Vela was surrounded by never ending darkness. She wasn't sure where she was, if where she was could be considered a place. She was cold, colder than she had been in Northrend, and her head spun. No matter where she went, if she was even moving, the darkness always followed. It stretched endlessly in every direction, and there was no escaping it. She was surrounded by it, consumed by it.

She could feel pressure on her mind, pressure from a coming head ache. At first it was normal, but the pain slowly got worse and worse until it was practically unbearable. She screamed, but no sound came out. She tore at her hair, as if that would do any good. She felt trapped and helpless in her own mind as the pain consumed her. She felt like crushing her skull, as if ending her life was better than enduring the pain.

She could feel reality slipping away, if there was any in the dark place she was in. her common sense was being chipped away at, and she could feel her saneness slipping. All there was in her mind was pain, endless pain. It never stopped worsening, and with every ounce more she received she slipped more and more away from herself.

She opened her mouth to scream, wanting to rip through the never ending darkness, but her voice was still nowhere to be found. Slowly, the pain consumed her, devouring her from the inside out. She tried to fight it, with whatever strength she had left, but she was powerless to the inevitable.

Eventually she gave up, letting the pain break through and begin nibbling at whatever it hadn't consumed already. She felt herself dying slowly, being corrupted, in a way. She lay there, letting the rest of her sanity be devoured by the pain. Her last thought before she was devoured was simple.

She whispered it quietly in her mind "Oh titans, just let this be over with."

And with that, the madness consumed her entirely, without a shred of sanity left.

Vela burst out of her sleep, panting heavily. And immense heat covered her entire body, making her hot even in the coldness of Northrend. She was sweating all over, her clothes drenched in the sticky liquid. She quickly shoved the blanket that was on her off, trying to get as cool as possible.

She felt like jumping into an icy lake, which was saying something since she was cold blooded. The heat was still all over her, but it had lessened, cooled down. Her panting slowed as well as she recovered from the awful dream she had received. Her head throbbed, but not as much as it had in the dream.

As her panting slowed to deep breathing, she began to look around. She was in the forest, in a camp of sorts. She was on a small blanket, with a little pillow. There was a fire pit not far from her bed, the coals till red from the flames. She scooted away a few feet, wanting to get as cool as she could.

A breeze went by, ruffling her hair. She looked around and saw that she was in a small clearing, there were three other make shift beds, two of them filled and one empty. She heard gentle snoring, making her calm down a bit. But her heart still raced, threatening to burst out of her chest.

She forced it to slow down, clearing her mind so that she could think. Her mind was blurry, like a cloud of fog had drifted over it. She was trying to remember what had happened the night before. Her memory was as blurry as her mind, scattered around in pieces that she had to organize.

All that she could remember at the time was that she had morphed into her dragon form, and that something had happened, something big. But the rest of her memory was scattered into little pieces, and at the moment she couldn't put them together.

She rubbed her head on instinct; trying to get rid of the head ache that had settled in. She shifted around in her bed and groaned. Her body was sore all over, not a muscle left untouched by pain.

As much as her muscles protested, she forced herself to get up. She needed to find out what had happened last night, and she was hoping to get her memory back by going for a walk. She wanted to stretch her muscles, even though they were sore. She felt like she had been trapped in a small box for days, and that she had finally found her way out. She had all of this energy stuffed up inside of her, and she wanted to use it, despite her muscles protest.

As she got up she noticed that her outfit had changed. Instead of black leather pants and a black button up, she wore a black battle skirt, a black vest, knee high black boats, and a black cloak covered her back and most of her front. She reached up at her head and felt two small horns sticking out of her forehead, near her temple.

"Huh," she said "I guess that's where they headache came from."

Her outfit reminded her of the clothes the female dragon aspects wore. In fact, it reminded her a lot of it. She was still confused as to how her outfit changed, but she guessed that it had to do with the events of the previous night, which she still could not remember.

She stretched her arms up into the sky and wasn't surprised when she heard a few pops from her muscles. She stretched the rest of her body as best as she could, taking away from some of her soreness, and walked over to the two sleeping people still in the camp. She went over to the first, and largest, and peered down at the face.

It was a sleeping Kyragosa, still in her mortal form. Her hair was in tangles, all messed up from sleeping, and there were drool stains on her pillow. She was snoring, not as loud as Kaijin did, but enough to be annoying. She was sound asleep, from the looks of it, and she showed no signs of waking up anytime soon.

Vela shrugged and moved on to the next bundle. She was careful not to step on anything; she didn't want to wake Kyragosa and whoever it was in the other bed. She tip toed over to the next person, holding her breath, and peered down.

She was surprised to see that the second sleeper was actually Grue, wrapped up tightly in a pile of blankets. Even when he was covered in layers of wool he still managed to shiver, making the oddest sound. He too seemed to be in a deep sleep, and Vela wondered what had tired him out so much. She supposed that it had to do with the other night, and she sighed in annoyance, wishing she could remember.

She stood and walked away from Grue, determined not to wake either of them. She could tell that they needed sleep. Instead of settling back down and trying to catch up on her own sleep, she looked at the third and empty bed, and walked over to it. She had no idea who else would be with them, and she was determined to find out, without waking the others.

She went over to the bed and knelt down by it. She touched the blankets, they were still warm. Someone had left them not long ago. And whoever it had been had been tall, not dragon tall, but tall for a mortal. This didn't give Vela much of an idea of who had been there since she didn't know much about the mortal races, especially not about their height.

She sighed and stood up. It was no use sitting around and trying to figure out a mystery that she couldn't solve, so she walked back over to her makeshift bed and sat down. She knew she couldn't go back to sleep, but at least she could rest her muscles while she thought. She wriggled around in her bed, making herself comfortable. She had only slept in a number of mortal beds, but she got the idea.

Once she was comfortable, she started to relax, thinking about everything that had happened. Surprisingly, the first thing that her mind wandered to was Kaijin and Daena. She and Grue had left so abruptly, and Kaijin was the only one that knew. What were they doing now? Were they waiting there, worried?

And even better question popped into her head. Where were they? How far away was the camp where the carriage was? How would Vela and Grue get back? All of these questions, and more, swarmed through Vela's mind, making her stomach churn. This was odd, since she hadn't eaten anything in over twenty four hours and there was really nothing that could be churning.

She started to feel bad about the whole situation. Daena must have been worried sick about them, especially Grue. And Kaijin probably missed them too, since Grue was also the only other guy, and Vela was the only one who could understand his height issues.

Vela sighed, and stopped thinking about it before she could make herself feel any worse. Instead, she focused on trying to remember the events of the night before. She took a deep breath, and relaxed all of her muscles as best as she could. She closed her eyes, preparing to delve deep into her mind. She had done this once before, and it had been a very painful experience.

She focused on her mind and began to go into her memory; she needed to delve deep into her mind, so deep that she wouldn't be aware of the outside world. She went deep, deeper than deep. She was going into a very vulnerable place, one where she had to be very careful. Otherwise, she might damage her own mind.

She supposed she could have been patient and waited for the others to awaken, but then again, she wasn't a very patient person. So she began to go deep into her mind, losing her awareness of reality. She could have been searching for hours upon hours, or maybe it was only seconds. She had no sense of time when she was this deep in her mind, and there was no such thing as going fast and slow.

Finally she found it, her memories of the night before. There was a thick, foggy, mist surrounding them, which explained why she couldn't remember them. She was obviously suffering from some sort of memory loss, why, she didn't know. She flung herself at her memories, forgetting about being slow.

She was flung into everything that had happened at the time where she had forgotten. She was in front of Kyragosa's cage, surrounded by cultists. She was watching herself, as if this had been happening to an entirely different person. But she could feel the emotions.

She felt scared, and worried, extremely worried. Then she heard Kyragosa telling her to change into a dragon, and she finally understood everything. She watched herself as she turned into a humongous, draconic beast, much larger than Deathwing. She felt immense anger and rage overflow her, trying to take over. But she forced it back, long enough to watch what happened.

She marveled at how huge she was, and tiny puzzle pieces started to fit together in her mind. She was starting to understand everything more clearly. She was huge, larger than huge, gigantic! She felt herself shiver in terror as she watched a gigantic flame ripple out of her maw and explode over the rest of the camp, scorching everyone.

Her head was filled with screaming, the screaming of those who had died in those flames. There were full of such terror and fright, it mad her wasn't to scream! She had caused that, she had caused them so much pain, so much misery! It had been all her fault they had died. They might have been part of the twilights hammer, but they were still people! They still had lives, and families, and she had ended them. She had caused all of this.

She couldn't bear to watch the rest, and she mentally screamed in protest. But she couldn't look away, not until it was all over. She watched as they all died, painfully burnt to death by her flame. She couldn't take it anymore, she had to get out. She began to tug her conscience out of her memories, willing herself to let go.

It hurt, but she had to do it. She couldn't bear to see any more of those men die, men who were killed by her. She was a monster, a villain, she was worse than Deathwing. These thoughts overwhelmed her, making her boil up with guilt and sadness.

You're no better than your father, whispered a dark voice in the back of her mind.

She screamed at the voice, trying to drown it out. But another dark thought gripped her. What if it was true, what if she was no better than him? She pushed the thought away, still trying to get out of her memories. More suffering people washed over her, dying because of her, suffering because of her, it was her fault. She screamed, louder than she ever thought she could, and pushed her way out of her mind.

She opened her eyes, screaming louder than she thought she could. She was awake, but dying men still flashed through her vision. She felt tight hands grasp her shoulders as she wailed even louder, her screams echoing off of the trees. She sounded like a banshee. The person holding her tightened their grip, turning it into a hug.

Her wails quieted as hot tears melted down her cheeks, pouring out. She had never cried before, never. Yet here she was, being rocked back and forth as tears began to pour out of her eyes, not ending any time soon. She let the gentle rocking sooth her, and the images of those she had killed went away.

She found herself sobbing, muttering one phrase over and over again "I killed them… I killed them… I killed them…."

"Hush now child," she heard a soft female voice say "It's all right now,"

It was the person holding her tight, rocking her back in forth where she sat on her bed. She let the rocking sooth her, calming her down. Soon she stopped muttering that phrase, and the tears began to dry on her red and puffy face. Her eyes were still slammed shut; she didn't want to see the world.

The images she had seen stopped coming, and she felt herself going into a deep, uneasy, sleep.

Vela awoke to someone combing through her hair gently. She was in the same position she had been in when she had fallen asleep, against someone's chest. She felt slimy and awful, as if she had jumped around in a lake in Felwood. Her cheeks felt dirty from the dried up tears on them, and her entire body ached from being in the same position all this time. She blinked open her eyes, which were covered in crust, and bright daylight filtered in.

She guessed it was about mid-day, but she couldn't be sure. The person combing through her hair seemed to notice that she was awake, and Vela felt her head being moved until it was on someone's lap.

She looked up into the bright blue eyes of the high elf Kyragosa, who looked tired, but not as tired as when she had come out of her prison. She had a spark of wisdom in her eyes as well, and Vela felt that it was hard to look away from her gaze.

Kyragosa was the first to speak, she was serious, but she had a tint of sympathy in her words "You have a lot to explain about last night, child."

Vela swallowed, and found that her throat was thick and swollen. "Is it true, then?" she asked "Am I really….?"

The wise dragon nodded and said "You are. If you are well enough, I wish for you to explain."

"I'm fine," said Vela as she sat up in her bed, getting off of Kyragosa "Where's Grue? I want him to hear this.

"The goblin? I sent him off for a walk with my assistant Miri." Vela raised an eyebrow and Kyragosa said "Miri is a dragonsworn, a night lf to be specific. She aided me in helping you and your friend. I will go fetch them,"

Kyragosa stood and went over to an opening in the camp. She disappeared from Vela's sight, and she lay down on her bed, tired, even though she had been sleeping for a few hours. She was about to do something she had never expected to do. A lot had changed for her, and it was all happening so fast!

She had always known that there was a possibility that this could happen, but she had never really thought that it would. She never really thought that Deathwing would die, either. And he left his only sane daughter a pretty sad inheritance, one she never wished for. But she couldn't take it back now. Besides, she knew her father hadn't wanted her of all dragons to succeed him, but she couldn't change that.

She would be stuck with this for the rest of her life, which would be a lot longer now. How could this happen to her? She didn't want this life! She just wanted to get out of Northrend and live out her life, as normal as it could be. But she guessed that wouldn't be so easy now.

She heard a rustling in the bushes, and heavy footsteps on the ground, and she immediately sat up. The sounds got louder until Kyragosa, Grue, and a night elf Vela didn't know stepped out of the undergrowth. She noticed that Grue looked worn and tired, but he still managed to smile at her, all though it was weak. She tried to smile back, but found herself unable to. What she was about to tell them was something she had never told anyone, and she was worried as to how they would react.

She studied the night elf, Miri. She had long, mint green hair that fell down over her shoulders. Parts of it shrouded her face, but it couldn't hide her bright yellow druidic eyes. She wore a brown leather shirt and brown leather pants, no shoes or gloves. She had small pocket knife fastened onto her belt, but Vela knew she was no rogue. She could practically smell the druidic power emanating off of her.

The night elf caught her eye, and Vela half expected her to glare at her. But the night elf showed no emotion, her face was taunt and expressionless.

The three of them sat down in front of Vela, giving her two feet of space. Grue sat closest to her, and she saw a slight drop of worry in his eyes. She managed to put on a small smiled for him, but it quickly faded. Kyragosa sat next to Vela, as if she expected Vela to burst out crying and need help like she did before. Miri sat a little ways off, not in front of her but still close enough to see Vela easily.

"Miri," said Kyragosa "This is Velathelina."

Miri nodded, her face showing no emotion.

"Please," said Kyragosa "Be nice. I know what happened before, but, Velathelina is… special. Show respect."

Mire nodded after a second, and Vela noticed that her hands were in tight fists, so tight that the light purple skin turned to white.

Before she could ask anything, Grue piped up. "I see you got a new outfit kid," he said, trying to make her happy again.

She smiled, but it was fake. She wanted him to think she was ok, but she really wasn't.

"Would you like to begin, Vela?" asked Kyragosa, her voice soft but curious. "You don't have to if you don't want to."

Vela swallowed the hard lump in her throat. "No," she said "You deserve an explanation. Besides, you need to know. This affects the world, and I would be selfish not to tell you."

"What's so big?" asked Grue.

Vela smiled, this time for real. "Not big," she said "Gigantic."

She swallowed again, knowing that she could put this off no longer. She took a deep breath, harnessing her emotions. She could not break down; her story had to be told.

She looked all of them over, even the tense Miri, and began. "For a long time, I have told people that the reason my people imprisoned me was because I was sane." she said "Well, that was a lie. Partially, that is. The real reason is much worse."

She took in a deep breath of air, starting off her story for real "I suppose it all started when I was a whelp. I was the strongest of my clutch. I was the fastest, the smartest, the most flexible, I was the best. I won every challenge, beating my siblings by a landslide every time. I was sure to be a great drake, perhaps even like my sister, Onyxia." She paused, and then went on "As it was, the other dragons began to notice my potential, and I started to be trained by some of the drake's teachers. But I was better than that, and somehow I found myself being taught by the strongest of us all, and my father, Deathwing."

She spat the name out with as much venom as she could, and she saw Miri shudder. Grue did nothing, but she could tell that he was slightly shocked. Kyragosa was silent, but Vela could feel waves of tension coming off of her. Miri shifted uncomfortably in her seat. Vela herself wished her father hadn't been who he had been, but she couldn't change that now.

She cleared her throat and went on "As a whelp, soon to be drake, I admired Deathwing just as all of the others of my kind did. I thought he was a true hero. I was so wrong." She paused, and then went on "Deathwing himself, having so many children, gave me no special treatment. He didn't even know I was his descendant. And most of his students were drakes, so he never gave me much attention. Until one day."

"I was a drake when it all began to go downhill, for Deathwing that was. It was only three hundred years ago, actually." she said "Slowly, very slowly, Deathwing began to lose his power. And as he lost it, I gained it. He was dying, very slowly. Nobody can take on what he had to take on without dying eventually. And over time I began to become extremely powerful, whereas Deathwing became weaker."

"I remember we were out on a hunt, as a training session, when it all happened. We were attacked by a group of red dragonflight spies. We were greatly outnumbered, and it looked as if we wouldn't make It." she paused, and then went on "I fought, and I won every battle. Just as it looked like we would have somewhat of a chance, a backup group came in. we were being demolished, everyone being killed. I don't know how it happened, maybe it was instinct, but as we were completely surrounded, I didn't the most amazing thing. I let out a flame, a beautiful, blue fire flame. It killed all of the red dragons."

"I was so proud, so happy, and so blind. My trainer told deathwing about what had happened, and it turned out that I had performed a move that only he should have been able to do. And, he had recently lost the ability to do it. I was watched closely for the next year as they began to study what was happening. What had occurred was amazing," she paused, and then went on "The madness in Deathwing rendered him unable to use his aspect powers, a trick of the titans I suppose. But no one could take his place, since all of the black dragons were crazy. But then I came along. And, as a mechanism for the power that the aspects have, his power was slowly put into me, and he slowly died as a result."

"When he found out about this, he locked me up, as of that would do any good. I was never to be seen by mortal or immortal eyes. The people that fed me were human slaves, who had been blinded as punishment for whatever they had done. The only person I had was my inmate, Kaldor. His punishment was seeing me, for some reason. I don't really know what that was supposed to do, but Deathwing was very crazy by then." she breathed then went on "I rotted in there for one hundred years, until the red dragons kidnap me. Then I was their prisoner until I escaped recently. I haven't changed into my dragon form in over one hundred years, and now I understand what happened."

"I'm not sure exactly how it works, or how it happened, but I know that as soon as Deathwing was killed, all of his power was transferred to me. It was hidden until I transformed into my dragon form, which is my pure form. Then it expanded, and now I have full control over It." she paused to breath "I don't know if this is true, I don't know if what I am about to tell you is right or not, but I can't come up with any other explanation."

She looked around at them, hoping that this was a good idea. Grue had a patient look on his face, but she could tell he had been waiting for this moment. Kyragosa had sympathy in her eyes, but she still looked curious. Miri was expressionless, but her fists were clenched tight, so tight that Vela wouldn't have been surprised if the skin on her knuckles burst open.

She took a deep breath. This was the moment they had all been waiting for. It was time for her to tell her secret. There was no going back now.

She sat straight, confident. She blinked, and when she opened her eyes two catlike amber eyes peered back at them. she was staring at nothing, yet everything. This was the moment of truth, and it was time they knew.

She looked at all of them, as if she was daring them to defy her with her golden amber gaze. She sat straight, took a deep breath, and said what she had never imagined she would say "I am the black dragon aspect. I am the queen of the black dragons."

Wow! Who would have guessed? But there's even more secrets in store! Until next time I, suppose! Also, thank you all for reading! Your continued support has really helped my writing. These chapters are getting longer; do you like the new length?

And coincidencless, red dragons coming… this has given me ideas, very interesting ideas.