Quick Note: I know some people have made some complaints in the reviews about my story's grammar and the like. Two things really quick, first I truly don't care that much about grammar, I do this because I want to not because I want to improve my skills in writing. Second, I already use Grammarly and that's about as far as my beta reading goes (No I don't use the paid version cause why the fuck would I?)
Let's carry on, shall we.
As Kal followed Krasus through the large hole in the tree he had to admit, when he stepped through, he didn't know what he was expecting to find but it certainly wasn't this. There appeared to be a large slope of rock that went downwards further into the ground, the light from the sun shining through the clouds above them providing a source of light for the two through the entrance to the tree they took, even if Kal didn't need it and he doubted Krasus did either.
But even if he was normal, he wouldn't need it, because of this slope which was huge mind you. It wasn't just barren rock with nothing else to it, it was far more than that. Large roots seemed to twist, turn and hug the walls of the tunnel for the entire distance downwards, where they came from, he had no idea. Jutting out from the walls, floor and roof of the tunnel seemed to be a selection of different crystals of many different colours that lit the tunnel in a beautiful glow that provided much lighting to those who would have had trouble seeing the further away from the entrance they went. But not even they were the most interesting thing about this tunnel, no that was both the flora and fauna.
The entire ground was covered in thick lush' grass, with dozens and dozens of different species of flowers of so many different sizes. All around him, he could hear the scampering of feet on the ground and the small squeaks from many little critters and rodent-sized animals, above him he could see small birds flying around the ceiling, some swooping down to get closer to them, he could see many others sitting in nests and heating their eggs. Much like the flowers there was such a wide variety of them as well. The smallest ones he could see being the size of his middle finger while the largest seemed to be a match for a parrot back home.
"Krasus, I have to ask" he started as the dragon in his elf form turned his head to look at him "How is it all these plants are alive when there's so little sunlight for them to feed on?" he asked. While it was true that he has yet to study this world's flora it was entirely possible that photosynthesis wasn't needed here but he thought he should just ask regardless.
"Ah, that would be due to us" he answered as he looked back forward "We of the red flight are the protectors and guardians of life, we have an affinity for it that few others do. Simply being around our presence is enough for many forms of life to flourish peacefully, if things are bad then we use our flames. While they do burn hot like many others, the more experienced and oldest of us are capable of bringing life to an area with our healing prowess" A fond smile came onto his face for a moment "But what we can do is nothing in the face of the Aspect of life herself. My love is capable of truly incredible feats, there was a time around a thousand years ago when she took flight over a vast forest that was choked and killed with dark magics. With but a single breath, her red flames filled the entire forest and the many acres of dead would sprout trees stronger and taller than they ever were beforehand. I do not doubt that when we beat back the undead Scourge, she will not wait before taking flight and purging these lands of the stench of death and breathing life back into them again"
Kal listened to his words closely "That's impressive magic" he admitted freely "I would very much like to see it someday" had added as he looked forward and caught the sight of something. Looking closely, he could see that the tunnel was about to level out and based on what he was hearing, there was some running water near them as well. That was when a thought accrued to him "Krasus, if I could provide you with seeds from the world I arrived from. Would you be willing to help me make sure they grow and flourish, assuming I find the right environment for them?" he asked.
"Of course, we would" he said back quickly, looking at him like he asked a ridiculous question "New life is always a blessing and many of us would personally stand guard over them if they truly were from another world and the last of their kind. I would even go so far as to call for the aid of both the green flight and the Cenarion Circle, they too would no doubt desire to aid us in that mission" he added and it did make Kal feel better, at least if they were on their own against the Scourge they could still find something to do together.
They must have walked down for nearly a mile now, Kal had to admit he didn't know what he was expecting to see down here but he knew that he needed to be calm and respectful. Everyone he asked claimed that Alexstrasza was one of the most kind and benevolent beings on the planet, many used to worship her and her kin back before they knew better. Not to mention she was also one of the oldest beings in the world, no doubt just as experienced. Kal was hoping he could use that as a means of getting her to act against the undead, she must know how much of a threat they are.
The only problem is that he didn't know what happened to her during the last war and he knows all too well how a war can affect someone. As the two reached the levelled-out ground, Kal looked on as he could see a large opening that led into a truly massive cassem in the Earth.
It was beautiful, two large waterfalls on either side that hit the ground calmly and spread around the floor creating small islands spread out across the entire area. This large cave that seemed to be shaped like a massive and not-at-all-smooth dome was massive, based on what Kal could see it was only slightly smaller than his fortress and to have something like that underground was impressive. In the middle of the ceiling was what seemed to be a huge tree that hung upside-down, its roots digging into the rock and keeping it stable as he decorated the cave with beautifully coloured flowers and leaves.
More crystals seemed to dig out from the walls providing light to the area, birds chirped, and he could hear small fish swimming in the streams between the small islands. All around the ground however where something much more noticeable.
Eggs.
There were dozens and dozens of clutches or eggs all grouped in different parts, some separated by small wooden nests, others by circles of rocks and some in small ditches those ground under them glowed like magma was just under the surface. Kal was told this was a nest, but he didn't expect so many, each egg was easily the size of his head.
Then of course was the reason he was here.
Directly opposite him and Krasus on the far side of the cave, on the biggest island in the cave was what could only be the one he sought. Resting atop what seemed to be a collection of well over a hundred eggs all gathered together around her, looking like they were being kept warm but the heat that seemed to come from the dragon herself, being cradled by all manner of flowers to keep them save. Was the Life-Binder herself.
She was truly amazing. By far the largest dragon he has seen here and one of the largest creatures Kal has ever seen anywhere. Her scales were a light red and that seemed to give off a warmness and comforting aura that Kal had not felt in a while. Four large horns came out the back of her head, two larger and the other two smaller ones following closely, each one sporting well-crafted golden pieces that he supposed could have passed for jewellery but there could be any number of reasons why she would wear them.
Her two wings seemed to wrap around her body as she lay on the ground, she seemed to be sleeping with her eyes closed, her head resting on her paws as they crossed over the other. The deep rumbling of her breath almost seemed to infect Kal with a desire to simply rest up against her and take a nap himself. This aura she gave off was so much it almost made him infatuated with her, if it wasn't for the ring on his finger, he didn't know how well he would have resisted.
He took a moment to gather himself, reminding himself why he was here and what they were up against "My love, my Life" Krasus said as he started to move forward, as he did so the familiar flames that Kal saw not even half an hour ago returned and he changed back into his draconic form and started to walk towards her, his paws walking through the water as he did "please forgive me for disturbing you during your rest"
As he spoke Kal saw as the Life-Binder opened her eyes and her gaze quickly found her consort "My love, your presence here is always a blessing to me" Even her voice seemed to carry this aroma that Kal found himself trying to ignore. He didn't turn away from the two however and found himself amazed by just how much bigger the life-Binder seemed to be compared to her consort, based on what he could see Kal would say she was at least three times his size.
How that worked sexually he didn't even want to know.
Before he could try and avoid that rabbit hole, his eyes locked onto the bright red ones that looked at him from the other side of the cave "You have brought a stranger to our nest" she stated with a notable edge to her voice as she slowly picked herself up, her strong and no doubt sharp claws digging into the ground as she did so. Reaching her full height just as the consort reached her.
Seeing this as his time for introduction "Alexstrasza, Aspect of the Red Dragonflight, Life-Binder" Kal said loudly with a respectful nod of his head towards the larger ancient being "My name is Kal-El, I am deeply sorry for any inconvenience that my presence here causes you but I assure you that I came only with the noblest of reasons" Kal made sure to as respectful as he could be to the large dragon and had to admit that now that she stood up she was even bigger then he thought.
Whatever tension or hostile edge she had to her voice seemed to drift away as she heard him "Kal-El, the hero of Silithus" she added with a tilt of the head, taking a large step forward, her two front legs placed directly in front of the eggs "the man who led the mortal armies against the Old God and freed those I thought lost. You may approach friend of the red Dragonflight" she said to him with her bow of the head.
Kal had to admit that he was surprised by the respect but he wasn't complaining. Though not wanting to get his feet wet, he gently lifted himself off the ground and slowly started to move over the water, something he noted did draw a reaction from the two dragons, most likely not seeing flight like this before. He touched down just on the edge of the main island, just a few meters away from the large dragon head that looked down at him "I'm grateful for being allowed a moment to speak with you" he added with a nod.
Alexstrasza didn't speak for a moment, instead much like before with Krauss. Red flames started to burn along her entire body as it started to disappear, the fact that it took just as long as any dragon to shrink down to a new form the same size as himself was impressive. Thankfully he had a basic idea of what he was about to see so he wasn't completely surprised by it. Within the span of a handful of seconds, a completely new figure stood before him.
The dragon queen stood a few around the same height as himself with a distinctly female appearance. Long waving red hair that went down her back, her eyes were a bright orange and red mixture that glowed, slitted pupils that all dragons had. Though to most draconic feature about her was of course the four horns that sprouted from her head, two large and two smaller ones closely following after them. He saw that she had eyebrows similar to that of both the High and Night Elfs, but her ears seemed to be the same size as a humans, but they were also pointed as well.
Her clothing was also very interesting, she wore a type of scaled-looking armour that seemed to be a mix of red, gold and silver. However, Kal didn't like the idea of calling it armour to begin with as it left large parts of her body exposed. It was all dragon in design and he wasn't surprised by that at all, her legs were mostly covered by it all except around her hips which were left completely bear, he assumed it was for freedom of movement but that didn't seem needed when one could turn into a large dragon at will.
A large sash of red fabric went down from her waist, hugging calmly in between her legs, the symbol of a golden dragon on a red background was shining proudly. Her torso and chest were mostly covered by the scale-like pattern of the armour. Expect for her upper chest. The armour was made in such a way that the top of her breasts were exposed giving a very plentiful view of her cleavage which was hidden by two golden wings. Both of her arms were mostly covered as well except for her shoulders which were made completely bare, he assumed for the same reason the hips were as well. Most of her lower arms were encased in golden gauntlets that were beautifully designed while her upper arms were wrapped in a thin fabric that led up to her neck where a red choker seemed to be placed, carrying in its centre a purple gem.
On top of her forehead was an intricate golden headpiece that he assumed was a crown of some sort, he folded back across her head up to her horns, each one was adorned with long golden rings that acted as he assumed was a type of decoration, same as in her dragon form. He didn't know if they just carried over when she shifted forms or if everything changed when she did, hell for all he knew what she was wearing wasn't even real and just an illusion over her body. Either way, it didn't change one simple thing, she was beautiful.
"What is it you wish to discuss with me Kal-El?" she asked him, taking a couple of steps closer towards him.
Reigning control of himself and his raging hormones that seemed to be going haywire due to her presence, he straightened his back slightly and spoke with a calming voice "I was wondering if we could discuss the possibility of joining forces to work together and beat back the undead before they grow out of hand" he said with a calm voice as the Life-Binder stopped just a few feet away from him.
"The Scourge" she said aloud as the same warmth that came from her quickly changed into something more "That disease has been pestering the flights for years, we have already lost many of our kin to those... abominations" she added with a clear note of hostility in her tone "we don't have the numbers to risk open war with them" she added.
"Open war is upon you, whether you would risk it or not" Kal spoke back calmly "and it's not about numbers. They will always outnumber us and the more they fight the more that number grows, what we have is quality. We can beat them back but only if we work together"
She looked at him quizzically before she started to take steps towards him, turning slightly so she stood beside him, looking out over the cave and towards all the eggs around them "I will not send my kin to war so soon after one has just ended, the scars of that conflict still run deep. I cannot send them to fight if they would not even be allowed to the peace of death" he brought a hand to her stomach and a pained look crossed her face.
"No?" Kal asked as he turned to face the same direction as her "You would rather wait for the dead to come to you?" the rhetorical question hung in the air for a moment before he continued "Because they are coming, they're taking over the continent one piece at a time, they're just leaving you and the rest of the dragons for last. And do remember the more they kill the larger their numbers grow so the longer you wait the harder the fighting will be"
"I do not need to be remained of that" she said back quickly, turning her head to face him with a frown on clear display "I cannot command my flight off to a war will not win. There are so few of us left after everything that has happened and getting the flights to work together is not something easily done. Not since..." she stopped herself before looking away.
"Not since what?" he asked her "The Orc invasion? The war of ancients? Neltharion?" it was easy to see the tension bleeding into her at the mention of his name "the Demon Soul"
Alexstrasza rounded on him "DO NOT..." she shouted before stopping and simply gazing at him, her peaceful eyes now blazed with anger as she looked at him "Do not say that name in my presence. Ever" she warned him.
For a moment Kal thought that she would strike at him, truth be told this was a good thing. Having such emotions on display showed him that she wasn't completely deadened by what happened to her, she hasn't lost herself in PTSD just yet. There was still a powerful fire in there, he just needed to poke it enough until it came out "Why not?" he asked with a shrug "It's just a name, fear of the name only increases the fear of the object itself" he said walking forward but instead of going onto the water, he used his flight as he walked, giving him the look of walking on top of it "and what is there to fear of disk that has been destroyed?" he asked.
She didn't answer, she was silent as she looked down from him and to the water itself. Kal had seen that look before, most of the time it was when someone remembered something... unpleasant "You know nothing Kal-El" she said to him in almost a whisper, but he was of course able to hear her.
"I know nothing?" he asked back quickly and he turned to face her "What is it that I don't know?" he said again, this time his voice had a note of hostility in it. After all, if she was suggesting what he thinks she was.
"You know nothing of the pain I went through, what my children went through, what we were forced to do because of that infernal device. I don't expect you to understand" She turned and started to make her way back to the centre of her nest.
"I don't understand" he said looking at her back as he pointed at himself. A dry chuckle escaped his lips "me? Are you joking? Of course, I understand" the firmness in his voice caused her to look back over her shoulder "what? You call that war? That silly little skirmish. You call what you went through torment" a frown came onto his face directed right at her "that was not pain; that was not a war. I fought in a war bigger than you will ever know! I did the worse thing then you can possibly imagine and every time I close my eyes!..." he quickly stopped and looked away briefly before turning back to her "I hear more screams than you will ever be able to count!" he took a step towards her with every word "and do you know what you do with all that pain? shall I tell you where you put it?" he brought his hand up and clenched a fist "you hold it tight, until it burns your hand. And you say this 'No-one else will ever have to live like this! no-one else will have to feel this pain! Not on my watch!'" silence hung in the cave as he finished speaking that last part. (1)
The Life-Binder and Krasus both looked at him intently for a moment "Do you even know why I want your help? Do you even know why I even bother with any of this when I could easily go to Icecrown and wipe it all out, why bother when I could easily turn this entire continent into a crater? Because right now, my dear Life-Binder" he added in a more mocking tone "There is an entire army of undead standing there waiting for the order to march and scattered around all of them is the innocent" he stopped talking for a moment to take a couple of deep breaths "innocent men, woman, teenagers, kids really. Taken away from their families to try and defend their homes only to be turned into slaves. I can't leave them to this fate, but I can't free them from the Lich King's control while fighting off the rest of his army. I need you and your kin to hold the line while I free those captured souls, I need you to be the cannon fodder that can keep the enemy at bay while I give them back their free will"
He was about to continue but a small chime got his attention, looking down to his wrist a small light started to blink. He took a deep breath before bringing it up to his mouth "What is it Mograine?" he asked.
"We're gonna need some back up here" the calm voice came back through "A scouting party has reached the harbour, we've fought them off but Kelex says we have a force of two thousand on the way. We don't have the numbers to defend a position as open as this" he told him.
"How did they even get to you? I would have seen them while I was in the air" he added more to himself than to him.
"We think they've built some underground tunnels to avoid the dragons up top" Mograine said back quickly.
"Alright, I'm on my way" he said before lowering his arms and turning his head to look at the dragon queen. He opened his mouth to speak but stopped himself, she looked at him inquisitively as he did so but as no words came from him she waited. Kal gave her and Krasus one final look before he simply turned and made his way out of the cave, flying into the air moving with a speed that surprised them. It seemed that there was little more that he had to say to her.
The dead body, nothing more than a skeleton at this point started to crawl towards him with its arms, horrific sounds coming from its mouth as it did so. It was nothing more than a torso at this point, the last round from his rifle went right through its body and didn't even slow down as it went through the spine and into the body of the abomination behind it who was also quickly brought down.
Alexandros Mograine watched in silence as the body started to crawl towards him. Trying to think about what he would have felt upon seeing such a pitiful creature when he was not what he was now. Would he be feeling sadness, pity, remorse, or anger? He didn't know, right now he felt nothing. He remembers what he used to feel when he fought the undead as a Paladin of the Light, but he doesn't remember what those emotions really felt like. Just another thing that was taken from him when he was raised into this. When he was under the control of the Lich king, he felt nothing but anger and bloodlust. When he was freed by Kal from his control, he felt a righteous fury and desire for vengeance.
He still does feel those things, in truth, they may be the only things he feels anymore. But he tries, he tries to remember what he should feel in these situations, he tries to understand what those emotions are and what they feel like, and he tries to remain as human as he can.
But now, looking down through the face plate of his armour, the screen in front of him showed him this slow (and small now that he thinks about it) body crawling towards him with the sole purpose of killing him. He can't find it in himself to feel anything.
When the body got close enough, he brought his boot up and crushed the skull of the corpse under its weight and power. The small map in the bottom left corner of his heads-up display showed him that his forces were stationed in a solid perimeter around the harbour. The field of ice in front of them was now a graveyard of corpses, but normal and large, humanoid and animal. It would seem that the Scourge truly wanted this village gone "Commander" a voice came in through his radio. The sudden communication caught him off guard and he knew it would take time to get used to.
Thankfully Kelex was in all of their armours listening in to make sure there were no mistakes "What is it Windsong?" he asked back aloud as he looked out for any more enemies in sight before the main force hit them.
"Satellite imaging shows a large force of three hundred, two miles west of us over the hills, a flanking force. Requesting permission to take a group and deal with them before they do whatever it is they're trying to" she said to him.
As if sensing his thoughts, an overhead image from the satellites showed the force moving in real-time. She was right, it was a flanking manoeuvre "Permission granted, take fifteen and deal with them. But remember, any of our brothers and sisters are to be kept alive and captured"
"Understood" she said back before the call ended and he was once again left with his thoughts.
Once again he found himself thinking if his thoughts would be the same if he never changed into what he was now. Ever since he stepped from the portal into this frozen land, all he could think about was the coming battles and how best to eliminate the enemy. Not once has his mind drifted to what would come after or what he even wanted to do. Was his mind just that narrow now? Or was it just too consumed by his desire for vengeance?
And it was vengeance, he knew that before it would have been about justice but that wasn't the case. Bringing up his hand before him, Mograine tried to call upon The Light but as expected, it did not answer him. It wasn't because he was undead now, he'd seen those undead within the Forsaken call upon the holy powers of The Light and it had answered them. But it wouldn't him.
He knew why as well, The Light may be used by anyone, so long as they truly believe in what they are doing and doing it because they feel it to be right. It did not answer him now, because he had no idea if he was doing this for the right reasons. After all, was it the right thing to do or because he just wanted revenge. He wasn't the only one either, he had both asked and seen for himself, there was only one among their number who was capable of still wielding the light and that was Sir Zeiliek but trying to have the same amount of will as he was a difficult undertaking, he was able to keep his mind despite being under the direct control of that dammed Lich. Another thing only he has been able to do.
But this was something he could think about later, if his mind would let him that is. A warning in the bottom corner of his heads-up display caught his attention, the small map showed a blip. First, it was just one, then two, five, ten, thirty.
The numbers kept on growing and growing, the enemy attack force was about to reach them. Based on what he was seeing they would reach the harbour in thirty minutes "Everyone who isn't with Windsong form up on me and set up the line of defence. We have incoming" he said to everyone on an open channel. He received multiple green pings from everyone else, meaning that they were on their way.
A quick and heavy thud caught his attention, turning his head to the left he saw that Kal had made it back from his talking with the dragons, the fact he was alone did not fill him with confidence "What happened?" he asked as he brought up his rifle and started to scope out the soon to be battlefield.
Kal walked up to him without any worry for the force he no doubt saw on the way in and stood next to him "I'm unsure" he admitted "I was able to speak with the Life-Binder and make the case for a partnership" he crossed his arms and looked a little sheepish "she wasn't happy with the idea and said no, I started a little rant about how stupid that was, I went off at her. Though I left before she could respond" he said.
"You know that if we can't get their help..." he started.
"I know" he interrupted him "we have to move to the Borean Tundra and get set up for hit-and-run tactics, build up our forces until we have enough to attack Icecrown. A lot trickier and riskier but it will be the only plan that lets us free your brothers and sisters still being controlled" he said as he let out a sigh before pulling his trident free and stabbing it into the ground "At least we won't need to worry about the civilians. Kelex told me that they've finished being moved to Darkshore. Tyrande was surprised but she's willing to house them as refugees until they're safe to return" he added.
"Well then" Mograine said as he looked over his shoulder and saw that most of their forces had arrived "Let's hope the Life-Binder can see the wisdom in your words, otherwise this is looking to be a long campaign"
(1) If you know where that speech came from then we are now friends.
Ok, all we'll leave it there; I know this is shorter than normal but work has been ridiculous lately so I haven't had much time. A lot of the dialogue with Alexstrasza came from the War of the Ancients book trilogy (which is amazing by the way, I very much recommend it, it's like LOTR) Anyway, let me know what you all think, and I'll see you in the next chapter.
Next story update: Return of Hope