A New Hope

Chapter 2

Narali awoke the next day early. Dressing quickly, she gathered her wand and a collection of scrolls which bore incantations on them. She wanted to spend the day practicing. After what had happened last night she was more confident than she had felt in a long time. "I made the fire spell work!" she thought happily. Her mind flew to the moment in bed where she had finished the spell, watching the flames dance over her palm. She hadn't expected it to work at all. Recently her concentration had been off. She didn't know why, but it probably had something to do with her growing more uncomfortable in the city. That was why she was heading out into the woods for the day.

She had made the spell work; that was the important part. Oh, and she had destroyed part of a building, she thought to herself. She had almost forgotten. Making her way downstairs she pushed the thought from her mind. She had conjured flames! She knew she could do it! The building had simply been an accident. She stepped towards the doorway but as she made her bid for freedom she found her path blocked by the looming figure of her father.

"Sinu a'manore, daughter. Where are you off to in such a hurry that you can't come see your father before you go?" He was a tall, strong man with flowing blonde hair that fell all around his shoulders, and chiseled features that gave his face a look which augmented his natural posture to create a rather imposing figure that met anyone who crossed him.

He was also a Paladin, and a very accomplished one at that. He had served his people in the Shattered Sun Offensive on the Isle of Quel'danas fighting off the demons. Though he had not been a part of the force that retook the Sunwell, he had helped reclaim the Magisters Terrace, and that deed had earned him and his family their place in the Court of the Sun, a location near the palace usually reserved for nobility.

"I was heading out for the day, father. I didn't know you were up yet!" She knew the last part was a lie. She hadn't intended to dodge her family, but she wanted as much time as possible to train. She knew the next few days would be busy.

Her father gave her a curious look. "Tell me, where is my daughter running off to for the day?" She stepped back and gave a small sigh, resigned to being held up a little while longer. "I wanted to practice my spells again. I won't be able to tomorrow because Magistrix Lesara has asked me to help her at the shop for a few days."

Her father smiled at her. "I see. I won't keep you then. Would you mind running one quick errand for me?" Inwardly Narali cringed. This was why she wanted to get out quickly. It was always a quick errand with them. Her father seemed to understand and his look seemed almost apologetic. "It will be quick, I promise." He held up a hand as if to help his case. She nodded at him, knowing she could not refuse his requests any more than he could hers. "Very well father, what do you need?"

He smiled and pulled out a small letter. "Just run this over to Tynna, the armor merchant in the Bazaar. It's a request for a new pair of bracers. I need a replacement."

It was Narali's turn to impose upon her father's privacy. Taking the letter from him she glanced sideways and asked casually "Oh? Why do you need to replace your armor? Are you planning on running off on another adventure?" He shook his head. "No, not at all, but you never know when it may be needed. The Offensive could send for me at any time." She smiled in understanding and rose as tall as her toes could reach, planting a gentle kiss on her father's cheek before racing out the door. "I'll see you tonight!" she called behind her.

Glancing at the letter she gave a sigh. The Bazaar was all the way across the city. And what was more, she couldn't get back to the gate afterwards without backtracking nearly all the way back again. So much for it being a quick errand.

She set off down the street glancing upwards at the sky. It was turning pink; a natural phenomenon unique to Eversong that told its citizens the sun was rising. The streets were still deserted apart from the odd guard or two, and she made her way across the city with haste. By the time she reached the Bazaar the city was awake, and the first people were making their way out to begin their business.

The Bazaar was a large open plaza with a huge fountain in the middle. All around it, shops lined the walls and in the center was a large auction house. Because of the nature of the area, it was frequently busy, even at night, and it was often the first part of the city for people to appear in early in the mornings.

She looked at the note on the front of the envelope. "Master Smith Tynna" it read. Glancing at the shops she spotted a large sign hanging from one that bore crossed swords over a shield. That had to be it. Stepping inside she saw a female elf working at an anvil. She looked fragile, much too young and weak to be a master smith. "Excuse me." Narali said. She nearly had to yell to get the attention of the girl. "I'm looking for Tynna."

The woman perked up. "That's me. How can I help you?" she put down the helmet she had been working on and walked over to Narali. "I've got a letter for you." Narali said, eyeing the woman with a bit of surprise. "From Captain Elashin of the Shattered Sun Offensive." It always felt strange to refer to her father by his title, but the situation sometimes called for it.

The girl took the letter and tore it open, eager to know what brought such a renowned figure to her business. Reading over it she nodded slowly. "I see. Tell him it will take three days. I will send them to him when they are complete." Narali nodded in understanding. "Shorel'aran. Thank you."

Narali made her way out of the shop and found many people had indeed woken up and begun their day while she had been inside. The walk out of the Bazaar was uneventful, even if it did take a few minutes. Most everyone around was either not fully awake yet, or else focused on their own tasks. Either way, the square was eerily quiet for the number of people in it.

Turning into one of the large gates that separated each district, she heard the quiet hum of business die out behind her. She left the Bazaar behind and turned down the Walk of Elders, a long street that held her immediate destination – the city gate – at the end of it. She kept her eyes on the ground, lost in thought as she walked and thus did not see the man who impeded her path until after she had bumped into him.

"There you are." He said. She looked up. Before her stood perhaps the only person in the city she did not want to see. Selphius Dawnstrider was a mage, like her. Unlike her, he was a capable mage. They were the same age and had entered into training at the same time. He had excelled in his studies while she had struggled, a fact he noted frequently – much to her annoyance.

"Go away, I'm in a hurry." She said. Her tone spoke volumes about dislike for him. "Come now, for the daughter of a Paladin I should think you had better manners than that." She turned to see him smirking at her. "Oh, it has nothing to do with manners. My father simply suggested I stop wasting my time on fools. I thought I would take his advice." She let the insult fly, and the man in front of her scowled at the remark.

"Is that so? Tell me, what are you spending all your extra time on then? Surely it can't be practicing." At the last words, he motioned down the street where a group of workers were piling rubble onto a cart. She glanced at it and her face turned red as she instantly recognized the destruction from the previous night.

"Anar'alah belore! H-how do you know that was me?" she stammered, failing to create the illusion of confidence she had hoped for. "Hah! Who else could leave such destruction in their wake simply from walking down the street?" He smirked victoriously. With a huff she turned and hurried away. Cursing to herself as she walked she heard him call out to her from behind. Though she didn't hear what he said, she was sure it was not polite and didn't even bother to acknowledge it.

So it was that as the day rolled on, she found herself by a small lake outside of the city. It was the ideal spot for her; it was beautiful, calm, relaxing, and deserted. And if she had another…accident there was water nearby. Narali pushed the thought from her mind. Holding her palm up she decided to start with one she already knew.

"Shari Man'ar." Sparks came to her fingertips, but nothing else. Two more attempts brought little progress. She signed and dropped down to the grass. After her father's errand, and the encounter with Selphius, she felt more like a messenger than a mage. She didn't even want to practice anymore. Perhaps she simply wasn't cut out for magic. She held up her hand. Looking at it she wondered how she could ever strike down her enemies with nothing more than a few words.

It was a trademark of the Sin'dorei to produce great mages. Silvermoon was home to arcane masters that knew how to amplify the Blood Elves natural affinity for magic. The city had created Kael'thas – his betrayal aside, one could not ignore his skill – as well as Grand Magister Rommath and Archmage Aethas Sunreaver, among others on a very long list. But they had all been gifted with truly natural talent. She thought to herself. To the best of her knowledge, she had no natural skill. She had simply decided one day she wanted to be a mage, and began to learn.

Rising she took one of the scrolls she brought with her and read it over. "Flamestrike eh? This looks fun." Tipping the remaining rolls of parchment out of the bucket she had used to carry them, she dipped it into the water and set it aside, ever vigilant. Focusing all her concentration on the words that were written before her, she recited the spell quietly.

"Felo'men ashal!" At the final syllable, small flames burst from the ground and burned a few blades of grass, but the world remained otherwise unchanged. "Well, I suppose I can at least make a campfire if I have to." She giggled inwardly at her own joke. Perhaps she would save that spell for later. It seemed to be a little more difficult than the others.

As the hours dragged on she continued practicing the various incantations. She began to understand that she had to not simply say the words, but she had to say them confidently. Each time she spoke them stronger, and each time the flames in her palm grew a little bit larger. By the end of the day she thought perhaps she could even keep them going for a few seconds.

She glanced up at the sky. The sun was beginning to droop low in the sky and she knew her time training was almost over. She gave a tired yawn and sat down by the lake. Removing her boots she rolled up the legs of her wool pants and let her feet dangle casually in the water. She knew her mana was depleted and the lake felt refreshing.

Gazing at the sunset, she wondered what else the world held. Silvermoon was big, and with the guard patrols she felt safe traveling all around Eversong, but she could be anywhere within the territory in a few hours. Quel'thalas had grown much smaller after the Ghostlands was lost to the undead, and though she loved her home dearly, she was beginning to feel trapped there. She wondered what life was like outside of the woods.

She knew it would be a harsh world – there was the Alliance, and her father's army had just finished fighting off the Burning Legion and Kael'thas. What would they be like? She had never even seen anyone of the Horde's other races, let alone a member of the Alliance! It wasn't safe to travel out into the world, she knew that. And yet, somewhere deep down she accepted the risk.

She wanted danger. Each time one of her errant Fireballs caused destruction in the city, it filled her not only with fear of retribution, but with adrenaline. It gave her a rush to see buildings crumble and people dodging. Not that she wanted to hurt anyone, but it was just so wild.

Narali tossed a rock into the water. Thoughts like this were exciting to her, but they were also depressing. She knew she could not survive in the world like this. She would probably never set foot outside of their homeland, and yet here she sat training as if she was off to save the world.

The soft, almost inaudible snap of a twig behind her caused her head to jerk around, looking for an intruder. "Who's there?" she called nervously. Holding her hand out as if brandishing a weapon she spoke again, "Come out, now!"

Cautiously a hand appeared from behind a nearby tree. A few moments later a scared looking rogue followed it. "S-sorry! I didn't mean to startle you." He said. Narali lowered her hand. "Anaria shola. What business do you have here?" The rogue looked her over carefully, trying to decide if she was a threat or not. His voice seemed more stable when he spoke again. "I was heading to Silvermoon, but I became thirsty. I decided to stop for a drink but turned around when I realized you were here. That's when you heard me." Motioning toward the water with a sigh, she said "Have your drink then; I was just leaving for the city myself." She lifted her feet out of the water and slipped her boots back on, rising to her feet.

Kneeling and pulling out a small canteen he glanced sideways to her. "Would you like some company? I can drink while I walk." She raised an eyebrow at him. It was later than she thought. It wasn't far to the city, but the guard patrols were less frequent outside of the gates. Perhaps it would be wise to travel together. "Sure, why not." She shrugged. As he picked his gear back up he strode aside her and spoke casually, the tenseness of a few moments ago forgotten.

"My name is Vaeren'thor, but you can call me Vaeren." She nodded at the introduction. "I am Narali. What are you doing out in the woods this late?" To this the rogue patted a small bag he was carrying. "I was sent to collect some herbs for someone. I had hoped to get back before night but I suppose it's too late for that now. I'll have to turn them in tomorrow. What about yourself?"

"I was practicing my spells; I'm a mage." He nodded in understanding. "I see. Why not simply make a portal home then?" Narali bristled at the statement. "Perhaps I simply don't want to!" She could not hide the insult she felt. Vaeren looked taken aback. "Oh - my apologies then."

Narali looked down as they walked on in awkward silence. "Sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you. I'm not quite experienced enough to make portals yet." He shrugged. "It's ok. I understand. It's difficult to get better when no one trusts you with real work." He jerked his thumb at the bag of herbs. Narali grinned. "Tell me about it. One of these days I'm just going to run off. Who needs their grunt work anyways?" Vaeren laughed at the joke. "If only we could, huh?"

The conversation returned to normal as they approached the city gates, and before long they found themselves inside Silvermoon. They said their farewells and Narali made her way back to the Court of the Sun, where she knew her family would already be asleep. Quietly she entered her house and made her way to her room. Replacing the scrolls, she yawned sleepily. The spell casting had made her more tired than she thought. A moment later she had changed, and slipped into bed.

As she began to drift off, her mind wandered through the day's events. The lengthy errand and the encounter with Selphius had been unfortunate, but apart from that it had been an interesting day. She had grown better with one spell and learned another, had a relaxing day by the lake, and had made a new friend. She fell asleep easily, dreaming of magical spells tearing through enemies deep in imagined dungeons.

Across the city, Vaeren strode through Murder Row where he ducked into an alley beside a building. Hopping onto a nearby crate, he gained a foothold and leapt up to a balcony before jumping to a nearby roof. A small collection of boxes were arranged to provide him some privacy in his makeshift "home", but otherwise nothing out of the ordinary would alert anyone that he spent his nights here. He lay back, gazing at the stars and thinking of the girl he had met earlier. She certainly seemed interesting. He wondered if they would run into each other again.

His mind had buzzed earlier at her comment about running off; he desperately wanted to leave Silvermoon and explore the world. He pushed the desire from his mind. The world was cruel, and he was not ready for that yet. One day perhaps he would go out into the world maybe, but not yet.

In the city of Silvermoon, two sleeping elves had no idea just how quickly that day would come.