//------------------------------// // The Great Masquerade // Story: Seekers of the Epitaph: World of Azeroth // by Xarmar13 //------------------------------// After weeks of travel, they finally made it. After leaving the safety of the elven forests, traveling through treacherous mountain passes, traversing a desolate wasteland, prancing through a verdant wilderness, weaving their way through a red rock canyon with needle-like spires and quickly moving through a salt pan with a racetrack built by a collaboration between gnomes and goblins, they had finally arrived. The Tanaris Desert. With the final leg of their journey before them, Flutashe and Mena restocked their supplies in the goblin town of Gadgetzan. It was expensive though since goblins were notorious for jacking up their prices for strangers and even more so when their traveling companion was a gnome. However, after some shrewd dealing from Mena and some mental influence from Violetta, they were given a good deal. After spending a night at the Gadgetzan inn, the duo was ready to begin their trek through the desert. From what Flutashe remembered her masters telling her, the home of the Bronze Dragonflight was a small mountain range southeast of Gadgetzan in a strange place where objects that didn’t belong were there. They knew there would be a few hazards on the way to the Caverns of Time, as Flutashe had heard them called, but they were nothing they couldn’t handle, especially after everything they faced on their way to this desert. On the way, Mena spoke up. “So, you said that the bronze dragons keep to themselves. Why? Aren’t they supposed to be protecting Azeroth?” Flutashe shook her head, “It’s more complicated than that Mena, each dragonflight has their own duties. The Red Dragonflight protects life where they are able, the Green Dragonflight protects the Emerald Dream and all those who gaze upon it when they sleep, the Blue Dragonflight regulates and manages the magic of Azeroth, and the Black Dragonflight was supposed to protect the land itself but became the pawns of the Old Gods instead, if what Violetta said was true.” “And the Bronze Dragonflight?” “They were charged with protecting Time itself. The Bronze Dragonflight have the ability to travel through time to police the temporal pathways and ensure that history is not altered. They keep to themselves usually because there is no need to interact with mortals to fulfill their duties.” The duo encountered the scavengers of the desert, including vultures who created fire from their wings somehow, basilisks, hyenas and nomadic human bandits. Their harassment made the journey slower than it should have been but they continued making progress. They soon found the mountain range they were looking for. A pass in the mountains that was littered with objects that originated from races of the Alliance and Horde, partially buried in the sand. Among them were Horde watch towers, dwarven bunkers, stone walls made by Stormwind masons, troll houses, towers of night elven design, totems of tauren origin, a ship wedged in the mountains and a stone gate that appeared to be sealed by a black stone with a purple swirl pattern on it. Standing in front of the gate was a fully grown bronze dragon who appeared to be almost twice the height of Gadgetzan’s walls. Younger dragons were flying around patrolling the area. Figuring that the large dragon was as good of a place to start as any, Flutashe and Mena decided to ask him about a way to find the prison of an Old God. Before they came into the open, Flutashe heard footsteps coming from behind them. The druid looked back to find a night elf in ornate gray chainmail with huge shoulderguards. The male narrowed his eyes at the duo, “What are the two of you doing here? This is no place for mortals to casually enter.” Flutashe took a moment to calm her nerves and think about what she was going to tell the mysterious man before her. She figured that not saying too much about Violetta would probably be for the best. “My friend and I came this far south from Ashenvale on a quest to defeat a powerful and dangerous monster and our best lead at finding that monster seems to be in seeking out the Bronze Dragonflight.” The night elf paid attention to all of Flutashe’s story and nodded his head to encourage her to continue. Once the druid finished her story, he sighed. “That is a very interesting story you told me, but it doesn’t tell me whether you can be trusted or not. However, it seems that my master has returned. Which means that my watch over the sands has come to an end. A hero must be found! The prison that you seek is likely the one in the depths of the ancient city of Ahn’qiraj. The city was sealed away behind a great wall. “If you wish to open the seal and unleash the horrors within, you must prove yourselves allies of the Brood of Nozdormu. The task that I ask of you is one that would require an army to accomplish. Within the lair of the Lord of Blackrock is a most cruel beast. Broodlord Lashlayer guards the way into his master’s inner sanctum. Slay the foul aberration and return his head to me. Do this and you may begin the next step of your journey.” “Wait, you want us to go all the way to Blackrock Mountain on the other side of the world!? That’s crazy!” Mena complained. The male handed the two a stone. A tingle down Mena’s spine told her that there was some powerful magic within it. “That stone will take you to the city of Stormwind, which is as close to Blackrock Mountain as I can get you. Crush it in your hand and the released magic will send you and anyone near you to your destination.” As Mena held on to Flutashe, the druid still had to know who the mysterious stranger was. “We never did get your name.” “Baristolth of the Shifting Sands,” he said. He then walked away, leaving the duo with more questions yet unanswered but the male was not willing to speak further. With that, Flutashe crushed the fragile stone in her palm before the magics within the stone wrapped around them and they vanished in a flash of light. Baristolth watched the two leave before he turned his attention to the approaching bronze dragon who stopped in front of him. “Master Anachronos, are you certain that this is a good idea?” “Nozdormu has told me that the original timeline has been altered by forces beyond our ability to control. He asks us to adapt accordingly to the change and only intervene if absolutely necessary, which is why I had to ask you to make the journey here from Silithus.” “And what of the gnome you warned me about?” “The fiend within her will not threaten Azeroth. Any other concerns are beyond our ability to see. Our gifts are quite limited it seems.” Anachronos sighed in exasperation, “What a mess…” He paused for a moment as he looked west. “When they bring you the heads, send the heroes to me and return to Silithus to prepare for war. I have already sent representatives to the Alliance and the Horde to warn them of the coming conflict. They will be busy scrounging for provisions from all over the world in preparation. Meanwhile, I will be guiding the one who will gather the pieces of the scepter that will spark the war.” “As you wish, master,” Baristolth said before walking away while Anachronos turned around and returned to guarding the cavern. Bella, Jaqueline, Sophia and Stella appeared inside the mage tower of Stormwind from Stella’s portal. They were not sure whether Windsor and Varian reached the city yet so they began to make their way toward the city entrance. “Ah got a question, how come we didn’t make Thaurissan give up Windsor’s hammer?” Jaqueline asked. “That is a matter to be settled between the two of them,” Bella explained. “As long as the Dark Iron Clan doesn’t openly go to war against the Alliance, that is a matter that can be settled with diplomacy.” “Still, ah know that Thaurissan’s done a lotta terrible things over the years. If them dark irons ever negotiate with the Alliance, ah hope we make him pay a hefty fine.” “That seems likely to happen regardless. Ironforge is already furious with Thaurissan for not only past transgressions, but also for kidnapping Princess Moira Bronzebeard. The fact that the matter is likely to turn into a political marriage and the fact that she is bearing the legitimate heir to both the thrones of Ironforge and Shadowforge means that the Dark Iron Clan will need to work quickly toward removing the cultist presence from both their city and its people and work on mending relations toward the Bronzebeards and the Wildhammers. King Magni isn’t going to like it, but he’s going to have to put in some effort as well for the sake of his grandson as well as convincing the citizens and politicians of Ironforge that the political marriage was his idea to save face.” “So the princess is probably gonna change her last name to Thaurissan soon? Ah can kinda sympathize with King Magni. Mah ma was a Pomerton and mah pa was born from a family of pear farmers in the same region. Our two families feuded fer years, until them Scourge came around. Me, mah brother and mah sister were born from two feudin’ families and could have inherited either farm when we grew up.” As the four neared the portal out of the tower, a bright flash of light erupted behind them, which was strange since mage portal spells were usually not that flashy. While the lack of surprise by the guards told them that it was nothing too surprising, Sophia was the first to sense a familiar presence behind her. Sophia turned around to see a night elf with bright pink hair in a garb of leather and leaves that told her that she may be a druid as well as a gnome with a darker shade of curly pink hair. The dark presence from the gnome made her think back to a certain family member of her’s. Examining the duo further, her mind soon thought back to the profiles of Twilight’s friends. In the least, the hairstyles matched. “Midnight, has Twilight recovered from whatever had shaken her yet?” “Me and Azure Lazer are calming her down. Apparently, that magic inside Jaqueline is some sort of seed that seems to be feeding on her life force, shortening her life span the more she fights. Given her stubborn nature, telling her to stop is going to come off as a major insult to her.” “So what do I tell her?” “Nothing. If they realize that you know about the seed, it’s going to raise questions that might lead to our cover being blown. It’s best to leave the matter to Thanatas when they finally meet her.” “Very well, at any rate, it looks like Fluttershy and Pinkie’s reincarnations found us. I can confirm that Violetta is inside Pinkie’s mind.” “She’s probably lounging around in there,” Thanatas guessed. “You will probably have to ease them into the introduction and warn them of a few things before they actually meet her. We also need to find a way for her to contact us without her presence contaminating the link.” While Sophia was having her psychic conversation, Flutashe approached Stella and the others with a question passing her lips, “Excuse me, would any of you happen to know of a place called Blackrock Mountain?” The question caught the group, sans Sophia, off guard as they jumped slightly in surprise. Of all the questions for the druid to ask, they never expected her to ask one about the place they had just returned from. “We were just there,” Stella answered. “Why do you ask?” Flutashe began explaining their journey thus far while leaving out the parts of Violetta as they didn’t feel mentioning her was necessary yet. Mena added in any parts that the druid overlooked. However, in the end, Surprise made herself known which was another surprise to the group. Any attempts at subtlety went out the window when she started talking about the parts they didn’t want mentioned, especially about Violetta. “Wait, so you’re saying you have some sort of monster living in your mind?” Bella asked. “Yep, and the whole reason we’re on this quest to begin with is to feed this thing some other monster that lives beneath some desert ruins in the southwest corner of the world map and the reason we’re here is because we need some dragon’s head from Blackrock Mountain who goes by the name Broodlord Lashlayer so we can get the bronze dragons to show us how to get into the ruins.” “Y’all gotta be insane if y’all wanna go to some crazy place like that! If it was sealed away thousands of years ago it had to have been fer a good reason!” Jaqueline exclaimed. “Well avoiding the place isn’t getting this creepy bitch out of my head any faster,” Surprise countered. “Look everyone, we’re probably going to end up going into Nefarian’s lair at some point anyway so if you two will stick with us, we’ll stand a better chance of succeeding,” Stella negotiated. “Help us get into the ruins and we will help you with whatever it is you’re trying to do.” “Mena, err I mean Surprise, that’s not how you go around making friends,” Flutashe scolded. She looked back at the others, “Sorry about that, we will be happy to help you with your adventures, if you will have us.” “Well of course, the more the merrier,” Bella said. “Isn’t that right everyone?” Jaqueline, Stella and Sophia, who had just finished her psychic call nodded in acceptance. Flutashe thanked everyone for their acceptance. Of course, she also had no idea what they were doing now. “So what are you guys doing here?” “We gotta meet someone at the city entrance,” Jaqueline answered. “Somethin’ big’s about to go down in the city.” Flutashe nodded and followed the group to their destination along with Mena, who switched back to her curly-haired self. After fifteen minutes, the group made it to the Stormwind City entrance. However, they saw no sign of the marshal. However, one guard who was wearing glasses was making subtle gestures to the group, hoping someone would catch on. Thankfully, Bella was familiar with guard signs and walked over to the man. Suspecting that the man wanted to be subtle, she kept her voice down as she spoke to him. “Squire Rowe? Is that you?” “Aye, he told me to wait for your arrival and signal him when you guys are ready to begin.” Bella gave the group one last look to her friends and new acquaintances who appeared ready for a fight. She turned to the squire once more, “Send the signal, let’s begin.” The squire nodded and launched a flare into the air. Moments later, Reginald Windsor rode into the city on horseback and stopped before the group before he dismounted and slapped the horse’s flank, driving him away back into the forest. Windsor then turned to the group. “It’s good to see all of you again in one piece. Did the emperor give you a lot of trouble?” “We came to an understanding,” Stella answered. “We will likely be returning to Blackrock Mountain in the near future to deal with the major threats within.” “I see you didn’t come back with my hammer. I hope he doesn’t break it before I get it back.” He took a deep breath as he prepared himself for what was to come. “On guard everyone, the lady dragon will not give in without a fight.” Meanwhile, at Stormwind Keep, Lady Katrana Prestor was making preparations for delivering the tragic news to the kingdom. News had gotten to her that King Varian Wrynn had been captured by the Dark Iron Nation and was sentenced to be executed in their Ring of Law. Knowing that nobody had ever survived that arena and Grimstone’s ruthless cruelty, Varian would eventually exhaust himself and be slaughtered by the monsters the dwarves had captured over the years. She may have failed to kill him after she had the Defias sabotage the king’s trip to Theramore when the naga interfered, but nobody was coming to save him now. She kept the army away from her brother’s mountain and made sure that no snooping adventurers ever got curious enough to investigate. Anyone who did, such as that Kirin Tor investigator, she sent after the Defias in Westfall to meet their deaths. It was disturbing news when she heard that the brotherhood had fallen apart with the death of their leader, but she still managed to keep any important information out of the hands of those who could possibly be a threat to her plans. Even if the investigator survived, she had plenty of resources to keep her investigation stonewalled for years. Still, there was something odd about the investigator, something that smelled less like one of the mortals and more like one of her kind. Could the Blue Dragonflight have taken an interest in Stormwind? She would need to ask her brother about that later. Prestor was pulled out of her thoughts by the sound of clanking armor approaching her. She was annoyed with the interruption and she wasn’t afraid to show it. The soldier approached the noble and kneeled before her. “Speak,” she commanded. “Lady Prestor, I bring a message from Marshal Windsor at the front gates.” He presented a scroll to her. While she was usually not startled by surprises, this one actually made the noble wince. The guard had his head lowered so he didn’t notice. She could have sworn that her brother had orchestrated the man’s capture by the Dark Iron Clan. Though given his history he probably found a way to escape and leave a trail of dwarven bodies in his wake. Still, he may have known who she really was but he had no proof of his claims. Prestor took the scroll and unrolled it just to humor the poor fool. On the scroll was one sentence. “As was fated a long time ago in Karazhan, monster - I come - and with me, I bring justice.” Prestor merely scoffed at the marshal’s threats. At least she could see this as a threat to a member of the nobility and have him arrested and executed. “The marshal has clearly gone mad during his time in captivity. Seize him and any who have chosen to side with him,” She ordered in a cold tone of voice. “Y-yes ma’am.” The soldier walked away as respectfully as he could and as fast as he dared. “By now that message I sent her should have gotten to her, though she may already be sending the troops to stop us,” Windsor said. “Nothing to do now but to move toward the keep.” The group nodded grimly as Windsor began his march across the bridge into the city. Each side held two statues of a famous hero from the Second War. As they neared the end of the bridge, their advance was halted by a wall of soldiers with a decorated general in the middle of them. General Marcus Jonathan, a man with red hair cut to military regulation and a thick beard and mustache. He wore a thicker version of the Stormwind Guard armor. He was also in charge of Stormwind’s defenses. The general had a conflicted look on his face as if he really didn’t want to stop Windsor but his duty told him otherwise. “Reginald, you know that I cannot let you pass.” Windsor nodded to the general in respect. “You must do what you think is right, Marcus. We served together under Turalyon. He made us both the men that we are today.” He shook his head sadly. “Did he err with me? Do you truly believe that my intent is to cause harm to our Alliance? Would I shame our heroes?” He paused before giving the general a determined look. “Holding me here is not the right decision, Marcus.” The general looked away from Windsor in shame. After the words came out of the marshal’s mouth, his will to perform his duty faltered. He knew that this was wrong. He had to consider whether he was acting in the best interests of Stormwind or in the interests of the nobility. “I am ashamed, old friend. I know not what I do anymore. It is not you that dare bring shame to the heroes of legend - it is I. It is I and the rest of these corrupt politicians. They fill our lives with empty promises, unending lies.” He sighed in resignation. “We shame our ancestors. We shame those lost to us…forgive me, Reginald.” Reginald placed a hand on Marcus’ shoulder. The general looked at the marshal once more who gave him a gentle smile. “Dear friend, you honor them with your vigilant watch. You are steadfast in your allegiance. I do not doubt for a moment that you would not give as great a sacrifice for your people as any of the heroes you stand under.” He then removed his hand from the general’s shoulder and gave him a serious look. “Now, it is time to bring her reign to an end, Marcus. Stand down, friend.” Marcus knew what must be done. He was sick and tired of being a pawn to the politicians, especially Prestor. It was time to bring about a change to the system. It was time to remember that he was a man of the people. It was time to do the right thing. The general turned to his soldiers. “Stand down!” he ordered. “Can you not see that heroes walk among us? Move aside! Let them pass! By my order as general of the Stormwind army, Reginald Windsor and his entourage is not to be harmed! They shall pass through untouched!” By his orders the soldiers moved aside, kneeling before Reginald as they did. “Thank you, old friend. But before I go, I have a message for you.” Reginald handed the general a scroll. “Don’t let anyone read it but you.” Marcus nodded and moved to where his troops couldn’t read over his shoulder. He opened the scroll and quickly read through it. His eyes widened before he looked at Reginald once more who nodded. “Once the coming battle has come to an end, spread the word.” Reginald turned to the group. “Follow me, friends. To Stormwind Keep!” Word spread quickly about Reginald’s grant of passage. Rumors about the man spread through the city like wildfire as the group entered the Trade District. The bustle of the city folk was interrupted briefly as they passed through and proceeded northeast through the streets. Along the way, the soldiers gave the marshal a firm salute in admiration of his heroism. Reginald exited the district through the northeast tunnel and crossed a bridge over the canal toward the red-roofed buildings of the Old Town. He continued along the canal’s path and stood before the doorway into Stormwind Keep. “Be brave, friends. The reptile will thrash wildly. It is an act of desperation. Are you all ready?” Jaqueline pounded her fist into her open hand. “You betcha, let’s pound this varmint.” Bella took a brief moment to touch up her makeup. She did so when they got back but she wanted to be extra certain that the heat hadn’t ruined her appearance. “I’m ready.” Stella took a moment to remember her spells, her draconic abilities she could worry about later. She silently nodded in affirmation. Mena could tell that Surprise had a sadistic look on her face even though she couldn’t see her counterpart. Flutashe shifted into her bear form and growled in anticipation. Sophia was ready with her own plan in case the dragon tried to flee. “The tablets you recovered will reveal the true form of any dragon who hears the one who reads them. Be ready once I read them,” Reginald warned. “What were the folders fer?” Jaqueline asked. “Attempts by the dark irons in translating the tablets. They were completely off base, though I did get a few good laughs from reading them.” Reginald then steeled himself as he prepared for what was coming. He knew that he wouldn’t survive this, but he was willing to give his life for Stormwind. “Onward!” The group advanced through the long hallway and into the throne room. Standing in the center of the room were three individuals: Prince Anduin, Highlord Bolvar Fordragon who was wearing his ornate silver and gold armor and carrying his shield and sword, and Lady Katrana Prestor who seemed irritated that the guards allowed Windsor to get near her unshackled. Reginald began with a plea to Anduin, “Your Majesty, run while you still can! She is not who you think her to be!” Anduin tried to flee into another room but Prestor grabbed the boy by the arm. “No, I think he will be safe near me.” Struggle as he might, Anduin couldn’t free himself from the noble’s grip. However, Prestor felt a heavy impact on the back of her head that startled her into letting go of the boy who quickly sprinted out of the room. Prestor took note of the rock that landed on the floor next to her but quickly switched her attention back to Anduin. She was about to cast a spell to force the boy to return but Bella struck her in the face with a hammer of Light. “Arrgh! You dare strike a member of Stormwind’s elite? I will take great pleasure in watching all of you hang!” Prestor growled. “It shall not be you who delivers justice this day, but us Prestor, or perhaps we should call you by your true name…Onyxia!” Reginald declared. Prestor merely laughed at the man’s declaration. “You will be incarcerated and tried for treason, Windsor. I shall watch with glee as they hand down a guilty verdict and sentence you to death by hanging. And as your limp body dangles from the rafters, I shall take great pleasure in knowing that a mad man has been put to death. After all, what proof do you have? Did you expect to come in here and point fingers at royalty and leave unscathed?” Reginald smirked at the dragon’s preening before he pulled out the two tablets. “You will not escape your fate, Onyxia! It has been prophesied - a vision resonating from the great halls of Karazhan. It ends now! These tablets were written in the ancient dragon language. Listen dragon, and let the truth resonate through these halls!” Reginald read the tablets out loud and everyone who heard it also heard an unknown sound flowing through their consciousness. For Reginald, Bella, Jaqueline, Sophia, Flutashe and Mena, the sound was nothing more than that. For Bolvar, he suddenly clutched at his head as his own thoughts started racing through his mind, as if whatever dam was suppressing the flow of his thoughts was suddenly breaking. For Onyxia and the guards in the throne room, the words were like an irresistible compulsion to undo their mortal forms. Try as they might, they were unable to resist the compulsion. The guards transformed into the dragonspawn like the ones that Bella and the others fought in Burning Steppes. Onyxia’s transformation however was far more grandiose. Her form was of a massive, quadrupedal, fully-grown, ancient dragon. Her underbelly was a light reddish brown with a fin going from her chin to her chest. The fins on her head, neck and back were red with purple spines. A pair of bluish gray horns curved from the sides of her head to the edge of her muzzle along with a much smaller horn growing from her forehead. The sinew of her massive wings were a deep purple with the tips of her wing fingers ending in the same color. Her piercing glowing yellow eyes bore draconic slits. Onyxia hissed in outrage. Whatever those tablets were, they had completely ruined her plans. With her cover blown, there was no way to seize control of Stormwind now. But she was determined to make the mortals pay dearly for this. It wasn’t surprising to the dragon that the Kirin Tor investigator was clutching her head before she began transforming. She had already suspected her of being a dragonkin. What was surprising to her and everyone in the room were the color of her scales; they were pinkish-purple. Her slitted draconic eyes were teal while the sinew of her wings were royal purple. The dragonkin before Onyxia was shaped as a humanoid and barely taller than her disguise but she was not bulky like the dim-witted drakonids. She also noticed some awkwardness beneath her robes which made the dragon suspect that her legs were digitigrade. Her teal horns grew down the back of her head and curved forward around her neck. The look of surprise as she looked at her clawed hands which turned into panic for the mage told Onyxia that she really didn’t want to be found out or she had no idea that she was a dragonkin in the first place. She would have to ask Nefarian about that at the earliest opportunity. For now, it was time for some revenge. She glared at Reginald, the man who ruined everything. “Curious…Windsor, in this vision, did you survive? I only ask because one thing that I can assure is your death. Here and now. Onyxia raised her left claws and prepared to strike down the offending human. Her swipe only struck air however as another man rushed in and tackled Reginald to the floor away from the dragon’s attack. She glanced at the human who interfered with her execution and her eyes widened in surprise to find that it was King Varian Wrynn. “Varian Wrynn?! How are you here? Can’t those dwarves do anything right?” She shook her head in disappointment. “No matter, I will have my revenge soon enough. Children, kill them all!” The throne room erupted into chaos as the defenders faced the elite soldiers of Onyxia’s personal guard. Jaqueline, Bella, Varian, Reginald, Bolvar, who recovered his senses, and Flutashe all faced their own dragonspawn. Mena and Surprise both supported the defenders while shifting personalities as needed to switch between Light and Shadow spells. Stella’s combat effectiveness was greatly weakened as a result of her mental turmoil and being in a form that she was not familiar with. Wanting to make the mortals pay before she left, Onyxia prepared to unleash a devastating fire breath that would set the keep on fire. However, as she was about to release it, a powerful uppercut was dealt to her chin which sent her head flying upward. Before she could open her mouth just to get the flame out, something small wrapped around her muzzle and forced it shut, causing her own flame to feed back into her body and damage her insides. The feminine voice of the offender cheerfully stated, “As important as it is to stick to the script, I think this one deserves some alterations. For example, me slicing your head off!” Onyxia thrashed wildly while violently shaking her head trying to remove what appeared to be some sort of blue masked figure from her face. Her tail accidentally slammed into a few of the dragonspawn in the room while the defenders either ducked, jumped or took the hit and were slammed into a wall. As much as Onyxia wanted to teleport out of the city, she couldn’t risk teleporting the tiny blue monster with her. Sophia kept clinging to her prey. When the dragon tried using her claws to scrape the templar off, Sophia leapt onto the Onyxia’s back. To avoid anyone from taking notice of her true abilities, she activated her Shadow Walk to turn invisible before she got to work on executing the dragon. Turning the tips of her fingers into sharp claws, she began scraping away at the dragon’s scales until her flesh was revealed. Onyxia roared in pain as the templar stabbed into the dragon’s exposed hide. The tips of her fingers grew into the dragon’s body, impaling her internal organs. Onyxia’s desperate movements forced Sophia to detach her tentacles and left them inside the dragon’s body before she was thrown off and flown toward a wall. Quickly regenerating the severed fingertips, the templar then jumped from the wall and back onto the dragon’s back and deployed her energy blades, the light of which was also concealed by her invisible state, empowering one to be as long as her own body. She then grabbed onto the dragon’s dorsal fin with one hand and used her empowered blade to deliver a single slash that ended the ancient dragon with her massive head removed from her body. Disheartened from the loss of their mother, the dragonspawn lost focus on their opponents who capitalized on their demoralized state. The last living dragonspawn in the room decided to try to kill Stella who was still in shock and at least go out after killing someone. However, that plan failed when a pair of daggers went through the dragon’s back and out his chest. He looked back at his killer to find the spymaster of Stormwind, Mathias Shaw. His eyes closed one last time. With the situation now deescalating, everyone put their weapons away and observed the mess in the throne room. Many black dragon carcasses littered the floor including the massive headless ancient dragon in the center. While everyone was staring in awe at the scene, Sophia secretly stowed Onyxia’s head in a dimensional pocket for safekeeping. Some wanted to question where the head went, but decided that it would be a mystery for another time. Once the shock of the fight had subsided, the throne room erupted into numerous conversations; mainly ones that had to do with Varian’s return and Stella’s new form along with the comforting of said dragonkin. Even though Stella had been told that she might have been a dragonkin, she had some hope that they might have been wrong. The reality of her situation dashed her hopes and left her experiencing an existential crisis. At least her friends didn’t care what she looked like so she found some comfort that she hadn’t been abandoned. Even Flutashe and Mena helped to comfort her despite only meeting them a couple of hours ago. While the dragonkin mage was being comforted, Sophia tried getting some answers from her other allies. “So that’s why she showed no features of her past self…” Twilight realized, revealing that she had mentally recovered from the shock about Jaqueline, at least somewhat. “She was using a visage form and didn’t even know that she was born as a dragon.” Lyra giggled, “Spike is gonna love hearing this.” “Yeah, he definitely needs to be here to see this,” Sweetie agreed. “At least she looks better than I did when I was infested,” Sarah commented. “Yeah, but what kind of dragon is she?” Sophia asked. “A better question is how she ended up here when the rest of her kind are supposed to be locked up on the Dragon Isles,” Thanatas said. “She’s a dracthyr, a type of humanoid-shaped dragonkin no bigger than most mortal races. However, it is said that they wield the power of all five dragonflights. I know that Nefarian had been experimenting with the five flights attempting to recreate his father’s work but had yet to succeed.” “We also need to consider the problem that she doesn’t know how to reapply her disguise. It’s going to make walking around in public very awkward,” Sweetie pointed out. “I’ll send Fayt to help her learn how to reapply her disguise,” Midnight said. Meanwhile, Varian asked Bella to give him a report on what transpired in Shadowforge City. Bella explained everything. The king looked at Stella and gave her a look of sympathy. His eyes widened when he found out about the relationship between Princess Bronzebeard and Emperor Thaurissan, informing him that the Dark Iron Clan may at some point try to reconnect with their fellow dwarves, which would be a welcoming matter as long as they were able to remove the influence of the Twilight’s Hammer from their city. He then heard the plight of the Dark Iron Clan and their enslavement to the Elemental Lord of Fire. Dealing with Ragnaros was going to be the biggest hurdle in beginning negotiations with the clan. Finally, there was the matter of Onyxia’s brother who also needed to be dealt with before the Stormwind Army could bring the situation of the kingdom’s threats back under control. Despite the dangers though, Varian knew that his first priority was to assure the people that the situation in the keep was under control and to confirm his return to the citizens before he could begin to undo the damage Onyxia had wrought upon the kingdom. That alone would take some time and there was no telling when Nefarian would launch a full-scale invasion on Stormwind, likely soon after he learned about his sister’s demise. The situation was dire and Varian could only think to turn to those who had saved him. “Bella, you and your friends are the only ones I can turn to in this dire time. I ask a lot of you, perhaps too much, but you and your friends may be the last hope of saving Stormwind. I will not think less of any of you for turning down my request. I ask all of you to return to Blackrock Mountain and remove the two biggest threats there. If Stormwind is to survive, Ragnaros and Nefarian must fall.” To Varian’s surprise, there was no hesitation in their answers. “We faced a lot in that mountain already. Ah have things ah need to do before ah kick the bucket. Ah ain’t gonna let no fire elementals, orcs or dragons stop me. We just took down an ancient dragon, ah ain’t gonna fear her brother so ah’m goin’.” Jaqueline pounded her hand. “Nefarian knows something about my origins. I have to go to find out what he knows about me.” Stella said. “I too have something that must be done in his lair for the sake of my own quest,” Flutashe said. “I know this is a bad time, Your Majesty, but I sense that you’re about to get a visitor who is going to warn you about something big going down in southern Kalimdor that’s going to be related to our quest,” Mena prophesied. Bella gave Varian a look of determination and a smile, “There you have it, we just volunteered to bring down this menace looming over our heads. I’m sure that if we work together we can find a way to emerge victorious.” Varian took a moment to look at the group, even Stella who appeared to have recovered somewhat from her shock. After a few moments he gave the group a nod. “Very well, I shall entrust you with this task.” Once the group left to rest after their ordeal, Varian spotted a bronze-colored dragon whelp enter his throne room. When he landed the whelp transformed into a female gnome with pale blond hair, green eyes and wearing a white and black robe with bronze-colored armor. “Greetings Your Majesty, I have come to warn you of a major threat that will soon emerge from the Silithus Desert in southern Kalimdor.” In Varian’s mind, the knowledge of the emerging threat seemed nowhere near as scary as a pink-haired gnome who could predict the future without being a member of the Bronze Dragonflight.