Death's Redemption

by Dracthul

Deathwing is defeated as he turns back into Neltharion and tries to cope with it all. Dealing with the torture he went through, the whispers of the Old Gods, the fear he has of returning to Deathwing and hurting again, the guilt he has, and the hate others have towards him, he tries to piece his life back together, or what little remains of it, while trying to redeem himself.

5. Chapter 4: The Female

Chapter 4: The Female

Neltharion had been following the trail of the lost female for almost a month now, but he had little to show for his efforts. It seemed that he would hear of a dragon going to one town, and when he gets there, they say the dragon left days ago. He was starting to lose hope that he would ever find her. She always seemed two or three steps ahead of him. He would not rest until he found her, though, even if that meant he would spend decades searching for her. The trail had almost gone cold until one villager told him that a dragon had flown towards his mother's town of Northshire only a couple of hours ago. This location intrigued Neltharion since it was so close to the first place that reported seeing the female: Goldshire.

Northshire served as a recruitment camp for those willing to fight against the world's evils, Neltharion once upon that list. Many of Azeroth's greatest champions had started their adventures there. The camp was protected by the mountains surrounding it, making it a safe place to train recruits.

At first, Neltharion was looking at the sighting locations of the female as individual places, each unique. As he thought more about the places the female had gone to, the more he understood her motives. She was not going to different towns to run away from something as he had initially thought. Each place she went to was a town with an excess of food and little people to protect it. Goldshire had been a small town with hardly any guards that had lots of farmers. Every other spot the dragon visited had been similar. He realized that the female was trying to survive, likely eating some of the food that would be unmissed in the small towns. He also started to think of the different cities as part of a puzzle that made up the dragon's location. In doing so, he realized that the towns made up a pattern that circled a large part of the Eastern Kingdoms. Each town was close to the next and would make easy targets to take food from. Thinking of where the dragon's den must be, he calculated that it would be too far away from each village if the dragon were to travel back to her den after a pillage.

"She must by staying nearby each town," Neltharion told himself as he flew towards Northshire. It was a precarious move for a dragon, especially a black one since many animals and even members of the Alliance would want to kill the beast. He thought that the female must be desperate if she would take such a risk just to steal some food. It was an intelligent plan, he joked, making a pattern of stops that would seem impossible to most dragons. The only problem was that he was not "most dragons."

As the stone gateway into Northshire started to come into view, he transformed into his human form while landing away from the camp. He followed the stone path that took him through the dangerous forests of Elwynn. As he walked along the road, he saw two guards pass him along the way before seeing Northshire come into view. Seeing traveling guards this far out from Stormwind was a rarity Neltharion had come to learn. He walked up to the walls that protected Northshire, noticing six guards standing watch.

"Welcome to Northshire Abbey, friend! What brings you here?" one of the men asked him. This guard wore a golden patch on his armor, signifying his higher rank.

"I have come to inspect your town's food storage; my agency has learned of a potential hazard that has been affecting nearby towns. If you could give me directions to them, that would be wonderful. Also, why are there so many guards of late?" Neltharion responded in a critical tone.

"Sure thing. To answer your question, sir, the king has deployed many more men to the nearby small settlements to ensure their safety. Something about beasts, I think." the guard responded before telling the dragon where to go. He thanked the guard and went on his way into the city.

As he came up to a building after following the directions given to him, he noticed the building said "Food Market." He opened the wooden door to the store and walked inside, seeing a human standing at a counter ahead. He walked up to the man and saw the racks of food around the store.

"I heard that this is where your town's food is stored; is that correct?"

"Yes, sir, we keep most of it outside in sealed barrels with their appropriate labels. May I ask why you're askin'?" the store owner replied.

"Yes, my agency has heard of potential contamination to nearby food storage, so they sent me to check up on Northshire to ensure food safety. Thank you for time," Neltharion spoke before exiting the shop and heading around back to look at the barrels. He saw stacks of wooden cylinders lined against the back wall of the building. Signs labeled things such as apples, bananas, beefsteak, porkchop, and herbs on different barrels. Most of those food items seemed useless to a dragon except for the beef and pork. That was what the female would be after. If he waited until nightfall in his human form, he would be able to hide in a bush and see if the dragon would come for the food. If so, he would be able to talk with her in a safe location. He climbed into a nearby bush, to his dismay, and sat there, waiting for night and, more importantly, the female.

After about five hours of mentally torturing waiting had passed, Neltharion expected her to show up any time soon. Everyone in the town had turned in for the night, making it the perfect time to gather some food without being seen. He inspected the sky, making sure that nothing moved in the shadows. Eventually, something did move, and Neltharion saw a black dragon starting to spiral downwards towards the grassy ground. He watched as the dragon landed ever so elegantly nearby. The dragon seemed to know the town well, as she headed straight for the Food Market. She crept around the building and to the back to find the defenseless barrels. She lowered her head as she read the names of what was inside the capsules before settling on a dinner of beef steaks and pork chops.

She snatched a barrel of each meat and wrapped each of them with one of her arms as she started to walk away from the building and towards where she had landed. Her wings extended as she began to take flight, heading north towards a mountain in the distance. After a moment, Neltharion crawled out of his bush, undignified at what he had done, before shifting his shape. He turned into his draconic self, this time only the size of a normal black drake. He too, took flight as he went towards the mountain the female had gone towards.

He saw the dragon flying low to the trees as she soared over the forest landscape. She neared the edge of the flatland and started to angle her wings up to start flying towards the top of the mountain ahead. Before she could begin rising though, a loud breaking sound came from a nearby tree. Neltharion looked towards the source to see a ballista firing a bolt into the air. The massive spear split into the side of the female as she was stabbed. The bolt had a chain on it that stopped the dragon from flying away even though she pulled with all her might. As blood started to spill from her wound, she fell to the ground below, crashing into a mass of bushes. Neltharion could see small humanoid figures moving towards the dragon.

He quickly flew down to the ground to not be spotted and started to creep towards where the female had fallen. His claws glided over the soil as he silently moved. After a moment, he came up to where the ballista was, looking at the abandoned machinery. He continued forward and looked at the smashed bushes where he had seen the fall. He did not see the dragon, to his fear, only a pile of fresh red blood seeping into the dirt. There was another small pool next to the first, this one coming from a torn green creature. Neltharion walked towards the corpse and identified it as a goblin, one of his most hated species. He looked around to try and find clues of where the dragon had gone, only to find another pool of blood that was a little distance away from the first. This one was too big for a goblin; it had to be from the female. He saw another stain in the distance and started to follow the path of blood. Each pool he came across became slightly larger than the last.

He worried as he followed the path, wondering if the female would survive the wound she had. If not, then he would have failed to find a female. Luckily though, he saw smoke rising in the distance. Whoever had taken the dragon must have started a fire where they were. He smirked as he flew towards the flame, ready to end the goblins that had attacked his kin.

The female awoke with a massive headache as her vision started to come to her. Her side ached in pain, and she looked down to see a large gash in the side of her body. The wound was next to her right hind leg, and she was afraid to try and move the limb. As she did, immense pain coursed through her while the leg barely moved at all. Whatever had struck her had gone into the muscles in her hip area. When she screamed from the pain, it was muted by the leather contraption over her snout. Realizing she was captive, she looked around to see chains around her claws. She also perceived that she was confined in a small stone cave.

She could see light getting closer to the entrance of her cell as she heard footsteps getting louder. A goblin walked towards her injured form as he toyed with the pocket watch he had in his hand. As he got close, she tried to lunge at the creature but was forcefully stopped by her shackles, invoking a laugh from the goblin.

"You tink I'm zat stupid? No, no, no. You may be wondering vhy you are here; let me answer zat for you. Someone paid me to hunt you down and bring you to him! Quite zhe penny for one dragon, so you must be important to him. He isn't very patient, so I have to move you now. Try to bite me, and I will cut off your claws myself. Understand?" the smug goblin spoke in his heavy accent.

"Please, let me go. You don't understand what he will do to me, please, let me free!" the female begged him. He only chuckled at her plea.

"Zorry, but I have to deliver what I promised. Now stay still as I inject you with zhis elix—" he replied before being interrupted by another goblin that ran into the cave. Sweat dripped from his greasy forehead as he talked to his commander.

"Something is flying towards our camp, a large dragon! We have to escape now!" the goblin told his superior. The two ran out of the cave, leaving the female still locked up. She had managed to get the muzzle off her face, but she was still chained up.

"Let me out, PLEASE!" she screamed to the goblins that had left, but they did not care what she had shouted; they only cared about their own survival. She detected a familiar voice starting to talk from outside as she heard a goblin scream.

"You DARE to take her here!"

The female knew who had come for her, the one who had hired the goblin to find her. No wonder he had betrayed them. He wanted them all dead anyway. Fear swept through her body as she panicked, for she had less than a minute to escape. There was only one way to get out of her chains, which was to break her already injured leg.

She raised the damaged limb towards her claw as she grabbed the leg, causing pain. She twisted her arm and heard a loud crack as the leg bent sideways. With a scream, she slid the chains off her back leg. She broke the chain on her right wrist using her freed claw, releasing half of her shackles. She quickly used her talons to break off the rest of her chains, and she ran towards the cave exit. She got outside to see what she knew had come for her.

A massive black dragon with a metallic jaw was chomping a group of goblins that had tried to shoot the beast with their guns. Unfrozen, the female started to run towards the trees nearby, the only hiding place in sight. She lifted into the air and tried to fly towards them, but her left wing was injured. She smashed into the ground as she tried to land near the woods, but she got up and kept running towards the trees. She looked back to see Deathwing burning the goblin camp down with his flaming breath. She got behind one of the trees and closed her eyes, hoping for the dragon to fly away.

The booming footsteps sounded like they were going away as the female thought he was walking in the opposite direction. She sighed in relief—a big mistake—as she opened her eyes. A giant claw ripped through the treetops as the tops broke off and flew away from the force. She screamed as she turned to see Deathwing towering over her while she trembled. Her legs and arms moved faster than ever as she tried to run away from him. It was pointless, she knew, but she would do anything not to be taken by him. The black beast put out his wing and blocked her path. She fell onto her back and stared up at Deathwing's head lowering to hers.

"PLEASE! DON'T HURT ME, DEATHWING! I AM SORRY THAT I DISOBEYED YOU! I couldn't kill all those innocent whelps because..." she screamed out in terror.

"Because what?"

"Because... I do not obey the Old Gods like the others! Because I—" she responded before being cut off.

"WHAT?! You will feel my wrath, traitor!" Deathwing roared as he opened his mouth. The female curled into a ball as she awaited death. Instead, she felt the Aspect of Death touch her, and not in a cynical way. His touch did not burn as she thought it would. In fact, it felt warm and comforting to her. She opened her eyes to see Deathwing shrink down to her size. Still, in shock and disbelief, she put her injured wing up to protect herself.

"Don't worry; I am not here to hurt you. It is me, Neltharion," he said calmly. Her eyes widened at the mention of his name. She slowly lowered her wing as she turned to look at him. She saw eyes that did not burn with rage but ones that held all the green in the world. She gazed into his eyes for what felt like hours as her jaw moved, trying to form words.

"Is… it… really you?" her jaw finally said.

"Yes, I have been freed from the Old Gods. I have taken control back from Deathwing and have come to find you," Neltharion answered her as he removed his claw from her. She started to relax as she moved towards him. Tears came from her eyes as she realized this was not a trick, but that the real black Aspect was before her. She hugged him as she collapsed into his body. Neltharion smiled. "What do you mean you do not obey the Old Gods? The rest of my flight could not resist them."

"I don't know. When I was born, I was taken into the Black Dragonflight and was forced to kill for them. They always said how they had to obey the whispers, but I never heard them. Eventually, I fled when they wanted me to kill a group of whelplings because I couldn't do it. They were innocent! But they were slaughtered by the others in my group. After that, I ran. Ever since then, I have been trying to survive. I still haven't heard the whispers of the Old Gods."

Neltharion thought about this as he relaxed her with his warmth. Once she calmed down, he backed away and opened his wings.

"You are injured. Let me bring you food, and then I will call for the Dragon Queen to heal you," he said before flying off. After a few minutes, he returned with a deer in his jaw, dropping the animal in front of the female so she could eat. He concentrated his mind as he started to call out.

"Wrathion, I have found the female, but she is badly injured. Bring Alexstrasza and our flight with you to Northshire Abbey in Elwynn Forest," he telepathically told the pure dragon. He laid down beside the female he had spent so long looking for. Her face gleamed as she tried to withstand her pain. "Help is on the way. In the meantime, let's talk since you have never met me before. What's your name?"

"Crystal," the female responded while trying to smile. Neltharion wrapped his wing around her as he tried to comfort her. She flinched at his touch, still not used to it. He could tell she was in pain, not just physical pain either. She spent her life killing for her flight and then was cast out by the only people she knew. She had to learn how to survive by herself in the harsh world. "I finally get to meet you, the leader of my flight. I tried to hide from Deathwing, but I knew it was only a matter of time until he found me. That's why I was terrified when I was captured, and then you showed up. I thought you were… him," Crystal explained, swallowing hard.

"It's okay; you are not the first to think of us as one. Hell, I would believe I was Deathwing if I was in anyone else's shoes. It was too difficult to tell; even my family did not realize it. You see, Deathwing took over in the perfect moment, my moment of desperation. I did not know what to do because I felt that the mortals would plague the planet. I wondered if they should be... removed. That was when Deathwing took over, which made it easy for him to play off my betrayal. He played on my doubts and turned them into his weapons, just like the Old Gods that created him did." He winced at the memories of his fall.

"I'm so sorry; I didn't know. If I may ask, what was it like?" Visions of death and destruction began to weave together in his head.

"It was… torture. I watched as Deathwing divided and corrupted my flight. I watched as he killed numerous dragons and mortals alike. I watched as he brought hatred to the other Aspects and killed large portions of their flights. I watched as he tarnished my name to all, even my own family: Nozdormu, Malygos, Ysera, Alexstrasza. I watched as he laughed at his crimes, taunting me within my own mind! On top of all that, though, that wasn't the worst part. The worst part was that I could do nothing! I was forced to watch the atrocities he committed, powerless to do anything. Eventually, he broke me. I stopped fighting because the shackles that held me had not even buckled from my resistance. It was not until he came face to face with Alexstrasza, about to kill her, that I was able to make him stop. It took all my strength, all my will, in order to stop him from ending her. It was then that I expected death, but I was revived," he explained to the female, every thought of these moments torturing him even more.

"That sounds like… a literal nightmare. I can't even imagine what that was like for you, Neltharion."

"It isn't past tense. I may have control of my body, but Deathwing still lives. Every waking moment is a fight to stop him from taking back control. He is a part of me now, but he is not me!" Neltharion started, his anger beginning to show. "They don't know what it was like for me. The mortals, they have not felt the Old Gods trying to enter their minds—except the few who fought with them. What they experienced was only a fraction compared to what I went through! One of our flight told me today that he had heard many dragons blame me for what Deathwing did. None of them understand what it was like, having the cacophony of whispers tearing me apart! I never harmed them; I never wronged them! I NEVER HARMED THEIR ASPECT!" he roared, his anger reaching its climax. He looked away, fighting back the water that came to his eyes.

"If it's any comfort, I am not them. I do not blame you. I may have never heard the whispers or experienced the scale of what you felt, but I know what it is like to be alone," Crystal replied, pulling him back to sanity. He extended a wing over her so she could lie on his side, a gesture also showing his appreciation for her words.

"Alexstrasza and the others should be here soon." Neltharion kept her company as she drifted into sleep.

Wingbeats awoke the two dragons as they saw a mass of dragons approaching. The ruby Aspect flew ahead and shrunk down to a smaller size before talking to Neltharion.

"I came as fast as I could. Wrathion told me you found the female," Alexstrasza said.

"Yes, I did," he replied while lifting his wing to reveal the black dragon. At that moment, he really saw her. Her onyx scales, so similar to others of her flight, but yet so vastly different; they had a sort of shine to them that reflected light into his eyes in a beautiful way. Her horns were worn down on the ends, but yet they were smooth. Her eyes were green like emeralds, just like his own. Her wings were elegant, but yet so tired from all the running they had to do. Her face was like an abstract painting, brittle and weak to those who looked at its surface but strong and determined below. Neltharion could see this. There were a few scars on her dark scales and a few burns, but she was beautiful. Her eyes glinted, and her face beamed. He found this perplexing, how he had first seen her as a dragon that was worn down by her life and how he now saw her as something to be studied. He felt it was something to do with her opening up to him, and him to her.

Alexstrasza sat down to examine Crystal's wound. She started to cast her healing spells while Wrathion walked up to the group. Neltharion got up and walked over to him.

"This is the female; her name is Crystal. She didn't show up to our reunion because she wasn't under the control of the Old Gods and was afraid of me. She says she has never heard the whispers before, but that can't be right," he told Wrathion.

"Wait, you're sure that's exactly how she described not being under the Old Gods' control?"

"Yes."

"That's exactly how it is for me. I have never heard their whispers before, just like her. She… how?" Wrathion trailed off, confused.

"She must be the other egg Alexstrasza spoke of. She is the other pure egg! She's your sister," Neltharion told him while feeling eager to learn more of her past. Wrathion walked over to Crystal and sat down beside her.

"You must be my sister; I'm Wrathion," he told her.

"I'm Crystal... What makes you think you are my brother? I was born alone."

Wrathion explained how she was purified as an egg like him and how she must have been separated from him before birth. He continued to talk with her as she was being healed until another black dragon came up to him. Wrathion looked up at the dragon to see a look of worry on his face.

"There's been an attack on the Obsidian Dragonshrine! The few of us you left to protect the shrine were attacked. One of the others at the shrine told me to fly to Northshire to inform you. It was a group of goblins who attacked us. They came from the south and overwhelmed us before we could react; I had to leave the rest of them to tell you what happened," the worried dragon told Wrathion. Wrathion went over to Neltharion and told him of the attack on their flight's sacred place. Neltharion's eyes flashed red with fire as he heard of the goblins' treachery. How dare they! Wrathion returned to Crystal, instructed to watch over her and to continue learning about her. Alexstrasza saw Neltharion's eyes change for a second and came over to him, worried.

"What's going on?" she asked him.

"Nothing," he responded coldly, lying to her face. "I'll be back," he told her as he started to walk away.

"Nel—" she started to say before he turned around and yelled out, "What?!" She winced from his angered tone as she was going to compliment him on finding the lost female.

"I'm sorry, it's just something on my mind right now," Neltharion said, apologizing to her for his rash behavior. He launched into the air and was headed towards Northrend again. Alexstrasza watched him fly away and wanted to believe that what he was so furious about was simply nothing, but she knew better. He was hiding something from her, and she was going to find out what it was, so she also flew into the air towards Northrend after a moment.

Neltharion felt panic as he saw the Obsidian Dragonshrine getting close, passing over Wyrmrest Temple. Was the sacred shrine still intact, or was it plundered by greedy mortals looking for a trophy? How many of his flight were injured—or worse—from the goblin attack? These questions swirled in his mind as he flew downwards to the shrine. He landed onto the frozen snow that was just outside of the volcanic area. He walked into it as he looked around. One body of a black dragon was half-frozen from some sort of magic that had attacked him. His blood dripped from a stab wound that had gone straight through his heart. Another dragon was starting to burn from the lava he was lying in as his lifeless form sank into the liquid. Neltharion looked to see more mutilated corpses. He began to count, two, four, five, six dead. He knelt down in the center of the flatland around the inner shrine and let a tear fall from his eyes.

"Why did they do this? Do they hate us this much to want to slaughter us?" he asked himself as he looked around in disbelief at his fallen kin. His sadness started to crumble away as he continued to look at the brutal scenes of his flight members. Anger and hatred for those who killed them replaced it. "This must not go unanswered! They have the audacity to come to OUR temple and kill OUR family?" A wicked smile started to grow on his face as murderous fantasies began to form in his mind. "They will know my name in death."

His wings carried him into the air as he headed south, towards the goblins who had attacked the shrine. He looked over the land, searching for a sign of the creatures. Dozens of trees passed by as he continued to look until he saw a large group running towards a camp nearby. He let his rage control him as he charged up the fire in his chest. He did not know it, but his emotions were like a beacon that broadcasted his anger across the world. Whenever Neltharion felt rage, so did the planet. This alerted the other black dragons, including Wrathion, to their leader's state.

Some of the goblins looked back as they heard massive wingbeats in the air. They only saw a bright red light coming towards them as fire engulfed their bodies. They watched as their skin seared from the heat and burned down to the bone. Within seconds of their screams starting, they all fell silent as they fell to the ground, now only a pile of blackened bone and ash. Neltharion laughed at their suffering as they died. It was not enough, though; this did not make up for the murders of his people. He would give goblin kind something to remember him for for generations. His flight continued over the sea as his wings carried him to Kalimdor.

Bilgewater Harbor was the new haven for goblins after their original home had been destroyed. The new city provided trade and resources to its citizens. Being part of the Horde, goblins now had a real force to protect them from invaders—or so they thought. The harbor was located in the middle of a small gulf, making land access to the city impossible. The only way in and out of the town was by sea or air. Many cannons lined the walls of the goblin capital to shoot down any vehicles coming to attack. Still, they could not defend against what came this time.

The citizens were having a typical day: one similar to all the others. That suddenly changed as the sky started to darken from the north of the harbor. They looked to see what it was and saw a dark cloud of ash approaching the city. Alarms sounded for citizens to get inside their homes and bunker down. Then, they all watched as the black Aspect flew with tremendous speed towards Bilgewater, his wings ignited in flame. A blanket of fire fell across the land around the town as Neltharion drew closer to his target. Everyone panicked as they saw the beast about to burn their home to ash until a horrible machine noise filled their ears. Massive gears turned as the oversized cannon in the city slowly turned towards the dragon. Neltharion grinned as the battery started to lock onto him; he wanted a challenge. After he would lay fire over the city, he would break that toy in half before destroying the rest of the goblin capital. The weapon started to charge up for one shot. The Aspect responded by speeding up towards the construct.

Alexstrasza was in fear as she felt Neltharion's anger in the world. The plants called out to her, letting her know of the change in his state. She had followed him to the Obsidian Dragonshrine, where she found the remains of six black dragons. She realized that whoever had caused their deaths was the source of his rage. She then had found the smoldering remains of tiny humanoid creatures she identified as goblins. The land around their bones had been scorched black from the blast they endured. Alexstrasza thought that was the end of the dragon's fury, but she knew that was not the case as she saw ash falling over the nearby water.

Determined to catch up with him, she raced across the sea towards Kalimdor. She was wary of what her brother was going to do. As she started to reach flatter land, she could see Neltharion in the distance. Fire fell from his wings as he looked towards the goblin capital of Bilgewater Harbor. She quickly figured out that he would not get revenge on just those who killed some of his flight, but their whole race. She flew as fast as she could towards the city to try and stand in the way of the mad Aspect. Then, the massive cannon within it started to angle towards Neltharion. As much as she wanted to save the mortals, she knew he wasn't entirely unjustified. She also knew that she wouldn't let them kill her brother, so she tried to sprint towards him. If she was fast enough, she thought she would be able to push him out the way of the cannon and calm him down, but she was too late. With a loud boom, the cannon fired one giant shell towards Neltharion.

The metallic object slammed into his chest as he reached the edge of the city. The force of the shell pushed him back midair, causing him to fall onto his back. As he crashed into the water next to the harbor, a massive wave ran into the town, causing chaos within the capital. The blow had winded Neltharion. He opened his eyes to find himself sinking into the water surrounding his target. He quickly latched onto land and pulled himself out. He fell onto his back and lifted his head to see what the shell had done to him. He saw the hit had blown a chunk of his flesh apart, magma blood dripping from the hole. A cracked rib or two also came from the shell. He laid his head onto the ground as he caught his breath.

Alexstrasza was pleased to see he was alive and started to fly down to him when she stopped dead in her tracks. His cold laughter filled the air as he ignored the cavity he had in his chest. He stood back up with a few grunts and towered over the town, fire erupting from his wings..

"Your defenses are fleeting little goblins! And your home? DOOMED!" Neltharion boomed out as he started to lift into the air. His wings brought him up until he looked down at the harbor. Alexstrasza had to act fast. She had to stop him before he did something he couldn't take back. If he killed all those innocents, the world would want him to answer for his crimes. Not only that, but they would blame all dragons of Azeroth for saving him from death. She flew upwards towards the titanic Aspect, hoping to reach him in time.

"Watch as your end comes!" he bellowed, diving towards Bilgewater Harbor. He closed his eyes as he expected the impact of the ground. Once he woke, he would see the town reduced to rubble as he wanted. His plan was foiled, though, as Alexstraza slammed into his side, sending him flying. The two crashed onto the ground below as Neltharion felt another rib crack. His whole body felt numb as he tried to move around. His vision was still returning, so he felt around for the edge of his impact crater. His claws gripped the stone as he found an edge, pulling himself up to the surface again.

"STOP, Neltharion!" His head jerked to the left at the sound of the Dragon Queen's voice. "Stop and think about what you are doing; you would realize you are—"

"Completely justified," he interrupted. Alexstrasza felt the weight of her own thoughts as he said this. "I am simply settling the score. They killed—nay—they murdered some of my flight! They must pay," he shouted, his sight returning.

"You are not judge, jury, and executioner; you cannot decide their fates!" Alexstrasza tried to reason. She started to worry as he gained his whole consciousness, beginning to climb onto one arm. "Please, listen to reason, Nel." He laughed at her words.

"You speak of justice, of reason? The mortals have always been evil—maybe not every one of them—but enough of them are to pollute the world. They have destroyed each other generation after generation. They repeat the cycle of war, for it is in their nature. You know that it's true. Why shouldn't they be ended?" he said, his last question striking Alexstrasza.

"How can you say that?" she asked in shock, trying to fight back the tears that stung at her eyes, but they started to run down her ruby face anyway.

"I'm trying to say that they are the reason I could not defend against The Burning Legion, why I ended up succumbing to the Old Gods in the first place. If Azshara had not wanted so much power, had not invited the Legion in, Deathwing would not have been unleashed!"

"You are talking about genocide, no… the Hour of Twilight," she told him. His eyes formed into slits as he heard what she said. A growl reached her ears, a warning to stop talking, but she carried on. "You sound like Deathwing. He sounded how you spea—"

"I AM NOT HIM!" he bellowed and leaped towards her. He landed on top of her, his face directly above hers as she yelped. "They will wage war on each other, and with war comes casualties. It was fine when their squabbles were between themselves, but now they affect too much. They obstruct the world. They slaughter innocents. They cause the deaths of dragons! I am supposed to protect the earth and protect all of my dragonkin. I won't let them hurt you." He quickly looked away from her towards the city, starting to move towards it. "Not ever again…"

"If you do this, everyone will hate you! The women, the children, all killed. The mortals will want revenge on dragons for harboring you, and they will attack. If you want to protect us, then let them see your strength, but also your mercy. Please, I'm begging, give them the chance to change. Please…" she begged her final plea.

Neltharion paused for a moment at her words. He looked back at her for a second, and then he turned back to the city. His eyes flashed with fire as he saw the cannon that had blasted him begin to turn towards him again. He put out his hand, and with a lift upwards, the ground beneath the machine cracked apart. Rock flew into the air as the ground popped upwards, the cannon shattering. As the earth fell back down, a giant chasm was left behind, an eye into the depths below the city.

He looked back to the city walls that started to fire small balls at him. Numerous small cannons that fired cannonballs were responsible for the meager attack. The projectiles simply bounced off of his scales as he prepared his throat. Magma came from deep within his chest, boiling with heat. The Earth-Warder saw women and children running for their lives, some cowering beneath his gaze. He thought of what he was doing, of what he was becoming. A small part of him still tainted by Deathwing told him to embrace his rage, but he silenced the thought. If he didn't give them a chance to change, he would be no different from Deathwing.

Many goblins within the city expected death as the air around the dragon's maw warped from the heat of his throat, awaiting a blast of fire. Neltharion released his molten breath, sending it onto the walls of Bilgewater Harbor. The cannons that had fired at him melted away before his might. The walls surrounding the goblin capital collapsed as the heat penetrated them and tore them apart. They came tumbling to the ground as magma engulfed them. He stepped onto the pile of rubble as he looked down at the mortals.

"You may live to see another day, but know that I spared you. I will not hold you accountable for what those of your race have done against me and my dragonflight; your ashes will not darken the skies, but know this. If any of you that I have spared betrays my mercy, I will personally turn you and your family to nothing but smoldering remains. Now, be thankful that I am not Deathwing!" He commanded his words well, for those who heard his voice knew not to anger the titanic beast. They fled from the city as the dragon raised his wings, towering over the harbor. He turned his head back to see Alexstrasza with a look of relief on her face. As he angled himself towards her, though, her face turned stern and she swiftly shot into the air, throwing rocks across his face. He could tell where she was headed: Wyrmrest Temple. Neltharion raised a hand, clenching his talons into his palms. He grimaced as a drop of blood rose to the surface of his scales due to his own grip. He put his limb back to the ground as he launched, leaving a small burnt patch on the floor.

Alexstrasza stood in the upper level of Wyrmrest Temple in her elven form. She found solace in this place when she was troubled. She came here when Neltharion—or who she thought was Neltharion at the time—had betrayed her and the other Aspects. She had come here when the time to end Malygos had arrived. Whenever she felt confused, lost, or unsettled, she would go here. During times of diplomacy and war, the chamber would be filled with dragons and mortals alike trying to find solutions to world issues. Whether it was a plague affecting the land or the stirring of an Old God, dragonkind extended their aid to the mortals. Now though, the chamber was quiet. There were no pressing matters that required debate. During times like these, Alexstrasza would go to the room to think. This was one of those times.

She was glad that Neltharion had not been killed, and she was delighted that he had returned to his senses before destroying an entire city. Despite all that, she felt furious that he could lose control like that. It worried her greatly. She had spent hours every day healing him for months, and the rest of the time trying to calm the dragonflights about the black dragon's survival. After all that she had dealt with and done for him, he destroys her trust by almost murdering countless innocents! She felt betrayed by this.

Neltharion, in human form, had walked to the upper level of the temple, expecting to find Alexstrasza there. As he came to one of the giant entrances to the room, he was proven right as he saw the Life-Binder. He could see her standing in the center of the exposed space, seeming caught up in thought. It was at that moment that Neltharion studied her mortal form. She wore little clothing that covered her private bits, typical of female dragons, but besides that, she was mostly exposed. He had always been annoyed by the practice since mortal men would eye his family with wanting eyes. Still, even he couldn't deny that feeling right now. A thin silk cloak was covering her back, but her ruby hair flowed freely from her head. An extensive set of horns stretched back from her head, and a smaller pair extended as well. Golden bands were wrapped around parts of her horns, hiding some of the bony structures. Even in her mortal form, her skin was smooth and elegant. Her armor shifted as she walked forward a little.

As Neltharion moved forward, Alexstrasza heard the clanking of his metallic boots break her thoughts. The sound echoed in the chamber as he walked up behind her.

"Alex, I wanted to—" he started, but she turned around and tried to slap him in the face. He was able to barely move out the way of the blow, backing up before feeling the whack.

"How could you be so stupid?! I healed you, I defended you, and how do you repay what I have done? Destroying part of a whole city and almost murdering everyone inside!" she yelled at him.

"I was going to thank you for bringing me back to my senses," he softly said, trying to calm her down. This backfired, though, as she began to yell again.

"You don't get to thank me! Do you know what you've done? Soon, there will be outrage from the Horde since you decided to attack one of their capitals!"

"You don't know the whole story, I—"

"What don't I understand? You were about to burn them to ashes, but I was able to talk you out of it before that happened! I can't even look at you right now," she said before turning around.

"Do you know why I was so enraged?!" he responded, his anger rising. She turned back around, and her mouth moved as she tried to respond, but she couldn't say anything even though she knew the answer. "I'm assuming you followed me because of how I reacted to what Wrathion told me. He told me a group of goblins had attacked the Obsidian Dragonshrine and killed the dragons I had left there to defend it. That is why I killed them. That is why I almost burned their city to mere ash! They should have paid for their crimes!" Alexstrasza realized just how justified he was in his actions, but she couldn't let him murder so many innocents. "You and the other dragons judge me without trial! You can't see the bigger picture. I know that many dragons—especially of your own flight—blame ME for everything Deathwing did. If I'm being honest, you didn't even realize that I was not the one controlling my body while Deathwing was commanding it instead. You were too oblivious to notice!" His words cut deep as Alexstrasza was reminded of her failure to him. "Do you know what it was like—still is like—for me? The endless whispers in my head that tell me to murder, knawing at my thoughts, the visions of me destroying the world that stay stuck in my head? They torture me every day! If you want to judge me, then you must see it for yourself!" he roared. He put out a hand to Alexstrasza's head as energy flowed through it.

As he touched her, The Void moved through him and into her. Suddenly, Alexstrasza felt her senses fade as Neltharion sent her consciousness somewhere else. As the feelings returned, she was within a place she had never seen before. Being the Life-Binder, she could sense the lifeforce of all living things, and on Azeroth, she mostly felt joy from living creatures. She had grown accustomed to that feeling, but here she felt something different, something dark. Neltharion came into view as he walked in front of her.

"Welcome, to my mind. This is where I am drawn to when I sleep. It is morphed into a torture of my own making, most of the time anyway. I have witnessed dark things here, unfathomable things. You need to understand what I am going through, and the way to do that is show you a fraction of what I have witnessed. Prepare yourself…" The landscape was the one that he had been in when he had witnessed the destruction of Wyrmrest Temple and the Aspects.

A roar came from the depths of the ground as the earth cracked apart. The floor collapsed as a claw emerged from the fissure. It was a black claw, one with lava running through it. That was Deathwing's claw. The Black Scourge rose up from below the surface as his flaming eyes stared at Alexstrasza.

"You brought me a toy, whelp. I will enjoy tearing you apart, Life-Binder. As I remember, we have unfinished business. Make peace with your end!" Deathwing roared. He started to charge towards her as his wings began to extend. As they flapped, he took flight. Alexstrasza shifted into her dragon form as he flung his claw towards her. She dodged the attack and went into the air. Deathwing grabbed her tail and pulled her back to the ground, flaunting his incredible strength. He smashed his arm into her, but she flipped over and out the way before he landed his hit. He leaped towards her and landed on top of her, laughing maniacally.

"I am death incarnate, the harbinger of doom! You will bend to the True Masters' will, for none can resist forever…" His body cracked apart as he began to come undone, and she stabbed him in the chest with a claw. His body turned into black dust as he melted away. All that was left was a pile of dark powder. Alexstrasza stood up as she felt her legs aching from being pulled to the ground.

"I don't see what's so bad; I managed to fend him off." Neltharion only looked annoyed at her comment.

"You did not fend him off. He disappeared. Now, you will see the true horrors, I'm afraid…"

The world shifted as the sky darkened further. Dark mist spun around Alexstrasza, temporarily blinding her. The force constricted her before letting her return to the new land she was in. She was horrified now.

The ground was darker, but the sky was almost completely black. She had felt strange before, but what she sensed from the world now was far worse. She could only feel fear, pain, and hatred within herself as foreign energies seeped into her body. She could tell this place was far different compared to anywhere she had been before. She looked in the distance to see giant black obelisks looming over the land. Around them were creatures of horror: beings with no faces besides the mass of tentacles in their place or the teeth that made them. There were countless of them, some large with dark armor and some small with less terrifying forms. All around, she could see them, and they all surrounded identical obelisks that floated in the air.

They were black and square with pyramids at the top. On the edges of their tops, though, were black spheres. She was not able to make out what those were. In the distance, she saw a massive black pyramid swarming with the creatures of this world. In addition, there were flying beasts with ichor dripping from their fangs. She sensed that they were not right, beings made of something different, something alien.

"Where are we?" she asked Neltharion, but it was not he who responded.

"Children, the depths are my domain…" a rumbling voice spoke ever so slowly. The very sound of it sent shivers down Alexstrasza's spine, everything with the voice was twisted and wrong. "You walk in our great empire. It is eternal: past, present, future…" the voice whispered. It was N'Zoth, the Corruptor. The spheres on the obelisks opened to reveal that they were eyeballs, all staring at her. "All eyes will be opened… yours will be the first…" he said, the eyes all gazing at her. A new voice this time cut into her head, piercing her thoughts furthermore.

"My dreaming ceases; your world falls to pieces…" C'Thun whispered calmly as he emerged from the ground, rising from the sand-like floor. His giant eyeball was revealed as he looked into the eyes of the Life-Binder, sending dread into her red flesh. She turned to Neltharion, but he was nowhere to be seen now. N'Zoth could be seen instead in the distance, his tentacles waving about.

"Welcome to Ny'Alotha, the Waking City…" he spoke.

On the pyramid she had seen before, cracks formed along the dark stone. In a second, the structure exploded as another Old God was revealed. This one had tentacles that shot out from the ground, flailing around randomly. In a pool of blue acid, she could see a creature. A giant mass of flesh formed into one colossal mouth that seemed to glare at her. Dozens of maws could be seen upon the beast, and it terrified her more than any of the other beings.

"Cower before my true form. BOW DOWN BEFORE THE GOD OF DEATH!" Yogg-Saron yelled, dark tendrils flying towards Alexstrasza. They latched onto her, pulling her into the air. "Let us remake you to serve our will eternal…" She thrashed and tugged, but the tendrils only gripped her tighter. She could feel as her body changed, turning into something not her own.

"STOP. LET ME GO! NELTHARION, HELP!" she screamed as she felt her body being taken over by the Old Gods. Whispers filled her head, commanding her. They told her to kill those she cared for, to slaughter the innocent. Before she was broken by these wishes, a warm hand grabbed her shoulder and pulled her out of the Old Gods' embrace.

Alexstrasza fell forward and tumbled onto the stone floor beneath her as she was pulled from Neltharion's mind. She put her hands to her face to feel her elven features once again and was relieved to no longer feel the sense of suffering she had felt only moments ago. She lifted her head and saw Neltharion turn around and start to walk away. "I'm sorry," he whispered to her as he walked a few feet away from her. He expected her to leave, too terrified of what she had seen, without talking to him. Instead, he heard her boots strike the floor as she walked behind him. She put one of her hands on his armor-covered shoulder as she whispered to him.

"I see some of the torture you have endured, but you cannot let it define you. Accept the whispers, not as orders, but as a part of you for now. You want to change things, to redeem yourself, but you cannot do that until you accept yourself. I have been pushing you so hard so you can see that you have changed and that you are the master of your fate. Lastly, to accept yourself, you must forgive yourself. Yes, what happened with the Old Gods could have been stopped, but you carry the least fault. You need to believe that and realize that you are in control. As long as you can believe that, the Old Gods will not be able to harm your mind ever again." Neltharion felt the warmth of her words and wanted to believe them, but a thought inspired by the Old Gods came to his head. He growled and then swiftly turned towards her.

"I don't understand; how can you care so much?" he said harshly. Alexstrasza was taken back and started to respond, but he interrupted her. "Deathwing killed countless members of your flight, was responsible for the death of your consorts, killed thousands of mortals, and ruptured the dragonflights. After all that, how can you still care? It was my own body that did those things! Their blood is literally on my hands!" he yelled out, giving slight pleasure to the whispers in his head.

"I don't know why you are so angry at me; I sacrificed a lot for you! I now know that wasn't you, really you, that was doing those horrible things. I cannot blame you for something that we all missed; that would be unfair. I owe it to you to help since I thought it was Neltharion doing those things for so long! It is only now that I see my utter error, and I want to make it up to you. And you want to know why I care? It's because I have always cared for you deeply, Neltharion… and maybe it's even something more," she replied by yelling herself. She turned away from him, but he called out her name, "Alex."

She turned around to look at him, but he didn't say anything; he couldn't say anything. He knew that he had feelings for her deep down as well, but he tried not to show it to keep things between them relaxed. If he revealed his feelings, he was afraid that she would reject him. Not only that, but every time they would meet, he was worried it would be awkward and stressed. That thought alone was enough for him to keep his feelings shrouded and only stay friends with her. He didn't want to risk losing her, or so he thought.

He couldn't even see it; he was not truly afraid of her rejecting him. Sure, it would be weird, but even deeper down, he knew that it would pass in a few decades. What he truly feared was her accepting him and having similar feelings for him. He worried that he would fail her when it mattered most. Seeing her heartbroken from something he solely did would be too much to bear for him, and that is why he would not say anything after he called her name. So, she turned away and stormed out the chamber of the temple, tears falling down her cheeks from what she had seen.

She had been hoping that after he called her name, he would confess what she hoped he felt, to her about how he felt about her. If he had done such a thing, she would have gone back to him and kissed him, but instead, he said nothing. Instead, she was forced to leave before she broke down into a ball of tears. Fate is a cruel mistress...

"I am so humble a dragon, but even I cannot deny how great I am; a conqueror, a defender, a wooer," Wrathion spoke smugly, smirking as he spun his words like fabric. Crystal laughed at his roleplay and told him how egotistical he sounded. "I'm sure you're somewhere close on that list of greatness, let's see… 2, 4, 6, 8, 10…" he carried on. He held up his hands as if he was holding a scroll with a list of the most extraordinary beings alive, unable to find her on it. He grinned as Crystal laughed again, this time starting to roll on the ground.

"You are so stupid," she joked, trying to look as serious as possible. "So, you really are my brother? Well, step-brother I guess since we technically didn't come from the same parents. Either way, you're the only family I have besides the flight, but even they seem distant."

"I agree to everything you said, except for being stupid, of course," he started, a smile flashing on his dark face. "Since we are step-siblings, as you said, that would make this quite taboo," he finished as he put his mouth to hers, kissing her softly. He slowly pulled his head back before saying his goodbyes. Crystal chuckled at the joking nature of the fine dragon. Wrathion walked away before thinking to himself, "I like her!"

As he was preparing to fly away, a dragon approached him. "What now?" he asked the dragon.

"Wrathion, I have news of the remainder of the goblin gang that attacked our Dragonshrine. Hidden in the bags of one of the ones Neltharion burned, I found a letter. It says that the goblin commander should take a small group to Wyrmrest to plunder the Obsidian Dragonshrine. It also says that they were to leave from Tanaris immediately."

"Thank you for this; Neltharion will know of your work," Wrathion told him, watching as he left. In the distance, Wrathion could see the Aspect flying towards him. As the beast landed, Wrathion immediately informed him of the new information.

"Yes, this is good work. I am going to finish off the last of these raiders before they harm my brother's flight as well!" Neltharion flew into the air as he sped towards the south end of Kalimdor.

He scanned the sandy land with his eagle-like vision for any signs of a local camp as he arrived. Nothing seemed to stand out until he noticed a small smoke cloud in the distance near some jagged rocks. He flew towards the area and was surprised to see an entire camp of bandits. They served little work for him, though, as his claws cleaved structures apart and eradicated some of the goblins. As he destroyed the camp, he saw one large tent decorated with metal: the leader's tent. He burned everything else to ash before he shifted into human form and walked into the makeshift office. He found little trinkets and blades scattered throughout the room.

Neltharion found a neat letter that seemed almost to be waiting for him on the center of a desk. The truth was that it was. He opened it up and started to read, skipping past the introductions and greetings.

"Commander Zinc, I hope your mission is successful. I assume you found a place to set up your camp in Tanaris and completed your job: drawing the Black Dragonflight and the strongest Aspect away. Our ships have already landed and released our forces into position. Another team had captured a black female to ensure that the black dragon was truly no longer Deathwing. They showed that he was now Neltharion, the Earth-Warder. You know what to do now, try to fend him off for as long as possible. Our army will already be amassed and marching towards the target. The strike force will be led by me personally. Best of luck, Commander. Your actions decide our assault on..." the letter said. Neltharion had finished reading the last line, but it made his eyes open wide as he dropped the letter onto the ground.

Suddenly, he realized how he had been played like an instrument, manipulated to leave them vulnerable. He transformed into his true form within the tent, tearing it apart as he flew into the sky. His wings flapped as fast as he could make them, for he had to travel fast. "Would he make it in time?" he desperately worried.