First of all, I just want to thank all the reviewers, viewers, favorites and the one person who PMed me about Who Am I. It's been a long year, but I finally have time to sit down and start writing once more. School, work, and a new relationship have finally allowed me to sit down and get some work done on this, and I'm hoping to be releasing more chapters much more frequently now! Thanks again everyone, and as a treat, here is the long awaited Chapter 10!

Chapter 10: By Fire Be Purged

The hotcake did a flip midair before it landed with a soft puff noise back onto the spatula.The two women clapped softly as I put the hotcake onto a small stack of them on a large plate to the left of the stove. I passed that plate to Ti'tanya and the second plate, stacked high with fried hawkstrider eggs, and the third plate stacked with fried strips of the bird's flesh, we carried the plates back to the adjacent dining room, where Andris was seated next to his father at the head of the table, across from her son, was the matriarch of the Dawnshatter clan. Two opposites, the father was a house of a man, built like a kodo, and as wide, and tall. He was a guard for the Silvermoon's upper class neighborhoods, and had seen his share of battle during the troll wars. His wife, however, was a tiny, thin, thread of a madam. Horn rimmed glasses hung off her nose, and her graying hair had been tied in a thick braid that went down her back. She was quiet, speaking only when it was very important, but her husband was again, the opposite, being the talker of the family. They were both very amiable people, and I had enjoyed the last three months that I had spent with them.

"About time," Andris said with a small grin on his face. Ever the eater, we set the food all around in front of him and you could practically hear him salivating.

We all took a seat at the large oaken table in the modest Dawnshatter estate. I say modest, but I really wouldn't know what would be considered modest by High Elven standards. We each grabbed some of the food from the platters and helped ourselves to the wonderful breakfast, just as the morning sun filtered in through the large stained glass window behind Lord Dawnshatter.

Coincidentally, it was he who spoke up first, politely chewing his strip of hawkstrider flesh before speaking. "So, Matthew, tell me. Have you thought about what you will do after you finished your adept classes?"

The adept classes would be another four years, and most people would opt to graduate and would find their place in the world, either as a traveling conjuror or would study in some academic field and open their own shop. Some would enlist with the courts and advise one of the many kings or lords in the land as an advisor. Even fewer would opt to enlist as in their homeland's military and carve out a living fighting brigands and vagabonds.

I swallowed the bite of hotcake with the sweet strawberry syrup. I had already decided what I had wanted to do after my adept classes were finished, so it was an easy question to answer. "I'm going to continue my classes and take the master's course and then apply for a teacher's position."

The table went silent, Andris's cheeks distended with a completely unhealthy bite of everything on this plate. Everyone went silent and stared at me. Lord Dawnshatter pointed his fork at me.

"You sound pretty sure of yourself there, young man." He said, cocking his head to the side as he looked at me. "What brought you to that conclusion?"

I looked down at my plate of food and stirred some of the eggs around with my fork, mixing it with a bite of the hotcakes. "My master, Arthur, did a lot for me. He taught me a lot of what I know. I'm going to study under him directly."

Ti'tanya smiled widely at me from across the table and her mother even managed a small smile, but it was Lord Dawnshatter who grinned at me. "Good man. It's good to see a human who knows what they want. You'd learn a lot from this one, girls."

Circi only rolled her eyes, but Ti'tanya blushed scarlet and went deeper into her breakfast. Her father chuckled at my blush as well, and we all finished our breakfast with mundane small talk. We would be setting out to Dalaran today, as we had worn out the summer, and fall would be approaching quickly. My adept classes would be starting. We had just finished up the large breakfast, all of bellies fat and full. We all said our goodbyes, all of hugging, giving our regards, and more than a few tears were spilled by the women. Lord and Lady Dawnshatter gave me their best, and wished me luck on my classes this year. The cart and horses had been hooked up, everything loaded up, and we sat in the cart as it began to head down the street.

I looked back, and, for a moment, it was just like the day I had left for Hearthglen, my parents chasing after Arthur's cart, my mother and father weeping heavily. I felt a pain in my heart, as I looked at the tiny waving woman and the large waving man. I stood up and used Andris' shoulder to balance and waved wildly at them, trying to keep my lip from quivering. My heart thumped in my chest once more, and I was scared, for some unknown reason, that I'd never see them again.

I sat down and I felt Ti'tanya snuggle up to my side and kiss my cheek. I settled back and suddenly felt very, very tired. I leaned into Ti'tanya and began to fall asleep. Before long, I was out like a candle. My dreams were filled with strange images, green fire from the sky, and swords in the darkness, and orange tongues of fire lapping up the sides of buildings and over the rooftops. It was disturbing, and I woke with a start, in a cold sweat, to the sound of voices.

It was Andris speaking, but he was not in the cart, as I heard his voice much further away, as I remember earlier he was just next to me in the driver's seat. It was dark, and I could see the stars twinkling above.

"Get out of our way and let us go by. We've nothing you need." I heard Andris speaking with a commanding voice to someone outside of the cart I couldn't see.

I started to get up and say something, but I felt two sets of hands grab me and pull me down back to the cart with a grunt, and then those hands covered my mouth quickly, and my eyes finally adjusted to the darkness and I saw my captors were Circi and Ti'tanya.

Circi pulled one hand away and put a finger to my mouth to silence me. My heart thumped with fear, as I looked over at Ti'tanya, who looked just as fearful as I felt.

"Listen here, elf, this here is our road. You pay the toll or you don't come on down this road." I heard a gruff manly voice, with a hint of sneer in it.

"We have nothing for you, brigand. Get out of our way." I heard Andris spit back.

There was a grinding noise, followed by another sharp, grinding noise, and then a clash of steel on steel. My captors quickly let me go, and I saw Circi leap from the cart over the side, I assume to assist with whatever was happening outside of the cart. Ti'tanya stayed with me, hunkered down by the lip of the cart. We heard the ringing and clashing of steel and the flashes of light from the outside of the cart from Circi's holy magic. I could feel Ti'tanya quivering against me, her eyes wide with terror. I had heard of thieves and brigands accosting travelers before, but I never imagined that it would happen to me.

I heard heavy footfalls and a wide shape came into the view at the back of the cart. He had a scarred face, and had only half a nose, arms like trees, and a thick, fuzzy beard all across most of his face. In his right hand, he sported a wide headed, jagged battleaxe. My breath caught in my throat, and my ears started to ring as I heard Ti'tanya's piercing screech burst out of the tiny woman to my left. The thief flashed a grin that was half snarl, half smile. His yellowed, cracked teeth greeted my eyes. He raised his axe and swung it down on the back of the cart, the wood rending with a loud crunch. He wrenched it free, and brought it back down and cracked it through the wood once more. Ti'tanya continued to scream, and I was frozen in place. I simply couldn't bring my body to listen to my brain was telling it. The cart jerked as he pulled the axe free once more, climbing up only after he had turned the back of the cart to splinters. He came towards us, and chuckled loudly as he crawled over our bags.

"C'mere little elf girl," He licked his lips as he barked at her. "You stay there, mage boy. I'll deal with you in a second."

I was helpless in that moment. I saw the axe go to the side, brought back for a wide swing towards Ti'tanya. He scuttled away from me, screaming something incomprehensible, and I saw the axe swing forward, and watched the blade catch on the front of her robes, and tear through it. Another inch, if she hadn't moved, it would have opened her from arm pit to arm pit, in one clean swing. She gasped and held the fabric together, as I watched the tiniest spot of crimson fluid leak through her white robes. He raised his axe over his head for another swing, this one simply wouldn't miss, and he'd make sure of it.

At that moment, something inside of me snapped. Everything seemed to slow down, and his left hand came up to join the axe at the bottom of the handle. I stood, planting one foot firmly on the lip of the cart, and the other buried beneath the bags and suitcases, the wood underneath it all offering what little comfort it could. My hands came up, my right hand clenched into a tight fist, close to my body, and my left hand up to my chest, ring and pinkie finger curled towards my palm, with my thumb, pointer, and middle finger had been raised up. I remember it all very vividly.

"Get out of our cart!" I shouted suddenly to the brigand who was shifting where he was standing to strike me instead. He had said something, and I felt a sudden, sharp pain in my left shoulder, and something warm under my robes begin to leak from the spot, but I paid it little enough mind. My right hand erupted in flames, and I knew the casting had completed and I through my hand forward, twisting my hand palm down and opening my hand. It was like the gates of the nether had opened up in my hand and it was as if it was daylight for a brief moment.

The bandit was flung from the cart, more fire than man at this point. He writhed on the ground, and I could hear and smell the burnt flesh wafting along the chill night air to my nostrils. That was the first time I had killed someone, and it wouldn't register until days later. I turned and saw the other four, pressing in around Andris like a mob. They had all stopped fighting to turn to me and their now smoldering companion. I could see a splash of red on Andris' armor, whether it was his or theirs I could not say at that moment, but I could see Circi with her eyes wide, knelt down next to the cart, an arrow in her thigh.

Twisting myself around, I cast a quick cantrip, a simple Blink spell to appear on the ground in a flash of white and purple. In that moment, I cast another cantrip, a presence that stored all of my magical components in my mind at once, ready to be used for anything with no casting time required; a useful cantrip but expended everything at once as soon as a spell was cast. I threw my hands forward, and released the first spell that came to mind. Long, writhing coils of flame sprouted from my wrist and danced in the air for a moment before they lashed out like snakes of lava and coiled around the bandits arms, searing the armor, and flesh. I could see a dark form dart from behind them and dash into the nearby woods, while his companions were brought to their knees, their weapons falling from the now useless hands.

I remember the feeling of having that sort of power, the heat of the moment. During, it is like a swallow of the finest wine you can taste, but afterwards, the bile rises in your throat. I remember Andris always telling me later that the feeling gets better over time. I felt my head begin to swim and my feet began to feel like jam, and my arms like stone. The spell wavered once before dissipating entirely. I felt my body sink as if gravity increased for me by a factor of ten. I could hear the whimpers and sobs of the maimed bandits. I looked around, but my vision would be clouded by tears, but I could see the form of Andris come towards me and scoop me up in his huge armored arms and toss me like a sack of potatoes back into the cart. My head landed with a soft thud on the bags and I could hear shouting and Ti'tanya's wracking sobs as I felt the cart shake with everyone boarding it once more. I looked around for Ti'tanya's face, but I could feel my body being jerked upwards and another sharp pain shoot through my shoulder, as Andris yanked the arrow free of my muscle and skin.

The last thing I felt was the warm wash of holy light filling the cart, and the soft hands of Ti'tanya support my mana-less body.

I can't quite recall how long I had slept, but the next thing I recall was warm sunlight on my face, and a soft breeze caressing my cheeks. I felt as if I was being drug from the deepest part of a lake as I forced my eyes to open. They were a blur of color and light, greens and blues and reds filling my vision from all directions. I blinked a few times and wondered if this was the afterlife, wondering if I had died sometime in the night.

"Andris, Andris, he's waking up!" rang the shrill cry of a clearly terrified woman.

I heard the heavy footfalls of someone running in plate mail, as well as more footsteps approaching, these not as heavy, but still in plate armor. I blinked again, trying to restore vision to my eyes. I saw people leaning over me, and I tried to force myself to sit, but I felt a heavy hand push me down.

"Easy, laddie," the gruff voice said clearly belonged to a dwarf. My vision finally began to return as I saw him dressed in forest green and brown leather armor, with a rifle slung over his shoulder. There were others, Circi, who was looking relieved, Andris who looked even more so, and Ti'tanya who was covering her mouth, silently crying, as well as several armored footman of the Lordaeron army.

"I think he's gonna be just fine," said the dwarf with a chuckle as he stood and turned to the Paladin. "I don't have much experience with these spell-slingers, but I'd wager he just used up too much juice."

Andris said nothing, only nodded and put his arm around Ti'tanya. One of the footmen offered his hand to help me sit much slower than I'd tried before.

"Gotta hand it to you, kid." said the older man, whiskers of copper and brown peeking through his faceplate. "We'd been tracking those bandits for days."

It all came rushing back like a dam to a river breaking, my head swam and I felt my body sway.

"Whoa, whoa," said the footman as he knelt and used the solidness of his shield arm to support me, one hand on my shoulder. "You're lucky we found you when we did, Paladin. He wouldn't have made it much longer without some mana crystals."

Again, the paladin only nodded. The dwarf looked at me and gave me a firm nod of his square head, his huge beard bouncing as he did.

I felt my stomach grumble as more of my strength began to come back, growling like a hungry coyote. I looked at Andris, unable to speak. He frowned and looked at the dwarf. "Thank you, master dwarf. Will you be heading back to Dun Garok?"

The dwarf shook his shaggy head. "Not till we see you and your lot safely to the Violet City." He gave the Paladin a nudge to the arm. "We have plenty of supplies, so make sure the lad there eats his fill." With that, the dwarf and the footman left, the one helping me gave me a nod before he turned and left.

I turned to my three companions and sought my voice. Before I could speak, a heaping plate of bacon, boiled eggs, potatoes, fruit, and a flagon of milk was thrust into my hands. I stared at it as if food was a foreign concept for a moment, then lifted one of the strips of bacon to my mouth and munched it own. After that, wolfing it down would have been a gross understatement. My companions had sat down with their own food shortly after. They ate much less ravenously than I, but they ate their fill longer after I had seconds and thirds. I let out a gentle burp behind my hand and looked to my friends after they had finished.

Once more, I sought out my voice and managed a squeak, only to frown and clear my throat. Ah, there it was.

"What…" I mumbled. "Where…"

Andris cut me off. "We were attacked by bandits two nights ago."

Two nights, he said? I slept two whole days away? If that were true, and the position of the sun was any indication, I'd wager we were a little over a day's ride to Dalaran, just at the southern edge of Silverpine Forest, near the Greymane Pass.

I remembered more of that night and sought Circi's eyes, which twinkled with something unknown to me. Was it pride? I looked at Ti'tanya who smiled widely at me, but still occasionally hiccoughed quietly.

"Those men…" I said softly, looking at my empty plate.

"They're in the custody of the Lordaeron army. They'll be taken to the Capitol for their trial. Those men were tracking them, as they had stolen from Hillsbrad, and killed a few peasants for a few copper." Andris said softly, dodging my real question.

"That's not…" I began, my eyes closing. My breakfast threatened to come out the way it went in, my bowels turning to water.

"They'll never be able to hold a weapon in their swords hands again, but they'll live. All except…" Andris said, trailing off at the end.

The man I had cast my first spell against. "Was it…"

"His burns were far too severe for any healer to treat. They'd found him a smoking ruin of a person." He said with no hint of emotion. I saw Ti'tanya shove him to the side.

I looked away. He was dead, the others maimed. Tears pricked my eyes once more, but I would not cry. The elves knew more war and death than any other race had ever know, save maybe the Dwarves, remembering the history lesson in class of the War of the Three Hammers. I looked up at them, but I could sense they weren't finished.

Eels invaded the water that was my gut, and I felt my sternum tighten. "What is it?"

Andris reached into his belt and pulled out a letter, a folded piece of parchment, with the broken seal of Dalaran on the edges. I looked at the paper as if it was a snake ready to strike. I took a deep breath and took it from him.

"It's Arthur." Ti'tanya whispered. "It came a day ago, by raven."

I felt my breath catch and opened the letter slowly and began to read.

Dear Matthew

It pains me to inform you that your master, Arthur Bernderch, has taken ill and is bedridden. As much as it pains me, I much recall you immediately to the city to see to his last will and testament and prepare you for a new master. Forgive my bluntness, but the matter does not bear a gentle hand. Please return to the city posthaste.

The scrawl of Archmage Magdalene's signature sat at the bottom of the very short letter, and I felt myself rereading and then reading again the letter informing me of my master's sickness. My companions were quiet as I read it again and calmly folded it up and tucked it inside of my robes. It couldn't be true. It wouldn't be true! I would not allow it!

"I can't believe Arthur is sick." Circi was the first to speak. "He looked healthy as a horse when we left."

But he wasn't. I remember the coughing and the hacking and his cold, frail looking hands. I hadn't even noticed in my reverie of visiting with my friends. That is something I would never forgive myself for, for many years.

"We have to go back." I said firmly, but quietly.

My companions were in silent agreement, but it was Andris to move and speak first, standing and dusting off his armor. "We'll ride through the night, the three of us taking turns at the reins. We'll get there before day break tomorrow." He promised, and I knew my friend would make good on his word.

I stood on shaky legs and went back to where out cart sat, along with the many carts and horses of the footman and the dwarves. He seemed to be able to read my body language as he came waddling over towards me.

"Everything alright, lad, you're lookin' a little pale." He asked arms crossed over his broad chest.

I pulled out the letter and handed it to him. His face turned grim. "I'm sorry about that, boy." He gave me a comforting pat on the arm. "Shall we break camp and head for the city?" I assumed he was asking me, so I turned to look at Andris, who shook his head.

"This is your deal, Matthew. We'll back you up. You say go, we go."

I looked at the dwarf for a moment and nodded. It was barely half an hour before the camp was broken and we were on the road to Dalaran. I clutched the letter in my hand.

Please. Please let him live was close to the only thought that entered my head the entire trip.

That and the comforting feeling of Ti'tanya curled around me, hands trying to be comforting, but falling a tad short for once