To Dalaran, With Love.
The Kul Tiran mage had a few seconds to enjoy the beautiful tranquility of Dalaran as she appeared in the Memorial Garden, before a sinister voice whispered in her ear;
"Such a beautiful city, I look forward to watching it burn in fel fire."
She glanced around wildly, looking for whoever had said such a horrible thing, before remembering the artefact she was carrying. As she withdrew the skull from the bag on her hip, she heard a maniacle laugh echoing in the back of her mind.
"Gul'dan? How?" she stammered, looking into the skull's empty eye sockets.
"My body may be gone, but the power I once commanded gave me the strength to cheat death, little witch." It told her, and for a moment she got a strong sense of the immense power still lingering within the skull, before she closed herself off to its draw. "Such sorcery will not save you from my masters, unless you join them."
Jaina quickly encased the skull in an arcane shield, before hurrying towards the Violet Citadel; the sooner she was rid of the skull, the better. As she climbed the steps, there was a flash and a familiar figure stood in the doorway to the tower.
"When I sensed a dark presence appearing in Dalaran I feared we were under attack, but seeing you has me concerned that one of my brightest pupils is dabbling with powers she really shouldn't be." Archmage Antonidas said sternly, summoning an arcane barrier to stop her entering the tower. "Explain yourself, Jaina."
"I have not fallen, I come bearing a powerful artefact that still carries great fel energy," Jaina explained, showing Antonidas the skull. "Gul'dan's skull was used to open the Dark Portal, and stolen before it could be closed and stop the invasion."
"So the Third War has begun?"
"I'm afraid so." Jaina hung her head. "I brought the skull here so we can keep it safe until a window opens for us to close the portal."
"A wise decision." Antonidas waved his hand and the barrier disipated, before ushering Jaina to follow him into the Violet Citadel. "Since the end of the Second War, I've had mages scouring Azeroth for artefacts of great magical power, and we've stored them here under the protection of the most powerful magi in the world."
"Wouldn't it be safer if they were kept separate, or maybe stored in secure sites away from Dalaran? We both know the Legion has very powerful leaders, if any one of them managed to get past the defences protecting this city, they'd have easy access to every artefact you've collected." Jaina pressed, holding back the information about Uther's return, and the Lich's threat of traitors in every faction; she didn't know if the Lich considered the Kirin Tor of Dalaran to be among those factions.
They climbed the long flight of stairs inside the Violet Citadel, but instead of turning left or right off to either side, Antonidas teleported them into a large vault deep beneath; Jaina could sense the magic contained within the artefacts and the spells cast to protect them when she appeared in the chamber, and it took her a moment to adjust to it.
"They are safe here," Antonidas insisted, leading her futher into the chamber. "Spreading them across Azeroth would also spread out Dalaran's strength in protecting them."
Jaina wanted to argue further, but she was momentarily distracted by the relics displayed around her.
"Where did you... I don't recognise half of these items of power..." She stammered.
"Surprisingly we do function in your absence," Antonidas said with a wry smirk. "You might be one of the brightest students I've ever taught, but there is still you much you don't know."
"Then teach me," she replied with a smirk.
"Insufferable child." Gul'dan's skull whispered, reminding her of the present problem.
"... After we put this somewhere secure." She showed him the skull. "Got a place for a decrepid warlock's skull?"
"Follow me." Antonidas gestured to their right, and led her to an antechamber with two plinths, one of which rested an ancient looking tome atop it.
"The Spellbook of Medivh? You want to store Gul'dan's Skull next to the book?" Jaina questionned. "We know these two are needed to open portals, surely it would be better if they were put in different places?"
"There is an order to where we've placed everything in this vault," Antonidas bristled.
"And you're sure they're safe here?"
Antonidas placed the skull on the plinth, quickly casting a protective spell around it before turning to face the younger mage.
"The greatest mages from all corners of Azeroth have woven their strongest spells into the very walls of this chamber, and around each individual artefact; there is no way any demon could breach Dalaran's defences, let alone break into this chamber."
"Unless..." Jaina began, but there was a loud crack and another voice cut her off.
"Unless they are intimately familiar with the spells employed by the wizards of the Kirin Tor."
They both turned to see a grey haired man standing a short distance away from them; he was dressed in black robes with vivid green symbols etched into the material, and in one hand he weilded a black staff with a dark green crystal at its head. What horrified the two magi the most, however, was the intruder's face; Antonidas beheld the face of an old friend, but instead of warmth the face was cold and implacid, but the eyes burned with malicious intent.
"Khadgar?" he breathed.
"Hello again, old friend," the corrupted mage smirked, though there was no humour in the smile. "It seems the years have not been kind to you."
"I see they have been far crueller to you." Antonidas managed to clear his throat. "What did they do to you to make you lose your way? You were once a good man, a loyal friend, and a wise sorceror who faced down the fallen Guardian Medivh when he fell, but now..."
"But now I am far stronger than ever before!" Khadgar interrupted, slamming the butt of his stave against the stone floor. "I resisted their torture for years, but after they executed Alleria I realised there was no hope."
"So you made a deal with the demons..." Antonidas said solemnly.
"I realised that relying on arcana alone was a waste of my potential, the Legion offered me the chance to be the greatest sorceror in the cosmos, gave me access to tomes and spells that were once forbidden, and now... I am stronger than any of the Kirin Tor's best, strong enough to get past every defence you could summon around this measly centre for magic, and allow me access to every trinket you've tried to hoard away for you, and you alone, to use."
"Why are you here?" Antonidas asked.
"My masters require stronger portals for them to enter this world than the one Mal'Ganis opened to the south, and even I need powerful artefacts to open the way." Khadgar smirked, before gesturing around them. "I knew the Kirin Tor, in their arrogance, would have everything needed for the rituals in one place; and you did not disappoint me, Antonidas."
"If you think that I will allow you to abscond with even one of these artefacts Khadgar, then you lost a lot more than your honour when you fell to the demon's corruption." Antonidas bristled, and Jaina could tell he was preparing to fight.
"I didn't expect you to let me take them, old friend," Khadgar laughed cruelly. "I expected you to watch me take them with your dying breaths."
Suddenly Khadgar threw his hands towards Antonidas, and a jet of vivid green fel fire exploded towards them; Jaina moved to defend herself, but in the blink of an eye she found herself standing in the streets of Dalaran again.
"Antonidas!" she yelled, realising he had teleported her to safety.
She ran back toward the Citadel, knowing her mentor's only hope for surviving his fight with the corrupted Khadgar was the other four archmages that governed the Kirin Tor; Vereesa had taken Rhonin's place after his death, but she was not in the city and valuable seconds would be lost trying to get her help. She burst into the council chambers to find three of them deep in discussion, though whatever they were discussing died upon her intrusion.
"Lady Proudmore, what is the meaning of this interruption?" Archmage Krasus asked, being the first to break the silence.
"Antonidas is in trouble! In the vaults... Khadgar's returned... He's working for the Legion..." she gasped, wanting to get across the urgency in as few words as possible. "Wants to steal artefacts... Create bigger portals... Summon demonic lieutenants... Hurry!"
"How did an agent of the Legion get past our defences?" Archmage Modera asked, but her close friend was quick to point out the obvious answer;
"If Khadgar fell to the Legion's corruption, then they have the perfect agent to bypass our magics, he was once one of us afterall." Archmage Drenden sighed, summoning his staff. "He was trained by the Guardian Medivh himself. If Antonidas is facing him alone, then we must rally to him or lose another powerful mage so soon after Rhonin's death."
"Where's Kael'thas?" Jaina breathed.
"He returned home not too long ago, said his people needed him more." Krasus replied. "Come, let us hurry to Antonidas' aid."
Jaina made to leave the room the way she had entered, but the three Council members displayed their arcane prowess by instantly teleporting all of them into the vault. Though she had been gone mere minutes, the damage that had been done to the vaults resembled the ruins from a war that had lasted days; many relics were still sitting on their protected plinths, but others lay on the floor, surrounded by scorch marks and shattered masonry.
"Antonidas!" Jaina exclaimed, as the quartet found the Archmage still battling the corrupted Khadgar.
"Ah, now this is more like it, a chance to wipe out the leadership of the Kirin Tor in one fel swoop." Khadgar laughed.
The Archmages and Jaina immediately fanned out, readying themselves for the spell battle to come; the youngest magi summoned her trusted water elemental guardian, though she doubted it would stand a chance against a spellcaster on Khadgar's level.
"The Legion will reign!" Khadgar proclaimed, before hurling fel fire in every direction.
Antonidas, though heavily drained, managed to summon an arcane bubble around Khadgar, containing the fel fire. His spell was quickly reinforced by the other Archmages, but their efforts were short lived, as Khadgar blasted them back with an arcane explosion of his own, but Jaina acted upon the split-second opportunity and casting an ice trap at the fallen mage's feet. Before Khadgar could retaliate, the spell activated and encased his legs and torso in solid ice, but his arms remained free, allowing him to blast her back with an arcane shockwave.
"And who might you be, young lady, to presume to challenge me?" Khadgar asked, continuing to block the other Archmages' attacks with little effort.
"A proud member of the Kirin Tor, something you used to be." She said coldly, hurling shards of ice at his head.
"Naive, then." Khadgar shrugged off the attack.
Krasus, Modera, Drenden, and Antonidas quickly stole the fallen mage's focus with a concentrated attack, which only succeeded in freeing Khadgar from the ice he'd been partially entombed in. Jaina wanted to help, but she knew her skills paled in comparison to the other mages, so she ran from the room, an idea of using one of the artefacts forming in her mind.
"Which one do I use?"
She allowed herself a smile when she noticed that each artefact had a small plaque underneath naming it, and in most cases listing what it was potentially capable of. Her eyes ran across plaque after plaque, none of the names or descriptions sounding ideal for combating a mage as powerful as Khadgar; her eyes stopped on a plaque fastened to the wall, the description listed catching her attention.
Eye of Aman'thul.
Capable of channeling immense arcane magic, with potential for user to weild temporal magic.
Gifted to Kirin Tor by subsect of Kal'dorei known as Shal'dorei as a part of a cultural exchange.
"Why would they gift an artefact that powerful so willingly?" she asked ehrself, before a cry of pain snapped her mind back to the present. "This must work."
She stepped into the middle of a glowing circle on the floor, immediately feeling the power beneath her feet surging up into her. Symbols began to form around her, as two circles began to rotate around her, creating a shield and increasing the power she could feel was now at her fingertips. She extended a hand toward the chamber where the magi were fighting, sensing their powers colliding like a raging tempest; it took some effort to focus on the presence of Khadgar, sensing he was tainted far more than she had thought.
"Cease coiasira!" she yelled, and there was a blast of arcane energy stronger than she had ever felt before.
She knew it had worked, because the sounds of the spell battle suddenly stopped, but as the circles continued to rotate around her, Jaina could not return to see what she had done.
"Jaina! Where have you gone?" Modera called.
"I'm here! I used one of the artefacts!" she called back, and moments later Drenden hurried out to see her encased in the Eye.
"It was brave of you to use that particular artefact, the ramifications if it had backfired on you would have been disasterous," the mage chuckled, his baritone voice reverberating through the arcane shield that surrounded Jaina. "But... You seem to have weilded it with skill, as it appears Khadgar is frozen in time."
"Did he manage to kill anyone?"
"Antonidas is severely wounded, but Modera is tending to his wounds and will teleport him away once he's strong enough." Drenden informed her.
"Can Khadgar be saved?"
"I... I don't know." The archmage sighed, glancing back at the chamber where he had been fighting Khadgar. "The Eye won't hold him forever, but we don't know how to undo the corruption of fel magic. The last mage who was saved from the corruption of the Legion was..."
"Me." A raven said, making the two mages jump and look around to see the bird perching on one of the damaged plinths.
Medivh transformed back into his human form and smirked at seeing Jaina inside the Eye of Aman'thul.
"Good to see you're staying out of trouble, young Proudmore."
"Have you come to mock us, or do you wish to help save Khadgar?" Jaina bit back her rage, knowing she couldn't do much from within the Eye.
"Still naive I see," Medivh remarks, before moving toward the chamber where his former apprentice was frozen in time. "Not everyone can be saved from the Legion's corruption, your 'friend' is a rare exception."
"Are you saying that you were not saved?" she responded without thinking.
"I was killed, and my fall was not wholly my fault," Medivh said, stopping in the doorway. "I was possessed by Sargeras, my vile actions were not mine, but I shall strive to atone for them. I cannot say the same for my apprentice, he chose to fall to darkness when he gave up hope."
Jaina closed her eyes, and managed to blink out of the eye, though she felt somewhat drained by the exertion.
"So you're just going to kill him while he's defenceless?" Jaina protested, moving to catch the guardian.
"He did the same to me when the opportunity presented itself."
Jaina moved to get between Medivh and the frozen Khadgar, just in time to see the Eye powering down behind the Guardian. The corrupted mage fell to his knees when he was freed from the spell, but before anyone could stop him, he raised a hand and summoned a portal around the Book of Medivh, teleporting it away in a brilliant flash of light.
"No!"
"Where did you send it?" Jaina demanded, but Khadgar slipped into unconciousness at her feet.
"What do we do with him? Lock him away in the Violet Hold?" Drenden asked as they stood over the unconcious mage.
"Could that even hold him?" Krasus noted.
"Given that he managed to teleport my spellbook to another location, bypassing your magical wards, while weakened indicates nothing the Kirin Tor could muster can contain the powers my former apprentice now commands." Medivh remarked, casting a wordless spell that caused several runes to appear around Khadgar's head. "I have placed his mind in a magic-induced coma, until I can figure out how to undo the influence of the Legion, he will be trapped inside his own mind."
"I suppose that's safer than imprisoning him in the Hold only to risk his escape," Modera commented, helping Antonidas to stand in the impromptu circle they'd formed around Khadgar's prone form. "Will you take him back to Karazhan, or should we put his body in the Hold just to be safe?"
"Neither." Medivh moved to stand over his former apprentice. "I will take him somewhere safe where he cannot harm anyone."
Without waiting for anyone to ask questions or comment, Medivh teleported himself and Khadgar away, leaving the Kirin Tor archmages alone.
"I shall get Antonidas to safety, but we need to fortify this chamber against future incursions, AND track down where he sent the Spellbook of Medivh." Modera said, as Antonidas slumped against her. "Jaina..."
"Go home, child..." Antonidas breathed.
"I'm not a child!" she snapped, instantly regretting it as it wasn't a very adult action to take. "I have faced far greater threats than most of you, and while I may be younger and less well read..."
"Go home, Jaina... Kul Tiras' fleet..." Antonidas repeated, before slumping against Modera.
"Your father commands the most powerful fleet on Azeroth, if the Legion has returned then it will take all nations to push them back." Drenden said as Modera teleported Antonidas away. "If the Legion advance beyond the Blasted Lands, ships may be needed to evacuate women and children from the demon's path, and the firepower of Kul Tiras could just as succinctly harass the invasion from the coast."
Jaina knew he was right, and was too tired to object. She tried to summon enough mana to teleport herself, but after everything she had been through, she collapsed to her knees.
"Rest," Krasus tried to assure her, but his fellow Archmage was quick to remind him;
"Time is of the essence here, Krasus. Apologies young one, but you are no longer needed here."
With that he teleported her away with a few muttered words.