A cold chill ran across his blue-grey skin, the darkening sky causing the chill to be worse than what it might have naturally been, along with the sight that greeted him as he came upon Shattrath City. Makeshift tents circled the grass that sat against the path, and there sat many of his people, huddled together for warmth; the chaos that the native race of his land were causing to his people seemed now, to be much more real, and much worse than perhaps his peoples leaders were letting on, even at that very moment he could hear the barbaric war cries, and the sounds of destruction. His weathered hands worked quickly has he mumbled in the arcane, conjuring staples for those forced outside the walls of the city, kindly refusing the offers of trade for the food he had created and despite himself he was eager to head back out on the road as soon as possible.

Inside the city was worse than it had been outside; bodies sat and lay in what had once been open places in the large city, and while those outside had been fairly healthy, inside the city for each healer that could be found, there was at the very least, ten of the injured or dying. The devastation was almost as bad as it had been on Argus, his homeland, when they had fought against their own brothers and sisters, corrupted by the gift of power. He walked through the city as smoothly as he could before he came to a crowed building, outside people clambered towards the bread and water that sat upon large wooden tables, exhausted mages attempting to keep the supply plentiful, each dressed in the purple and blue robes that classified them as students in the art of the arcane, but one stood out like a sore thumb, dressed in dark red traveling clothes, anxiously grasping her long stave with light blue hands, turning white at the knuckles.

"Khronakai Khristor."

She jumped visibly at his voice;

"Oh!"

He attempted to give her a reassuring smile, images fluttering across his mind as he remembered when he had been in her shoes;

"I am Gaahll… and I believe that you may be Airane."

"I – Yes!"

Her voice was quiet and a flush of purple appeared across her cheeks.

"There is no need to be so worried." He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder; "If you are prepared, we should take our leave. The sun is setting and we have a ways to travel."

She gave a quick nod, her hood slipping backwards slightly, her horns the only thing keeping it in place. He gestured out towards the crowds as she hoisted a small rucksack on her shoulder, and gave a last anxious glance behind her, but not at the building she was leaving, but the one beside it, children clambering outside it, waving in her direction.

Night forced them to stop not long after they had passed through the small town of Tuurem, a camp fire being lit with the flick of a hand as both travellers eased their aching legs as they sat.

"You are doing well, have you travelled before?"

"No… this is my first time away from Shattrath, Master Gaahll."

The silence was slightly uncomfortable as they both stared at the fire, and he was unsure if he should break it or not. To her, he must have seemed ancient, a survivor of the battles on Argus, and the numerous attacks made on his people as they fled here to Dreanor, long with his darker skin and grey hair, something no longer common in his people. He sighed through his nose before starting to rummage through his large backpack, pulling out a number of magical items along with a small dark coloured item that he used for personal facial hygiene, earning a quizzical look from the young woman beside him as she idly wrote something in a tattered book. Finally he pulled out a small, wooden whistle from the bottom of the pack and blew it softly; the noise so high pitched it was inaudible to his ears.

Slowly, from the bushes and trees came small creatures, bounding up joyfully as they saw whom it was that had called them, eagerly taking the small bits of bread and seeds that he handed out to them. Each of the animals happy chittering and chirping to each other as if this kind of event happened often, perhaps, when his adventuring days were done, he would settle down in a small home somewhere, surrounded by these little creatures but as the sound of battle echoed from Tuurem, he knew it would be a long time before he gained any kind of rest.

A/N: Phew its finally done, it only took two or so years... tehe...