Night of the Dragon

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 was 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.

Then, the blue growled. His eyes glowed and the ground around the terrible twins rose up, churning. At the same time, blue bolts of lightning mercilessly beat at the pair.

Again, the twin beasts grew immaterial. The blue started to lunge forward, but the twilight dragons took to the sky.

'We must not let them leave!' Korialstrasz shouted from behind his ally. The ancient red rose up after the pair, lighting the night sky with a vast plume of fire that did not, unfortunately, harm his targets but did at least distract their flight.

The blue was right on his tall. The sky around the younger dragon shimmered much the way their adversaries did when becoming ghosts.

But whatever it was that he hoped to accomplish did not appear to happen. Iridi sensed his frustration. What did and did not affect the abominations remained a question of test and failure.

Gasping, the draenei propped up the staff. She had in her enough for one more effort... so she hoped.

The prayer she muttered was the first that she had learned when joining her order. It was designed to draw from within a sense of complete calm. Only in that manner could Iridi hope to survive.

The large crystal flared.

The silver sliver of light stretched out in the blink of an eye, splitting just before reaching the two monsters. As she concentrated, the two new lights touched their targets.

For a single breath, the twilight dragons became silver. They illuminated all and were, in their own way, stunning.

The priestess toppled, barely able to retain consciousness. She could well imagine now how the red dragon had felt, for a part of her had been used up in this attempt.

The shimmering forms swelled. Wise enough to recognize that this was not as it should be, the red and blue hastily dropped toward the Wetlands.

The macabre dragons laughed madly. They continued to swell, now each nearly as massive as the single colossus that they had briefly formed.

They were still laughing as one, then both exploded in a violent release of energies that swept over the area.

As deadly forces rained down, a vast form dropped over Iridi, protecting her from their full fury. She heard Korialstrasz rumble, 'Have no fear....'

The Wetlands shook violently... and then just as quickly stilled again.

Iridi lay sprawled under the red dragon's wing, barely able to breathe. She both heard and felt Korialstrasz's own labored breathing and knew that he had been through far more than she. It amazed her that he had actually been able to stand for so long against the two abominations.

From somewhere to her side, she heard a voice that was and was not familiar to her. 'The danger's passed...'

'Yes,' replied her protector. 'I believe so, too.'

As he spoke, the red dragon withdrew from Iridi. She tried to rise, but needed in the end the assistance of a strong pair of hands.

Those hands belonged not to the one she expected, but rather a handsome youth who appeared to be approximately her age. There were elven touches to his looks, but also something akin to the humans whom she had met. He was dressed like a young noble offon a hunt, with high leather boots, blue pants and matching shirt and vest.

Indeed, blue was clearly not only his favorite color, but a very part of him, for no human or elf of any type had such glittering azure eyes—narrowed in speculation al the moment—or shoulder- length hair of the same brilliant color.

'You're a draenei,' he declared finally. 'Met a couple of your kind, but no female before.'

'You are...you are the blue dragon....' Her own statement sounded so obvious that she was ashamed to have even said it, but could think of nothing else. Her mind and body were still battered from her efforts, and if he did not continue to hold her, Iridi suspected that she would have fallen.

'I am the blue dragon,' he returned. A smile ever so briefly touched his features, lighting them up, but then he looked to the side and some dark memory clearly reared its head. The smile transformed into a scowl.

A scowl that in part appeared aimed at the cowled figure joining them.

'Miraculous enough to have gained such aid in our hour of need,' the dragon mage commented to his younger counterpart. 'But more astounding is the familiar shape in which it comes.' He bowed his head. 'My greetings, Kalecgos.'

'Krasus...' There was a hint of resentment in the blue-haired fighter's tone. 'I thought that it was you, but couldn't believe it at first.'