers while the Alliance and the Horde choose to fight between themselves.”

“Are you not a soldier of the Horde though?”

I glared at her, “Hellscream is not my commander. That oaf isn’t fit to command even a pack of whipped dogs.”

The sound of clapping hands caused me to spin around; an old human draped in violet robes was applauding me. “My young apprentice Val has finally returned to us with words of wisdom. I suppose you’re here to begin teaching students of your own?”

I shook my head. “Regrettably I am not here to teach Master, I am here to retreat from all this blood and violence. I want to return to my studies and find peace in finding answers.”

“I was only teasing you Val. I know you better than anyone else does. You wouldn’t take an apprentice even on pain of death.”

“I am curious about one thing though,” I said with a smirk. “Who died and appointed you a councilor?” The student stood there with a look of utter shock on her face as my master and I shared a laugh.

“Some council members wanted to appoint you, but others disagreed. My guess is that they wanted someone who wasn’t getting his face chewed off every other day, so I got the job. I knew you best and I was a respectable member of the academy.”

“So you mean you were the stand-in?”

My master stroked his beard. “I would rather like to think myself to be ‘better suited’ for the job. Besides, the academy still frowns on the demon in your study. It keeps making faces at whoever comes in to dust things off.”

“He’s very territorial. I think I’ll be giving him a stern lecture when I go up there. But for now I could use an actual healer’s touch for my injuries and a good bath.”

“Lara,” he said to the bewildered student. “Show my former pupil to the healers. After that, return to your lessons.”

Lara bowed to him and looked to me. “Master Val, please come with me. The healers will be very cross with you being this badly wounded.” She grabbed my sleeve and pulled firmly, putting pressure on my injured arm.

I screamed in pain before turning around and following her.

*****

After being fussed by several healers, I was patched up with magic and a few real bandages. My next stop was the baths, where I would spend the next several hours getting layers soot and ash off. By then it was mealtime and I was willing to join everyone else in the dining hall for a meal. An honest to goodness meal, the thing you missed so much on the front lines.

With a full stomach, I retreated to my study and found everything cleaned, saved for one ledge. The ledge in question is where an imp dwelled. It did many tedious things for me, like organizing my bookshelves or getting me a specific tome.

“Master,” it squealed. “It is so good to see you once more.”

“Thank you Karstraz,” I returned with a smile. “Where is Crest?”

“He is out flying around Dalaran right now. Crest will be so pleased to see you’ve returned to us master. You are staying for a while this time master?”

“Very few things would call me from here now Karstraz.” The demon looked like he could die of glee. He aided me in grabbing several volumes of text from the shelves of my study. “I intend to stay in my study for quite a while. I’m hanging up my fire and brimstone unless it’s an emergency. Master Stormrage accepted that I wouldn’t march on Ragnaros’ fortress. He agreed that I’ve done enough on all fronts. I don’t need to steal glory from others, I proved my point enough: not all warlocks can be swayed by Sargeras.” I began to thumb through the first of my journals regarding the currents of time and my study of Medivh’s tower.

As the hours went by I was absentmindedly writing notes; now accompanied by a black feathered bird on my shoulder, my pet phoenix Crest. I was determined to escape the wars. I was going to leave; I mean it; to seriously leave. Medivh was my focus in this endeavor; he created the first true gate between Draenor and Azeroth after all. Surely, there was something to be puzzled out from there.

Month Three:

Nothing. Just a big nothing. I had been at this for months now and I was making next to zero progress. I had thought on more than one occasion to travel to Kharazan and ask a specter of the Last Guardian for a clue over a game of magical chess, only to be pulled back to my research. I needed something to go on and I was starting to get desperate.

Every night I would stargaze and meditate on the constellations. It was one such night when I found something. A star formation vanished as I was contemplating it. It wasn’t odd for me to have noticed a star flicker out while meditating. However, why were six going out all at once? They were so bright until right then, and there was no trace of them at all anymore.

I moved away from my meditation and made a note of it in my current research journal. I would try to reason it out in the morning.

A distant world; night; unsettling stillness; it felt like home in a hauntingly empty way. Tall buildings filled the roads and a nearby castle. It felt familiar, the architecture reminiscent of home. A sudden flash gave way to a hallway and the shadowy attack of a white alicorn.

I awoke in a cold sweat. It felt real, unbelievably real. Moving over to my journal I wrote about it before I forgot the details. This was unusual, but one word stuck out in my mind. I’d never heard of an alicorn, but it sounded familiar, like I’d known about it all my life.

There wasn’t any blood in the attack, in fact the whole place gave off a peaceful feeling. If it was real it would be perfect.

Month Ten:

Seven months, and I have made considerable headway based off a dream. I had secured a route to an old fortress I had visited before. A fortress named Ulduar, which was also once prison to Yogg Saron. The screams of the Old God were gone in there but it was still occupied by a few residents. These particular creatures didn’t mind my visit, in fact they merely greeted me in passing, calling me stargazer, as I made my way to the observatory.

In the observatory, I was looking for the portion of the sky I had found go dark. Allowing my fel energies to take root in the material realm, I created small creatures to speed my ability to scan the universe laid bare before me. After several hours of work I found it. In the haze of darkness I found a singular star. Obsession grew from this and I had returned to my study to catalogue the discovery.

Dreams like the one months ago had passed in brief flashes, many were just wandering the corridors of what I could only assume to be a castle. Some were during the day, but most were at night. I was always alone in these dreams and free to move about as I pleased. Each time I had one I wrote about it, sometimes drawing architecture and the landscape from windows when it seemed to be a new portion of this palace.

I made a requisition for a vial of the magical essence of the Sunwell. My theory would cast me far from its power, far from the magic I could never live without.

Month Twelve:

I made a trip to Kharazan today. I went to study in the archives of Medivh. I was growing more and more convinced the place I dreamed about was real. Today, I found something I was hunting for: details about gate spells leading to unfamiliar territory. It was one very complicated spell. An incredibly powerful self-scrying magic circle contained within a teleportation circle. According to my theory, I would want an enclosed space so the gate would collapse and leave a seamless disappearance. Well, except for the empty space where the spell took place. The point was the spell was a one-way ticket with no gaps in the spell to allow anything to tail me easily. It was perfect, regardless of the fifty types of inks I would need for each circle, the thousands of gold for powdered gemstones to make the inks channel magic properly, or a place to do it in secret. Medivh was unimaginably skilled, and I was like a candle trying to be a bonfire.

Month Fifteen:

My spell is ready and now someone is trying to break into my study. Someone ratted me out after my return from Kharazan. I had discovered that Karstraz was the culprit; he grew worried with my study into gate spells. These did have a way of complicating life on Azeroth, but that wasn’t my concern anymore.

My former imp had outlived his purpose and had become the final conductive component in my spell. The magic circles I created would hold anyone at bay, should they make it through. I planned to take everything with me and Crest was more than willing to go with me.

“Val,” called my master’s voice from behind the door, “this is insane. You’d attempt to create a gate spell after everything you’ve learned?”

“I deserve peace my friend,” I shouted. The rush of magic as the spell wove its way around the room made it hard to be heard. “I’ve glimpsed a new home, free of the shackles of the wars of Azeroth!”

“You’ve lost-” his voice trailed off as everything went dark. There was no spell, there were no walls, my door, or even the window that overlooked the city of Dalaran. There was just the black void. Before I could process it all everything became blindingly bright.

When I regained my senses, I was standing before my desk. As I looked around it seemed as though all the contents of my study had followed me, even various trophies that had adorned the walls. However, I was quickly flanked by pegasi clad in dark armor, a dark alicorn glaring at me from a throne somewhere past my desk. It would appear as though my study had appeared in a large hall where it was attending a moonlit court.

It looked as though I made the trip successfully just in time to be captured by someone else. That was just my luck. At least there was no Hellscream to yell at me here…

Comments

[AssortedCreme]

"These did have a way of complicating life on Azeroth, but that wasn’t my concern anymore." Your language started off a bit overly flowery, but after that gem of a line all is forgiven in my eyes.

[Pumpkin-dreams]

"...it was the major hub of activity when there was the war against to undead legions of the Lich King."
Might be better as "when the war against the undead legions of the Lich King started." That one bothered me a bit. Otherwise, carry on good creature!