When Virigosa came to, she was in a large tent with grass under her talons. Judging from the scratches on the ground, from both dragon claws and a dragon's tail, she had been dragged into the tent by a green dragon some time ago. She looked over herself closely, paying special attention to her shoulder. The flesh had already knitted itself back together, likely by virtue of the druid's magic, but the scales would take time to grow back. It'll probably scar, she thought to herself, my scales just molted a few months ago.
The petty things aside, she was fine. Virigosa's main problem had been fatigue, and the long rest had solved that. Satisfied, she shapeshifted into her mortal form, and walked out of the tent. Nobody paid any particular attention to her: Virigosa's preferred form was that of a night elf, and although her clothing was entirely blue, she could pass for one of the Highborne without much trouble. The people around Nordrassil were busy regardless, and Virigosa had no business with them.
She walked from building to building, looking for anybody familiar. A pair of green drakes were chatting between two buildings, and Virigosa stopped to speak with them. "I'm looking for a green wyrm who spoke to me yesterday; I don't know her name, but she came from the main building. Do you know where she could be?"
The drakes stopped and stared at her for a moment. "You're the blue drake that came here yesterday, yeah?" one asked. "Quite the entrance."
"Yes." she answered.
"You're looking for Nalasra, then. She should be just over there," the drake pointed with their tail. "Beyond that shop. She's in her dragon form, you can't miss her."
Virigosa shapeshifted into her draconic form, and quickly found Nalasra. The wyrm was speaking to an armored night elf, and paused after a moment to acknowledge the blue drake. "Ah, Virigosa. What is it you need?"
"I was wondering if you needed anything done," Virigosa replied. "I no longer have an assigned post, and I figure my services could still be needed here."
"I'll keep that in mind, but I can't think of anything that has to be done now," Nalasra said. "But there was somebody who saw you yesterday when you arrived. A blue drake, I don't remember his name. He said he knew you."
Virigosa froze, and said with concern, "Where was he?"
"Last I saw, he had a tent just at the main exit to the city," Nalasra answered.
He was where Nalasra had said, but Virigosa did not recognize him at first. When she arrived at the tent, he was in the form of a blond high elf dressed in an indigo robe. Virigosa waited for a long time at the entrance to the tent as he sifted through a pile of papers, and his face reddened when he noticed her. He moved back from the desk and shapeshifted into the form of a familiar blue drake. Recognizing him, Virigosa invited herself into the tent, sitting on a side opposite from that of her old friend.
"Eryigos," she greeted him. "It's been a while. What are all the papers for?"
It was nice to see somebody familiar. Perhaps Virigosa and Eryigos had not known each other under the best of circumstances- they had been assigned to a few of the same posts in the Borean Tundra and the Dragonblight during the Nexus War- but a friend was a friend, after all. Virigosa had spoken to him during the war more than any other dragon, and it was comforting to see that she would be able to talk to him during this war, too.
"They're... They're for the dragons back home." Eryigos answered. "I'm here on Mount Hyjal on orders of Arygos himself. He wants me to make reports for him."
"Ah, Arygos. The son of Malygos himself, isn't he?" Virigosa said. "That reminds me, the Blue Dragonflight seeks to elect a new Aspect soon. The Embrace fast approaches. I take it you support Arygos, then?"
"Indeed, and you?" Eryigos replied.
"I don't really like anybody, per se," Virigosa answered. "I definitely don't like Kalecgos, with all the idiotic moves he's made in the past. I have a bad feeling about Arygos too, though, he seems... Slimy, somehow. I can't say I really care who gets the position; I mean, I care about who our Aspect is, but I don't think it'd make much of a difference whether one or the other becomes the Aspect."
Eryigos nodded in acknowledgement, and walked out of the tent, gesturing with his tell for Virigosa to follow. They walked out of the tent together, and Eryigos beat his wings a few times in quick succession to lift off from the ground. Virigosa followed him, and together they ascended into the clouds. Just west of Nordrassil, they dove and surveyed the ground below them. There was a river, perhaps once beautiful, but now clogged with dirt and ashes. Faintly glowing embers and abandoned weapons and armor indicated that this was a recently-abandoned battleground.
"It's a waste, really," Virigosa spat, hovering just over the treetops.
"It's all too familiar, isn't it?" Eryigos said. "I remember a sight like this in the Dragonblight, where instead of fire, it was our own residual magic covering the ground."
"I remember it all over, in Crystalsong Forest especially," Virigosa added. "War is a funny thing. I feel that even when I haven't been participating in it, I've lived my entire life in its shadow. I mean, how many of us blue dragons are left? Two thousand? Two thousand and a half? If there were more of us, my life would be so much different."
"There's a kind of beauty to it though, isn't there?" Eryigos noted. "You feel it, don't you? Isn't there some part of you that just wants to watch the world burn?"
"Maybe to the Black Dragonflight and to the Twilight's Hammer, but not me," Virigosa answered.
And she knew it was a lie.
The two drakes surveyed the abandoned battlefield in relative silence, before heading off to elsewhere in Mount Hyjal. The otherwise happy reunion had taken on a dark overtone, and the blue dragons did not speak much until they began to return to Nordrassil. They stopped a fair distance from the World Tree, and took a moment to marvel at its impressive, looming form in the distance.
"It's nice seeing you again, you know," Eryigos said.
"You as well," Virigosa replied. "I've been so lonely here in Hyjal. The red and even the green drakes are a bit scared of me, you know. They'd never admit it, but they don't have to. I can see it in their eyes, I can feel it."
Eryigos cast her a look of amusement. "Do they even know what you've done?" he asked. "They don't know whether or not you killed dragons, or even fought for Malygos in the Nexus War at all."
"I don't think it's very hard to guess," she said. "I have the scars to prove I was involved, you know, and it's fairly obvious that those scars are from dragon talons. Maybe there's something about the way I carry myself, too. Most other drakes will move back a bit or at least show a bit of submission to adult dragons or to wyrms. I don't."
"Does it bother you?" he asked.
"They're not wrong," she answered.
The sky was beginning to darken, although one could always see light just on the horizon from elsewhere in Hyjal. The fires never stopped, so it seemed. no matter how many they put out or how many cultists and elementals were put down. Eyrigos and Virigosa bid each other farewell, and Eyrigos went back to his tent for the night. Virigosa, having nowhere to go, decided to wander the streets of the village. The activity never seemed to slow; even as the sun set, people were running around from place to place with supplies. It was night elven territory, though, so perhaps that had something to do with it.
Few people payed Virigosa any attention, busy with their own tasks. Her vibrant scales stuck out like a sore thumb, but she had nothing to do and nowhere to go. She passed by the main building at the base of the world tree, and paused for a moment to marvel at the pool of water below. Suddenly, there was a soft voice hissing at her from the door, "Virigosa!"
She turned around, only to see a night elven woman standing at the door, adorned in a lovely druidic robe. "It's Nalasra," she said. "I'd like to talk to you. Could you come inside?"
Virigosa followed, and in her elven form, took a seat in a chair at a table. Nordrassil's main building had many rooms, and Nalasra locked this door behind her. "You have no assignment here now, do you?" the green wyrm asked. "Nothing from the Blue Dragonflight?"
"My only instructions from my flight are to assist here however possible," Virigosa answered.
"In that case," Nalasra continued, "I was wondering if you could help a few of my drakes secure this area for a special guest. We have somebody of vital importance arriving here at Hyjal within two days, and I feel your magical expertise will be vital to her protection. Would you be able to help us?"
"Of course," Virigosa answered. "I'd be glad to. Who is she?"
"If you could keep it quiet," Nalasra said, "It's Alexstrasza, the Dragonqueen. We fear that the Twilight's Hammer may make plans to threaten her should they know of her arrival. And as unfortunate as it is, we know that they have informants within our very ranks. We can't afford for them to find out because of simple carelessness."
"Of course, it would be my honor," Virigosa replied. "Whatever you need."