Svabol ui Vis?
He felt cold. It was all too familiar to him again. Neltharion leaned over, wrapping his wings about his body, the digits folding over his form. He shivered as he tightened the membranes. He breathed deeply and the veins of the membranes of his wings glowed dully orange, his molten blood adding to the heat. Though still, it was not enough. He just kept shivering. He looked about him, seeing the familiar black, slick, stone walls that he had seen in his dreams before. He knew this room. There before him stood a pillar of ice and a steely throne frozen inside. Neltharion lowered his head and rumbled in frustration. Then, he felt something impact his head and he flew back aways, sliding onto the floor. His wings draped every-which-way, his tail scraped the floor with a metallic sound. Neltharion panted and lifted up, feeling the pounding pain of his lower jaw. He looked around, trying to find who it was who hit him. Then, a spark of wispy blue ignited in the shadow. Runes glowing along the edge of a cold blade lit up the figure before him. There, standing before him, dressed in his sardonite armor was Prince Arthas, his late brother-in-law. He carried Frostmourne in his hand and he scraped the blade across the floor.
"Hello, Prestor," he said. "I'm so glad you came for another visit."
"What am I doing here?" Neltharion asked. "I'm supposed to be in the Bastion of Twilight. Where's that Twilight Dragon? Where are the drakes? What are you doing here too, Arthas?" His eyes focused upon Frostmourne. "That sword was supposed to be destroyed."
"Anything can appear in one's mind, brother," said Arthas. "You decided it fitting I carry it."
"My mind, this is inside my mind..." said Neltharion. "If this is my mind, like it was before, then what the hell are you doing here? You're dead."
"Haunting you," said Arthas. "And we've been through this before. But here we are again. The two of us. Just the two of us, inside your brain."
"My mind isn't Icecrown," said Neltharion.
"No, but it suits the both of us, doesn't it?"
"How?"
Arthas circled him, heading for the Frozen Throne. He slid his cursed rune blade into its icy prison and sat down upon the throne. He leaned over, a crooked smile upon his face and he folded his gloved fingers, resting his elbows upon his lap.
"This is a representation of who you were," he said. "For we both wanted the same thing. We both were dissatisfied with what we were handed. So, either you or I would have been excellent for the throne." He blinked and shrugged, the sound of his armor clanking echoed through the chamber. "I wonder what it would have been like, Deathwing as the Lich King."
"A bad idea," said Neltharion.
"But something, if given a chance, Deathwing would have done," he said. "But by the time I searched for Frostmourne, you were no where to be found. If you stayed, the knowledge of this great weapon would have been something you would have desired as well. You and I would probably fight over it, for the amusement of Ner'zhul." He took in a deep breath and leaned back. "And given I, just a lone paladin, I would probably have been bested by you. And you would have had the sword, not me. No doubt Deathwing's mind would have fought for control of Ner'zhul and succeeded considering who and what you are. I do believe you've manipulated Ner'zhul before, correct? He would have been an old comrade to you and you would have used him just the same. Perhaps just let me have the sword, and you manipulate me from the shadows like you did to my father and the other leaders of the Alliance of Lordaeron." He smiled. "What an army we would have created, you and I, brother-in-law."
Neltharion shook his head, rising from the floor. He wrapped his wings around his body again, they looking like a billowing black, wrinkly cloak, draping and gathering at the floor. He curled his tail about his feet. His breath gathering as steam about his nose. Arthas could see the smoky steam rise from the back of Neltharion's spine armor, the areas where the bolts driven in allowed the heat to escape. The air almost shimmered around the Black Aspect.
"The only thing we would have argued was over who wanted it hot and who wanted it cold," said Arthas with a chuckle.
"I keep asking what you want with me," Neltharion said. "And you ignore the question. What do you want, Arthas?"
"I want you to realize something," he replied. Arthas rose from the cold throne and walked towards his brother-in-law. He placed both hands upon Neltharion's sides and pulled the dragon down to his level. "This place was never all that it seemed to be."
"Not you too..."
"Prestor, you and I, we seek more than what we were given. And we just couldn't follow the rules because we knew that if we did, we'd be the saps like the others. We aren't the fools, they are. They all are." He turned away. "Even my father. This world is broken, it was broken before you broke it. Why should we continue on like this?"
Neltharion extended his wings and then snapped them to his back. He walked away from Arthas and a snarl appeared on his lips.
"This world became what it is because of the Old Gods," he said. "And there is no changing it."
"Sometimes, we have to make them realize the truth of it," said Arthas. "Even if it means they will always be against us."
"Just let it happen?" Neltharion asked. "Just let the plan fail, just let it all happen? Just let the Hour of Twilight pass over us and awaken to a dead world..." He turned to Arthas, his chest heaving in and out with his frustration. "What would that prove? They're right?" He shook his head. "Was I really that weak back then, to want to give up? What made me think this?"
"You are alone in your own responsibility," said Arthas. "As I was. And what was placed upon our shoulders no one should ever take. You think it was easy for me to sentence innocents to death, knowing they will become our enemies the moment they rose from death?"
"And you gave in, Arthas," said Neltharion.
"So did you," Arthas said as he lowered his head. "We had no one to turn to in such tasks. Only subordinates who did what they were told. No equals."
Neltharion lumbered towards the Frozen Throne, looking up at its icy surface. He shivered again and wrapped his wings around his body.
"What will you do with me again, brother-in-law?" the Black Aspect asked. "Try to freeze me like you did last time? You are the only mortal who has ever discovered my debilitating weakness. The heat in my body...the heart I was born with...can die with the cold. I was born with not a strength, but a handicap." He looked down and raised a scale from his chest to see the glowing stretch mark revealing the fiery core that boiled on inside of him. Neltharion felt another shiver rattle his metallic plates and he puckered his lips. "My insides was never made of flesh, but of molten rock. Like the world's insides...made of molten rock. I don't bleed, I erupt." He looked back at Arthas. "The others aren't made like this. They have flesh, they have blood. What do I have? Lava. Why did my father make me like this?"
"To do what you were charge with better?"
"This charge..." Neltharion rumbled. "You call it a charge. You have no idea what this is...what I was born with." His eyes lit up in realization. "The burden, my burden, my pain...it's the world itself. It is aging, cooling, slowly dying." Suddenly, he felt heavy as if a great weight was placed upon his shoulders. His heart began to thump hard through his chest. Neltharion leaned over, barely able to stand up. He panted, feeling like his body was about to be crushed under the great weight. Then, his body expanded, his scales splitting, revealing his fiery insides.
"Though I may not have know what your burden is like, dear brother," said Arthas as he leaned down to the dragon. "I can empathize. And the only way out was to become what we are now."
"I am not Deathwing any longer!"
"Am I still the Lich King?"
"You weren't sorry for what you've done!" Neltharion looked up at him. "You were never sorry! I try to pay for my mistakes."
"But you were right," said Arthas. "This world is a joke and you the Grand Jester. An experiment. This world is an experiment made by a bunch of high-tech, metallic aliens. And you, bound to it, the glowing heart that you state now is your weakness, is also your chains."
"Enough!"
"Look around you, Prestor!" Arthas said as he rose up, raising his arms up. He turned around to survey his throne room. "This place...a stark copy of my father's throne room. If I had just let things be, I would have been King of Lordaeron. And it would have been my prison. But I freed myself. You, my brother, even as Deathwing, you could never be free. So long as you existed, you could never be free. You are bound to this world and until you die, you will remain bound. But when I died, I was freed, even after all I did, I still was freed. You will never be free."
Neltharion growled as he rose up, even the act proved difficult as his heaviness pulled him back down. He felt he weighed as much as the world itself.
"I do pity you, Prestor," he said. "I do pity that you were born as you are, born with your chains. But if you want freedom, it comes with a high price..."
"My death," Neltharion said in a whisper. "Why live with this pain when I can just escape it? Death, easy, so very easy. All I have to do is die. It will all be over..."
Arthas reached up and drew Frostmourne from its icy sheath. He walked over to Neltharion and then pointed the blade at his chest. Neltharion rose up again and watched as the blade followed his movement. Then, Arthas flipped the sword over, now pointing the hilt at the Earth-Warder.
"Take it," he said.
Neltharion raised a black claw and then took Frostmourne from his brother-in-law. He lifted the rune blade up, studying its surface. It truly did feel very cold to the touch, perfect to be wielded by a Death Knight like Arthas. Though the long sword looked more like a dagger in Neltharion's claw. He took in a deep breath and turned the blade back towards his chest.
"I wonder if Frostmourne will steal my soul," he said.
"Frostmourne was destroyed," said Arthas. "But it is still a blade..."
"I only wanted to help the world," said Neltharion as he brought Frostmourne closer. "What would it be without me? I know I made a lot of mistakes...but...I..."
"Do you honestly love this world?" he asked. "Even with the pain?"
"I don't know..." said Neltharion. He closed his eyes. "Thousands of years ago, I was so naive then. I believed that what I recieved was a gift, but it ended up as a curse. What my father gave me, why did he make it like this? Why couldn't he just give me a basic gift without tying my heart to the heart of the world? Why make me feel this way? Why was I born in pain?"
"Only the Creators know," Arthas said with a shrug.
Neltharion held up the sword, poised right at his heart. He closed his eyes, resigning to his fate. He listened to his heart beat and he breathed slowly. His mind felt blank as if he was forgetting something important. There was that growing weakness again, ache in his joints throbbing once more.
"Father..." whispered a caring voice. "It is for the best..."
He paused, looking at Arthas. The piecing sea blue eyes stared at him, waiting for him. Though, those eyes that stared at him kept reminding him of someone special. Someone he could not quite remember. Neltharion felt a warmth around him, urging him on to do the one final stroke.
"We love you, father, we don't want you to suffer..."
Neltharion's breath became shallow.
"Suffer..." he said. "I'm not suffering..."
He looked back to Arthas, those eyes once more bringing his thoughts back to the present. Neltharion shook his head and he lowered the sword.
"Arthas," said Neltharion. "Calia. I can't do it. Calia. She's in trouble. She needs me. If I die, then...she...I can't die. Calia, I want Calia."
He dropped the sword and it clanked heavily upon the floor. Neltharion dropped to the floor, his body was so heavy again. Arthas lowered as well, placing a hand upon the dragon's neck.
"This is why you do not suffer anymore," he said. "My sister's love keeps the pain away. You really do care for her. I wish I could see her face one more time. We really would have made quite a family, you, me, and her." He lowered his head. "Don't let her become us. Don't let her make the same mistake that we have."
"I won't," said Neltharion.
"Go, brother-in-law, save my sister," said Arthas. He withdrew from the dragon.
Neltharion felt himself being pulled back to his body. There was a roar of rage as if he had defeated some horrid monster that kept him bound inside of Icecrown. The dragon closed eyes closed and the world itself seemed to fade away. Neltharion awoke once more in the antechamber that was the birthing chamber of the Twilight Dragons. His body was still heavy and weak. He could not move. He felt a claw slowly petting him, soothing him. His great form laid upon the smaller, female twilight dragon's chest and she breathed her leeching breath upon him. The newborn drakes snuggled up to him, despite all the killing he had done earlier to their brothers and sisters, caressing him with their snouts and breathing their leeching breaths upon him as well. They kept him weak and Neltharion could feel his life slowly drain away.
"Don't worry, father," said the female. "We'll make it painless. It's the least we could do for you."
"I don't want to die..." said Neltharion. "I have a reason to live."
"Don't be silly, father," she said, nuzzling him. "Who would want to live in pain all the time?"
Neltharion tried to lift a foreleg to at least bat her away, but even that was beyond him. His head was dizzy, swimming from side to side. His hind legs were limp and splayed, his tail barely moving between them. Even his wings were draped all about, too heavy to lift. He could not move. He looked over at the drakes moving around, piling the dead bodies to one side of the chamber. They were all burnt and black. He could smell their charred bodies, scent like burnt tar. He had killed them, every single one of them. Half of what was born was left, but he killed them. Newborn babies and he killed them. His anger for the violation of his own flight was great that even looking upon twilight drakes born from black dragon eggs reviled him.
Genocide, these creatures deserved nothing less. After all, they want the annihilation of his flight too, or use his flight's eggs as a way to implant the parasites, just like what he did with Alexstrasza's eggs. Even Alexstrasza, seeing her children being born as twilight drakes, believed they were no longer hers. Even she wanted them dead. She was only a means, just as he was.
A means to an end.
Neltharion's eyes suddenly became unfocused again just as he felt a claw slide down towards his pubic foot. He felt his body tense up and his mind screamed in horror of what was about to come next.
"We need to replace what you, in your rage, decided to destroy, father," said the female, whispering into his ear silkily.
"No–" Neltharion tried to say but all he could do was whimper.
"Relax," she said.
He felt a tongue graze upon his cheek and his body trembled. Neltharion clenched his lower half up, trying to prevent her from reaching any further down. He desperately did not want what she wanted. He wanted to run, he wanted to flap his wings and fly away, but the drakes kept him as weak and helpless as a newborn, human baby. All he could do was fidget. Neltharion yelped when he felt a talon reach under the softer scales that protected his most private areas.
"Don't–" he said. "Please, don't...I'll...do anything you say, but don't do that..."
"We need your seed," said the female. "The strongest of our flight comes directly from your seed, father. I will make it pleasurable. Just lean back and enjoy it." She nuzzled him. "Your final gift to us..."
Neltharion shut his eyes his claws desperately trying to cover himself, trying to bat her violating talons away.
"Father, don't you want to give us more brothers and sisters?" squeaked a drake.
"It is your duty to make our flight strong," said the female. "Don't fight it, father. It will only hurt more if you do."
Neltharion felt the dragon's body shift as she laid him softly upon the chitin floor. The drakes helped to fold his wings up slightly as a means to keep him bound. Neltharion's eyes opened and he clinched his teeth just as the female positioned herself up over him, straddling his hips. She lowered her hips down slowly, meeting his in almost like a kiss. Neltharion jerked, trying with what little strength he had to buck her off.
"Hold him!" the female called. "Don't fight me, father."
Neltharion's mouth began to fill with searing lava as he readied himself to blast her off of him. His lower jaw dripped with the hot liquid, and it splashed upon his neck. A drake leapt upon his snout and extended its wings out to wrap themselves around Neltharion's jaws, binding them tightly shut. Neltharion screamed a muffled growl, trying to fight against his gag. His eyes trembled, his wings quivered, and in his weakness, there was no escape.
I suppose they'll just plot me right on top of Wyrmrest right after they're done...with me...he thought. Oh, I just want it to be over with. Just kill me now!
Once more, he closed his eyes, hoping that his body would go numb, that he would not feel the unwanted sensual pleasure. Such pleasure only Calia should give him. This is what he wanted to do with Calia, to show her love, to show her passion, to give back what he took so many years ago, and now it was all being wasted by a female twilight dragon in heat. He felt his lower half swell out, making the connection and a lustful purr from his violator. His body was now reacting despite his mind still crying out for it to stop. It wouldn't listen to him. It was just running on instinct instead of logic. Nothing was under his control anymore. It was just like when Deathwing commanded him. He did things he did not want to do and tormented him for it. Just as they were sealed together, a flash of heat spread across his face. The little drake that bound his mouth was knocked off. The female came next, being knocked off by a blast of heat. Neltharion's eyes tried to focus, but whatever it was flew around him like a blur. Blood splattered across his face as the female died, screaming in agony. Time seemed to slow around him as he saw the swirl of a black tail in his blurred vision. The wind rushed up around him, blowing a crusty lock into this face. He heard a roar of rage and the drakes around him died in a rush of heat. The heat would not harm him, though. A flash of purple glowed about him and he thought he saw a black wisp of smoke form into a skull above him, only to fall back the other side into obscurity. Then, when the chaos quieted, a familiar voice called out his name.
"Lord Neltharion! Lord Neltharion!"
"What were they doing to him?" came a voice that was not quite so familiar.
"They need more twilight dragons," said the first voice.
Neltharion closed his eyes finally, just letting the darkness take him away.
0
"I never knew he had a human for a consort," said Cho, studying the ash brown-haired human before him. "His last consort was Sinestra."
"She's dead," said Calia. "He loves me now. And I am here to make sure you don't harm him. Only I can keep him safe."
"No one is safe," said Cho. "Not even your precious Worldbreaker. The Hour of Twilight will come, girl. Just you wait."
"Just you wait!" chimed Gall. "We will skin your precious Earth-Warder. Skin him and wear him like a cloak! Yes! Yes!"
"No!"
Calia ran and then leapt up into the air, kicking Cho right in the jaw. She landed upon his pot-bellied chest and slid down. Calia looked towards the strange indentions in his arms and around his pectoral muscles. Like lids, they opened up, revealing cat-like eyes that followed her movement downward. She jabbed a knife into one of the eyes, the blade passing into the gooey center and poisonous ichor splattering out upon her. The smell was as sour as his words. Cho'Gall bellowed out in agony and knocked her down to the ground. Calia rolled, slamming hard against the wall.
"His consort or not, you are still just only a human," said Cho as the huge ogre leaned down to her. He took hold of her hair and pulled her up, just dangling her by her locks. Calia held onto his beefy hand, kicking and grunting. Cho'gall chuckled darkly as he slammed her upon the wall. "I will take such joy upon grinding your bones for soup, pesky human. I'll make your consort watch me drink the soup just for fun. Maybe feed him what's left over before I take his head as a trophy. Would he like that?"
Calia let loose a scream of fury and raised her knife up. She sliced into her hair, cutting it clean off. She toppled down again and all that Cho'Gall held was the remaining locks of her hair. With it cut short, her hair looked wild and tangled, a look that mirrored what was going on inside of her.
Skewer him!
Run him through!
The voices urged her on and she was desperate to obey them. Cho'Gall's eyes then lit up in horrifying realization when he heard just the whispers calling out from her to kill him.
"What is this?" he asked. "What is the meaning of this?" He looked up at the ceiling and raised a taloned hand as if to be reaching for some higher presence. "Why have you betrayed me? I have done all that you ask me to. I allied myself with Deathwing only to have him betray me and now you wish to turn on me as well?" He looked around at the empty room. "Why am I met by traitors? When Gul'dan perished, I survived, I make took over what belonged to me! And now in the wake of the Black Dragon's own deceit, you leave me as well." A hand raised up to hold the pieced eye upon his chest. "Damn Deathwing, damn him and damn you!"
"Finding it lonely at the top?" Calia asked as she shook off the dust. She laughed.
"That's how!" Cho'Gall called, pointing at her. "That is how you are able to even survive me! They empower you! But Deathwing no longer is their ally. How can you hold their power?"
"I don't know what you are talking about ogre," said Calia.
Kill him!
He is of no use to us.
Kill him and your beloved Neltharion will be free.
Kill him and he will have nothing to fear.
Cho'Gall bellowed a defiant call and rushed for her, gripping his hammer tightly. His cut tendons though made it difficult for him to run and with every stride only brought him more pain. He raised the hammer up, preparing to smash her into a bloody smear upon the floor. Calia tumbled upon the ground right before the hammer made contact and then thrusted upward, jabbing her dagger straight into his heart. She sliced down with the dagger, cutting a deep gash upon his bloated belly. She sliced through muscle and tendon and spilling out blood and entrails upon the floor. Cho'Gall coughed and sputtered, toppling over as Calia rolled away. He once more looked back at her, his eyes still wide with horror.
"Why have you betrayed us?" he asked.
"Leave us to die!" Gall called.
"Great Masters of the Dark," said Cho. "What is the meaning of this?"
"We have not failed you!"
"We will end the Black Dragon. We swear it. We are still on your side. He is not."
"The Worldbreaker will pay! Yes! Pay for his crimes! Pay!"
"My husband will do no such thing," said Calia. "You will keep your filthy hands off of him."
We have found someone new to play with.
Let his end come at the hands of the one he loves.
It is only fitting that she would do it.
Calia felt the burning of the disk around her neck. She pulled it out and held it close. It glowed brightly like the surface of the sun and Cho'Gall wretched back from the light. The glow seemed to spread out around Calia and bathing the ogre's chambers in the golden light. Cho'Gall let loose a wail of agony as the light engulfed him, searing his flesh, crackling his muscles. But the light did not burn Calia, she rejoiced in it.
"The disk!" the ogre's gargling voice called. "That disk! That..."
Then, all was silenced. The glow receded away, leaving behind nothing more of the ogre than charred, blacken bones. But laying at the remains' side was the hammer Cho'Gall carried. Calia breathed as she felt the whispers urge her on again, telling her to come close to the hammer. She knelt down and touched the handle of the hammer.
"Hammer of Twilight," she said. Despite it's great form and heaviness, she was able to lift it rather easily.
A gift your husband gave to Cho'Gall.
It would serve better if you wielded it.
Let it be yours now.
"It belongs to me," she said. She stared upon the surface of the hammer, noticing purple glows within its surface. "To keep Neltharion safe..."
She felt herself let go a laugh of triumph. Her sea blue eyes sparkled as she raised the hammer up.
Neltharion may not want you to keep him safe.
What would he know of your kindness for him?
You love him more than he loves you.
He must be made to see things your way.
Make him bow before you, Calia.
Make the Earth-Warder grovel.
He will worship you like a goddess.
They all will worship you.
They all will not harm Neltharion, or see your wrath.
Keep him safe.
Safe from them.
Only you know what is best.
"Yes," said Calia. "Only I know what is best for him. No one else. He needs me."
She stared upon the disk's surface, her eyes now entranced with its glow. The glow reflected off of her irises, giving them a fiery light as well. In the shadowy light of the Bastion of Twilight, she could now see better than she ver could before. The future laid out before her. Upon the surface, she saw the visions. The lands bowing before her, Lordaeron rightfully hers again. The Horde defeated and Garrosh impaled. Sylvanas defeated and her Forsaken either slaughtered, or driven out of her land. Varian made to grovel at her feet. And then there was Neltharion, chained to her side to make sure he would never leave her sight.
More of a slave than her husband.
Though deep inside of her, a part of her still thought that this would be more fitting for the one who sought to shatter the Alliance, who aided the Horde with both enslaved red dragons and willing black dragons. This was more fitting. But he would not be harmed, no. He would remain safe and only lick the ground she walked upon.
For you...
All for you...
No one else...
"All for me," said Calia with a dreamy voice. "Yes. For me. To keep safe for him. He can't do his job, but I can. I can do it for him."
Calia swung the Hammer of Twilight up and rested it upon her shoulder. A smile continued to spread across her face.
"This world is mine now," she said.
0
Twilight Dragons filled the skies above Wyrmrest. Twilight Hammers sliced through the resistance. The four remaining Dragonflights battled the twilight dragons, claws met claws, teeth met teeth. Fire, shadow, frost, green flame, and piercing rays of gold lit up the sky. Thrall looked up to see the great form of Alexstrasza fly over head, blasting several twilight drakes down with a ball of her own fiery breath. Ysera barrel rolled down, gripping two twilight drakes in her claws and letting them go, watching with glee as they plummeted upon the snowy ground. Thrall raised his hammer up, calling forth a bolt of lightning to ignite it. He then, slammed the hammer down and a quaking crack, sparked and splintered across the ground. The crack opened wide and the earth itself seemed to swallow the Twilight Hammers. Aggra set her totems, calling upon helpful elementals to her aid.
"The elements are on our side!" Thrall shouted to the Earthen Ring.
Wildhammer dwarves took to the sky upon gryphons calling forth lightning to pelt the ground. A Twilight Hammer rider upon a drake dove down towards one of the gryphon riders, a poisoned blade at the ready. The drake dove its claws into the gryphon's flank. The dwarf looked up as her face met with the scaly underside of the drake. She drew her dagger and scraped it along the belly of the drake as the drake bit into the neck of the gryphon, snapping it instantly. The dwarf climbed up the drake's side and her blade met with cultist's sword. The drake bucked as the two fought upon his back, letting go of the gryphon's dead body. The dwarf parried and then the Twilight Hammer rounded and thrusted the sword slide deep into the dwarf's chest. She called upon a fireball and fired it right at his face just as she was about to fall over. The drake finally bucked both off, and they went burning painfully to the ground. Thrall looked up once more, seeing Kalecgos pass over him, causing a rush of wind and snow to blow up around him. With the aid of the wind, he channeled and commanded it to blow across the battlefield. A Twilight Hammer dark shaman blasted him with a fire ball, forcing him to the ground. Thrall took hold of Ogrim's hammer and raised it, only to have it clash with the sword of the shaman.
"You will not win, World Shaman!" the cultist announced.
"That is where you are wrong," said Thrall, throwing the shaman off of him. He swung his hammer and it clashed against the sword. Another swing and another clash, sparks flying as metal met metal. A braid flapped up behind Thrall as he swung again. The cultist swung as well, and Thrall stepped away as the sword slashed a smooth line through his leather tunic. Thrall rebounded and with a smooth swing, he knocked the cultist back. The cultist flew back, landing in a dune of snow. Thrall readied himself once more, approaching the downed cultist. The dark shaman looked up as a growing cold spread across the wasteland. A shadow fell upon the land, just as massive as one of the Aspects. Thrall looked up to what created the shadow.
"You have failed," said the cultist. "The Hour of Twilight is at hand..."
Thrall's eyes widened just as a dark purple, massive Twilight Dragon lowered down from night sky.
"I am my father's greatest achievement!" the dragon announced.
"Ultraxion!" Alexstrasza called.
"You will all parish!" Ultraxion said, giving a mighty flap of his wings. Red, blue, bronze, and green dragons were sent flying towards the ground, all knocked by the gail winds Ultraxion's mighty wings created. "The time of the Aspects is over!"
"Oh, Neltharion, what terrible child you have brought into this world," said Alexstrasza, shaking her head.
"I still do wish that he would have told us about this monstrosity, big sister," said Ysera. "Why?"
"It doesss not matter why," said Nozdormu, tightening the striped scarf around his thick, scaly, brassy gold neck. "What mattersss isss that we destroy Ultraxion."
"But Neltharion must be with us when we do!" said Alexstrasza. "How can we destroy this monster without him? We need all five Aspects."
"Perhaps I can go to the Twilight Highlands and teleport him here," said Kalecgos.
"No," said Nozdormu. "That isss not necessary." He swung his head over to the Blue Aspect. "Just wait. Just wait for the right time."
"And when is that?" asked Alexstrasza.
A terrible roar erupted from Ultraxion as he let loose his powerful purple and cyan beam from his mouth. The beam slid across the icy wastes and one by one, many of the Earthen Ring were instantly vaporized. Ysera's eyes lit up and she dove for the snow.
"Thrall!" she called and quickly snatched him up into a green claw just before the beam hit.
Kalecgos followed, seeing Aggra was next and swiftly dove to snatch her up as well. The rest of the Earthen Ring began to scatter. Ysera and Kalecgos quickly joined the other Aspects, hovering and watching the attack.
"What a monster!" Aggra said.
"Even we are not safe up here for long," said Thrall. "Queen Alexstrasza, we have to kill that thing!"
"Neltharion knows how to kill it," said Kalecgos. "I think."
"Did you see what Ultraxion did to Neltharion?" asked Thrall. "Even he can't kill it."
"Well, he made the damned monster," said Kalecgos. "Wouldn't he know how to kill it?"
"Deathwing does," said Nozdormu. "And Neltharion isss no longer Deathwing."
"He is no longer Deathwing," said Thrall. "We're going at this all wrong. The only thing that might be able to destroy Ultraxion is..."
"The Dragon Soul," said Nozdormu. "That isss how we are to kill it. And Neltharion knew how to use the Dragon Soul even before Deathwing took over."
Then, Ultraxion turned, banking off. His head looked up to the four Aspects hovering above.
"I see you up there!" he said with a maddened cackle. "I destroy you, and then I will destroy my father!"
"No child should ever want to kill his own father!" said Alexstrasza. "Neltharion gave you life, you should be grateful to him!"
"I am grateful, Life-Binder," said Ultraxion as he rose slowly up to them. "I love my father and rejoice in what he did to make me. But he is in pain and I must end it. As I must end yours."
"None of us are in pain," said Alexstrasza. "And Neltharion...well, the only pain he felt was the pain the Old Gods inflicted upon him! We took that pain away. We can take your pain away as well. You don't have to obey the Old Gods. You can be free of them like your father."
Ultraxion chuckled and shook his head at the Aspect of Life: "Oh how foolish you sound and how little you know, Life-Binder. There are many things my father never told you–but we know. We have always known."
The other Aspects looked upon each other with confusion.
"What have you known?" Alexstrasza asked, her eyes narrowing at the Twilight Dragon. "What was it that Neltharion never told us?"
"Perhaps before your death, I will set your minds at ease," said Ultraxion. "I hate to have relatives die with the agony of not knowing. My father had always hated..." He paused, his eyes darting back and forth. Then, he let loose a powerful bellow and the other twilight dragons answered. He looked back at the Aspects and grinned a sinister, toothy grin. "I must cut my visit short. But, I will be back..."
Just at an instant, Ultraxion, followed by the other Twilight Dragons, all disappeared in a shadowy haze. Twilight Cultists also vanished, leaving many of their foes standing in bewilderment. The other dragons flew around, scouting for any survivors or wounded. Already red dragons were landing, breathing their healing flames upon wounded mortals and blue dragons carting them back to the temple.
"Where did he go?" Alexstrasza asked. "Where did they all go?"
"Twilight Highlandssss," said Nozdormu. "He mussst have just found out that Neltharion was there."
"Oh no," she said. "He can't fight that monster alone!"
"Neither can we," said Kalecgos.
"Together, all five of us, and with the Dragon Soul, we can," said Ysera.
Alexstrasza nodded: "Yes. Yes. Kalec! Open a portal."
"Right," said Kalecgos as he landed upon the snow.
Alexstrasza looked back at Nozdormu: "I suppose now is the time?"
"Now isss the time," said Nozdormu.
"What did he mean that Neltharion had always hated...what?" Thrall asked, looking up at Ysera. "What had Neltharion always hated?"
"I–I'm afraid I don't know," she replied. "Alex? Do you know?"
"No," said the Life Queen. "I do not. Something Neltharion always hated. If we make it out alive, I wish to ask him."
An enormous portal back to the Twilight Highlands opened up and dragon and Earthen Ring alike filed through. Alexstrasza took one last look back at Wyrmrest just before she went on through and gave a soft smile. Then, the Great Red disappeared through the shimmering portal as it closed right behind her.