Alexstrasza impatiently closed and reopened her long, pale fingers around the leather-bound dagger that rested against her thigh. It was icy to the touch and vibrated with the power of it's creator, Cenarius. The small weapon might have looked somewhat unimposing, but The Red Flight's aspect had been gifted with it's charge since a corruptive force had tainted her through battle in the Dragonblight. Gifted this treasure by the very dragoness she now sat in waiting for, Ysera. The mere thought of the Emerald Flight's queen brought a rosy heat to her face. It crept over her cheeks and climbed the bridge of her nose until the bitter sting of winter may well have been a misplaced breeze in the midst of a wildfire.

By the creators... What am I - a fledgling? Certainly not a leader, fawning over this... this...

Her thoughts were severed by soft, familiar touch on her shoulder blade. A chill ran down her spine and she realized after a moment she was holding her breath.

Ysera.

The elven form behind her drew her hand away slowly but let her fingertips linger. She traced them down Alex's shoulder, fingering the cloth she herself had weaved around the length of the Red's arm.

" It heals, sister. "

She gazed down at her left arm, dressed in bandage that let the burn which twisted up from her fingers peek through the places where it had fallen loose.

Alexstrasza was still trying to compose herself from the spark Ysera's touch had ignited when she found the power to speak.

" Indeed. The mark they left upon me, those convoluted imbeciles... It fades daily. Your skill is impressive. "

It was painfully difficult to hold the poise and custom she strove for, especially with Ysera's fingers wrapped around her arm. She wished herself a thousand miles away, she wished herself a thousand miles closer...

Control yourself.

Alex bit down gently on her own lip. This was maddening. This was ridiculous. Never had she been so consumed by any one thing, any one creature. This seed of a notion had nestled itself in Alexstrasza's mind a few months ago when Soridormi called a meeting of the flights to discuss appropriate action to take against Malygos and his corrupt following. These meetings were always brief and to the point and this occasion was no exception. The events to follow, however, would serve to mold the Life Binder in ways she couldn't have imagined.

Kroialstrasz had gone, taking an early leave to attend to flight affairs. Soridormi and her charges had departed as well and Alexstrasza, opting to remain and keep watch over brethren in battle, had only assumed the Emerald and her representatives had retired into the dream.

The evening was quiet and palpably tense. Though the skies were clear now, everyone anticipated the next attack. So many of her flight had fallen already... next time she would be there, she had decided. Next time any opposer to threaten her own would fall victim to her wrath.

The sun seemed to be sinking away particularly slowly as Alex rested out on the balcony of the Wyrmrest. Two of her own sat complacently beside her, gazing off into the horizon. They were tired... these battles were long. It prided her to see them withhold their regal stature and she knew her presence bolstered them. Perhaps in another time this evening would have been quite sought after... an escape from the responsibilities that shadowed her every move. For now, though, all was - situation considered - well. The sentries coasted past each other rhythmically and the guards stood undisturbed in the lower levels.

And then, something was amiss.

Alex couldn't place it, but there was a sudden tension in the air. A ripple in the energies that suggested something other than the stoic agreement it seemed all had made with silence. She rose, and dismissed her guards as the stood to accompany her with a bow of her head.

" I'll return shortly."

Her footsteps echoed softly as she stepped into the domed temple. She closed her eyes, listened. Waited. They snapped open at the nearly inaudible cry that reverberated in Alex's ears. With blinding speed she took on her natural aspect and in an elegant sweep coursed off of the top of the tower, spiraling toward the place in which she had pinpointed the disturbance. It was in the mid level. A perfected maneuver, she landed and switched forms. The power was impotent or masked and it was certainly another drake... not one of her own. Silently she crept in through the corridor when again she heard a muffled voice. She stopped then. It hit her and she flushed deeply. The soft sounds that had called her attention were now coupled with the scent of heat. Passion. The scent of lust...

For a moment she appalled. What dragons could be shirking their responsibilities at a time such as this to lose themselves in some darkened room in, of all places, temple in the midst of a war zone?

Prepared to disband the little affair, Alexstrasza squared her shoulders and walked purposefully toward a curtained doorway that was evidently the hold of choice for this event. She gripped the edge of the velvety curtain and started to pull it toward herself. A flooring rush caused her to falter. The fabric fell from her hand and she was almost blown back by a surge of power. She had been recognized. And by none other than the Emerald aspect, Ysera, who had unmasked her energies before Alexstrasza should step into the room.

Alex stood, dumbfounded, hand still extended toward the curtain that still billowed with the sudden upheaval of power that flooded the halls. She could feel her charges above shifting with notice of the unmistakable Ysera's presence. Alexstrasza's attention was locked ahead, though. Her eyes were bound to the space that cracked open over and over as the curtain moved. Over and over, the image of the Dreamer, Ysera seated in a misplaced, elegantly adorned chair and her young lover - a female representative that Alex had only met that day - straddled over her thighs.

Her thighs...

Alex's heart pounded and her head throbbed. Her mouth was dry and she felt as if she were paralyzed. Her breathes alligned with the movement of the drape in front of her, holding whenever the thing split for a moment. She couldn't even bring herself to blink. Her mind was racing a million miles a minute.

Lithe little Ysera, my... I never thought she even... But how could she not? True we've been distanced for long but I've felt her always. And to see her feeling -

Alex gasped and staggered backward as her little, blurred window unveiled Ysera standing. Her long, emerald tresses were undone and hung down, framing her delicate face, cascading over her thin shoulders and caressing her chest. Alex staggerrd backward, but not before Ysera's dream locked gaze pierced through her. Her lips parted and the distance between them seemed to be ripped away for a few seconds that felt an eternity. Blushing heavily, the Dragon Queen turned and wheeled away, her mind reeling. She couldn't remember if she walked or ran to the edge of the temple before taking her natural form. For a moment she paused. Her whole, great form trembled with a sudden chill and she tossed her massive head, the ceremonial jewels that adorned it clinking softly. She heaved a long, hard breath and spread her wings.

" Alex. "

The tiny hand that brushed her haunches may have been a titan's spear for the shock it sent pulsing through her scales. She dared not look. Her eyes locked onto the horizon, she bowed respectfully to her sister and spoke more severly than she intended.

" I've much to attend to, safe passage Ysera, I'm certain we'll meet with the others shortly here in. "

As she felt the softness of Ysera's touch fall away she shuttered and hastily pushed off of the temple with her hind feet, taking eagerly to the saftey of the sky.

A sharp sting caused pinched her brow into a wince as Ysera peeled the edge of the bandage away from the wound. She paused a moment as Alex tensed and, for a moment, met her gaze with those ever dreaming eyelids. Alex's breathe caught in her throat and she drew her eyes to the ground, feigning interest in a small cluster of wild flowers that had pushed through the frost. The Life Binder sighed, finally finding a bit of peace, and lowered her free hand to gently brush off the bits of ice that clung to their tiny white petals. So much had happened in the time after those... events. Malygos's imminent fall and the battle of the elementals that took so many of her own, and marked her with the taint that rendered her traceable by the Earth Warden. That's why she was here. Laying low, masking herself from detection with only Ysera as company. The dreamer found her every few days through the dagger coursing with her own and Cenarius's power. She brought salves she created from roots and plants in the dream that were slowly leaching the poison from Alexstrasza's body.

Their visits were short lived and of few words consisting of the well being of the lives Alex strove to nurture and protect. It wore the red dragoness down that she could not be present to heal and protect her clutch, and those thoughts were combated by one other only; her Emerald counterpart.

Originally she considered it was only the shock of having seen the dragoness in such an air that made a heat rise from deep within. It was these brief meetings that nurtured that little seed into a tree of painfully evident desire. She did not look at the Emerald and shy away because she was ashamed or unsure of how to address what she had seen, but rather, forced her eyes away because every single time now, she wished herself the pleasure of those hips, those lips and those thighs.

It is wrong. It is wrong. It is wrong.

She repeated it over and over in her head, trying to drive away the maddening presence of Ysera's fingers on her arm.

" What is wrong, Alexstrasza? "

The Dragon Queen reeled before she realized how generic the inquiry was and for a moment, managed a genuine smile. Ysera's voice hung in the air with a sorrowful concern. The distance between them now evidently pained her.

" Quite a lot in these times, Ysera. But see, now, all that is right. "

Alexstrasza nodded to the ground, and Ysera crouched to witness the cluster of flora before them. She smiled, then -A rarity in the best of cases- and rose. She moved off behind Alex and the red closed her eyes.

" Are you leaving no- "

A sudden warmth coursed her veins and struck heat into her very core. Her head snapped up and her eyes widened. She parted her lips to speak but came up dry. Yesra knelt behind her, arms wrapped around Alex's back and clutched the cloth garments that settled tightly under her breast bone. She pressed her face against the Red's back and whispered into it.

" Sister... Do you despise me? "

Alex took a sharp breathe to force the lump in her throat down. Her voice came out a quiet rasp;

" I... I could never. "

The Dreamer's arms tightened around her midsection and she heaved a deep sigh against Alexstrasza's back. The Life Binder crossed her arms in front of her and closed carefully over Ysera's smaller hands. A single tear rolled down her pale cheek, followed the corner of her taught lips and wavered at the tip of her chin.

Not if you wished me away from you for all eternity, my dear Ysera...