The Stars Align

There was a lot of hurried bustling about as Sin'dorei ran to and fro, attempting to make final preparations for their travels. Magisters in gold and red robes stood talking in small groups here and there, their conversations carefully concealed games of politics as they spoke casually with one another.

In the sanctum, a group of Magisters stood huddled together, discussing the final calculations needed to align their spellcasting efforts to create a portal that would tear not through space alone, but through time as well.

Standing in the midst of all of this frenzied activity, Rayleth Firelight was like an unmoving statue, his awe at what was about to transpire overcoming his initial fears and misgivings. Slightly taller than the average Sin'dorei, Rayleth's red robes had little in the way of embellishment or decoration that would have marked him as someone of importance. When standing near the other apprentices waiting in the sanctum, this became even more obvious as many of them went to great lengths to subtly show their lineage or wealth in their attire.

Beyond the fact of his lower station, Rayleth stood out in another way; in a sea of golden and red-haired Sin'dorei, his short black hair was a shock of dark color amongst the crowd. Though his eyes glowed green and his ears were just as pointed, his hair would have fit perfectly on a human had one thought to transplant it to such a creature.

Rayleth shifted in position, the large stack of books and scrolls held in his arm wobbling ominously towards one of his compatriots as he tried to peer past the obstruction to get a better view of the Magisters who were preparing the portal magic. With his thick-rimmed glasses slipping down his nose, it was hard to make out exactly what spells they were preparing, so he shifted again to try to peer past the crowd. Somewhat gangly rather than graceful, he narrowly avoided both dropping his stack of books and bumping into another apprentice who was busy checking her hair in a handheld mirror.

"Pardon me!" he said jovially to the other Sin'dorei. She looked him over, one eyebrow rising in annoyance at his interruption before she returned to her preening. Completely oblivious to the fact that he was being ignored, Rayleth continued speaking, "Looks like it's nearly time to get started!"

"I don't know why you're so excited to go to this hellhole," the other elf snapped in irritation. "We've been assigned to Magistrix Biara Dayfire. I'm not sure what I personally did to deserve such punishment, but I'll be putting in an application for a transfer as quickly as possible."

Rayleth fell silent at the other elf's words, his own fears surfacing again as the Magisters began to chant, their spells working to bind arcane energies into a portal. Biara Dayfire was infamous amongst the lower ranks within the Magistrate, as the causality rate amongst those who were apprenticed to her was astronomical. Rumors said she was a terror, barking orders and demanding perfection from those who were students of the art. Darker rumors said she sought the blood of Sin'dorei to quench her thirst for lives, and that she performed rituals and experiments on those assigned to her that resulted in their demises.

Rayleth swallowed a lump in his throat, shaking his head to dismiss his fears. Surely such rumors could not be founded in truth, for Lady Dayfire would have been arrested long ago if she were a murdering beast that preyed upon Sin'dorei. There was of course the rumor that the Kirin Tor had once arrested her, but again, the Kirin Tor were not exactly on friendly terms with any Sin'dorei these days so their opinion was somewhat irrelevant.

He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts and prepare for the journey to come. He had been assigned to Magistrix Dayfire by the Magistrate, and he would heed their commands. He was eager to learn more of the arts, and perhaps dabble in his own studies into archaeology to someday work with the Reliquary. He would do what he was told and learn as much as he could and one day, he would make a difference for Quel'Thalas.

She couldn't be that bad, could she?

His thoughts were interrupted as a bright glow filled the room, the portal spell activating and tearing a hole in space and time. He squinted, shifting in place again as the other apprentices in front of him began to shuffle forward towards the portal at the behest of the Magisters casting the spell. He swallowed another lump in his throat, his nervousness rising as he began walking with his stack of books towards the portal; the first portal to another world that he would ever step through.

The apprentices in front of him disappeared one by one, each stepping through the portal in turn and being whisked away to their destination. When it was Rayleth's turn, he hesitated, peering at the glowing spell for a moment. One of the magisters casting the spell glared at him in irritation, gesturing with his hand, "Let's go already! This is almost impossible to keep open for long periods of time! I don't have all day!"

Rayleth nodded and stepped forward, pressing into the glowing magic, just as he did so, he heard several of the Magisters behind him begin to shout.

"There's some sort of temporal interference! We're losing portal integrity!"
"Watch out! The wards are unraveling! We need to secure them right away!"
"I can't hold it! Magister Flamestar just collapsed!"

And then the magic had him, and Rayleth felt himself stretching. He knew something wasn't right, having taken portals before, but of course it was far too late as he was within the spell. The world had faded around him, stars and lights flashing past his view as the magic took him...somewhere. He could feel the spell bending, being drawn away from its destination, being disrupted by some outside force as his entire body began to ache with the strain that the magic was putting on it.

And then light flashed so brightly that it blinded him, and he felt himself shoved forward, the magic collapsing behind him as the integrity of the portal failed and caused it to fully dissolve.

Rayleth took two blind, stumbling steps forward, the effects of the blinding light and the stack of books he was still holding conspiring to make it impossible to see. On his third step, he collided with something soft and the world tilted around him as he felt himself falling, his book-stack collapsing into a ruined disaster as they fell all around him with a thunderous crash.

He didn't hit the ground, instead finding his landing soft, his palms flat against the floor. His eyes were clenched tight in fear of being injured, and he noticed a faint scent of perfume around him as he cautiously opened them. He found himself staring into a pair of fel green eyes, only inches from his own. It was then that he realized that he'd landed on someone.

A moment later he recognized the tell-tale ward marks on the right cheek of the elf that was beneath him, ward marks that he had heard of in tales told at the Magistrate, and he came to realize that he'd not just landed on someone, but on Biara Dayfire herself!

 In a panic he scrambled to get off her, taking care not to knee her as he tried to roll off of her and succeeding in accidentally entangling some of her silky-soft red hair between his fingers as he moved. He yanked his hand back, accidentally pulling her hair before he untangled himself and rose to his feet, sputtering out a thousand apologies in a moment.

"M-magistrix! Oh fel I'm so sorry! S-something happened to the portal and-" he began.

On the floor, Biara looked away from him for a moment, her attention focused on her own ankle, which was red from impact with numerous books that had fallen on it. She reached down to rub it, hissing a moment in irritation and pain.

Rayleth was on his knees beside her in a moment, and Biara's eyes opened wide in surprise that he presumed to get so close to her, the expression turning to shock when he reached out and touched her leg to check for injury, "Magistrix Dayfire, I really cannot express how sorry I am. Something happened back in Silvermoon and...are you okay? Please be okay! Someone come over here at once! Magistrix Dayfire is injured!"

Biara waved a hand at him, shaking her head as she spoke for the first time, "It's just a bruise; there is no need for assistance. Please, allow me some space to get up if you don't mind."

"Oh yes, at once, Magistrix!" Rayleth said, quickly rising. He leaned down, offering her his hand to help her up.

For a moment, she looked at him in surprise, her mouth slightly open. New apprentices were usually wretched, fearful creatures who would not dare to interact with her in such a fashion. Generally she would have assigned a senior apprentice to round them up and put them to work, saving her attention for training the ones who survived their initial studies or proved themselves useful. She studied the extended hand for a moment, a smile playing across her face for a moment before she took him up on the offer.

He helped her to her feet gently, reaching out to brush some errant dust from the sleeve of her robe before offering her a bow, "Magistrix, again I apologize. They said there was some temporal interference when they were trying to activate the portal and-"

"Ah, that it explains it then," Biara murmured over him. "Dammit, Jazari, this is a real bother at this point..."

"Magistrix?" Rayleth said in confusion.

"It's nothing, just my own rambling thoughts," Biara replied, studying the other Sin'dorei. At that moment, Rayleth noted that his glasses had fallen off, and he bent down to pick them up. His nose crinkled up in distaste as he noted the frames were bent, and he carefully bent them back into almost-correct shape before perching them on his nose, where they sat slightly off-kilter.

Biara smirked, finding herself amused at the elf for some reason, despite the little accident; it had not really been his fault after all, and he'd had the grace to be polite about it. He'd actually checked to make sure she was not injured, a plus for a new apprentice. "Tell me, Apprentice, what is your name?"

"Magistrix, I'm Rayleth Firelight, assigned to you by the Magistrate of Silvermoon. If I may add, it's a pleasure to meet you, my Lady," Rayleth said politely.

Biara smiled at this, looking over the new recruit with the eyes of one who has seen many apprentices in her time, "Is it now? That is unexpected indeed. It is good to meet you, Rayleth. I hope that the rest of your time with House Sunfire is slightly less...traumatic. I have prepared quarters for you and the others within this garrison. Please make yourself at home and come and find myself or my senior apprentice once you have settled in. We have much work to do on this world, and in this place."

"Your wish is my command, Magistrix," Rayleth said with a smile. He offered her another bow before bending down to begin gathering up his fallen books.

Biara nodded at him, watching him for a moment longer before turning to stride out of the command center and towards a waiting group of orcs in the center of the small fort beyond. After she had left Rayleth found himself smiling, looking out the door at the snowy world beyond, his stack of books teetering precariously once more in his arms. Although it was not the arrival he had planned, it certainly could have gone worse.

And she didn't try to drain my blood, or kill me, or even yell about what happened. Who'd have thought that she was just an ordinary Sin'dorei? 

He shook his head as he walked out of the command center, another thought passing casually through his mind.

Actually, not so ordinary. All of those horror tales made no mention of the fact that's she's rather pretty! 

With that thought in mind, he headed towards the fort's barracks, books in hand and bent glasses guiding his view towards his destination. It was going to be an interesting apprenticeship, that was for sure.