Chapter 4:
I have met many strange yet remarkable people since I had turned away from Arthas.
One of the most important encounters for me was hearing Alexstrasza, head of the red dragon flight granted me.
My motives were my own, yet not too complicated to see through. Inside the little bag that was still tied to my belt so very tightly there was a red scale that I suppose belonged to one of her flight. I'm left to assume Keira once wanted to give this to me as a gift, as a lucky charm for the priest leaving behind all superstition about dragons.
She often told me of the flights of various colors, I remember this part of my life vividly again, every story up to every single word of importance. The things she tried to teach me and how Corren often could only shake his head towards our enthusiasm for things he would simply deny.
A scale from a sibling of the binderin of life herself... What a terrific present for an aspiring priest, who was hope of manipulating the fate of the wounded and dead by himself sooner or later.
But now I didn't need it anymore.
Inside the little bag it lay next to the claw and tooth, mocking me every time I opened it to have a look at them, to have a look at my past.
And I cursed it.
I cursed Alexstrasza and every single red dragon still living in this world.
The scale didn't help in the slightest. Nobody helped Keira ... nobody at all.
I can't recall what drove me so I didn't just destroy it or throw it away to be found by next best unlucky fool, but instead I wanted to give it back, to return it.
The way to the Wyrmrest Temple was long and straining. I had to pass through Dragonblight from the northern most point to the frozen planes far south.
It was a rather troublesome journey, though not physically or because of any resident creatures, minions of the Lich King perhaps, but because of the ghosts of my very own past that started haunting me every time when I was alone.
When everything was quiet...
When I had the time to think...
As soon as I had left Crystalsong Forest, the first memories came invading my mind; at first only from the time with Keira and Corren, yet later quickly followed by various episodes of Darnys and Calystea.
I plunged myself back into a dark well of wary sadness. It didn't take too long for my thoughts to settle again though. Yet, the sorrow that I feel in such a moment only turns to wrath. A kind of feral rage that will burst out on the closest target I can find – unfortunate being.
Not too long ago, while I was staying in Orgrimmar over the night, this almost cost the life of an orc, and me the right to enter the city of Thrall. I'm sure the Warchief talked to Sylvanas about this matter, concerning me as her personal servant and not his, but nothing ever came back to me. Sylvanas is smart enough to realize and accept on her own that it would probably be easier to kill me instead of trying to punish me. But at that moment disposing of me wouldn't be such a good idea and she knows that.
They needed me just as much as I needed them. At least that was what I wanted to believe.
Besides... why should the Banshee Queen care about the life of one meaningless orcish slob?
With all these things on my mind again I started to become afraid of what might happen at the top the spire I was travelling to. Alexstrasza could easily say something that would provoke me and cause the frenzy to break loose.
But the anger I felt was already diminishing again, making room for more clear thoughts by the minute. Yet still trying to kill the head of a dragon flight in the middle of broad day and inside the sacred halls of the Wyrmrest Temple could turn quite troublesome.
On the other hand, I can't say I really cared at that moment.
Everything in my head was a mess as I rode on through the light snowfall of the frozen wastes.
Coming from the Stormpeaks, a large road lead the way to the temple. At various points the stone was broken and giant pieces were found missing so one could not follow it the whole way. Nevertheless it still eased travelling through Dragonblight a lot.
Abigore rode as fast as the wind on the smooth surface, even jumping a few of chasms.
He made it feel as if we were flying, the cold air caressing my face.
Even my rotten skin could feel the chill of Northrend if I so desired.
Steadily the Wyrmrest Temple drew nearer and grew taller in its appearance. Those titans really knew how to build impressing cities, keeps, temples or whatever that building had originally been intended for.
But the frail peace of the moment was shattered quickly enough as the signs of the waging war between the aspects showed themselves early on. Dragons of the red and blue flights were fighting each other alongside the temple, devouring their opponents with magical flames of bright colors as they turned around the spire in circles. Others lunged out at their opponents plunging themselves into close combat and with all their strength they tried to bite into the throat of the enemy or disembowel them with the help of their sharp claws.
It was strange to see a humble and restraint creature like a living dragon fighting just like the wild animals that we all are deep inside, fuelled by rage and fear.
The mangled bodies of the losers from the different struggles dropped towards the ground, though most of them didn't even come close to the pure white snow around Wyrmrest. The red dragons burst into flames as soon as they die and the blue ones vanished into thin air with a mild explosion of arcane energy. They all returned back to the essence of their siblings.
I couldn't help but wonder how Alexstrasza, binderin of life, felt about seeing her beloved children die like this, fighting the spawn of a former companion.
At the foot of the old titan facility I dismissed Abigore to the realm of shadows and entered the ground floor. The merchants I found there were of all kind of races, although you can never be sure if they weren't all just dragons in disguise so that one felt more comfortable with them around. The only person in the room, except for me myself where I was sure she was definitely not a dragon was the undead vendor in the southeast. No dragon, no matter how much consumed by madness, would ever take the form of an undead. At least that's the impression I had gained over the time of those giant lizards or maybe it had been forbidden by the Lifebinder.
As I had expected they all turned out to be well informed. It didn't take long until a tall bloodelf came straight up to me with an overly friendly greeting as he led me to the west side of the temple. He already knew where I wanted to go and Alexstrasza seemed to be daring enough to take the risk of having me inside the top chambers.
A rather small red dragon landed next to the temple and the bloodelf told me that I could get on its back to travel up the spire.
I didn't worry too much about the probability of this being a trap... These dragons were all far too honest for setting up something up like that.
As we flew upwards the little one had his problems carrying with me in a full set of armor one his back. Even though the Saronitesteel is rather light, it still has a certain weight to it. But I can't say I really noticed it at the time. I took my chance to watch the dragons fighting for a little longer instead. It seemed the blue dragons were the stronger ones, yet they were always outnumbered by the red drakes.
One of the larger blue ones bit the head of his opponent clean off with a single swipe.
Still if I had to take a wild guess, I would have said the reason for the red flight's lack of strength were their self-imposed shackles of being the 'good guys' in this fight. This may have been noble, yet their foolishness will ultimately lead to their defeat. They always tried to just beat the blue dragons into submission and not kill them. The children of Malygos on the other hand didn't put the life of their enemy above their own. They were relentless and rightfully so.
From the moment I first set foot onto the highest level of the temple, I felt the presence of Alexstrasza looming over me. To my surprise there was nothing pressing about it at all, quite the contrary indeed... it felt soothing.
The young red dragon that had brought me up to this level seemed happy enough that he wouldn't have to carry me for a second time and took off back to the lower areas.
This sacred spire of the temple was a disappointingly small room with a bright blue orb shining forth from in its very center. I couldn't tell what that device was for, but actually I didn't care about it too much either. The chamber had no real walls, only columns substituted for them and formed a circular room with a clear view all around.
Standing close to the orb I found the council of the various dragon flights. All of them currently in their humanoid forms, I saw two bloodelves, one human and a little gnome additionally to Alexstrasza who stood out of the council.
She was in her typical high elven form. However, whilst the other members of the council tried to look like a real member of the race they had chosen to blend into, Alexstrasza seemed a bit more extravagant.
The clothes she was wearing weren't as uptight as anything the other council members were wearing leaving much of her smooth skin unveiled. On the other hand, there was no need to hide this body of hers, although it may have only been a guise for her dragonly features.
She had a beautiful, lush body, not as unnaturally scrawny as you might expect from an elf. Her hair was of a fiery red color. But still, the slightly pink tone of her skin gave her an awkward appearance. The two horns on the side of her head and her bright ember eyes distorted her looks even further.
As she spoke, her words were calm. The voice she used clear and rather light, a typical elven one in my opinion, yet there was something special about it. It soothed my anger and restlessness. At least it took the problem of accidentally attacking her away. Something about it made me feel a strange warmth inside me. It was as if her words were travelling directly to my heart, as if they were trying to give me a feeling of safety.
Oh, I did feel safe... a lot too safe when facing a dragon.
The iciness of my voice and heart drove the warmth of Alexstrasza's spell away instantly.
"What brings you here, Death knight? What is it that you seek?" She asked me, her ember eyes fixed upon me as my hand reached for the bag hanging from my belt and I took a few steps towards her.
"I want to return something..." I said without any emotion.
As I passed the blood elf who was completely dressed in leaf-green robes, he hectically jumped to the side, trying to bring a few more feet in between us.
They all feared the cursed metal that my armor was made of. Saronite ore is drenched with the blood of the old god Yogg-Saron. Some people even say it was the crystalline form of his pure lifeblood.
Most people who wore such suits of armor or wielded weapons forged from Saronite quickly became insane, falling for all kinds of delusions. They all said that they heard whispers of various kinds - promises, threats or even just mad uttering every now and then.
But I have my own ghosts whispering to me. I just didn't listen to the other ones.
"And please..." I continue as I was still on my way closer "...don't ask your silly little questions. I'm not in the mood for your games and you surely already know why I came here." I didn't have a reason for why I should treat her with more respect than anybody else.
The little gnome at her side looked at me with a wink. Something was familiar about her, although I couldn't tell what. Later on I found out her name was Chromie, although this didn't change anything about the situation.
Alexstrasza tilted her head sideways in anticipation as I had almost reached her.
"Are you sure you want to return something and not just run away from your past?" Her voice still was offering the warmth of the life-binderin, but again I refused to accept it.
"Stop fooling around and just take it!" By the time I said these words I had untied the bag and already held it in my right hand stretched out towards the dragon aspect.
"Do you seek forgiveness for what you have done? Or is it retribution?" She had the tone of a high elf by then. There was something about her that I didn't like from the first moment on I had seen her. I just couldn't stand it... this arrogance.
She calls herself the binderin of life. She claims to hold the power of creation... and therefore she has the right to stand out?
The way she talks, every single word she speaks gives you the impression she cares about you, no matter who you are or what you have done. But... when I looked at her, everything fiber in me rejected these feelings. I saw nothing but another arrogant elf, perhaps dragon, trying to be someone special.
Our eyes met as both of us had fallen silent for different reasons.
If the stories I had heard about her were true then she had suffered a lot in the past, and still I started asking myself 'why'. If she knew pain like that..., if she knew pain just like I did..., why did she still send her children into battle against 'the Blue' with these constraints shouting out pure lunacy? How could she just send her children into certain death instead of fighting herself? All around us, even it that single moment red dragons died to the claws and teeth of Malygos' offspring as we were looking at each other.
I was sure that she could easily read my mind as long as we looked into each other's eyes. And as I felt how the wrath fueled by sorrow started rising again, I wanted her to experience the same. Maybe she would see me as the mirror she was lacking. But my own impatience quickly got the better of me.
"What do you want from me? Why are you asking questions like this?" It finally burst out of me after the long period of silence.
The other members of the council looked at me for a short moment.
She didn't hesitate to answer still she gave me a few extra seconds before she spoke. It was as if she wanted me to alter the things I had said. As if she was giving me a second chance for something I didn't want.
"You are asking the wrong person the wrong things, death knight. The really important question would be rather what do you want from me?"
The only thing I could imagine at the time was her mocking me.
"Just take that damned scale of your kin! It was useless! Just a piece of trash!" I yelled out at her while throwing the bag to her feet.
Opened already, everything that had been in it was now scattered happily over the floor. The sharp claw glided over the smooth stone to the edge of the platform almost falling off.
The red scale stopped directly in front of Alexstrasza as well as the ring I was carrying in the bag along. From distinguished eyes she looked down at the two items resting in front of her.
With a slow but fluent movement she picked up ring first. As it bore the signet of the Kirin Tor she turned it around in her hand giving it a closer more interested look.
"Give that to me!" I immediately demanded from her, taking another step towards her with a stretched out open hand.
"I thought you wanted me to take these things?" She asked, clearly trying to push me a bit further.
"Not that! Just the scale of yours!" I hate it when somebody starts arguing with you in such a way.
"Scale? You mean this little scrap of one?" She pointed at the red shining piece of dragon skin on the floor and almost laughed out loud. I didn't bother to respond, she already knew the answer after all. "If that is supposed to be a whole scale, it wouldn't even be big enough to belong to any of my smallest children." She slightly shook her head. "Besides, I still know well who I had given this to. And I also remember why. That woman was also the one, who once wore this ring. Do I stand correct?"
I silently looked at her from cold blue eyes. Not a single emotion was visible on my face and still I felt as if Alexstrasza was able to read me without any problems.
"She was a beautiful and aspiring young woman. A bit hot-headed perhaps, yet with a big heart. She wanted this piece of my scale as a present for one of her dearest friends. To show him the right way and guide him through the uncertainties this world holds in store for all of us. Sadly, I see, it was too late." Her last sentence almost sounded a bit sad. "Most humans would pointlessly take many lives for only meeting me once, for being able to pose a single question. And all she wanted was a scrap of an old scale of mine as a gift for somebody else. I could sense how she missed you and the old days you had spent together at that time, but she lived in the present and for the future, not for the past... You should learn that too."
The tall bloodelf next to Alexstrasza picked up the little bag as well as the red scale. He then took the ring out of Alexstrasza's hand and put everything into the bag again before he came towards me.
"You should honour the dead with living your own life, with pursuing your own path for a better future. Living with the ghosts of your past won't turn you into a hero or whatever it is that you want to become. Put the past to rest and let her live on in your heart." She makes a short pause, "Don't be so foolish to disgrace her and the sacrifice she made with hatred."
I remained silent as I took the bag from the bloodelf.
"I feel pain and sorrow to see a once so pure soul as yours now in a tormented state like this, death knight. Tainted by the shadow, ripped from its old vessel and forced into a new." What nonsense she was talking that moment I said to myself full of blissful ignorance. But it was only one of many countless thoughts and emotions fighting for the right to prevail. I cannot really describe what was going through my head in that particular moment.
"I see everything you have gone through. How you had to suffer and I must tell you: Be careful. Don't fall to make the same mistakes so many have already made before you. The path you wish to travel is crooked and lies rightfully forgotten by the light." Her voice grew thinner with every word she spoke until the eventually faded into nothing.
After a few minutes of complete silence I turned around, led by an invisible hand. The tall bloodelf who had handed me the little bag again orders one of the smaller dragons to take me down to the lower areas.
Before leaving the spire I could see from the corner of my eye how the little gnome shook her head with a sigh as she looked over to Alexstrasza.
On the way down I had to chance to watch the on-going fights between the red and blue flight, just like on the way upwards, except this time my mind was completely empty. Not a single thought came up to cause any unrest in my head.
After having set foot onto solid earth again I blindly took a few steps away from the Wyrmrest Temple before summoning Abigore.
Shadow's Edge shined in a bright, intense violet from the vast shadow energy pouring out of the weapon as my deathcharger came into this realm. It was the sight of the blade which slowly brought me back to reality. I then started to comprehend what had happened just minutes ago. I could even still feel the warmth in my heart that Alexstrasza had left behind for me to feed upon.
It took only mere seconds for my anger to vanquish this feeling.
Those treacherous lizards!
She had tricked me!
The moment I opened up for only a few seconds she cast her spell on me. I had let my guard down for only the shortest of moments and she used it for her own ends!
You could not trust the red dragon flight. That was the only thing I had really learned that day.
Looking at the bag in my right hand before I tied it back to my belt, it all collapsed onto me.
This whole idea of meeting Alexstrasza was bent on turning out a failure.
How could I have been this naive?
I screamed out loud in my frustration once or twice. Every living creature near me should now have been alarmed not to cross my path. And should they still be so foolish and only blink...I would want to kill whatever it was without restraint.
"Honour the dead by living my life?" I whispered to myself as I get onto Abigore's back to ride off.
"What life should there be left? I have already died twice."