They were some of the significant memories of this ancient, this dragon in mortal guise. She knew his true name now and the revered place he held with one that the draenei was aware was a being of great power.
"You are Korialstrasz," Iridi whispered. "First consort to—to the Aspect of Life?—and—and protector of the young races..." It was impossible to keep the awe from returning to her voice. "You are as much Azeroth's mate as you are hers, for you love them both so much...."
But that was not what she had been seeking. She needed to find the core of what ailed him. Unfortunately, these memories had to be peeled back, first.
Though regretting her intrusion into his past, the priestess had no choice. Not only could Iridi not have abandoned someone in need, but she also felt certain that Krasus—he seemed to prefer that title when in this form—was somehow a part of her search. The elders of her order had taught her that there were reasons for all that occurred, from the slaughter of so many draenei by the orcs during the early days of their encounters to the great calamity—again by the hand of an orc—that had literally ripped apart Draenor. The naaru had emphasized that point as well. No, Iridi needed to help Krasus not only for his sake, but her own.
But other memories kept flowing into her, one in particular disturbing to her. She saw a huge city on the edge of a sinister, dark body of water. A maelstrom formed in the latter and the city was dragged under, countless lives sucked into the water with it before the waters themselves began to follow into the dread gap. Iridi sensed the foulness of the Burning Legion... and something older and more terrible than even them lurking in the background.
The priestess fought through the memories and voices, seeking that which was more immediate, more significant to the moment—
She found it. A part of the dragon mage was literally missing. A small part, but the violence of its destruction had been terrible.
And even as the draenei discovered this, that intangible gap within suddenly expanded. Bound to her patient, the priestess was also struck. And while against her the attack was only peripheral, it was enough to throw the draenei back.
Iridi landed hard. Fighting dizziness and pain, she suddenly looked about, certain that whatever was responsible was upon them.
Yet, although she saw nothing, Iridi knew that time was running out. "Great one!" She seized his shoulders in a most unpriestesslike way, shaking them hard. "Great one! Krasus!" Out of desperation, she added last, "Korialstrasz!"
The dragon mage stirred, but did not wake.
The draenei's feeling of impending disaster heightened. With no other recourse left to her, Iridi struggled to raise Krasus up so that she could drag him away from the immediate area to better protection.
A blood-chilling roar filled the darkened sky... a blood-chilling roar that was answered a moment later by another, identical one even closer.
SEVEN
In the pit that passed for its nest, that which Zendarin and the veiled sorceress had created digested the energy most recently fed into it by the pair. Despite having been fed well—as the screams of Zzeraku could attest—the thing in the dark still hungered. It hungered for both more of what the nether dragon could give it and also, at last, for solid fare.
But of both, there was none to be had. The small, scaly creatures —the skardyn its "mother" had called them—had learned to stay well away from the nest's vicinity. They had discovered the hard way that, although newly born, that which had hatched from the egg was already a master of its natural magic. With its growing abilities, it had drawn one skardyn to it by causing the ground underneath the vermin's feet to give way. The skardyn had fallen into the pit, where the small morsel was devoured in a single swallow, the food still kicking and screaming as it descended down the gullet.
It was growing fast, faster, in fact, than its "parents" had imagined. They were pleased with that, although not as pleased as it, who yearned to be free, to fly in the sky....
To hunt and devour proper prey...
Then, through senses that only it was aware that it possessed, it noted those who had come before it, those who were almost like it... but not quite. Now and then, it could feel and even imagine what the other two did, the two who acted as one. They were as close to siblings as it had, and so these glimpses of their freedom were as a feast to a starving man.
They were hunting. They were hunting the proper prey. They not only were hunting it, but, having tasted some little hint of it, now knew where it hid.
The thing in the pit tasted their eagerness. They were not as clever of mind as it, but their instinct was strong.
It waited, eager to savor through them the devouring. Soon, though, soon it would grow large enough to hunt on its own.
And then... no force in all the world would be able to stand against its might.
The flapping of wings filled the night sky, but although Iridi had excellent vision, she could not quite make out what it was they presaged. There were shapes above, shapes that held a vague likeness to that for which she had searched, but the draenei priestess also felt the wrongness emanating from those shapes. Whatever descended upon Krasus and her should not by rights have existed on either Azeroth or Draenor... though, in all contradiction, it also felt as if a part of both worlds.
"Ahh, sssuch lovely-looking morsssels..." bellowed a monstrous voice, striking her ears like thunder. "And we are ssso hungry..."
"Hungry...yesss, we are..." echoed a second with equal ferocity. "It hasss been ssso long ssslnce we feasssted..."
"Ssso very long..." called the first from what seemed to the draenei directly above her.
The sky there shimmered an unsettling purple. The purple coalesced into the outline of a gargantuan creature.
A dragon. A dragon of such proportion as to leave Iridi gaping at it despite the peril it also presented to her.
"Ssso very long..." it repeated. "And we are always hungry..."
It descended.
The draenei's hand thrust up, the naaru staff forming In Its grip. The crystal flared.
Roaring, the nightmarish dragon suddenly vanished.
Iridi knew that it had not been due to the staff. The crystal had no such ability.
The ground around her erupted, entire trees, huge rocks, and tons of dirt ripped away by what at first the priestess imagined an earthquake but what materialized a moment later as the dragon... barely yards from the two small figures.
"We mussst feed!" it declared somewhat more succinctly than previous.
Above, the other voice repeated, "Yesss, we mussst eat!" It took no stretch of Iridi's imagination to understand that the pair referred to the draenei and Krasus.
She waved the staff at the one on the ground. The shimmering dragon, in the process of tearing up the rest of Iridi's surroundings, drew back in anger... and disappeared again.
The draenei immediately seized Krasus and, exerting herself as much as she could, dragged him in the opposite direction.
The Wetlands there suddenly exploded. A second later, the huge form of a dragon appeared. Although Iridi could see no difference between it and the previous visions, she was certain that this was the second of the monsters.
It opened wide its mouth to snap up Krasus... and Iridi in the process.
She tried to raise the staff, but it was entangled with the unconscious mage. Iridi concentrated, seeking another course of action.
Krasus's eyes snapped open, the energy of life causing them to glow briefly.
Before she could speak, he shoved her from him. Startled, the priestess tumbled.
A roar split the skies, but it was a different one from those she had heard before. Iridi blinked her gaze clear.
Where Krasus had stood, a huge, crimson form now towered. The red dragon Korialstrasz spread his wings, a wondrous sight of such huge dimensions that his mere presence made the shimmering monster hiss and retreat.
"Yes! You would do best to flee from me!" Korialstrasz proclaimed. "For I show no mercy to those wh
o threaten my friends!"
"Foollsssh morsssel..." snarled the cowering monster, but it backed farther yet, clearly intimidated... which was as Iridi knew the red dragon desired.
From the previous direction came a roar that marked the second of the two macabre beasts. Korialstrasz immediately turned his huge head, snapping at the air.
He was weaker than either of his foes knew, and the draenei prayed that they would keep their ignorance. If they sensed in the least that his show of might was partially bravado, then they would quickly turn on him.
Korialstrasz roared back at the darkness... and the other dragon formed. Like the first, it was cowed. As the red dragon spread his wings wider yet, the shimmering form dropped to the ground, taking up a position like its twin.
Iridi's gigantic companion glanced down at her. "Leave this place," he murmured. "Leave cautiously, without showing any fear, but leave it now...."
"But, what about you?"
He turned his gaze back to the two dread behemoths, his failure to answer the draenei answer enough. Korialstrasz was only concerned with her life, not his.
The priestess could not leave him to face them alone. She had many skills and the staff at her command. There had to be some manner in which she could aid him—
Although his eyes continued to monitor the two nightmarish dragons, Korialstrasz suddenly made a movement with his tail that the draenei realized was directed toward her. The red still desired for her to depart.
One of the shadowy creatures also noticed the movement... and proved cunning enough to understand what it meant. Monstrous orbs measured Korialstrasz anew.
A scowl replaced the cowering look.
The amethyst beast let out an ear-jarring cry and launched itself at the red dragon.
The other followed only seconds later, echoing the first's cry.
Letting out a roar of his own, Korialstrasz beat his wings hard. Iridi feared that the two attackers would turn immaterial again, but, so close, they apparently assumed that their prey was doomed. Instead, though, the red dragon not only stood his ground, but struck with all his might.
The heavy wings battered the dark dragons. One spun back, uprooting trees and ripping up more ground. The second dove headfirst into the dirt, its snout drilling deep.
Korialstrasz twisted his head around to the second and bathed his adversary in flames.
The shadow dragon—no, that title did not seem quite right to Iridi, for they did not so much resemble shadow, but rather the day turning to night—shrieked as it pulled its maw free and belatedly returned to a ghostlike state. The amethyst shimmer increased as it shifted.
Twilight! the draenei thought abruptly. It is as if they are like the twilight of this world's day....
Then, a savage paw came down where she stood. Only the heightened instincts of one of her order enabled the priestess to leap aside before she would have been crushed into the soil.
Iridi turned the naaru staff against her attacker. This time, the beast reacted too slowly. Blue lightning crackled around the fiendish leviathan. The dragon shrieked.
The draenei's hopes surged. Perhaps she and Korialstrasz would yet defeat this unsettling pair, who felt to her senses so wrong and yet somehow still bound to that which she hunted.
But suddenly the crystal ceased glowing. Stunned, Iridi glanced at the tip.
The dragon against whom she had fought let out a brutal laugh.
"Yessss!" it called. "Feed me mmmmorrre!"
It lunged at her, but Iridi knew that it was the staff that the creature sought. Aware what power still lay in the gift, the draenei feared what would happen if her attacker devoured its full essence.
She would have turned to Korialstrasz for help, but the red dragon was in dire straits of his own. The other monster had not only turned incorporeal, but had vanished beneath the ancient leviathan. Korialstrasz spun about, seeking some trace, however minute.
From behind him rose a purple specter. Iridi tried to warn Korialstrasz, but it was already too late.
The twilight dragon—yes, Iridi found that the name better fit the dread beasts—fell upon Korialstrasz's back. The red fell forward, the sudden weight catching him off guard.
“I will feed!!!" the red's tormentor declared yet again. However, it did not bend down to bite through Korialstrasz's neck, but rather sank its claws into his back and wings.
The ancient flier moaned. A sinister purple aura enveloped Korialstrasz.
The dark dragon gleefully inhaled... and a crimson glow arose from the writhing red, a glow that the purple behemoth immediately ingested. The vampiric beast inhaled again, drawing forth more of what could only be Korialstrasz's life energies. Despite clearly trying not to, the red finally unleashed a terrible roar of agony.
Korialstrasz's scaled form began to shrivel, as if he were a fly being sucked dry by a spider. He scraped at the air, trying feebly to escape as his foe ingested his essence.
There was nothing Iridi could do to stop the terrible feasting. Her own pursuer lunged again at her, nearly snapping up both the staff and the draenei together.
The ground shook as the dragon behind her tore at it. Iridi stumbled, then completely lost her footing. She fell forward, the staff flying from her grip.
The twilight dragon let out a cry of triumph that quickly turned into one of childish frustration as it watched the staff vanish. It could not have known that the naaru's gift would soon vanish when not held by her.
"Wheerrre isss ittt?" the beast called."Wherrrree?"
She felt the monster looming over her. In the background, Korialstrasz continued to moan.
There came from the heavens another roar, one whose vibrancy stilled all other sound. The next instant, a powerful force akin to thunder slammed into the monster magically ripping into Korialstrasz. The twilight dragon was bowled over.
The one near Iridi only had time to acknowledge its twin's fate before a new dragon alighted on to it. The twilight dragon immediately transformed, yet although it should have then avoided this startling foe, the new leviathan's claws hung tight. Iridi belatedly noticed that those claws glowed themselves.
"You like to fight those who can't fight you, don't you?" snarled the newcomer. His voice, his tone, were those of a much younger but more hot-headed dragon. From him emanated magical energies such as the draenei had sensed only on one type of dragon.
"You want to feed? Feed on this!"
His unsettling foe shrieked anew as bright, burning energies poured over it. In the light of those energies, the young dragon's flight was identified.
A blue dragon! Iridi had only seen one before, but the memory of that encounter remained burned in her memory. It had not been due to any particular feat by that previous dragon—for, in truth, the priestess had only watched it fly by—but rather the very essence of magic simply radiating from the azure colossus. She felt that now from this one as well, only even more so. Young this blue dragon might have been, but he wielded much power.
And he used that power quite well now. Caught unaware and now knowing that its ability to become incorporeal was of little value to it, the twilight dragon struggled to flee. However, the blue did not give up his prize. He was eager for battle, eager to vent some deep frustration that the priestess sensed on whatever enemy that he could find.
"Not so fast!" the blue bellowed. "I'm not done with you, not at all!"
From seemingly out of nowhere, the other twilight dragon attacked the blue. The younger leviathan was hard-pressed, but still seemed eager for the struggle no matter what the outcome.
But he was not alone. Crimson paws seized the second attacker and, making use of the monster's distraction, seared the twilight dragon's wings.
Iridi finally regained enough focus to recall the staff, but was uncertain exactly what she should do. The priestess did not want to feed the two creatures more of the energies for which they hunted. She stood frozen, torn between her choices.
It finally became obvious that this w
as a battle of dragons, with no place for a puny draenei priestess, however powerful the gift she had gotten from her mentor. Iridi stepped back, only prayer useful to her now.
And it appeared that her prayers were heard. Korialstrasz stood next to the younger blue, the pair aligned as if comrades of old. There was no argument, only action. They struck at the abominations, the blue taking the lead with Korialstrasz feeding his powers to his comrade.
The twin nightmares shrieked, yet they did not flee. With glowing orbs full of madness, they looked upon those who did not feed their hunger, but rather made it grow and grow...
"We must make them use themselves up!" Korialstrasz commanded.
"Is that possible?" asked the blue.
"It must be!"
Under the magical onslaught, the twilight dragons receded. Their forms grew indistinct. Their images wavered and they finally collided.
Iridi cheered silently. The creatures were all but defeated—
The twin horrors melded together.
Korialstrasz and the blue fell back in dismay and surprise.
"These are highly unstable creatures!" the red declared. "This is no trick of theirs, but our own power making them even more an abomination!"
"We will feed!" the gargantuan shape clamored. With a terrifying laugh, it enshrouded the defenders in its extraordinarily-wide wings.
"No!" shouted the draenei. She raised the staff, knowing what she must do.
A silver light shot forth from the crystal, a light so pure that it stirred tears from Iridi. She groaned as effort weighed down on her, yet did not surrender. All that she had been taught came to the forefront. She would not fall Korialstrasz and the other dragon.
The light touched the humongous creature—which suddenly split back into its two, much smaller parts.
From the folds of the great wings, the red and blue dragons fell free. Neither Korialstrasz nor the younger leviathan appeared able to focus their efforts, but neither did the twilight dragons strike. A momentary lull settled over the Wetlands.
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