And when the night is cold and dark
You can see, you can see light
Cause no one can take away your right
To fight and to never surrender
~Never Surrender-Corey Hart~
A little gnome appeared at the Tower a few days later. She had pale golden hair braided and wrapped in two buns on the side of her head, large green eyes and a friendly smile. She was dressed in a simple green robe.
"Chromie!" cried Khadgar when he saw her. "It is good to see you again!"
The gnome bowed and giggled. "And again and again!"
Khadgar laughed. "I would like you to meet Cordana, she was assigned by the Enclave to look after me. Now, we look after each other. Cordana, this is Chronormu, otherwise known as Chromie of the Bronze Dragonflight."
Cordana bowed. Chromie looked up at her with a big smile. "My, you are a beautiful one!"
The warden smiled self consciously. "I am pleased to meet you. Thank you for coming to our aid."
"Oh, think nothing of it!" chirped Chromie. "I'm a temporal investigator. When timelines are all messed up, I check it out and clean it up, if I can. I think I told you that last time didn't I? Wait...we have met before or haven't we Cordana? Oh dear I play in the timestreams so much I just can't remember! So forgive me if I seem to repeat myself, or forget to tell you something!"
The little gnome was unlike any of the dragons she had met before. Chromie was lively and friendly and alert, showing none of the solemn quietness of the others.
"I hope you don't find my humanoid form offensive in any way. I know Nozdormu is a Kaldorei, and Kalecgos is a human, no one chose a gnome and it seemed to suit me perfectly! However, if you prefer..."
She transmogrified to her natural form, a large bronze dragon with the same alert green eyes. Her voice was deeper and the inflections more resonant, but the friendliness was still there. She lowered her head to Cordana's eye level and blinked. The Warden lay a hand on the side of the draconic face and the creature smiled.
"Gentle Kaldorei," she said. "The Archmage was right in choosing you for his Prime Consort. It is fun to see you together. You compliment one another very well if I do say so myself!"
"Chromie," said Khadgar. "You may assume your humanoid form if you wish. I assure you it is not offensive to either of us. Just be comfortable, we have much to discuss."
Chromie shrank back down and followed them into the tower. They sat down in the library, enjoyed some mead and conjured snacks, then got down to business.
Khadgar detailed what he had been doing up til then, talked about Jaaral and the garrison, and what his plans were regarding Gul'Dan. Chromie listened carefully.
"Hmm," she said. "So we are tracking Kairoz from the moment he set foot here in Draenor. We are all curious as to why he freed Garrosh and brought him through to this time. Kairozdormu was always discontent, affiliating himself with a faction of bronze dragons that believe they should change history to create a better future. The problem is that they lost the power to perceive the full impact these changes could have on the timeline. Kairoz believed in the motivations of the Infinite Dragonflight, but always had his own viewpoint and independent plans. It seems those plans have backfired on him."
"Do you feel he is dead, or simply hiding?" asked Khadgar.
Chromie sadly shook her head. "I felt his death some time ago, but saw no reason at that time to pursue what had happened. If his spirit still lingers here, we will find it!"
Cordana gave Khadgar a sidelong glance. "I am not in agreement with the Archmage's idea to siphon power from the spirit of Kairoz when we find him. What think you?"
Chromie shrugged. "Sometimes the end justifies the means. Kairoz chose his path, and if, in doing so, he is now required to make amends by giving of his energy then so be it! Everything must be in balance, always!"
Cordana nodded, but she was still uncomfortable with the situation. Not from a moral point of view, as explained by Chromie, but from another entirely. She worried that dabbling in such magic could sway Khadgar further onto a path she did not want him to take. There was little she could do about any of it at the present time. Hopefully there would be no need to delve further into it after Kairoz was found.
"Well, where shall we begin?" asked Khadgar. He pushed some stray hair out of Cordana's face, looking at her intently. He knew she was having reservations about the entire situation. Sensitive Kaldorei could not abide demons or anything that might resemble necromancy to them. He loved her even more for being willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. Light let me not fail her, he thought.
Chromie thought hard. "Let me examine the time line for a moment. He had to have left some trace behind to act as a starting point. Perhaps we should start with where he landed when he came here. Yes, I shall try and track that first."
They stepped outside to an open area. Cordana had never seen a dragon perform magic before. It was similar to Khadgar's glowing circles but the color was blue not violet. They both waited quietly while Chromie did what she had to do. When she was finished, she transmogrified to her natural form and lay low to the ground, head and neck stretched out.
"Climb on my back and we will be on our way!"
Cordana easily scaled the dragon's body, but Khadgar had a slightly more difficult time. He did not enjoy riding on creatures and she knew he was feeling a bit intimidated. She reached down and helped him to the top and he sat down behind her.
"Could I not simply follow in my raven form?" he asked uneasily.
"Unless your raven form can fly as swiftly as my wings, that would not be prudent," answered Chromie.
"Just hold onto to me, Archmage," said Cordana softly. "I know you do not like to ride. It will be fine, I promise."
Gratefully, he wrapped his arms around her waist, rather tightly.
Chromie launched into the air smoothly, which didn't seem to matter as Khadgar was squeezing the life out of Cordana.
"Khadgar, "she said. "Please grip more with your legs and less with your arms. I rather like my dusky skin and wouldn't like it to turn blue. Besides," she added, squirming slightly. "It is hurting me."
"I am so sorry, Cordana," he said and eased his grip on her, tightening up with his legs.
The dragon snaked her head around. "You know, Archmage, I would not let you fall, nor would I perform any acrobatics with the two of you on my back, so you do not need to dent my scales either!"
Cordana and Chromie both laughed, and Khadgar just rested his head against Cordana's back and hoped they would be done with the flying very soon.
It was, in actuality, a wonderful ride. Cordana enjoyed it very much, seeing Draenor from the air was a different experience for her. She was almost sad when Chromie gently touched down on the ground and they climbed down. The big dragon returned to her humanoid form.
"I believe it is here where his portal opened up," she said looking around. Excited, she suddenly ran forward. "Yes! I see the time anomalies. We must follow them!"
Cordana could not see anything at all, and she doubted that Khadgar could either but they followed the little gnome. She would stop and cast a circle every now and then, nodding and thinking out loud, then dash off again.
When she stopped the following time, Khadgar began to channel. A hazy figure of an orc appeared, ghostlike.
"Here! It looks like Garrosh came down this way alone after he first arrived on Draenor. But where was Kairoz?" asked Khadgar, puzzled.
Cordana wondered how he was able to create images of the past that way. Perhaps it was due to Chromie's magic that he could manifest them.
They walked on, the gnome leading the way. She stopped near a collection of boulders and cast her circle. Khadgar linked his channel to it, and the orc appeared again, but this time he was not quite the same.
"Look at Garrosh. His hands are bound. But he's alone. When did he and Kairoz part ways? Obviously there was some altercation between them here, but when and why?"
Suddenly a loud crashing erupted from behind them, and a massive ogre darted from the forest, club raised, yelling.
"An ogre! Hmmm... That ogre shouldn't be here. Something strange must've happened up on this ridge. The time anomalies are strong here!"
Cordana wasted no time. With her celerity she struck out at the charging monster, slicing the tendons behind its legs. It howled in pain and rage and fell with a loud thud. Khadgar finished it off with one powerful electrical attack. Nothing else came running at them but they waited just to be sure. No sense getting ambushed by ogres on their investigation.
They continued on, up an incline. Chromie stopped to examine the time anomalies and Khadgar followed it up with his spell. A blood elf male lay on the ground, obviously dead.
"Who is that?" asked Khadgar.
"That's Kairoz in disguise, in his humanoid form," answered Chromie. "Garrosh killed him! But where is the body?"
"We must be close!" said Khadgar looking around. "It is too bad my magic cannot point the way. Let's keep walking."
They climbed the incline further, then came to a ridge. Cordana had no trouble getting to the top, and both Chromie and Khadgar switched to their flying forms.
"Look!" cried Cordana.
A sun bleached skeleton lay on the ground. From the anatomical proportions it was obvious it was a blood elf male. He had been murdered while in his humanoid form.
"Is this him?" asked Khadgar.
"It is," responded Chromie sadly. "The final resting place of Kairozdormu."
"Betrayed by Garrosh the moment they arrived on Draenor."
Khadgar cast a circle. "This solves one riddle. The moment they arrived in Draenor, Garrosh killed his savior. He left the job unfinished. The dragon's spirit is still restless. I hope you're ready for a fight. He will not give up easily."
Cordana could see the traces of magical energy emanating from the bones. The spirit was indeed present and restless...and angry. The anger flowed from it, making Cordana shudder.
"That dead dragon's essence is seeped into the very fabric of this light-forsaken world," said Khadgar. "His spirit is also restless. If you and I are to claim what remains of his power Cordana, we're going to need to finish the job that Garrosh started. The three of us will destroy Kairoz once and for all."
"Sorry for all the times you're about to get killed," said Chromie. "If it's any consolation, you won't remember any of them."
Cordana stared at her. "What? Killed? No, I do not intend to die!"
Chromie giggled. "It's ok, Cordana. Everything is under control."
"No! You cannot say such a thing then mention control. What did you mean Chromie?"
Khadgar touched Cordana's face. "My dear, Chromie controls the timestream. If we should fall in battle against this spirit, she will be able to reset it. You will not remember, and it will not affect you. This is a reality of battling something that is still attached to multiple times. It, in itself, is an anomaly. Now, are you ready?"
Cordana didn't like any single part of what they were doing. Least of all the part about dying. She gripped her umbral crescent tightly and went into stealth, standing near Khadgar but far enough away that she was able to see around her. Chromie climbed up onto a boulder.
Khadgar began chanting. The language of magic awoke the arcane and the bones began to glow. Then slowly a figure materialized from it, taking form but never fully manifesting.
The spirit of Kairoz was enraged. It was reliving a moment before its death.
"You are Warchief no longer, Hellscream. You're free because I willed it. You live because I will it. You will join your father and rally the old orc clans because I will it!"
"An army? Kairoz! What did you want? Why did you want to raise an army?" shouted Khadgar.
The spirit turned to him, seeing him for the first time, torn from the memory, and that made him even angrier. Orbs of light shot from him, bouncing, creating columns that suddenly exploded, throwing them all back. Cordana threw the umbral crescent, hitting the orbs before they could land, sending them back up into the air where they fizzled and vanished.
"I did not want just one... an infinite number of armies, across an infinite number of worlds!"
Kairoz threw several fireballs, some hit Khadgar's wards and were deflected, some hit the ground and exploded. Cordana was able to move out of the way quickly enough. When the fireballs failed to do what he wished them to, Kairoz tried lightning. When that failed he summoned elementals. The ground shook, and a dozen rock elementals popped out of the ground. Cordana struck them down one by one but they were magical constructs and reanimated immediately.
"Khadgar!" she cried. "I cannot affect this with physical attacks. Let me round them up and you must destroy them with magic!"
She ran around them, pushing and shoving them together. They were unable to see her to react, and clumped together easily enough. They vibrated, planning to explode, but Khadgar rendered them ineffective with a blast of arcane energy. They quivered, and collapsed into gravelly bits.
"No!" yelled Kairoz. He burst forth an attack that froze them all in their tracks, paralyzing them, and followed it up with a terrible blast of dark energy that tore through their bodies like a blast from a sand cannon. Chromie was thrown from the boulder, Cordana was knocked off her feet and Khadgar fell backwards off the edge of the ledge.
"Khadgar!" screamed Cordana. When the paralysis dropped, she ran to where he had been, looking over the edge. Thankfully it was just a small one, and he sat there, dazed and looked up at her. She lay down and held her hand out. He took it and awkwardly pulled himself up with her help.
"Are you alright, Archmage?" she asked him, noticing the small cuts and abrasions on his face. He smiled and nodded, running back into the battle.
Chromie had engaged Kairoz, tormenting him with small magical projectiles. Khadgar let loose with a volley of arcane missiles, and Cordana went back into stealth. There was not much she could do against a spirit creature, her physical magic was ineffective against an ethereal target, but she could deflect magical attacks from hitting Khadgar and Chromie.
The spirit of Kairoz roared with rage, and transmogrified into his natural form. With a quick spin of his body, he lashed out with his tail, but they saw it coming and jumped over it. Khadgar levitated and warded them.
The dragon opened his muzzle and shot a huge stream of fire in front of him. The heat was so intense even from the sides. He could not move much while breathing fire, but he could move enough that it was dangerous to be anywhere near it. The trio ran and ducked behind some boulders.
"We must weaken his defenses," panted Khadgar. The physical aspects of his magic were taxing his reserves and he was tired. A tired mage was a target.
"How?" asked Cordana.
"His shield is only in front of him," said Chromie. "His wards only protect from a frontal attack. We need to damage him from behind!"
"He will not allow that," said Cordana. "He will constantly turn about and then we have his tail to deal with. Khadgar is tired, he will not be able to cast and jump for long."
Khadgar shook his head. "I am fine, Cordana. I am not a fragile old man, I will be fine."
"This is no time for stoicism Archmage!" exclaimed Cordana. She gently placed her hand over his mouth when he started to protest, making Chromie giggle.
"I have an idea," she said. "Chromie, can you direct his attention towards you? Khadgar you stay here, behind this boulder. I will go there, behind him to his left. You will have a good line of sight on me, correct?"
Khadgar pushed her hand off his face. "Yes, I can see you," he said.
"Then you will aim your arcane missiles, or whatever you wish to use at me, understand?"
Khadgar looked puzzled. "I in no way wish to target you with my power Cordana. Your wards would not hold for long."
She shook her head. "No they will not hit me. What you throw at me I will deflect off my weapon and right onto Kairoz. You need to stay out of sight and conserve your energy. If it does not work then at least I will have bought you a bit of time to regenerate."
He nodded. "Very well, go!"
Chromie ran out from behind the rock, screaming at the dragon. Cordana went into stealth and got into position. She looked at Khadgar and nodded.
He drew power and summoned up the strongest attack he had, trusting that she could do as she had said she would. His fears were unfounded. In an amazing show of dexterity and celerity Cordana deflected his attacks almost perfectly. A few rogue shots grazed her but she seemed unscathed.
Kairoz was weakening. Each magical attack took something from him. Soon he was unable to breathe fire, and his desire to swing his tail diminished. His attacks grew smaller and less violent. He still cursed with rage, but was slowly wearing down.
"Keep at it Khadgar!" Cordana shouted.
Chromie transmogrified into her dragon form and shot him a blast of fire also. Attacked from all sides, Kairoz stumbled and collapsed onto his side. He thrashed about like a fish on the shore. They kept up the attacks until he lay still.
No one moved for a few moments. Khadgar emerged from his spot behind the boulder, breathing heavily. Placing his hands on his knees he bent over, trying to catch his breath. Cordana unstealthed and stood beside him, stroking his hair gently. Momentarily he stood up and smiled at her. She took off her helmet.
"Sweet Cordana," he whispered and gave her a tender kiss. "Thank you."
Chromie returned to her humanoid form. "Well, now he has been put to rest, you can do what you came to do Archmage. I shall fly you back to your Tower if you like."
Khadgar shook his head. "I would rather get back on my own, Chromie. Thank you very much for all your help. We could not have come this far without you, and are grateful. Please thank Nozdormu for us."
He bowed before her.
Chromie grinned. "I don't get to go on too many fun adventures, this was interesting. I will report our findings to Nozdormu. You two take care of each other, ok?"
She returned to her dragon form and flapped her wings rising up a few feet into the air.
"Until we meet again!" she called out, and rose up into the sky.
Khadgar walked to the pile of bones and began to channel a spell. Whatever it was he was doing, he was holding an apexis crystal, whose color changed from clear to a soft yellow. He placed it in his satchel.
Khadgar turned to Cordana, who had removed her bladed cloak and was inspecting it. "Are you alright, my dear?" he asked her softly.
She stretched. "For the most part I am. A few of your attacks went rogue and hit me a little, I can tell you that I do not ever wish to be on the receiving end of your magic, Khadgar."
"Oh, Cordana!" he exclaimed, his eyes worried.
"Oh it is nothing life threatening," she said, waving him away. "But it is enough of a hit that I would like to visit the infirmary. Would you teleport us to the garrison?"
He immediately cast a portal. It was easier for him to do then a direct teleportation spell, as he was rather tired. It concerned him when he saw Cordana limp towards it, but she went through and he followed her.
On returning to the Tower later on, they sat in the bath barrel together.
"I believe I will rest this day and begin work again tomorrow," he said, leaning his head back and closing his eyes.
Cordana sat on the opposite side of him, her legs parted on either side of his. They were both taller than the bath barrel was long, and couldn't stretch out without ending up in a compromising position.
Cordana flicked water at him. "Old man," she said.
He flicked water at her as well. "You are far older than I am, Kaldorei."
"You are still old," she said.
Khadgar raised his head and looked at her, eyes hooded. "Come over here, and I will show you old," he said.
"Really? I do not want to watch you fall asleep," she said, trying to hide a smirk. "Going over there means work and I am feeling rather tired as well."
He raised an eyebrow at her. "My vivacious Warden is too tired to make love? Now I have heard it all. Makes me wonder who the really old one is then."
She splashed him and leaned her head back. "This water is very nice and comforting, as is your presence and if I sit here too much longer it is I who will fall asleep."
Khadgar made waves in the water. "Perhaps we should emerge and go to bed. I could use a long regenerative sleep myself. Tomorrow will be another day of location casting."
They remained in the barrels for awhile longer, not speaking but enjoying one another just the same. Finally the water cooled off, and they emerged. Khadgar braided Cordana's hair, and they crawled into bed.
Holding onto one another, they fell asleep quickly and deeply.