Lorewalker Cho smiled as he surveyed the four adventurers standing in front of him. They were covered in cuts and bruises, their clothing was tattered, and they were drenched in sweat.

"You have done well." he said. "I watched you in action. I must say that the four of you work well together. You've destroyed more of the sha in an hour than I have in the last few days!"

The four of them flashed a grin at him.

"Happy to have been of service." Navitas replied. "Now, I believe we made a deal?"

Cho clapped his hands together eagerly.

"But of course!" he chimed. "A pandaren does not go back on their word. You have assisted me, so I will gladly assist you. But before I do, I need to know which one of you has the clearer mind. For in order for me to help you, one of you will need to meditate. Only once your mind is clear, will you find who you seek."

"Not me. My mind is fried." Zorann said quickly, before pointing at Luxxoria. "But not as bad as hers. I've lost count of the number of times she's blown herself up trying to improve her spells. You'd think she was a goblin engineer or something."

Navitas raised a hand.

"I'm a healer." she said. "And I think we all agree that it requires a lot of concentration, since you need to keep focused on the rest of your group. And getting lost in your own little world means that people will die."

Cho nodded.

"Indeed." he said. "Your mind will be clearer than that of your friends, as one does not need to concentrate in order to swing a blade or flail like a beast."

"Hey!" Luxxoria said. "Opening portals isn't as easy as it looks!"

Cho laughed.

"I never said it was, Luxxoria." he said. "But Navitas is right. Concentration is indeed vital when taking care of your friends."

Navitas smiled.

"Then let's go." she said. "I'm keen to get this done. No offence, Lorewalker, but I want to get out of the Jade Forest. I'm sick of the sight of it."

"None taken." Cho replied. "Now come, let us make haste. The longer you delay, the less time you have to find your friend."

The four of them nodded and followed Cho. As they walked down a path leading off the bluff, Zorann winced.

"You okay, Z?" Luxxoria asked concernedly.

"I'm fine." he replied. "One of those big sha creatures got lucky and scored a hit on my side. It's a bit tender, is all."

"You sure?" Luxxoria said. "Because it doesn't look—"

"I said I'm fine!" Zorann snapped, causing the elf to flinch.

"All right, all right!" she retorted, holding up her hands defensively. "I only asked! No need to bite my head off!"

Zorann rolled his eyes and continued walking, Luxxoria warily following him from a safe distance.

An hour later, the group was being led through an exquisite-looking archway, and towards a small house.

"This is my home." Cho said. "Zorann, Luxxoria and Baegon, make yourselves comfortable. Navitas, come with me. To prepare you for meditation, you need to clear your mind. And what better way to do that... than through manual labour?"

With those words, he picked up a pair of shears from a nearby table and handed them to Navitas, who took them without question. Cho led the druid to a nearby tree, which was thick with leaves.

"You can start by pruning this tree." Cho said. "But do not think about how you're going to do it. Simply do, and let the tree tell you when it is done."

Navitas looked back at the others, who simply shrugged. Facing the tree, she closed her eyes and began cutting randomly. After thirty seconds, she opened her eyes.

On the ground in front of her was a small pile of leaves and branches, the tree they came from now having a corkscrew pattern. Cho clapped his hands eagerly.

"Good, good!" he said. "You certainly have an eye for this sort of thing, that much is certain."

"I'm a herbalist." Navitas replied. "If there's one thing I know, then it's plants."

Cho smiled and walked towards a wall. Putting the shears down, Navitas joined him.

"This wall could do with a painting." Cho said, handing Navitas a paintbrush and pallet. "Paint whatever you like on it. Feel the brush strokes, and let your mind flow free."

Navitas walked up to the wall and pondered for a moment, before beginning. The paint flew as she worked diligently. Minutes later, a painting of a human boy was on the wall.

"It's Anduin Wrynn." she said. "The Prince of Stormwind, and the man whom we seek. This is him from when he was younger."

"I see." Cho replied. "It would seem that your Alliance expects much from everyone who serves it, even your young. Now, one final task remains before your mind is clear enough for you to meditate on where young Anduin might be."

Navitas put the paintbrush and pallet on a nearby chair and followed Cho, who had walked over to a small bucket in front of a small group of trees, among which were several tall birds.

"This is my collection of exotic birds." Cho explained. "These are cranes. They are marvellous creatures, and you shall be the one who feeds them today."

Navitas stepped up to the bucket and took a handful of bird feed from it. With slow movements, she began throwing handfuls of it into the trees. The cranes came forward timidly, before pecking at the ground, savouring the treat so thoughtfully provided for them.

"That's it, gently now." Cho replied, as the cranes approached Navitas and began eating from her hand. "Oh, well isn't that lovely? I think they like you."

"Druids are always at one with nature." Navitas explained, as the cranes ate their fill and retreated back to the trees.

Cho nodded.

"Your tasks are complete." he said. "Now, come with me, and we shall begin your meditation. And just to be sure your mind is crystal clear, I will be doing my best to distract you... as will your friends over there."

Luxxoria and Zorann perked up, grins spreading over their faces, while Baegon produced a large warhammer and began swinging it idly, before bring it crashing into the ground with a loud thud.

"Sounds like fun." Navitas said grimly, as she followed Cho.

"Pinkie, are you sure we should be planning a party?" Fluttershy asked timidly, as she assisted the party pony in hanging up a banner celebrating the return of Zorann and Luxxoria.

Pinkie nodded eagerly.

"Our friends are coming home, Fluttershy!" she chirped. "We have to have a party for them! It wouldn't be very nice of us if we didn't celebrate them coming back!"

"But you said something about 'bad news for all of us'." Fluttershy squeaked, as she landed on the ground. "I just don't feel comfortable having a party if there's the risk of danger."

"Don't worry about that, Shy!" Pinkie said, wrapping a hoof around Fluttershy's neck in a hug. "My Pinkie Sense has been off lately, so there's a high chance I could be wrong about the danger. Though why it's been off is something I can't quite put my hoof on."

Fluttershy didn't reply.

"Now come on, you silly filly!" Pinkie exclaimed. "We still have lots to do before we can have this party, so let's get busy!"

She zipped into the kitchen as Fluttershy sighed.

"I hope she's right." she muttered. "I don't think I can take any more trouble..."

Navitas sat cross-legged in a gazebo, as Cho walked around her, occasionally stopping to hit her in the head with a random item. Baegon was using his warhammer to strike a small gong, Zorann was roaring in Navitas' face, while Luxxoria conjured the occasional blizzard on top of her.

Throughout it all, the elf didn't move a muscle. Cho walked around to her front and looked closer at her face. The glazed expression in her eyes caused him to smile and raise his hands, signalling for the others to stop what they were doing.

"She has achieved inner peace." he said. "The dream elixir I gave her will now be taking effect, and soon you will have the location of your missing prince."

"Wow, she said that she had lots of concentration," Zorann said, "and this proves it, without a doubt. If it was me, I probably would have killed you all by now."

He grinned sheepishly.

"Likewise." said Luxxoria and Baegon together.

A sudden gasp drew their attention back towards Navitas. Her eyes were wide open in shock, and a look of terror was on her face.

"Whoa, Nav." Baegon said. "Are you all right? Do you know where the White Pawn is?"

Navitas nodded meekly.

"My dream did indeed reveal the location of the prince." she said. "But only for a moment. He is in the Krasarang Wilds... in the company of his father and the Alliance fleet which has just landed. The rest of the dream took me to a place I have never been to, but I remember hearing about."

"Where?" Baegon asked.

Navitas pointed at Zorann and Luxxoria.

"Your pony friends are in danger." she said bluntly. "Great evil threatens them, and I fear they will not be able to stop it."

"What?!" Zorann roared. "Crap, we've got to help them! Luxxoria, open a portal, now!"

He looked at Luxxoria to see that she had already done as he asked, and a portal to Ponyville was shimmering softly next to her.

"Right, the White Pawn has been located." Zorann said. "Mission accomplished. Now we're going to help our friends. Anyone who dares to threaten them will answer to us."

His eyes flashed with anger.

"And I will take great pleasure in ending their lives... slowly."

He stepped through the portal. Luxxoria looked at the two Alliance, before saluting them. She bowed to the Lorewalker, who returned the gesture.

Taking a deep breath, she followed Zorann through the portal, with a single thought at the front of her mind.

Why must war follow us to a world of peace?