The sun hung lazily over Orgrimmar, capital of the Horde. The merchants were selling their wares, the grunts were patrolling the streets, and the adventurers were everywhere.

In the Valley of Strength, a Tauren Druid was sitting on his Mechano-Hog, muttering to himself.

"Where is that Nether-blasted elf?" he said aloud. "I'll try the bank." He revved the engine and sped through the busy streets.

He pulled up outside the bank and dismounted. The Hog vanished into the mount void. Entering the bank, he looked around.

"Luxxoria?" he called. "Are you in here?"

"Over here, by the guild vault!" Came the reply. Zorann looked over and saw a female Blood Elf waving at him.

"About time I found you." he said. "I need a portal."

Luxxoria sighed. "Shattrath again?"

Zorann nodded. "Yep. I'm going to Sethekk Halls again, to see if Anzu will finally play ball and give me the Raven Lord." He counted on his fingers. "This'll be the 37th time I've tried getting it."

Luxxoria wasn't paying attention. She seemed more interested in a scroll she was writing in.

"What in the name of Garrosh's sweaty jock strap are you doing?" Zorann asked, trying to look at the scroll.

"If you must know," Luxxoria replied curtly, "I am working on a new portal spell."

"A new portal?" Zorann raised an eyebrow. "Where to?"

"Elwynn Forest." Luxxoria said with a grin.

"Why?" Zorann scratched his head.

"Because I'm sick of having to go via Stonard every time I feel like killing some Alliance filth." Luxxoria spat. "Every time we go there, my Water Elemental turns into a muck elemental." She whined.

Zorann laughed.

"Hopefully, this new portal will take us straight to Elwynn, at a ley line intersect a stone's throw from Goldshire." Luxxoria beamed.

"Sounds good," said Zorann, "but will it work?"

"Only one way to find out." replied Luxxoria. "I'm just about to test it now. Want to come along?"

Zorann shrugged. "I guess. Anzu will just be a big disappointment anyway. But let me grab my healing gear first."

"Why?" Luxxoria raised an eyebrow.

"Remember when you tried improving your Frostbolt spell?"

Luxxoria thought for a moment before laughing. "Oh yes, I forgot." She chuckled. "I gave you such bad frostbite, didn't I?"

Zorann sighed and went up to the teller.

***

"OK, ready?" said Luxxoria.

"For the fifth time, yes!" yelled Zorann. "Just cast the damn thing already!" He cracked his knuckles.

Luxxoria closed her eyes and began chanting in Thalassian, the language of the Blood Elves. Zorann couldn't understand a word, but he assumed it to be the spell for this new portal.

As Luxxoria finished chanting, there was a loud crackling noise, followed by a flash of light. In the middle of the two was a shimmering portal. Trees could clearly be seen on the other side.

Luxxoria's eyes widened. "I did it!" She cheered. "Elwynn Forest!"

"Well done, I guess." Zorann said. "Now let's go through it before it closes!" And with that, he stepped through.

Luxxoria grinned and followed behind him. As she did so, the portal closed with an audible pop.

Arriving on the other side, the two friends found that they were indeed in a forest.

"That's funny," said Zorann, "I don't remember Elwynn ever being this ... lush."

Luxxoria looked around and saw that the trees stretched on as far as the eye could see, in every possible direction. She put a hand on her chin and was soon lost in thought.

"It is possible," she said after a while, "that the portal has taken us to Terrokar Forest, rather than Elwynn."

"If that's the case," replied Zorann with a sigh, "then let's just go to Shattrath." He took a sip of a vial and transformed into a dragon. "Hop on." He motioned to his back.

"Looks dropping thirty-thousand gold on that Vial of the Sands was worth it, then." Said Luxxoria as she clambered aboard.

Zorann grinned a toothy grin as he took to the sky.

"Right." He said, as he hovered above the ground. "You check your map so we can figure out where the heck we are."

Luxxoria nodded and reached into her bags. She pulled out a small piece of parchment which shimmered with magical energy.

"OK, got my map. Now, where are w-argh!" she cried, as the map suddenly burst into flames. "My map!"

"What in Thrall's name happened?" asked Zorann.

"I don't know!" Luxxoria shouted. "My map! It just ... burst into flames! I don't know why!"

Zorann sighed. "Mages." He muttered. "Always blowing stuff up."

He let out a small roar as Luxxoria slapped the back of his head.

"I heard that." She said sternly. "And my speciality is Frost magic, not Fire. I freeze things. I don't blow them up." She huffed.

"OK, sorry." Zorann said. "I need to land, I can't dig around in my bags like this." He descended to the ground, and Luxxoria jumped off his back.

With a puff of smoke, the dragon was back to being a Tauren. He rummaged around in his backpack and took out his own map.

"Now I'll show you how Druids read a map." He said with a grin.

FWOOSH. The map burst into flames. Luxxoria laughed.

"You were saying?" she said.

"Ahh, shut up." Zorann groaned.

"Well, we're clearly lost." Luxxoria said. "Let's just use our Hearthstones and get out of here."

"Can't argue with that logic." replied Zorann, as they both pulled a small stone out of their respective bags.

"See you back in Orgrimmar!" Luxxoria said, as she began rubbing the stone.

"Not if I get there first!" laughed Zorann, as he rubbed his.

Several seconds passed before the two of them realised that something was wrong.

"Er ... why are we still here?" Luxxoria queried. She looked at her Hearthstone. "Son of a trogg!"

"What now?" Zorann said, raising an eyebrow.

"My Hearthstone ... it's just a rock!" Luxxoria shoved the object under Zorann's nose.

"Maybe it is a rock?" He said with a chuckle. "We did kill a bunch of earth elementals the other day, and you insisted on taking every last piece of loot. Even the vendor trash."

"Take a look at your own Hearthstone then, cattle features."

Zorann furrowed his brow as he looked at his own Hearthstone.

"Ah, well ... er ... mine is a rock too."

Luxxoria smiled wickedly. "So, what now?"

Zorann glared at her. "You're a mage. OPEN A DAMN PORTAL."

Luxxoria covered her face with her palm. "Of course..."

She turned away from Zorann and began channelling the spell to open a portal. The arcane energy swirled around her fingers and suddenly vanished with a slight fizzle.

Zorann's face fell. "What the hell was that?"

Luxxoria looked in her bags and giggled sheepishly.

"Er, yeah ... I'm out of runes."

"WHAT?!" Zorann roared at the top of his voice, sending birds retreating from the treetops.

"I guess I forgot to buy some more while we were in Orgrimmar." Luxxoria shrugged and laughed weakly.

Zorann sighed and took another sip of the Vial of the Sands. With a flash, he was back to being a dragon. "Get on." He said gruffly. "If we're in Terrokar, we'll go to Stonebreaker Hold, and fly to Shattrath from there."

Luxxoria nodded and climbed onto Zorann's back.

"But one things for sure." Zorann said as he took off.

"What?" Luxxoria asked.

"The next time you want to try a new spell," he said bluntly, "you can find some other mug to help you test it."

Luxxoria sighed, and the two friends flew along in silence.