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Bai’s Apprentice Part 12 (Series Finale): Shorel’Aran

((Author’s note: To anyone who has been reading along these past couple of years (hard to tell sometimes with the lack of notes), thank you for the journey and your patience.))

((This is a long chapter (perhaps fitting for the end), and I tried to leave room for whatever might come in the future. These characters’ stories are not over by any means, so perhaps I’ll revisit them later in some sporadic one-shots (maybe even an epilogue, haven’t decided yet). But for now, it’s time to bring this arc to a close. Thanks again for reading...Al diel shala!))

Silence had fallen over Sunfury Spire, save for the quiet sounds of Bai’s footsteps sloshing across the wet floor as she carried yet another bucket of water to dump over the railing of the massive pathway leading into the spire. Her arms ached form the effort, and while the poison from the hunter’s arrow had long since worn off, she still felt slightly weakened and queasy from the aftereffects of it. Or maybe it was from the aftereffects of the physical and mental exertion from their escape. Possibly both. She had already learned the hard way not to peer over the edge where she was dumping the water; neither her body nor her stomach would be able to tolerate that level of vertigo a second time.

Ordinarily, she would have decided that creating an army of elementals from the water and marching them over the edge would have been the fastest way of emptying out the room, but Rommath had -- in no uncertain terms -- forbidden her from using even the slightest bit of magic until she’d been duly reprimanded by the Kirin Tor. Thus, Bai was forced to do it the hard way: bucket by bucket, step by step, until the room was as empty as it could possibly get. She wasn’t sure what she would need to do after that; probably to find a mop and continue sopping up the water that way.

Occasionally, she could feel the gaze from one of the guards shift toward her, even as he stood at attention in formation along the ramp. Given the circ*mstances, nobody spoke a word to her; even the mages in their study chamber had fallen silent, deciding to save their normal lighthearted antics for another day so as not to evoke Rommath’s wrath in their direction as well...

As she returned to the recessed throne room with the empty bucket, Bai glanced over at Zully. The young troll had started out helping her as well, but after dropping his bucket two trips in, soaking one of the guards and getting yelled at by Rommath, he had retreated into the corner, sitting on the ground with his arms around his knees and looking absolutely miserable. Bai wanted to stop and offer him some measure of comfort -- the Light only knew how much pain and grief and guilt he was dealing with right now -- but she didn’t want to get in any further trouble than she already was in. At least everyone seemed to be leaving Zully be instead of insisting he be punished alongside her; his earlier attempt at assistance had been of his own accord.

Bai sighed quietly as she dredged out another bucketful of water and began the march to the outside. The sun was setting, sending long shadows reaching across the floor. At this rate, it would be well after midnight, possibly the early hours of the morning, before she was finished.

She noticed the shimmer of a portal inside the mages’ sanctum. She pushed down the sudden jump of anxiety; Rommath had demanded an immediate response from Rhonin earlier, and Bai knew it was only a matter of time before someone -- maybe even Rhonin himself -- showed up to weigh judgment on her. She could only imagine how much the rumors must have been spreading around Dalaran already... the prodigal troublemaker mage who couldn’t even go a couple of days into an assignment without creating a controversy...

As she watched, the armored figure of Aethas Sunreaver stepped out of the portal. Not Rhonin then; she couldn’t decide if this was a better or worse outcome than having the leader of the Kirin Tor arrive and see the mess she’d made. As she looked away, she noticed the portal shimmer again out of the corner of her eye. She glanced back to see a large tauren step out of the portal behind Aethas--

Bai’s breath caught in her throat as she recognized the newcomer: Essethyr, her guild master. She dipped her head and quickly made her way back to the throne room, thrusting her bucket into the seemingly-endless pool of water. She hadn’t even considered that this would make its way back to the guild. Essethyr had always been kind to her, but how he would respond to all of this would be anyone’s guess.

She heard both approach, Essethyr’s massive footsteps making very audible splashes as he walked, and tried not to look at either of them as she shuffled past with the bucket of water. They stopped, and Bai could sense both of them watching her. But by the time she dumped the bucket and was making her way back, they had turned to regard the throne room. Bai stopped just behind them, gripping the handle, unwilling to cross their field of vision.

Essethyr was the first to break the silence with a low hearty chuckle.“Well, I must admit, this was not quite what I expected to see here tonight,” he remarked. His deep voice sounded mirthful and not at all angry; Bai felt some of the nerves dissipate at that realization.

“Show some respect, tauren,” Rommath snapped irritably as he approached.“This is a serious matter!” To Aethas, he added,“I asked for Rhonin to come deal with his wayward mage. Could he really not find it in himself to step out of Dalaran for fifteen minutes to attend to this matter?”

“Rhonin has more serious business to attend to than a mere portal mishap,” Aethas replied.“He felt it better that a fellow sin’dorei and the mage’s guild master be the ones to address this situation.” Aethas turned toward Bai; his expression was unreadable behind his helm.“Sinu a’manore, Bai. I imagine neither of us expected to see each other again so soon under quite such...” He trailed off, head turning briefly toward the flooded room before swiveling back toward her.“... unusual circ*mstances,” he finished.

“Such light words for such a serious breach of protocol,” Rommath remarked snidely.

Aethas ignored him, instead turning to regard Zully, who was watching the scene but hadn’t otherwise moved from where he sat.“Your apprentice seems rather worse for wear,” he commented.“Something clearly went wrong during your training today.”

Rommath snorted.“The trollis too inexperienced to have caused any of this,” he said, his voice twisting the word “troll” as he spoke. Zully winced at the sneering tone and looked away. “Focus on the real issue at stake. We already know who caused this disaster.” He glared at Bai before turning back to Aethas. “Is this really how the Kirin Tor trains its mages?”

“Portal magic is delicate; all mages know this,” Aethas replied calmly. “Besides, I would assume that the portal trainers here in Silvermoon would have been the ones to instruct Bai on finding this city’s location within the ley lines. Perhaps the fault lies in their methods?”

“You dare insult the thoroughness of our trainers?! You would defend the carelessness of this reckless mage? We all know how she ran off and abandoned her training once already--”

Essethyr cleared his throat, silencing the two blood elves and drawing their attention to himself.“If I may be so bold as to interrupt here,” he said,“has anyone asked Bai how this happened?”

Rommath glared at him.“Is it not obvious?” he asked, gesturing to the flooded room.“She opened a portal improperly underwater and flooded our spire. What else could you possible need to know?”

“Well,” Essethyr said,“I have personally traveled around Azeroth through Bai’s portals, as have many of our guildmates. She has always been thoughtful and careful in her spellcasting for as long as I’ve known her--”

“--clearly you haven’t known her all that long--”

“--and I would trust her to take both myself andmy sister anywhere,” Essethyr finished, not the slightest bit fazed at being interrupted.“In all manners of magic that I have had the honor of observing, Bai’s training has appeared quite thorough; whatever has happened in her past does not seem to have impacted her current abilities to learn and follow these so-called ‘protocols’ of yours. So if something went wrong, I trust that she has a viable explanation for it.” Turning to Bai, a kindly expression on his face, he asked,“Bai, could you please tell us what happened?”

Bai looked over at Zully, who was watching her with quiet sadness.“My apprentice and I were training in Durotar when we heard that Sen’jin Village was being attacked by the Alliance. We went to see if there was any way we could help.”

“You responded to a local defense call with an untried apprentice?” Aethas asked. His voice bore no accusation, just surprise and curiosity.

“Sen’jin is Zully’s home. We felt compelled to try to help in a non-combat way. But...”Zully shrank, looking down at the floor, and Bai felt her heart twist; technically the fact that they were drawn into combat was his fault.“... a civilian was targeted by one of the raiders, and trying to help required more... direct intervention,” she finished. She would try to keep from throwing Zully under the caravan if she could help it.“Once the raiders targeted us, I did what I deemed necessary to protect Zully and get us out of there.”

“And what exactly did‘deemed necessary’ entail?”

Bai took a deep breath and detailed the story of their underwater dive, her failed attempts at shielding them from the attacks, and her desperate choice to try to cast the portal while still entombed in ice.“I understand that I didn’t follow the proper protocol with casting the portal,” she said.“But the situation was dire, we were in imminent danger of being killed as soon as my Ice Block shattered, and my first priority was getting us to safety.”

“Adventurers are protected, are they not?” This question came from Lor’themar, who had been listening silently the entire time. Bai had forgotten that both the Regent-Lord and the Farstrider Ranger-General were standing there as well.“The Kirin Tor were the ones who put the same safeguards in place for our territories as they did the Alliance ones.” He looked at Aethas questioningly.“Is something wrong with the spell?”

“Our need to intervene for the defense of the civilian broke the protection,” Bai answered.“To my knowledge, there was nothing wrong with the safeguards prior to that moment.”

“I see. And am I not mistaken in that adventurers, upon their death, are granted a bargain with the kyrian to restore their spirit to their bodies? Was there really such an imminent threat?”

Bai looked over at Zully.“Having your soul ripped from your body is a traumatic experience,” she replied,“especially the first time it happens. I was trying to spare him that.”

“He’s in training to be a mage and an adventurer,” Halduron spoke up.“He’ll have to experience it sooner or later.”

“True as that may be,” Bai replied,“he just witnessed his home razed and his family murdered in front of him.” She watched as Zully sank back in on himself, burying his face in his arms again. She couldn’t tell if he was crying again or had already reached the point of resigned numbness. Forcing herself to look at each of the other blood elves, she continued softly,“I’m sure we can all, as sin’dorei, relate to and understand the pain that goes along with that sort of experience.” She saw everyone shift uncomfortably, their eyes dropping from her, no doubt remembering their own individual and collective grief of the Scourge invasion.“It would have been unnecessarily cruel to add yet another trauma immediately on top of that if I could help it.”

The room was quiet for several long heartbeats. Finally, Essethyr spoke up.“It seems as if you care deeply for your apprentice. That you are willing to watch out for his inner well-being as readily as his physical existence speaks highly of your morals.” Essethyr looked at the others questioningly.“Under that regard, is punishing Bai really so necessary? I see more empathy and selflessness than recklessness from her, myself. And while I understand that there may have been some... mild damages from the water... is not the preservation of an innocent body and soul far more important than material goods?”

Rommath looked away; he seemed slightly chagrinned at the druid’s words.

“You raise a valid point, Essethyr,” Aethas said.“However, one must also consider that Bai took some massive risks in casting magic the way she did. Portal magic is especially volatile. Unfortunately inconvenient as this outcome was, in her panic, she could have just as easily had the two of them embedded in solid rock or sent flying out into the Twisting Nether.”

“And yet, in her panic, she did neither of those things,” Essethyr pointed out.“That should speak highly of her training in itself.”

Aethas turned toward Bai.“Yes... you’re right in that regard as well. And Bai, if what you told me is accurate in how you were able to cast both Mana Shield and Ice Block in a way to protect not only yourself but alsoyour apprentice...” He glanced in Zully’s direction briefly before retuning his focus to her.“Clearly you have a good deal more potential with magic than I think we originally realized. At the very least, you’ve demonstrated a certain level of adaptability and creativity with your skills and knowledge. So perhaps your‘punishment’ is not to punish you at all, but rather better cultivate that talent. We could use more skilled mages like you on the front lines in Northrend... although given the dire situations we’ve found ourselves in, perhaps that might be considered a form of punishment in itself.”

“So there is to be no consequences for any of this?” Rommath asked. He was no longer as outwardly defiant as he’d been earlier, but there was still a slight edge to his voice.

“Seems she’s been assisting in the clean-up, yes? If she was responsible for damages here, I see no reason why she should be exempted from whatever you deem is an appropriate reparation for that. But I don’t believe she should be stripped of her powers or anything of that nature.” Aethas paused, and then added,“However, this is another matter I wish to discuss with Bai and Zul’lhor, if the two of you will allow me a moment of your time in privacy.” To Rommath, he added,“I’m sure you can spare Bai a few minutes from her duties here?”

Rommath sighed in resignation.“Yes, of course,” he said, waving her away with a flip of his hand.“Try not to dally.”

Aethas walked outside; after a moment, Zully cautiously rose to his feet to follow. As Bai started to go after them, Essethyr reached out and put a hand on her shoulder.“Are you alright, Bai?” he asked quietly.“I know that must have been a very stressful situation to find yourself in.”

“Right now, I’d really just prefer to get today over with and forget all of this ever happened.”

“Getting through the day is the easy part. Forgetting, not so much.” Essethyr gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze and stepped back.“If you need to someone to talk to after all of this is over, you know where to find me.”

Bai managed a tired smile.“Of course. Thank you, my friend.”

“Any time.”

Bai hurried down the ramp to the courtyard’s fountain, where Aethas and Zully were waiting. As compared to his earlier extroverted exuberance in Dalaran, Zully looked entirely too uncomfortable standing alone beside the archmage.“Sorry to keep you,” she said as she approached.

“Not to worry, Bai. I’ll try to make this quick.” Aethas looked from Bai to Zully and back again.“While irrelevant to the reason I called the two of you aside, I did have one lingering question in all of this, which is how the protection spell was broken in the first place.”

Before Bai could consider how best to answer, Zully spoke up.“It be Zully’s fault,” he said, quietly.

“Zully, no...” Bai tried to interject, but he continued.

“It not be right dat Bai should be takin’ all da punishment. She be tellin’ Zully not to attack da Alliance no matter what, but Zully didn’t listen. When da leopard attacked...” His voice wavered.“It be my fault. Bai wouldn’t have had to do da tings she did if I hadn’t been attackin’ da Alliance hunter like dat.”

“I see. And this is why you were reluctant to go into detail, wasn’t it, Bai?”

Bai nodded quietly.“Zully was... is... grieving the loss of his family. He reacted the same way I did when I witnessed my mother die. He doesn’t need to be punished for this. I’ll take the blame officially if need be.”

“Bai no, Zully not be lettin’ ya take da blame.”

Aethas raised a hand to forestall further argument.“I don’t think it will be necessary in this case,” he said.“I think ultimately what anyone really cares about is the way you used your portal magic, not the circ*mstances that led to it in the first place.”

Lowering his hand again, Aethas looked back toward Sunfury Spire.“However, that is not what I needed to speak with the two of you about,” he continued.“It’s in regard to this arrangement for apprenticeship that the two of you currently have.”

Bai’s blood ran cold.“Am... am I being removed from the mentorship program?”

Aethas sighed and nodded.“Unfortunately, yes. But,” he added, clearly noting the shock from both Bai and Zully,“not in the way or for the reasons you might think. It has nothing to do with this incident, but rather something that Rhonin and I and the other archmages were discussing in Dalaran shortly before I came here. You see...” He looked around, then lowered his voice.“... I trust this matter will not be discussed with anyone else? Essethyr is already aware, as the Council of Hope is one of several guilds pledging their assistance to help handle the matter, but this is not to be spoken with to just anyone.”

Bai and Zully both nodded in wordless agreement.

“Good. Unfortunately, shortly after we moved Dalaran to Northrend to assist with the battle against the Scourge, the blue dragonflight -- for reasons we’ve yet to determine -- attempted to assault the city. We fear that Malygos himself may be responsible for leading this attack.” Pausing a moment to let the revelation sink in, he continued.“Given this new and unexpected threat, and especially the implications it may have to be possibly at war with the very aspect of magic itself, Rhonin has made the decision to temporarily suspend the mentorship program, as we need as many skilled adventurers -- mages especially -- to help defend the city while we figure out why this is happening.” Turning to Zully, he added,“That’s not to say that you’re forbidden from continuing your training. But unfortunately, that means that you will not have the benefit of a more skilled Kirin Tor mage guiding you.”

Zully nodded.“Zully understand ya. And truth be told, Zully been tinkin’... maybe now not be a good time for him to be adventurin’ anyways.”

Bai jolted at his words.“Zully, you’re... quitting?”

He shook his not.“Nah, not quittin’ forever, mon. But Zully be needin’ ta help his village rebuild. Lookin’ for survivors. He not be seein’ his mother out dere, or some of his friends. Maybe some o’ dem escaped to da Echo Isles. He can use his business to help da village, and den after they be safe again, den he can be trainin’ as a mage again.”

“A noble venture,” Aethas commented.“And I’m sure there are many skilled mage trainers around Durotar who can help continue your training whenever you’re ready. As for you, Bai...”

Bai turned her attention from Zully, still feeling stunned at the young troll’s declaration. He’d been so quiet since their arrival that his decision came as a complete shock to her... was this what had been on his mind that entire time? She forced herself to put the question aside for now to focus on Aethas.

“Your new assignment, once you finish your, um... current task with the sin’dorei ruling council... is to resume your own training at once. Despite what some of our more, shall we say... opinionated archmages may believe regarding your reputation... nobody can deny the fact that you possess a remarkable mental acuity and talent toward the control of magic, even for a sin’dorei. Maybe even especially for a sin’dorei who survived the destruction of the Sunwell and the magic deprivation that followed; not many of our kind who went through that transition were able to maintain such self-control over the arcane as you have.”

Bai looked away, watching the ripples of water extending outward from the fountain’s central spray.“You humble me, Archmage.”

“My aim is to speak the truth, nothing more. You have the potential, if perhaps lacking in the ability to recognize it yourself. I understand the difficulties you have had to face both in your past, and in confronting some of those who were originally opposed to your reinstatement into the Kirin Tor. But I believe with more experience and confidence, you’ll see your reputation naturally improve with them in due time.” Even though his face was obscured by his helm, Bai could sense his smile.“After all, you, too, are sin’dorei. The only thing that defines us more than our mastery of magic is our ability to persevere through even the darkest of times. This shall be no different for you; I have faith in that.”

Bai blinked back a few stray tears; Aethas’s words had touched her more than she would have expected, but she tried to maintain her composure as much as possible.“Thank you kindly.”

“You are quite welcome. Know that you will always have at least some allies within Dalaran, no matter what.”

There was a brief pause, and an air of decorum came over Aethas once more.“On that note, now that our business here is concluded, I should be returning to Dalaran to continue monitoring the situation there. And you should probably finish your duties here before our Grand Magister becomes irritated again.” There was a hint of a wry tone in his voice at that one.“I trust that your guild will keep you up to speed on matters there and assist you in your training. Shorel’aran, Bai... I look forward to seeing you in Dalaran again soon.”

“Al diel shala,” Bai replied with a respectful bow.

“And Zul’lhor... if you’d like to return to Orgrimmar, I can offer a portal there before I go.”

Zully shook his head.“If it be alright wit ya, Zully be stayin’ here with Bai just a little longer. He can make his way back home later. Or she can make a portal for him back to da orc city?” He looked at Bai questioningly.

“You sure you really want me to?” Bai asked in a half-teasing tone.

Zully nodded enthusiastically.“Zully be trustin’ ya, mon. Ya saved his life after all.”

“Very well,” Aethas said.“Then may our paths cross again one day, young one.”

They watched silently as he made his way up the spire, where the others had been waiting on him. “So,” she commented idly, “taking a break from your training already, huh?” She looked over at Zully.“What happened out there... are you second-guessing whether you want to be an adventurer now? Not that I would blame you, of course,” she quickly reassured him.“I’m just... What I mean to say is... I’m here if you need to talk about what happened.”

Zully looked down, squatting down beside the fountain and idly running his hand through the water.“Zully not be knowin’ what to say, mon. It be hard. Da way dose raiders be happy about what dey be doin’...” He shook his head sadly.“Sorry, mon. Don’t got da words for dis.”

“It’s okay. It’s difficult to talk about sometimes.” Bai sighed and looked up at Spire.“Even though our paths are about to go in different directions... if you ever need me, all you have to do is reach out and I’ll be there. I promise.”

“Tank ya, mon. You be a good friend.” Zully looked back up at her and offered her the first smile she’d seen from him since the raid. His eyes still bore an unspeakable pain and sadness... but Bai had a feeling that he would eventually be okay.

Shifting his gaze back to the Spire, he tilted his head slightly and asked,“What dat be goin’ down da pathway?”

“Huh?” Bai turned and noticed, for the first time, a small channel of water making its way down the pathway and over the railing of the ramp. Frowning, Bai squinted to try to make sense of what she was seeing. A moment later, she spotted the source: another tauren, slightly smaller in stature, was now standing next to Essethyr, hands stretched out over the trickle of water. Bai smiled at the recognition: Lunayansa, Essethyr’s twin sister. Clearly she must have decided to check out the situation for herself -- and also clearly, Rommath didn’t seem to mind the shaman using her magic to drain the water.“Well... looks like I have some backup for cleaning up this mess.”

“You be havin’ some good friends.”

Bai smiled fondly as the two of them made their way back to the spire.“Yeah... yeah, I really suppose I do.”

- FIN -

Bai’s Apprentice Part 11: Victory or Death

((Author’s note:another long chapter... There should just be one last chapter after this one (maybe an epilogue, possibly... maybe...). Thanks for sticking it out... we’re almost at the end, y’all.))

“Sen’Jin Village is under attack by the Alliance! Sen’Jin Village is under attack by the Alliance!”

The air grew cold and heavy around Bai as the war horns and the warning cries echoed across the valley. Next to her, Zully had grown pale, a look of horror and panic in his eyes.“Zully’s home...” he said softly.“His family...”

A flash: hordes of undead Scourge crashing through the gates of Silvermoon. Bai’s mother, standing at the front line with the other Farstriders, her bow drawn as she took her final stand... her final breaths...

Bai shook the memory from her head.“I’m sorry, Zully,” she said, resting her hand on the young troll’s shoulder.“All we can do is hope they’ll manage to escape.”

Zully yanked himself free of her grasp, the fear quickly replaced with a startling amount of fierce determination.“We have to help dem!” he declared, running toward the sheltered exit of the Valley of Trials.

“Zully, wait!” Bai shouted, Blinking after him.“Zully we can’t, come back -- it’s too dangerous for us!”

"We have to try, mon!” Zully shouted back, without slowing his pace.

“Zully, no -- stop!” Bai couldn’t keep the panic out of her voice. “You don’t understand -- if these are Alliance adventurers, we truly don’t stand a chance against them. I just told you, I’m not experienced at battling other adventurers -- and if it’s a full raid group preparing to assault Orgrimmar, we’ll be outnumbered anyway!”

Zully spun on Bai, anger in his eyes.“You just be tellin’ Zully earlier how you didn’t like feelin’ powerless when da Scourge attack your home. How you be trainin' to be a powerful mage so you can defend da people ya love. And now you be tellin’ Zully not to do the same? You be standin’ here wanting Zully ta do nothin’ when hishome is under attack?”

Bai took a step back, feeling almost as if Zully had physically slapped her across her face.“And I also told you what happened when I rushed in without the training or experience to properly defend even myself,” she said, trying to muster some anger in return for how Zully was almost weaponizing the experiences she’d just told him about; instead, her voice only conveyed sadness and pain.“I’m not telling you that you shouldn’ttry to defend your home -- I’m telling you that you can’t. It’s impossible; neither of us are strong enough to do anything other than get ourselves killed.”

“And didn’t ya just tell Zully dat adventurers don’t be dyin’ right away? Maybe you be right and Zully not be strong enough to take down da raiders. But maybe he can distract 'em long enough for his family to escape. And if you be too scared to help him, he’ll do it wit’ or wit’out ya.” He stood for only a second longer, his determined stare challenging her to argue the point, before turning and running off once more.

Bai squeezed her eyes shut, remembering again the pain of having her soul torn again and again from her body, the cold numbness as she stumbled through the darkness of the spirit world, the spiral of the Twisting Nether overhead threatening to suck her severed spirit away into oblivion for all eternity. The warmth of hisguiding Light bringing her back over and over... until he was no longer there to guide her and she was forced to do it on her own, time stretching onward as she staggered alone through the lifeless dark, hoping she could make it back in time...

She shivered, forcing herself to run after Zully. He was too kind and pure a soul to have to go through the fear and agony of being in that horrible purgatory; she had to change his mind and stop him before he got himself killed.

It took a few Blinks for her to catch up to him; by that time, Sen’Jin Village was just a short distance away. Pillars of smoke rose into sky as fires threatened to consume the straw-thatched roofs of the wooden huts. Raucous war yells in Common punctuated the screams and cries of panicked and dying trolls.

“Zully, listen to me,” Bai said, desperation seeping into her voice as she ran alongside him.“If you truly want to help your village, you have to listen to what I tell you: do not engage the raiders. We’ll do nobody any good if we die out here. We’ll go in, try to put the fires out, find what survivors we can and help them find their way to safety. Do you understand me?”

“Yes mon, Zully understand.”

“Good. I mean it though. Whatever happens, don’t attack them.”

As they ran into the village, Bai came to a stop and began chanting an incantation; in front of her, the water small pond in the center roiled and rose into the air, shaping into the form of a water elemental.“Aranal!” she commanded, gesturing the elemental toward the nearest -- and largest -- of the burning structures. Sprays of water burst forth from the elemental, beating the raging flames down.

Zully, meanwhile, darted in and out of the various buildings, yelling something Bai couldn’t recognize -- probably in Zandali, and probably seeking out familiar people. Bai realized that by this time, they had heard almost no people... but the number of bodies strewn about...

She gritted her teeth, directing her elemental to the next burning building. First things first -- she had to stop the fires from worsening and spreading.

Zully staggered out of yet another hut, coughing harshly as he tried to wave the smoke from his face.“Fa’da! Ma’da!” He staggered to a stop next to Bai, wheezing harshly. “Bai, dey ain’t here, Zully can’t find dem anywhere...”

“Help me put the fires out, we can look for survivors when the village isn’t in danger of burning down entirely,” Bai instructed. Channeling her emotions into ice, she shot a Frostbolt at some of the lingering flames.“Use your Frostbolt on the smaller fires -- the heat will melt the ice into water and dampen the flames.”

Zully did as instructed, turning toward the last of the burning buildings and shooting off Frostbolts, stumbling over the practice incantations as he did. Bai could feel her control of her elemental slipping, and knew it wouldn’t be much longer before the bonds holding it together fell from her grasp entirely. With one last surge of effort, the elemental lunged at the final building, its body dissolving and crashing as a wave into the side of the structure. The fire sputtered under the onslaught of water, sizzling as the flames flickered into nothingness.

Bai heard the thundering of hooves approaching, along with a defiant yell in Zandali. She and Zully turned as one as a troll sprang out of the shadows of one of the buildings -- a rogue, no doubt, having been hidden much of this time.“Zul’lhor, what are you doin’ here mon?”

“Fa’da!” Zully yelled back, relief pouring down across his body as he let out a sigh of relief and slumped down beside her.“Tank da loa you made it--”

Bai saw it first, a barely perceptible shift in the air behind the survivor.“Look out!” she screamed--

The air shimmered and a snow leopard -- having been hidden in stealth -- snarled into existence, pouncing toward--

Bai grabbed Zully and spun him away, shielding him with her body from what she knew was coming.

Behind them, a horrible crunch, wet tearing and a scream of pain choked out far too soon... the thundering hooves came to a stop, as voices in Common cheered and laughed and celebrated.“She flushed another one out, did she?” one yelled, the dwarven accent unmistakable.“Aye, rip openthat nasty troll, tear his flesh from his limbs like they do to us--”

In her arms, Zully let out a howling wordless scream that was equal parts unbridled rage and unfathomable anguish; in her mind, her own matching screams from years ago, watching the ghouls tear her mother limb from limb. She gripped Zully tighter, as much to hold herself together as him.

Beneath her, she felt the fire build and flare throughout his body, a searing pain that forced her to let go lest she be consumed by the flame herself. Shoving her aside, Zully spun towards the leopard, blood dripping from its jowls as it feasted on its kill, the hunter and the other raiders behind it. A swirl of flame engulfed his body as he --

“--ZULLY NO--”

-- thrust his hands forward, channeling the full maelstrom of infuriated grieving fire into a massive beam of searing energy. The hunter caught the full blast, eyes widening in shock as he staggered backward and fell to the ground, flames scattering around him and scorching the clothes and mounts of the nearest raiders.

For the briefest moment, time came to a stop, and Bai saw the look of surprise in the eyes of the raiders -- twenty, maybe thirty or more of them -- as everyone took in the surprising amount of sheer force and firepower that just came from this young troll.

And then she felt the shift: a change in the aura of the raiders, almost as a deepening red cloud enshrouded the raid. At the same time, Bai felt the shift in herself, the shattering of the magic around her and Zully that kept them protected while in the Horde’s own territory. And now, they were vulnerable: two inexperienced mages against an entire raiding army of Alliance adventurers.

Running on panic and instinct, Bai grabbed Zully and Blinked them toward the ocean. Unlike in Dalaran, there were no corners to hide behind, no crowds to get lost in; they would be overtaken in a matter of seconds. Getting underwater was their one hope at survival -- but even then, Bai feared it wouldn’t be enough, that she was only delaying the inevitable.

If they died, would she even be able to guide bothof their spirits safely back to their bodies...?

She Blinked again; no time to think. She could hear the leopard gaining on them, magic fueling its muscles to sprint ahead of its master.“Keep running!” she screamed at Zully, shoving him ahead while she spun to face the cat head on.

“Bai--”

“RUN!” she bellowed. She watched the leopard sprint closer, closer, and then hit it with a powerful Frost Nova, instantly freezing its paws to the dirt. The leopard yowled in pain and surprise, body twisting madly as it struggled to break the ice trapping it in place. Bai spun back toward the shore, Blinking once to catch up with Zully as she grabbed him and lunged into the ocean.“Look for air bubbles as soon as we go underwater,” she instructed.“If we make this harder on them, maybe they won’t follow.”

Zully let out a sound that closely resembled a“ye” as he struggled to swim alongside her. Belatedly, she realized she didn’t even ask if he knew how to swim at all; what if her attempts to protect him only hastened his death by drowning? She forced her panic down, forced back the memories of screaming children and shrieking gargoyles and the cracking of shipboards.“Deep breath now,” she said, drawing in as much air as she could and diving downward, Blinking and pulling Zully under the water with her. She had no choice; this had to work.

Only a few meters down, she felt the first arrow pierce her leg. Biting back an outcry of pain so she didn’t lose her air, Bai channeled as much mana as she could muster into a protective shield around them. She couldn’t maintain this for long, especially not against an entire onslaught, but it would have to do. She kept pushing deeper, looking frantically about for any source of air she could use to bolster them. She felt Zully tighten his grip around her hand. Please hang on, she thought. You can do this, Zully. Just hold your breath a little longer.

Another sound, this time of a blast of boiling water bouncing off the Mana Shield she’d conjured. She felt the strain on her reserves; she couldn’t take much more of this. Please please please, this HAS to work...

Another barrage of arrows; one hit her shoulder, and she immediately felt the seep of poison making its way through her bloodstream, causing her vision to waver and her stomach to turn. She Blinked again, then faltered; she hadn’t propelled herself and Zully forward nearly as much as she’d hoped, and now the dizziness and nausea was causing her to become disoriented. Fighting back the urge to vomit, she risked a quick glance over her shoulder and saw that three of their pursuers had jumped into the water after them: the dwarf hunter, a human paladin, and a gnome mage -- all of whom had the ability to quickly close the gap between them. Another shape took form behind them: a manatee, closing in even faster. A druid. Bai’s heart sank; she couldn’t outrun a druid in aquatic form.

Abruptly the druid shifted into a new form -- an owlkin -- and Bai reacted out of instinct. She pulled Zully into her arms and used Ice Block, a last-ditch effort to shield them form the inevitable attack by encasing them both in a solid block of ice.

She saw the shimmer of white light hit the surface of the ice, the arcane energy from the Moonfire crackling harmlessly across the frozen barrier. Just beyond, their pursuers came closer, biding their time as they waited for the ice to crack and break on its own. Bai fought back tears as she watched their distorted forms circling like sharks, waiting to finish off their prey. These horrible, bloodthirsty people... almost as bad as the Scourge, she decided.

She felt Zully trembling in her arms; she couldn’t tell if it was from hypothermia, fear, or if his oxygen reserves were tapping out already. Maybe all three.

She couldn’t let him die. Not here, not like this, and certainly not to these monsters calling themselves“adventurers.”

A loud pop as the first of the cracks appeared in the ice. They were almost out of time.

There was only one option left. Bai channeled the last reserves of her energy, tapping into the ley energies she could sense around them. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she realized what she was doing was dangerous -- trying to cast a portal while they were still encased in ice. She could feel the edges of the portal ripple and push and strain against the confines of their frozen tomb. They couldn’t fit through it, not like this... their only hope was if it would spring into a large enough size the moment the ice broke for them to slip through.

Another pop, an echoing crack. Bai sensed the edges of her vision start to darken as she strained against the effects of the poison and the effort of holding the portal and her own growing need for air. She willed herself to hold on just a little longer.

Finally, the ice broke with a deafening crack. The edges of the portal burst outward and -- without waiting for them to stabilize, there was simply not time -- Bai gave one last desperate kick forward, shoving herself and Zully through the opening...

Inside the mages sanctum within the Sunfury Spire, Narinth, the city’s portal trainer, yawned sleepily as she watched the tired scene play out in front of her. The day was the same as it always was... Elrodan continued to“practice” his various Polymorph spells on Aurosalia, who protested every time but continued to agree to be his test subject... meanwhile, the other mage trainers studied their tomes and tried their best to ignore the louder mages in the midst. And then there was her, tasked with maintaining the portal to the Blasted Lands and occasionally teaching mages how to tap into the ley lines of Azeroth to find their way back to Silvermoon. It was all incredibly boring, and some days, Narinth wished that something new and exciting would happen to bring some color to her day.

In front of her, a portal shimmered into view and began to expand. Again, nothing new; mages brought people into Silvermoon on a regular basis. She suppressed a yawn, and instead straightened up, fixing a fake smile on her face as she prepared to welcome whatever traveler this was to the city.

The portal widened further, bulging as if holding back some great force. Narinth frowned; this was... unusual. Was the mage on the other side struggling to tap into the ley lines properly?

A deep rumble echoed from the portal, drawing the attention of the other mages. The portal swelled massively, rising above the floor slightly. Narinth took a step backward, alarmed and almost frightened at this unexpected turn of events. Whatever was about to happen...?

With an echoing bang, the portal burst open, a massive deluge of water exploding outward and gushing into the room. Aurosalia let out a scream as she snapped out of the giraffe polymorph, the torrent of water sweeping her, Elrodan, and one of the mage trainers closest to the archway out into the main room. Narinth grabbed desperately onto the side of the archway to keep from getting swept away herself as the relentless onslaught of water continued to surge out of the oversized portal.

As Narinth watched, two people -- a sin’dorei and a troll -- tumbled out of the portal; both looked barely conscious. The sin’dorei was familiar; Narinth recognized her as someone she had personally trained; the troll was not. Clearly the sin’dorei had been the mage responsible for this portal. In her half-drowned state though, she didn’t look capable of closing it.

Bracing herself, Narinth shoved herself against the current, struggling to reach the portal so she could close it before anymore damage was done...

Bai could barely tell which way was up as she and Zully tumbled through the portal and the flood of water into Sunfury Spire. She must have briefly blacked out, because the next thing she realized, she was being sat upright by one of the Royal Guards. Beyond him, she could see the portal trainer struggling to close the portal that Bai had opened, fighting against the unending flood of water from Durotar’s ocean shores.

Bai tried to stand up, to help close the portal and the flood she’d inadvertently created, but her body refused to cooperate until the portal was closed and the flood of water had instead become a soggy trickle sloshing across the floor. What finally prompted her to move was the sight of Zully laying in an unmoving heap just a few meters away.

“Zully!” she gasped, pulling away from the guard and forcing herself to move toward him. Fear crawled its way into her throat... surely, after all of that...

She saw him move, slowly raising himself up on shaky arms as he started coughing up water. She made it to his side just as his arms gave out, catching him before he hit the ground again. For what felt like an eternity, she patted his back as he continued to cough and gag, forcing as much of the water out of his body as he could. Finally he collapsed into Bai’s arms, trembling as he wheezed in exhaustion. He stared up at her with bloodshot eyes and an almost detached expression.

“Are you alright?” Bai asked worriedly.

“Tink so...” came the hoarse reply.“Alive at least... you be‘kay, mon?”

“I...” She wasn’t; not really. Squeezing her eyes shut against the tears, she hugged Zully tightly.“Well.. we’re alive and that’s the important part.”

“Y... yeah mon... we... we be alive...” She felt his body slacken in her arms.“But Zully’s family... his father... dat leopard... we couldn’t... Zully couldn’t...” His voice trailed off as he buried himself deeper into her arms, body shaking with quiet tears.

Guilt and empathetic pain crashed down on her. “I’m so sorry, Zully...”

She heard a splashing behind her, and suddenly--“WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?!”

Bai tensed and looked up; she felt Zully shift in her grasp as he, too, looked in the direction of the angry voice...

Bai found herself staring into the furious glare of Grand Magister Rommath, standing chest-deep in the pool of water that occupied the bulk of the now-flooded floor pit of the Spire’s throne room. Behind him, Ranger General Halduron Brightwing and -- Bai’s blood ran cold -- Regent-Lord Lor’themar Theron were slowly wading their way toward her and Zully, pushing aside scattered cushions and furniture floating in the water, their expressions unreadable but somewhere between shock and anger. The guards who were normally stationed in the throne room were clinging to the ramp leading to the Inner Sanctum and the Orb of Translocation that connected Silvermoon to Undercity.

“Is this your doings, mage?” Rommath snapped at her, eyes flashing angrily.“Do you have any idea the amount of chaos and destruction your carelessness has caused?”

Bai sank dejectedly, unable to form any words with which to defend herself.“I apologize, Magister... General...” The last words came out at a near-whisper:“Your Regency...”

“Do you think a mere‘I apologize’ will excuse this... this... deplorable conduct?” Rommath continued, his voice growing even harsher.“And of course this is how a representative of the Kirin Tor must think is proper behavior for our city... but a sin’dorei like you -- you should be ashamed of yourself, disrespecting us in this way. I have half a mind to report you to Rhonin himself!”

Bai lowered her gaze to the floor, fighting back tears of frustrated defeat. She and Zully may have been out of danger... but they were clearly not out of trouble.

((To be concluded...))

Bai’s Apprentice Part 10: Lessons Learned

((Author’s note: Yup, we be back again after a long hiatus (but also with a long chapter to make up for it). I’ve been inspired by the creativity of another friend, who is also writing a fic, to finally finish this piece. By my estimation, after this one, there should be maybe 2-3 more chapters left. We’re bringing it to an end, finally... a premature one, but an end nonetheless.))

((Strong CW warning about 2/3 of the way in for descriptions of su*cide))

Zully stared intently at his target, a boar grazing peacefully on the desert-toughened wisps of wheatgrass struggling to survive alongside the water-laden cacti. Little tendrils of flame danced along his fingertips as he whispered the training incantation under his breath, the words meant to help novice mages channel the fire energy before gaining full enough control to cast Fireball wordlessly. Bai watched patiently as he repeated the incantation several times, before a full orb of flame erupted in the palm of his hand. Smiling triumphantly, Zully took aim and flung the orb out toward the boar, thrusting both hands out in front of him to guide the twisting mass of flame energy toward its intended target. Together, the two mages watched as the Fireball hit true, startling the boar and singeing its short bristles. The boar squealed in pain and anger, then--

“Oh, Zully know! How‘bout‘Dalaran Crafts and Supplies’!”

“Zully, focus!” Bai shouted as the boar charged into her apprentice, knocking the startled troll off his feet. Out of pure instinct, she fired an Ice Lance at the boar, freezing it solid for a brief second before it shattered into thousands of tiny shards of ice.

Zully stared at the rapidly-melting ice that had formerly been the boar.“Ahhh... sorry mon.”

Bai took a deep breath and let it out slowly, reminding herself once more that patience was key in all things, but especially an overly-excitable -- and easily distractible -- young apprentice...

“Okay,” she finally said once she was sure she had her center of calm.“Let’s... review what went wrong here.”

“Zully not be hitting da boar wit enough fire.”

“Well... yes, you’ll need to hit it a few more times at your level. But that’s not--”

“Oh! Zully not be hitting da boar wit ice first, ya?”

“That’s... also technically true, yes.” Somehow, by the time they had gotten back to the Valley of Trials, the mage trainer there had recommended Bai teach him Frostbolt. Bai was a little surprised, but she supposed that their travels had been deemed enough real-world experience to let him try some new spells.“But that’s also not what I was going to--”

“Oh wait... you no like da name of his business, do ya?”

“I hadn’t even gotten to that part yet. I know you want to start your business too, but you’re supposed to be focusing on your studies right now.”

“Ohhh.” Something about that seemed to click with the young troll.“Zully get it now. Zully be gettin’ distracted, ya?”

“Yes... that is, in fact, the issue here. Zully, I cannot stress this enough: when you enter combat, you have to stay focused on what you’re doing until you’ve taken out your target. Even the most peaceful of beasts like these boars are going to enrage and fight back when you attack them. If you don’t pay attention to what you’re doing, you could get seriously hurt.”

Zully winced and rubbed his leg where the boar had headbutted him.“Ya mon, that kinda hurt...”

“It’ll hurt a lot more when you’re fighting more dangerous foes than just a boar, trust me. We’re not built to be walking around in heavy armor like a warrior or a paladin.” She almost stumbled over her own words as she said the last part, but managed to -- mostly -- stay composed.“Too restrictive of our magic. But that also makes us vulnerable to damage. So we have to hit them hard before they hurt us too badly.”

“Mages be able to make shields wit magic, ya? When you be teaching Zully how to do that?”

“Not until later. I already asked your mage trainer about that and he’s refusing to inscribe it in your spellbook. Says you need to master more active control over your magic before you try splitting your concentration into shields.” While Bai partially agreed with that assessment, part of her also wished that he could have bent the rules just a little bit, if just to help keep Zully a little safer since he seemed to be struggling to defend himself. Then again, maybe dividing his focus even further was setting him up for failure too.

Zully nodded sagely.“Ya, Zully be getting it. Zully don’t mind waitin’ a bit longer for dat.”

He turned to the next boar, whispering the incantation again. Bai noticed the fire seemed to be growing stronger faster this time around. Good, she thought to herself, that must mean he’s already getting the hang of it. The fire grew in intensity, and then--

“But what didya think of da name?” he asked abruptly, letting the fire dissipate as he turned toward her again.

Bai suppressed a sigh; at least he asked before attacking.“Why Dalaran?”

“It be da city of da mages, and Zully be a mage. It make sense, ya?”

At this point in time, Bai recognized that there would be no progressing until she satisfied whatever he had his mind focused on instead of his studies. Taking out the guild charter they’d picked up on the way out of Orgrimmar -- which he’d promptly handed to her, as being the only one of the two of them able to write -- she mentally tallied the length of the proposed business name.“Too long,” she finally determined.“You’ll have to think of something else.”

“Okay, Zully can do that.” Turning back to the boar, he whispered the incantation; this time, only a single time had the full orb of fire leaping to life in his grasp. Faster progress than Bai had expected. Maybe that was a good sign.

He flung the Fireball at the new boar, and immediately spun toward Bai.“Oh, how about--”

“FOCUS!”Bai snapped -- a little harsher than she intended -- and Zully instantly whirled back around, another ball of fire bursting from his hands and hurling toward the oncoming boar out of pure instinct. This Fireball hit hard, causing the boar to erupt into flames and collapse. The fire died out quickly, leaving only the charred remains and a small plume of smoke behind.

Bai let out a breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding as Zully inspected the smoldering boar corpse.“Oh... that be a lot more fire den Zully expected.”

“You must have hit it right at a critically weak spot,” Bai commented. Truthfully, she’d been a little surprised too. Zully’s reflexes had been remarkably fast, and the fact that his aim had been so true when clearly startled was also unexpected for someone with relatively little experience. No wonder he’d caught the Kirin Tor’s attention.

“Zully be feeling a little bad about da boars. Dey make for good skinnin’ though.” Kneeling down, Zully took out the skinning knife and set to work trying to remove the hide from the fallen boar. Bai surreptitiously glanced away, not really sure she wanted to watch the process, although she kept stealing glances over just to make sure Zully didn’t accidentally cut himself with the knife.“Or... dey supposed to. Dis not lookin’ like much.” He straightened up, holding up the few tattered scraps of leather he’d managed to free from the body.

“Hit it a little too hard with the flames, I guess.” Seeing Zully’s disappointed face, she added,“I’m sure a leatherworker in town could stitch the pieces together and make something useable from it though.”

“Zully got a question for ya, mon.”

“Another business name suggestion?”

“Ahh! Dat too, what ya tink of‘Darkspear Crafts and Supplies’?”

“It’s longer than the last suggestion, it won’t fit either.”

“Oh. Well, Zully be tinkin’ some more den. But Zully really wanna know somethin’ else.”

Sitting on the dusty ground next to Bai, he offered her a piece of boar rib he’d salvaged as well; she politely shook her head in refusal.“What’s on your mind?”

Zully studied the rib quietly, seeming a bit disappointed that she hadn’t taken it. Shrugged, he bit into it, teeth ripping the meat from the bone. "Zully notice ya not like to talk about da paladins. Dat be because of da paladin you be tellin’ Zully about, ya?

Bai shifted her eyes downward. So she hadn’t hidden her hesitation as well as she’d thought. Unfortunate.

“You be tellin’ Zully da rest of da story?”

“Ahh... right. The story.” Part of Bai wished he hadn’t remembered -- a lot had happened with their trip to and from Dalaran -- but clearly for his distractibility, Zully had a strong memory.“I left off with... leaving from the Undercity, right?”

Zully nodded wordlessly, his attention focused completely on her. Bai couldn’t help but note the irony on the fact that he could focus on some things but not his studies.

“We traveled together south, to Hillsbrad Foothills. It’s a dangerous area, belonging to neither the Horde nor the Alliance. We are constantly fighting to gain control over the region, much like throughout the rest of Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms. I struggled with my studies there, constantly torn between helping the people of Tarren Mill with their requests and bounties, and trying to fight off Alliance attacks. I never was good at fighting other adventurers...”

“But your paladin friend? He be helping ya?”

“No.” Bai couldn’t quite stop the bitterness from seeping into her voice.“Sometimes he returned to help me, but never against the Alliance. And I rarely saw him anyway. He moved on to areas that he deemed too dangerous for me.”

“Dat place be soundin’ dangerous too.”

“Well, it was. But as I found out one day, there were far more dangerous places for a mage with little experience. I got angry one day and followed him into the Hinterlands, despite him telling me not to go. The griffins there descended on me before I could even see them coming. And he...”

Zully watched her quietly, waiting for her to continue.

“... he abandoned me there,” she finally said, voice cracking.“I watched his horse disappear into the distance before the griffins finally... tore my spirit from my body...”

Zully’s eyes widened.“Wait... dey killed you? You died?”

“In a manner of speaking, yes.”

“But how...?”

“Adventurers are blessed when they take up the call to defend Azeroth. Nobody knows quite why. Some claim it’s by the power of Elune, some by Alexstraza the Life-Binder, some by the will of the Light. Regardless of the reason or what you believe, depending on how you die, your spirit remains tethered to this world. If you can reunite yourself with your body, you can bring yourself back to life. But that can be difficult sometimes; the spirit world is pale and cold and directionless. Sometimes we need the help of someone with the power of nature or the Light to bring us back.”

“Is dat what happened?”

“Yes. I couldn’t find my way back. I thought I was lost forever. But--” She almost, almostspoke his name, but the word died in her lungs, its remains catching in her throat and choking her.“... he must have felt my spirit become untethered from my body. He came back to find me, and used the power of the Light to guide my spirit safely back.” She smiled, briefly, but then her mouth twisted into a bitter expression. “And afterward, he proceeded to yell at me for not listening to him, and forcibly sent me back to Silvermoon.”

“How rude.”

“Yes, I thought so too. Although looking back, I think maybe he was just terribly worried about me. He accused me of pushing myself too hard, to the point of destroying myself in the process. But I...” She sighed.“I once again refused to listen. I tried following him everywhere, tried to better myself faster against these horribly powerful monsters that I had no hope of defeating, just to try to keep up with him. It always failed. Time and again, I felt my spirit get ripped forcibly from my body, only to have him bring me back again. Each time, we would argue afterward; he would accuse me of having a death wish, of trying to join my family in the afterlife, of not caring about what happened to myself. And then he accused me of putting his own safety in danger, because every time I fell, he was the one who had to drop everything to rush back to make sure I could continue to live.”

“Dat sounds...” Zully shook his head, clearly at a loss for words.“Dat doesn’t sound like a fun way to be livin’.”

“It wasn’t. And it only got worse, because he only got stronger, and I only fell behind further. And the more I struggled to catch up to his strength, the more I fell and the weaker I became. But also the angrier he became at me for putting myself in harm’s way... and the more determined I was to catch up at any cost. You have to understand, Zully... I was so very tired of running away. I was so very tired of being weak. I let my drive nearly consume me.”

“What be changin’ den?”

Bai leaned back and closed her eyes. The sun was beginning to lower itself in the sky; the heat was still intense, but was starting to become noticeably cooler. She guessed that there was probably another two hours or so of daylight left.

Her mind drifted back to that awful day, back in the Ghostlands...

“It happened one last time, and we both just... had enough.” Snippets of memory flitted through her mind: accusations of being power-hungry, of descending towards becoming one of the Wretched, of cowardice and disloyalty, thrown equally between the two. She didn’t speak any of it aloud to Zully; she couldn’t, not without losing her already-faltering grip on her emotions.“We both said some truly awful things to each other. And then I finally said something that caused him to completely snap.” She searched her memory, but this one slipped away, the exact words burying themselves so deeply in her mind that she could no longer find their form.“His anger... changed him so completely... I watched his body begin to morph before my eyes, before he drew his sword and--”

The rest of her words died as the sobs she’d been trying to hold back broke free and clawed their way out of her body. She drew her knees in close to her chest, wrapping her arms around her body as the memories took over: the sight of her former beloved, his skin pale and waxy as a Wretched, dark blood spilling from his body around the sword planted firmly into his stomach...

She nearly jumped at the feel of a large hand on her shoulder, Zully awkwardly trying to pat her on her back in a comforting gesture.“Dose be some hard memories... Zully be sorry for bringin’ dem back...”

It took several more minutes before the tears abated to the point that Bai could bring herself to speak again.“I’m sorry...”

“Dis not your fault, mon, Zully be da one askin’...”

“It ismy fault, though. I pushed him over the edge. And he fell into despair. Had he not changed before he...” She swallowed back the threatening tears again.“... it tore his spirit completely from this world. I felt it, but I couldn’t accept it. I ran back to Silvermoon, begged the Blood Knights. Even Lady Liadrin herself could do nothing. Once a sin’dorei falls to despair, once one of us becomes Wretched... there’s nothing of us left. There was nothing of him to bring back. He was just... gone. Forever.”

Zully didn’t respond, perhaps realizing that there was nothing he could say to quell the guilt.

“I couldn’t bring myself to resume my training anymore. How could I? I had driven the paladin I loved to madness with my recklessness ambition. And I had nothing left. The few friends we had made along the way abandoned us, too horrified at his fate to even look me in the eyes anymore.” She shook her head.“How I avoided the same fate, in my own despair, is beyond me.”

“But something be bringin’ ya back?”

“Yeah. I... something drove me to wander from Silvermoon. I think maybe I was too ashamed to look at my fellow sin’dorei any longer. Or maybe I was tired of seeing their pity. But I knew I couldn’t stay there, at least not in my current state. Maybe I just didn’t want them to watch me make my final descent into becoming a Wretched myself. So I began traveling. And by chance, I met a hunter -- a troll, just like you -- who asked me for help one day hunting a rare beast. We began talking and... I know this sounds crazy, but somethingabout him reminded me of, well... him. I can’t explain it because they don’t even strike me as being remotely similar in personality or anything, but... it was something almost familiar. And it was comforting. And from that moment, it felt like maybe I could move forward again. And then in Thunder Bluff, I found my salvation: a pair of tauren, brother and sister -- a druid and a shaman. They asked me if I could help them, by signing a charter for their new guild. I asked him -- the druid, his name was Essethyr -- what the name of this guild was, and he replied'The Council of Hope’.”

“Dat sound like such a good name.”

“It was. I don’t know, maybe some faint vestige of hisspirit lead me there. Because that was exactly what I needed at the time -- hope. I offered to help in whatever way I could, and in return, they agreed to help me find my way back to Dalaran so I could petition to rejoin the Kirin Tor. They... weren’t exactly happy that I had abandoned them in the way I had... I still don’t much think they are, really, but... the fact that I had a guild vouching for me, even a newly-formed one that barely knew me... I think that was what made them give me a second chance. Maybe they deemed I had learned enough lessons from the experience to try again.”

“And now here you be.”

“Here I be, indeed. Still trying to maintain that hope. And still trying to prove myself. While plenty of people are quick to say that what happened wasn’t my fault, I know there are still those who agree I’m to blame. Or at the very least, they think I’m too emotional or too unreliable to take a full place within the ranks of the Kirin Tor.”

“And yet dey be askin’ ya to teach Zully. That be high praise, mon! You be a good teacher for Zully.”

Bai stole a look at Zully. She still had her doubts that the Kirin Tor particularly considered it“high praise” to pair her with him. Still though, if it was some path toward redemption in the eyes of allof the other mages, she would take it. And she would make damn well sure that Zully learned well enough from her own life lessons, and would never make the same mistakes she made.

“We should probably wrap up and consider going back to Orgrimmar,” Bai said, standing up; she winced slightly in pain, having not realized how long she’d been sitting on the ground until then.“It’s getting late. We can head to the inn, have a good dinner, and resume training in the morn--”

The remainder of her words were lost in the sudden blaring of horns, a wailing cry echoing loudly across the valley. Bai instinctively covered her ears with her hands, taken aback at the sudden cacophony.

Zully froze, his features growing pale.“Dat be raid horns!” he cried out over the blare.“We be under attack, mon!”

Bai lowered her hands as more blares sounded, this time that of war horns from the guards at the mouth of the Den and the entrance to the Valley of Trials. Shouts carried across the wind; Bai listened closely, trying to make out the words...

-- Village is under attack by the Alliance! Sen’jin Village is under attack by the Alliance! Sen’jin Village is--

Zully’s face grew even paler.“Bai, no!” he cried.“Sen’jin Village... dat be Zully’s home!”

((So apparently the blog turned 2 yesterday and I didn’t even realize it))

Bai’s Apprentice Part 9: Masters of Magic

((Considerably longer chapter to make up for the lack of posts lately. Slight CW for stalker behavior later on in the chapter.))

“So uhh...” Zully paced impatiently at the base of the stairs leading up to the Violet Citadel, looking between it and where Bai sat, cross-legged on the ground nearby.“.... we be goin’ in yet?”

“Not yet.” Bai took another deep breath and let it out slowly, tapping into her knowledge of fire magic to offset the icy chill that was still clinging to her after her encounter with the Silver Covenant mage. To think she and her people used to consider themselves quel’dorei also... or had the high elves forgotten what it had been like to struggle at the brink of extinction and at the edge of addiction?

Perhaps Dalaran’s abundance of magic had shielded them from the initial shock of the Sunwell’s loss. Or maybe, now that the Sunwell had been reignited, they had simply forgotten what that deprivation was like. Either way, it had never been any clearer to Bai how different the quel’dorei and sin’dorei truly were now.

“You be alright, mon?” Zully asked, squatting down next to Bai and regarding her with a look of concern.

“I’ll be fine. I just lost myself for a moment back there... I apologize.”

“Zully be wondering what happenin’ back dere. He no speak da human language.”

“Some days I wish I didn’t. I only know it because our people used to be part of their Alliance.”

“What bring ya to da Horde?”

Bai shook her head.“It’s complicated. A lot of political stuff, I barely understood the logistics of it myself. But the Alliance always has turned their backs on us when we’ve needed them the most. Anyway...” She flexed her fingers into a tight fist and then let them fall open loosely. The chills had mostly dissipated by now; she stood up and brushed the faint wrinkles from her robe.“... I suppose let’s go introduce you to Rhonin so we can go back and actually start your training.” Smiling wryly, she added,“It’s like I’m teaching you everything right now excepthow to be a mage.”

Zully grinned excitedly.“Dis be fun though, mon. You be teachin’ Zully so much, and then ya get to be teachin’ him how to be a powerful mage.” He took a few steps up the stairs, then turned to look back at Bai.“Come on, mon, let’s go!”

“I’m coming.” On a bit of a whimsical impulse, she Blinked forward, teleporting just a little past Zully.“Who’s the slow one now?” she teased.

Zully’s eyes widened.“Whoa... you be teachin’ Zully how to do that too?”

“Eventually, yes. Once you’ve had more training."

They crested the top of the stairs, and through the open archway, Bai could see Rhonin standing tall just inside, his wife Vereesa standing next to him. There were two other archmages alongside him, one of whom Bai recognized: Aethas Sunreaver. Aethas glanced her way as the two entered, and gave her a brief nod; she wasn’t sure if he actually remembered her, or if it was an acknowledgement of one fellow sin’dorei to another.

Unlike the last time that Bai was inside the Violet Citadel, there were a crowd of adventurers gathered inside, some of whom were speaking to one another in hushed whispers. She glanced over at one group as she heard the name“Malygos” and briefly wondered what was going on with the blue dragonflight. Clearly something with the dragons had the tone inside the Citadel a little more tense than usual.

Zully, meanwhile, was oblivious to the tone, instead shoving his way through the crowd. Bai squeezed her way through in an attempt to catch up.“Zully, maybe this isn’t a good--”

Breaking free of the crowd, Zully came to a stop in front of Rhonin and gave an elaborate bow.“Great Rhonin of da Kirin Tor, Zully is here to thank ya for this opportunity!” he shouted.

“--time...” Bai finished redundantly. Sighing, she pushed past the last few stunned adventurers standing between her and her over-enthusiastic apprentice.

“Uh... hello there, young one,” Rhonin said.“Or, how is it they say... lok-tar?”

Zully looked up, eyes wide with wonder and excitement. Turning to Bai, he gestured vigorously from her to Rhonin.“You can speak da language of da humans, ya? Tell Zully what he said?”

“He said‘hello’,” Bai replied, placing a hand on Zully’s shoulder.“I don’t think he understood.” Switching to Common, she addressed Rhonin.“My apologies for our interruption. My apprentice is a little... hasty.” She offered a quick bow of respect.“He wanted to thank you for the apprenticeship

“Ah yes, umm... Bai, was it?” Rhonin said.“I remember your reinstatement into the Kirin Tor. Welcome back to Dalaran.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“And that must mean this is... Zul’lhor, was it?” Rhonin turned to Zully and offered him a brief nod.“Welcome to Dalaran. Although I’m a little surprised to see you here so soon.”

Zully glanced over at Bai expectantly.“He says welcome and we’re here rather soon,” she quickly filled in. To Rhonin, she replied,“I realize you weren’t expecting to see us in Dalaran so soon, but he wanted to meet you and thank you in-person as soon as possible.”

“Ahhhh, an ambitious one, I see. Very well. I trust you’ll show him around Dalaran before safely returning to Kalimdor, yes? I imagine it’ll be easier for him to learn around more... familiar surroundings.”

A dismissal. Bai gave another deep bow and took Zully by both shoulders, guiding him back toward the exit.“In that case, we’ll be on our way.” Seeing the group of adventurers watching them, she paused.“Oh, actually, if you don’t mind my asking... has something happened with the blue dragonflight?”

Rhonin’s eyes darkened, his expression shifting from the polite kindness he’d shown to Zully to one of... sadness, almost?“Yes, but... unfortunately, there’s little you can do right now. This matter requires more... skilled intervention.”

“I see.” Bai hadn’t expected to be granted permission to get involved, but she’d hoped to at least get a little more information. The blue flight, after all, were the ones in control of the very magic she and the other mages wielded.“Thank you for your time then. We’ll be going now.” She bowed respectfully, noticing out of the corner of her eye that Zully did the same, and walked toward the archway with Zully following behind.

“Yeah, go back to being the schoolteacher and leave Malygos to us realadventurers!”

Bai’s head snapped around toward the orc who had spoken and was now staring at her and Zully boastfully. The other adventurers in his party started howling with laughter and throwing their own insults their way.

Bai’s fist clenched as she felt the familiar icy chill work through her veins, but she quickly forced herself to let it go. One scene was enough for the day, and she’d be damned if she let herself loose her temper in front of Rhonin and the other archmages. Gritting her teeth, she took a deep breath and forced herself to keep walking.

“Hey. Hey mage!” the orc taunted, running outside after her.“You wanna make us a portal somewhere? I’ll give you a tip.” He grabbed her wrist, pulling her to a stop roughly.“Hell, if you do it well enough, I might even give you more than that.” He laughed again, and Bai recoiled at the smell of alcohol on his breath.

“Let go of me,” Bai said, pulling herself free and continuing walking.

The orc clearly wasn’t done with her.“Come on, don’t be rude!” he said, running after her and making another attempt to grab her arm.“You want to be a real adventurer like me, don’t you? You know it takes a party to get anywhere. You really think that troll is gonna take you places?”

“Hey mon, you leave her be,” Zully spoke up, planting himself firmly between Bai and the orc who was towering over him.“She said she not wanna be talkin’ wit ya.”

“Nobody asked you, runt.”

“Nobody asked you either, ur’gora,” Zully snapped back.

There was a brief moment of stunned silence. Bai wasn’t sure whether to be more surprised at the fact that Zully had just insulted somebody or dismayed at the inevitable outrage that was sure to come.

The orc stared bewilderedly at Zully for several heartbeats, then his face morphed into a snarl.“What did you dare call me, you insolent little--!”

“By the Light, Zully,” Bai sighed in exasperation. Grabbing her apprentice by the wrist, she spun around and Blinked them both forward into the crowd.“Did you really have to go that far?”

“HEY!” the orc bellowed.“Get back here, you filthy mongrols! I’ll show you both who’s the ur’gora!”

“Sorry mon, Zully just be tryin’ ta protect you!” Zully blurted out, stumbling over his own feet as he tried to keep up with Bai’s now-running pace.

“Well, now he’s angry,” Bai said.“And while he can’t fight us here, I’m sure he’s going to hold a grudge for that, so we gotta figure out how to lose him in the crowd before we get back to Orgrimmar.”

“How dowe get back?”

Bai rounded the corner and Blinked again.“Aethas and the other Sunreavers set up portals for the Horde capitals on the north end of the city. That’s how I returned to Silvermoon the first time I came here. There will be a portal there for Orgrimmar too.”

"But da orc be able to follow us dere, ya?” Zully looked behind him, nearly tripping as he did and throwing Bai off-balance. She tightened her grip on the young troll’s hand and forced them both to keep moving forward.“Uh, he be on a wolf. You got a mount, don’t ya?”

“Not one strong enough to carry us both. Just keep running, and whatever you do, don’t let go of me.” She counted the seconds in her head, seeing the path to the Sunreaver Sanctuary ahead of them, waiting for the right moment. She ran past, listened for the wolf to nearly catch up, then spun around and Blinked back toward the entrance, teleporting herself and Zully behind the wolf.

The orc let out a curse that Bai didn’t recognize as his wolf skidded to a stop, then charged back toward them. She felt her pulse quicken as she realized there was no good way to shake her pursuer now -- if she stepped inside the portal, he’d simply be able to follow her, and continue harassing them outside of the protection of Dalaran’s magic.

Zully pulled himself free from Bai’s grasp.“Don’t ya worry, Zully got an idea,” he whispered.

“Zully, what--”

“Hey! Ur’gora orc!” Zully yelled, jumping up and down and waving his arms wildly.“Over here!” He turned and spun toward the far end of the portals.

“Zully, what on Azeroth--”

The orc snarled again and let out a wordless bellow, charging toward Zully. Just as he was nearly on top of the young troll, Bai watched as her apprentice tripped and fell. She felt her heart nearly stop as the orc’s wolf--

-- tripped overZully, and landed halfway into the Thunder Bluff portal, the wolf’s feet and tail catching the edges of the portal. There was a loud yelp of surprise from both wolf and orc as the portal shimmered and pulled them into it, shortly before it wobbled and shattered in a puff of sparkles. One of the guardian mages nearby shouted in alarm, and Zully scrambled away in a panic as several mages rushed to the scene.

Bai stared in utter shock before forcing her feet to move.“Zully, are you okay??”

“Ahh-- dat was not quite how Zully expected dat to go...” Zully winced slightly, looking over his shoulder at the now-empty spot where the portal had been.“Uhh... you think da orc be okay?”

Bai followed his gaze to where the mages were consulting with one another. Two of them got to work recasting the portal, while another started a teleportation spell presumably to Thunder Bluff to check on the fate of the orc.“... well, I... am sure these mages can handle it from here,” she said, hoping it would be enough for Zully to leave it be. “Come on, let’s get back to Orgrimmar.”

“Alright...” Zully didn’t sound entirely convinced, but seemed smart enough to figure out when to drop the subject. He followed Bai to the Orgrimmar portal and -- carefully -- stepped inside. Taking a deep breath, Bai paused just long enough to get one good feel of Dalaran’s magical atmosphere before following him through the portal.

((I have not forgotten the blog. I’m just really busy lately with my own original projects and school... 😥))

((I found a Picrew that seemed to lend itself pretty well to both tauren and blood elves (and would probably be quite fitting for draenei and night elves as well). So I recreated Bai and Lunayansa as best as I could. Would have loved better clothing and accessory options, but such is the limitation of working with dollmakers. I’m pretty happy with how they turned out anyway.))

((Picrew credit:@crowesn‘s Tiefling Maker. Link))

Bai’s Vignettes: Here Be Dragons

((Timeline: takes place sometime after the “Bai’s Apprentice” arc. Since that arc is still unfinished, mind that this story will hint at what the ending will eventually be, so... spoilers-ish ahead? To be safe, story will be hidden under the cut until the arc is finished.))

She saw him heading for the Dream Bough, and her first instinct was to rush ahead.

Something about him -- young troll, blue-toned skin, near-reckless disregard for his own safety -- seemed almost familiar, but she pushed it out of her mind as she spurred her hawkstrider on faster. Curiosity was a powerful thing, she knew. And a mystical portal in the middle of a jungle, surrounded by powerful green dragons and rumored to be connected to the Emerald Dream itself? What knowledge-seeking mortal wouldn’t be able to resist the urge to check it out?

But he was too young, too frail. Bai had been out there once before, in her travels trying to grow stronger, and had likewise been punished for her hubris. The green dragonflight could be merciless in their task to protect the Dream from harm, or perceived harm. An inexperienced adventurer stumbling into the Dream? Definitely cause for concern.

Blessedly, none of the Nightmare Dragons had emerged from the portal yet. But Lethlas and Dreamroarer were there as always, guarding the entrance. And as the young troll approached the portal, it was Lethlas that spotted him first, letting out a mighty roar as he rose into the sky to challenge the trespasser.

“No!” Bai shouted, blinking forward to close the distance between herself and the troll.“Get out of here -- run!”

The troll stopped, backing up as he took stock of the situation. By now, several of the dragonspawn guarding the tree had also noticed them. Bai blinked forward again, placing herself between the troll and the approaching dragons.“Go now!” she screamed, letting lose a blast of arcane energy that threw everyone backward away from her -- the dragons back toward the tree, the troll into the lake behind her.

Lethlas let out another enraged roar, and the dragonspawn shifted their focus toward the powerful mage who had seemingly appeared out of nowhere. The mighty dragon lunged forward, a spray of green acid-fire spewing from his mouth. Bai ducked, but a moment too late; she could feel the acid searing into her exposed skin, despite her arcane-infused robes efforts to resist the damage. She spared a quick glance behind her to see if the troll had gotten away -- found him treading water in the middle of the lake a safe distance away -- and turned around just in time to see one of the dragonspawn slam its heavily-armored fist into her face.

Bai staggered back, dazed; how were they hitting so hard? Her body trembled as she scrambled to get back to her feet. She was far stronger now than the last time she had been here... how was this even possible?

No time to wonder. She had to get away -- and preferably lead them further away from the troll, wherever he had gone. She let her determination flow like ice through her veins, and blasted all of them with a Frost Nova, pinning them in place.

But it was no use -- even rooted in place, Lethlas and his mighty wingspan could still hit her. Just as she turned to blink away, his massive wings slammed into her body and sent her flying, just as she felt herself get drenched in another burning spray of acid. Her spirit left her body before she even hit the ground...

It is not yet your time...

It never is... I know the routine by now. Find my body. Return to life. Resume my higher calling. It’s so tiring...

He is calling your spirit back.

Who is?

The troll whose life you saved. He is returning the favor. Go, Bai...

Her eyes fluttered open and immediately she found herself submerged in water. Panicked, Bai scrambled to the surface, coughing out the water she had nearly choked on when her body, its spirit returned, had reflexively tried to inhale.

“You be okay, mon?”

Bai let out one last wheezing cough, and managed to choke out“Z-Zully?”

“Who?”

She blinked and looked up for the first time at the troll who she had saved from the dragons, and who had clearly just brought her back to life. Not Zully. This troll was older, his voice deeper, and his face bore ceremonial tattoos that she had seen on... other shamans. He was a shaman, not even a mage.

Her mind inadvertently flashed back to Zully, rushing ahead in desperation to save his village from being attacked... to her trying to protect him from the Alliance adventurers who had razed the village and still were out for blood, the magic spell protecting new adventurers from harm having been broken by his recklessness... she squeezed her eyes closed, unwilling to let the emotions from that day take over her again. Not now, in front of someone else.

Obviously this hadn’t been Zully. Mages couldn’t bring sundered spirits back to their bodies. But still, for a brief moment, she had thought that fate had reunited them...

“Never mind,” she said, trying not to let the disappointment into her voice. After all, he’d risked his life (again?) coming close enough to bring her spirit back to her body. She didn’t want him to feel as if she were ungrateful for the help.“Just my... someone I used to know. Thank you for bringing me back.”

“Not a problem, mon. And thank youfor coming to my rescue. I didn’t be thinking dey would be so strong.”

“That makes two of us.”

“Let’s get back to shore and get out of here. Dey still don’t seem happy with us.”

Bai glanced back and saw the other dragons. The dragonspawn guards had returned to their patrols, as had Lethlas... but the larger dragon still swung his head in their direction nonetheless. Waiting to see if they’d try again, perhaps?

“Good idea.”

They made it back to shore, and back to the road, quietly and without further incident. Once there, Bai stopped to rest, reaching into her bag for a drink while the shaman tried his best to return her health fully.“Thank you, but that’s really not necessary,” she finally said, as he set one of his totems down to regain his mana reserves after having spent himself inundating her with nature magic to heal her.“I’ll can make food for myself, I’ll be okay.”

“Nonsense. Da least I could do.” He finally stopped, sitting down next to her and reaching for his own waterskin.“What even be makin’ ya run after me like dat?”

“Past experiences. The green dragonflight doesn’t take kindly to people who try to get into the Dream portals. Even though I’m lead to believe that it’s not even possible. They’re magically sealed, and only the dragons know how to get through.”

“You be acting almost like a tank, running into danger like you did. Imagine that, a mage as a tank.” He guffawed with laughter.

Bai gave a wry smile.“Wouldn’t be the first time someone’s told me that. I guess after a lifetime of having other people protecting me, I just... want to be the one protecting others. Even if I don’t always succeed.”

“Ain’t a bad thing, mon. We be needing more people like dat in da world. People who want to be helping other people instead of only looking out for demselves.”

He stood up, offering a hand down to help Bai to her feet as well.“You be taking care of yourself,‘k mon?”

“Likewise,” she said, taking a moment to absorb information about this adventurer before they parted ways. Somehow, she had a feeling she hadn’t seen the last of this particular shaman.

Dawn of a New Adventure, 2019

((Re-rediscovered some old screenshots, including this one which I’m pretty sure I posted already. This was probably taken during the first day or two of playing as Bai.))

Falfarren River Crossing (Redux), 2022

((I hadn’t been entirely happy with the original screenshot I took of this bridge, so when I came through Ashenvale recently, I decided to give it a do-over. I think this one framed it much better than the first.))

((So how about that new expansion announcement, huh?))

Bai’s Apprentice Part 8: Dalaran

At first, the sensation was dizzying, a weird lightheadedness that felt vaguely like being drunk. Going through another mage’s portal was always disorienting, having not had the time to become fully attuned to the ley lines that powered them. Then, cold briefly before becoming warm, and suddenly Bai found herself standing on solid ground -- marble, to be precise -- awash in a pleasant indigo light.

“Dere ya be! Zully be wonderin’ if you were gonna follow him.”

Bai blinked a few times, trying to steady herself and adjust to the change in location. There were a few other people around -- other travelers, brought here no doubt by mage portals themselves -- and it took her a moment to pick Zully out from the crowd.

“You managed to get yourself lost in Orgrimmar within five minutes of us going through the city gates,” Bai said with a half-grin that was both teasing and chastising.“Do you really think I was going to let you take off to another city clear across Azeroth without me?”

“Zully wasn’t lost. Zully be thinking yougot lost.”

“I...” Bai pressed her lips shut, forcing herself to let the impatience fade from her. You’re supposed to be the calm, responsible one here, she reminded herself quietly.“Let’s just do what we came here to do, shall we?”

They stepped down out of the Violet Tower and into the central square of Dalaran. Zully paused for a moment, eyes wide as he took in the towering fountain in front of them, and the equally tall buildings they were surrounded by.

Meanwhile, Bai was drinking in the sensation of pure magic, free and flowing in the air, the cobblestone, the grass, the sky -- everywhere around her was inundated with it, in all its various sorts. Even the -- yes, yes!-- even arcane magic. Drawing on the abilities she had learned, she closed her eyes and drew that magic inward, feeling the invigorating rush of arcane flowing through her body. By the Lightit had been such a long time...

“Bai? You be okay?”

Bai opened her eyes again, briefly disoriented but managing to bring her focus back on the face in front of her.“Yes, I’m fine. You... you do feel all the magic around us... right?”

Zully nodded eagerly.“It be so strong, mon. Dis be nothin’ like da magic in Durotar. Dis be why all da big powerful mages come here, ya?”

“I’m not sure if this gathering of magical energy is what brings the mages to Dalaran, or if the number of mages in the city is what causes the magic to gather here in the first place,” Bai said.“But, yes. Dalaran has always been a magocrisy, and the magic here is more powerful than most other places in the mortal realm.It reminds me of home, in a way. Or at least, home before the Scourge tainted it.”

Someone bumped into her, interrupting her thought process. She turned at the same time as the other person, and found herself meeting the gaze of a night elf. The night elf sneered at Bai and muttered something that she didn’t quite understand, before turning and disappearing into the crowd.

“Dere be lots o’ people of da Alliance here...” Zully commented, watching the night elf.

“We’ll be safe. Dalaran is a sanctuary city; The Kirin Tor have a spell over the city that enforces the treaty. They couldn’t actually attack us even if they wanted to -- the magic prevents it.”

“You be teaching Zully to cast dat kind of magic?”

Bai gave a short laugh.“I can’t. Only the highest ranking archmages know that spell. They don’t teach it to just anyone.”

“Maybe Zully ask Rhonin to teach him.”

Good luck with that one, Bai thought, but opted not to say it out loud.“The Violet Citadel isn’t far from here,” she said instead.“That’s where Rhonin will likely be.”

“Den let’s go!” Zully said. He started off in another direction, then paused and looked back at Bai.“Maybe it be best if you lead da way?”

Bai smiled.“Well, luckily for us, we’re directly in the center of the city, so it’s not far. In fact...” She pointed to the tallest of the spires.“...the Citadel is right there. It’s easy to find.”

Zully stared at her expectantly, shifting his weight from foot to foot; clearly he was taking the concept of not running off on her seriously. Bai took a deep breath and started walking to the left, feeling pleased that Zully was following closely behind.

They emerged from the square onto one of the main streets of Dalaran, and almost immediately, both stopped as they caught a whiff of some sort of roasted meat wafting out from a nearby inn.

“Oh, dat smells good,” Zully remarked.“Maybe we be havin’ a bite before we meet wit Rhonin?” Bai nodded absently, distracted by her own stomach reminding her that she hadn’t eaten in some time; Zully, clearly taking the nod as permission, darted off toward the inn.

Belatedly, Bai noticed the number of humans and dwarves in the inn, and her guard immediately went up, especially as she noticed the mages stationed on either side of the entrance.“Zully, wait--”

“Hey, what do you think you’re doing!” one of the mages yelled. The other pointed a finger toward Zully, and with a flash of light, he was teleported backward several yards away.

Bai swore under her breath as she ran toward Zully, who was bent over and swaying on his feet.“Are you okay?” she asked. As an afterthought, she shifted slightly behind him just in off chance the aftereffects from being forcibly teleported made him vomit; it wouldn’t be the first time she had seen it happen.

Zully blinked a few times, staring up at Bai with a look that expressed both confusion and what looked almost like a sense of dissociation.“Wha’ wuz dat?” he asked, his voice a bit of a slur.

“I don’t think we’re allowed in there,” Bai said.

“But dis be a safe city, yah?” Zully straightened up, shaking his head briefly. Already his eyes looked clearer; the disorientation was clearly wearing off.“You said dey wouldn’t be attackin’ us.” Raising his voice, he sauntered back toward the inn and yelled back at the mages, “Dat be rude of ya, we be payin’ customers!”

“Zully please, don’t make a scene,” Bai begged him, gently trying to pull him away. But already, he had attracted the attention of several passerby -- almost all of them Alliance -- who were laughing and mocking the hapless troll in Common. One yelled something back, in broken Orcish, that might have been intended to be an insult to Zully’s parental lineage had it actually been pronounced correctly.

“This establishment is for the members of the Alliance only,” the mage who had teleported Zully said sternly.“Your kind can go eat with the Sunreavers.”

Zully glanced up at Bai.“What dey be sayin’?”

“Right -- I guess you don’t speak Common, do you, This inn is only for Alliance, so we’ll have to go elsewhere.”

“And you,” the mage continued, jabbing a finger toward Bai.“You are a disgrace to your ancestors to be allied with thosepeople.”

Bai glared at the mage.“Exactly what do you mean by that?” she snapped. A chill grew in the air around her as she spoke.

“You know exactly what I mean,” the mage sneered.“Really? The Horde? Those brutes? You and your‘sin’dorei’ are a disgrace to all elven kind to have turned your back on the Alliance. You are traitors to your own kind.”

“Let me tell yousomething,” Bai said, ignoring her previous advice to not make a scene.“Where was the Alliance when their human prince tore his own homeworld to shambles? Where was the Alliance when he sided with the Scourge and invaded ourhomeland, destroyed ourcapital, and tainted the Sunwell?” She stepped forward, her footsteps crackling the thin rime of ice forming underneath her.“Where were they when the Scourge destroyed millions of our people? When they sank ships filled with our children? Was there a single soldier of the Alliancethere to hear their screams? Because I was there, and I didn’t see even one single‘ally’ of ours in that Light-forsaken place.”

The mage didn’t budge, but something in his demeanor changed. Was it scorn? Pity? She wasn’t quite sure.

“Bai, me be thinking maybe we go now...?” Zully whispered; he seemed uncharacteristically reserved. Even without understanding anything Bai was saying, he clearly picked up on the tension.

Bai took a deep breath and let the ice fade from her fingertips.

“So don’t you dare speak a word to any of us Sin’dorei about‘betrayal’,” she said coldly.“Because in my eyes, your so-called‘Alliance’ betrayed us first.”

With that, she turned away.“Come on Zully,” she said, switching effortlessly to the Orcish they both knew. Amazing how the language of the orcs felt more friendly to her now than Common.“Let’s go meet with Rhonin so we can get back to Durotar.”

((Update: progress is... slow. But progressing.))

((Having said that, the“Bai’s Apprentice” storyline is going to be coming to a quicker close than I had anticipated. Short reason: my RP partner decided to start over with a new mage character, so... unfortunately, Zully no longer exists on the realm.))

((So. The main story will come to a close soon-ish (and by soon, I mean within a few chapters, not necessarily with a real-life ”soon” timeframe attached because motivation and inspiration are fickle beasts), and will probably cut out a few plot points I had originally intended to explore. I may circle around and add them back as“deleted scenes” or whatnot, but at this point (kinda similar to Zully’s owner), I just want to be done with this particular project and move on to something new.))

((New screenshots of Bai and Lunayansa, freshly added to the character page! Both have reached level 80 since starting this blog, Luna most recently. Bai has 3/5 of her t10 set, Luna has full t9 and is slowly gearing up further.))