II
She could not believe how much damage her brother had sustained, or Wyrm Rest has sustained. Her flight was busy rebuilding with some help of sympathetic mortal allies. At the same time, they were also repairing many of Neltharion's metal plates that were damaged. Because those plates could not be removed, it was just best to repair them. The Great Black was asleep, had been asleep for quite some time since the rebuilding began. Alexstrasza pulled him out of the way for them to continue to to repair the temple. She laid him beside the temple , near a pool of water that had thawed from light of the sun. His plates were polished, his scales were shined. He looked at peace resting n the temple. Alexstrasza ran her claw down his side and took in a deep breath.
He was polished, cleaned, and shined. No more the soot and ash and dirt he received while as Deathwing. She could have sworn she heard him purr. He was at peace. Neltharion began to stir a bit and his eyes slowly fluttered open. He lifted his head up and turned to his younger sister.
"What...what happened?" he said in a weak voice.
"We've moved you to the side of the temple," said Alexstrasza. "So you can rest easier while we continue with the repairs."
"How long I was out?" Neltharion asked, lifting his head slightly up.
"Several days," said Alexstrasza. "It made it easier for us to repair some of the damage plates and polish and shine them...and you."
"You cleaned me up and fixed me?" he asked. "Why?"
"Because you needed it," said Alexstrasza. "You needed to be cleaned of the evil you caused, which bore itself upon your scales like the plates grafted on your body."
"Who repaired the plates?" he asked.
"Many of our mortal allies that we called upon to help us," she replied.
Neltharion got up to his shaking feet and shivered.
"Come," said Alexstrasza. "Come see what they did for you. Your scales are as shiny as the surface of polished onyx, like they once were. It's like I am looking at the Neltharion of old once more...a joyful past that always made me smile."
Neltharion slowly lumbered towards the reflecting pool at the center of the temple and knelt down to see his own reflection. There, rippling through the water was his face, partially hidden by the metallic brace on his lower jaw. His scales were polished and they shined much like the steel-gray adamantine plates that dotted here and there. Though, his body was still bloated, his neck overly thick, his forelegs and hind legs densely muscled to out of proportion. His forearm was wider than Alexstrasza's waist. His wings were wider than he was long, however, his length itself was twice that of his sister. He was not the Neltharion of old, no matter how much they polished him. There was still the hint of what Deathwing left behind upon him, glowing rips in his body still being held together by the metallic plates. Though the rips were not as big as they once were, they were still very much visible. Heat from his molten core escaped from them causing the air to ripple like a mirage.
"You can polish a piece of shit, but it's still shit," Neltharion growled in disgust at his own reflection. He slammed his fist into the water, splashing it out until his refection became distorted.
"Neltharion!" Alexstrasza shouted. "Language! How could you say that about yourself?"
"I learned that from Deathwing," said the Earth-Warder. "Why would they help me? Why would I deserve their help, even for the simple gesture of washing me free of the soot of my sins? What have done to deserve it?"
Alexstrasza lowered her head.
"Nothing," Neltharion decided to answer his own question. "I've done nothing but cause them their misery." He looked back at his clearing reflection. "I heard what Kalecgos said even in my subconscious. I know what he meant by that. They know nothing else. They don't know Neltharion, they only know Deathwing. Besides a certain few, most that exist today, even among the Dragonflights, only know me as Deathwing. Neltharion is a memory!"
"Neltharion is you," said Alexstrasza. "You said it yourself."
"I know who I am," he said. "I know. But do they? Do they see me as Neltharion? No. No one does. I am still Deathwing to them!" He lowered his head and began to weep. "That monster is gone, but his deeds still haunt me."
"You think it'll be easy?" Alexstrasza asked. "We can't go back to the way things were. Look at your body, I can't even make it look like it was centuries ago. But I did my best. I look into your eyes, I don't see Deathwing anymore, I see you. I missed those emerald green eyes, so kind, so gentle. That is what I see."
Neltharion rumbled, his eyes growing downcast. Alexstrasza came up to him, leaned against his chest and wrapped her wings around him.
"What am I going to do?" he asked.
"You are the Earth-Warder," she replied. "That is your duty. You must present yourself to Azeroth as such again. People will learn to trust you once more."
"Will they?" he asked.
"I know they will," she replied. "But these things take time. Rest, dear brother Connect with the mortal allies we have here. Talk with them, let them see you for you."
Neltharion lowered his head as he lowered to the ground. He closed his eyes, curling up again.
"Get up!" Alexstrasza shouted. "You're not going to lay around all day."
"I just awoke from a several-day coma and you want me to move around?" Neltharion asked.
"I'm asking you to assist in the building," said the Life-Binder. "But I do want you to do something. If you feel tired later on, you can come back for a nap. But I think you've slept enough at least for now. You need to get to know your body again. You haven't been in control of it for ten thousand years."
Neltharion rose, attempting to straighten out his back as he got to his feet. He could feel the weight of his bloated form. Despite the muscle mass he had gained through his transformation inflicted by the Old Gods and Deathwing, he could not compensate. His brain was sending out signals, still believing it was in a much slender, much smaller form. He breathed heavily, his breath having a slight wheezing sound to it.
"I'm...so heavy..." he said. "It was no wonder I could barely fly. I don't know how Deathwing does it."
"He got used to it, I suppose," said Alexstrasza. "And it was rather gradual...the mass growth, I mean. With you, it is different. You're not used to the size, the girth..."
"Just say it," said Neltharion, sneering with his fangs. "Just say it. I'm fat. I'm a bloated, obese monstrosity. I'm so fat I can hardly even move around."
"I'm not saying that," said Alexstrasza. "Stop it with the self-pity!"
She took hold of him, bringing his snout close to her so she could look deeply into his eyes.
"Listen to me, Neltharion," she began. "You have a job to do. You have your duties, you have Azeroth to care for. It's time to throw away what Deathwing did. You must connect with its people again. Things have changed, the people have changed. We have changed. I believe in you, Neltharion. Please, enough of the self-pity. Give us a chance too as well as yourself."
Neltharion shifted his massive bulk and leaned into her snout, pressing it to his. Then, he tore away and slowly lumbered his enormous body away from the base of the temple. He could feel the ground buckling and cracking and trembling with every step he took. He was so heavy, even for the ground upon which he stood. His wings drooped slightly. His head was low as if the weight of that metallic jaw was preventing him from holding it up. The weight of his massive horns was enough to cause some distress in his neck. However, it was not the physical weight that bothered him the most, it was the heaviness of the sorrow in his heart. Neltharion took in a deep breath, stepping out onto the snow and ice. He heard the sound of his heavy feet cracking the frozen landscape and it only made his heart fall even more. He used to be so light.
He looked around the temple at the Red Dragons and various mortal allies as they continued to rebuild Wyrmrest Temple. These mortals were friendly to Alexstrasza and her flight, almost considering her family to them. For that, she cared for all of them. He saw some Alliance banners, a few Horde banners, but mostly these mortals were neutral to either. The Red Dragons were neighbors and as kindly neighbors, they were only here to help. They stopped, though, when they saw the massive Black Aspect rising and then walking out to peer up at their work. His keen ears could hear the sounds of frightful murmurs and a few times he heard the name "Deathwing" being spoken. His head drooped even more. That was all they knew of him, Deathwing. Not Neltharion.
"Stop calling me Deathwing," he softly murmured to himself.
He turned then to Alexstrasza who held a beaming expression. Neltharion sighed and slowly walked away, head hung low, tail dragging on the ground. The metallic tail blade attached to the tip carved a long gash in the snow as he moved away from the temple. Alexstrasza's bright expression fell as well when she saw Neltharion slowly saunter away.
"Oh...Neltharion..." she said, shaking her head.
Neltharion continued to lumber away from the temple, dragging his enormous feet over the snow. The sounds of work continued once he had gotten a fair good distance away. His very presence gave them so much fear that they could not focus on their tasks. Neltharion slowly turned over to one of the Dragonshrines. He could smell the scent of brimstone and smoke coming over the ledge where the Dragonshrine was. This was the Obsidian Dragonshrine, the place where his own flight would go to be laid to rest. By magic, by energy, by any sort of will, his flight would always find their way here in their death. Before him was a valley of blackened earth and volcanic vents. Lava flowed in rivers, etching around the shrine. Above loomed a rather massive caldera, constantly spewing forth its lava from below. Neltharion slowly entered the shrine. No one guarded it. He suspected so since Deathwing called all of the Black Dragonflight to him for the war. Now, with them scattered, they had forgotten this place.
There laying in haphazard places were the skeletons of his once glorious flight, the guardians and stewards of Azeroth itself. Neltharion's brow rose as he felt his eyes well up again. He shivered despite the heat from the volcano keeping his body warm. Two particular tattered forms of Black Wyrms lay near the center of the shrine. He slowly began to approach them. He knew their forms very well and his head dipped even lower. Onyxia and Nefarian, his children. Then, laying beside them was the burnt, scared, and very much dead form of his Prime Consort, Sintharia. Neltharion lowered himself to the blackened, ash-covered ground near Sintharia's still form, extending his enormous wing around her. The sounds of his breath broken by his sobs echoed in the shrine itself.
"Sintharia," he whispered. "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry I hurt you...I raped you. The joy of mating should have been that, but...Deathwing...I...why...why...what did I do to deserve this? Why punish me? Why punish them? Why punish us? Why make us hurt so much?"
He lifted his head and turned to the rest of the skeletons of his nearly extinct flight. Many of them were in fact the other consorts he killed in his maddened libido. Deathwing had raped and killed them in his act of dominance and lustful desire. Only Sintharia survived, scared, marred, and filled with vengeance for what he did to her. And then Deathwing used her again without her knowledge. She was nothing more than his pawn. Neltharion returned to Sintharia's corpse lying still in the shrine. He curled his massive, bloated body around hers as best as he could and continued to weep. Neltharion laid his metallic jaw over Sintharia's neck.
"Everyone I loved in my flight," he whispered. "Gone...gone because of me. No...because of Deathwing. I am a monster. I should die...die right here with my flight. Then, we will all be together again."
As his tears began to flow out his eyes, hitting the ground. As his tears splashed upon the blacken rock, a rumble from the earth sounded, trembling the surface. Suddenly, his tears collected into a forming pool of water near the center of the shrine itself. The water was fresh and it steamed with inviting warmth. It was a hot spring. As the hot spring brought forth its warmth from underground, tiny green plants began to shout out from the blackened soil not at all hindered by the noxious fumes near the volcano. From death became life. The plants were small, but they were plentiful, growing strong around the edge of the hot spring pool.
"Earth-Warder..." came a rather sultry voice behind him. He lifted his head, tears streaming down his eyes. Behind him at the entrance of the shrine itself was a blue dragon.
"What do you want?" Neltharion asked.
"The Life Queen wishes for you to join her back at the temple," said the female blue dragon.
"I was just there," said Neltharion. "Just let me mourn my family in peace."
"You have given them a gift, Earth-Warder," said the blue dragon. "A lovely place to rest peacefully now."
Neltharion turned to the hot spring his tears had formed. Tears continued to flow from his eyes. He then passed his eyes back to his deceased Prime Consort. Laying a claw upon her body, he patted her neck. He rose up from the ground and slowly lumbered over to the blue dragon.
"I'm sorry," he said deeply. "For Malygos. I'm sorry for what I did to him. He was my best friend. And I betrayed him."
The blue dragon dipped her head.
The two dragons slowly began to walk back to the temple. The blue dragon took off, flying above as Neltharion dragged his feet along the snow. He could not even fly. Neltharion finally approached the temple, seeing Alexstrasza standing at the entrance. The magnificent Red Dragon was standing with shoulders back, wings slightly expanded. Still, her eyes were sad when she looked upon her brother.
"You wanted to see me, sister?" he asked.
"Did you go visit your shrine?" she asked.
"Yes," he replied. Neltharion's eyes lowered and his head followed. His right claw patted the ground. "I did. All of them dead, dead because of me. My mate...my children." He then look up at Alexstrasza. "And your mate, your children. I am so sorry."
"I know you are," she said.
"I am a burden on you," said Neltharion. "I can't fly, I'm barely able to move right now, and I see them staring at me...your flight...the mortals...everyone...staring...watching. 'What's he gonna do next? Is he going to eat us? Is he going to destroy us? Is he going to kill Alexstrasza?' They don't trust me. You don't trust me. I know why. I can't complain...I don't have the right to."
"Deathwing..." began Alexstrasza. "Please..."
"What did you call me?" Neltharion asked.
Alexstrasza gasped.
"You called me Deathwing," he said.
"I didn't mean..."
"You see me as Deathwing too!" said Neltharion. "You all see me as Deathwing! I can't escape him, even in his death."
His lip trembled. Neltharion looked up at the workers. They watched him, scrutinized him. Lowering his head again, his eye became downcast. Then, he focused upon them, his expression faded to sincerity, but also showed the deep sorrow in his heart. He folded his wings around him, his tail curling about his body.
"I am sorry," he said. "For everything, for nearly destroying Azeroth. The whispers. They tormented me. They made me do these things. I...I never wanted to harm anyone. I only wanted to protect everyone. They turned those desires against you, they twisted my need to protect you. I am sorry. I cannot give back what I took. I can only serve Azeroth as I did before the Old Gods enslaved me and turned me into Deathwing."
He shut his eyes tightly.
"I don't want you to see me as Deathwing," he said. "Don't see me as Deathwing. I am Neltharion, I am the Guardian of Azeroth, my duty is to you, my existence is to act as you will me to. But I cannot do my job if there is hate for me. I will give of myself as I had done in the past. Even if that means I will have to find a way to do so! I will serve those who need me, I will seek out those who are in need of me. I will go where I am needed the most."
With that, Neltharion rose up onto his feet and then darted off, running as fast as he could to distance himself from Wyrmrest Temple.
"Neltharion!" Alexstrasza shouted. She turned to her own flight. "Fly after him!"
Neltharion looked back as he galloped across the snowy plain. He saw a group of red and blue dragons flying after him. Turning around, he planted his feet onto the ground. Neltharion reared back onto his hind legs and extended his wings. With one quick flap, he sent forth a severe gush of wind. The dragons scattered, becoming caught in the violent gust. At this moment of distraction, Neltharion continued on, running from the two different flights. He extended his wings again. Readying for the leap into the air, he sped up his legs. Then, he leapt forth and begin the first downbeat. He gave his wings a flap and awkwardly leveled himself out. His magnificent wings helped him glide across the warm thermals as he flew over the icy wasteland. His flight was low though, he was hesitant whether or not he could even go any higher safely. Neltharion did not trust his mind in controlling his wings. He called up his old memories of what it was like to fly, but those memories only reflected a time when he was much smaller, much slender, and certainly not the bloated behemoth of black scales and adamantine plates that he is now. His wings managed to take him several leagues though before giving out just at the Borea River. Neltharion tried to angle them as best as he could to make the landing smoother, but ultimately, he fumbled right onto the ground. The Black Aspect panted, his hot breath coming out like steam from his mouth. His keen ears picked up the sounds of wings flapping. Above him was another group of dragons, this time comprising mostly of blue dragons. Neltharion lifted his head up, still breathing hard. His body shook from the impact, his heart pounded against the walls of his chest. Scooping up some snow, formed it into a ball in his massive claws. Then, with one heave, he tossed the ball at one of the blue dragons. The drake spun away from the snowy ball, dodging it effortlessly.
"Get out of here!" Neltharion bellowed. "Leave me alone! Just–just go away! I don't need you, I don't need Alexstrasza or her flight. She said I should do my job and I will do it! I'll make up the time that I didn't, all those centuries of torment Deathwing did. I'll make Azeroth forget him, he'll be the memory and I'll be the only one to exist. No one will call me Deathwing again!"
"You are still ill, Earth-Warder," said one of the blue dragons. "You should return to the Life-Binder. She can make you feel better."
"To hell with her!" Neltharion shouted. "I don't need her help. I don't want her help. She called me Deathwing. She looks at me with pity. I'm pathetic, I'm useless. I'm a burden! Not anymore! I'm going to fix this. I'm going to fix Azeroth. I'm going to fix all that I broke. Even if it kills me in the process, I will fix the world I broke. I will help the people who I hurt. If I have to bleed for them to make things better, then I will."
Neltharion padded off from them, stumbling several times over himself due to the exhaustion from flying. He stumbled over, crashing onto the snow with his side. Neltharion rose up and started off again, desperately trying to make his feet move fast enough away from the blue dragons and fast enough to again get him aloft. They still flew after him. Neltharion stopped, his enormous body falling back to the ground again. His form trembled, his head swam. He curled his black form up as tightly as he could, foldings his wings over it. His tail coiled around his legs. The blue dragons landed, circling him. Neltharion just coiled tighter when he sensed them approaching him. Then, he felt something massive fly over him. His vision swam around as he looked up, distorted by his tears and his delirium.
Why, Neltharion, what are you doing here?
Neltharion turned his throbbing head to the familiar, jolly voice. His eyes squinted, but his vision would not clear. Though, for a moment he thought saw the form of a familiar, enormous, blue dragon perched before him.
I am so happy you've come to visit me! It's been such a long time. We rarely have these visits anymore.
"M-Malygosss..." Neltharion asked, his voice weakened by his attempted escape from Dragonblight.
Why of course it's Malygos! Who else would it be than your old friend and brother Malygos? By the Titans, what have you done to yourself? Are you well? You worry me sometimes, you know, Neltharion.
"You're...dead..."
Oh, no I'm not. Why would I be? What would the Magic of Azeroth do without me? Get those crazy thoughts out of your head, old friend. The others might think you're loosing it or something.
Neltharion felt a slight chuckle come on when he heard that. The sheer irony of that statement was almost amusing.
Can't have the Earth-Warder loose it. You're the one we all turn to for advise. You're the one we turn to the most...if you lost it, I don't know what we'd do...
"Neltharion!" called another voice, one he did recognize, but he knew it was not Malygos'.
"Malygosss..." Neltharion said, looking upon the enormous form of the magnificent Blue Dragon. The dragon reached over and took hold of him, lifting his body up slightly
"I'm not Malygos, Neltharion," said the Blue Dragon. "I'm Kalecgos. I'm the new Blue Aspect. Wake up, Neltharion."
"My Lord," began one the blue dragons. "We should take him to the Nexus for Alexstrasza to pick up later."
"Malygosss...I'm...so sorry..."
Sorry for what, old friend?
"I hurt you," Neltharion replied to the ghostly voice. "I hurt you."
I know you are. I...should have been there for you. I should have seen the signs. I should have realized that you needed my friendship the most. Maybe, it would have stopped Deathwing.
Neltharion's blank eyes welled up with tears. He was not looking at Kalecgos, he was just looking at the air itself. But his eyes focused on the apparition that he spoke to.
"Who is he talking to?" asked another blue dragon.
"I don't know," said Kalecgos. "Come, we go to the Nexus, and the Earth-Warder comes with us."
"If he goes mad again, then we do what we must do," said a third blue dragon. "We cannot let Deathwing rise again."
"He's not mad," said Kalecgos. "He's weak, delirious, and grief-stricken."
It did not take much effort for all of them to teleport back to the Nexus in Coldarra. The Nexus itself was a magnificent structure of arcane power and ice. Glowing shafts of blue-white energy flowed out between the magically suspended rings. Arcane glyphs dotted the sides of the structures, glowing blue with power. Kalecgos appeared in a flash of blue light with Neltharion in his forelegs. He laid the Earth-Warder upon the largest of the suspended platforms and looked over the enormous Black Dragon. The rest of the blue dragons appeared, each one taking a spot on each of the floating platforms.
"Neltharion," said Kalecgos. "Neltharion..."
"...so sorry...Malygos..." Neltharion whispered, lifting a claw up to Kalecgos. Kalecgos took it.
"I'm not Malygos," he said. "Neltharion."
Neltharion's eyes rolled back and then, his body became limp as his mind slipped into unconsciousness.
"The flight took a lot out of him," said Kalecgos to his Dragonflight. "I didn't realize how weak he was."
"We should return him back to Alexstrasza," suggested one of the blue dragons. Kalecgos turned to the blue dragon.
"Perhaps, Androgos," he said. "Perhaps. However, why would he run away from her? Especially in his condition?"
"They had an argument," said another blue dragon. "She called him Deathwing."
"Deathwing doesn't like being called Deathwing," said Androgos.
"I suppose the only thing we can do right now is let him rest," said Kalecgos. "Then, once he awakens and is at least conscious enough to answer questions, we will ask them."
"Many thousands of years ago, that is what we used to do when Malygos would bring us to the Earth-Warder," began a soft voice. Kalecgos looked up to find a lovely blue dragon perched on one of the higher tiers. She was Haleh, consort to Malygos. "None knew the answers to the most baffling inquiries...not like Neltharion. Now, I fear, in this state, he'll make less sense than he did when he convinced Malygos to help him create the Demon Soul."
"...Malygosss..." Neltharion whispered under his breath as he slept.
"I will keep watch over him," said Kalecgos. "It is my duty after all. He is an Aspect and so am I."
0
He heard the frightened scream of the child and raced for it. A child was in trouble, a child was in need, a child needed him to protect her. That was his job, he was the protector. He always took it upon himself to make sure the land was safe. This time, it was not. He stopped just before the child, seeing her bent over, weeping in her hands. He slowly approached her and she turned to him, eyes wide. She got up, ready to run, but he held out his glistening onyx claw and gave a soft, caring smile.
"Don't be afraid, I'm not here to hurt you," said Neltharion. "I heard you cry and I came to see what was wrong."
"Monster!" she shouted.
"Me?" he asked.
"No..." she said, shaking her head. "A monster. Over there. Burning my village."
The Black Aspect slowly walked beside her, looking out over the hill. There, the village was, burning in torrent flames. He heard the sounds of humans crying out in agony from the heat while others raced to save them.
"Momma, Papa," said the little girl. "They're in the village. I was...I was just picking flowers when...the monster came..."
"Don't worry," said Neltharion, looking down at the child. "I'll save your village and I'll find your parents."
"Thank you...sir..." she said.
"Stay here," he told her, motioning with his claw. "Don't move until I return."
She nodded just as the slender, graceful, Black Dragon took to the air. Neltharion flew quickly over to the burning village. Fire was not a problem for him to control, after all, the core of Azeroth was hot and fiery as well. He reached out to the flames and concentrated, slowly putting them out with his will alone. Then, he heard a horrible voice sound from behind him.
"Pathetic whelp!" the voice called. "Saving these wretched humans from my cleansing! How can you save them? They do not deserve to live on my world!"
Neltharion felt something slash across his back and he let out a bellow. The Black Dragon spun towards the ground only to crash upon the plains. He shook off his fall, looking up with horrified eyes. He saw himself above him, hovering over him with an evil gleam in his eyes. The bloated body, the adamantine plates, the bladed tip tail...there he was...his alter persona, Deathwing.
"Back away, spawn of the Old Gods!" Neltharion bellowed. "I will not let you harm another soul upon Azeroth ever again. Leave these people alone. The world belongs to them as much as it belongs to me."
He got to his feet and spread his wings wide, rearing back on his hind legs in a protective stance between Deathwing and the village.
"The world belongs to neither," said Deathwing. "Only me!"
"Then I will take you down, Destroyer," Neltharion said. "I am Neltharion, Earth-Warder, the Guardian of the World of Azeroth itself. The one thing that brings me more pleasure is to protect it from the scum that would seek to destroy it. I will destroy you!"
The Aspect of Death let loose a bellowing laugh: "Those are the words that made you into Deathwing in the first place. Those are the words that made you into me!"
Neltharion bellowed out a powerful roar, causing the ground itself to quake. The grassy plains began to buckle and splinter in his own anger.
"I am not you!" he called out to Deathwing.
In his own anger, the village itself began to crumble from the shaking of the ground. People called out in fear, not understanding what was happening. Neltharion turned to the sounds only to watch in horror just as the earthquake he had caused sank the town into the enormous mouth that opened up in the ground.
"You. Are. Me!" Deathwing bellowed.
Neltharion looked about him, he felt his body growing much larger, swelling up with uncontrollable power. His scales began to split open, revealing the molten, fiery, glowing insides. Lava dripped out from the rips. He let loose a powerful bellow in agony just as his body swelled and grew larger and larger. He heard the voice of Deathwing laugh at his agony, watching in glee as the Earth-Warder's body changed. The heat of his body set fire to the plains again. He looked around to find fissures opening up, spewing forth toxic fumes and lava from the ground. The mountains around the valley crumbled to dust as he bellowed out in agony.
"No!" Neltharion cried. "Stop it! Please!"
"Deathwing!" called out a familiar voice. "It pains me to do this, but I must end you."
"You were created to serve Azeroth, to protect it, not destroy it," came another familiar voice.
"How could you betray us?" asked another voice. "Me especially. We were friends."
"Now, your time hassss come," hissed the final voice. "Embrace eternity."
Neltharion turned to the voices to find the other four Aspects, Alexstrasza, Ysera, Malygos, and Nozdormu standing before him.
"No," said Neltharion. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm sorry I hurt you. Please, give me a chance, I can make it right! I can make it all right!"
"You've done enough!" shouted Malygos. "You destroyed most of my flight! Alexstrasza, I've hurt just as much as you, let me take down this betrayer myself."
Neltharion curled up, shivering before the four Aspects.
"Please, don't hurt me..."
Malygos was the first to pounce upon him, ripping furiously at his plates. Next was Alexstrasza, taking the joy in ripping his wings off. Neltharion bellowed out in agony.
"No!" he cried. Nozdormu and Ysera were next, also clawing feverishly at him. "No!"
"You are a failure!" Alexstrasza bellowed.
"You are worthless," said Ysera.
"You betrayed me," said Malygos.
"Time to join my collection, Neltharion," said Nozdormu.
"No..." Neltharion said as he shrank away from the four looming Aspects. He shut his eyes tightly, begging in his mind for this nightmare to end and for the four monsters to go away.
0
Neltharion rolled around on the platform, clawing at his invisible attackers, eyes shut tightly. His body spasmed and reeled from unseen inflictions of agony. The metallic plates on his spines scraped against the platform, leaving scars and black marks. Though this was nothing compared to what was happening all around. In his own torment, the land around Coldarra trembled and quaked. The Nexus itself jostled about as the ground that supported its power rolled. Kalecgos took hold of Neltharion's shoulders, trying to desperately shake him away. He turned to see a ring come colliding with another ring. Not even the power of Malygos' magic that held the Nexus together for all these centuries could withstand the earthquake that a distraught Neltharion was creating.
"Neltharion!" Kalecgos called. "Neltharion! Wake up! Stop this quake! Stop it!"
Below, the ground began to splinter and suddenly, the ancient caldera that made up the valley began to breathe with new life. Kalecgos looked over the edge of the platform to find cracks in the snow glowing with yellow-orange, raging heat from the dormant volcano slumbering underneath. He called out to his Dragonflight, calling then to hold together the Nexus as the earth continued to tremble underneath.
Neltharion! Friend Neltharion! Please, stop this destruction. Don't hurt my flight.
"Malygossss..." Neltharion said.
Neltharion! Please. I forgive, you. I forgive you. I forgive you. I should have caught it. We were so close. We were brothers. I should have known there was something wrong. Stop the volcano, Neltharion, this is not you.
Neltharion opened his eyes and turned to Kalecgos. Though his eyes did not see Kalecgos, he saw Malygos. His tears flowed from his eyes. He felt Malygos bringing him close, embracing him as one would to comfort his brother.
"Malygos, I'm sorry," said Neltharion, pressing his head against Malygos' chest. "I know...I will never get a chance to say it to you..."
My brother, my friend.
"I never wanted it to happen..." Neltharion said.
I know.
"I hurt you, I hurt Alex, I hurt...everyone..." Neltharion said.
My friend, Neltharion, I have listened to your great wisdom for centuries and I held your council in high regard. It is time for you to listen to mine.
"What, Malygos?" Neltharion asked. "What council could you give me that could fix the damage I have done to you?"
Perhaps it is not me you are looking for forgiveness, but it is yourself. You must forgive yourself. Heed my words, brother, go out into the world and find yourself. Within the world, you will find your peace. Once you forgive yourself, you will find that strength you lost.
"Go...out into the world..." Neltharion said as he rose up from Kalecgos' grasp. He walked over to the edge. The earthquake began to settle and the Nexus stopped trembling.
"Neltharion?" asked Kalecgos.
I challenge you to find your strength and to forgive yourself, dear friend. Be the Earth-Warder you are supposed to be.
Malygos smiled at the Black Dragon. The smile was cheerful, like it used to be. Neltharion breathed deeply, his eyes slowly clearing as the vision of Malygos faded.
"Malygos!" Neltharion called. "Wait! Don't...don't leave..."
"Neltharion?" Kalecgos asked as he moved towards the Earth-Warder. He placed his claw on Neltharion's shoulder. "Are you alright?"
Neltharion turned to the new Spell-Weaver and his head lowered in shame. He wiped his eyes free of his tears.
"I have to go," he told Kalecgos.
"You're not well," said Kalecgos.
"I have to go," Neltharion repeated, wagging his huge, black head.
"You must rest," said Kalecgos. "Alexstrasza will be showing up soon. We've called her."
Neltharion shook his head.
"I'm not going back to Wyrmrest," he said. "I don't have a place there now. My place is out there...somewhere. Away from all of you. I must find myself. Malygos said so."
"Malygos?" Kalecgos asked. "Neltharion, your mind is not well either. You're hearing voices again. You can't go out there. You'll hurt yourself and others."
"You think I'll become Deathwing again," he said. "You see me as Deathwing. It's time for you to change your vision, young Spell-Weaver. The voice I hear does not come from the sinister tongues of the Old Gods. I heard Malygos. He was as merry as he was before I...I betrayed him. He smiled at me. He said I must forgive myself."
Kalecgos looked into the Black Dragon's sparkling green eyes. Neltharion's eyes pleaded to Kalecgos to let him go.
"Please," said Neltharion. "Let me go. Just let me go."
"You're still not well," said Kalecgos. "You shouldn't be hearing any voices in your mind. You're delirious. You need to rest."
"Rest?" Neltharion asked. "And just sit back and watch the world itself falls apart because of my own follies?"
"Those are the thoughts that made the Old Gods use you in the first place," said Kalecgos.
"Then, just let me go...let me go and let me destroy myself," said Neltharion. "Everything will be fine if I just die. You should have killed me before. Why let me continue on in my misery?"
He looked down over the rim of the main platform. He saw the now gushing geysers that his nightmares had created. He saw the cracks in the earth, the glowing lines showing magma underneath, much like some of the rips in his black body. Neltharion took in a breath and puffed out his massive chest. Reaching out with his claw, he concentrated, connecting himself with the earth as he once did centuries ago. He listened to the heart and he heard it quiver in distress. He knew what he caused it. He reached out to the fractured land before him. He whispered soft, soothing words to it, easing it to become calm. The volcano would not heed his words. Instead, he felt another jolt of an earthquake. Neltharion concentrated harder, trying to ease the land, commanding it to heal itself, commanding the caldera to return to its slumber. He was only met with defiance.
"No..." he whispered. "Even my powers have not forgiven me. The world has not forgiven me." Neltharion turned back to Kalecgos. "Deathwing has stolen even the gift granted to me. I am nothing. I am no Earth-Warder. I am no Aspect. I am nothing."
You are Earth-Warder, friend Neltharion. As I was the Spell-Weaver. He has not stolen those powers, you have forgotten them.
"Malygos?" Neltharion asked.
"Not again..." Kalecgos asked. "You're not hearing Malygos. He's not here anymore!"
Tell my successor that I am here, I will always be here. My spirit resides within the Nexus itself. I have forgiven myself for my deeds, I only did them out of fear for Azeroth itself. However, I was wrong. You can hear me, Neltharion, because my soul is bound to Coldarra itself.
"Kalecgos," said Neltharion. "I can hear him. He's everywhere, in the rocks of Coldarra. I can hear his voice inside the stone that the Nexus is built upon."
"Malygos' spirit is in the stone?" asked Kalecgos.
"Malygos...is the only Aspect that ever died," Neltharion said. "Perhaps...his final resting place would be heart of Azeroth's arcane power...here. I can hear him, Kalecgos. He doesn't speak to me with hatred anymore." His eyes were still moist, but the tears he continued to shed were not of sorrow. "He doesn't curse my name. He said he's forgiven me. He says he was wrong that he only did what he did to protect Azeroth. He...listened to me. I...still blame myself."
Don't blame yourself! I was afraid like you that mortals who hold no wisdom to the great power we granted them would eventually destroy Azeroth. In a way, the Old Gods tricked me too, they turned my concerns to protect the life of Azeroth which wielded my magic into thoughts of malice. I should be apologizing to Alexstrasza as well. I've done so much harm to this world, much like you. That is not what we were created for. We aren't made to harm Azeroth nor the beings that live on it. We were made to guide it, and to guard it. Tell Kalecgos to let you go! Go out into the world, Neltharion, go! Leave the Nexus, but return and tell me your adventures when you are done.
"I have to go," said Neltharion. "He wants me to go. But he wants me to return when I finally find myself. Tell him stories, that's what Malygos wants me to do. He always loved to listen to some of my stories."
Kalecgos could not help but to smile: "If it is true and you are hearing the spirit of Malygos, then I wish I could hear it too. My new role as an Aspect doesn't grant me it..."
Neltharion finally straightened his shoulders, his eyes still moist. The massive, oversized Black Dragon placed his enormous claw on the shoulder of the smaller Blue Aspect.
"It is because you are not the Earth-Warder," he said. "You can't hear rocks talk."
"I can't hear rocks talk," Kalecgos said, letting himself laugh for the first time at Neltharion's snarky sense of humor. He had heard of tales of Neltharion's snark and it was one of the things Malygos enjoyed. Malygos was a jester of joy, but Neltharion was a humorous snark. Together, they would have made Azeroth's first draconic comedy team. Neltharion's face became serious.
"You are the Spell-Weaver now," he said. "Perhaps through the arcane energies surrounding the Nexus, you may find his wisdom."
"Maybe," said Kalecgos. "Thank you...for the advice...Earth-Warder."
"That is what I am here for," said Neltharion.
"What am I going to tell Alexstrasza?" he asked. "She'll be wondering where you are."
"Tell her that I am on a mission from Malygos," replied Neltharion. "He's my older brother after all. I can't disappoint him."
"I...suppose not," said Kalecgos.
Neltharion allowed himself to smile behind the metallic jaw brace. Kalecgos could see the corners of his scaly lips curling into the smile. Then, the Earth-Warder turned around and extended his enormous wings. Catching the air, he pushed himself off the edge of the platform in the Nexus and started off with a glide. Still, he flew rather awkwardly. Soon, the massive Black Dragon flew over the rim of the caldera, stirring up the snow at the edge of the ring of mountains. Kalecgos looked down when he heard a rumble beneath him. The fractured ground caused by Neltharion's distress was returning to normal. No longer were their fissures or glowing cracks. The ground was whole again.
