((This story takes place around 110 years before World of Warcraft, which begins to take place in the year 25. Dareus is in his 20's as he graduates the Dalaran academy.))
Dareus Aredi Thal'dor was born to Atronias and Kyana Thal'dor in Eversong Woods as an only child. His parents were both very wealthy tailors who knew very little magic, infact, they couldn't do much more than make small items like yarn or string levitate or make a broom sweep through their shop. His parents always grew up quite fond of Kael'thas Sunstrider, a promising young blood mage who showed great potential. Kyana and Atronias raised Dareus with endless amounts of love and affection, constantly spoiling him with whatever he desired and more. Dareus always showed an immense interest in the fiery bird known as a phoenix, perhaps the only gift that his parents could not afford him. As a little kid he dreamt of being a phoenix himself, flying over the Eversong Woods as a swift and fierce predator, ensuring peace over his people.
Because of this obsession of the flaming birds, he forced his parents to teach him all they knew with magic. Because he was so young, it took him several months to learn to light candles by simply moving his fingers. Not long after, he realized his parents couldn't teach him much else. They were tailors, not mages. Seeking to please their son, they asked him if he was serious about pursuing magic, and the answer was obvious. In the following week, they bribed the magi of Dalaran to take in Dareus to their magic academy. He was 7 years old, the perfect age to begin training.
At Dalaran, Dareus was one of the only High Elves in his class, along with many human children. There were just under 20 kids in his class, along with a mentor named Magister Larson, a male human. The spoiled streak that Dareus inherited from his parents was quickly broken under Larson's authority. He became humble and lowly, realizing how strictly the rules were enforced. His desire to learn drove him to keep up with other members of his class. After several months, it was clear that the High Elf children were the most skilled in the class. Dareus was average for a high elf, but he was clearly the best in his class when it came to fire.
Magister Larson was a brilliant human, better than most of the High Elf magi that inhabited Dalaran. Book assignments were given every night to Dareus and his classmates. Even before the age of 10 they spent hours on homework and studying outside of the class in order to progress. Dareus would finish whatever the assignment was as quickly as possible and skip foward in his book to learn anything he could about the magics of fire, hoping one day that he too could summon a phoenix for himself.
As the years passed, the schooling became more rigorous. Several of the students dropped out and returned to their parents, unable to keep up with the hours of work. For 1 month of the year, Dareus was allowed to return to his family, with the other 11 spent at Dalaran. He constantly wrote to his parents to keep in touch. Dareus grew into a fine high elf. He was handsome, rich, intelligent, and becoming powerful. After around 20 years of schooling, depending on how gifted the student was, the scholars were graduated and given new, blue staves to signify their rank, because at this point, a student was fully considered a mage. The graduates were also given a very small amount of their tuiton back to begin a new life. For a graduation gift, his parents sent him a beautiful golden necklace with a ruby pendant in the shape of a phoenix. He smiled as he dorned the necklace and decided to spend several more weeks in Dalaran before returning to Eversong as a 27 year old mage. As his weeks came to a close, Dareus wanted to spend his tuiton money on an elaborate gift for his parents using the tuiton money. He had a human friend, a former colleague of his, bring him a fine horse. Young and powerful, the horse would be an excellent gift. Dareus gave his colleague all of his tuiton money and opened a portal for home.
He appeared near a river at the bottom of a waterfall. "Perfect." he thought, pleased with how precise his teleportation abilities have become. He mounted the unnamed horse and galloped towards the large villa his parents owned. Not a soul was there, not even the worthless Goblin slaves. "Ah, they must all be at the shop" he pondered, changing his direction to Silvermoon. Once in the Bazzar, he dismounted his horse and led it to the tailoring shop where his parents worked. An unknown high elf was standing on a ladder trying to hang a sign labeled "Alatore's Cloth Goods" Dareus walked over and tapped the man's shoulder.
"What's going on here?" Dareus asked.
"I'm moving into my new shop! It's a prime location, really. There are so many advanta---"
Dareus cut him off. "What happened to the owners of this shop before you? Where are they?" His voice was growing loud and demanding.
"You didn't hear? A group of theives ravaged the place, stealing all the gold the place owned. The owners were both killed as the thugs tried to escape. Shame too. They were nice people."
Dareus didn't hear the second part to the sentence, only that his parents were dead. Gasping for air in a complete state of shock, Dareus ran to the forest, dropping his mage staff and leaving his horse. No one is quite sure where Dareus went in Eversong, not even he himself. He went for days in total silence, too poor to buy food and too miserable to care. All he could do was stare at the Phoenix pendant his parents gave him: His final gift.
One crisp morning, a robed figure approached him with a rope tied to a horse.
"This your horse?" the unknown high elf asked, grinning wildly. "Name's Sadair. Come with me."