Song: Covered By Roses - Within Temptation


A/N: many apologies for the late update! I had some Life Stuff go down and needed to focus on that. (It's all good now.) Next update will be on or around the 15th of May.


Jaina held out her hands, palms facing Kel'Thuzad.

"You know what- let's do it this way."

He raised his eyebrows but placed his fingertips against hers.

"You don't trust the wards will hold?"

"I want to, but I'd rather not be wrong."

Outside the circle of inactive wards, Kinndy's hand shot up.

"Why does it matter? Like, how is that different from just holding hands?"

"It increases the number of contact points between partners." Jaina slipped her fingers between Kel'Thuzad's and closed her hands. "See? This is only two contact points." She loosed her grip and pulled back until their fingertips were touching again. "And this is ten. It's a way of regulating the flow of magic between the participants. The more contact points, the more you and your partner can partition spells or parts of spells for individual attention."

"If you choose to pursue casting partnership, this is how you will start." Kel'Thuzad took a moment to glance down at the book open just outside the circle of wards on the floor.

Kinndy looked over at Soffriel, who appeared equally confused. "But the point is to cast together, isn't it?"

"Think of it like this: remember when we went hiking with Eilidh's family in Dun Morogh about five years ago?" Five years sounds like so little time but it feels like aeons. "They had that little cabin on the lakeshore."

Kinndy nodded. "Yeah..."

"And they took us canoeing. You could paddle the canoe alone, but it went faster with two people. One person at the front doing the majority of the paddling to move the canoe forward, and one person at the back who steered and helped paddle. We could do the same thing, but in many situations it's more efficient to do separate actions to support our shared goal. This is like that. We work different aspects of one spell, or multiple smaller spells, to support each other's casting and, together, make it stronger."

"I see what you're getting at but I think I'd have to actually do it."

Soffriel nodded in agreement with Kinndy.

"Perhaps- hopefully- someday you'll have the opportunity. For now, I want you to identify the spells we use and the sequence."

"Got it." Kinndy pulled out her notebook.

Let's begin.

Jaina activated the first spell; the outer layer of the dome of wards. Kel'Thuzad waited for the spell to take shape, then activated the inner wards. Once the spellcage was secure, they began to build the feedback loop. Parts of it were familiar and quickly laid, but the parts that Jaina had completed during her recovery after the siege were untested so they worked them slowly, back and forth between them, piece by piece, until the whole thing lay in concentric rings between Jaina's shoulder blades. It hovered close to her skin with a waiting warmth.

Push it.

Jaina nudged the loop. It leapt at the slight encouragement. The arrays of lines and sigils circled each other with a grace she and Kel'Thuzad hadn't managed to impart with their extrapolations and guesswork. The spell sang in the back of her mind, clear and harmonious, in tune with the smallest sound of her breath, at the rhythm of her heartbeat.

This is odd. The loop is responding to the living processes of my body. Her pain vanished. The spellways that she and Kel'Thuzad had mapped for the next iteration of her support brace lay dormant, but she straightened up without their aid and took a deep breath.

Interesting. Though, there's nothing about the loop that indicates it has anything to do with undeath specifically.

They let it cycle for nearly a minute. It felt like silk; smooth and light, building a sense of static electricity that Jaina recognized was pure arcane energy. As the power built, the sense of unity faltered. Once again she felt the aches in her joints and her diaphragm quivered on the edge of a nasty coughing fit.

Well, there goes that.

Your mortal flesh continues to be a confounding variable.

Vaguely insulting, but accurate. Ready?

She felt an affirmative and freed her own magic into formless power to meet his. No matter how many times she did this- and it was not often- the release still gave her butterflies. The release, the rush of euphoria as pure, unfocused power exploded from the subconscious restraints every mage placed on themselves, and the indescribable sense of strength as she stood, unmoved, within a hurricane of her own making. The Kirin Tor whispered that too long spent studying arcane energy could drive a mage to madness and while the power whirled around her, ready for any shape she chose, Jaina thought she might understand why. There was always more; more to learn, more to build, more to change…

The dome of wards kept the magic contained in a miniature storm around them- but only just. She and Kel'Thuzad caught the flood of power; she channelled part into the feedback loop and he corralled another part to activate the brace. The magic traced the pathways up and down her body, first with a hum of directed energy, then with pressure, and finally with a sort of cool, yielding strength. Once it was laid, Jaina finished binding the feedback loop into the brace.

Now the magic spun in her marrow, sung along the fibre of her muscles, wrote flickering patterns on her skin from within. She lost her balance and felt Kel'Thuzad's hands close on hers to steady her. Two points of contact- decreased independent control-

But they didn't need independence to complete the necessary spellwork.

Their hands parted, the storm unwrapped from around them, and the air went still. The wards of the dome stuttered and popped, throwing little puffs of white smoke out from the carefully-drawn lines on the floor.

"Oh, that's not good." Jaina poked at the singed lines with her toe. "We'll have to recast those..."

Kinndy and Soffriel had both retreated several feet back from their original positions.

Kel'Thuzad dusted his hands together. "So, what did you learn?"

"Uh, well… I'm more lost on the partnership thing now than I was before. That just looked like both of you doing the same thing, except it was way more intense than the last time you made the support spell."

Soffriel frowned. "The support spell is… inside of Jaina now."

Kinndy looked from him to Jaina. "Oh wow! That's so weird. You kinda glow. What does it feel like?"

"Much the same as it did last time." She bent down to close the book and collect a scroll that had rolled too near the burned-out wards. "Don't focus so much on the partnership aspect. It really only affects the power used and controlled. What can you tell me about the sequence?"

Kinndy paused, then held up one finger. "The first spell was a protection ward." She held up another finger. "Second spell was a containment ward. Third spell was the shield diagram on your back-"

Soffriel shook his head. "No, the third spell wove the first and second together."

"That was part of the second spell. Third spell was the shield. Fourth spell activated the support. Fifth spell was… uh…"

"Ah. You're right. Then the fourth spell activated the support, and the fifth was supposed to deactivate the first two spells, but they both fell apart before then."

"Well done!"

"So… What happens if the spellcage breaks?"

"I hope you would have the sense to run."

"Yeah, definitely, but could you fix it mid-cast?"

Jaina shook her head. "Fixing it would cost too much time. The best course of action would be stop casting as safely as possible, then mitigate what damage we could. And yes, if it happened, you should run."

"Have you ever had to do that? Not necessarily with the spellcage, but with any spell?"

Jaina propped her hands on her hips and exchanged a look with Kel'Thuzad. "Well, there's a saying- an expert is someone who has made all the mistakes that can be made in their field of study."

"Which makes neither of us experts."

"I've made my fair share of costly and/or dangerous mistakes. Even simple things can go wrong in spectacular ways. An innocent sparkler spell can burn down a kitchen in careless hands. Portals and summonings are notorious for terrible results when mis-cast. Expertise comes from recognizing how things can go wrong and devising ways to deal with problems before they become problems. All right. While we rebuild the spellcage, you two will be taking on your first practical project. And you'll be working together since you're both focusing on similar theoretical material right now-"

"Oh! Material manipulation!"

"Matter-energy conversion?"

"Yes," Jaina replied. "They're similar in theory but have clear differences in practice."

Kel'Thuzad lifted Jaina's black fur cloak from the back of a chair and handed it to her. "Material manipulation focuses on breaking down existing physical objects into energy; matter-energy conversion focuses on the shift between the two states." He stepped back and folded his arms over his chest. "Pay attention."

Jaina donned the cloak.

Kinndy and Soffriel watched expectantly.

She gestured and the cloak burst apart. The black fur became a cascade of black blossoms and as they fell, they shimmered from black, to silver, to white, and settled around her on the floor in a carpet of delicate cream-coloured petals. Jaina was no herbalist; the flowers were interpretations, not realistic species, and came in a variety of shapes and sizes. Soffriel knelt down to examine them.

"Your task is to put my cloak back together."

"Can we ask for help?"

"Of course. But try to complete it without our assistance as much as possible."

Soffriel was carefully gathering all of the flowers and petals into a bag. "How long do we have to complete it?"

"You'll repeat the assignment until the result is perfect," said Kel'Thuzad.

"Bring me your first try in two days."

"Two days?"

"C'mon, we got this! Bring the stuff over here. I have an idea."

The pair of them moved to a table in the corner.

Jaina retrieved a notebook and several reference texts and sat down at the edge of the broken ward circle.

Kel'Thuzad crouched beside her. "I didn't expect them both to break."

"Neither did I! I thought the protection barrier might crack but not the containment shield." She rubbed her thumb across the damaged lines on the floor. "Look at this. It burned right through."

"Impressive. And everything in the Helm is built upon that loop."

"It makes sense. The Helm contains so many other spells; it needs to power them all at once." She paused. "Do you suppose it could be as simple as disconnecting a spell from the loop?"

"Not with our luck."

"That's what I thought."

"You know, I'm surprised it's as easy to copy as it is."

"Easy?"

"Now that we can see the whole spellmap. I would guess that an undead Lich King would be able to view the whole map without difficulty and transcribe it."

"You're right. It's a bit unsettling, isn't it?"

"Hmm. I was going to say exciting."

Jaina caught herself smiling. "Of course. Here- are you going to help me with this?"

"Please, not the numbers."

"I'll deal with the numbers."

He collected supplies, settled himself across the circle from her, and began erasing the broken wards.

Jaina lost herself in calculations and measurements, in the scratch of her pencil and soft drag of Kel'Thuzad's robes as he moved around the circle, re-marking areas with chalk. In the corner, Kinndy and Soffriel conversed in little bursts. Wood crackled and shuffled in the stove.

Another hour passed and they finished rebuilding the circle- now two circles- of wards.

Kel'Thuzad helped Jaina to her feet.

"We need to test-"

There was a sizzling 'pop' from the corner of the room opposite Kinndy and Soffriel.

"What was that?"

Jaina moved toward the corner, Kel'Thuzad at her elbow. There was a little whirr, followed by another pop. Jaina caught a small flash of light on one of the bottom shelves of the bookcase and crouched down, still some distance away.

"I think it came from here…" There was another whirr and flash that illuminated the shape of a book leaned diagonally against the next. Jaina twisted round to look up at Kel'Thuzad. "You told me none of your books were volatile!"

He gestured toward the shelf. "That's not mine. That's one of yours."

Jaina squinted and inched closer. "Oh, it is. Well. I certainly don't have anything that-"

Pop! Flash!

Kel'Thuzad knelt down beside her. In the other corner of the lab, Kinndy and Soffriel had abandoned their work to watch their mentors.

"That's odd. I don't sense anything."

"Neither do I. Either it's well-cloaked or-"

There was a bigger flash, accompanied by another loud 'pop'! and the book launched off the shelf to land near Jaina's outstretched hand, closely followed by a hand-sized spider.

Jaina yelped and scrambled aside as the spider took off across the floor. "By the Light!" She wasn't really fearful of spiders but no one liked large unexpected vermin scuttling toward them. There was another flash of light from the gap in the bookshelf.

Kel'Thuzad leaned down on his elbows and peered into the vacant space. He reached out but Jaina grabbed his sleeve.

"Don't stick your hand in there!"

"Why not?"

"Well, clearly there's something in there-"

"Exactly. I'll retrieve it so we can have a look-"

"What if it's harmful? Look first."

He summoned a tiny magelight. "Very well."

Jaina huddled up beside him to peer into the space. There sat a small, square-ish metal object no bigger than two inches across. It had tiny jointed legs and a light on top that was currently unlit.

"What is that?"

Before she could stop him, Kel'Thuzad slid his hand into the gap. "Ouch. Mean little thing."

"What did I just say?"

He pulled out the object and held it between thumb and forefinger. It made another 'pop'! noise and jabbed at him with one tiny leg, while the other four waved furiously. "Intriguing."

"But what is it? It isn't magical at all. It's some kind of machine."

"I've never seen anything like it."

"It doesn't seem very dangerous."

"Let's open it up and take a look inside..."

"Wait!" Kinndy hurried up to them. "Wait! That's mine! Sorry, I forgot to tell you."

"Forgot- what is this thing?"

"It's a pest control device. They're made for libraries. See, they use light and sound to scare away mice and bugs and things. No poison, no fire, or anything that can damage the books! Brilliant, right? My dad found them at a shop in Ironforge. The guy who invented them used to work in the old Dalaran library..."

Jaina and Kel'Thuzad looked at each other. Jaina became aware that they were sitting on the floor, behind a couch, crowded together around a tiny machine, being lectured by her apprentice. She smothered a giggle.

"That is pretty clever." She smiled. "But I think it'll end up as an expensive cat toy if it stays in here."

"Oh, don't worry! I have sixteen more. Is it okay if I put some in here? I saw a couple of big spiders last week." Kinndy did a full body shudder. "I put six of them in my room. The pest control devices, not the spiders."

Kel'Thuzad stood and dropped the offending machine into Kinndy's palm. "I find it distracting. Keep them to your own chambers." He turned and helped Jaina to her feet. What are you snickering about?

Crawling around on the floor chasing a little machine like an 8-year-old with a wind-up toy.

He cocked an eyebrow.

I suppose you chased live mice instead of a toy?

Squirrels.

Jaina gave up trying to hide her chuckling and turned to Kinndy. "I do think the flashes and sudden noise would be disruptive, but I appreciate the thought. They would be useful in the mess hall and kitchens, though. Mr Bigglesworth seems to think she's doing the kitchen staff a favour by leaving them the things she catches."

Kinndy nodded. "Yeah, that makes sense. There's two more in here. I'll find them right away."

She quickly roped Soffriel into hunting down the remaining machines.

Let's leave them to it.

Kel'Thuzad didn't reply but she felt his affirmative, and he walked beside her as they left the lab.

You've done this dozens of times. I trust you.

Dozens of times, yes- as a form of torture.

Jaina rested one hand on the small of his back. But not this time. And Ysadéan will be with us.

Still, there was no comfortable way to have one's soul slowly flayed away from their living body. Jaina chose- with Ysadéan's suggestion- to be seated at the desk in her bedchamber, prepared with paper and pencils, a mug of tea and a plate of bland bread.

"A thing like this should not be done on an empty stomach."

Ysadéan took a chair on her left and bowed her head. Jaina could see the velvety nubs of her growing antlers, barely an inch long. She wondered if the druid would let her touch them.

Kel'Thuzad stood behind her, hands on her shoulders.

"I'm ready."

At first, it was not wholly uncomfortable. Jaina remembered the brutality of the Lich King's hold on her as she struggled to gather her power against Deathwing, how it choked and crushed her. This was not like that. This was slow, insidious, almost elegant. For the first time in three years, Jaina felt cold. Her lips went numb; her ears ached; her grip on the pencil became clumsy. But her mind was clear.

She closed her eyes and reached for the Helm. There it was; she had placed it on the desk before her. She could touch it if she needed to but she doubted she would. It was part of her even when they were physically separate. She sank her attention into the tapestry of magic and waited. No, she recognized all she saw- spells she had already transcribed completely, the ones that were half-clear, and the unreadable parts, as though someone had smudged the magic. She was patient.

The cold crept down her back from Kel'Thuzad's touch on her shoulders. It slipped under her skin, raised the hair on the back of her neck. It felt wrong but not exactly painful. Perhaps I've simply come to accept a certain level of pain.

Then it began to pull. That pull lit pure terror deep in her mind that briefly overtook every rational thought. The spells arrayed in her mind's eye vanished in a rush of blind panic- flee! Fight! Her whole body convulsed. Her grip snapped the pencil, she made an involuntary kick against the leg of the desk, and for a moment she managed to flinch away from Kel'Thuzad's touch.

Relax.

His voice in her mind was too much and the Lich King turned on him with animal savagery, tearing at his will, preparing to crush him as it tried with Jaina- No. She forced herself to breathe. His fingers slid down to hold her upper arms and somehow that helped calm her enough to wrestle her primal reactions under control.

Sorry.

I understand.

The pulling sensation spread outward from his touch, down her throat and through her hair, coiled around her arms, tightened around her chest, her waist, and then it fled through her feet with a rough jerk. A headache exploded behind her right eye and she grimaced. Distantly, she felt Ysadéan stroke her hair and warm relief swept the headache into a distant throb.

Then she turned her attention back to the Helm. She pushed at the fuzzy lines until they reluctantly gave in, and centimetre by centimetre, began to reveal new sections.

Jaina began to draw.

She lost track of how long she pushed at the indistinct spellwork. She marked it only with successes; new sigils, junctions, regulators, and relays that fed delicate, specialized areas from the main energy pathways. When she finally took stock, she had not accomplished a notable amount- but it was working. She was able to reach more and more, as Kel'Thuzad slowly parted her soul and body. I can do it. I can endure this.

The fear and disconcerting pull dissipated over time. They muddled into the background, along with her other aches and pains. There was something almost tranquil about it.

At last, Kel'Thuzad removed his hands from her arms and she shifted, blinked, realized her eyes were open, though she saw only darkness. That brought the fear crashing back.

"I can't see-"

"Wait," said Ysadéan. "Take my hand."

Jaina found her taloned fingers and let Ysadéan guide her hand against her own cheek. She could feel the druid's presence a hair's breadth from her face. Druid. Necromancer. Both. Whatever. Pressure built behind her eyes, flared into a stabbing headache, then vanished and her vision returned. Ysadéan let her hand drop, fingers trembling.

"That is the best I can do."

Jaina stretched, gauging the state of her body. It feels like I've been on my feet for hours. The sense of cold had disappeared and the pink in her skin was returning. "Thank you."

"You are always welcome, Lady Jaina." Her voice was a soft rasp. Jaina turned to see Ysadéan brace herself against the desk with one hand.

"Does this harm you?"

Ysadéan shook her head. "It is only difficult." Jaina caught a flash of silver between the fringes of her veil. "I have practised nothing but my whispered craft for a very long time. I am… how do you say it?" She looked toward Kel'Thuzad.

"Rusty."

"I am rusty at other things."

Fatigue settled into Jaina's muscles, but curiosity wriggled past it. "Can you do what Kel'Thuzad is doing?"

"No. What he does is unthinkable. In this plan of yours though, it is the only way."

"You- your kind don't remove the soul to render someone undead?"

Again, she shook her head. "We only return the soul to those who are already dead."

Out the corner of her eye, Jaina saw Kel'Thuzad frowning at the back of Ysadéan's head. "There's no in-between? No half-way undead- a path with no crossroads- as I am now?"

"You are unique." She raised a hand and brushed Jaina's hair back. "You are beautiful."

Jaina didn't reject her. "If I chose undeath, how would you do it? I know how Kel'Thuzad would do it."

Ysadéan tilted her head to one side and touched a finger to her lips. "Poison, if you wish to be undamaged. I prefer a blade. I would soothe your pain so you felt nothing when it happened, but there is no greater magic than what I can spin from your mortal blood."

Jaina sat back. "Interesting." Terrifying. "Thank you for this."

"Yes." Ysadéan ducked her head in a quick bow and rose to leave. "Pleasant dreams, Lady Jaina." She turned her veiled gaze on Kel'Thuzad. "Come. There is nothing more you can do."


Jaina's dreams were pleasant, though she couldn't remember any of them in detail. She recalled emotions, mostly, and single images. A certain slant of light through the canopy of a forest that was nowhere Jaina recognized; the echo of her cane on the stone; a sweet, playful tryst with some figment of her imagination; the warmth of a campfire.

It was dark outside, the thick of night, and when she sat up she could see stars. It's been a while since I looked at the stars. She pulled on a jacket and boots, took up her cane, and headed for the best stargazing location in Icecrown.

Slowly, Jaina climbed the stairway to the very top and opened the door that led to the roof of the Citadel and the Frozen Throne. She ignored the seat, walked into the lee of it, and settled on the smooth black stone. The residual magic from Kel'Thuzad's spell crept through her body. Sometimes it flickered like electricity and made her muscles contract at random.

She concentrated on her breathing and leaned back.

Goodness, how she loved this sky. Black from horizon to horizon, salted with too many stars to ever name. A shifting veil of aurora slithered and splintered and brightened high up. She'd never seen it so early in the year. Jaina stared into the night, mesmerized. The world, from the ground beneath her to the infinity above her, was too vast for fear and instead she felt grateful that she existed as part of it at all. What chance collision of probabilities enabled her participation in all this grandeur?

She was nothing, a brief flash in the aeons. Yet she was part of a whole greater than any scheme or war, that endured longer than species or sun. Here in the middle of all that was Jaina: a unique collection of blood and thoughts and choices.

The wind swept over her cheekbones and the bridge of her nose and suddenly her chest swelled with fierce love. This, all of this, I'm part of it! Joyful tears spilled down her cheeks and froze there. I have no idea what comes next but I'm still here. I'm so lucky! I'm here, I get to make a future. I go forward, I see what comes next.

"I am so, so lucky." Her warm breath curled into the cooling air. Winter was coming fast. It pushed the snowline down from the peaks of mountains, clothed the glaciers in new ice, wrote fleeting patterns of frost on the saronite spires in the morning. Even now there was a dusting of ice crystals- not quite organized enough to call them snow- twinkling on the stone beside her. Jaina swept her hand through them and thought of the puddle of flowers she left Kinndy and Soffriel to reconstitute into her cloak.

I remember my first test of material manipulation. Antonidas turned an iron lantern into a little flowering tree… She had worked at it for two weeks before she turned the tree into a decent approximation of the lantern. It was enough to impress her peers and, better still, earn Antonidas' praise. But it wasn't exactly as it had been and I wanted it to be perfect. Something about that project, and the concept of turning one thing into another, fascinated her. It became one of her strengths.

I love it for no other reason than it makes me happy.

She brushed her fingers through the ice crystals again and they tumbled up on an invisible wind, darkened, grew, and Jaina scattered fanciful black flowers around herself. The flurry of magic caused her right had to jerk, fingers curled into claws, and pain tingled in her wrist.

I don't care. I'm dying anyway. Let me do these small things. The brace glowed around her wrist and up her forearm. It soothed the cramping muscles and provided stability. I've missed my own magic so much.

She leaned back against the Throne and gazed upwards.

Some time passed and Jaina heard footsteps approaching. Not many people had ever come to meet her up here; the height was dizzying and the Frozen Throne loomed above any brave enough. Anu'Shukhet had come once. They were barely friends at the time. What kind of courage do you have to possess to leave a subterranean homeland and ascend into the sky? 'Fearless' doesn't do her justice.

Kel'Thuzad rounded the Throne.

"It's beautiful," she murmured. "The sky, the distance, the cold. Even the Citadel. What an aberration. An impertinence against the design of nature! How very human. I wonder what Icecrown looked like before Arthas built bridges and whatnot all over it."

Jaina smiled up at him.

He settled beside her. "More flowers?"

"I figured I'd keep a bit of tradition. Antonidas tested my skills with flowers and iron."

"Hmm."

Jaina leaned forward to peer at his expression. "Are you upset because you're hurting me or because I asked you to?"

"Both." He picked up a single black petal and then she saw the corner of his mouth turn up. "But only because you don't like it."

Jaina gaped for a second, then burst into laughter. "That's awful!"

"That's the truth."

"Putting that aside for a second- I did ask. And now I know how it feels. And- well. I've had worse."

"I can't imagine dying by inches. Give me the swift blow of something heavy or the fury of persistent adventurers."

"Well, it's not fun. At least now someone is in control of it and I have a reason to be in pain." She picked up one of the flowers. "I feel… free." She cupped the flower in both hands. The petals shivered in the slight wind. "Even if I don't like it- I'm not judging- it's… Is it crazy to be happy?"

"Probably. But I'm not judging. And to be clear- if you enjoyed pain, then I would enjoy hurting you. Since you don't, I find it unpleasant."

Jaina sighed. "By the Light, if I enjoyed pain this past year would have been delightful." She tossed the flower up and it came down with a wrought iron clang. "What do you think of Ysadéan's version of necromancy?"

"I think there's a lot she isn't telling us."

"I agree. Secrets and liminal spaces. I remember. Zaphine, though." Jaina shook her head. "She's something no one has seen before. I don't know how I feel about it."

Kel'Thuzad stretched his legs. "She appears to be quite accepting of it."

"Ysadéan told me she made her own choice to return."

"As I understand it."

"Ysadéan makes it seem gentle. That part I don't trust. If she's as old as you say she is… It's about what Kinndy asked. Ysadéan is an expert. What did she do to become one?"

"I would love to know. Where is this Val'sharah? I think I may plan a vacation after all."

"Actually, I think I can help with that. My father had maps of places we don't hear about often. Gilneas, for one. And Zandalar. He didn't exactly have a map of Zandalar but he did note its approximate location and there are other islands south of it. I think I've seen the name Val'sharah on one of them."

"Indeed?"

She nodded. "There's just one problem."

"Say 'sea monsters'."

"My mother." Jaina blew out a long breath. "Maybe if you distract her, with- I don't know, maybe a small naval battle?- I could probably sneak into the keep."

Kel'Thuzad chuckled. "Sounds fun."

Jaina tipped her head to look at him. "Hold on. Are you tired? You look ready to drop."

He nodded. "The spells used to draw out the process of severing soul and body are not user-friendly. You might say that even dark magic resists doing such a thing."

"Hmm. I don't know what to think of that." She yawned. "Show me the spells. Tomorrow."

"Judging by the sky, I think it is tomorrow."

"Later today, then."

Neither of them moved and conversation lapsed into silence. They sat together until the horizon lightened to grey, then orange, and the underbellies of the thin clouds blazed pink.

"I regret wandering out of bed," said Jaina when the sun finally crept over the horizon.

"I'm exhausted."

"Come to bed with me."

He really was exhausted- Jaina had to coax him to take off his outer robes and boots, and get under the blankets with her. Once ensconced, he fell into whatever state passed for sleep.

But despite her fatigue, Jaina's mind wouldn't let her rest. It ran and ran, up dizzying ambitions and down basic desires. On and on, back to the stars, to the crater that had been Theramore, to the Heart of Y'shaarj, Khadgar and the Book of Medivh, Kinndy's hand in hers as she asked Jaina to fulfill her offer, Zaphine's tusks, Ysadéan's foggy eyes, Soffriel with blood on his claws and lips, Kel'Thuzad with his feet up on the jar of rats, binging Jaina's romance novels. And there it finally slowed and stopped.

She had responsibilities. Responsibility was not the same as duty; she had made herself beholden to these people by choice. And her choices had ripples: she had offered Kinndy apprenticeship, which meant leaving everything she knew and pursuing her studies in Icecrown. Kinndy had chosen, despite fear and the knowledge this choice closed all other doors. She offered Soffriel something he would never call redemption.

She offered anyone who needed it a place to rest and they gave Icecrown Citadel a soul.

Jaina propped herself on one elbow and studied Kel'Thuzad. He didn't breathe but he was warm, heated by her body nestled against his back.

This is my home. Right here in the cold, in the lightless winter and the nightless summer, in a second-hand castle hosting the lost and wandering and curious. I belong here because I'm one of them too.


"Jaina!"

Jaina jumped awake at fists hammering on her bedroom door and kicked her way out of twisted blankets. That was Kinndy and she sounded panicked.

Kel'Thuzad sat up, growling.

Jaina opened the door. "What's happening?"

Kinndy was accompanied by Soffriel and an unfamiliar goblin man with an Azeroth Post patch on his jacket. Kinndy thrust a letter toward her.

"From Lorewalker Cho! I only read it because the envelope wasn't sealed, sorry."

Lady Jaina, my dear human friend,

I understand that you have emotional investment in the trial of Garrosh Hellscream. I wish I could send you good news. Instead, I must send bad news. Hellscream has escaped our wardens, with the help of a dragon called Kairozdormu. They have fled into a portal that I am not wise enough to understand, but Archmage Khadgar tells me it leads to the past- the years behind us! If this was not such a dire situation, I would be fascinated.

I saw no other person prepare to send you this information, and believe you have the right to know and act. However you act upon it, I hope that we may meet again in the aftermath, drink, eat, and share more stories together.

Your friend in the Jade Forest,

Lorewalker Cho

Jaina stared at the letter. She read it again. She clenched her fist around it.

"Of course there's a dragon. There's always a bloody dragon!"