Sariona mourned Kasiona's death for a long time. The first few days, she would hardly leave her quarters except to eat, and would not even let Araxion talk to her. However, when the Twilight's Hammer started having need of her once more, she was forced to be more active and speak more often. The war didn't stop for anyone, and Sariona would have to play her part regardless of how she felt.
There was often some downtime at night, and after Araxion returned from his meeting with Eyrigos, he was eager to speak to Sariona. She was alone, brooding in a corner of the cave they shared. Araxion approached her carefully from the side, and she turned to face him.
"Sariona," he said excitedly. "Today I met with one of our informants, and he told me some information that I think you'll find quite interesting."
Sariona left her corner to walk the rest of the cave, spreading her wings. "I'm listening."
"He knows who killed Kasiona," Araxion explained. "He said that she's a blue drake named Virigosa. A veteran of the Nexus War."
Immediately, Sariona perked up, growling. "Virigosa? It's good to know the name- my thanks, Araxion," she spread out her wings, instantly taking on a more aggressive stance. "I swear, I'll find her. I'll hunt her to the edge of Azeroth if I have to, and when I find her, she'll wish she had never been born. She'll regret the day she decided to kill Kasiona."
Araxion twitched his tail, a bit uncomfortable. "Well, you know... He told me that Virigosa's a good fighter. Scary good. Kasiona's pretty talented, you know that, and apparently Virigosa just ripped her apart."
Sariona hissed, moving close to Araxion and glaring. "You've seen how good I am at fighting, Araxion. You think I can't handle a puny drake from a lesser flight?"
"No, no, of course, that's not what I was saying at all," Araxion was taken aback. "I just... I care about you, Sariona, I don't want you to get hurt."
Sariona turned her back to him, her tail lashing. "Well you don't have to," she spat. "Sometimes we can't always protect the ones we care about. Sometimes we can't always have the people we love."
After a moment of watching, Araxion realized that there was no point in reasoning with Sariona. He retreated to his own part of the cave, eventually setting aside his worries about Sariona's vengeance and falling into an uneasy sleep. He awoke the next morning as the first rays of dawn entered the cave and stumbled out of the cave, lining up with the rest of the drakes.
"We've got an assignment for you all; and because we're so nice, today, you get to volunteer for it. We're assaulting the Nordrassil base camp directly, mostly the outskirts, trying to thin their numbers for our infiltrators. Lots of drakes, lots of mortals, lots of opportunity for fun," the head cultist announced. "So, do we have any volunteers?"
There was a moment of hesitation; everybody knew how dangerous a mission like that could be. The major camps were heavily fortified, the Nordrassil camp the most fortified of them all. It would be particularly dangerous because it was an open attack rather than a stealth mission, meaning that the greens could try to pick off their forces from a distance.
There was silence for a while, and then, finally, a single drake stepped forward. A cold chill went through Araxion's body as he recognized her. "I'll go," Sariona said.
Araxion's response was awkward but almost instant. "I'll go too!" he blurted. The head cultist gave him a strange look, but wrote down both the names.
"So that's two volunteers, better than last time," the head cultist remarked, cackling. "Too bad for the rest of you who didn't volunteer; you're going anyways. We need as much firepower as possible. You leave immediately, let's get a move on."
The drakes were used to the routine, and they got with their combat partners very quickly. Araxion found his way to Sariona, who looked more than annoyed with him. "Why did you volunteer?" she hissed.
"Why did you?" he retorted.
She shook her head, looking down. "Kasiona," she answered. "Kasiona was sent to the Nordrassil base camp, right? So Virigosa has to be there. I'll find her, I swear, I'll kill her."
Araxion considered putting his wing around Sariona, but decided not to risk any more of her anger. "The informant told me that Virigosa was badly injured, that she probably won't be on the battlefield for some time," he noted.
Sariona growled, but it was with satisfaction instead of frustration. "Good, she'll be easy pickings then," she said.
Araxion and Sariona managed to find a position behind most of the twilight forces, meaning that they'd be safer and have more flexibility with their tactics. The trip to the Nordrassil base camp was fairly short, and the attack began promptly. The sky was a mess of shadowflame and acid, green and black and blue-violet scales. Araxion and Sariona flew far above the scene, Sariona scanning it for any sign of blue scales. Eyrigos, undoubtedly, had been informed of this attack in advance, ensuring he wouldn't be in danger.
"We can't just stay up here and not fight, we'll be punished," Araxion warned.
"Let's go for that wyrm off to the side," Sariona nodded and gestured her tail in the direction of the massive green dragon. "We can take her. And wyrms tend to be commanders, too; she might know where Virigosa is."
The two swooped around to behind, each taking a spot on either side of the wyrm. Sariona gave the signal, and in unison, the pair swooped down on either side of the wyrm. Sariona dug her claws deep into the wyrm's spine, just out of reach of her fangs and talons, while Araxion went underneath and sliced open the soft belly scales. The wyrm was thrown off balance, falling to the ground in an attempt to smash Araxion. Sariona took the opportunity, taking hold of the wyrm's throat. Araxion went to work on one of her wings, beginning to slice away at the membrane.
"Tell me your name, wyrm," Sariona snarled, her talons digging into the green's throat. They were far enough from the fighting for no drakes to have noticed yet.
"Nalasra," she coughed, swiping feebly with her table towards Araxion.
"Nalasra, o'mighty wyrm, what a pleasure to make your acquaintance," Sariona's voice was dripping with sarcasm. "Now listen, my friend and I have at least three red wyrms to our names. All my friend over there has to do is cut a little further, and you'll bleed out from that wing being torn off. We came here looking for one piece of information, and if you give it to us, we'll make this nice and easy. Understand?"
Nalasra tried to let out a roar, a call for help, but Sariona dug deep into her throat and began to drag her claws.
"We're looking for Virigosa," Sariona said. "Blue drake. Female. Tell me where she is, and it'll all be over."
"Virigosa?" Nalasra echoed.
"Are you deaf, wyrm?" Sariona spat, smacking the green with her tail.
"She's injured, she's not here," Nalasra answered, slowly. "The reds took her to Wyrmrest. No way you'll find her here."
Sariona lowered her face to meet Nalasra's, breathing out a torrent of shadowfire. "Tell me the truth!"
"I've told you all there is to tell," Nalasra was blind now, coughing.
Sariona turned back to Araxion, clearly displeased. "Kill her," Sariona commanded, detaching her own claws and biting into Nalasra's throat. Araxion finished ripping away at the wing membrane, turning his attention to the soft belly scales.
"You don't know what you're doing," Nalasra choked on her last words, but the blood was flowing too quickly, and she was not long for this world.
Araxion and Sariona ascended to the sky, Sariona almost content to leave Araxion behind. He had to hurry to catch up with her, and she spun around, furious. "You're useless," she spat.
Araxion moved back, out of reach of her claws. "Sariona, what's wrong with you?" he asked. "Are you alright, is anything wrong?"
She gave him a long look, silent. A pair of green dragons had snuck up on the pair, and Araxion spun around, engaging one in midair. They fell to the ground quickly, no matter for Araxion's experience and training. Sariona had done the same, absolutely bloodying her foe before letting the body drop to the ground. Araxion, alertly, looked around for more potential enemies.
"This is not the time to talk," Sariona said.
"Now, we fight," Araxion agreed.
Together, they swooped back into the battle, working together as always to bring down drakes and adult dragons alike.