Chapter 6 The Last Guardian Chapter 5 Hourglass of Time

"I have seen them," Khadgar said It had been seven days since they returned to Medivh's Tower (Khadgar had a full day off).These days, too, Khadgar's apprenticeship is on track.Before breakfast, Khadgar would start a one-hour spell practice under Medivh's guidance. From breakfast time until dinner, Khadgar became Medivh's assistant, assisting the astral mage to complete various tasks.These included keeping track of the spells Medivh was keeping an eye on, or running to the library to restore one or another tome, or simply carrying Medivh's toolbox while he worked.

It was a special moment when he finally felt happy working with the old man, and he mentioned the attack in the swamp. "Who have you seen?" Medivh glanced at him through the giant lens used for the experiment.On his hand he wore a little ring with a very thin probe embedded in it.He was fiddling with what looked like a mechanical bee, examining the bee's heavy folded wings with a probe in his hand. "Those orcs," said Khadgar, "I saw them before I fought them." "You didn't mention it to me when you first came here." Medivh looked a little absent-minded, his fingers seemed to be doing a weird dance, the probe went in and out of the mechanism with precision, "I remember asking you about other races. You didn't mention that you saw orcs. Where did you see them?"

"In the vision, not long after I came here," Khadgar replied. "Oh? You encountered illusions, well, you know there are many here. Moros should have told you, you know he has a bit of a big mouth." "I've met one or two, and the one I remember better was on a battlefield, and those guys, I mean the orcs, were over there, attacking us, I mean, the humans who were standing with me. " "Hmm—" Medivh moistened his lower lip, and the probe gracefully moved along the copper breastplate of the mechanical bee. "And I realize I'm not here, not in Azeroth, not in Lordaeron, where I am, where the sky is as red as blood," Khadgar continued.

Suddenly, Medivh's mood changed.His beard and hair stood on end as if he had received an electric shock, and the probe in his hand was pierced to the wrong part. The complex mechanical buzzer flashed, and with a scream, it was scrapped. "The red sky?" Medivh no longer looked at the workbench, but turned his face to stare at Khadgar closely. Strong magical energy rolled wantonly between his brows, and there seemed to be a violent storm in the green eyes. roar. "Yes, the sky is red, red like blood." Khadgar said neither humble nor overbearing, he secretly thought that after repeated tempering, he seemed to be beginning to adapt to Medivh's fickle character.

Medivh's energy hissed horribly. "Speak! Go on! About that world, those orcs, those skies," he ordered coldly, "Tell me everything you know!" Khadgar began to describe the vision he had that first night, referring to everything he could remember.Medivh interrupted him from time to time, asking him questions like what the orcs were wearing, what the world looked like, what was on the horizon and in the sky, whether there were any flags in the orc army, and so on.Khadgar felt his memories being flipped through three layers.Medivh knew everything from Khadgar except one.

Except for the strange but familiar eyes of the battle mage commander, Khadgar felt that these should not be mentioned, and Medivh's questions were all about the world of red sky and those orcs, and Medivh hardly asked the human defenders.When Khadgar described those visions to Medivh, Medivh seemed to calm down, but Khadgar's words didn't make Medivh's doubts any less, the rough sea was still undulating under his thick and long eyebrows. "Strange," Medivh said slowly, as if thinking about something, after Khadgar finished.He leaned back in the chair and tapped his lips with probed fingers.

The house was enveloped in silence, and finally, Medivh spoke: "This is a new illusion, a very new illusion." "Master," Khadgar said. "Medivh." The astral mage reminded him. "Master Medivh," Khadgar continued, "where do these visions come from? Are they shadows from the past or omens from the future? "Both," Medivh said, leaning back in his chair, "nor. Let's not talk about that, now you go to the kitchen and get a can of wine, that's the end of today's work. I think it's almost dinner time Well, wait a minute, I'm going to give some explanations for these visions."

When Khadgar returned, Medivh was comfortably seated in a large chair with a fire burning in the fireplace.Medivh took out two large wine glasses, and Khadgar poured the wine. The sweet and sweet smell of red wine mixed with the smell of burning fir wood, filled the whole room. "How much can you drink?" Medivh asked him. "Drink a little," Khadgar said. "In Violet City, it's normal to drink with meals." "That's right," Medivh said. "By the way, you asked me about the illusion." "Yes. Those visions, and Moros..." Khadgar hesitated, he didn't want to add another proof to Moros's title of big mouth, but he decided to go on. "Moroes said I'm not the only one who can see visions, everyone can see them all the time."

"He's right," Medivh said, taking a gulp of his wine and smacking his lips. "This wine is made from late-harvest grapes, and it's not too bad. Well... you know, this tower is built on an energy field. The surrounding magical energy will be concentrated here by the force of the energy field, Such a place of thin time and space will be distorted due to the collection of a lot of magical energy, and it will even become an entrance to another world." "Then what were those things I saw?" Khadgar interrupted the astral mage, "Another world?" Medivh put his fingers to his mouth and hissed, "I'm just saying that the energy field generated for some reason will attract the surrounding magical energy and become a place full of energy. And here in Redridge Mountains—the place where Medivh The Tower, is one such place. There was a huge explosion here long ago, which formed this canyon and warped spacetime here."

"The huge energy field created by the explosion, is that why you live here?" Khadgar asked in time, and Medivh shook his head and said, "You're not right." "You just said that there was a big explosion here, and that it became a place where magical energy gathered. Then you came here..." "Yes," said Medivh, "if you look at it in an ordinary way of thinking, it is. But why can't it happen like this: It is because I will end up here that the big bang happened." happened and prepared me for such a place of energy." Khadgar looked surprised. "That's impossible." "In the normal world, they wouldn't," Medivh said. "But magic is an art that subverts common sense. That's why I say that the magic debate in the halls of the Kirin Tor is all bragging and exaggeration. They just want to find a rational and perfect world, and try to explain everything with laws. Star's Rise in the east and set in the west, the alternation of seasons, people's birth, old age, sickness and death, these are the laws. But magic can invalidate the laws, change the orbit of the stars, chaotic seasons change, stop people's life and death, this is magic. Distorted space appears in the vast Space-time is like a small wrinkle in the floor, waiting only for an industrious person to discover and explore its mysteries."

"But let me believe that this place is entirely for you..." Khadgar said in surprise. "The real world is very different from what you see," Medivh replied. "What should we believe? How does time work?" The topic of Medivh changed so quickly that Khadgar couldn't keep up. "time?" "We use it, we believe in it, we use it to measure everything, but what is it?" Medivh took a sip of his wine and smiled at him. "Time is a constant flow of moments, like sand in an hourglass." Khadgar said hesitantly. "Excellent metaphor." Medivh appreciated. "Let's use an analogy, can you tell the difference between an hourglass and a clock?" Medivh took another sip of wine, Khadgar bowed his head in thought, and shook his head slowly. "Don't be disheartened, boy, it's not your fault. It's a difficult concept for you. A clock is a mechanical analog of time, with gears that control every beat. You can find it when you take the clock apart. Every movement of the watch is driven by a gear spring. You know where it’s going because that’s how the watchmaker designed it.” "Yes," said Khadgar, "time is much like a clock." "Yes, but time is also an hourglass," Medivh said, grabbing the hourglass from the table and turning it over. Khadgar looked at the hourglass, dumbfounded: before Medivh took the wine, the hourglass didn't seem to be on the table, no, it should be said that the moment before Medivh stretched out his hand, there wasn't the hourglass on the table either.The hourglass just popped out of nowhere, it's amazing! "The hourglass is one of the ways time works, isn't it?" Medivh asked. "You can never know which grains of sand are flowing from the top to the bottom of the hourglass at any given moment. Even if you record the order in which the grains of sand pass through, you will find that each recorded order is slightly different. Different, what causes these differences is not important, the important thing is that the final result is always the same, that is, the sand will always flow from the top to the bottom. So—” Medivh deliberately dragged his voice, his eyes flickering Strange brilliance. "So," Khadgar said, "you're saying that it doesn't matter how the cause and effect line up. Whether it's because of the explosion, so you build the tower here, or because you need a place to stay, it's in the It doesn't matter which of these two statements is correct. The important thing is that you have settled here now, and the result is the same." "Exactly." Medivh laughed. "So those illusions at that time were also, they were some sands of time in the hourglass?" Khadgar was still full of doubts.Medivh leaned forward slightly, and the young apprentice immediately felt the pressure from Medivh. "If my Tower were a gigantic hourglass instead of a clock, there would always be some sands of time flowing here at any given moment. They haunt everyone, so we can often see them, but often Can't really see. Among these sands of time, some are from the past, and some are from the future. Couldn't some be from another world?" Medivh gradually lost himself in thought, and now he looked more like talking to himself. "It is quite possible, quite possible. What we see now will also be visions hidden around us in the future. If my tower were a clock, these visions would appear with regularity and be easy to explain .But from the moment the tower becomes an hourglass, the laws are broken by the distorted space-time, and each phantom appears around us with its own rules, and it becomes even more difficult to explain them." Medivh leaned back in his chair Up, the corners of the mouth are slightly upturned. "These are really interesting. I've never liked the tidy and well-arranged space-time of the universe." Khadgar nodded in understanding, "You've seen such special illusions, isn't there a way to see through those Predicting the future based on hallucinations?" Medivh's mood suddenly sank again. "Isn't there a way to avoid that future?" Medivh murmured. "No, they're the kind of thing that even an astral mage has to be in awe of, and yes, they're that awesome thing." "But—" "No but," Medivh interrupted the apprentice roughly, and drank the wine in his glass. "Now that you've had a lot of wine, let me see how it affects your magic control. Come on, float my glass." Khadgar frowned, he felt a little drunk, he was vague Clearly said: "But we have drunk a lot." "That's right," Medivh replied, "You should maintain your state, you never know when those sands of time and space will appear rashly. The solution There are two, or you are always vigilant and avoid the sinister fate; or you enjoy life comfortably, and pay the price when bad luck strikes. Don't wait until the battle to sharpen your gun, and you should plan ahead. Well, cast Your Levitation, quick!" Khadgar didn't know how much he had drunk, trying to stay awake, trying to keep the heavy clay cup afloat... A few minutes later, he set off for the kitchen to find tools to clean up the broken pieces of the clay cup. Every night, Khadgar had some free time to do some magic exercises and research, while Medivh did some other work.Khadgar was very curious about what these jobs were, and he thought they were related to a dwarf.The dwarf came to the tower on a griffin, twice a week, and each time he brought something and took something away, and those things were in bags, and Khadgar didn't know what those things were. Medivh allowed the young apprentice to browse the library freely, even allowing him to seek out questions posed by the wizards of the Kirin Tor. "I only have one request," Medivh smiled, "that is, I have to read the letter you sent to the Kirin Tor." Khadgar's expression became unnatural, Medivh saw his embarrassment, and smiled: "I Not that you'd be hiding something from me, young trust, but—you know my memory, I just hate it when they know things I might have forgotten." With Medivh's permission, Khadgar buried himself in the vast library. He found a catchy ancient epic scroll for his first teacher Jazibah, which recorded in detail Medivh's mother Aegwynn. The details of the battle with an unknown demon; a bibliography on the history of elves for Ms. Dales; reading all the monster manuals he could read for Oronda, but unfortunately he still couldn't deduce the fifth giant from them. the existence of demons.At the same time, Khadgar continued his spell practice.Of course, he has also been looking for a way to decipher those ancient books, which are protected by powerful magic, so that he has been unable to read the precious materials in them.In order to find clues to break the enchantment, Khadgar often worked tirelessly on the solution. Another thing he has been busy with recently is "Guardian".Medivh had mentioned it, and Ser Lothar had thought that Medivh had confided in him about the Guardian, but quickly changed the subject when he found out that Medivh hadn't said anything at all, and it seemed like it was a big secret.Guardian, this is not so much a name as an illusory shadow, not much more real than those illusions that haunt the tower all day long.The name of the guardian has always been mentioned in the ancient books of the elves, and the guardian has also appeared in the royal history of Azeroth. He often appears in a certain wedding or funeral, or in the vanguard of a certain attack.Often mentioned, but never described in detail, this is the Guardian.Is it a title, or is it the mother of the 800-year-old Medivh? Not only that, but there are other things that are confusing about Guardians.Khadgar caught sight of the words "Tirisfal" written on the margin of a page, which had long since been erased, of course.But Khadgar could tell what had been written here before by the imprints on the parchment.Now there is a new question, what exactly is "Tirisfal"?A guardian's name?Or the name of an organization?Or something else at all?That day, Khadgar tossed about this all night. On the fourth day after drinking, Khadgar fell into another vision.Rather, it was the phantom that struck and engulfed him.Khadgar was busy in the library at that time, when he suddenly smelled the fragrance of roses, accompanied by the hot and humid air, the fragrance enveloped the whole room.The walls have been covered with green at some point, grape vines are climbing and growing wantonly on the bookshelves, and the wide and large grape leaves have replaced the collection of books as the surrounding scene.The place where the scrolls were originally placed was also covered with huge moon flowers and red star orchid seedlings.Khadgar took a deep breath, where is this?His curiosity was piqued again.Obviously, there is no barren land here, and there is no army of orcs. This is not the world he saw in the vision.This is a jungle, the jungle of this world, Khadgar consoled himself. Khadgar looked around. Tables and books had disappeared.He was in the jungle, and not far away were three young men who were about the same age as Khadgar. Their rolled bedding was placed beside them, and a clean pot was baking by the campfire, as if they were exploring.The clothes of these people have no marks that can show their identities, but the workmanship is very fine, which is not something ordinary people can wear.They were fighting each other, as before, and Khadgar couldn't make out what they were saying.The blond guy in the middle seemed to be telling a story, and he looked like he was imitating a woman.The brunette boy to the right of the blond boy laughed heartily and jokingly bumped his ass with his knee, and the two laughed together.The brunette smiled and straightened his hair, Khadgar noticed that his hairline was set back, oh no, wait.He thought of Lothar, and so did Lothar.Khadgar looked at that person carefully, and the more he looked, the more he looked like him. His facial features and expression were like a model of Lothar's. The only difference was that he hadn't engraved the traces of time, and his beard hadn't turned gray yet. , but Khadgar was sure—he was Lothar. Khadgar turned his gaze to the third man, my God!He saw the old Medivh.Medivh was dressed in a dark green hunter outfit. Under the raised hood was a young and happy face. His eyes shone as bright as emeralds in the light of the campfire.He smiled shyly at the story of the blond boy.The blond boy gestured and pointed, as if bragging about the future mage's exploits, and Medivh shrugged, looking even more embarrassed. Of these three big boys, one is Medivh, the other is Lothar, and the third is undoubtedly Ryan—the current king of Azeroth.The files of the Kirin Tor record the early adventures of the three of them. They often explored the borders of the kingdom and fought many raiders and monsters. Now, the three were in front of Khadgar.Ryan's story seemed to have just ended. Lothar laughed so hard that he almost fell off the stake he was sitting on. Medivh covered his mouth with his hand and pretended to cough to hide his smile. Medivh held up his finger and pointed in one direction, as if to say we should go.Lothar finally calmed down and went to organize his equipment. Ryan buried his face in his hands, as if embarrassed for delaying the trip. Just then, there was a rustling sound from the jungle around them, something was moving!The three of them immediately stopped their movements, and they must have noticed something.Khadgar, the third person in the party, clearly felt that some malicious monsters had been lurking around the camp.Lothar bent down slowly and pulled out the giant sword under his feet.Ryan stood up vigilantly, pulled out a double-sided ax from behind the tree, and signaled Lothar to scout that side with his eyes, and signaled Medivh to be in charge of the other side.Medivh walked slowly towards the outside without taking anything. Obviously, Medivh was already the strongest of the three at that time. Lane walked cautiously and resolutely to the other side of the camp where he thought the attackers were hiding, then raised the broad ax and slammed it out. The attacker was forced to jump out of his hiding place.The monster was half their height, and for an instant Khadgar thought it was a gigantic orc. He thought of Oronda's monster manual, oh no, this is not an orc, this is a troll.The troll in front of him looked like a jungle troll, his skin was dark blue in the moonlight, and his gray cockscomb hair grew back from his forehead to his neck.Like the orc, his tusks protrude from his jaw, but instead of the orc's upturned fangs, his tusks are more slender, extending downward, and forming an arc like ivory.His disfigured facial features are like an extended version of a human being, which looks extremely weird. A string of human bone necklaces hang on his bare chest, and his tattoos are also clearly visible, making him look extraordinarily hideous. The troll let out a battle cry and swung his spear at Lion.Ryan wanted to take back the weapon, but the previous swing was too hard, and he couldn't take it back in a hurry.Fortunately, Lothar charged in front of the troll, blocked a blow, and then slashed back with a sword; behind him was Medivh, who was closely following, and the energy gathered at his fingertips. The troll nimbly dodged back, avoiding Lothar's attack, and then took another big step back, Ryan's giant ax swept past him dangerously.The two fighters cooperated with each other and continued to attack alternately, forcing the troll to retreat frequently. They could only parry but not counterattack, and the battle circle was getting farther and farther away from the camp. It seemed that the humans had the upper hand. But Khadgar noticed that the troll's moves were not aggressive at all, and his movements seemed to be trying to lure humans to a certain place. Young Medivh, yelling something to his friends, must have spotted the troll's trap, too. Before the words fell, the other two trolls suddenly jumped out and attacked Ryan from two directions. As the troll expected, the move came too suddenly, and Ryan was caught off guard and stabbed in the right arm.The future king let out a cry, and the ax dropped to the ground. After a successful blow, one troll continued to attack Ryan, and the other two trolls began to besiege Lothar. Lothar calmly and skillfully swung his giant sword to defend, barely resisting the troll's attack.In this sneak attack, the trolls showed their ingenuity, and their ambush managed to separate the two fighters, forcing Medivh to choose which one to help. He chose to help Lion - Khadgar guessed it was because Lane was injured.With the red of flame magic in his hand, Medivh rushed towards Lane - but was hit hard in the face by the troll, and the heavy spear handle hit Medivh's jaw with a "ping", and he fell down in response .The troll turned in a graceful gesture and hit the wounded Lion a few more times, and Lion fell, and the broad ax slipped from the future monarch's grasp. Looking at the two people lying on the ground, the troll moved slowly, as if hesitating which one to kill first.In the end he chose Medivh, who was closer to him, and the spear was held high above his head, the black point of which gleamed coldly in the moonlight. But Medivh would not give him this chance. Taking advantage of the moment he hesitated, Medivh seized the last chance to recite the spell silently. The moment the spear pierced his throat, the magic was activated, and a small whirlwind appeared out of thin air, rolling up the sand Caught the eyes of the troll, the troll hurriedly rubbed his eyes with his hands, this is the last chance!Medivh didn't get up, and didn't cast a spell, but rolled forward on the spot, took out his dagger, and stabbed it into the troll's thigh. The troll was badly wounded, and screaming through the jungle, he swung his spear wildly in an attempt to hit Medivh.At this moment, Medivh had already rolled to one side, stood up and cast a spell in a low voice, crackling and cracking sounds sounded between his fingers, and he raised his hand and released a lightning ball.On target!The troll was hit hard by the strong electric current, and then half-kneeled and fell down. He was finished, his body paralyzed by the electric current couldn't move, and he couldn't get up no matter how hard he struggled. The troll raised his head, his red eyes were burning. Hatred, staring at the mage. Ryan came behind the troll, swung the giant ax -- the edge of the ax reflected the moonlight, shone strangely, and slashed at the troll's neck...Okay, get one. On Lothar's side, the warrior defended the enemy's attack completely by himself, but he barely defended it, and had no power to fight back. The troll heard the screams of their companions, one continued to attack, the other's eyes were red and full of murderous aura, and he rushed towards the two of them screaming.Ryan walked in the shadow of sword wind and sword while fighting and retreating. The troll frantically swung his spear and took two steps forward. Under his feet was a campfire that was about to go out.It's now!Medivh, who was hiding aside, chanted a long and rhythmic magic, raised his arms to his shoulders, his clothes rattled, and red light enveloped his body. Under the quiet moonlight, he was shining red Like a scary demon.After the last syllable was sung, the campfire exploded suddenly, and the flames rushed into the sky, turning into a huge fire lion head, and burning towards the troll. The troll burned as if it had been poured with asphalt. He tried to extinguish the burning flames on his body, but it was of no avail. The hungry hellfire gradually devoured the desperate troll. When the last troll saw that the situation was not good, he slammed Lothar back, and took the opportunity to roll towards the bushes. At the critical moment, it was better to run away.Ryan was already waiting for him here. He was leaning on an axe, the corners of his mouth were upturned, and his eyes flashed mockingly: "Little boy, want to run?"There are no doors!Facing Ryan who was blocking the front, the troll let out a long roar and went into a berserk state, but he forgot one thing, that was Lothar behind him, the number one warrior of the future kingdom, taking advantage of the troll's roar, holding The giant sword swung the spear from the inside to the outside, and then used the rebound force of the spear to sweep him from the outside to the inside, cutting him at the foot. The battle is finally over. Lothar stepped forward, patted Ryan, who was still bleeding and wounded, with a smile on his face, as if laughing at Ryan's poor performance.Ryan put his finger to Lothar's lips to keep him quiet, then pointed to Medivh. Everyone turned their heads to look at Medivh, he was still standing on one side, his arms were not put down, his fingers were convulsed due to too much force, and twisted like eagle claws.He pursed his lips tightly and stared blankly ahead.Lion and Lothar (and Khadgar) ran to him calling his name, but it was too late, the white moonlight flowed gently, and the young Medivh collapsed to the ground. The two rushed forward to help Medivh. The young mage looked very bad. He was breathing heavily, his pupils dilated in the moonlight.His friend bowed down and looked at him anxiously, he opened his mouth and forced out a sentence: "Don't look at me." He looked at Khadgar, yes, he looked at Khadgar, and passed out after speaking.Khadgar was stunned, with his mouth half-opened, with an unbelievable expression on his face, he backed away slowly.Can Medivh see him?Like the battle mage who had the same eyes as him, could Medivh really see him?Ryan and Lothar pinched people and pinched tigers, but to no avail, Medivh never woke up. "Khadgar!" he heard Medivh calling him, the old voice clearly, but it seemed to come from another world. "Khadgar!" The illusion disappeared suddenly, like opening a curtain to enter a new room, and Khadgar returned to the library. In front of him stood Medivh—a much older Medivh than the one lying in the jungle. . "Young trust, are you okay? I called you several times, but you didn't answer." "I'm sorry, Maddy... Teacher." Khadgar hadn't recovered, and was stuttering.He took a deep breath. "Illusion, I'm in another illusion." Medivh's thick and long eyebrows frowned. "Another vision of orcs and red skies?" he asked sternly, green storms racing in his eyes. Khadgar shook his head and said carefully, "No, trolls, some blue trolls, in the jungle. The sky is the same as here, in our world, I think." Medivh seemed a little disappointed, "That's the jungle trolls, I've seen them in the south, in Stranglethorn Vale..." His expression softened, as if he was immersed in the memories of the past, and then shook his head, as if to shake off Those memories, then asked: "Are you sure there are no orcs in this vision?" "Yes, Master," Khadgar replied.He didn't want to mention the attack, had it hit him hard?Did Medivh sleep for decades because of that coma? Looking at the current Medivh, Khadgar could see many shadows of a young Medivh. Compared with before, he was taller and thinner, and due to his age and years of research, he also looked a little hunchbacked.But for some reason, he never got rid of the feeling that he was put into the mold of an old man like a young man. "Do you have a 'Song of Aegwynn' here?" Medivh asked. Khadgar shook his head. "Is it a song?" "No, it's a poem about my mother," Medivh said. "It used to be too messy here, and I haven't been able to find it. I think you, who are in charge of organizing the library, might be able to." "Oh, I know it. It's there, with the other epic scrolls." Maybe I should tell him the details of the vision, Khadgar thought to himself.Was the attack purely an accident?Did that attack indirectly lead to my meeting with Lothar decades later?This damned illusion, what is the key factor that triggers the illusion? Medivh found the scroll, flipped through it, and checked out a piece of paper from his pocket. "I have to go." Medivh put the piece of paper back into his pocket, "I'll be leaving right away." "Shall I go too?" Khadgar asked. "No, I'll go alone this time." The astral mage strode forward and walked out the door. "I will hand over your next class schedule to Moros." "When will you be back?" Khadgar asked loudly, as Medivh was far away. "When it's time for me to return." Medivh's answer came from afar, and he strode towards the top of the tower. Khadgar seemed to see Moros guarding there, and the griffin had been waiting for a long time. "Okay," Khadgar said, looking back at the books, hands on hips. "I'm here to study this big hourglass."