Rai clung to her griffon as it sped toward the imposing tower of Karazan. Air rushed through her dark hair as she stared ahead determinedly. That ass had gone to the tower on his own with who knows what chasing after him. When a twitchy looking apprentice had informed her Archmage Khadgar had not returned, it didn't take Rai long to realize where he was headed. So she raced to the tower on her own, and wasn't far behind him. The griffon reared back as he reached the ground, and Rai quickly flung herself from the mount. She ran forward undeterred, despite the roars of fell hounds just outside Karazan's doors. Enormous, crystalline shards of ice erupted from Rai's fingertips and shot at the creatures. The ground froze over with a sickening crack. The demons suddenly shrieked as a sudden burst of cold locked them in glacial prisons. Rai quickly ran past them, threw open the doors, and then slammed them shut behind her. Darkness engulfed Rai's vision before a small blue light shone from her fingertips. She could hear nothing but her own breathing and nothing seemed to move in the hallway. Flecks of dust idly floated past and glinted in the arcane light. Rai stood silently in the hall for a moment, glancing between two doorways before charging on through one of them. Her heavy magenta cloak swished behind her. The tower was not what she remembered, but then again she hadn't been there as long as Khadgar. Running swiftly through the hall, Rai reached another set of doors. Rai's determined face fell as she looked between the two.
"I WILL NEVER BE THE LEGION'S PAWN AND THIS TOWER WILL NOT BE ITS DEN!" she heard Khadgar yell. Rai hurtled through the door on the left and burst into the room, her arms outstretched and fingers curled, ready to unleash a spell. Her face was twisted into a snarl as she looked for any sign of the legion. But the legion seemingly was gone, the only sign of a struggle was a shattered window that now framed the darkening twilight. She could barely see Khadgar as the fading light left him only as a sharp silhouette against the sky. Slowly moving closer, Rai could see his shoulder's heaving as arcane white light faded from his eyes, revealing his defiant stare.
"Khadgar?" Rai asked. Khadgar's head whipped towards her and white light filled his eyes again.
"Hey! It's only me! It's Rai!" she yelled, raising her hands in front of her. Khadgar dropped the spell but his hand was still outstretched toward her.
"What was the first spell I ever saw you cast?" he demanded. Rai lowered her hands and relaxed a little. So she was dealing with a paranoid Khadgar, that was both a good and bad sign.
"It was an Ice Lance. It saved your life too. I'm me, I promise. Why are you asking this? What did you just fight?" Rai asked. Khadgar's shoulders slumped as he too lowered his hand.
"A dread lord. It… it had taken on the form of Medievh," he said.
"Did it offer you a deal?" Rai asked. Her face suddenly terrified. She quickly walked towards him and waved a hand near his face. Blue runes sparked into existence and bathed the two young mages in a soft light.
"It offered to make me the guardian. It was a tempting offer…" he trailed off. The runes faded as Rai looked relieved at what they had told her.
"But you refused. You're alright then," she said for him. But glancing up she saw a broken and pained look in his eyes.
"At least physically," Rai amended. "What happened? I know the world is a mess but then again it usually always is." Khadgar smiled a little a that before walking to an empty bookcase. He ran a hand over one of the shelves. His fingers left tracks in the dust.
"I don't know why I came here. There's nothing that can aid us," Khadgar said.
"This was your home," Rai said. "The world is falling apart on a scale you've never seen before. This is where you felt safe the last time the legion came. Of course this is where you'd come for help." Khadgar lifted a hand from the shelf and wiped the dust off on his cloak. He looked around the dark tower.
"That rational didn't do me much good. This place is not what it was" he said softly. Rai let out a breath before walking to him. She pulled him into a fierce hug and Khadgar buried his face in her hair.
"You are not alone in this. The tower and the world we knew is gone but we still have Azeroth and each other. We can protect those things and we can beat the legion together," Rai said. Khadgar moved back suddenly and pulled Rai's mouth to his. Rai made a surprised sound from the back of her throat but eagerly kissed back. She felt his arms tighten around her waist as she forced his mouth to open. Her chest warmed as his tongue slid into her mouth. A crash suddenly sounded from outside the tower. Rai's eyes widened and she pulled away as she realized the distraction had broken her concentration on the fell hound's icy prisons. Khadgar protectively pulled her even tighter against him.
"Perhaps this isn't the best place for this," Rai said.
"I think not," Khadgar said as he moved his hand to form a spell. In a flash of arcane light, the two disappeared. Karazan stood still in their absence and the wind howled softly though the broken window.