If there was one thing Sariona had come to realize in the time since arriving in the Twilight Highlands, it was that life in the Bastion of Twilight was boring. On Mount Hyjal and on the flight back to the highlands, there was always that sense of danger, that chance for combat that Sariona hadn't realized until now that she loved. There was nothing physically stopping her from leaving and joining the fight- in fact, she had been told she had free roam of the Twilight Highlands- but reason held her back. She had been sent to the Bastion of Twilight for an important purpose. The Masters knew best, they were sure to have a purpose for her here.
That purpose was made apparent a week after her arrival.
Sariona had been granted quarters all her own, a small tiled room with a pile of blankets for sleeping on. Most dragons and mortals alike would've taken issue with such a space, but for a member of the Twilight Dragonflight, a room of their own was a luxury. Sariona quickly became used to her privacy, and so it was a surprise when a smaller, younger drake stuck his head behind the curtain and looked in.
"Sariona?" he squeaked.
Her head shot up, fixing him with an icy stare. "What is it?"
He is afraid of you.
"I-I just..." The drake was stumbling over his words. "The Nazjatar party has requested your presence in th-the furthest chamber of the far north corridor, third level, near the ascendant research rooms..."
Sariona felt a chill sweep across her scales and through her body. She ignored it, forcing herself to her feet and offering the other drake a nod. "I will be there," she said.
The place that the younger drake had specified was not very far away from Sariona's quarters. Like many other parts of the Bastion of Twilight, this room had crumbling walls and the door was missing, allowing Sariona to slip through easily. The room was mostly bare of items, most of them likely having been repurposed long ago for the Twilight's Hammer's needs. In the center of the room was a group of three naga sorceresses, and an unfamiliar black drake who was hovering in the air.
As Sariona approached, the three naga bowed. The twilight drake hesitated, stopping in her tracks and glancing behind her to see if anyone else had come. By the time she turned her head back around, the naga had already risen back up, and the one in front was gesturing her closer. The black drake seemed to be bored with the proceedings, her eyes fixed on the naga rather than watching the twilight drake approach.
"Lady Sariona, it's an honor," the sorceress in the center said.
Sariona offered a small bow herself, then shook her head. "The honor is mine," she said. "No need to refer to me as 'lady'."
"It is an order from our mistress, exalted be her name," another sorceress said. "She has styled you Lady Sariona, and so thus shall we refer to you."
Azshara is a worthy servant. She will make you strong.
"I have heard many things about your mistress," Sariona said. "Assuming she is who I believe she is."
"The honored Queen Azshara of the Naga, Empress of Nazjatar and rightful Empress of Kalimdor, Light of Lights," the naga said. The black drake was glaring at the sorceress, flicking her tail with annoyance.
The naga put great value in silly titles. But they are useful enough.
"It is my honor to serve her, then," Sariona said.
"In more important news," the black drake cut in. "Sariona, you're here to begin the first step of your journey to Nazjatar. Some preparation is required before you're presented to Queen Azshara."
"Yes," the third sorceress added. "Our Queen wishes for you to learn magic, and so we will teach you the basics. When you arrive in Nazjatar, she will tutor you personally. Until then, however, in order to survive underwater, alterations will have to be made to your body. That's going to be one of our main responsibilities."
"And you will need to learn how to use a humanoid form. That's why I'm here," the black drake said. "You'll be learning how to shapeshift into a naga."
That was a surprise. Sariona contemplated what she had been told. Learning magic, being tutored by Queen Azshara... it all sounded very exciting. But what could Azshara possibly want with her? Araxion made sense, with his pedigree. Sariona was a bronzeborn twilight of uninteresting parentage, who had never cast a spell in her life.
By becoming twilight, you have risen above the imperfections of your ancestors.
Yes, yes... that much was true.
"It's an honor," Sariona said. "I look forward to it."
"Let's get started then, shall we?" the black drake said.
"Kerelion, we have something we think you might find interesting," the cultist said.
The black wyrm was in his humanoid form, sitting behind a desk. His gaze rose from the papers scattered across his desk, and he addressed the messenger. "Yes?"
"Our recruiters in Stormwind were recently approached by an individual claiming to be a half-green, half-blue drake," the cultist said. "He's a disgruntled outcast, rejected by his flights, and has pledged himself to our cause. Sintharia believes that you may find use for him."
That did pique Kerelion's interest. A number of dragons from other flights had joined the forces of twilight, far more and in more positions of power than the Wyrmrest Accord would like to believe, but dragons of mixed-flight heritage were extraordinarily rare. While Nefarian had produced such dragons, not even he had ever managed to track down one that was born to willing parents.
"For the chromatic project?" Kerelion guessed. "Studying a stable hybrid might be useful for our research."
"If you want," the cultist shrugged. "Sintharia is letting you decide what to do with him. He claims to have knowledge of blue dragon experiments- he mentioned Eszragos- and I think that's what she had in mind."
"That research is our top priority right now," Kerelion confirmed. "Send him in."
It was when they started talking about dissecting him that he knew he was in trouble.
Next time the mistress wanted information from the Black Dragonflight, he would have to remind her to send a dragon that wasn't mixed-flight. When the cultists started talking about the... creative experiments they could do to him, that was when he started coming up with bullshit to feed them. And it seemed to have worked. In fact, it seemed to have worked too well, because now they were taking him to meet the next Nefarian. Or something like that. A part of him didn't want to know the details.
It wasn't that hard, really. Just spew a bunch of mage babble, and drop names like Balacgos and Eszragos, and an unassuming hybrid drake could fool the Black Dragonflight into thinking he's some kind of genius. Maybe the Lady consider that valuable intelligence. Sending him into the Bastion of Twilight with only a vague plan and a questionable means of escape... Titans, he should've flayed her for even suggesting it.
But no. Here he was, betting his life on this "Kerelion" believing his story.
The cultists shuffled him in through the door and left him standing before a desk. The room was a mess, with papers littering the floor and scattered across the desk. He would have to sneak a look when he got a chance. Behind the desk, staring at him through narrow eyes, could be none other than Kerelion. The black wyrm was in his humanoid form, dressed as one would expect of the Black Dragonflight.
The mixed-flight drake threw his body into a deep bow, and began putting on the act. "Sir! Lord! Sir! It's my honor to serve you, honored Lord Kerelion, sir."
The black dragon snickered, and leaned across the table to get a better look. "Rise. There's no need for such formalities. What's your name, drake?"
"T-T-Tealgos, sir." Next time the Lady sent him on a mission, he would most certainly not be letting her pick his alias.
"Your parents certainly had a sense of humor, didn't they?"
The mixed-flight drake nodded enthusiastically. "They were fools, sir. That's part of why I was born."
"I see that," Kerelion paused for a moment to shake his head and take down a few notes. "I've been told you're familiar with experiments performed by the wyrm Eszragos."
"Yes, Lord Kerelion sir, that's correct," He paused for a moment, and decided he was feeling lucky. "My auntie was one of his mistresses."
"You're serious."
"That's what my mother told me, sir. Eszragos is notorious among the Blue Dragonflight for his promiscuity."
The black wyrm leaned back, shook his head, and took a few moments to collect himself. "But what about his experiments? What do you know about his experiments?"
"To be honest, sir, mostly rumors," Best downplay his credibility to cover his ass. "But very reliable rumors. And the basics. He was given eggs from various lines, and used the Nexus and specialized spell foci to create some of the most powerful drakes the Blue Dragonflight has seen."
"Yes, that's correct," Kerelion said. "And what happened to his research during the Nexus War?"
Kerelion was testing him, he had to be. Just don't say anything that's plain wrong. "Well, Eszragos fell early in the war, during one of the first battles. Malygos took his research and tried to empower more whelps using his method, but was foiled by the Red Dragonflight. As for the drakes that Eszragos empowered, they made up the bulk of the Blue Dragonflight's special forces."
Kerelion nodded, slowly. "I know this. Tell me more."
"Well, in the Nexus War, most of them died," This much he didn't have to make up. "But the survivors were wildly successful. Many of them are war heroes. Mensagosa, for example, despite being only a drake, is very well-respected and politically powerful within the Blue Dragonflight."
"We've been monitoring the Blue Dragonflight's Aspect selection process, and some of Kalecgos's supporters have been calling her 'Arygos's attack dog'," Kerelion noted.
"Well, yes," he admitted. "She's a very strong supporter of his. And very strong. And very powerful. And very scary. Very, very scary."
"I suppose I'll get right to what we want," Kerelion said. "For one of our high-value projects, we've been looking to capture a live drake who was involved in Eszragos's experiments. We've been trying to find a suitable subject."
"Not me, sir. I was not involved in his experiments, sir. Please don't dissect me, Lord Kerelion sir."
"Not for this project," Kerelion said. "What do you know about where I can find one?"
"Most of them are within Coldarra, sir, as the Blue Dragonflight seeks to select a new Aspect. Most of them are strong supporters of Arygos, sir," He was still feeling lucky, and so the mixed-flight dragon ventured to add, "You'd have to ask him." Why didn't they? He knew, and Kerelion had to know that Arygos was working for Deathwing.
"I suspected as much," Kerelion said. He stepped out of his chair and began to walk around the mixed-flight drake, perhaps inspecting him. "But I believe you can be of use to us regardless. One of Eszragos's drakes is working with the Red Dragonflight in the Wetlands. Her name is Virigosa."
"Oh- sir, no, you're not going to pit me against another drake, are you sir?" he pleaded. "I don't fight, I'm more of a... science-and-magic type of dragon."
"You won't be fighting," Kerelion promised. "You're going to be our bait. I'll tell you more once we've settled on the details. What do you know about the spell foci Eszragos used?"
Kerelion and the mixed-flight drake spent another half an hour together in the office before Kerelion finally let him go. He was escorted back to his quarters by the cultists, and dropped back into his pile of blankets, relieved. Kerelion's plan could be his way out of the Bastion of Twilight. He felt so lucky, he would've gone to Dalaran and entered the lottery, if not for the fact that he at least a mile underground in the enemy's base.
He would have to send the Lady a message through the Emerald Dream about what had happened. No matter what, there was no way he was ever going to be doing something like this again.