They had set off within the next hour, packing only the necessities. They'd arrive in Dolanaar early next morning. From there they could get the hippogryphs to fly them to Darnassus, where Rhynia would briefly get to meet her parents. Tarelya had also mentioned getting her a mount, one of the ferocious nightsabers the elven kin was so fond of. Had she been further in her studies, they'd have easily made it shapeshifting, but it'd also leave them exhausted and more vulrnerable. Not to mention the mounts would provide a powerful ally in fights.

The woods were dark as they trecked through Teldrassil's wilderness. Briefly Rhynia wondered how the visitor from the Alliance reacted to the seemingly endless dusk. There were spots where the highest branches let the light through down on the plants in the ground, but those spots were few and hardly made a difference. The night elves preferred the shadows, it was a rest for the eyes from the bright light of the sun.

While it would have been faster to go straight through the forest to get to Dolanaar, it was safer to follow the road. The corruption had been fought against relentlessly but some of it still lingered making the furbolg agressive, not to mention the wild life. Normally the animals kept out of the way of the elves, but getting too far in their territories had them sometimes attack travelers.

During their walk, Tarelya reminded her of the basics of shapeshifting. "Normally, young druids would travel to Moonglade to attenuate with the great animal spirits residing there. However, a few exceptions have been made due to certain circumstances. You'll have to be one of those. It'll be harder for you to reach to the spirits from here, and they cannot aid you as much as they normally would, either."

Rhynia nodded to show her understanding. Her Shando continued: "Your skills lie within the restoration and nature energies, so I wouldn't have wanted to start your shapeshifting training this way. However, it's essential that you'll learn fast. Learning shapeshifting gives you abilities to avoid situations that you couldn't with just energy manipulation. And those abilities will most likely come to save your life more than once during this journey."

And thus continued their way to Dolanaar. Tarelya explained every step of shapeshifting, stopping now and then to ask Rhynia to repeat things as she had understood them. There were a few times she struggled to bring to words what she had heard from her shando, and they went through those points again. By the time they reached the small elven town, Rhynia was sporting a headache from trying to memorize what she felt was weeks' worth of knowledge.

The town was bustling. They heard yelling and saw people leaving the town to follow the road towards Darnassus. The two druids headed to the inn, Tarelya deciding they'd rest for half hour before continuing on.

"It was a huge burning dragon!"

"But Nefarian was killed ages ago!"

"Some say it's his father, the Earth-Warden, Neltharion."

"You mean Deathwing? But he was defeated during War of the Ancients!"

The inn was brimming with people debating the appearance of the mysterious dragon. While arguments mulled around them, Rhynia only wished for a place to sit and have a quick meal. Tarelya led her to an empty corner, telling her to sit while she went to fetch them food and drinks.

Watching around her Rhynia saw a a few humans, two dwarves and even a draenei mingling among the elves. Only few of the elves had the courtesy to talk in common if there was members of other races in their tables. Some of the humans seemed agitated by this, while the dwarves didn't seem to mind.

It took her a moment to realise a group of night elves that even the other elves seemed to avoid. Noting their high quality robes, she kept their gaze on them only to be met with a pair of silver eyes. The female elf that looked at her had a long, beautiful silver hair falling to her back and nearly reaching the back of her knees. Her robe was an elaborate red, and she wore a cape with a red furring on the hems.

"Highborne", she heard Tarelya say as she came back to her. "Arrogant people, those. Not to mention they seem to be magisters." Her shando nearly growled out the word.

Rhynia shifted her eyes towards her shando, before giving the beautiful elf another quick look. She had turned away from them, though, and was discussing something with her companions. "Why are there highborne here?"

Tarelya shook her head. "They come from Eldre'Thalas, now mostly known as Dire Maul. I heard they've pleaded to join the Kaldorei once again."

Rhynia was, just as was any night elf, aware of the acts of highborne. Had they succeeded in bringing the Legion to Azeroth ten thousand years back, there would be nothing left of their world. Still... She looked at the highborne in the inn. The young, silver haired elf seemed to be the same age as her, she noted. "But not all the highborne joined Azhara during the War", she said in a low voice.

Tarelya sighed and noddd. "They didn't. I know that, yet I can't help but blame them..."

They sat in silence for the rest of their break, eating their breakfast - fruits and bread, and plain water. Her shando asked around and they found out that all the hippogryphs had been taken the previous night, people going to the aid of the now sunken town in Darkshore. While waiting for her shando, Rhynia saw a sentinel arriving to the inn, looking around and a moment later heading towards one of the humans. By his attire, she figured he was a mage, though to her he seemed painstakingly young. The sentinel asked him something, and the mage paled and fervently shook his head, saying something. The sentinel furrowed her brows, talking louder now. "With a portal we could get a huge group of people to Darnassus!"

The mage was nearly shaking now, and even from the corner of the room Rhynia could see the sweat forming on the brow of the young mage. Hesitating, she looked towards Tarelya who was ignoring the exchange. The mage was still refusing, she heard, saying he was still a novice, and could barely cast a teleportation spell for himself.

Shifting on her spot she stole a glance towards the highborne. They were watching the scene amusedly and discussed something between each other before the one seemingly the group's leader stood up. "If it's a portal you need, I believe we can be of assistance. After all, the young man here", he gestured towards the reddening human mage, "obviously doesn't have the knowledge - or skill - to open up a portal you're asking for."

A silence descended on the inn, every eye turning to the highborne, and then to the sentinel. She turned to look at the magister who seemed to be enjoying the attention. Looking like she wanted to spit on the highborne she grounded out: "We'll be in your debt if you do. We've received a word that after the destruction of the town, water elementals rose from the sea and are now attacking the survivors and people aiding them alike. We need to send few dozens of sentinels from here as soon as possible."

"Well, that decides it then, I believe", the elder elf laughed and with that, the group of highborne rose up and, dusting themselves off, followed the sentinel outdoors. Rhynia glanced at her shando and asked the question Tarelya so wished she didn't.