Somehow, the red dragons had summoned aid. A somewhat small group of Alliance forces was launching an attack on his fortress, and were rapidly making their way to the gates. Griffin riders clashed with dragon riders, arcane bolts of magic plowed down his orcs, and arrows found their marks in the hearts of his men.
Not to mention he could sense the Aspects themselves rapidly approaching the dwarven city. That certainly did not help his mood.
And things had been going so nicely too. He'd ensured his place as one of the most important officials in the Alliance. He'd managed to hide away a few eggs, which would allow him to replenish his slowly shrinking dragonflight.
Then this had happened.
Needless to say, when an orc burst into his chamber, he was not pleased.
"What is it now?!", he snarled.
"Sir, the red dragons are rebelling! It seems someone's stirred up trouble, right at this crucial moment! We're under attack on both sides!", the orc cried.
Deathwing was NOT happy.*
Ebonia used her claws to rip the chains off of another red drake.
"Go! Your flight will regain its liberty this day!", she shouted.
"How can we trust you?", asked the red drake suspiciously.
Ebonia sighed. This was the thirteenth time she'd been asked that after thirteen freed drakes. "Look, you don't have to trust me. But a bunch of your friends have been freed, and are currently slaughtering your captors. You can trust them, right?"
The red drake nodded, then flew off to join her allies.
Devrialstrasz flew over to her. "We're doing well!", he declared, "The orcs are under attack from both sides, and Deathwing has yet to show himself. We're trying to carve a way to Alexstrasza's cell. Once she's been freed, this battle is as good as won."
"What about that golden disc?", Ebonia asked, "The one Nekros has?"
Devrialstrasz replied, "Hmm, the Demon Soul could definitely be trouble. We'll figure something out, though. I don't think he knows you're working with us yet..."
Ebonia stated, "You want me to try to get it from him? He doesn't like me at all."
"Well, you're our best chance right now.", Devrialstrasz replied, "We think he's in Alexstrasza's cell...we have to act quickly before he decides her survival is no longer important."
Ebonia nodded, but right as she prepared to take off, there was a loud, deep roar that shook the mountain.
Devrialstrasz cringed. "It's him. We have to act NOW."
"On it.", Ebonia replied, then started flying through the fortress.
Ahead, she saw a brutal fight going on. Orcs were yelling and shooting arrows and spells, while red drakes wheeled through the air and clashed against black ones. Many dragon corpses already littered the ground.
Ebonia did not want to fly through that, but she had little choice. Bracing herself, she flew into the fray.
A red dragon promptly targeted her. With a ferocious roar, he dove towards her, claws outstretched.
Ebonia quickly darted around him, knowing that there was no time for her to try and reason with him. She flew over the old molten canal running through the mountain and made her way to where Alexstrasza was imprisoned.
The red drake was following her though, and Ebonia knew she had to drive him off somehow. As she tried to come up with a plan, though, he plowed into her and slammed her into the side of the mountain, sending a sharp flare of pain across her right side.
With a snarl, Ebonia lashed her tail and caused him to loosen his grip, allowing her to worm free. She whirled around, and shouted, "I don't want to hurt you!"
The red drake seemed startled by her response, and she took her leave, racing deeper into the fortress. Another thunderous roar came from ahead of her, and this time Ebonia could hear other roars as well. There were at least three distinguishable ones, and Ebonia quickened her pace.
She flew into the cavern where Alexstrasza was imprisoned, and was surprised at what she saw.
There was a massive hole smashed through the roof, allowing moonlight to pour in. Deathwing was there, donned in his full dragon form and fighting against three other huge dragons. One was a deep blue dragon, with a white beard and glowing runes on his body. Another was a brilliant copper color, with a brown goatee and surrounded in glowing sands. The third was emerald green, with a crescent symbol above her horns and surrounded by soothing nature magic.
Nekros the orc was on the ground, struggling to fight against three opponents of his own. One was a human mage with long orange hair and surrounded by arcane spells, another was a silver-haired high elf firing off glowing arrows, and the last was a dwarf riding a griffin, hammer in hand. The three seemed to be handling the order leader just fine, so Ebonia chose the opponent she had a true grudge with.
So with a valiant screech, Ebonia flew right for Deathwing.
Ignoring the searing heat, Ebonia pounced onto his back and tore at one of the metallic plates there. But before she could do much damage, a magical attack from the blue dragon caused her to fly off, and Deathwing spotted her.
"Fool! I should've known you'd disappoint me like this.", Deathwing boomed, "You dare challenge your own Aspect?! I will kill you mercilessly!"
Ebonia replied, "To be perfectly fair, you made it quite easy for me to hate you."
She readied a deep breath, but Deathwing acted first. He slammed his tail into the cavern wall, causing massive rocks to rain down from above. One clipped Ebonia's wing, and she spiraled to the ground with a cry of pain.
"Pathetic. You are merely a waste of my time.", Deathwing growled, then deflected an attack fired at him by the emerald dragon.
Ebonia crashed into a pile of dragon eggs, wincing as they were crushed beneath her. She felt sad at the loss of life, and knew Devrialstrasz would not be happy if he found out, but she glanced up at the black dragon and her thoughts were replaced with anger. She would not be swatted aside so easily!
She roared, and flew back into the air. This time, she focused on some of the rocks littering the ground, and they rose up into the air, obeying her will.
She threw them at Deathwing, shattering them harmlessly against his thick skin, but it caught his attention.
"Seriously? I am much more powerful than you! You don't stand a chance against me!", he roared, and suddenly Ebonia was rammed back against the wall by a massive chunk of stone, her wings pinned behind her back.
"Ebonia!", cried a voice, and Ebonia saw Devrialstrasz fly into the chamber. He took one look at her, and he shot a furious glare at Deathwing.
"Devrialstrasz...?", Alexstrasza asked weakly, struggling to escape her bonds as the battle raged on around her.
Devrialstrasz replied, "I'm here to save you, my queen!" He readied a deep breath, then flew for Deathwing and attacked him.
Deathwing snarled, but was then barraged by blasts of magical sand which began to slow time around the room, but most specifically Deathwing to restrict his movements. The Aspects barraged him with attacks, but then he managed to break free of the time warping effects. With a heavy flap of his wings, a wave of fire engulfed the room and forced everyone back.
Deathwing's eyes settled on Devrialstrasz. "You are the one who was stirring up trouble. And somehow, you twisted the mind of my daughter to use her against me! I will annihilate you!"
He dove towards the red drake, but Devrialstrasz swerved to the side. Deathwing roared in anger, and the walls of the room shuddered and cracked. Chunks of stone rose into the air, and threw themselves at Devrialstrasz. Ebonia tried futilely to will them off their course, but her father's will was much stronger than hers.
However, it turned out to not be what she should've worried about.
Devrialstrasz dodged each of the rock missiles easily, but did not see Deathwing readying a deep breath. As the last rock missile smashed against the wall, Ebonia tried in vain to call out, reached a claw for Devrialstrasz, but she was not fast enough, could not be fast enough.
Deathwing breathed out a plume of magma, which struck Devrialstrasz and threw him to the ground, scales melting and wings burning. In the blink of an eye, the most wonderful dragon Ebonia had ever met crashed into the earth, dead.
Ebonia felt a surge of fury unlike anything she'd ever experienced. With her mind, she crushed the rock on top of her into dust, and with the pain-stricken roar of a dragon who'd just lost the one thing she truly cared about, threw herself at Deathwing, flames spewing and claws slashing.
But Deathwing was still too much for her to match. Her claws bounced harmlessly off of his adamantine plates. Her fire was useless against a dragon literally made of magma. Her rage clogged her vision, and as she finally tore off one of his scales, she missed the massive tail swinging towards her.
With an audible crunch, Ebonia smashed into the wall, dropping the scale still caught in her jaws. The surge of pain overwhelmed her mindless anger, and she sank to the ground, nearly passing out.
As she struggled to fight the pain (some of her bones must be broken, which ones she did not know), she noticed the mortal adventuring party forcing Nekros into a corner. At the same time, another red dragon appeared, this one larger and with mysterious scars over his face. He slashed his claws and shattered the chains binding his queen.
But even as Alexstrasza rose to join the battle, her strength renewed by the loss of a red drake and her freedom from the orcs, Deathwing still did not falter. He was overpowering the other dragons one by one.
The green dragon was slammed into the wall by his tail. The blue one retreated from a slash of blazing claws. The bronze one narrowly dodged another molten breath.
Down below, Ebonia watched as the human knocked Nekros to the ground, causing him to drop the Demon Soul. The human quickly grabbed it, and stared into its golden surface.
"What are we ta do with it, laddie?", asked the dwarf, "We don't have anything ta destroy it!"
Ebonia could feel her consciousness slipping steadily away, but managed to say, "Use this.", before sliding the scale over to them.
Her head fell to the ground, preventing her from seeing what happened next. But there was a golden flash, a loud explosion, and glowing lights. The last thing Ebonia saw was the furious, fully-empowered Alexstrasza rising above the cavern, before all fell into darkness.*