A new day dawned.

On a desolate terrain somewhere on Azeroth, a great red dragon lay on a rock, looking up at the sky while tears leaked from its eyes.

Alexstrasza didn't want to live anymore. Didn't want to feel anything.

He's dead… he killed our children…

She let out a roar that frightened the few creatures in the land she was in. It sounded more like a sob, and suddenly, she began to shake with her grief.

She was alone, and wanted it to remain that way.

Miles away, Faith opened her eyes. Smoke swirled around her from the shaman ritual that Atalo and his friends had performed, with some help from her magic.

"I saw her," she said quietly. "She's in pain… terrible pain."

Atalo put a hand on her shoulder, rubbing slowly, "Were you able to tell where she was?"

Faith took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She saw the land around Alexstrasza, a barren landscape with few scruffy bushes and some scorpids and kodos wandering around. "Desolace," she said. "At least that's what it looks like."

"Good," he said. "That considerably narrows down the search perimeter. We can go there today if you'd like. I have a friend who works there. He might be able to tell us where she is."

"You're coming with me?" she asked him.

"Of course I am. I can't pretend to know anything about dragons, but I'm not about to let you face something like this alone."

She leaned over and hugged him, "Thank you, Father."

"You're not going to try to talk me out of it?"

Faith shook her head, "I think I'm going to need help reaching her. She looked sick. Her scales aren't as red as they usually are. She…" Faith's voice broke. "She's crying."

"That's a normal reaction. It'll be all right, you'll see." He stood up and helped Faith to her feet, "Why don't we go get ready for this journey? Desolace isn't far from here, but I can't take a wind rider there because they can't carry me, so we'll have to go by kodo."

"I have a faster way to get to Desolace."

"Oh, you would, wouldn't you?"

"Ghost Walker Post would make a good base for us in Desolace. Hopefully she won't be too far away from there."

"A portal would certainly cut our travel time," nodded Atalo.

Faith thanked the other shaman who had helped with the ritual. "We couldn't have done it without you," she said to them.

"It was our pleasure. Good luck, Faith Everstone. What you are trying to do is no easy task."

She and Atalo took a portal to Ghost Walker Post that same afternoon, after having a quick bite to eat. It was colder there than on the Mulgore plains, and Faith wrapped a cloak around herself before the two of them made their way around the small outpost, looking for Atalo's friend.

They found him just outside it, busy tending to an injured kodo. He was talking quietly, and didn't acknowledge them immediately, even though he saw them approaching. Only when the animal was all right did he get u to greet them.

"Atalo, it is good to see you, old friend."

"It's good to see you. May I present my daughter Faith? Faith, this is the friend I was telling you about, Imano."

Faith smiled and greeted the elderly tauren warmly. "It's nice to meet you, Imano. Is your kodo all right?"

Inamo looked down at the animal and nodded, "Oh yes, he's fine. But he's not my kodo. He's one of the young ones that wander around here with a pack that has an elder close to death. They come here to die, you know. Sometimes, a younger kodo gets separated from its herd, and inevitably gets injured. This one will be okay in a couple of days."

"Imano works for the Cenarion Circle," explained Atalo.

"Yes, I can see that," said Faith, having noticed his druidic robes. "I can see that you guys have been doing some work around here. I don't remember this place being green before."

"We've managed to make the wildlife grow back in some places. But some others remain obstinately empty." He gave the kodo a pat and watched it wander away, "So, what brings you here?"

"The Life-Binder. We got word, so to speak, that she's here."

Imano looked at them, his eyes wide, "The Life-Binder? I had heard of a dragon who had landed here, but I wasn't told that it was her."

"Do you know where she is exactly?" asked Faith.

"You should be able to see her from here, although she's further away than she looks." He brought them to a small tower. Climbing it, Faith was indeed able to see the silhouette of something that definitely resembled a dragon.

"It's definitely her," she said. "Could we borrow a mount, please?"

"Of course. The kodos will take you there swiftly."

"I'll come with you to take care of them," said Atalo. "That way you'll be able to talk to Alexstrasza alone."

"Thank you."

The two kodos Imano provided them with were gray beasts who almost seemed to blend in with the ground of Desolace. But they were friendly, allowing Faith and Atalo to handle them easily. Faith scratched hers behind the ears, which it seemed to appreciate, butting her hand gently. The animals indeed took them to Alexstrasza's location swiftly, although Faith privately thought that Lady would have taken her there faster.

"Look," said Atalo. "The land gets more and more barren the closer we get to her. Shouldn't it be the other way around?"

Faith's voice was sad, "Not if she's lost the will to live." She stopped her kodo, "You stay here with them where it's still green, that way, they'll be able to graze. I'll continue on foot."

Atalo gave a nod, "All right. But be careful. You don't know what she's going to do to you."

"Don't worry, I'll be all right."

Slowly, Faith made her way to Alexstrasza, finding that she could hear the great dragon crying. Her heart tightened in her chest, bringing with it a familiar sense of loss. As she got closer to her, she saw that her scales her graying, the color being sapped from her.

"Oh, Alexstrasza," she said quietly.

The dragon gave no indication of having heard her. When Faith hoisted herself upon the cold rock Alexstrasza was lying on, there was no reaction. Nor was there any reaction when Faith cautiously put a hand on her head, wiping away a tear that was the size of her hand.

"I'm so sorry," whispered Faith. "So sorry. He was an amazing dragon. I didn't know him long enough, I don't think there's ever enough time to get to know someone, but I cared for him. And he loved you, Alexstrasza. He loved you so much." She wiped away another tear, from her own face this time, and took a seat, still stroking Alexstrasza's face however she could. "He's the one who taught me all about the Dragonblight," she told her. "Remember? He took me flying when I was at Wyrmrest Temple."

Nothing. Alexstrasza kept crying, not making any other sound. It didn't look like she had eaten anything nor had anything to drink since Krasus had killed himself, but Faith knew better than to try to force her to eat. And even if she'd had a mind to do it, how did one go about forcing a dragon to do anything?

"He told me about the years when the two of you were apart because he was busy with us lesser races, but that he would always teleport himself to you so that you could be together for a short while every day. He also told me about the first clutch you hatched together."

She continued speaking, going on for hours and telling Alexstrasza everything she could remember about Krasus, sharing all of the good memories she had of him.

"I don't believe that he betrayed you. He couldn't have done. He loved you too much for it. There must have been a good reason for him to do what he did." She used a handkerchief to wipe at Alexstrasza's tears, for all the good it did, "He wouldn't have wanted you to let go."

There still was no response, so, finally, unable to continue speaking anymore, Faith quieted herself, resting her head against the dragon's shoulder. She felt mentally and physically exhausted, falling asleep without meaning to.

Her dreams were plagued by darkness. She saw Wyrmrest Temple as it had been, but something was horribly wrong there. An evil had seeped into its very walls, turning everything black and cold. What it was, she couldn't tell, but a moment later, the entire structure exploded from the ground up, destroying everything that was inside, including the budding evil.

She woke up with a scream, immediately wrapped in a chilly embrace.

"Shh, Faith, it's all right, my darling."

"Sylvanas…" whispered Faith.

"See? She always knows me," said Sylvanas to someone. She brushed a soft kiss over Faith's lips, "Are you okay?"

Faith shook her head, wrapping her arms around Sylvanas. "No. I'm not okay."

"The dragon is cold," said someone. Thrall.

Cold? Faith looked around. Alexstrasza's scales had discolored further, and it didn't take a dragon to realize that the Life-Binder was dying. "No!" she cried. "Alexstrasza, you have to fight this! I had a dream… Wyrmrest Temple was dark. Something evil was in it, and it wasn't Korialstrasz!" Tears spilled from her eyes as Sylvanas pulled her away and Thrall stepped forward, casting a few spells around the dragon. But it did absolutely no good.

Sylvanas cursed softly.

"We can't just let her die!" screamed Faith. "I had that dream for a reason!"

"Because you've put an enormous amount of pressure on yourself, Faith. You saw what you wanted to see, so that things could make sense to you."

"No. Sylvanas… I knew Krasus. He didn't do this to betray her, I know it!"

Sylvanas put a hand over Faith's mouth, "I know, baby. I know that's what you need to believe. And I'm going to help prove you right. Thrall has been through a lot lately, and he has an idea of what went on."

"What do you mean?" asked Faith.

"I've been sent back in time… in another timeline."

"When?"

"Just after the Temple was attacked, as far as I understood. Nozdormu did it."

Faith blinked, "I don't understand. I just saw him a few days ago."

"Right. For me, more than a few days have passed. If I had to really think about it, I've spent weeks in several alternate timelines. It would take longer than I have to give you the whole story. Just know that I saw a future that was completely different than this one, and that some forces from this timeline have seeped into this one."

"You're confusing her, Thrall," said Sylvanas.

"My trip through the timelines brought me into contact with Krasus."

"You saw Krasus?"

He nodded, "Not just him. I also saw Blackmoore. A Blackmoore who came to full power by killing King Terenas Menethil. He's the one who has come into our time."

Faith closed her eyes for a second, "Just so I understand things… Nozdormu sent you back in time, to an alternate timeline, where you saw a different future where Blackmoore, who used to keep you prisoner, killed King Terenas. And now, this version of Blackmoore has come here." She waited for Thrall to nod before she went on, "Why would he do that? And why would Nozdormu send you back in time?"

"What you need to know here is that the Old Gods are at work."

"The Old Gods. They have something to do with what happened at Wyrmrest Temple?"

"That's something I can't be sure of, and that's why I'm here. Sylvanas told me that you were looking for a way to clear Krasus' name, which is why I'm here." He cleared his throat, "When I met Krasus, even in the alternate timeline, I got the impression that he wouldn't betray the Life-Binder. Just in the way he spoke, I could tell that he loved her immensely, the way you love Sylvanas."

Faith pressed her lips together in an attempt to keep from crying, "Krasus and Alexstrasza were life mates for over ten thousand years. I think that their love was something else entirely."

Thrall nodded, "That may be. In any case, I believe, like you do, that he didn't do any of this on purpose." He looked at Alexstrasza, then back at Faith. "Blackmoore is at the service of a new dragonflight called the Infinite Dragonflight."

"The what?"

"The Infinite Dragonflight. It's a new dragonflight who serves the Old Gods."

"And Nozdormu knows about them because he's present in multiple times and places," said Sylvanas.

"Exactly. Not just that but… They come from a timeline where Nozdormu lost his mind and renamed himself Murozond, creating this dragonflight."

Faith suddenly felt dizzy, "I need to sit down," she said. Sylvanas put an arm around her, helping her to sit on Alexstrasza's rock again. "Nozdormu is the one who created this dragonflight? And he's after you?"

"His alternate self, yes. He's sent Blackmoore after me because he obviously doesn't want me to succeed. He wants to destroy the Aspects. At least, that's what I understood."

"Alexstrasza dying of grief would accomplish that," said Faith. She put a hand against Alexstrasza's neck, "You said that the Infinite Dragonflight is working for the Old Gods?"

Thrall nodded.

"So we can assume that the Twilight's Hammer might have had something to do with what happened at Wyrmrest Temple?"

"Maybe. But I don't see how they would have known that this attack would cripple her like that."

"Is there a way we can find out what happened there?"

Thrall thought for a moment, "There is. I met a bronze drake in the timeways, and he gave me something that we could use with a spell. It would bring our consciousness back to that time, so that we could see the events for ourselves. It's like a vision quest, so to speak."

"Count me in," said Faith right away.

Sylvanas stepped forward, "You can't be serious! You could die!"

"I will not let people keep thinking that Krasus betrayed everyone he loved. You would do the same thing for me, and I would do it for you."

"I don't like it."

Faith smiled, taking Sylvanas' hand, "I know. Look, Atalo's not far away. Why don't you go get him so that the two of you can watch over Alexstrasza while we do this? We won't start without you, I promise."

Sylvanas gave her a look, but complied, walking towards where she had seen Atalo standing near a dead tree. The moment he realized that she was coming to talk to him, he stepped forward, the two kodo following him.

"Sylvanas," he said. "I didn't realize you were going to be a part of this journey."

"I wasn't. But Faith needs me, so here I am."

"Does she need me too?"

"As a matter of fact, she does."

They walked back towards Faith and Thrall, who had started a small fire and were sitting cross-legged on opposite sides of each other. "… can repeat the same phrase in Thalassian," he was telling her, opening a small pouch.

"All right."

"You look worried, Faith," commented Atalo, having bowed respectfully to Thrall.

"No, why should I be nervous? We're only going back in time…"

"Only our consciousness," Thrall told her. "Our bodies will remain here. We will simply witness the events as bystanders, we won't actually partake in them."

"Faith, what are you thinking?" asked Sylvanas a little too perceptively.

Faith blushed, "Nothing."

Thrall looked at her in understanding, "You want to go back in time and alter the events of the Third War?"

"That would be something, wouldn't it?" she whispered. "No. I've come to terms with what happened. Kind of."

Sylvanas uttered a noise between a scream and a laugh, "You've come to terms with what happened to me? Since when?"

"I won't go back to change the timeline, don't worry. I wouldn't even know how to do that anyway."

"I went through the Caverns of Time," said Thrall.

Atalo shook his head, "Please don't give her any ideas."

"Come to terms…" muttered Sylvanas. "That's new. You still cry about it."

Faith sighed, "Are we going to do this or not?"

"Yes." Thrall untied his pouch, plunging his hand inside and taking out a shimmery gold substance from within while Sylvanas placed herself behind Faith, "Oh spirits of the Winds and Time, hear my call and give us the clarity to see what we do not understand. Allow us to go back to the day Wyrmrest Temple was attacked so that we might gain the knowledge we seek."

Faith took some of the gold sand and repeated his words in Thalassian. Together, they threw the sand in the fire. Almost immediately, the flames began to shimmer, and Faith got so dizzy that she blacked out. Having expected this, Sylvanas caught her and laid her against her own body, keeping her arms around her. Opposite her, Atalo made sure Thrall was as comfortable as possible.

"And now we wait," he said to Sylvanas.

Sylvanas made no comment, her eyes on her lover's face.

Faith felt Sylvanas with her, but her mind was gone in a blurred world of times past. When everything stopped moving, she found herself standing next to Thrall in a place she instantly knew to be the Ruby Sanctum. It was beautiful, filled with ruby-red light. The trees were in bloom, smelling green and alive. A perfect place in which to hatch young dragon whelps.

Korialstrasz was there in his dragon form, looking over several egg clutches. Faith estimated that there were at least three hundred brilliantly red eggs there, all looking healthy.

Her heart tightened, and in Sylvanas' arms, she began to cry.

"Oh, Krasus…"

"What is he doing?" asked Thrall.

But the dragon answered that question himself. He was going from clutch to clutch, speaking to the eggs quietly, telling them stories of valor about great dragons in flight.

"He's being a father," whispered Faith. "He's telling them bedtime stories…"

Krasus stopped talking suddenly and looked around, alert. Moving quickly, he looked behind a rocky outcrop behind which were more eggs. Faith and Thrall followed him, seeing, to their horror that several people in dark robes were there, casting spells on the eggs. As they watched, the eggs went from being a beautiful red to turning a sickly kind of reddish-gray.

"Ah. So one of them is home," said one of the people, a man by the sound of him.

"By the Sunwell, it was the Twilight's Hammer," hissed Faith.

The eggs began to hatch immediately, cracking open to reveal the foul odor of sickness. The whelps that emerged from these eggs were only half-formed, some of them missing limbs or a wing. They writhed on the floor, crying out in what was obviously pain.

For a moment, Krasus could only look horrified before he realized that the spell was spreading quickly to all the eggs within the sanctum.

"Look, Warchief!" cried Faith. "It's everywhere!"

There was nothing either of them could do. Eggs began to crack open all over the place, as the men advanced on Krasus. He began performing spells, killing the cultists where they stood. As he did so, his tail brushed against one of the infected eggs.

He froze.

"Krasus!" cried Faith.

One of the men began to laugh, "There is nothing you can do. The chromatic infection has passed to you, and it will pass to every single dragon you touch! By now, our colleagues will have reached all of the sanctums to take possession of every egg there."

Krasus looked down at his tail, seeing his scales beginning to discolor at an alarming rate. He glanced at the whelps hatching and giving little cries, belching yellow flames from their misshapen mouths and setting fire to the grass within the sanctum.

"You will not succeed," he said quietly. He looked up, "My beloved…" A tear fell from his eye as he began to cast a spell. Faith screamed as the world went a brilliant white.

Sylvanas grabbed her as she jerked awake, crying out Krasus' name at the top of her lungs.

"Faith!"

Thrall woke up as well, his skin ashen by the experience. His whole body shaking, he sat up, running a hand over his eyes while Sylvanas wrapped her arms around Faith, trying to calm her down.

"It's okay, Faith, it's okay…" she whispered.

"It's not! Krasus didn't betray anybody!" Sobbing, she explained what she and Thrall had seen, unable to look at anybody as she did so.

"Spirits have mercy," said Atalo when she finished speaking. Even Sylvanas looked shocked by the tale, and she wasn't one to be shocked by much anymore.

"So, he didn't betray Alexstrasza," she said in a low voice. "He sacrificed himself to save the ones he loved."