Hemet had thought that with Type Zero around, his good days were finally coming, and he could honorably retire his title of humanoid walking transport. What he had never expected was...
"Hemet! I asked for a venomous ooze! What the hell did you find me? It's all limp and no longer fresh. Is this a slug?"
"How many times have I told you? A Dimetrodon, a Dimetrodon! Look at this single-sailed dragon. Does it look like the water sloshing around in your brain?"
"Hemet, get that pile of venomhide ravasaur eggs out of the fire right now! Those are materials! Not food..."
The boy's furious roar made the dwarf stagger. Hemet's two sturdy little legs kept moving as though they had been wound up.
Old Hemet carefully set the enormous thing on his back to one side before collapsing outside the makeshift laboratory, his eyes bloodshot.
He had gone five straight days without sleep. That letter had done him in. After learning that he needed to reach Dalaran by the end of the month, Lord Al had plunged into frenzied research. Sleepless nights had become the norm.
And as Lord Al's only follower, he could only grit his teeth and swallow his suffering.
Time slowly passed, leaving only a few short days until the academic symposium in Dalaran.
Stormwind City
Nielas Aran gave an enormous yawn. He struggled to climb out of the fair, delicate arms around him, looking with lingering apprehension at the stunning face right beside his own.
Damn it, how did I...
He rubbed his temples, his head splitting. He was just about to rise when a slender hand pressed against his chest.
"Darling, are you leaving?"
Aegwynn gazed seductively at the panicked archmage. As though she had discovered an entertaining toy, she chuckled, twirling a strand of hair beside her lips around her pale index finger.
"I'm... sorry, I... don't..."
An innocent virgin who had been single for all thirty years of his life, Nielas Aran had never encountered anything like this. His face flushed, his entire body went rigid, and he did not dare move.
"Are you going to attend to business, or... have some fun?"
She lightly licked the corner of her mouth, playfully poking out her rosy little tongue. The sight left the archmage red-faced, and he turned his head away.
"I can't... I don't..."
The archmage struggled desperately. He had never longed for love before, having devoted everything to the arcane. Yet when faced with this woman, for some reason, he felt an uncontrollable urge to fall in love with her.
A shadow crossed Aegwynn's face, but her expression returned to normal in an instant.
The thin sheet slipped away, revealing a broad expanse of smooth, snow-white skin. Aegwynn nimbly rolled over and pinned the archmage beneath her, beginning her performance.
The struggle vanished from Nielas Aran's eyes, leaving only blankness. His breathing grew heavy, and his movements became rough.
"A maggot-like creature, daring to defy my will. Does he not know that the woman giving herself to him is a great Guardian?"
Her seductive air gone, Aegwynn sat on the eaves beneath the night sky, her expression icy.
Reaching out to stroke her flat abdomen, the Guardian smiled faintly.
"I no longer need you, pitiful, pathetic Nielas Aran. My child will soon be born. I promise that he will become the most powerful being in this world, Azeroth's last... Guardian."
Green light flickered in Aegwynn's eyes. Beneath the moonlight, her alluring face looked savage and sinister.
What Aegwynn did not know was that her personality had unwittingly become twisted. The aloof, righteous Guardian she had once been no longer existed.
Nielas Aran woke from a nightmare yet again. It had already been eighteen days since that woman left. Tears streamed down his face as he clutched his head in anguish.
He did not want to think about her anymore. He kept reminding himself that the woman was merely a passing visitor in his life and meant nothing to him.
But while he could hide the piercing agony in his chest from others, he could not hide it from himself. He... was in love. He had fallen deeply, madly in love with that enigmatic woman.
Inside Stormwind Keep
Barathen looked at his friend with concern. The spirited, vibrant archmage was gone. Before him stood a haggard, unshaven middle-aged man with sunken eyes.
"That concludes today's meeting. You may all return to your duties. Nielas Aran, stay a moment..."
The scattered footsteps gradually faded. Barathen gestured to his captain of the guard, who tactfully bowed and quietly withdrew with the guards.
"Nielas Aran... you..."
Nielas Aran jolted to his feet, looking sheepishly at the hand patting his shoulder.
"My apologies... Your Majesty. I've simply had some trouble sleeping lately."
Barathen said nothing and turned back toward his throne.
"That woman..."
"She's very good to me..."
Their voices abruptly stopped. They stared at one another in silence, both leaving their intended words unsaid. The atmosphere grew somewhat awkward.
With a long sigh, the Lionheart King sat on his throne. He propped up his chin and began to ponder, while Nielas Aran stood below him, his eyes vacant, his thoughts unknown. King and subject remained silent in that strange atmosphere.
Barathen knew that the powerful sorceress must have had some purpose in coming to his kingdom. What he could not understand was... why would Aegwynn, such a powerful and beautiful Guardian, take an interest in his childhood friend?
Although Nielas Aran ranked among Dalaran's finest and was an important figure even in Stormwind City, as the Guardian of Tirisfal, why would she...
In the end, the Lionheart King spoke first. He gestured to an attendant standing in the corridor.
Barathen took a newspaper from the respectful attendant and handed it to the distracted archmage.
"Have a look at this. Perhaps it will cheer you up. Though I shouldn't say this as a king and a friend, I still want to remind you..."
Barathen paused, a trace of gravity entering his imposing face.
"This is for your sake, and even more for this nation's future... be careful of that woman. It would be best not to have anything whatsoever to do with her."
Nielas Aran stared speechlessly at the Lionheart King on the throne. He wanted to say something, but in the end, it all became a long sigh.
"I understand... Your Majesty."
"All right, have a look at this copy of last month's Dalaran Monthly."
Nielas Aran initially frowned, then suddenly grew excited.
"Orvido's great discoveries... since when did Magic Monthly have this section? No, no, not this..."
The Lionheart King could not help chuckling as he watched the archmage leaf through the newspaper like a headless fly.
"The Dalaran academic symposium? This is... wait! Master Al will soon arrive in Dalaran to attend the academic symposium between Quel'Thalas and Dalaran!"
Nielas Aran cried out excitedly. His flagging spirits became exuberant, and he waved the newspaper in his hand, as excited as a child.
"Go and take a look. Southshore's spatial coordinates are on the back of the newspaper. I think you need a holiday to soothe those anxious nerves."
"But Your Majesty, the south..."
"Rest assured, my chief archmage. I am the Lionheart King of the Kingdom of Azeroth!"
As the previously hunched king spoke those words, his entire bearing seemed invigorated. The archmage gazed up at Barathen on the throne. That almost tangible aura briefly made him wonder whether a mighty male lion sat there.
"Your Majesty... on this trip to Dalaran, I will certainly seek Master Al's guidance. I will bring back a way to defeat the Gurubashi."
Nielas Aran's head was lowered, hiding his expression, but Barathen knew what the archmage below him was saying.
With a gratified smile, Barathen descended from his throne and punched Nielas Aran hard in the chest, then slung an arm around the grimacing archmage.
"Rest assured, Nielas Aran. Stormwind City... will always be your staunchest support!"
PS: There are many versions of how Nielas Aran and Aegwynn met, and these versions actually all came from Blizzard's backstabbing... some say Aegwynn seduced the archmage, while others say they both belonged to the Council of Tirisfal and that Nielas Aran pursued Aegwynn first. There's another, even more outrageous version. The following passage was taken from the internet: in the latest storyline, Nielas Aran served in the Council of Tirisfal's assassination organization, the Tirisgarde. While pursuing Aegwynn under orders, he came to know her and subsequently chose to side with her.
At Aegwynn's suggestion, Nielas Aran accompanied her to the Kingdom of Stormwind and secured a position as a royal court mage.
First, in the original storyline, Medivh, Lothar, and Llane were friends. What kind of trio was that? Stormwind City's big three! People even grander than the high nobility. A lousy duke like Bolvar didn't even rank.
Think about it. However powerful Medivh's mother was, surely she couldn't just make Nielas Aran chief court mage by saying so? That was the king's right-hand man. However capable someone might be, who would dare employ a senior official parachuted in out of nowhere without knowing his background?
Besides, Stormwind City was hopelessly pathetic at the time. It had neither money nor land. Nielas Aran was already an archmage, which corresponded to the level cap of sixty in that version. Even if he couldn't compare with Antonidas or Kael'thas, could he really not compare with the other members of the Council of Six? Why go to Stormwind City to build his career? It makes no sense. Wouldn't becoming the boss of the Kirin Tor be better?
Or rather, only if Medivh's father, Nielas Aran, came from a family rooted in Stormwind City for generations and was already a Stormwind noble would his child have had the chance to become friends with Lothar and Llane Wrynn, although Medivh was pretty badass after fourteen anyway.
For the sake of plausibility and readability, I'll choose a relatively logical version.