The move to Nordrassil was swift, swifter and more sudden than Araxion could've imagined. Within a matter of days, he and Sariona were moved through Blackrock Caverns to Mount Hyjal with a group of other twilight drakes, every one older than they were. They settled into a camp at Mount Hyjal swiftly and without difficulty; while the Twilight cultists were trained at specialized camps on Hyjal itself, the drakes were already combat-ready on arrival. Acclimation to their surroundings came quickly and easily.

Sariona swiftly befriended many of the other drakes in the camp, while Araxion preferred to keep to himself. Sariona made an especially close friend in another twilight dragoness by the name of Kasiona, and Araxion found that Sariona sometimes left him alone in favor of spending time with her new friend. He couldn't fathom how they managed to fill all that time, but it really did not bother him much. Sariona was a good friend, and she still spoke to him frequently. Besides, everyone was allowed to have other friends, after all.

But as time passed and the drakes became familiar with the landscape of Mount Hyjal, the easy days ended and they had to work. A few drakes, mostly the stupidest of them, were assigned to the Twilight's Hammer as mounts for the cultists. The rest were sent on their first real task: a village that served as a stronghold for a group of night elves was standing in the way of the Twilight's Hammer. It needed to be destroyed, and the most effective method of destruction was, of course, dragonfire. At news of the assignment, the camp buzzed with an excited nervousness, some eagerly anticipating the conflict, others dreading it.

The village was situated in a narrow pass, a strategic location that blocked the cultists' passage. The dragons arrived on one side of the pass shortly after nightfall, joined by a few elemental summoners. Sariona once again joined Araxion in preparation for combat. There was an anxious murmur throughout the group of dragons, and the time before the attack seemed to stretch on forever.

"Are you nervous?" Araxion asked, turning to Sariona.

"Hardly," she answered. "You?"

He was dismissive, flicking his tail and turning to face the village. "This is what we were born to do."

The order to attack came from the cultist in charge of the operation. He watched from the sky, mounted upon one of the drakes, before descending to issue the orders. "The moment is now- it's time."

The flock of drakes descended upon the village within minutes, blotting out the stars with their wings and filling the sky with dark, unnatural smoke. The kaldorei defenders had known of the drakes' coming, from the long watcher in the sky, but they had not anticipated the numbers. There was no need for the drakes to target individuals; the fire and the elementals did that job for them. The battle was swift, and the wood gave off a peculiar scent as it burned in the dragons' wake.

The battle, however, was not without casualties. It was not a pyrrhic victory by any stretch of the imagination, but a few dragons had arrows through their wings. One had a bolt of ice caught in their shoulder, the lone attack that the village mage had managed to land. Their mission was undeniably successful, and back at the camp, they celebrated with a fresh shipment of rations. In the midst of the festivities, Araxion sought out Sariona. He found her joking and playing with Kasiona, away from the rest of the drakes.

"A pleasure for you to join us," Sariona commented.

"I didn't know where you were, I was searching for you," Araxion said. "You look like you're having a grand old time over here. Are you just trying to avoid me or something?"

"You wish," she replied.

"Na-ah," he said, defensive. "I was just teasing you."

"Sure you were," she said. "Come on, Araxion, I know you."

Kasiona was a beautiful young drake, well put-together and graceful in the area. She had come first from a blue egg, and it was obvious: the pattern on her wings was vibrant and natural-looking, an unusual feature among twilight drakes. Araxion found himself watching her at times, and he grew to admire her in a way. Somehow, he was envious of how easily she moved, how impressive she was as she moved. For a while, Araxion had a strange fascination with her.

After those first few easy missions, where the only combatants were mortals, the twilights' numbers slowly began to diminish. With success against the night elves, individual drakes or small groups were sent out to combat the Green Dragonflight where they dominated the area. It was those battles that were the most deadly, where any fall was almost certainly deadly and the most vulnerable parts of a dragon's body were exposed.

It was these missions where Araxion and Sariona's abilities truly shined. They were smaller than most of their comarades, but their natural talent was exceptional. It took a while to receive their first serious injuries: a nasty gash along Araxion's chest, and a sizable chunk taken out of Sariona's wing. With the help of the cultists, it healed quickly, but each wound would leave a scar. The battles would forever mark them.

While Araxion and Sariona waited in the camp for the wounds to heal, Kasiona was concerned. She had her own missions, sure, but when she had time, she'd stop by and ask the two drakes what they needed. She was helpful, and a pleasure to talk to.

"I swear, you're always here, Kasiona," Araxion remarked.

Kasiona chortled, turning to Sariona. "Sometimes I wonder what you see in him," She said.

Sariona shook her head. "Sometimes I do too."

Araxion signed. "Sometimes I don't get either of you."

Kasiona was soon assigned to a secretive mission along with two other drakes, and they were scheduled to be gone for a couple of days. During that time, Araxion and Sariona once again took to the skies, and were sent back to the front as soon as possible. Their days were not pleasant, but they both fared better than most of the other drakes. Every day, their numbers dwindled ever more, and almost every drake had lost a friend. Some slowly fell further and further into fear; many began seeing death as the rule rather than the exception, and the question was more of who would die next rather than whether someone would die.

Eventually, Araxion was called in alone to the command tent, from which the entire camp received their orders. A cultist in the tent sat at the table, papers spread across his desk, as Araxion carefully fit himself inside. The curtain was closed behind them, and the cultist leafed through a few papers. Finally, he pulled a paper out and laid it flat on the table. The drake leaned forward to look at it, but he could not understand anything; none of the twilight drakes had been taught to read.

"You've been selected for a special mission, I suppose you could say," the cultist said. "I'm sure you're aware of the fact that we have spies everywhere. We have data on everywhere our enemies are, everything they're doing, yes?"

"Yes," Araxion answered.

"We have an informant of particular importance to our operation," he continued. "A blue dragon, he's been on Nordrassil gathering information for us. He's going to be bringing reports to us that contain invaluable information. But he can't go far from the camp, and that's where you come in. We need you to meet with him, get the information, and come back. Simple. Do you think you can handle it?" The question was more sarcastic than anything.

Araxion hesitated for a moment, unsure of whether to reply in kind or answer seriously. "I assure you, there should be no problem," he promised.

"Good," the cultist replied. "You're dismissed."

Araxion exited the tent and made his way over to the flimsy wooden structure that he and Sariona shared as a sleeping area. She looked up to watch him approach, and he laid down beside her to talk. "It's been a long day," he said.

"No fighting though, at least," she said, with a yawn. "You know, it's strange. We used to have so much time to talk, to play. Now it's all business, all day. It's so... Stressful. Depressing. Esteria almost made it sound like it was going to be fun."

"You handle it so well, though," Araxion replied. "I don't know how you do it."

"I suppose I do," she said. "It's crazy to see how so many of the others just... crumble under the pressure. They're so afraid, so nervous. And I mean, you can die out here, but they just let the fear consume them. When you're afraid like that, you make mistakes. And when you make mistakes, that's when things go wrong."

"It's strange," he said, "But I guess fighting just does that to people. It just seems so... counterproductive."

"Life is strange," Sariona said.

Araxion crept out of the shade and laid down, spreading out his wings to bask in the sunlight before it faded away. Sariona remained inside, trying to take advantage of whatever chance she had to rest. It was odd, resting in the middle of what they knew was a warzone, but they were offered no choice in the matter. And in fact, everywhere they'd ever slept had been in the middle of a warzone, Araxion realized.

Eventually, he heard the sound of a dragon approaching, and he glanced up. It was a drake that was relatively new to the camp, having come from elsewhere in Hyjal. "Is Sariona here?" He asked.

She lifted up her head inside, while Araxion rolled over and stood up to face the newcomer. "Yes, she is," he answered. "What do you need?"

The newcomer moved closer to the wooden structure, while Soriona moved to the entrance. "Kasiona is dead," he said.

Soriona moved back in surprise, before relaxing herself and moving forward to converse with the other drake. "No, she's not," she answered. "She's on a mission somewhere else in Hyjal."

"I was too," the other drake said. "She's dead. I saw it myself. Just... torn apart. She was hardly recognizable, there was nothing to bring back."

Soriona did not answer, but Araxion looked at the newcomer with horror. "What happened?"

"We were in hiding, invisible. We had a charm from some mage that went twilight, you know," he explained. "And this other drake comes along, sees right through it... she was done, just absolutely ripped apart. I'd never seen anything like it."

There was a moment of silence, then some strange, unfamiliar sound from within the wooden structure. Sariona's silhouette vanished from the entrance, while the two other drakes looked on in surprise. The newcomer backed away slowly, calling, "I just... I just though you should know, since you were were so close..."

"Go," Sariona's voice was strange, distant. "Just go."

The newcomer was happy to oblige, taking to the sky as quickly as he could. Araxion crept inside, seeing Sariona's dark shape huddled in a corner. "Sariona... Sariona, are you okay?" There was no answer.

Slowly, Araxion crept closer and draped one of his wings over her. "It's fine, Sariona, it's going to be fine..."