Sarah Metcalfe stared at the clock on the office wall. Four thirty-three. She sighed heavily and hung her head. Today had been yet another long day of answering phones, printing letters, folding them into envelopes, updating spreadsheets and databases. Oh, the joy.

"Will you stop that!" her colleague, Louise Jeffries, laughed from the other side of the pod. "You are wishing your life away."

"Only the one spent in here," Sarah replied, rolling her eyes in frustration.

"And the life I am offering, is what she truly hungers for," Drew Stewart injected from the third seat at the pod. He grinned mischievously at Sarah. She glowered at him from under dark lashes, shaking her head. He was always teasing her. She let him away with most of it as he had turned out to be her best friend since her moving into the area nearly five years ago. They gelled pretty quick as they shared the same kind of humour and he was kind and understanding. He particularly loved to tease her about World of Warcraft. It had started out as a little haven for her when times had been bad, and she only played now and again. But within in the last year, she had become addicted, to the point she rarely socialised outside now.

Drew shrugged and leaned over the pod. "I am offering her a night of insurmountable passion!" he whispered to Louise, after checking that no-one else in the nearby pods could over-hear.

Louise guffawed. "Yeah, right! She's not that desperate, mate."

"Desperate? You cheeky cow, I am a stallion between the sheets I'll have you know," he stood, and after checking no-one else was watching flexed and emphasised his five foot eleven inch frame.

"Ha!! More like a Shetland pony from what I've heard!" Louise snorted. "Got the mane to go with it too," she smirked pointing at his shoulder-length black hair. Drew pouted, pretending to be offended, then grinned and sat down again.

Sarah joined in the mirth. "I do wish you two would stop speaking as if I'm in third person."

"There you are! Did you just step through a portal?" Drew feigned surprise as he made reference to her favourite pastime.

"Very funny!" Sarah pinged an elastic band at him, which he artfully dodged, then she continued folding the two hundred letters she had printed off. She glanced up at him with a smirk. "I have heard every single dumbassed word that has emanated from your mouth Drew Stewart, and as usual, it's just verbal diarrhoea."

He shrugged and threw a scrunched up biscuit wrapper at her. She swatted it away with one of the letters. The three colleagues laughed lightly, before he spoke again. "Seriously, Sarah, it's Friday night! Why don't you come out with us to the pub? Have a few bevvies, then a curry, then... you and I could party on down at my place." He gave her his best smoulder.

Sarah couldn't help but smile. He was the only one who she would tolerate saying such things to her. Mainly because he had been there for her, giving support when times of self-loathing had hit her hard. The run up to her divorce when she had moved out of the marital home in Edinburgh had been particularly hard. Trying to settle, forty miles south of the city in a new home, new town and new job was daunting to say the least, but Drew had befriended her quickly and eased her transition from dutiful, though latterly miserable wife to nervous, self-doubting divorcee. But, also, she felt comfortable around him. Her confidence had taken a severe beating in Edinburgh and it took her a long time to regain it. Drew however, had helped immensely.

Her ex-husband, Pete Metcalfe, had been an influential businessman thirteen years her senior, who, it turned out, really just wanted an attractive ornament clinging to his arm. She didn't realise that to begin with. On reflection, she had been naive and married way too young. He'd thrived on being the king pin, entertaining colleagues and potential clients in his large city apartment. Being from a working class background, Sarah had initially been taken in by it all. But, being the hopeless romantic she was, she simply wanted a husband who loved and treasured her.

As time had went on, some of his ideas for entertaining had been nothing short of degrading. There were games she just was not willing to play, no matter what. So, the relationship had started and ended within five years. It wasn't until then she finally admitted, he was nothing more than a self-opinionated, workaholic, emotionless, smug, vile bastard, and he had very quickly replaced her with another "ornament" once she was off the scene. She had retained her married name, not as a bittersweet reminder of her disastrous union but simply because she couldn't be bothered to notify the likes of her bank, her doctor, various online subscriptions etc. It was just too much of an effort at the time, and now it seemed a pointless task anyway. It was just a name after all.

Back to the present and there was no denying Drew was a hot-bloodied, good-looking male, who more often than not had females ogling him as he passed by. Nonetheless, she had not considered their friendship being anything other than what it was. Uncomplicated. And that was how she liked it.

"Oh, oh!" Louise whispered. "He's horny again, Sarah."

"When is he not? Have you got the necessary?"

Drew glanced between the two women, unsure what they were up to and a little wary. He had been subjected to their pranks in the past, most of which were harmless, but nevertheless well thought out.

"Just looking for it. Now where did I put that fly-swatter..." Louise pretended to look for it around her desk area.

Drew looked insulted. The two women chuckled at his expression. He gave way to a knowing smirk. They were only teasing him. Once the mirth had subsided, Sarah said, "The only horny devil I will party on down with this evening, is...."

"Illidan Stormrage!" both her friends said simultaneously, with a sigh, a shrug and a smirk. They had heard all about the half elf half demon for weeks now so it wasn't difficult to surmise where Sarah would be wanting to spend her evening. In front of her computer.

"Well," Sarah fumbled for justification of her infatuation with the latest patch of Warcraft, "I like the lore and it can be funny, exciting but so sad at times..."

"For goodness sake, " Louise sighed, "It's just a game, and you get all caught up in it as if it's real. You'll have more fun with us living and breathing real people, honestly. Just nip home, get changed and out we go."

The three of them stared out the window as the sound of heavy rain suddenly battered off the glass. The look on Drew and Louise's faces made it plain that the thought of going out in that mess was not quite as appealing now. A triumphant smirk crossed Sarah's face and she clucked her tongue. "Well, I guess my idea of an evening's entertainment is the better choice after all," she said somewhat smugly.

The traffic crawled that night. The rain, by five fifteen, was relentless, making the roads hazardous with excess water. Sarah grew more impatient as she moved at a snail's pace. Only six miles to go, but it looked like it could take the best part of half an hour or longer to reach home. She drew to a halt as vehicles waited their turn to get onto the Kingsknowes roundabout.

Drumming her fingers on the steering wheel, she thought about what she could throw together quickly for tea. Beans on toast! Perfect. And while the bread was toasting and the beans warming, she'd slip into her pyjamas and fire up her computer, ready for battle.

The traffic inched forward. The car behind honked its horn at her, to which she responded with a middle-fingered salute in her rear-view mirror. The car honked again. Then another one joined in. And another. She strained against the headlights reflecting in her mirror to see what was going on.

Then a low humming noise began. As it intensified, the very ground seemed to vibrate. "What the...." She looked about her, a little alarmed. Was she imagining it, or were all the car headlights getting brighter?

More horns. The humming was starting to become unbearable, like pressure against her eardrums. This was strangely unnerving. She peered through the rivulets streaming down her windscreen.

The lights were getting brighter, but not only that, they were changing colour. They were turning green. The humming had now become a very loud whirring, like the rotor blades of a helicopter. Sarah raised her hands to her ears.

Her car lurched forward. She squealed in panic. It lurched again, further this time. Her hands were back on the steering wheel, holding tightly as if she was on a white-knuckle ride. The green light was fluorescent, pulsing.

The whirring was beating down on her, it felt like the sound could actually crush her and her little Astra. Then another sound, like millions of gallons of water surrounded her.

Her car shot forward, this time it didn't stop. She screamed, her lungs ready to explode, then....

"Are you in any pain?" a somewhat calming yet authoritative voice reached out to her through the haze of semi-consciousness. Her eyes slowly focused.

A man with silver, slightly tousled hair was standing over her, studying her intently. As her vision improved she met his steel eyes. Her breath caught in her throat. She shook her head in disbelief.

"Lukha, I think she needs some of the health potion. Quickly, please." Without looking, he held out his hand behind him, waiting for the potion to be handed to him.

"Right away," an accented voice replied. Another figure neared, this one was female, with blue skin and small horns protruding from her forehead. Sarah blinked furiously. The girl looked like a Draenei. From World of Warcraft! The female handed the requested item to the man and smiled pleasantly at Sarah.

"Thank you Lukha." Briefly, the man looked at the Draenei before turning his attention back to Sarah. "Can you understand me?" He asked, uncorking the potion.

She nodded slowly, still stunned, speechless.

He reached over and with his left hand, he supported the back of her head, helping her rise enough to drink of the potion. She caught a whiff of something spicy yet utterly masculine. His cologne. It was most pleasing to her senses. He brought the small vial to her lips. "Drink this, it will make you feel better although perhaps a little drowsy too," he said. His mouth curled up at the corners in a reassuring smile.

She sipped the red potion, never once taking her eyes from him. Her mind was trying hard to rationalise the whole unbelievable situation. This could not be remotely possible. Could it? 

Her eyes flitted to the Draenei again. She was stunning; skin like blue alabaster, not a blemish in sight. Almond-shaped eyes which glowed silver when the light reflected in them were otherwise a very pale blue, enhanced by beautiful long lashes. Sarah desperately wanted to know if she really had cloven feet and a tail, but the angle at which she lay prevented her from seeing. 

She refrained from blurting out what could potentially be a very impertinent question and allowed her eyes to drift back to the man as he dabbed the corner of her mouth with a light cloth.

Gently, he lowered her head to the pillow again. She watched, silently, as he replaced the cork and gave the half-empty vial back to Lukha. The Draenei turned away and placed the bottle within a small square case on the sideboard adjacent to the bed. By the tiny clink and rattle of glass, Sarah assumed the case was a medicinal container with a myriad of potions and elixirs.

The man was a little hesitant at first, but then draped the blanket over Sarah, taking care to rest her arms over it and by her sides. His steel eyes met her misty brown ones. She was starting to drift off. She moaned, shifting a little in the bed, trying to ward off her encroaching torpidity. There was no way she was going to allow sleep to rob her of this moment. 

There were subtle differences to the game version, but still, there was no mistake. Her fight to remain conscious was slipping from her, but just before the darkness engulfed her completely, she managed a hint of a smile as she realised she had been staring up into the chiselled features of the Archmage Khadgar.

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