I

Choking black smoke rose up into the sky, ash turned the day into night. The ground quake violently, splintering black rock under their feet. Thrall stood strong against the chaos. Win whipped his braids about his muscular chest. The ground heaved again and the stumbled ever so slightly forward, thumping his foot down, his green calf bulging. He glanced to his side to find Nobundo rising up to dust the ash off his robes.

The mountain quaked beneath them and belch forth hot, noxious gas and spraying lava out of an open fissure. Lava bombs and hot pumice shot forth. The Shamans of the Earthen Ring dove forth as the hot lava rocks exploded upon impact, scattering dully glowing orange rocks at their sides. A Wildhammer shaman called out in utter agony as one of the lava bombs slammed against his head, setting his hair and beard ablaze. Thrall looked on with stoic concern as the dwarf's body continued to burn on in the blaze.

"We must keep the ash from reaching the town," Thrall heard Nobundo said as he approached him. "The Windrunner scouts reported that the town is almost evacuated. Some of the goblins are refusing to leave."

"The fools much rather loose their lives than their homes," said Thrall. "We can only save what we can."

The ground buckled and a gap opened up, releasing steam and poisonous, sulfuric gas right into the face of Nobundo. The blue-skinned, hooded alien coughed, falling to his knees, his face flushed and stinging with burns.

"Nobundo!" Thrall called.

Nobundo covered his face with this thick hands. Thrall rushed to his side and closed his eyes, laying his hand upon his friend. He slowly relaxed his mind, his fingers tingling as he called upon the water spirits, hoping they would help him heal Nobundo. Thrall could feel the tingling intensified as the spirits soothed the burns, the tightness of the skin loosening and the wounds cooling. Nobundo opened his eyes, gasping for air. He gripped Thrall's hand and nodded reassuringly.

"We're not doing much to stop the eruption, my friend," said the Broken Shaman. "We can't stop it, but there is one who can."

"If he ever gets here."

As if on cue, the heard a great whistling sound above the roar of the volcano. The clouds above seemed part as something enormous and black shot through the ash. Wings tinged with red, streaked with glowing orange veins and as big as the sky itself opened wide, dispersing the poisonous gas. Thrall could finally breathe much more clearly again.

A metallic tip of the titanic wings dipped down into the black rock, along the base of the volcano. Smooth walls jutted forth from the gash as the tip dragged along, creating a shield to divert the lava and the ashy flows.

"About time he showed up," said Thrall.

Neltharion, the Dragon Aspect of Earth–formally known as Deathwing the Worldbreaker, flew over the eruption. His massive, bulky body landed near the spewing vent. The gushing ash obscured him from Thrall and the others. Neltharion rose upon his hind legs and swept his feet forward. He felt the rumble of the mountain, the flow of the lava deep within, winding away from the vent. He heard an adjacent peak suddenly explode from the force a he guided the magma underneath. Neltharion took to the black ash-filled sky and banked off and landed upon the new open vent. The vent quietened, the ash slowly rising. Lightning flashed above, reflecting off of his elementium armored back.

The Great Black took to the sky again, only to land upon the ground near Thrall, his weight trembling the rock under the orc. He shifted as he stepped only closer, cracking the ground with each massive step.

"Thank goodness," said Thrall. "You stopped the eruption."

"Nope," said Neltharion, lowering his head down, snaking it towards the orc.

"No?"

"She's just cleaned her throat," said Neltharion. "This baby hasn't begun to sing. I've planted those walls along the base to help hold back the lahars long enough to get the others out of the town. But I predict that the mountain will blast its top off before sundown." He swung his huge head back towards the smoking mountain. "I have redirected most of the pressure to the other vent and its blast won't reach here. But without the pressure, the summit will collapse. All that debris will come rushing down to this point. They must clear out."

"We can't possibly move that many by then," said Thrall.

"Thrall," Neltharion began, leaning his huge, box-like head closer to the orc. "Thousands of tons of hot, volcanic ash, rock, gas, is going to bury that town. They need to move."

"They won't move," said Nobundo.

"Then, I will make them move," he said, his emerald green eyes narrowing dangerously.

"Neltharion, that's not a good idea," said Thrall.

The enormous mountain of a Black Dragon heeded not a word as he slowly rose to his feet. THe wind scattered, being swept violently by the spread of his great, leathery wings. Ash scattered, forcing the mortal beings to cover their eyes. The ground cracked and splintered beneath the Aspect's feet. The Great Black backed away, the muscles in his legs coiling up to make that first leap skyward. The air swelled around him, swirling in ashy gray dust clouds. Neltharion leapt powerfully into the air, the wind helping to propel him upward. Thrall and Nobundo slammed into the ground, being knocked back by the wind and the sheer force of Neltharion's wings. As the dust cleared and the ash settled down upon them like a sickly gray snow, the Earth-Warder was now a mere speck in the volcanic clouds above.

"He's getting better at controlling the wind," said Nobundo, coughing and sputtering as he rose up.

"He's getting better at a lot of things," said Thrall. "But not his public relations. The Earth-Warder will scare them to death if he flies over the village in such haste. Make the situation worse. The people of Azeroth are still frightened to see him–especially those of the Horde. Garrosh has not been kind when he speaks of Neltharion."

"He still calls the Aspect 'Deathwing'?"

"That and many other profanities," said Thrall. "Neltharion and Garrosh. So long as the Black Aspect remains in Kalimdor, he will continue to have a difficult time fairing. I wish he would consider the Eastern Kingdoms as his home instead."

"Varian may not speak as kindly, but he is more tolerant," said Nobundo. "And the only reason for that is because Neltharion remains on the opposite side of the Maelstrom." He crossed his arms. "And Calia wants to live in Theramore, from what I've heard from the dragon's mount."

"A dragon who's in deep attachment to her," said Thrall. He glanced back at the mountain, hearing the violent sound of a cannon fire blast off from them mountain top. The sound vibrated his ribs and he swallowed. "Neltharion is right about the mountain."

Nobundo nodded and then shouted back to the remaining shamans.

"Everyone get to your flying mounts! The mountain is about to blow!"

Thrall rushed for his Windrunner with Nobundo following him. The shamans scattered, mounting up gryphons and Windrunners and taking to the sky in a fury of wings. Thrall mounted up and took hold of Nobundo's hand, helping him on his Windrunner's back. Behind him, the mountain continued to thunder and roar violently as black as and heated fire raced into the sky. This ash was different, thicker, heavier, and made from the bits of the volcano's peak.

Over then miles away from the fleeing Shamans was the village. Many smart goblins or those frightened by the volcano's rumbling had fled–many started for Orgrimmar. The ones who stayed were the stubborn folk. They even fought the utter terror of seeing Neltharion land right at their gates. Neltharion glanced back towards the horrid sound of the mountain blasting away its peak and sending the flow down the sides in a violent surge of gray and black and dull red river of hot cloud of rock and ash. The trees were flattened into burnt sticks along the face as the pyroclastic surge raced on forward, growling like a terrifying, amorphous monstrosity ready to devour the town.

"You honestly prefer to be buried under that than flee?" Neltharion asked as he looked at the goblins.

"Get outta here, Deathwing!" said a squat, chubby goblin. "We don't need your help."

Neltharion leaned back. His head wagged, his braids flopped and his green eyes held a dull orange glow of frustration in them. Above, he spied the sky filling with fleeing gryphons and Windrunner wyverns. The Dragon Aspect deeply growled as he heard Thrall call down to him, urging him to escape. The shaman flew over his head, heading into the setting sun. Neltharion huffed, spouting volcanic ash from his snout. The cloud of hot debris continued to thunder closer. He could feel the earth tremble as the cloud came ever so closer to the village.

"Neltharion!" Thrall called. "The cloud!"

Neltharion continued to face the surging cloud head on, his eyes narrowing with intent. He could sense the goblins huddling together, watching the cloud as it continued towards them. The Black Dragon leaned upon his hind legs, bracing his weight against his tail. He spread his leathery wings wide as if they were the net to catch the cloud.

"Neltharion!" Thrall said. "Get out of there!"

"I am not leaving these people!" said Neltharion.

"Don't be a fool!"

"You don't be a fool, orc! Now let me do my job!"

"Neltharion, if they want to die, let them."

"I can't believe I heard that from you, Thrall," said Neltharion as he craned his head up to the wyvern above his head. "Even when I begged for death, you never gave it to me."

"This is different."

"Is it?" he asked. "Now go before you die!"

Thrall looked on, his sky blue eyes narrowing at the cloud. It truly was a monster, devouring the land as it raced on, leaving nothing but death in its wake. Then, he turned back to Neltharion. Deathwing, when he blasted out of the Maelstrom, his wings were covered in the same deathly cloud of fire, ash, and rock. Many parts of the land were still covered in the pyroclastic debris after Deathwing's flying over to mark his return to Azeroth. If anyone on Azeroth who could take on such a cloud, it was Neltharion. Though Thrall did not want to lose the Aspect, especially after all the work he did to bring him back from his insanity. The orc shook his head.

"There's no time!" said Thrall.

Neltharion rumbled and looked back towards the cloud.

"Then, brace yourself," said the Earth-Warder. He closed his eyes and gripped the ground with his feet. The cloud etched forth, coming ever more dangerously closer. He could no longer see the tree-line, nor the twilight purple sky. Neltharion took in a deep breath. Leaping into the air, he clapped his wings together. A slice of air rolled out from his wings, cutting a smooth, straight line through the black ash cloud. Thrall and Nobundo held their breaths, only hearing the sounds of their hearts thump against their chests as the Earth-Warder spread his wings wide, dividing the cloud with one sweep.

He parted the clouds, allowing them to pass on their side of the village, racing on harmlessly. They could feel the heat of the cloud, the static change in the air caused their neck hairs to stand on end. The hot wind blew across Neltharion face, his long braids flapped over his shoulders. He sliced through again as another wave of the black ash raced towards the village. As the cloud settled, covering land in sticky, slate gray. All but a patch of green remained where the village sat. Neltharion settled upon the ground heaving his heavy breath. Thrall and Nobundo looked on, wide-eyed.

Neltharion leaned over, resting upon his all fours again, wings draping limply upon the ash-covered ground. He looked behind him at the village, the goblin staring fearfully at him. The dragon leaned up and smirked.

"Don't need my help?" he asked. "Ungrateful, green midgets." Neltharion cleared his throat. "Don't rush to thank me all at once now. I know you can hardly hold back the gratitude."

"Neltharion!" Thrall called as his Windrunner landed. "Could you fly to that hill over there?"

"Why?"

"I need to talk to you about something–alone."

"What–"

"Just go!"

Neltharion snatched his head back at the commanding belt of Thrall's voice. His eyes narrowed and he lowly growled at the orc. The dragon slowly backed away, giving himself enough space and room to take to the air. Neltharion leapt into the sky, banking off towards an ash covered hill. As the dragon left, Thrall turned back to the villagers who decided to remain behind.

"We've taken many of the villagers to Orgrimmar," he said. "I suggest you join them."

"The ash has contaminated the groundwater and the lakes in the area," said Nobundo. "The herds have left. Most of your homes have fallen from the ash."

"We can manage," said one of the goblins. "When those refugees come home, they'll have a home to come to."

"Thank you, Warchief Thrall," said a female goblin.

"I'm not the warchief anymore," said Thrall. "Garrosh is."

"You're more a warchief than Garrosh."

"So people keep telling me," Thrall said in a sigh. "I can ask for assistance if you need it. Though, I do suggest moving."

He mounted upon his Windrunner and help Nobundo on board. They took of to the sky, searching for where Neltharion had flown off to. Thrall's eyes darkened when he saw the Black Dragon lying upon the hill near a lake. He could smell the stench of fish rotting upon the surface, belly up, dying of suffocation from the ash fall and the lake turning slightly acidic during the eruption. Neltharion laid at the edge of the lake. His black body caked with volcanic ash, turning him a dull gray in the waning light. The sky still rained ash from the secondary erupting vent that he sent most of the lava to. That vent was not as clogged, the lava freely flowing down in a orange river down the black sides. The main vent had finally quieted, the mountain loosing a hundred feet from the summit. All that was left was a large crater, still smoking slightly.

Thrall landed and slowly approached the dragon. Neltharion looked back at the orc and even in the dark, Thrall could feel the chill of his deep frown.

"Neltharion," he began.

"Don't start," said Neltharion. "I know, I'm a big scary dragon."

"No, it isn't that–"

I'm Deathwing."

Thrall sighted, wagging his head.

"You're pushing, Neltharion," he said. "Over zealous, forceful, brash, and being as you were Deathwing, that doesn't help. They are not used to seeing Azeroth's Earth-Warder in action, they don't know how to react. Especially when all they've known–"

"When all they've known is Deathwing's destruction," said Neltharion. He lifted his head to look blankly upon the clearing dark sky. He saw a twinkle of a star in a hole in the clouds. "How long has it been, how long since you cured me, Thrall?"

"It has been nearly two years, Nel," said Thrall.

"Two years, nothing changed. In fact things have gotten worse."

"Garrosh–"

"Garrosh, yes, Garrosh," said Neltharion. "He's the problem."

The Black Dragon growled louder, gripping the ground tightly. The ground shuddered under his growing heating anger. The rock buckled under his weight. Thrall turned as he saw a fissure began to open up right behind the dragon, spraying a fountain of viscous fiery lava in a deep rumble. Neltharion rose to his all fours, the rock continuing to buckle under his immense weight.

"All the time, does he speak kindly of me? No!"

Nobundo turned as he heard the ground rumble in response Neltharion's fury.

"You did crash land in front of the gates, drunk and blind that day," said Thrall.

Neltharion huffed and the ground once more echoed his expression.

"Neltharion," said Thrall. "Please–"

"What?" asked Neltharion. "Please, what?"

"Just don't make this difficult."

"Difficult?" asked Neltharion. He looked back at the mountain. "Who was it that built a village near the foot of a volcano?"

"We did not know that mountain was a volcano," said Thrall.

"Didn't know it was a volcano?" Neltharion. "How could you not know?"

"I don't have your knowledge, Neltharion," said Thrall. "How do you know, then?"

Neltharion settled down. He slammed a fist into the ground, closing his eyes.

"I can see the result of past lava flows buried under the dirt," he replied. "I can see the crustal upheaval caused by the plate below moving underneath this plate, how it pushes up these mountains over the course of the millennia." Neltharion turned towards Thrall, opening his eyes. "There's more to my job than you thought, huh? It isn't just about keeping the elements in check." He looked behind himself, seeing the fissure still spout its fiery fountain. "This eruption is not ending, not yet. I suggest keeping some shamans here to monitor its progress."

"There is one thing I need to know," began Thrall. "Was this caused by the elementals themselves? Are they still in flux even after the Cataclysm's ending?"

"No," said Neltharion.

"No?"

The dragon shook his head.

"Then what caused it?" asked Nobundo.

"Nature," said Neltharion. "Two tectonic plates slamming together, building the mountain range. This is probably the first time in centuries that planet has a chance to naturally do what it naturally does." Neltharion turned back to Nobundo. "And we should not disturb what it does naturally. That was part of the problem that made this planet so uninhabitable in the first place. A part of the reason why the Titans came here to create order upon this world was to keep the elementals from disturbing its natural dynamo. The Old Gods hindered the natural process of this planet by allowing the Elemental Lords continue their furious wars. I was created to make sure that did not happen. My purpose is to see to it that nature is not stopped, but is allowed to grow."

"We need to make sure the elementals do not go mad again," said Nobundo. "If they do, they may cause a similar instance like the Cataclysm you caused two years ago, Earth-Warder."

Neltharion nodded: "The problem is with bound elementals. Using them against their will can infuriate them."

"Yes," said Thrall. "We were discussing that before the eruption began. I thought perhaps this eruption was caused by such a creature. A shaman not paying his respects to the elements as he should."

"If no one uses bound elementals," Neltharion began. "Then, the Earthen Ring can truly restore the balance to the planet that was disrupted by the Cataclysm. The remaining Elemental Lords would appreciate us not using their children against their will. Shamans must rely on their own powers over the elements, not the elementals themselves. Before my corruption, I rarely even used elementals–at least bound ones. They used to come when I call willingly and the power I used came from my heart and not from them."

"Unfortunately, shamans cannot command the elements as if they were one with them like you can, Neltharion," said Thrall. "Though I wish we could. You don't even need totems to fuel your power. It's just–there. Quite a difference since the day I helped cured you of Deathwing."

Neltharion smiled softly: "I've been–soul searching. There's still a long way to go before I'm back at the power I used to have prior to Deathwing. That power–it never came from any external source, it came from inside me. Today, I'm one step closer. But right now, the Earthen Ring should focus on spreading the word of banning the control of bound elementals. I'm sure shamans can do what I can do–just ask the elemental rather than commanding them. It will stop any future Cataclysm from happening."

Thrall scratched his beard, taking in a concerned breath over the wisdom the Earth-Warder had given him. It indeed had been long since such wisdom came from the Aspect. These past months, Neltharion has taken on his charge a bit more seriously than before, fueled partly by guilt, but mostly by the renewed sense of responsibility he had to the planet.

"It's just a suggestion," the dragon said, tiling this great head down at the orc. He gave a shrug, his wings spreading slightly as he raised his shoulders up, hunching over.

"He may have something," said Nobundo. "After dealing with the Elemental Lords and coming to an accord with them, using elementals against their will maybe in gross violation with that relationship."

"Summon all of the Earthen Ring," said Thrall. "And any friendly shaman. Tell them to meet us at the Southern Earth Shrine near Tanaris."

Neutral territory," said Neltharion with a bob of his head. "And being watched by my elder brother Nozdormu. I hope he doesn't mind me showing up for dinner. Though, he did say he's been meaning to spend more time with me. I should pay him a visit after the meeting."

"He probably already has foreseen our arrival," said Thrall. "Neltharion, can you help me keep the peace?"

Neltharion rumbled and dipped his head: "I shall be there in my full size. No one would ever dare to attack with me looking down at them."

"Thank you, old friend," said Thrall.

Neltharion's smile grew even wider.