Nefarian and Onyxia sat next to each other on a ledge, keeping an eye out on the surrounding terrain. They were wondering where Ebonia had gone.
"Do you agree that our sister seems...different?", asked Nefarian.
Onyxia nodded. "Of course. I wonder why that is. She was always somewhat odd, but this is even stranger than normal."
Nefarian looked around and thought he caught a glimpse of red, but it was gone before he could verify.
"Whatever has caused this behavior change, I want to find out what it is, and destroy it.", Nefarian declared, "It seems to have caused her to shun killing almost entirely, and that is a fatal weakness for our kind."
Onyxia frowned. "It's that bad, isn't it?"
Nefarian nodded. "Indeed. Not to mention our father is coming here shortly. If he discovers that Ebonia is growing weak..."
Onyxia replied, "I don't think I want to know how he'd respond. But what do you propose we do?"
Nefarian answered, "Simple enough. Next time we spot her leaving, we follow her and see where she's going. Whatever she's visiting, we will destroy."
He flexed his claws. "Not to mention reminding her about our strength. Weakness is not tolerated in the black dragonflight."
Onyxia smiled viciously. "Of course. I'll follow her next time she leaves. After all, I'm much stealthier than you."
Nefarian nodded. "Very well. It seems we are in agreement. Her foolishness must end swiftly and brutally."*
It had started out as lessons on the outside world, but now Ebonia and Devrialstrasz would often end up chatting to each other about their lives. Ebonia would describe the many fighting lessons she had to do and her siblings' actions, while Devrialstrasz would tell her about the friends he made and the suffering they were having to go through under the cruelty of the orcs.
Ebonia wondered why they allowed the orcs to abuse them. She knew that if she found herself in that situation, she would simply incinerate them all with one breath. But she knew how much Devrialstrasz valued life, even if it was cruel, and she supposed that was probably the reason.
Sometimes, though, she wondered if he valued life a bit too much. She knew it was precious and agreed with him on that, but surely one should be allowed to kill things if they were unnecessarily cruel to other lifeforms.
Of course, that logic would easily apply to her flight, and she did not like that.
She lay curled up on the ledge, awaiting Devrialstrasz's arrival. She was quite excited to see him again. These weekly visits were the one thing she looked forward to these days.
Soon, he arrived. Once he landed and got himself settled, he said, "Let me tell you about mortals."
Ebonia was quite curious. She did not know much about them, her only contact with them being the mindless cultists and the occasional peasants her siblings loved murdering.
Devrialstrasz continued, "The mortals are quite fascinating, for they are some of the only beings with intelligence similar to ours. They are some of the most influential denizens of this world, and their actions shape Azeroth even more than we do. As such, it is important that we learn as much about them as we can."
He took a deep breath, and continued.
"There are three major continents, with some scattered large islands in between them. Some believe that there is a fourth somewhere in the south, but no one has ever found it. There is only an impenetrable impossibly large cloud of mist there, and no one who goes in comes back. There may be a continent there, but let's just assume there are three.", he stated, "Kalimdor, the Eastern Kingdoms, and Northrend. Each continent is home to many races of mortals, although Northrend is rather inhospitable and therefore does not have many."
"Okay...", Ebonia replied, "I was already taught about the continents, I'm not a savage you know."
Devrialstrasz looked somewhat embarrassed. "Oh, right. Well...do you know about the factions then?"
Ebonia nodded, saying, "Yes. There's the Alliance and there's also the Horde. The Scourge could also be considered a faction, maybe? I'm not sure. Mostly my mother discussed various ways to fight them if I end up encountering them."
Devrialstrasz said, "Well, that makes this easier then. Did she only tell you how to fight them, though?"
Ebonia replied, "Um, yeah, she thought that would be the only thing I'd ever have to deal with involving mortals. They hate my kind, right?"
Devrialstrasz sighed. "The mortals are so much more than their armies and their fighters.", he stated, "Although that is a big part of their history, there is so much more to them. They have a rich and unique culture as well. Many of them never become soldiers. They can be mages, artists, musicians, farmers, druids, traders, anything you could imagine. Although I can't take you to a city right now and show you, there is a cottage nearby where an older human couple live."
He glowed, and shrank down into a handsome young elf with long red hair and golden eyes. He was wearing a simple white tunic and pants. "Do your kind have Visage Days?", he asked, "More specifically, do you have a mortal form?"
Ebonia scoffed. "Of course." In a flash of light, she shrank down into her own mortal form, a night elf with charcoal skin, golden eyes, and long black hair. She wore a glossy black gown with a matching cape.
Devrialstrasz stared, and for a second Ebonia was worried she'd done something wrong. But then he said, "You're, uh, very beautiful in that form."
Ebonia blushed. "Um, thanks."
Devrialstrasz glanced at the long white scar across her left eye. "What gave that to you?", he asked.
Ebonia shivered at the memory. "It was a wound inflicted a long time ago.", she said, "My brother...he can be quite horrible when angered. This is one of many wounds he's given me over the years, although it's the only one that lasts."
Devrialstrasz looked...furious?
"Who would dare try and hurt someone as kind as you?", he growled, "One day, I'll fight this...brother, of yours, and show him how I feel. None of my siblings were nearly as brutal and cruel as that!"
Ebonia was taken aback by how he was reacting. She'd never seen any signs he could get this emotional, even when discussing her father or other people who brought forth mass destruction.
And she couldn't shake the feeling that it might have something to do with the warmth she felt whenever she thought of him.
After he calmed down, he said, "Come, let's go. They don't live too far from here. Remember, they cannot know what we are. I'll refer to myself as Dev, what about you?"
Ebonia thought about it for a second. "Selena.", she decided.
Devrialstrasz smiled. "A beautiful name."
The two of them walked down the mountain, sheep bleating peacefully around them. Ebonia felt a calm wind blow through her hair, and felt happy and peaceful. It was not long before they arrived at a quaint little cottage, tucked away beneath the shadow of the surrounding mountains.
Devrialstrasz said, "This will require us to try to keep our backstory secret, but just follow my lead. I've got this."
They walked up to the door, surrounded by sheep, but before they could knock an old woman opened it up, beaming at them.
"Hello, young travelers. Come in, we just finished lunch!", she declared enthusiastically.
Ebonia glanced over to Devrialstrasz, wondering if this was normal. He simply gave a light bow and said, "We are honored with your hospitality."
"No need for formalities.", the old woman chuckled, "Two elves from opposite kingdoms roaming the mountains together leads to an interesting story. Don't worry, neither me nor old Gerald mean you any harm."
She moved out of the doorway, and Devrialstrasz led Ebonia into the cottage.
It was small and rather muddy, but the owners of the house had done their best to keep it neat and organized. A battered old table sat in the middle of the cottage, flanked by two chairs. In the corner there was a fireplace with a giant pot of stew cooking on top of it. In another corner there was a basket of sewing supplies, and in the third corner was a chest of food.
There was a set of stairs at the back, and the old woman walked over and called, "Gerald! We have guests!"
There was a loud clamor as a bunch of metal plates crashed around, followed by a thick round of swearing worthy of a Kul Tiran sailor.
The old woman turned and smiled apologetically. "Forgive my husband, he used to work on ships, you know, and some of his old manners just never change."
Devrialstrasz replied, "No worries."
"Oh, how could I forget!?", exclaimed the old woman, "My name is Delilah, what about you two?"
"I'm Dev, and this is Selena, my...", introduced Devrialstrasz.
"Acquaintance? Girlfriend? Soon-to-be bride?", finished Delilah.
Devrialstrasz blushed deeply. "Um..."
"Oh, no need to tell me. I can see it. You two are clearly crazy for each other. Why else haven't you removed your hand from hers?", replied Delilah.
Devrialstrasz blushed even deeper and removed his hand from Ebonia's. Ebonia smiled at him.
At about that time, Gerald stumbled down the stairs. He was wearing a Kul Tiran helmet and some old robes, and was holding onto a battle axe. He had a thick handlebar mustache and old seaworn eyes.
"Oy, Lila, a little warning if we receive guests while I'm doing a reenactment!", he exclaimed.
Delilah chuckled. "I'll try."
Gerald turned towards the guests in question. "Hello there! The name's Gerald! I heard yer names as I went downstairs. Devvy and Selinia, right?"
Delilah chuckled. "Their names are Dev and Selena, Gerald."
"Oh, yeah, I knew that.", he grumbled. Then he said, "Why don't ye all take a seat and we'll serve ye some stew? We rarely get guests through these parts, and none of ye look particularly shifty."
The two dragons in disguise sat down in the seats, and Delilah served them some stew. As they ate, Gerald started regaling them with stories.
"Ah, yes, I served Stormwind in the Second War!", he declared, "Proud member of the Kul Tiran army. I fought all over the place, killing those Horde mongrels by the hundreds! Oh, yes, those were the days..."
Ebonia enjoyed the stew as Gerald rambled on. Devrialstrasz looked a little queasy, though, when Gerald mentioned fighting orcs riding red dragons. Ebonia wondered if Devrialstrasz had known any of them personally. For his sake, she hoped he didn't.
After they finished their stew, and Gerald started running out of war stories, Delilah asked, "What about your story? What brings you two here?"
Devrialstrasz answered, "Well...as you can tell, we are two elves whose people have a long history of hating each other. Our families wouldn't understand us, so we left to form a new life elsewhere."
"That's so sweet.", sighed Delilah happily, "I hope you succeed."
Gerald added, "Yeah, you've got quite the fine lady with you don't ye?"
Ebonia blushed slightly.
"You can feel free to visit us anytime.", Delilah said, "You'll have to keep an eye out for the dragons, though. They're everywhere around here."
"Of course.", replied Devrialstrasz, "Thank you for the food. We're going to be leaving soon, but we'll be sure to visit again."
"I look forward to it.", said Delilah.
The two dragons helped clean up the dishes, and then they left the cottage. As soon as they were gone, Ebonia glanced over at Devrialstrasz, a soft smile on her face.
Devrialstrasz said, "Oh! Here, this is for you."
He slipped a silvery necklace from his pocket. It had a dragon-shaped charm dangling from it and glittered in the light.
Ebonia stared at it with wonder. "Did you really get this for me?", she asked.
Devrialstrasz nodded. "Of course.", he said, "I've never felt as happy as I have around you. I don't care that most dragons shun cross-flight relationships. If you are willing, I would spend the rest of my years as your consort, and I would make sure you were the happiest dragon in the world."
Ebonia felt very happy. "Of course I am willing.", she said, filled with warmth, "There's no one in Azeroth I love more than you."
With a smile, Devrialstrasz draped the necklace around her neck. "Let's take a day or two to get our affairs settled. Then we will fly far away, and build ourselves a new home."*