Disclaimer-I do not own World of Warcraft, Blizzard Entertainment does.

Zalleen chortled at Stormwing as he clambered up out of the gray dust. The storm drake wiped at his nose with a paw. Shooting a irritated glance at the mage, he shoved him with his shoulder. Zalleen yelped and tripped over the hem of his robe, falling into the rock dust. Stormwing laughed and was soon followed by Skydive and Imyra. Lastraza shook her head like she was watching rambunctious children, while Atlanta maintained a frosty exterior. Emala just sighed and rubbed her side.

She was glad that the others weren't too rattled from this experience, but at the same time the hunter wished they would be a bit more serious. Emala didn't want them scatterbrained when they arrived at the next obstacle.

By now Zalleen had gotten up and was dusting his robes off. He pushed Pierceclaw's snout away with one finger as the red raptor sniffed at him. Apparently he found the smell of the construct dust interesting.

"Oh ya, so funny mon," Zalleen sniggered, trying to sound affronted but not succeeding. The troll mage had an amazing ability to laugh at himself, no matter what the situation. Emala sometimes envied him. Her combustible temper didn't really let her shrug things off like that.

"Enough joking," she said harshly, breaking through the barrier of noise that had been starting to form between her and three of her companions. "We need to move on, standing forever will only help that arrogant storm drake Ernar get what he wants."

Zalleen, Imyra and Skydive took a few seconds to let their sniggers die down, then stopped altogether. Now reminded of the real objective, they stared at Emala waiting for orders. Stormwing had become quiet instantly. His face was shadowed and he was now wearing a downright murderous expression on his face. His bright eyes looked dark under his helm.

"Right enough," he said coldly. "Best to get a hold of that traitor."

Emala nodded slowly, somewhat startled by Stormwing's abrupt mood swing from carefree to full of murderous vigor. Made slightly wary as a result, she looked around their current surroundings, brows furrowed. Until now, everything had been very straightforward, with the only choice being the isolated tunnels they had been using. Now it seemed they had come to a dead end. But after staring at the wall for a few moments, a thought crossed Emala's mind.

"Can any of you drakes smell a air current?"

The abrupt question prompted some surprised looks from the drake numbers of the group, with Stormwing the exception. He seemed to have been operating on the same line of thought as Emala, and was sniffing at the air a second after she had asked. "There's a current," he reported. "Not fresh air, of course, but it's a fair assumption it'll take us back to the hall were the cave in took place." He raised a paw and pointed.

Emala wasted no time and hurried over. She whistled sharply to Pierceclaw, and her pet came bounding over. She was soon able to spot a cleft in the rock through with pale light shone. The hunter edged sideways through the crack, and found it was much bigger than it had looked, just large enough for a drake to slip through. It was, however, rough and jagged around the edges. Emala was fairly certain some of the companions would suffer scratches, although those were hardly anything compared to what they had endured in the recent battles.

After a moment more of watching and still seeing no movement, Emala moved closer to the gap in the rock.

"Come on through," she said quietly, very aware that malice hung in the air even though nothing had shown a sign of appearing. "It's big enough for all of us, and this is were we started."

At the mention of returning to the site of the cave in, the rest of the companions entered through the gap as well. They clustered together and glanced uneasily at their surroundings.

The hall was still recognizable, but barely. The armed statues were still standing, but were webbed with cracks, had lost a few parts, and were leaning at haphazard angles. The companions were standing in a huge indention in the floor, with a steep but climbable slope of masonry and rock that seemed to lead up to the largely intact part of the hall.

"Come on," Zalleen groaned. "We really need to climb that up that?" Then his expression brightened. "Ah, wait. I could just teleport up."

"Or we could fly-" Skydive was interrupted by Emala's abruptly raised hand.

"No," she said quietly. "No porting, and no flying. If something hostile is up there, both methods could alert them. Me and Atlanta will climb the slope and look, as subtly as possible. You stay down here for now."

Skydive nodded, chastised. He folded his wings against his sides and watched as his leader and her old friend began to climb the rocky slope. They did it slowly and carefully, picking wise handholds.

Left alone with Stormwing, the three friends felt somewhat uncomfortable. At the same time, however, they felt a little reassured, possibly from Stormwing's leader like aura.

"So..." Skydive muttered awkwardly in a attempt to make quiet conversation. "How are you?"

Stormwing glanced at him, then then looked back at the figures of Atlanta and Emala. The two tauren had made it a little more than halfway up the slope.

"Fine," he muttered with a barely detectable note of bitterness. "Considering."

He wasn't letting it show, but inside he was throbbing with hurt. Stormwing had trusted Ernar as a friend for a long time, but now the younger drake had obviously betrayed him.

"What ya think is up there?" Zalleen ventured, tilting his head from side to side as he tried to peer past the jagged top of the slope. "I'm expecting anything by now. Exploding mushrooms or a swarm of bats?"

"Exploding mushrooms? A swarm of bats?" Imyra repeated in total surprise. Both she and Skydive stared at the mage for a moment, then began to smile and stifle laughs for the sake of stealth. "Where do you come up with these things?"

Zalleen shrugged with a infectious grin on his face, leaning on his staff. "It's a gift, mon. I figured you needed cheering up."

"It worked," Skydive whispered, his eyes bright with mirth.

"On us," Lastraza reminded the netherwing. She glanced at Stormwing, still standing resolutely by the bottom of the slope. "But not on him, apparently."

Zalleen cocked an eyebrow. "I wonder why? Normally I can make even Emala smile at a joke."

All he got back were uncertain shrugs.

Emala and Atlanta had now reached the top of the slope after several minutes of hard climbing. The jagged edges of the broken flooring stones were what they grasped and used to pull themselves high enough to peer above the ledge.

The remaining half of the hallway floor was still intact, but lacerated with cracks. Thirty feet away, the towering gold doors loomed. Standing between them and the door was the last thing they wanted to see-yet another guardian.

This one promised to be twice as much trouble as the others. It was at least six feet taller than Rajh and looked even thicker and stronger. It wore a kilt and armor, and a strange blue crown. Other than the metallic skin and enormous height, it looked like a human man.

"Wonderful," Emala grumbled after she and Atlanta had ducked back out of sight. "Another of those damned things."

"Could we sneak by?" Atlanta asked shortly.

"No," Emala responded, clenching her fist in frustration. "That hasn't worked so far, on any of these guardians. It most likely won't work this time either."

The hunter peered at the guardian one more time, then began to descend back down to the other companions. Atlanta followed.

When the two tauren got back to their other friends, they found them waiting patiently where they had been before. It looked like Zalleen had kept them well occupied with jokes in the meantime, as Skydive and Imyra were stifling laughs and Lastraza was smiling. Stormwing was still standing stiffly were they had left him, his expression as stern as a carved statue's. The only visible change as they approached was a slight nod of the head.

"You're back," he said quietly.

"Yes," Emala responded, jumping and landing just beside him. Atlanta picked her way down more slowly, arriving just after her. "Come on, there's a briefing for you to attend."

Stormwing ducked his head respectfully, earning a fleeting look of surprise form Emala. It was gone fast, however, so the storm drake didn't notice. The hunter hadn't expected this level of obedience from him, as it could be seen Stormwing was the commanding type.

That brought a whole new idea to light. Emala had never really seen the need to pick a second in command for the group, but now she was reconsidering that. Judging from what Atlanta and Imyra had told her about the fight with Setesh, Stormwing could be quite capable.

Emala shook her head, clearing the thoughts. There would be more time for her to think about this after their current ordeal was all said and done. On top of that, she didn't even know if Stormwing would stick around afterward.

"Hey!" Emala said sharply, drawing instant attention. "We have another guardian to deal with."

Gesturing for her friends to come closer, she knelt and began tracing invisible patterns on the ground as she began to explain. "Okay, Zalleen. Your teleporting can do us some good, just not on the stealth side of things."

The mage frowned and scratched his head. "Er, what?"

Emala smiled wryly at him. "You get to lead the enemy into a trap."

"What!" Zalleen yelped. "I need to be bait? You know what always happens to bait, right?"

"Don't worry," Emala snorted, glaring at him with annoyance. "Skydive will watch your back. If you can't blink out he'll get you out of trouble. You can handle that, Skydive?"

"Of course," Skydive replied with a fiery tone of vigor.

"Good," Emala muttered, her hand rubbing her chin and green eyes staring intently into empty space in thought. "Now, while Zalleen acts as the bait - "

"Wait a sec!" Zalleen stuttered. "I don't want to be openly called bait."

"That's your fault," Emala replied caustically. "Skydive, be sure to guard the bait from bodily harm."

Skydive nodded and smiled mockingly at Zalleen. He retaliated by elbowing the netherwing in the shoulder. Emala ignored their antics and turned her attention to Stormwing and Atlanta. "You two are the frontal assault. You charge him and don't be hesitant."

"Where does that leave you and me?" Lastraza asked.

"You're going to be taking a more offensive approach than you normally do," Emala answered. "We need everyone to fight this time, but try to heal serious injuries if you can."

"Very well," Lastraza answered, tucking her paws under her chest.

"But," Emala continued, "I'm not done explaining your role. I'm going to be riding on your back. After Atlanta and Stormwing charge that guardian once he's down here in this crater, you and I come at him from behind. Imyra, you fly with us."

"Sounds solid enough," Imyra said, rapping her fingers against the ground. "Should work."

"Keyword being should," Emala muttered. "This place has a knack for throwing us off. But, we'll never know unless we try."

Zalleen gulped, staring upward at the edge of the cracked remaining intact part of the hall. It wasn't that which frightened him, but rather the prospect of what he would be facing.

"If you don't come back alive, can I have your staff?" Skydive whispered patronizingly.

"No!" Zalleen responded frantically, waving his hands. His crystal tipped staff was clenched in one hand. "I'm coming back alive. I should...anyway, why would you want my staff?"

Skydive shrugged in response. "I could hit things with it?"

"Ah, no," Zalleen responded. "This thing is my only prized possession." He looked upward and sighed. "Okay, can't put this off any longer. Wish me luck."

With that, the top of the mage's staff glowed and he vanished in a flare of white light. Zalleen popped back into existence directly before the guardian, then proceeded to wave his arms about and make himself a center of attention.

It worked. From the guardian Anraphet's perspective, he had been presented with a highly annoying pest that seemed determined to jump about his feet incessantly.

Zalleen's eyes widened when Anraphet lifted his huge foot and brought it down. The mage teleported again, this time reappearing close to the abrupt drop into the crater that had used to be the other half of the hall. At this point Skydive took it upon himself to hasten Stormwing's part of the plan. He dove at the guardian's legs, aiming to knock him of balance.

Sadly for Skydive, he was thinner and considerably lighter than Stormwing. Anrephet simply bent his knees and resisted the force of the netherwing's body. Before he could try and strike Skydive, Stormwing took up his part of the plan. Atlanta riding on his back, the storm drake plunged into a headlong dive at his ally's previous target. Since the storm drake was larger and heavier than Skydive, he was able to successfully make the guardian lose his footing and fall of the precipice.

Anraphet managed to avoid a out of control tumble by bracing his feet in the slope, but he still skid down the slope in a crouch. He tried unsuccessfully to climb back up in the process, but his weight and the loose earth undermined the process.

Lastraza had been circling high in the air above, watching the process with Emala on her back. Pierceclaw clung to the hunter's chain mail. Emala allowed a slight smile to grace her lips. The trap had been sprung and had played out how she thought. The guardian would be restricted to the narrow confines of the gap, and couldn't make full use of the remaining half of the floor. Still, it was most likely only a slight advantage. Now they would need to rely on skill and fortune.

Lastraza went diving downward, ending up behind Anraphet. She opened her jaws and the red drake's fire washed over the guardian's back. At the same time Emala fired a string of arcane shots.

The attack caused a violent reaction from the target. His face didn't seem to show any emotion, but he whirled and lashed out viciously with a fist. Lastraza rolled in midair and then dropped altitude, giving Emala just enough time to sling her bow over her shoulder. The hunter wrapped her arms around Lastraza's neck. The instant the drake leveled out, Emala released her grip.

Lastraza flapped her wings, the tan membrane filling with the still air she could collect. They passed Skydive, who slowed down and allowed Emala to jump on his back after signaling to him. Pierceclaw remained perched on Lastraza on command of his master as she veered away. The way Emala saw it, she didn't currently need Pierceclaw's assistance. Then Skydive and Emala fell into the mindsets they used whenever they entered battle this way. They knew what each other was capable of and needed.

Skydive made a wide and speedy loop around the chamber and banked, heading back in Anraphet's direction. As they approached, the two could see Stormwing engaging the enemy with Atlanta doing the same form his back. Imyra, unable to cast spells in her bird form, stood at the edge of the precipice, with Zalleen aiding her. They were now pelting Anraphet with damaging spells. They appeared only to be doing minor damage, but it was still slowly and surely weakening the guardian.

Still, Anrephet was far from finished. The guardian spoke words of magic in his gravely voice. A dark orb appeared over his head, the purple tint revealing it to be a concentration of shadow magic. The tendrils of the magic within the orb twisted an writhed like it was a nest of snakes.

The companion's first thought was that the orb would be thrown at them and then explode. As it turned out, what actually happened was far worse.

The orb flashed and rays of shadow magic shot out of it in varied directions like violet, bright sunshafts.

Skydive yelped. Emala slung her bow over her shoulder as she had with Lastraza. She then gripped Skydive's sides with her legs as he started to swerve deftly around the beams, twisting and rolling, slipping through the rays like a sparrow.

Then they heard Stormwing let out a bellow of pain. The storm drake, lacking Skydive's maneuverability, had been too slow. A smoking hole was now burned in his wing membrane, and it could be easily seen he was struggling to maintain his hovering position between the rays.

Anraphet proceeded toward him, the beams of magic doing no harm to him. He moved strangely like a stalking predator, despite his size and looks.

Lastraza's yellow eyes flared with protective fire. She cast a healing spell on the other drake's wing. As the membrane regrew Stormwing swerved away from Anraphet's attempt to crush him.

The guardian seemed to let out a dissatisfied growl. He withdrew and seemed to ponder, gazing coldly at the companions as they circled him at a broad distance. Then he struck with deadly speed, aiming at Lastraza, who had misjudged his reach. The guardian's huge fist slammed into her ribs.

She let out a keening cry as her vision briefly faltered. The red drake was thrown back against the stone wall, and slid down to the ground in Anrephet's makeshift prison. She could hear her companion's frantic shouts, but as if they were filtering through several feet of water. Lastraza's ears were ringing, and her ribs hurt abominably. She now found herself lying at the bottom of the crater that was serving as Anraphet's makeshift prison. Certain she had some fractured ribs and very aware of Anraphet's approaching steps, she struggled to her feet, trying to regain the focus to cast a healing spell.

Before the guardian could make a swift end of her, Stormwing's pine green body came plunging from above. With a rare streak of aerial excellence, the storm drake grasped Lastraza and flapped mightily, just avoiding the guardian's massive fist. He deposited the red drake on the edge of the pit, were Imyra, looking alarmed, hurried over.

"Are you okay?" she asked frantically, doing her best to help Lastraza stand. The female drake was gazing at Stormwing, however.

He looked like he was going to say something, then shook his head and said something incoherent. Stormwing then launched himself back into flight, charging at Anraphet. Shaking her head in confusion, Lastraza was now able to heal her fractured ribs. Then she herself took flight once more, following in Stormwing's wake.

After seeing their friend struck and nearly killed, Skydive and Emala had doubled their efforts. The two were now working together as if they were one being, both attuned perfectly to each other's actions. Skydive would fly in loops and spirals, deftly avoiding everything Anraphet tried to do to him, whether it was spells or physical blows. Emala was managing to fire a steady stream of arcane shots at the guardian, followed by explosive shots.

The attacks were starting to add up. Anraphet was beginning to look battered and worn, especially when Lastraza and Stormwing rejoined the fight.

Zalleen suddenly appeared in a flash of white light on Lastraza's back, causing her to become slightly unbalanced a moment. Then the red drake balanced back out and shot a annoyed glance back at the mage.

"Sorry," he said with a bright enthusiasm that contrasted with his grim face. "I wanted to get closer to the action."

Lastraza nodded, her gaze flicking back to their enemy. "I suppose I can relate."

Further conversation was cut off when Anraphet swung at Stormwing. The storm drake veered away, but not before Atlanta leaped from his back and onto the guardian's arm. Before he even knew it, Atlanta's runeblade plunged into his arm. Black liquid trickled out, and Anrephet let out a brass toned bellow of pain. He raised a hand to squash the Death Knight, only for Stormwing to ram into the appendage. He followed the strike up with a blast of lightning from his open mouth.

The bolt struck Anraphet in the face. Momentarily dazed, his hand stalled. Stormwing then angled his wings and glided swiftly down to were Atlanta could jump back to the safety of his strong back.

Angered, Anraphet seemed to decide he didn't want to put up with these annoying mortals anymore. He raised his hands and resumed the chant he had used before to make the orb of shadow magic.

Emala cursed adamantly, gesturing for her companions to come closer. They were all there within a range of twenty seconds, seeing the urgency of their situation.

"We deal with that thing again," Emala said bluntly, pointing at the orb. "This one looks like it's even stronger than the last. We need to find a way to disrupt it, or even better, make it backfire on that fucking pile of stone."

"How would we do that?" Skydive asked edgily, eying the growing ball of magic above Anraphet's head.

"Maybe I could do something," Zalleen said tentatively, fingers nervously running through his red hair. "If me and Imyra were to fire spells at that orb."

"At a precise moment, though," Emala muttered, her eyes glinting as she heard the possibilities. "We'd want to do it..." she watched as the orb seemed to hum in preparation for release, while Imyra landed behind Atlanta on Stormwing's back. The strong drake pumped his wings slightly harder but otherwise showed so signs of effort.

"Now!" Emala commanded harshly.

Zalleen sent a frostfire bolt at the orb instantly, with Imyra following his aid quickly with a moonfire. The spells entered the sphere of shadow magic, and the entire thing let out a alarming, high pitched whine.

Obviously Anraphet wasn't expecting this. He seemed to flinch and recoil slightly. Then the guardian took a few steps back, but it was too late.

With a final earsplitting note, the orb of shadow magic ruptured like a fragile glass ball that had just had a heavy weight dropped on it. The shadow magic darted outward like shards, but faded a few inches away. A purple shock seemed to go through Anraphet, and with a final shudder he disintegrated into gray dust like the rest of the guardians had.

"Finally," Emala exhaled in relief. "Now we just need to get through that door and find-" she stopped abruptly. "Wait," she muttered, a growing sense of unease washing over her. "We-"

"You cleared my way for me."

The cold voice cut through the air like a knife.

Note: this is where the actual dungeon bosses come to an end, and the point were there will only be one or two more chapters. The conclusion of this story will feature a foe I made up, and the Ultimate One will make a appearance either in the next or last chapter. Update may take longer than usual so I can work out what I want to happen.

As always, reviews from both site members and anonymous reviewers are appreciated :D

~dharak