Surviving the Shattering

Biara took her eyes away from the spellbook she was reading and reached out, picking up one of her delicate teacups from a nearby stand. Her sitting room was ideal for the quiet study of magic, with luxurious padded furniture and a cheery little fireplace to keep the area cozy as she read. She often came here, more so over the past few months since Kyliska's death.

The thought made her pause and sigh, placing her spellbook down. Kyliska. How she missed her sister. No amount of time would ever dull the ache in her heart that she felt every single time she remembered Kyli. That last, haunted look on her face as she fell off the cliff would forever be burned into Biara's memory. The Magistrix frowned and stood, her concentration and mood ruined by the thoughts. She walked towards one of the full-size windows, teacup in hand and paused to look out over the beautiful city of her people.

That was when it happened. The world was sundered far away, but in Silvermoon only the slightest tremble of the earth could be felt, barely perceptible even to the delicate senses of a Sin'dorei. Even still, Biara paused, shock on her face as the impact of what was occurring dawned on her. Her hands trembled and the teacup tumbled to the floor, shattering to pieces and forgotten as the Magistrix brought her hands to her temples.

The leylines! She could feel them. She could sense dozens of them tearing, twisting and malforming as somewhere distant the surface of Azeroth itself was torn asunder by a destructive force that Biara could only get the briefest hint of. The pain was exquisite and she felt the very magic in her body responding to the pain of the world, her senses overloaded with the scope of the disaster.

She turned and rushed from the room, her sandals thumping on the stone floors of her spire as she literally ran towards the nearest scrying chamber. Upon reaching it she threw open the doors and rushed to the orb set on a pedestal in the center of the room, not even bothering to close the door for privacy. She had to know what had happened. She had to see!

She placed a hand on the orb and visions filled her mind. Death. Destruction. Everywhere she looked, all over Azeroth she saw the same scenes repeated again and again, and she wept. Tears flowed freely and her breath came in gasps as she slowly took her hands away from the orb. Her heart filled with joy and relief as she realized what had happened.

Silvermoon is safe. My people live on, and do not suffer. All of my preparation, all of my worry was for nothing. They live!

Everything she had worked so hard to save had survived. The Sin'dorei would live on. They would prosper, and in this new, shattered world perhaps they could even attain power beyond that which they had seen before. With her foes weakened, with the races of Azeroth suffering, the Sin'dorei could finally claim their true place of power amongst the Horde. She could finally and forever put an end to the war and death that the Alliance brought to her people daily.

She turned and walked from the room, moving more slowly now, relief on her face as she went deeper into her spire. Beneath the surface of the city, in cellars and hidden rooms obscured by powerful wards and locked, secret doors lay her special feeding rooms, where she and her trusted servants could consume magic and enjoy the effects in privacy.

The Magistrix walked through a silk curtain into a dark, cozy little circular room that consisted of a sloped pit filled with cushions and a large mana crystal suspended in the center. Sliding down onto the soft pillows, she reached out and caressed the crystal, a gift from a dear friend. She could feel the power within it as it slowly flowed into her, soothing the ache in her head that the damaged leylines had caused. The hot fires of the magic contained within the crystal flowed through her blood, mixing with the cool arcane power that resided deep in her being.

Like water mixed with fire delicious flares of power flowed through her, soothing and comforting her. Mixed with her relief and her dreams of the future, Biara closed her eyes, letting the power bathe her as she dreamed of the days ahead, letting all of the pain and worry of the previous months burn away in the hot fire of the magic within the gem.

She sighed in ecstasy, her eyes closed and her mind at peace. The future was there for the taking, for those with the power to claim it.