In the dark, where there was no one there to see him, Devrialstrasz sat beside Alexstrasza as she slept. He was quite worried for her.
After all, she was growing steadily weaker.
Deathwing was trying to use her as a machine to produce large amounts of eggs for his flight, but it was taking its toll on her body. Her consorts were also growing weaker, and Devrialstrasz was worried about them all.
However, he was not sitting idly by like the rest of his flight.
As he and Ebonia grew closer, he continued trying to plan a rebellion throughout the dwarven city. As the war outside turned on the orcs and led to the slaughter of many of his brethren, Devrialstrasz grew ever more determined. He would have to save his flight, by any means necessary.
Including befriending a member of his flight's archenemy.
He thought about Ebonia, and smiled slightly. As he'd gotten to know her better, he'd learned that her tough, dismissive act was exactly that. An act. Underneath it, she had a much different personality. One that was starved of friendship and happiness, one that had suffered relentlessly from a corrupted flight and all the abuses associated with it.
Devrialstrasz had quickly discovered he was the only person she could remember ever being nice to her. The hatred that Devrialstrasz had for the black flight had only flared at this realization. He wanted to make them all suffer the way they'd made her suffer.
But more importantly, he wanted to teach Ebonia all that she should have had, and give her it.
It was at this point that Devrialstrasz realized he was falling for her.
The realization made him worry. The dragonflights were notorious for shunning cross-flight relationships, and none were worse than one between a red and a black. The two were opposites, after all, and one was suspected to be entirely evil. Devrialstrasz knew his flight would never understand.
Even if it was what would end up saving their lives.
Alexstrasza stirred in her sleep, causing Devrialstrasz to slip into the shadows. He knew that the orcs would return soon, and he did not want to be spotted by them. As of right now, they did not know he existed, and he'd prefer to keep it that way.
At least, until he was ready to destroy them.
He flew out of the chamber, leaving the weakening queen behind.*
Ebonia hid in the darkness near a large gathering of orcs and black drakes. She knew that they were here for a very important reason.
The Aspect himself was paying a visit.
Ebonia's scars burned at the very thought of him. If she were only bigger, or stronger, perhaps she'd have tried to challenge her father, but right now she knew he could crush her like a simple bug. So she let her anger simmer beneath the surface, and lurked where no one would find her.
She noticed someone wriggle into the tight space beside her.
Oh, there was one.
"Why is everybody here?", whispered Devrialstrasz, "I can even see the chieftain."
"You know, if anybody sees us, we'll be dead in an instant.", Ebonia commented.
"But nobody will see us. That's why you chose this spot, no?", replied Devrialstrasz.
Ebonia chuckled. "Yeah, that's true."
Devrialstrasz looked over the crowd, the many orcs with their chained red drakes, the black drakes sittting on top of the ruined dwarven houses littering the area, the orc chief leaning on a crutch with the golden disc in hand, his guards carrying the banners of the Dragonmaw clan.
"So, really, why are they all here?", he asked.
"My father is coming for a visit.", Ebonia growled.
"Ohhhh...wait a minute. You mean the Aspect of Death himself? He's coming here?", replied Devrialstrasz nervously.
Ebonia nodded. "It is important that a jailer checks on his prisoners, you know."
"Yes, but...this is the most powerful evil dragon in the world, who has been hiding from the other Aspects for years, and he's coming all the way out here to check on some prisoners?", Devrialstrasz replied.
"The Dragon Queen is a very important prisoner.", Ebonia stated.
Devrialstrasz sighed. "Yeah...I suppose. But I was planning on trying to pull this rebellion in just a few nights, and with HIM here that could seriously mess things up."
Ebonia replied, "We were going to end up fighting him anyways, you know. Why not in the next few days?"
Devrialstrasz answered, "You act like it will be the easiest thing. Even the other Aspects working together haven't been able to defeat him. What makes you think we can do it?"
Ebonia shrugged. "If we can't, we die. I'd rather not die, so we have to defeat him."
Devrialstrasz sighed. "That makes it sound so straightforward..."
Suddenly, there was a loud, long horn blow, and a small group of humans strode up towards the main gates of Grim Batol. They looked like a standard noble procession, but the orcs didn't seem to be preparing to raid them.
"Huh, that's...not what I was suspecting.", commented Devrialstrasz, "He must be in his mortal guise. If I can get a close look..."
But as soon as the humans spotted the party of orcs awaiting them, they began morphing into their dragon forms. Ebonia noticed they quickly made a wide berth around a man in the center, who then grew into a dragon far bigger than everyone around him.
He was even bigger than Ebonia remembered, and she hissed quietly at the sight. The molten, metal-plated monstrosity strode up to the army, causing the orcs to step back. The dragon looked down upon them, the air around him rising in temperature from the cracks of magma running through his body.
"Hello, mortal whelps. I trust that you have not been failing as miserably as your allies?", growled Deathwing.
Nekros looked up boldly at the Aspect towering above him, saying, "Of course. The queen is bound and her people are working for us now. The city is as secure as always, especially with the Demon Soul in my grasp. You will not be disappointed."
"Hmph.", replied Deathwing, "We shall see about that. Excuse me if I end up torching some of your men - I am not pleased with what happened in Draenor."
He stormed into the fortress, everybody rapidly moving out of his way. Devrialstrasz frowned. "What happened in Draenor? It's a good sign that Deathwing has failed at something, but what is it he failed at?"
Ebonia replied, "I don't know. I'm not exactly given that sort of information."
"Hmmm...", mused Devrialstrasz, "Well, let's get out of here before someone sees us. Maybe pick up some lunch?"
"Sounds good.", replied Ebonia, and the two prepared to fly off.*