Night of the Dragon

However, they had both agreed that it would be fed well come the next evening. Zendarin had even agreed to lend some of the power of the staff to that feeding, to see how it might accelerate certain developments in their creation.

A little longer... I can tolerate her a little longer, he decided. Then... then I will be able to deal with her and you, my cousin, and not only reap the benefits of my time and efforts spent in this dismal place, but also finish my plans with your little abominations....

The blood elf grinned, hungry now himself. Soon, very soon, he would have access to energies in such abundance that he would never feel the withdrawals again.

Soon...he, too, would feed to his heart's content.

NINE

As they cautiously approached their destination, Iridi learned more of Kalec and the tale of Anveena. The young blue dragon—like Krasus, remaining in his half-elven form for less visibility—seemed very eager to tell her. Iridi knew that it was in part because of her demeanor and calling, but also perhaps because he wanted to try to hurt the older dragon with his words.

'She was the most innocent soul—yes, soul—one could have ever met,' Kalec said with a wistful expression. 'No guile. No pretense. She was who she was...even if she wasn't, in truth.' His gaze flickered to Krasus. who walked a few steps ahead of them. The elder male had been silent since they had begun moving again. Whether it was due to concentrating his magic on protecting them or simply because he could say nothing to assuage his companion's bitterness, the draenei did not know.

Kalec spoke of his first encounter with Anveena, who had found him after dragon hunters—led by a vengeful dwarf named Harkyn Grymstone and paid by a disguised Dar'Khan—had almost captured and killed him. Dar'Khan had been part of the reason for the Sunwell's original destruction, although his desire had been simply to wield its power. What he had not known at the time, though, was that the swift defiling and draining of the Sunwell by his master— Arthas—had not caused the total dissipation of its energies. Instead, much had escaped and, after a time, began to gather far, far away.

But there came a point when Dar'Khan had finally sensed its gathering. He had led a band of the Scourge to the location.

Yet, no one had realized at first that Anveena was the key. A tiny creature—a strange combination of dragon and flying serpent—had been found hatching nearby. Anveena and it had instantly befriended one another and she had, in typical fashion, called it 'Raac,' after the sounds it made.

Although he did not look back or even slow down, Krasus finally interrupted. 'Aah, Raac. Does he fly?'

'He vanished right after she did. I assumed that he went to let you know that your worries were over....'

Now Krasus did look, albeit briefly. His expression remained neutral, but Iridi sensed that he felt more than he revealed. 'I want nothing but good for all those of Azeroth, Kalec... and Raac did not return to me.'

'Hmmph! The little one had more sense than I thought.'

'Raac was no longer mine. He desired to stay with Anveena.'

The younger dragon scowled. 'He wasn't the only one.'

'What happened after Raac hatched?' the priestess interjected, fearful that a great argument would erupt. This of all places they did not need to have rancor between them.

Kalec told her a tale of adventure, of tragedy, and of hope. With another blue dragon—a female named Tyri—they had gone in search of a wizard called Borel. Their search had brought them to Tarren Mill, where they were met not only by the former paladin, Jorad Mace—another recipient of the mysterious Borel's interference— but by Dar'Khan and the Scourge. After a struggle in which Tyri apparently scorched Dar'Khan to cinders, the three and Jorad had headed toward Aerie Peak to find the cousin of the repentant Harkyn Grymstone, a dwarf with the skills to remove the magical bands Dar'Khan had placed around the throats of Kalec and Anveena. After that, the party had assumed that their troubles would be over.

But the dwarf Loggi was a prisoner of another mad creature, the cunning Baron Valimar Mordis—a Forsaken. He recognized in part what Anveena was and tried to use her to magnify the power of an artifact called the Orb of Ner'zhul, a fiendish sphere that could animate a giant undead. With it, Mordis had already raised a frost wyrm, an undead dragon.

'We barely escaped Mordis and the Scourge,' Kalec muttered. 'Thanks only to a tauren of all creatures. Trag gave his life to stop his former master....'

'And all was well then?' Iridi asked, sensing that perhaps it had been otherwise.

The blue verified her concerns. 'Not in the least. Loggi was killed and Anveena stolen... by Dar 'Khan....'

The supposedly dead high elf then dragged Anveena to where the Sunwell had originally been located. The others had followed, but although they fought hard to save their friend, it proved to be Anveena who saved them. In the process, they also confronted the mysterious Borel, whose machinations Kalec clearly blamed for much of the trouble that had occurred.

The draenei could easily guess the truth about this Borel. 'The wizard... he was you, wasn't he, Krasus?'

'Of course, he was...he has a thousand names, a thousand disguises! He's interfered since at least the fall of the night elves more than ten thousand years ago! He does nothing but interfere— and damn anyone who might be caught up in his intentions!'

Krasus turned. Although his face remained emotionless, his eyes burned. Iridi involuntarily took a step back and even Kalec was stunned Into silence.

'I remember the names of every brave human, elf, dwarf, tauren, earthen, orc, dragon, and individuals from other races whom I have been forced to need throughout the centuries! I recall all their faces and the manners by which so many of them perished! Each time I sleep, the litany plays in my dreams and I mourn their brave souls!' The air crackled around the dragon mage, an unconscious reflection of millennia of pent-up emotions. 'And if my life could bring them all back, I would do it, Kalecgos! Make no mistake about that... and remember, among our kind, too many of those lost were my very sons and daughters...”

Krasus's shoulders slumped. The two males faced one another and the priestess felt as if some unheard conversation passed between them. Then, the elder dragon turned forward again and continued the trek. Kalec remained still a moment longer, finally walking with Iridi behind his counterpart.

The draenei made no mention of a concern the confrontation had now created. They were already in great danger of being noticed and the argument between the dragons—especially the potent energies arising from it— had only multiplied that danger. She could not speak up, though, for fear that the pair would only start anew on their differences.

There was so much that Iridi still wanted to know concerning Kalec and his deep devotion to Anveena, especially what had happened with them prior to her 'sacrifice.' However, not only was it not proper for her to press on the point, but she, too, needed to focus on their journey.

But Kalec apparently could not keep in his memories, even if he no longer punctuated them with rancor toward the red dragon.

'I returned to my kind after...after Anveena,' he murmured to Iridi. 'But I could not stand the caverns. Everything was so cramped together. I—I caused more than one fight, and blue dragons do not just use tooth and claw, we use magic. It finally came to my lord Malygos's attention and he knew that I could not stay among them, any longer. It was almost fate that this mission came up... fate or a curse.' He stared at Krasus's back. 'I know what happened to your people assigned to guard Grim Batol, Korialstrasz. Whatever lies between us, I pray that those you held dearest were not among the ones who suffered most.'

'Your concern is appreciated...and, yes...some were.'

Kalec would have said more, but Iridi suddenly tensed. She felt a resonance with which only she would have been truly familiar.