One morning May Tirta, the keeper of Khadgar's tower, found Khadgar asleep among a mountain of books and a field of loose parchment. Sighing, she conjured up a translucent blue table carrying magically brewed coffee, took out freshly baked Rylak claws from her bag and laid the pastries out. She kneeled in her violet robes and shook his broad shoulder until he snorted awake. A few moments later, he sat on the floating bench and drank deeply from his mug.
"Thank you, May," he said with a yawn.
"Are you sure you don't want me to pick up?"
He waved her off. "No, no, everything's in its place and I don't want to mess up how everything's ordered."
She shrugged and went to check on the starfish in the glowing aquarium, complete with living plants and a treasure chest with a lid that flipped open and shut to release streams of bubbles. Her mind wandered to her sister's birthday present she had sent out the other day, and this meandering thought birthed a stranger thought.
"I was curious, when is your birthday?" she asked him.
He jerked his head up, genuinely surprised. "Why on Azeroth do you want to know that?"
"A random thought. When is it, though? I can make you a birthday cake."
He chuckled and combed back his mussed silver hair with his fingers. "While that is kind of you, May, my birthday is just another day in the year."
Had Archmage Khadgar been any other archmage, May would have dropped the subject all together. Her rank alone would have restricted her from even broaching a lightly personal subject. Archmage Khadgar, however, was not like the other archmages.
She smiled slyly, crossed her arms, and indulged herself in gently pressing his buttons. "Which day? I'm not asking how old you are."
"How old am I? I'm seventeen," he said as he sipped his coffee nonchalantly.
"Khadgar."
"And next year, I'll be seventeen again."
"Khadgar!"
He shook his head before sipping his coffee. "Would you believe me if I told you that I don't know my birthday?"
"How can you not know your own birthday?"
"I was very young when I started training with the Kirin Tor, and I was so focused on my studies that I simply forgot to celebrate. After a few decades I just forgot the date all together. Really, you needn't worry about it. I hadn't celebrated my birthday in years, and I'm sure I won't miss much this year." He popped the last flaky bit of Rylak claw in his mouth, washed it down with the last of the coffee in his mug that he promptly made disappear into thin air. "I thank you for the thought, however."
He went back to his research, the discussion clearly over. May, however, couldn't stop thinking about it. Sure, birthdays were a relatively small thing to worry about when it compared to stopping Gul'dan and the Legion from coming to conquer Azeroth, but it was still something. So May decided to surprise Khadgar with a cake for the birthdays he had missed. Something small, no frills, just a token of appreciation for the kindly wizard.
On her lunch break, May took a menu for Aimee's Bakery and her lunch of hard cheese and sweetmelon outside. She took a seat under a mushroom next to the small pond that formed from the never ending rain. It was the only peaceful spot in front of the tower that was just far enough away from arcane investigating gnomes and the endless battle between the fire mage and frost mage.
Since May was a friend of Aimee, Aimee lent May a prototype of a menu that allowed the user to order her cakes with a touch of a button. On the menu was an icon list showing the different cakes, which May touched for more information, and touched again if she wished to order it. Of course there were fan favorites: Chocolate Celebration Cake, Lovely Cake, Red Velvet Cake, but below were new items that May had never tried before:
Stormwind Cream Pie – Don't let the name fool you! This is a cake straight from the heart of Stormwind. Velvety smooth custard between two airy sponge cakes, coated with a dark chocolate glaze.
Vinarterta – Taste the fruits of Northrend between the layers of this elegant torte. Seasoned savory snowplum filling smothers each of the seven thin layers of white cake, which is iced upon request.
Wild Berry Forest Cake – An old elven favorite! Chocolate sponge torte loaded with spirited forest berries, smothered with rich whipped cream and topped with chocolate curls.
Sandkuchen – A hearty pound cake with a lemon zing and a texture that melts in your mouth like butter. Delectable for dessert, but also good for a bite at breakfast!
Cinnamon Roll Cake – A cake-sized cinnamon roll for the cinnamon roll in your life who is too good and too pure for this world.
"Oh this isn't fair," May mumbled to herself.
All of the cakes looked and sounded absolutely delectable. She read and reread the different description, her finger quickly tapping each icon, unable to pick the perfect cake for Khadgar first birthday in who knew how many years. Suddenly, she had an epiphany. It would be easy enough to order a cake, but it would mean so much more if she made the cake herself. Being a mage, she could conjure up whatever type of Mana cake she liked. Yes, this was much more sensible. She folded up the menu and finished her lunch before heading back into the tower, deciding to surprise Khadgar with her cake when the time was right.
A few days passed, and May found her opportunity to create her cake when Khadgar left to visit a commander in Shadowmoon Valley. He would only be gone a few hours, so May set right to work to creating the perfect birthday cake. Sparkly arcane energy popped from her finger tips and melded into a glowing ball on a silver platter for a moment, then ballooned into a toasty yellow cake round. She waved her hands over the cake to drizzle on magic that solidified into a tasty chocolate icing. The cake looked a little simple for her tastes, so she snapped strawberry sprinkles on top.
"Should I make candles?" she mused aloud, then waved the question away. "No, this will be nice enough."
She looked down at the cake, sighed, and waved her hand. A blue-and-white striped unlit candle appeared at the center of the cake. She lifted her hands and the cake lifted in mid air, where it would be safe while she cleaned up the place.
May had just finished polishing the brilliant blue crystal dais when there was a knock on the front door. She smoothed her hair for a moment before opening the blue oval door, and was surprised to find the gryphon master Dominic standing next to a pile of boxes wrapped in silver taffeta ribbon.
"You've received a delivery from Dalaran," Dominic said, his frown pronounced by his long black mustache and goatee, "from an Aimee's Bakery."
May gasped as she looked at the boxes, a cold prickle running over her scalp. In her frustration to find the perfect cake, she must have accidentally ordered all these cakes. There must have been at least a dozen right on her front step.
"Your order also came with this," Dominic said as he handed May a creamy white card.
The card was a generic thanks for May's unwilling patronage, plus the sum of what she owed Aimee. May glared at the boxes, then back at the sum. She didn't want accept these cakes, but Aimee was her friend and couldn't just return them. However, Aimee did give her a not-so-user friendly menu and by all that was holy and touched by the Light who knew that butter and sugar could cost an arm and a leg.
"Light forsake it, I'll burn that menu," May grumbled. "All right, Dominic, bring them in."
Dominic rolled his eyes and his wrists, and the boxes picked themselves up by magic and floated into the main room. May looked up at her sad little Mana cake that still hovered above their heads. At least that cake was free.
"Are we having a party and no one told me?" Dominic asked, his mouth twitching into a grin.
"No! There is no party. No gaiety, no song and dance, no 'here we go around the mulberry bush'," May scoffed.
He blinked. "Did you just quote a children's book at me?"
"Thank you, Dominic, for bringing the boxes in. I'll handle it from here."
Dominic threw up his silk-wrapped hands and teleported out of the tower. May forked her thin black hair with her fingers as she tried to think of a plan. A wild thought of playing this off as a prank came to mind, but she instantly shot it down. Khadgar had been growing rather tense lately, especially when it came to crafting a ring for the commander in Shadowmoon Valley. She didn't want to add more stress.
She needed to hide these cakes somewhere so she could calm down and think of a better use for them. She eyed the broom closet—perfect! Khadgar would never look in there. However, before she cast the spell that would stack the boxes in the closet, she was curious as to which cakes she ordered. With forefinger and a thumb she pulled up on the ribbons of one of the smaller boxes, and instantly regretted it.
In unison every ribbon flew off, the box lids burst open, and twelve cakes went sailing into the air. They aligned themselves in a ring around the Mana cake, bobbing up and down to a tinny, tinkling tune from collisions of the magical pink sparks that sprang from the empty boxes.
"What is all this?" Khadgar said.
May pivoted on the mildly befuddled wizard who had his eyes on the dancing cakes.
"Your…er…birthday cakes," she stammered, hoping he would understand.
He raised a gray eyebrow at her and put his hands to his hips. "I may not have celebrated my birthday in a while, but I'm pretty sure I only need one cake."
"And that was my intention when I was picking out your cake but there was a misunderstanding and I accidently ordered all of the cakes."
"Clearly," he said with a hearty laugh. He summoned a great platter in one hand and magically cut cake slices with the other. "However, I've got some work to catch up on, so I'll take a slice of that, and that, and…ooh, is that Stormwind cream pie? I'll take two slices of that. Vinarterta? You spoil me! Just a sliver of that, too. Thank you, May. Everyone else can share the rest, but save me a slice from the cakes I haven't had yet."
"Yes, of course, Khadgar."
"Thank you!" he said cheerily before teleporting in a flash of blue light.
May flopped over her knees in relief. He took the sugar-coated chaos in stride, thank the Light. With a wave of her hands she lowered the cakes and noticed that Khadgar hadn't taken a piece of her Mana cake. She felt hurt for a moment, but tried not to take it too hard. He probably didn't know that she made it, even though the other cakes were culinary works of art and hers looked like it fell out of box. She bubbled it in a thin layer of magic to keep fresh, and left it hovering above the dais as she saved a slice of the untouched cakes before leading them out into the open, dewy air.
"Free cake everyone!" she announced.
Even though she was a mage herself, she was always surprised by the appetites of her fellow mages. Within minutes the plates were cleared of every crumb of cake. Even May took a slice of acidic green slice of what Aimee named "Green Fel Cake with Sumptuous Soul Frosting," but she was quite sure it was just green velvet cake with blueberry buttercream. She also took a sliver of everything else. Even though her stomach hurt, it was worth not wasting a copper on those cakes.
Once she had digested a bit by mingling with the other mages, she decided to cap off this odd day. She put her Mana cake on top of the box containing the extra cake slices and teleported to the top room of the tower. When the building was first built, the room was actually the attic still attached to the tower. Once Khadgar had finished remodeling it, however, the conical room floated a few feet above the rest of the tower like two puzzle pieces about to be put together. May stood on one of the four balconies and knocked on the glass door. Khadgar looked up from his desk in surprise and waved the door open.
She stepped in Khadgar's bedroom, his wide bed with its blue silk sheets made up and littered with parchment and quills. Like the rest of the tower, the walls were lined with bookshelves and filled with scrolls and books, but they were older, fragile—
"More cake, May? I couldn't eat another bite!" Khadgar laughed and patted his extended stomach.
May smiled warmly at him. "I thought you would like to keep them close for a midnight snack. Where shall I put them?"
"On the bed is fine, thank you."
She placed them on the bed, but she unbubbled her Mana cake. Compared to the other cakes he had, this one would probably taste like chalk. Chalk covered in conjured chocolate and strawberry-scented sprinkles. So why did she feel weirdly proud about it?
"The Mana cake I made for you."
"Oh!" Khadgar said as he got out of his seat to get a better look. "You're short sixteen candles."
May snorted a laugh. Khadger barely flicked his wrist to light the single candle. Instead of blowing it out immediately, he perched his chin in his hand and pondered for a moment.
"What are you going to wish for?" May asked, genuinely curious.
"If I told you, it wouldn't come true. I may not have celebrated a birthday in some time, but as Archmage of the Kirin Tor, I know the rules of wishing by heart," he said before blowing the candle out. "Now while I'm sure this cake is delicious, I'm going to have to save it for my midnight snack."
"It'll be carrot and celery sticks for breakfast tomorrow."
"I look forward to it," Khadgar laughed as he settled back into his desk chair. "Good night, May, and thank you."
May went to the door and bowed her head slightly. "You're welcome, Khadgar. Happy birthday."
When May entered the tower the next morning, she was surprised to find it clean and with almost no trace of Khadgar. A letter folded into the shape of a bird fluttered around the place until May held out her hand towards it. The letter unfolded itself and slid neatly into her hand.
Dear May,
I will be gone all day and I tidied up before I left, so you can take the day off if you wish. Don't worry about unexpected visitors, I informed the others of what to do if that were to happen.
Thank you for my birthday. You certainly made it memorable! You'll have to tell me when yours is so I can return the favor.
Remain vigilant,
Khadgar
May carefully folded the letter and slipped it into her pocket. No matter what Khadgar did for her birthday, he had given away the element of surprise. She would make sure to remember yesterday's date and surprise him with his birthday again. If, of course, they were all alive and working together by then. Still, birthdays were a nice little thing to plan for amid all the war. She left the tower and locked the door behind her. May had the whole day ahead of her and it was already off to a fantastic start.