Purpose

Biara smiled as the wind rushed through her hair. Her magical steed soared high above the burnt reddish plains of Hellfire Peninsula, the hot currents giving their flight path a bit of turbulence as the Magistrix headed back towards Falcon Watch. She had been fighting Fel Orcs for some time now, reducing their numbers before they threatened the horde bases in the area again. Falcon Watch was too close to the looming, ugly citadel that the red-skinned orcs had built, and Biara wasn't comfortable unless she came to check on the Sin'dorei there every so often.

As she continued on her course, a number of specs on the plain below caught her eye and made her breath catch in her throat. She angled her steed down for a closer look, already certain of what she would find as the specs grew larger. Sure enough, it was clear that a group of Sin'dorei pilgrims had been surrounded by a force of Fel Orcs intent on slaughtering or enslaving all who crossed this dismal part of Outlands. A shocked gasp escaped Biara's lips as she drew nearer and observed that some of the Sin'dorei in the embattled group were children.

Her eyes narrowed into slits of fury and she lept from her steed in mid-air, plummeting towards the ground below. With a spoken word her battlestaff appeared in her hand, summoned with magic. As the ground raced up to her at heart-stopping speed, she shouted another word, and instantly crossed the distance from her place in the sky to the ground that the pilgrims fought on, her momentum ended by the spell. As she rose up from a crouch, she saw a Fel Orc cut down one of the pilgrims, it's armored form looming over one of the children that the adult had been guarding, jagged teeth bared in a hateful grin.

"Fight ME you bastards!" Biara shouted, pointing with her free hand at the Fel Orc. A piercing shard of ice flew from her to the foe in the blink of an eye, impaling him with deadly magic and throwing him away from the Sin'dorei child. The little boy ran towards Biara, his face white with fear. He clung to her leg as other Fel Orcs closed in around the group. There were about fourteen pilgrims there, with almost fifty Fel Orcs menacing them.

Such a waste of life, to be drawn to this place by Kael'thas' false dream. How many still come here, only to be lost to the Fel Orcs? How many still wander, in search of that dream and not understanding the lie that it was? How many lives can we spare? We must dream a new dream together if we are to survive.

The first wave of Fel Orcs surged forwards, intent on slaughtering the small group entirely. Biara watched with pride as the poorly armed pilgrims took up what meager weapons they had and stood back to back, awaiting the inevitable; she would not let such bravery go unremarked into the jaws of such filthy creatures. She brought her battlestaff up high, power flaring at the tip before bringing the butt of it down hard on the dry, packed soil beneath their feet. Magic flashed around the small group of pilgrims, runes glowing and crawling across the red dirt and then freezing in place. Power exploded outward from the runes and everything outside of the circle for several feet was frozen into solid ice. The Magistrix followed this with a number of hurled bolts of freezing magic, throwing almost a dozen fel orcs down to their deaths.

Biara staggered as an arrow arced from the group of remaining foes, impacting on her back. The wards sewn into her battle armor flared, absorbing the lethal weapon and then fading to non-existence. The arrow had not pierced her, but there would certainly be a bruise and stiffness to remember the battle by.

Idiot! Pay attention to your own defenses or you'll fail to help these people!

She muttered an incantation and a flickering field of icy magic surrounded her. Several arrows struck it and snapped in two, her magic sufficient to stop the attacks. In the rear of the Fel Orc group, a number of wolf riders dismounted, unleashing their pets into the conflict, intent on tearing the pilgrims to pieces.

Enough!

Biara's magic flared with her anger, and the sky over the Fel Orcs blackened as clouds built. The Magistrix closed her eyes and chanted, and almost immediately huge chunks of ice began to fall from the heavy stormclouds, pelting the plain before the pilgrims with magic. Fel Orcs were battered senseless, falling to their knees as the magic struck them. Wolves slunk off whimpering as the ice stung them. Arrows were pulled from the air before they came anywhere near the pilgrims. The Fel Orcs were devastated and demoralized, and soon several shouted for a retreat. In a heartbeat the foe was routed, Biara's magic chasing them into the distance.

A tug on her robes broke her concentration at last, and the stormclouds dissipated as the magic that had created them faded away. Biara looked down into the bright green eyes of the Sin'dorei boy she had saved, and then up at the other thankful expressions of the pilgrims that lived now thanks to her magic. Words of thanks echoed around her, but she heard them only distantly as she thought about what had happened, and how many more Sin'dorei there must be, lost out in the world.

"Home. We must return home. We don't belong here," She murmured as she looked at the rather naive pilgrims. "There is nothing here now, no dream for us to find that we cannot build for ourselves. There is no power that we cannot attain through our own efforts. There is only us, and what we are willing to do to make our people whole again."

She closed her eyes and chanted again, and a shimmering portal to Silvermoon opened before the pilgrims. "There. That is where all of our dreams begin now. Quel'Thalas will be restored once more. The magic that Kael'thas has gifted us with will be put to proper use, and our city will shine like the jewel it is. It is here, in our home where we will be reborn, and where the sorrows of the past will finally be forgotten."

She took the young Sin'dorei boy by the hand and smiled encouragement at the others. Some looked doubtful, others relieved that they could escape the horrors that they had already faced in outlands, but all moved towards the portal at her words. She would rekindle hope in those Sin'dorei who had lost their way, and save all that she could. Her people would be safe, no matter where they roamed, and she would lead them home. She would give them a new dream to dream.

It was the purpose of her existence, her reason for carrying on.