Under the griffon's wings, the earth changed. The vast expanse of farmland is nothing more than pitch-black debris, dotted with overturned facilities and wreckage. Large swaths of forest were uprooted and transported to the front line to fill with warplanes, leaving only huge scars on the picturesque landscape of the past. The deep pits dotted with their mouths wide open, and the surface of the earth was lifted, revealing veins underground. Plumes of smoke rose from the distant horizon, but Khadgar couldn't tell if they were from the battlefield or the furnace. So they spent the whole day on the back of the griffin, and by this time the sun was already setting.

Karazan stands like an ebony shadow in the middle of the crater, greedily soaking up the dying sun with nothing in return. There was not a single ray of light in the towers and the hollow windows. The flares in the tower, which did not require fuel, also seem to have been extinguished for a long time. Khadgar suspects that Medivan has fled.

Lothar jumped off his griffon, and Khadgar quickly landed, sliding off the winged beast's back. As soon as he touched the ground, the griffon immediately rose into the air and flew north with a shrill whistle.

The hero of Azeroth had already ascended the stairs, his sword drawn in his hand, his broad shoulders tensed, and his tall physique moving silently, as graceful and agile as a cat. Similarly, Garona was cautiously sneaking in, her hand reaching into her robes and pulling out her longbladed dagger. Stormwind's heavy sword bounced behind Khadgar's back, and he felt like a clumsy stone golem compared to the other two. Behind them, more griffons began to land, laying down groups of warriors.

The open-air corridor outside the observatory is empty, and the inside is also a deserted scene. The last remaining tools were all destroyed and scattered on the ground, and the golden astrolabe, crushed by Medivan, lay on the mantelpiece. It seems that if the tower has really been abandoned, it was clearly decided in a hurry.

Or maybe it's not abandoned at all.

After lighting the torch they had brought with them, Lothar, Garona, and Khadgar led the team down countless steps. For Khadgar, the walls were so familiar, because this was his home, and the staircase that stretched out as far as the eye could see was a daily challenge for him. And now. The torches on the walls, the cold, frozen flames, had all been extinguished, and the torches held by the invading troops cast countless heavily armed shadows on the walls. It gives the entire stairwell an eerie, even almost nightmare, atmosphere. Danger seemed lurking behind every wall, and Khadgar guarded every dimly lit door in case of a deadly ambush behind it.

Nothing. The balcony of the theater was empty, the ballroom was empty, and the conference room showed no signs of life. The furnishings inside are as they are. The rooms are still those rooms, just no guests. Khadgar returned to his lodgings and found that nothing had changed there.

Now, the torch casts strange shadows in the library, making the cast-iron platforms look horribly twisted and the bookshelves look like battlements. The books were intact, and even Khadgar's recent notes lay on the table. Isn't Medivan not at all afraid that any of his books will be stolen?

A few scraps of paper caught Khadgar's attention, and he realized that he was in front of the same bookshelf where the epic was kept. It's finally a little different. A ripped reel to pieces. Khadgar picked up the largest fragment, read a few lines, and nodded.

"What's that?" said Lothar. They looked like they were afraid that the books in the room would come alive and attack them at any time.

"Egwen's Hymn," Khadgar Dao, "an epic about his mother." ”

Lothar hummed in understanding, but Khadgar was still unsure. Medivan had been here before, after they had fled. Why did he destroy only this scroll, out of painful memories of his own mother's battle, out of revenge for Sargeras's defeat to Egwene, or just as a symbol, to use the ciphertext dedicated to destroying this scroll and destroying the Guardians of Tirispha as a symbol of his resignation, his eventual betrayal of the Order?

Khadgar ventured and tried a common spell - used to detect any magic left in the vicinity - and only reacted to the spellbooks around him. If Medivan had indeed cast any spells here, he would have covered up the traces of the spell perfectly, so that Khadgar could not find any clues.

Lothar notices Khadgar drawing talismans in the air. So when he was done, he said, "You'd better save your strength until we find him." ”

Khadgar shook his head, wondering if they could actually find the Astral Mage.

Instead, they found Morros, at the bottom. At the main entrance, where the kitchen and storage room are located. His usual curled body stretched out in the center of the foyer, curling blood trailing along the floor to one wall. His eyes were wide open, but the expression on his face was surprisingly relaxed. It seems that even death can't shock the old butler's inner turmoil.

Garona ducked into the kitchen, but soon came out again, her face covered with a grim green shadow. She held up her hand to show Khadgar.

A pair of rose-colored glasses, shattered. Cook. Khadgar nodded.

The appearance of two corpses in quick succession seemed to make the troops even more noisy. They walked out of the large arch at the entrance of the main entrance and came out of the tower. They couldn't find any trace of Medivan, only a few broken clues that showed him to be there.

"Will he have another lair?" asked Lothar, "another hiding place?"

"He goes out a lot," Khadgar said, "sometimes for a few days and then comes back without warning." He suddenly felt a figure appear on the balcony hanging above the entrance to the main entrance—just a slight fluctuation in the air, and when he looked closely, it was empty again.

"Maybe he went to the orcs and led them," was one of the warriors' assumptions.

Garona shook her head, "They would never identify with a human leader. ”

"He can't just disappear from the world!" Lothar exclaimed. He turned to his troops and shouted, "Total!

Ignoring the warrior's temper, Garona said, "He didn't, and the world evaporated." Go back and search again. She walked back like a boat that tore away the waves, and separated the troops.

She vanished again into the tower's open jaw. Lothar glanced at Khadgar, who shrugged and trailed the orc.

Moros's body was still in place, his blood in a quarter-arc that stretched to the wall. Garona pressed the wall, as if trying to feel what was behind it. She frowned and cursed, and began to slam her hand against the wall, causing her hand to be painful.

"It should be here," she said.

"What should be here?" Khadgar asked.

"A door," orcs said.

"There's never a door here," Khadgar said.

"Perhaps, there has always been a door here," said Garona, "but you can't see it." Look, Moros is dead here," she stomped her foot against the base of the wall, "and then the body was moved, moved to the center of the room, and the blood trailed in an arc. ”

Lothar hummed in agreement, and began to push the wall with Garona.

Khadgar looked at the unmistakable wall. He passes through here five or six times a day. There should be nothing behind this wall except stone bricks and dirt. But still......

"Stand out," said the young mage, "I'll give it a try." (To be continued.) )